Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
fflJJIC TFADE
VOL.
LXIV. No. 25
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. June 23, 1917
Single Copies 10 Cents
$2.00 Per Year
Putting the Trade House in Order
T
HERE has never been a time when the piano trade needed scientific'business management in a greater
degree than at the present, for the more solid the business foundation and the stronger the business
fabric during the months to come, the greater will be the probability of the trade as a whole weathering
war-time conditions with profit and honor.
Too many piano men are prone to view reform, especially in the matter of credits, as something much to be
desired, but unattainable, during the present generation at least. The manufacturer is perfectly willing for his
competitor to shorten credits, but he himself believes that he cannot take such a step, because his trade cannot be
trained to the new practice. The dealer, on the other hand, takes much the same attitude towards the retail
trade, believing that the competition he is forced to meet precludes any possibility of reducing time on instalment
sales.
If the average piano man allows the bugbear of competition to govern his business practices, without regard
to his own requirements or safety, then an unhealthy condition will obtain that will work against the interest of
the trade as a whole, and consequently against the interest of every individual in it. Those piano men who have
broken away from tradition, especially in the matter of instalment sales, have found that the increased safety in
the business actually done has more than offset any loss in the volume of their business caused by stricter credit
rulings.
Pianos have been sold successfully at wholesale on a four months' basis, and in the face of strenuous com-
petition. Of course, the particular manufacturer could not sell to every merchant in the field, but he had the
satisfaction of knowing that the pianos he did sell were going to be paid for in a reasonable time, which gave
him a greater freedom of capital for carrying on other work and developing his business. Many piano merchants
have likewise shortened their retail selling terms, thereby strengthening their own credit to an appreciable degree.
One of the leading piano manufacturing concerns in this country has announced that in the future all instal-
ment credits given by its retail branches will be limited strictly to twenty-four months' time. The piano dealer
who elects to follow suit will find that though his competition will be stronger he is nevertheless working for his
pocketbook instead of for his competitor, and the mere glory of doing a "paper" business.
The National Association of Piano Merchants has officially recommended that the retail trade pay closer
attention to the matter of credits, pointing out the need for definite reform in that connection.
Present conditions afford the trade an unusual opportunity for achieving real credit reform, both in the
wholesale and retail fields. There may be those who will declare that a large section of the public has been
carried away by a spirit of hysterical economy, that they will be disinclined to purchase pianos at this particular
time, and that therefore the occasion is not ripe for demanding larger instalments. The fact remains, however,
that those people who are advocates of extreme economy will not buy pianos for the time being under any
conditions, and therefore they do not care whether the terms asked cover twenty-four or forty-eight months.
The increasing cost of doing business, together with the increased cost of piano manufacturing, make it
extremely essential that both manufacturers and dealers take as few chances as possible in tying up their capital
in instalment paper. If the country were impoverished, there might be some excuse for the extension of long
credits in an effort to keep things going, but money is plentiful, despite the high cost of living, and is going to
continue to be plentiful for an indefinite period. There is no necessity, therefore, for spreading the selling price
of a piano over three or four years, or even longer, when the purchasing public has sufficient ready cash to
complete the payments on a piano within a period of from twenty-four to thirty months.
Particularly must the manufacturer take steps to protect his own interests. A glance at his bills for supplies,
(Continued on page 5)