Music Trade Review

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DECEMBER 13,
1919
THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
I PIANO DEALERS ARE STILL GIVING
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VALUABLE MERCHANDISE AWAY FREE
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Statistics Show That Retailers of Pianos and Players Are Still Most Generously
Inclined Toward Their Customers, Despite Steady Advance in Costs
ailllllilllllillJIIIIIIilNiliillllillillilll
to concede the point and give a scarf to a cus-
As compared with some other lines of indus-
try the piano t r a d e is woefully lacking in sta- tomer under certain conditions.
Of the seventy dealers, t w e n t y - t w o had dis-
tistics covering m a t t e r s r e g a r d i n g which there
continued all free t u n i n g after the i n s t r u m e n t
should be available accurate facts. It is true
left their w a r e r o o m s .
T w e n t y - s e v e n agreed
that individual concerns have collated m o r e or
with c u s t o m e r s to keep the i n s t r u m e n t in tune
less accurate information r e g a r d i n g their own
for one year after purchase. Nineteen retailers
p a r t i c j l a r affairs, the cost of doing business, the
limited the service to one t u n i n g d u r i n g the first
relative value of the various d e p a r t m e n t s of their
year and two agreed to give two tunings during
stores, etc., but general statistics on the same
subjects covering the t r a d e as a whole are non- the first year. It m u s t be a d m i t t e d t h a t in
a c k n o w l e d g i n g their p r e s e n t practices in the
existent.
W e r e such general facts available
m a t t e r of throw-ins the g r e a t majority of the
it would be distinctly interesting to learn how
retailers interviewed declared t h a t they had
m a n y t h o u s a n d s of dollars' w o r t h of g o o d s are
under way plans either to discontinue t h r o w -
given a w a y free by the piano m e r c h a n t s of the
c o u n t r y each year in the form of music rolls, ins a l t o g e t h e r or to place definite limits upon
the practice so far as they were concerned.
benches and scarfs and just h o w much actual
It is noticeable t h a t the giving of scarfs
cash outlay is m a d e for t u n i n g service given
free to p u r c h a s e r s during the first year at least. is steadily falling off, due largely to the in-
A long time before the war certain piano mer- creased cost of these articles.- Likewise there
has been a considerable d r o p in free tuning, al-
c h a n t s began to see the light and endeavored
most in direct ratio to the steadily a d v a n c i n g
to devise ways and m e a n s for eliminating the
cost of this service. T h e increased cost of
" t h r o w - i n , " or at least confining the practice
within certain bounds. O s t e n s i b l y they made music rolls m a y be expected to have a similar
some p r o g r e s s . T h e trade learned at intervals effect.
T h e hitch a p p a r e n t l y comes in the m a t t e r
of this or t h a t concern that had discontinued
the giving of b e n c h e s with player-pianos, or of benches, for although a certain n u m b e r of
the distribution of scarfs and even free music c u s t o m e r s can be talked out of d e m a n d i n g free
tuning, free scarfs and in some instances free
rolls to p u r c h a s e r s .
rolls, the majority appear to insist upon having
T h e r e is not a dealer, apparently, but who
some sort of bench t h a t will m a t c h the instru-
appreciates the fact that the giving away of
rolls, benches, scarfs and free t u n i n g service is m e n t they purchase, on the t h e o r y t h a t w i t h o u t
simply cutting down the profits of his business. a bench the i n s t r u m e n t itself is incomplete.
The Situation Regarding Free Rolls
Some dealers, a d m i t t i n g the condition, declare
The situation in the matter of giving rolls
that they cannot r e m e d y it o w i n g to the factor
with players is in itself getting distinctly inter-
of competition, that were they to discontinue
Some years ago a movement was
the giving away of accessories their trade esting.
would drift to c o m p e t i t o r s who were not so launched to limit the choice of a customer to
economical in their practices. T h e r e are o t h e r rolls of a fixed valuation rather than of a given
quantity. It was found that with the tastes of
dealers who justify the " t h r o w - i n " practice by
declaring that the accessories, although osten- the customers varying greatly one might select
sibly given away without cost to the customer, a dozen rolls that at either wholesale or retail
would be almost twice as costly as the rolls
are actually covered by an increased price on
selected by some less discriminating purchaser.
the piano or player-piano. Investigation in a
n u m b e r of cases has shown that a l t h o u g h the The practice of giving rolls of a fixed valuation
cost of the accessories m a y be added to the rather than of a fixed quantity has not, how-
ever, been generally adopted, for of the forty
piano price the profits t h a t should be realized
on the capital invested in such accessories are retailers who stated that they continue to give
free rolls, specifying the quantity, only six were
not so carefully guarded.
guided by the question of price and in each
T h e average association member, and particu-
larly the association officers, will tell you that of these six cases the value of the rolls was
limited to $10. Of the forty dealers, twenty-
their particular organization is fighting the
" t h r o w - i n " evil t o o t h and nail and that definite three gave twelve rolls with each player-piano,
p r o g r e s s is being m a d e . T h e association m e m - four gave fifteen rolls, one twenty rolls, and
ber is even able t o p r e s e n t names of concerns one even went the limit and gave twenty-four,
w h o have • discontinued all free gifts to pur- an exhibition of generosity that leaves the
chasers and are still doing business at the same average business man in awe.
