SELF-SERVING IN RETAILING FOOD PRODUCTS. 47 
of advertising can be left to the judgment of the operator. Knowing 
the cost, not the final disposition of it, is the matter of real impor- 
tance. 
Another factor in the shrinkage of merchandise is spoilage. This 
can, and should, be segregated, as it is an important factor and one 
of which very little is known. It can be segregated by the use of 
Form 4, page 51, " Stock control adjustment — C." The merchandise 
handled may be divided into four classes, as follows: Fresh fruits 
and vegetables, cured meats, dairy products, and other groceries. 
A separate sheet of Form 4 should be used for each class. The name 
of the class should be entered in the upper left-hand corner of the 
form in the space provided. It is evident that in order to have the 
merchandise account at retail comparable to the sales that account 
should be credited with the loss of sales owing to spoilage, whether 
this spoilage is complete or only partial, the latter necessitating only 
a slight reduction in the selling price. The method of using this 
form is similar to that of using the forms just described, except that 
it is filled out by the man in charge of the merchandise which has 
spoiled. Under partial spoilage is also included any mark downs 
necessary because of "picked-over" perishables. While these may 
not be decayed, the size and quality might be such that the original 
price would have to be reduced in order to move them. This is a 
common circumstance and one which is usually taken into consider- 
ation in the original selling price. In order that entries on this 
form may be made clear two examples will be given, one in which 
the spoilage was complete and one in which it was partial : 
Example 1. — Fifty 2-pound baskets of tomatoes (a total of 100 
pounds of tomatoes) were put up for sale at 15 cents per basket. 
The merchandise account was charged $7.50, as that would be the 
total selling price. After 30 of these baskets had been sold at 15 
cents each, it was necessary to sell the remaining 20 at 10 cents each, 
either because partial spoilage made them of inferior quality or 
because it was seen that they were selling too slowly at 15 cents 
and might spoil before they could be sold the next day. The follow- 
ing entries would be made on Form 4: Date; tomatoes; 2-pound 
baskets ; old price, 15 cents ; new price, 10 cents ; inventory, 20 ; mark 
downs, 5 cents ; credit stock control, $1. 
Example 2. — If, at the end of the day, 5 baskets were left which 
were so badly spoiled that they had to be thrown out, the entries 
would be: Date; tomatoes; 2-pound baskets; old price, 10 cents; 
new price, cents; inventory, 5; mark down, 10 cents; credit mer- 
chandise account, 50 cents. The money received for these 50 baskets 
of tomatoes would be 30 at 15 cents, or $4.50 ; and 15 at 10 cents, or 
$1.50; the total being $6. The merchandise account was originally 
