Music Trade Review
Issue: 1921 Vol. 73 N. 23 - Page 3
raw
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
VOL. LXXIII. No. 23
T
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman BUI, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York.
Dec. 3, 1921
Sln
*»• £•>»••
l°°° ntm
HE average individual is generally suspicious of anything that is offered free. Either the article is
worth what is asked for it or it is felt that the offer has a string to it and is not really as safe as
it appears on the surface. It will be interesting to learn, therefore, just how the increasing amount
of advertising offering to put pianos and players into homes for nothing down and small payments
after the first of the year may be expected to impress those members of the community who are regarded as
good credit risks.
It is a question which of the two trade evils, ridiculously low prices or ridiculously low terms, is the
most harmful. Regardless of how low the price is, it is to be assumed that the merchant is making some
profit at least on the transaction, or believes that he is making some profit and that, therefore, the instrument
offered at a cheap price is cheap in every way. When it comes to low terms, however, the impression is created
that the merchant himself places little value upon his product or upon his money.
When small piano houses in an effort to move stock advertise instruments at nothing down their action
may be excused at times as indicating poor business judgment. But the offenders are not all small concerns.
Some of the large houses in the country are following the same plan which in the past has been found to
have many drawbacks from a practical business standpoint.
Advertised terms are naturally accepted by the public as the maximum as well as the minimum terms
upon which the advertiser expects to do business. Regardless of the financial status of the customer, he
naturally feels that he is entitled to the advertised terms quite as much as his less affluent neighbor, and quite
naturally expects to take advantage of the terms. On the other hand, the financially irresponsible see in the
offer of instruments without a first payment and at low terms an opportunity to enjoy the use of a piano or
player for an indefinite period at an extremely low cost.
Several concerns in the past have endeavored to bring about a heavy turnover of stock by featuring
low terms and practically without exception have regretted the move. In one case particularly it was common
trade talk that after the practice had been persisted in for several weeks it required quite as many trucks to
return the repossessed instruments as it did to deliver the new ones to the homes. The credit department may
be capable enough to check up on all purchasers, establish their financial responsibility and cut losses down to
a minimum, but to weed out all the sheep from the goats among those who rise to the "nothing down" bait
is a Herculean task.
It is to be assumed .that the prospective piano or player owner who is not in a position financially to
make a substantial initial payment upon an instrument worth several hundred dollars is certainly not likely to
be able to guarantee the carrying out of an instalment contract. He is simply doing business on a hand-to-
mouth basis and the first little financial setback means the piano merchant is going to suffer. It is well enough
to insert clauses in contracts covering unemployment, illness and death, but there appears to be no valid reason
why piano merchants should engage in the general insurance business for the purpose of moving their goods.
That the prospective piano purchaser regards the advertised terms in the light of maximum terms has
been amply proven, and likewise it has been proven that the average purchaser of a good piano has enough
business sense to realize that he should clean up his contract within a reasonable time. Several prominent
concerns have met with surprising success by sticking to the slogan "Your own terms within .reason." This
policy puts the question of terms up to the buyer and in not one case out of a hundred has the prospective pur-
chaser even suggested terms as low as those advertised by neighboring houses, for he realizes that the piano
merchant is entitled to something more than 2 or 3 per cent of the total cost of the instrument as initial
payment. L,ow terms may mean business turnover. They also mean a heavy cut in profits, repossessions, and
finally the tying up of valuable capital. Is the game worth the candle?
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
VOL. LXXIII. No. 23
T
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman BUI, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York.
Dec. 3, 1921
Sln
*»• £•>»••
l°°° ntm
HE average individual is generally suspicious of anything that is offered free. Either the article is
worth what is asked for it or it is felt that the offer has a string to it and is not really as safe as
it appears on the surface. It will be interesting to learn, therefore, just how the increasing amount
of advertising offering to put pianos and players into homes for nothing down and small payments
after the first of the year may be expected to impress those members of the community who are regarded as
good credit risks.
It is a question which of the two trade evils, ridiculously low prices or ridiculously low terms, is the
most harmful. Regardless of how low the price is, it is to be assumed that the merchant is making some
profit at least on the transaction, or believes that he is making some profit and that, therefore, the instrument
offered at a cheap price is cheap in every way. When it comes to low terms, however, the impression is created
that the merchant himself places little value upon his product or upon his money.
When small piano houses in an effort to move stock advertise instruments at nothing down their action
may be excused at times as indicating poor business judgment. But the offenders are not all small concerns.
Some of the large houses in the country are following the same plan which in the past has been found to
have many drawbacks from a practical business standpoint.
Advertised terms are naturally accepted by the public as the maximum as well as the minimum terms
upon which the advertiser expects to do business. Regardless of the financial status of the customer, he
naturally feels that he is entitled to the advertised terms quite as much as his less affluent neighbor, and quite
naturally expects to take advantage of the terms. On the other hand, the financially irresponsible see in the
offer of instruments without a first payment and at low terms an opportunity to enjoy the use of a piano or
player for an indefinite period at an extremely low cost.
Several concerns in the past have endeavored to bring about a heavy turnover of stock by featuring
low terms and practically without exception have regretted the move. In one case particularly it was common
trade talk that after the practice had been persisted in for several weeks it required quite as many trucks to
return the repossessed instruments as it did to deliver the new ones to the homes. The credit department may
be capable enough to check up on all purchasers, establish their financial responsibility and cut losses down to
a minimum, but to weed out all the sheep from the goats among those who rise to the "nothing down" bait
is a Herculean task.
It is to be assumed .that the prospective piano or player owner who is not in a position financially to
make a substantial initial payment upon an instrument worth several hundred dollars is certainly not likely to
be able to guarantee the carrying out of an instalment contract. He is simply doing business on a hand-to-
mouth basis and the first little financial setback means the piano merchant is going to suffer. It is well enough
to insert clauses in contracts covering unemployment, illness and death, but there appears to be no valid reason
why piano merchants should engage in the general insurance business for the purpose of moving their goods.
That the prospective piano purchaser regards the advertised terms in the light of maximum terms has
been amply proven, and likewise it has been proven that the average purchaser of a good piano has enough
business sense to realize that he should clean up his contract within a reasonable time. Several prominent
concerns have met with surprising success by sticking to the slogan "Your own terms within .reason." This
policy puts the question of terms up to the buyer and in not one case out of a hundred has the prospective pur-
chaser even suggested terms as low as those advertised by neighboring houses, for he realizes that the piano
merchant is entitled to something more than 2 or 3 per cent of the total cost of the instrument as initial
payment. L,ow terms may mean business turnover. They also mean a heavy cut in profits, repossessions, and
finally the tying up of valuable capital. Is the game worth the candle?
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