Some Comments From Retailers
old stands. T h e t r u t h is t h a t such concerns
The comments of the various retailers anent
are distinctly in the m i n o r i t y ; in fact, they
the throw-in question are illuminating, even
represent the exceptions that go to prove the
rule t h a t the " t h r o w - i n " practice still prevails though they may not be at times all convinc-
ing. Homer L. Kitt, secretary-treasurer of the
most generally.
Arthur Jordan Piano Co., for instance, sets
Some Live Statistics on "Throw-ins"
forth the case as follows: "If you buy a pony
T h e Review recently took up the question of
" t h r o w - i n s " with some seventy representative the dealer does not give a cart and a set of
harness. I have always felt that we should
retailers located t h r o u g h o u t the c o u n t r y and the
results have been distinctly interesting. Of the never lose interest in our customers, but the
throw-in practice has been abused."
seventy dealers—and some of the largest and
The A. J. Crafts Piano Co., of Richmond, Va.,
most aggressive in the c o u n t r y are included in
the list—sixty-one a d m i t that they give benches are among the largest concerns which endorse
without additional charge to c u s t o m e r s and the any move to eliminate the practice of giving
same n u m b e r still maintain the practice of giving extras with piano sales. They say: "We be-
lieve it would be of great benefit to all con-
a m o r e or less g e n e r o u s quantity of rolls with
cerned if those extras were eliminated, and a
each player sold.
As to the giving of scarfs, t w e n t y - e i g h t deal- sufficient charge made for such extras to show
ers a d m i t t e d that they made it a regular p r a c - a profit." The music store of the J. L. Hud-
son Co., Detroit, gives benches only with iu-
tice. T h i r t y - s i x did not give scarfs under any
condition and there were six who were willing * struments selling at $300 or more and is one of
the few concerns that have discontinued the
giving of free rolls regardless of the price of
the player. The Duff Piano Co., of Elizabeth
City, N. C, discontinued the giving of scarfs
and rolls on September 15th.
Joseph Spector, the well-known New York
dealer, is one of those who holds that the throw-
in practice is distinctly an evil, especially whe.i
it includes the giving of scarfs and other in-
cidentals, but maintains that a stool for a piano
and a bench for a player-piano are absolutely
necessary, and therefore should be given with
the instrument.
E. G. Brown, of Bayonne, N. J., sums his
views up as follows: "Would be satisfied to
discontinue same but all dealers in this vicinity
and Jersey City aim to give everything away—
one of them in particular giving three movings,
think of it."
T. E. McCausland, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is of
the opinion that free tuning is the best invest-
ment a dealer can make, as it keeps the instru-
ment in good condition and the customer satis-
fied. He also maintains that a good selection of
rolls given with a player has a like effect.
That the extent of the throw-in practice is
controlled in a large measure by local condi-
tions is evidenced in the case of the Field-
Lippman piano stores for, in some of the com-
pany's branches, stools, benches and music
rolls are given away, while in others everything
is sold as an extra.
General Tendency to Curb Practice
Analyzing the replies of the retailers, it would
seem that there is a general tendency to cut down
on the amount of the accessories given with
sales. Those who formerly gave twenty rolls
are cutting down to twelve, those who formerly
gave twelve are cutting down to six, and so on.
While there is no question but that the rising
costs of the various accessories have had much
to do with this change of policy, there is like-
wise no question but that a goodly number of
retailers continue the throw-in policy simply as
a matter of protection against competitors.
Many are frank to say that they are willing to
enter into an agreement with other dealers in
their territories to discontinue all such free
service.
To the casual observer it would seem that
there is no time like the present for retail piano
men to get together on this question. Not only
is it costing them more to do business than
ever before, but the retailers are in a position
where, for the most part, they find it difficult to
secure sufficient stock to take care of actual de-
mands. Under such conditions the effect of com-
petition does not enter very strongly, and they
should meet with no difficulty in cutting free
gifts and holding their trade at the same time.
Action and Not Talk the Answer
That the campaigns for the elimination of
the throw-in practice have not met with any
great amount of success is evidenced by the
figures presented herewith—not pre-war figures,
but figures of to-day. It is encouraging, of
course, to learn that the various trade associa-
tions throughout the country have given this
matter serious consideration. In fact, only a few
weeks ago the San Francisco Association de-
voted almost an entire meeting to a discussion
of the subject.
To remedy the matter, however, will require
concerted action, and this can best be effected
through the efforts of the national and local as-
sociations. Talk alone will be of little use in
effecting a cure.