THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



249 



At another grocery you see at once that 

 the proprietor is interested in what you 

 have. He has but little honey, or none 

 at all; and when you see there is proba- 

 bly a chance to sell him some you say, "I 

 have just come to town, and have talked 

 to but one man. I am very sure you 

 could do well with the honey I have if I 

 could sell it to you. I have only 15 cases 

 with me — 7 of the fancy j^rade and 8 of 

 the dark; and if I could sell you my load, 

 I am confident you would realize well on 

 the purchase. " 



He looks at you with eyes wide open; 

 bethinks to himself, "Fifteen cases of 

 honey at one purchase ? Gracious ! won- 

 der if he thinks I sell all the groceries 

 used in this county." But all the same 

 you have made a favorable impression. 

 You have flattered him by assuming that 

 he is one great big merchant, and you 

 have impressed him with the idea that 

 you are out to do business on a big scale. 



"Fifteen cases? oh! I couldn't use that 

 much. You see, the grocery business is 

 terribly cut up here. There are many 

 stores and of course every man has his 

 friends. We never buy very heavily. 

 We keep precty close to shore, as the say- 

 ing is; but then I don't mind buying a 

 few cases of you if I can get it right." 



If you had taken in a case and asked 

 him to buy it he would hardly have 

 thought of asking for more; but now that 

 you have put the idea into his head of 

 buying the load he feels safe in risking 

 a few cases. Likely you sell him three of 

 each grade. You set the cases in a conspic- 

 ous place and he remarks that it looks like 

 enough to run his trade for three months; 

 but 3'ou thank him for the money, and wish 

 him better luck in moving it than he 

 imagines. You certainly would not 

 have sold him six cases if you had tried 

 to sell him one, and it is almost as cer- 

 tain you would not have sold him six if 

 you had not first talked up the sale of 

 your load. 



Now you go back to the man who was 

 too busy at your first call. You tell him 

 your business, and where you are from, 

 and that, he will soon be out of honey. 

 He is interested in what you say; but he 

 is one of those luen who always want to 

 cut and slash prices; and to do this he be- 

 gins to talk hard times and low prices. 



"I have only nine cases of this left, 

 and I should like to .sell you the lot." 



"But your price is too high." 



"I do not think so, considering the 

 quality I furnish." 



"But I can get it shipped in from the 

 wholesale houses and conmiission men in 

 Blank City for at least a cent, and likely 



a cent and a half, less than your prices, 

 and get my business discounts besides." 



"It is barely possible that you can do 

 as well; but I very nmch doubt about your 

 getting as good value for the money as I 

 offer you. There is the risk of your not 

 getting as good an article as you expect 

 when you place an order, and 'also risk of 

 breakage in transit. I am right here with 

 the hone)^; every section of it is in first- 

 class condition; you can see exactly what 

 you are buying — no freight, drayage, or 

 breakage; and if any case I sell you is 

 not as represented I will take it off your 

 hands next time I come over, without 

 any hard feelings on the part of any one, 

 or a'lot of unpleasant correspondence over 

 such a matter. I sell to ever}- one alike; 

 and while it is natural for ever}- buyer to 

 want to do a little better, and have a 

 small advantage over his competitor ( and 

 I do not blame you for it), at the same 

 time I know by experience that it is more 

 .satisfactory all around to treat all alike. 

 You can make 25 per cent easily enough 

 on my honey at the prices I offer; and 

 the rebate on the cases when empty, if 

 you will let me have them back in good 

 condition, will more than equal the busi- 

 ness discount you mention. If you had 

 these nine cases standing up in front here 

 I do not doubt it would attract as nmch 

 attention, and make as fine a show, as 

 any lot of honey you ever handled." 



He tries to beat vou down on the price; 

 but you are firm, though verj- gentleman- 

 1}', and, as a result, he concludes to take 

 two cases of fancy and two of dark, after 

 you have reassured him that you will be 

 over again in 60 days or so, and will pay 

 10 cents each for the empty* cases if he 

 keeps them in good condition. 



At your next call you find a man who 

 hardly ever keeps any honey unless he 

 gets a little occasionally from a customer. 



"The times are too hard. It won't 

 sell." 



"But sometimes people buy honey be- 

 cause the times are hard." 



"How so." 



"I see you have some high-priced pre- 

 serves and jams on your shelves here. 

 The trade that has been getting such 

 goods is apt to buy 15 cents' worth of hon- 

 ey just because it does not feel flush 

 enough to buy something more expensive. 

 Or, instead of going home without candy 

 or something that the children expect, a 

 man will take home a few sections of 

 honey and tell the children that these 

 hard times they will have to get their 

 sweetmeats at the table with their meals. 

 In such cases you would sell the honey, 

 if you had it, when you would not sell 



