The mail order houses do business
on a smaller capital than almost any
other class of dealers. They spend
more money in advertising than for
all else. They issue catalogues, write
letters, send circulars, advertise in the
papers and scour the country for cash
customers, but they do not keep big
stocks of goods. They do a cash busi
ness and insist on having the cash or
its equivalent before they send out
the goods. In fact their general plan
is to get your money first and then go
out and buy the goods. Their ware
houses are often in an office desk, but
they get their profits, have no losses,
no slow customers and no uncollect
able accounts. Oh, they are slick, and
know how to get the cream and so
long as country merchants will put up
with it they must expect to get the
skimmed milk. We believe our home
merchants could knock them out every
time if they would go at it in the right
way, but they never can do so by with
drawing themselves into their shells
or stores and doing nothing to con
vince the people who buy that it is to
their interest and profit to buy at
home. There never was an age when
advertising, plain, honest advertising,
would accomplish so much as a trade
builder as now. Never a time when
the people who buy were such persist
ent readers as now. Never a time
when they were better able to pay
cash and disposed to buy so freely
The men who go after such customers
in a sensible way are the men who win
out every time, but the other kind
kick because the people send away
for goods, and kick because the papers
that they do not support take adver
tisements from such houses that pay
good cold cash for their advertising.—
Montevideo Leader.
