The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-03-13


Workers will buy almost anything,
be it ever SO worthless. if they are
only made to believe that they are
getting bargain. This well-known
! human weakness accounts for the
large number of prosperous second
hand shops throughout the city, and
! for the existence of a widespread,
unique business which actually
sells new goods under the mislead-
ing representation that they are
worn or damaged
| On the West Side there are nu-
merous private dwellings whose
first floors are given over to the
display of furniture, yet from the
outside you would never guess that
| the residents were furniture deal
ers. There is no sign, printed or
otherwise, indicating that such is
the case. The business is carried
on privately with customers who
are reached through small and in
! conspicuous advertisements in the
newspapers.
The advertisements usually read
something like this: Going south;
must sacrifice lovely walnut bed
room set" Or, Am giving up my
own house; will sell furniture at
lowest reasonable prices" Again,
it is a Lady going to California
will sell mahogany furniture
cheap" Sometimes it is not furni-
ture that is offered for sale, but
clothes, in which case the adver~
tisements announce the offer of an
actress wardrobe for sale. or the
frocks and furs of a presumably
wealthy woman who for reasons
given is willing to sacrifice her
personal belongings. There is one
man in the neighborhood of Co
lumbia university, moreover, who
has been on the eve of departure
and hence under the necessity of
disposing of his library of rare
books for the last year and a half.
AS a matter of fact, however,
none of these gentlemen and ladies
has any intention of leaving town.
They are making entirely too much
money where they are. They have
the public rushing to their doors
and buying goods as fast as they
can be supplied One man who liv-
ed in an apartment above one of
these private furniture establish
ments for several months says that
the dealer, who was woman, often
sold 81 800 worth of furniture in a
day
Drifted Into the Business.
This woman, according to his &C
count, was a widow who. at the
age of 35, had been left with sew
eral children to support on the
small proceeds of an insurance pol
icy. She had never been trained
for any kind of work. and she had
not the slightest idea how she and
her family were going to survive.
Fortunately for her, however.
business friend of her late husband
had some ideas on the subject He
was an antique dealer. and he told
her that often in attending auction
sales of large estates he had an
opportunity to secure a lot of good
but hopelessly worn modern fur
niture at very low price. He could
not use such stuff himself, he said.
but he believed that it could be
handled at a handsome profit by
private individual. At any rate, he
suggested that she buy a few pieces
soon, advertise them as private
householder and see how the pub
lie responded.
The widow followed his advice
and was amazed at the results. She
not only sold the furniture she
bought at the sale, but some of her
own furniture as well. On this first
transaction she made $500. After
that. she attended sales regularly
and also started visiting the large
wholesale houses and buying up
odd lots of portieres and tapestries
at low prices. She disposed of these
at such a large profit that new
idea occurred to her. why not,
she thought, buy directly from the
big furniture factories? ?" Her bust
ness was growing so rapidly that
she could no longer take the time
to attend auction sales in distant
parts of the city, and furthermore,
she had observed that the new, IN
blemished portieres, described as
Slightly used" had sold to much
better advantage than the really
furniture that came from
the auction rooms.
New Secondhand Furniture.
You see, the whole thing is very
simple" she explained to her ten
ant. The people who come to buy
these factory goods expect to find |
them considerably damaged. Any
furniture which has been used at |
all generally is. When they find /
the things in perfect condition. they /
are taken by surprise and are cas-