Au gust, 184^. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



115 



" Let me look at them," the customer said, 

 " not that I «isl) to piiicliase this moniiiij?, hut I 

 shoulil hke to see some shawls, so that I can 

 make up my mind when I come to buy." 



" O, ceitaiiily, ma'am." 



And the store keeper displayed several really 

 beautiful articles. 



" What do you ask for this?" referring to one 

 of very ricli pattern. 



" We caimot sell that shawl for less than one 

 hundred and fifty dollars^ Mrs. Shaanon." 



" One hundred and fifty dollars!" in tones of 

 astonishment. 



"Why that is very low for such a superb arti- 

 cle. We sold one of the same style pn-ecisely lo 

 Mrs. General Harper, yesterday, immediately on 

 npeninj; tl>e case, for one hundred and sixty dol- 

 lars. And this is the match o«e to it. I ask you 

 but one hundred and fifty, because I know you 

 deal close, and wish to accommodate myself, as 

 far as I possibly can, to yoin- views. Mrs. Col. 

 Jenkins was with Mrs. General Harper, and liked 

 the shawl so much that she thought she would 

 come in to-day and buy it. But as she dWf not 

 engage it, I do not feel' bound to retain it for her, 

 if you are pleased with both the shawl and the 

 price." 



"I think the shawl most beautiful, Mr. Bradley, 

 but really the price is enormous." 



" I make notliing on it, I do assure you, ma'am." 



" ^Von't you take something less for it, Mr. 

 Bindley?" 



"I can't indeed, ma'am." 



"You'll take a hundred and twenty-five, 1 

 know." 



"That would be doing a poor business, Mrs. 

 Shaniion. I had better shut up my store at 

 once." 



"Say one hundred and twenty-five, and you 

 may send it home." 



" Well, I clon't care! I hate to disoblige a 

 good customer. Take it along. But it wont do 

 for me to saciirice my goods in this way every 

 flay. If I do, 1 shall go to the wall before tiuee 

 iTionths. Shall I show you any thing else, 

 ma'am .'" 



"Nothing more, I I elieve. How mucli do all 

 the.se come to ?" 



" One hundred and twenty-five dollars for the 

 shawl — thirty-seven and a half for the silk, and 

 eighteen for the lace — one hundred and eighty 

 dollars and fifty cents, ma'am." 



"That's a very heavy bill. Call it one hund- 

 red and seventy-five dollars, even, Mr. Bradley." 



"That would be too hard, indeed, Mrs. Shan- 

 non," and the store keeper shook his head, forc- 

 ing a smile to his countenance at Uie same time. 



"Here's just one hundred and seventy-five 

 dollars, even money, Mr. Bradley. You'll take 

 that, I know, indeed," and Mrs. Shannon smiled 

 with an arch, self-compl.icciit air : " it's all that I 

 will give yon — so you might as well take it with 

 a good grace." 



" Well, if I must, I suppose T must, Mrs. Shan- 

 non. But indeed you are too hard for me." 



And as he said thi.«, he counted over the mon- 

 ey and threw it into the drawer. 



"Will you send the goods home at ouce?" ask- 

 ed Mrs. Shannon. 



"They shall go home immediately, nia'am." 



And the customer made her bow and depart- 

 ed, delighted with the great bargains she had 

 made out of the store-keeper. 



As she withdrew, ftf r. Bradley glanced know- 

 ingly at his principal salesman, and said, with a 

 smile — 



"Did you see that operalion, James?" 



" ( ) yes. That was delightful !" 



" That shawl cost sixty dollars." 



"Yes, I remember." 



"And the silk a dollar and a quarter a yard. I 

 lost, on the lace, but made it up handsonjely on 

 the other articles." 



" Rather too handsomely," the clerk remarked, 

 smiling in return. 



"Well, it was her own fault, James. If I had 

 asked her a fair price, slie would have beat me 

 down, so that I would have been compelled to 

 lose the sale, or lose my |)rofits. I had forgotten 

 her real character when I asked her but four 

 dollars a yard for the lace. Had I said six dol- 

 lars, I could have got four and a half easily." 



"It's the' only "way to deal with such people. 

