Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1926-08-25
Consumer Takes Long Chance
When He Buys From the
Mail Order House.
GENERALLY IS LOSING GAME
Method OF Doing Business 10 Very
Different When You Purchase
0oods From Your Home
Merchant.
(CopyrIRht.l

OF course you did. What boy has not
risked his jackknife or his choicestmar-
BILE on such a proposition and how oft
en- has he repented of his rash deed
when he discovered what he got In the
trader He generally found that the
deal turned out to the advantage Of
the one who made the proposition
There is q little of the gambling In
stinct In the blood of nearly every man.
woman and child, but even the hard
ened gambler likes to get run for
his money" The sight unseen" prop
osition doesn't. appeal to him In the
least. There are thousands Of people,
however. who would be properly indig-
nant If they were accused of being
gamblers, who every day take a chance
ON the greatest gambling game In the
world. And worse than that, they are
risking their money on "sight I'M
seen" proposition.
When. one Of the thousands of per-
sons who build up and keep up the
great mail order houses of the country
sends his money away TO pay for some
article that he has selected from the
mail order catalogue, he Is taking a
chance on getting what he expects to
get. The mail order house may be
perfectly honest and still the purchas-
or stands a good chance of not get
ting what he expects to get. The mail
order catalogues are filed with pic
lures that catch the eye. The de-
scriptions are brief, as they must be
when thousands of articles are to be
described within the confines Of one
book. No matter how hard the mall
order house might try to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the
truth, 1t would be an impossibility.
The buyer is simply taking chance.
Buying "sloht Unseen"
How much more satisfactory II fs
to walk into store In your home town
and ask to see an article which you
may have seen advertised In your
home paper. What would anyone
think of your business ability or your
common sense II you walked into 0
store at home ana said: Il saw d
picture In the paper today of suit
which liked very much. Please wrap
up one for me. Here's the money"
The merchant would think that you
were crazy, but that Is exactly what
you do every time you send an order
to mail order house. You buy sight
unseen" and you haven't a ghost of a
chance of getting your money back If
/ the article Is unsatisfactory when II
reaches you.
How different is the proceeding
when you go into the store In your
own home town to buy suit OF
clothes, or stove or yard of ribbon.
You may have seen picture of 1t in
the merchants advertisement In the
home paper and you know that, as the
merchant Is reliable. you can count on
the goods being as he represents them
in his advertisement. But does he ask
you to take his word for everything
Does he hide the article behind the
counter and tell you that you can't
even see 1t until you buy 1t and pay
over the money for itf Hardly. If
the article is not already In plain sight
on the counter, the merchant produces
II for your inspection. If 1t does not
exactly suit you, he has others that
are little different and that he is glad
to have you inspect
Get Merchants Guarantee.
Then, If 1t Is a suit of clothes yor
are buying, or a piecaEef dress goods
or pair of socks. you may ask If the
merchant will guarantee that 1t Will
wear as long as an article of that kline
could be expected 10 wear and he viii
tell you either that he will guarantee
1t or that he will not. If he tells yoJ
that he will guarantee 1t you will know
that you will get your money back OF
another suit or another pair of sock!
in its place If 1t doesn't wear like 4
should, for the merchant, besides be
ing an honest man In most cases. can
not afford not to make his word good
He Is dependent upon your bushes!
and that of others in his own commu
nifty and he cannot afford to misrepre
sent his goods.
After having all this opportunity t
see what you are buying, you take you
suit or Your stove or whatever 1t Il
you buy home or 1t is sent home 70
you without any delivery charges, ant
after you get home and take anothe
look at II and decide you don't wan
1t after all, you send it back.
You are not buying something Sigh
unseen" when you buy from your hom
merchant You don't look at pictur
of an article in a newspaper, read
short description of it, go to the pos
Office and buy money order and sem
It TO the merchant with the instruC
tons, "Send me a suit of clothes'-o
stove or whatever II may be-"an
I'll pay your delivery man so cents 70
delivering IL TO me"
There's a world OF difference In tn
two methods of doing business and it
not hard 10 figure out which is the bes
for the man who is doing the buying.