12 
BULLETIN 1411, TJ. S. DEPABTMENT OF AGKICTJLTTJJtE 
margins result from a combination of uniformity in price-spread per 
sale and variability in the value of the sale. It is the variable 
amount of money prevailingly spent for the consumer's single pur- 
chase, accompanied by a constant spread per sale, which fixes the 
variable proportion of the consumer's expenditure which is absorbed 
in city distribution. Variations in size of the standard retail sale, 
accompanied by constancy in distribution expense per sale, thus 
yield an adequate explanation of differences in percentage margins 
within the series of commodities here analyzed. 
SIZE OF RETAIL SALE AND 
RETAIL PRICE PER POUND 
FOURTEEN LEADING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 
NEW YORK METROPOLITAN DISTRICT, 1923-1924- 
MEAN RETAIL PRICE: PER POUND 
IN CENTS 
15 10 5 
I j i 1 
i 
■l™ 
B5B 
. ; : I 
Weighted** 
\ 
\ 
j^H 
| 
' S8 
<eon ! 
&m 
i 
m 
i 
MEAN NUMBER OF POUNDS 
PER SALE 
\ '2 3 4-5 6 7 
W. LETTUCE 
Fig. 4.— Commodities such as lettuce, sold in small retail quantities, have high retail price per 
pound, whereas staples like potatoes, which are retailed in larger-sized lots, have low retail 
price per pound 
DEDUCTIONS FROM SIZE-OF-SALE ANALYSIS 
This analysis of variations among different commodities in the 
margin or distribution expense per dollar's worth, demonstrates that 
the dominating factor in the variability of percentage margins is 
the size of the prevailing retail unit of sale. The quantity of goods 
prevailingly taken at a time by the individual customer is definitely 
and regularly associated with the proportion of the consumer's 
outlay which is required in the services of city distribution. 
The percentage margin signifies the amount of money in a retail 
dollar's worth of goods which is absorbed in these services. A 
