170 



FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



resentative of the Harvester company, 

 as well as by your local dealer. This 

 may not be practical in quite the same 

 way in the sale of honey through re- 

 tailers, but one large dealer in honey 

 has this year gone at the sale of honey 

 in this field in a practical and legiti- 

 mate way through retailers by adver- 

 tising in local papers, by display in 

 dealers' windows and stores, and by 

 demonstration work of one kind or 

 another. 



But we may say that all this costs 

 money. To be sure it does. Mighty 

 little that's desirable in this world 

 today is to be had without pay. 



But because there is cost connected 

 with doing, a certain thing does not 

 necessarily mean that we eventually 

 pay for it. Advertising or publicity 

 or this educating the consumer to the 

 use of honey is something that the 

 consumer eventually will thank us for 

 (if he gives it consideration at all) and 

 for which the consumer pays. 



The Singer Sewing Machine com- 

 pany does not sell a sewing machine 

 for $9.00 which costs them $8.00. The 

 International Harvester company adds 

 enough to the cost of making a binder 

 to cover the expense of the special 

 salesman's call upon you and in addi- 

 tion a profit for the retailer, and in 

 addition to that a profit for themselves 

 and even at that you can afford to buy 

 the binder and pay for having them 

 tell you about it. You would not go 

 back to the old cradle with which to 

 harvest your grain, neither would 

 you let your wife go back to hand 

 sewing alone. Instead you are mighty 

 glad to pay for having been told 

 about these good things. 



In Europe, where money is so scarce 

 that it is worth from four to five 

 times as much as it is here, honey re- 

 tails at 25 to 30 cents per pound in 

 small lots. In this country a low 

 price does not necessarily increase the 

 sale of honey and, in fact, usually it 

 has no bearing at all or little upon the 

 quantity consumed. It costs money to 

 put anything upon the market, no 

 matter whether we sell direct to the 

 consumer by personal solicitation, by 

 mail, or through retailers or whole- 

 salers, and everyone who has a hand 

 in marketing our product must be 

 paid for his services, but it is the con- 

 sumer, the man who wants the honey 

 and who is glad he can get it at all, 

 that must pay for having it brought to 



him. These costs are legitimate costs 

 and should be added to the price when 

 the honey finally gets into the hands 

 of the consumer, and those of us who 

 sell honey at retail at wholesale prices, 

 or without leaving sufficient margin 

 for the ordinary marketing of their 

 product, are merely standing in their 

 own light and, worse than that, are 

 doing the most they can to discourage 

 any effort at educating these millions 

 of consumers in this country to the 

 use of honey. 



In selling honey, we must bear in 

 mind that, if our honey has cost us 

 something to produce, it is^^, just as 

 surely going to cost the consumer 

 something to get it into his possession, 

 and, since the consumer is willing to 

 pay a fair price, by all means let him 

 do so. 



If we wish to go direct to the con- 

 sumer we must hire a competent 

 salesman. Assuming that one sells 50 

 pounds of honey per day at 25 cents 

 per pound, his sales would be $12.50. 

 To get such salesmen one must pay, 

 say, 30 per cent commision, or say, 

 $3.75 per day. Supposing this same 

 man, who is worth $3.75 per day, sells 

 honey at 15 cents per pound. He is 

 not likely to sell any more at 15 cents 

 than at 25 cents. If he sells 50 pounds, 

 totaling $7.50, and since you will have 

 to pay him $3.75 to keep him, your 

 selling expense will be 50 per cent in- 

 stead of 30 per cent. In other words, 

 the higher the price the less it will 

 cost you in percentage to sell your 

 goods. 



Worth thinking of, is it not? 

 Assuming you are selling honey at 

 25 cents per pound, paying 30 per cent 

 or 7% cents per pound for selling, you 

 will find it will cost you nearly as much 

 more to deliver if you are covering any 

 very wide field, but, taking 5 cents per 

 pound as a fair cost for delivering, 

 this makes a total of 12% cents per 

 pound for distributing, leaving you net 

 about 12% 'cents per pound for your 

 honey, and without allowing anything 

 for management expense in connection 

 with the distribution. 



This selling and delivering or dis- 

 tribution expense is for the consumer 

 to pay and he is paying it on sewing 

 machines; he is paying it on shoes; 

 on clothing; on groceries, on every- 

 thing else that he btiys. Why shouldn't 

 he pay it on honey? There is no rea- 

 son why he should not. 