 As a general rule, I can get more for an article 

 out of one of our real jewing cusiomers, iban 



out of the fair dealer, who buys at the pi ice you 

 name, if she buys at all." 



"Yes, that is the only way to get along, and I 

 believe nearly every retailer does the same. 



"O yes; it's the ordinary practice. 



A customer here interrupted the conversation, 

 and we are unahleTurther to enlighten the read- 

 er on the subject under consideration by Mr. 

 Bradley and his saWstujin. Enough, however, 

 transpired to give a word lo the wise. 



In the mean time, Mrs. Shannon returned 

 home in the course of an hour, and in a few min- 

 utes after, a friend, an elderly lady, named Mrs. 

 ClevelatuI, called in to see Mrs. Shannon. 



" Ah, good iiioriiing, Mrs. Clevelanil, I am glad 

 to see you. I've been out shopping this morning, 

 and have made some rare purchases." 



" Have you, indeed ?" 



"That 1 have. Just look at tliis splendid 

 shawl." 



"It's very beautiful indeed, Mrs. Shannon." 



"Aintit? And what is better, I got it foi- 

 something like twenty-five dollars less than 



"For less than cost?" Mrs. Cleveland asked in 

 tones of astonishment. 



"Yes, indeed. The store keeper said he made 

 nothing at all on it at one hundred and fifty dol- 

 lars. But I beat him down to one hundred and 

 twenty-five. I saw plain enough that he was 

 pushed for money, and would sell his goods at 

 almost any price. It was only yesterday tliat 

 Mrs. General Harper bought the fellow to it at 

 one luindred and sixty dollars. 3Irs. Colonel 

 Jenkins wanted this one, and I have no doubt 

 would have taken it to day, at the same price 

 paid by her friend, Mrs. General Harper. When 

 1 heard that, I determined to have it, and so 

 made my offer. Bradley thought a bird in the 

 h-and worth two in the bush. How disappointed 

 Mrs. Colonel Jenkins will be when she finds the 

 shawl gone ! 1 am so glad I happened to see it 

 before she called again. And just look at this 

 elegant pattern of Gros d' Afriqiie. It was three 

 dollars, and was cheap at that price. Rather 

 than to have missed it, I would have given three 

 and a quarter for it. Now what do vou think 1 

 got it for?" 



" Really, I do not know, Mrs. Shannon." 



" Well, 1 got it for two dollars and a half— fiir 

 below cost." 



"You did!" with a grave countenance. 



" Yes indeed. I saw that be would sell at al- 

 most any price, and so I beat him down hard. I 

 could have obtained this piece of goods at two 

 dollars a yard, if I had held out a little longer.'^ 



" But don't you think it wrong to do so, Mrs. 

 Shannon ?" 



" Wrong!" with a look and tone of astonish- 

 ment. " Wrong ! how in the world can you 



Why, wrong, Mrs. Shannon, to ask a man to 

 take less for his goods than Iheycost him. partic- 

 ularly when the jrnods are actually worth all that 

 is asked for them." 



"Really, Mrs. Cleveland, I cannot understand 

 you. I think it right, indeed commendable, for 

 every one to purchase goods as low as possible." 



" But is it right to have so little regard for the 

 interests of olliers, as to take advantage of llieii- 

 necessities to their injury? Really, 1 cannot see 

 it to be right." 



" I am sure, Mrs. Cleveland, that I can see no 

 reason why I should pay a man more for an arti- 

 cle than he is willing to take. Indeed, as it ap- 

 pears to me, I have nothing to do with his con- 

 cerns. If he sells below cost, it is his look out, 

 not mine." 



" I cannot take the same view of things that 

 you do, Mrs. Shannon. It seems to ?ne, that we 

 should regard as carefully the interests of others, 

 as our own, in dealing with them. Instead of 

 l>eing willing lo buy an article at less than its 

 real cost, when that cost is not above the market 

 value, it seems to me that we ought to refuse to 

 take that advantage even if oflTered to us." 



" Why, Mrs. Cleveland ! 1 should call that 

 cheating one's self." 



" Not atall, Mrs. Sliannon. It w-ould be simply 

 doing by others as we would wish others to do 

 by us. It would lie acting towards our neighbor 

 from a principle of true charity." 



" If you act from that principle, Mrs. Cleve- 

 land, you will be cheated at every turn." 



