MARKETING WESTERN BOXED APPLES 33 
are available for sales in Baltimore, Newark, New Orleans, Min- 
neapolis, St. Paul, and for occasional sales at other points. Probably 
the complete reports would show that close to one-fourth of the boxed- 
apple shipments are sold at auction. 
Sales of northwestern apples are partly from current arrivals and 
partly from stocks placed in near-by storage. Auction supplies 
come mainly from brokers and car-lot receivers, with very few from 
country shippers’ associations and frormh individual shippers and 
producers. Consignment for auction sale is usually made through 
a broker who acts as shipper’s agent during the auction and perhaps 
withdraws the offering if conditions seem unsatisfactory. 
A receiver when selling indirectly through an auction charges 5 
per cent, out of which he pays 1% to 2% per cent, occasionally 3 
per cent or more, to the auction company. Some associations 
maintain salaried agents to act as brokers, selling either to dealers 
or through the auction company. 
The auction is held in the freight house, on the receiving pier, 
or in a near-by building, the stocks having been previously classified, 
labeled, and catalogued. Sales are based on packages taken at 
random from each lot in line, although the buyers rely much on their 
knowledge of the prominent brands. 
The broker or the agent for the shipper represents the owner at 
the sale, preventing delays, adjusting disputes, giving information 
to buyers, observing the proceedings, and, in general, protecting the 
owner’s interest. A car lot is sold in 2 to 10 mirutes. The shipper 
receives a catalogue of sales made. The fruit is sold in lots of 10 
packages upward in the smaller cities, and from 40 packages upward 
in the greater markets. The larger buyer may assign a part of his 
purchase to others whose requirements are small. Buyers include 
jobbers, commission dealers, motor-truck wholesalers, chain stores, 
grocers, hotels, and peddlers. The buyers pay for cartage. Perhaps 
20 per cent of the sales are to ‘buying brokers” who buy on com- 
mission, usually 5 cents a package, acting for persons who do not 
care to spend time to attend the sale. 
Jobbers are heavy buyers at auctions and in some cities they take 
two-thirds of the sales. Jobbers expect to sell at a profit of 5 to 25 
cents per package over auction prices. Sometimes the difference 
between auction and jobbing prices is very considerable, but it is 
asserted that the tendency of auction selling is to cut down the margin 
obtained by receivers and jobbers. 
Among the advantages claimed for the auction system of disposal 
are (1) competitive bidding from a large number of buyers together, 
(2) prompt disposal of all classes and grades of stock, (3) publicity 
of prices paid, (4) less deterioration of stock, and (5) more or less 
Saving in cost of selling. 
LEADING BOXED-APPLE MARKETS 
The boxed-apple markets, aside from geographical location, are 
of three general classes. First are the home markets of the boxed- 
apple region where practically all receipts are from boxed-apple 
States. Because of seasonal demand and market preference, these 
supplies are not necessarily all from the home State. In 1923 Denver 
took nearly half of its supply from shipping points not in Colorado. 
88140°—26—3 
