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Published by The Music Trade Review, 420 Lexington Avenue, New York
What Do You Do
With
Trade-Ins?
George M. Bundy tells of two plans used by the McClellan
Music House, Buffalo, N. Y., whereby band instrument trade-
ins, instead of being allowed to compete with new instrument
stock, are put to work in such fashion as to increase new sales
An Interview with
GEO. M. BUNDY
George M. Bundy
HAT are you doing with your band
instrument trade-ins? Are you allow-
ing them to accumulate and gather
dust in your store in the hope of
eventually selling them and recovering the
allowance you made for them, thus competing
with your new stock? Or are you trying to
make them an additional selling force in your
W
store, a, force that will lead to the future sale
of new instruments and an increased sales vol-
ume?
Band instrument trade-ins have cost you
money and represent a capital investment.
Properly handled they need not represent a
loss, as is too often the case with the band-
instrument dealer. What are you doing about
them?
Here, in an interview with George M. Bundy,
of H. & A. Selmer, Inc., Elkhart, Ind., a man
who, besides being a manufacturer, has had
eighteen years of experience selling band
instruments at retail, are two proven methods
of turning band instrument trade-ins into
profits, as shown by the work of H. B. McClel-
lan, of the McClellan Music House, Buffalo,
N. Y. Mr. Bundy says:
"Every band instrument dealer can profit by
use of all or part of the following plan: In-
stead of allowing the used instruments to lie
dormant, awaiting a chance customer, have
them cleaned and placed in good playing con-
dition. Then assemble them into band sets,
filling in the missing instruments with such
new ones as you may deem necessary.
"Suggest to the grade schools in your sec-
tion that do not have bands to start a band
H. B. McClellan
in their school, renting the instruments from
you for six months at from $2 to $3 per month.
Also assist them, if necessary, in securing a
bandmaster or band teacher. After six months
have elapsed they are to surrender the rented
instruments and purchase their own. It is
usually well to arrange to allow the band leader
a commission on the new instruments to be
sold. It should not be difficult to have respon-
sible people connected with the school sign
for the instruments and assume responsibility
for their safekeeping. It has been found that
schools and school children are very good
credit risks as compared with the professional
risk with which most dealers have to contend.
"After the rental period elapses the instru-
ments should be sent back to the store for
cleaning, regulating and rerenting to another
new band. In this manner the dealer usually
gets his money out of the instruments in rentals
in about two years, and during this period each
(Continued on page 17)