26 BULLETIN 1362, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
charging a variable rate, graduated in accordance with the volume 
and character of the business, provided such rate is open to all who 
meet the required conditions. 
SETTLEMENTS 
Large auction companies usually allow purchasers of domestic 
products a credit term of 10 to 15 days. This term is sometimes ex- 
tended to 30 days on foreign products. In many cases the buyers 
carry deposit accounts with the auction companies in order to estab- 
lish a credit, the companies paying interest on these deposits. Buy- 
ers who have not arranged for credit with the auction companies 
are required to pay cash before delivery. Some companies transact 
all their business on a cash basis. Almost all auction companies 
guarantee the solvency of their buyers and settle with the receivers 
within 24 or 48 hours after the sale, so that any losses from bad 
accounts are borne by the company. In order to make prompt set- 
tlement with their receivers while extending credit to their buyers 
it is often necessary for the auction companies to borrow relatively 
large sums from the banks, especially during active seasons, when 
receipts are heavy. 
There is little inducement for a buyer to spend a long time in 
the auction salesroom awaiting an opportunity to bid on a small 
line of goods in which he is interested, provided he can fill his needs 
promptly and conveniently at private sale or can employ the services 
of an agent to represent him at the auction. Many retailers and 
jobbers who buy in lots too small to justify their attendance at the 
sale secure their supplies through buying brokers, who usually make 
a charge of about 5 cents per package for their services. Those who 
purchase through such agents usually arrange a credit with the 
auction company against which the purchases of the broker are 
charged. If the broker arranges the credit with the auction com- 
pany, he usually makes an additional charge of 5 cents per package. 
In the large markets there are a few brokers who buy- for principals 
whose business is uniformly large, for commissions ranging from 
1 to 3 cents per package. 
ADJUSTMENTS 
So far as the auction company is concerned, the price at which the 
line is sold by the auctioneer generally is final. After the sale is 
completed, should there be any cause for an adjustment by reason 
of condition of the product, or such mistakes as billing the wrong 
grades or sizes, or for any reason previously unknown to either buyer 
or seller that would work a material injustice, the buyer must deal 
directly with the receiver or his agent and not with the auction 
company. Mistakes in delivery, cataloguing, etc.. which are directly 
traceable to the auction company are adjusted by them, however, 
and the adjusted price is the one shown on the price-realized cata- 
logue. Since the buyer may examine not only the opened samples 
but other packages before the sale, there seldom is need for ad- 
justments. 
F. 0. B. TELEGRAPHIC AUCTIONS 
In 1923 two new companies were organized which have as their 
purpose the auctioning of car lots of fruits and vegetables by tele- 
