14 
BULLETIN 1411, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
annua] volume, total value, regularity of supply, perishability, or 
variability in wholesale price, in so far as they influence the percent- 
age margins, are of secondary significance, because they operate 
indirectly through prices. The dominating factor is the size and 
value of the standard retail sale. 
APPORTIONMENT OF DISTRIBUTION EXPENSE BETWEEN JOBBER 
AND RETAILER 
Two kinds of distribution services are included in the spread be- 
tween wholesale and retail prices. One set of services is rendered 
by the distinctive retailing agents, whereas the other is performed 
by intermediate jobbers who break up the wholesale shipments into 
lots of convenient size for handling in retail stores. 
To ascertain the relation which these two portions of the distribu- 
tion expense bear to each other, the spread per retail sale was split 
into its two component parts. The portion attributable to the 
jobber was measured separately from that of the retailer. The 
retailers' portion of the price-spread is the difference between retail 
price and jobbing price; the jobbers' portion is the difference between 
the jobbers' selling price and the cost of goods in the New York 
wholesale market. Analysis of these two portions is restricted to 
independent unit stores, since in chain stores the functions of jobber 
and retailer are performed by a single agency. 
The retailers' portion and the jobbers' portion of the total price- 
spread per standard retail sale in unit stores are shown for each 
commodity in Table 5. Comparison of the two portions which make 
up the total spread per sale shows that the retailers' part is more 
nearly constant throughout the series than is the jobbers' portion. 
The coefficient of deviation from the mean jobbers' spread of 2.1 
cents is 18 per cent of the mean spread. For the retailers' portion, 
on the other hand, the coefficient of deviation from the mean re- 
tailers' spread, 9.7 cents, is only 8 per cent. Deviation of the 
jobbers' price-spread from the mean for the 14 articles is over twice 
as great as the deviation of the retailers' price-spread from its mean. 
Table 5. 
-Retailers' and jobbers' portion in standard retail sale for unit stores only, 
New York metropolitan area, February, 1923, to May, 
Commodity 
Value of 
standard 
retail sale 
Total 
spread 
Jobbers' 
spread 
Retailers' 
spread 
California oranges . _ 
Cents 
28.0 
27.8 
27.3 
27.0 
26.4 
25.9 
25.2 
24.7 
24.6 
23.5 
23.4 
22.4 
21.6 
20.9 
Cents 
11.8 
10.8 
10.4 
12.2 
12.7 
11.9 
11.8 
11.6 
12.3 
12.2 
12.4 
11.9 
12.5 
13.4 
Cents 
2.0 
1.6 
1.7 
2.5 
2.9 
1.8 
2.7 
2.0 
2.0 
3.0 
1.6 
1.8 
1.9 
2.5 
Cents 
9.8 
Southern potatoes ... . .. . ... 
9.2 
Northern potatoes . . .. 
8.7 
9.7 
Southern cabbage ... ... 
9.8 
Sweet potatoes .. ... 
10.1 
Boxed apples .. . .. .. 
9.1 
Cantaloupes 
9.6 
Barreled apples - .. .-- 
10.3 
9.2 
10.8 
Western lettuce -- 
10.1 
Northern cabbage.. .. .. .. 
10.6 
10.9 
25.9 
11.8 
2.1 
9.7 
