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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



September 10, 1919 



Buying Veneers and Panels 



Considerations Which Should Be Constantly Held in View by the Buyer 



THERE IS AN INTERESTING QUESTION of what 

 constitutes success in buying, whether it be in the 

 buying of veneer and panels or any other com- 

 modity, but there has never been anything like 

 the discussion of this subject as of the subject of successful 

 selling. Yet quite as much of the ultimate business suc- 

 cess may depend upon good buying as upon good selling. 

 In the matter of buying, as in selling, the veneer industry 

 furnishes its own peculiar angles and phases, and it is 

 something of these that will be discussed here. 



One way of looking at it is that the greatest success in 

 buying consists in getting the most value for the money. 

 This, it will be readily understood by the initiated, does 

 not always mean buying at the lowest price, or bargain 

 buying, as it is termed; for it frequently happens that 

 stuff bought at a low^ price may not be worth the price 

 paid. Getting more than the usual value for the money 

 implies either better stock at a given price, or getting a 

 given quality of stock at a lower price. Presumably when 

 a man does this he has scored a success in buying. But 

 has he? 



There comes to mind a case where an extensive veneer 

 user drove what might be termed a good bargain of this 

 kind with a veneer manufacturer who was new to the 

 business. The new manufacturer had about as much to 

 learn of veneer values as the buyer in this case had 

 already learned, so the buyer took advantage of the 

 situation, as most buyers will, and made a contract with 

 the veneer manufacturer for a good part of his output to 

 be cut to given sizes and grades. The veneer user in this 

 case probably made a good thing out of it while it lasted, 

 but the trouble was, it didn't last very long. 



At the end of the contract period the veneer manu- 

 facturer gave up the ghost and quit business, so that 

 brought a sudden end to the good thing. It also furnishes 

 a moral with which to embellish this discourse. We must 

 live and let live. True success in buying must include a 

 reasonable consideration for the welfare of the man 

 bought from as well as the man doing the buying, because 

 otherwse the future is put in jeopardy. 



So getting the greatest possible value for the money 

 in buying is only one factor in the thing we call success, 

 and there are some others that should be considered. 

 One of these is that of satisfaction in using the veneer 

 and panels after they are bought. You probably know 

 that old saw about the quality remaining long after the 

 price is forgotten. This applies to veneer and panel pur- 

 chases. The satisfaction you get in using them, and out 

 of the result after they are put in use, counts for some- 

 thing. For example, what does it avail to buy a bargain' 

 lot of veneer or panels if it causes trouble and dissatisfac- 

 tion among the men in the shop who have to make them 



into finished products? If they have faults and defects 

 which make more w^ork and cause more bother? 



The thoughtful buyer will readily understand that he 

 should give consideration to the uses to which the thing 

 he buys is to be put, so that he may select that w^hich 

 will best meet the requirements. There is almost as much 

 in this point as there is in having a knowledge of veneer 

 values. Indeed, this is one of the factors in determining 

 values, for no structure of value is complete unless it is 

 based upon the use or the purpose for w^hich the value is 

 made. 



The answer to this is consultation, understanding, and 

 harmony between the man who does the buying and the 

 men who do the work of putting together or using the 

 stock bought. Consultation with the men in the work 

 room will soon show that they are neither perfect nor 

 infallible, for they will come across with all sorts of 

 notions and inject many personal preferences and prej- 

 udices. They will make mistakes, also, which will prove 

 that they have not thought over the matter consistently 

 and logically. But, notwithstanding these handicaps, it 

 will do good. It will set the men to thinking more about 

 such things so that in time they will develop a better 

 understanding of what they really need, and it will lead 

 to better team work, as well as furnish some useful infor- 

 mation for the buyer. 



Better results and fewer complaints from the work 

 room are the logical outcome of proper and repeated con- 

 sultations there on the part of the buyer. This alone 

 makes it well worth while, but the buyer himself should 

 get a liberal education out of such a course that will prove 

 useful to him when he is out buying. 



Then finally there is the matter of consultation between 

 the buyer and the man he buys from. The more the 

 buyer know^s about the product of the different manu- 

 facturers, the better are his chances to buy wisely for his 

 needs. On the other hand, the better a manufacturer 

 understands the needs of a buyer the better shape he is 

 in to serve those needs properly and to the advantage of 

 both himself and the buyer. 



In buying, as in selling, success depends largely upon 

 the intelligent application of knowledge gained from 

 both ends of the line; knowledge of the product at one 

 end, and of its uses at the other. It takes time, expe- 

 rience and a faculty for mixing and understanding to get 

 these in full measure, but once acquired they become a 

 valuable asset to business. 



The teredo in water and the white ant on land are the two worst 

 wood eaters known. In this country we are not gn'eatly plagued 

 with white ants, nor do we lose as much by teredos as some regions; 

 but have enough of these pests to illustrate their undesirability. 

 The teredo is worst in some of the harbors on the coast of the Gulf 

 of Mexico. 



