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THE
REVIEW
flUJIC TIRADE
VOL.
LXXVI. No. 8
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman ]BilI, Inc., 373 4th Ave., New York, N. Y.
Feb. 24, 1923 ,
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Handling the Automatic Piano at Retail
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HE automatic, coin-operated piano has been gaming ground and going ahead steadily, without any
great hurrah, despite the fact that the average dealer has failed to give it proper consideration and
put back of it correct and intensive selling effort. This is the best argument for the innate selling
merits of this instrument, and the surest proof of its greater demand if the methods by w^hich it is
sold at retail were reformed. And the need for reformation along these lines is more apparent every day.
There are those who for a number of years have been handling automatic instruments with distinct
success, realizing the possibilities of these instruments from a sales standpoint and capitalizing those possi-
bilities most effectively. The advantage of the automatic line, of course, is that so far as the ordinary types
of player-pianos are concerned, it is not competitive for it does not find its ultimate place in the home. On
the contrary, it provides the dealer with the somewhat unusual advantage of selling to prospects something
that is calculated to pay for itself in a comparatively short time, and in addition show a substantial profit while
still providing desirable entertainment of a musical nature.
Those of a pessimistic nature who saw the demise of the automatic instrument with the coming of pro-
hibition have by this time had their fears dispelled, for,-as a matter of fact, the greatest advances made by
those instruments have come since Volstead stipulated the amount of alcohol his countrymen could consume.
It has been found that virtually any business which depends upon any kind of dealing with the public as a body
is to be regarded as a prospect for the sale of an automatic or coin-operated instrument.
With this broad and steadily expanding field it is regrettable that more retailers, even those who have
realized the sales value of the automatic instrument, have not seen fit to handle it on the same basis that they
handle pianos and talking machines, namely, to carry a wareroom stock sufficient to meet current and expected
demands without relying upon the factories for special service and inviting the delays that often occur.
In short, there is too much selling of automatic instruments from catalogs; too much of a desire to let
the manufacturer hold the bag while the dealer cleans up on the profits, without assuming the responsibility
and capital investment incidental to carrying at least a complete sample stock. This is despite the fact that
the average automatic line comprises as a rule no more than half a dozen distinct types.
There is no question but that, with a stock of instruments on his floor, the retailer is in a position to
develop into sales many prospects who are hanging fire simply because they hesitate to be sold on the catalog
and do not feel inclined even to assume the obligation of having the instruments shipped to them upon approval.
It is human nature to desire to see at first hand what is being bought, and actual experience has proved that,
when the automatic instrument of the proper type can be shown and demonstrated and immediate delivery
assured, the sale is made more rapidly and the turnover as a whole is quicker.
With the production and merchandising of automatic instruments stabilized, as it is at the present time,
an increasing number of retailers have seen fit to add such instruments to their lines, not to replace the regu-
lar lines of straight and player-pianos, but as a supplementary means for increasing capital turnover and
profit. It means going out into a field which cannot be reached by the ordinary instruments, yet one that is
safe and sane, for coin-operated pianos and orchestrions actually pay for themselves while in operation.
The handling of automatic instruments is a legitimate, and, so far as can be seen, a permanent factor
in the music industry, and in view of that fact it is sufficiently important to make worth while the sale of
these instruments in a business-like way with complete stocks in the dealers' hands and a capital investment
on the part of the retailer consistent with the volume of business he expects to do.
Even for the dealer located within trucking distance of the factory the policy of selling from catalogs
and gambling on the speedy filling of'a special order is dangerous. For the retailer at a distant point the
policy is out of the question and the time is approaching when the retailer with stock will close the deal.