Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-03-11


10 worthless. II they are only made
TO believe that they are getting bar
gain. This wcll-known human weak
ness accounts for the large number OF
prosperous second hand shops
throughout the city, and for the ex-.
lstence OF a widespread. unique bus'-
ness which actually sells new goods
under the misleading representation
that they are worn or damaged.
On the west Side there are numer-
Gus private dwellings Whose first
floors arc given over to the display
OF furniture. yet from tho outside you
would never guess that the residents
were furniture dealers. There Is no
sign. printed or otherwise. indicat-
ing that such Is the case. The busi-
ness is carried on privately with
customers who are reached through
small and inconspicuous advertise
ments in the newspapers.
The Advertisements usually read
something like this: Going South;
must sacrifice lovely walnut bedroom
set" Or, Am giving up my town
house: viii sell furniture al lowest
reasonable prices" Again 1t Is
Lady going to California will sell
mahogany furniture cheap" Some
times. II is not furniture that - Of
fered for sale. but clothes. In which
case tho Advertisements announce tho
. offer Of an actresses wardrobe for sale.
, or the frocks and furs Of a presumably
wealthy woman who for reasons given
, Ia willing 10 sacrifce her personal
. belongings. There is one man In the
} neighborhood OF Columbia University
= moreover. who has been on the eve
Of departure and nance under the
necessity OF disposing OF his library OF
rare books for the post year and a
half
] As matter OF fact, however. none
D Of these gentlemen and ladies' has
Q any intention Of leaving town. They
: are making entirely too much money
= precisely where they are. They have
: the public rushing to their doors and
; buying goods as fast as they can be
, supplied. Ora man who lived in an
: apartment above ono of these private
furniture establishments for severe
= months. says that the dealer, who wal
woman often sold fifteen hundred
:, dollars worth Of furniture In a day.
Ie DrIfted Into the Business.
l. This woman. according 70 his ac
Is count, was widow. who at the age o
y thirty-flve, had been left with severa
"a children 70 support on the small pro
10 ceeds Of an insurance policy. Sh
y had never been trained for any kin
Of work, and she had not the slightes
~ idea how she and her family were &c
., ing TO survive. Fortunately for he
IA however. a business friend OF her LAT
" husband had some ideas on the sui
-, ject. He was an antique dealer. an
~ he told her that often in attendin
auction sales OF large estates he Ia
Ne an opportunity 70 secure a lot OF goo
o. but hopelessly modern furniture at
ar very low price. He could not use sue
M stuff himself. he said. but he believe
ne that it could be handled at a handson
ce profit by private individual. At an
IL rate, he suggested that she buy
CO few pieces at a sale that was to tai
IL place soon; advertise them as
1t, private householder and see how u
on public responded.
Ter The widow followed his advice a
sss was amazed at the results. She n
las only sold the furniture she bought
ri the sale, but some of her own fur
sis ture as well. On this first transact
DIS, she made $500. After that, she after
m ed sales regularly and also started V
the ting the large wholesale houses a
ic- buying UP odd lots OF portieres a
nus tapestries at low prices. She dispos
No. of these at such a large profit that
4ns new idea occurred to her. Why No
lnd she thought. buy directly from
u.s. big furniture factories?" Her busin'
'ns was growing so rapidly that she col
Oh no longer take the time to attend al
er- ton sales in distant parts of the CT
ea' and furthermore, she had obserN
eip that the new. unblemished porter
Oh described as slightly used" had s.
.."' to much better advantage than
Tue really damaged furniture that ca
'A' from the auction rooms.
New Secondhand Furniture.
You see, the whole thing Is Y.
!. &c simple" she explained TO her tena
w.. ~, THE people who come TO buy tn
~ factory goods expect to find them CO
slderably damaged. Any furnit'
which has been used at all genera
Is When they find the things in p
feet condition, they are taken by 8
prise and are easily convinced I
they are getting g. great bargain.
one week I sold three Queen Al
desks-each desk for ten dollars m
than it would have cost in cert
large department stort."
Taking advantage Of the public
= d this way IS. indeed. so very easy
. profitable that there are now C
Germs VINO are willing TO SUP
merchandise, on a credit basis, TO
vate individuals who will agree to
vertise and sell 1t. One of these C
Germs recently advertised for "hC
workers" who were later CIRCULAR
in the following frank manner:
: eff a man puts an ad in the pa
3 like those we mention above, and
g people rush TO his house and buy
c out 1ust because they believe he
4 really selling some of his personal
: parel or furnishings, and they n
Q they are getting a wonderful barg
d the party selling the goods IS JUST
= and you cannot blame him If he
$ going TO advertise like that right al
I and build up a big bank account
d cause he knows how TO take advan'
/, of the ordinary peoples credulity.
;, n make big money in this world
Il have to study human nature and
$ advantage OF what you learn. We
writing 10 you Just as plainly
d though we were talking to you
! to face.
e I'VE buy up large Jobs on goods f
1. bankrupt concerns. from estates wi
<, are being settled. from the bigl
Y iohhers In the country What we buy