THE
VOL. LXXVII. No. 16 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y. Oct. 20, 1923
Single Copies 10 Cents
$2.00 Per Year
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The Basis of the Sales Made Today
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F the g-eneral public is to judg-e the piano situation as it exists and promises to develop from the adve r
tisements of music merchants in various sections of the country, then it is quite right in assuming· that
then' is such an oversupply of new instruments in the hands of retailers and in the course of production
at th e facto ries that it is really a serious problem to devise ways and means for disposing of the instru
ments and preven ting them from piling up in warehouses .
Meanwhile those in touch with factory conditions are cognizant of the fact that the production prob
lem wi ll be a very real one during the next fevv months owing- largely to th e difficulties experienced in getting
a sufficient number of trained workmen to enable the plants to run anywhere near maximum. Retailers like
wise who are in touch with conditions have been showing real concern about getting shipments through, not
only to take care of expected de11lands of the holiday period , but to fill orders actually on hand at this time.
In the face of all this comes the advertising of certain types of dealers declaring in a most sensational
mann er that stocks of new instruments must be disposed of quickly for anyone of a number of reasons, these
ranging all the 'Nay from the declared necessity of making room for new shipments to the need for thinning out
storks before remodeling- or moving operations.
It is a noteworthy fact that the retailers handling the more prominent makes of pianos have already
begun to experience a taste of the forthcoming shortage, and are moving along at a noticeably conservative
pace selling their instrument s on a sou nd basi s and for cash or on terms that do not show the lengthening·
process developed through fear of competition .
From the purely business point of view, the retailer who does not consider hi s present stock from the
standpoint of its replacement value, that is, the new prices and the losses to be charged up to orders that cannot
be filled later, is considerably off in his calculations and is actually sacrificing future business for the lure of
present sales reconts at smaller profits.
E x periences of previous years have proven to many dealers that a week or two before Christmas there is
often reason to regret that a particularly attractive gTand was sold at a shaded price or on long terms some time
in September or October, particularly ,,,,hen the opportunity develops for turning over on a cash basis a similar
instrument then unavailable. The first year this situation developed there might have been some excuse for
making such mistakes, but the condition has now existed at holiday time for several years long enough, in
fact, to give the intelligent merchant an opportunity to profit by past experience and handle the situation
properly and to his own profit.
In every line of pianos there are one or two models that prove more popular than others, and under
normal cond itions it is natural for the dealer and his salesman to concentrate upon them for the purpose of mak
ing a maximum number of sales w ith a minimum amount of effort. ""Vhen a shortage impends it naturally
means that the more popular modds are to be just as scarce, or indeed scarcer than the slower selling- ones,
particularly when factories do not regulate their production schedules strictly 011 the basis of salabi lity. VI/e,
therefore, find a surprising number of merchants center ing on the higher priced or lesser known models, en
deavoring to sell those by special efforts in the belief that the more popular styles will take care of themselves .
There is a difference of opinion in the trade as to whether the impending shortage of pianos during holi
clay time should not be E'mphasized in sales talks and in public advertisements with a view to stimulating buying
at this time and thus enabling the dealer to judge his requirements up to the first of the year. Some feel that
the talk of shortage would aro use the suspicions of the public, while others believe that it might stimulate buy
ing to a point where matters would be more complicated.
The main thing, however, is for the dealer himself to take cognizance of the situation and sell his pianos
n ow on proper terms and at full price. He wi ll thm not feel so badly OVE'r sales lost through lack of stock.
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