NURSERY STOCK FOR FLORISTS 3 



and shrubs wants someone to fall back on in case of loss, 

 someone whom he can question as to the future care of 

 the stock, etc. Such a one, furthermore, is willing to pay 

 for this accommodation. The better class customers of 

 today with whom we have to deal don't usually mind 

 the cost — what they want is ^'Service.'' The established 

 florist, being well known and respected, has an oppor- 

 tunity here that is of inestimable value. 



Start out not with the idea of cutting the tree agent's 

 prices, but with the idea of selling "trees plus service'' 

 and charging for what you sell. As an actual fact, how- 

 ever, you can usually buy and sell a plant so as to make a 

 neat profit and even then undersell the tree agent by about 

 one-third. The prices these men charge are, as a rule, 

 exorbitant, and necessarily so, since the ''agent" some- 

 times gets 40 per cent, while 10 per cent goes to the man 

 who delivers. (You will always notice that the man who 

 sells never delivers, this arrangement being to prevent 

 argument or cancellation of the order by the customer.) 

 Deducting the 40 per cent, plus the 10 per cent, leaves us 

 50 per cent, or a fair retail price for the firm handling 

 the transaction. With your business right at home you 

 need only charge one profit, thus saving your customer 

 money and giving him service as well. 



The reader will note instantly whether or not these 

 conditions exist in his locality; if they do he can feel that 

 the first element of success is present and may proceed 

 to analyze his territory further with the idea of meeting 

 this demand for nursery stock. A good way to do this 

 is to take a map of the locality and ascertain carefully 

 just what percentage of its population consists of well- 

 to-do- prospects; not, necessarily, the number of wealthy 

 people, but of that other and better class of prospects — 

 the prosperous home owners. Also let him spend a day 