" I dift'er from you. There is in the minds of 



most persons, a wish to deal openly and fairly. 

 A close customer makes a close salesman. 1 

 have no doubt that in most cases where persons 

 cheapen goods, they are ultimately made to pay 

 more for them than they are really worth." 



" Well, I can tell you that I always (Cheapen 

 when I buy, and I know very well that I never 

 pay too much for an article." 



Mrs. Cleveland smiled meaningly. 



" You needn't laugh, Mrs. Cleveland. I know 

 that no one pays less for her dry goods than I 

 do." 



" There you arc mistaken, Mrs. Shannon. As 

 for instance, in the case of this beautiful piece of 

 Gros d'Afriqne. It was only yesterday that I 

 bought twelve yards off that very piece from 

 Bradley, at two dollars a yard, which was all he 

 asked for it." 



"That cannot be, Mrs. Cleveland ! You must 

 have bought from another piece of goods." 



"No, it is the very same ; I cannot be mistaken 

 in the article. And now I remember that he said 

 Jhere were just fifteen yards left." 



Mrs. Shannon's countenance felt instantly, and 

 then grew red with indignation. 



"Tlienhe has cheated me shamefully !" she 

 exclaimed, "and I'll make him refund me the 

 half dollar on each yard," 



"Say rather Mrs. Shannon," remarked her 

 plain spoken friend, "you have cheated yourseIC 

 Mr. Bradley put the price up because he knew, 

 that ask what he would, you would never buy 

 without beating him down. It has happened 

 that you did not beat down hard enough, and so 

 have had to pay for your error." 



" But it's downright cheating, Mrs. Cleveland, 

 and I'll expose him." 



"If it is wrong for Mr. Bradley to take advan- 

 tage of your ignorance, and receive from yon 

 more than an article is really worth, it is no less 

 wrong for you to take advantage of his necessi- 

 ties, and pay him less than the article cost him. 

 As I look at matters and things, the wrong is 

 equal." 



" I dont see as you do, Mrs. Cleveland, I do 

 not compel a store keeper to take less than cost 

 for his goods. I tell him what I will give, and 

 he is at liberty to sell on the terms 1 propose, or 

 not." 



" Still, Mrs. Shannon, his necessity is his com- 

 pulsion, and of this you take advantage." 



" But for me to pay him a firofit on his goods, 

 when he was willing to sell lielow cost, would 

 be a little too generous, it seems to me." 



" He b not wiUing, but compelled; and surely it 

 would be noble in any one to regard his condi- 

 tion, and take no advantage of it." 



" As I said before, I cannot see it as you do, 

 Jlrs. Cleveland." 



" 1 feel anxious that you should .see it as I do, 

 Mrs. Sliannon ; and therefore,! will try and make 

 it plainer to you. Imagine yourself a widow, 

 compelled to do some kind of business for the 

 support of your family. You set up with a small 

 capital, not sufficient to buy a good assortment, 

 and you have to make purchases on credit. For 

 a time you get on tolerable well, and are enabled 

 to make your payments without trouble. But 

 after a while, old goods and remnants accumu- 

 late, and customers make little bills, the aggre- 

 gate of which is quite an important sum to you. 

 You cannot now so readily meet your payments ; 

 and of course, become more anxious to sell 

 goods. Rather than let a customer go out, you 

 will sometimes take cost for an article. A press- 

 ing demand for money will cause you, as a tem- 

 porary expedient, to take even less than cost, 

 when nothing more can be obtained from one 

 who perceives your anxiety to sell, and takes ad- 

 vantage of it. Now, placing yourself in the po- 

 sition that I have placed you, would you not 

 think it very unjust for any one to profit by your 

 necessities ?" 



Mrs. Shannon did not reply. This was a new 

 mode of reasoning on the subject Like too 

 many others, she could not see the bearing of 

 any rule of action, until, applied to herself. 



" I hardly think the cases parallel," she at length 

 siiid. 



" They are precisely parallel, Mrs. Shannon. 

 A dry goods merchant does business, in most 

 cases, for the benefit of his fimily, the members 

 of which are dependent upon him for a support. 

 There are but few of them who are not, at some 

 lima or other iu similar djfficultjea to those I 



