Music Trade Review

OCTOBER
THE
20, 1923
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
47
17il;P
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CHARGING ROLL DEPARTMENtS WITH PLAYER OVERHEAD
Giving the Roll Department No Credit for Music Rolls Given Free With Player Sales an Unfair
Method of Accounting-One Reason Why Many Roll Departments Show No Profit
Ho w many dealers, in complaining about the
fact that mu s ic roll departments are operated
at a loss, are contributing directly to causing
that loss by cheating the department out of
hundred s of dollar s profit annually that right­
fully belongs to it?
These dealers who are cheatin g their roll
departments, unintentionally, of course, are
those who ha ve followed, and still follow, the
practiu of charging off the rolls given with
player-piano sales simp ly at wholesale prices in
order to keep down the selling expenie of the
player without considering that by so doing
they ar e not only cutting off the proper retail
profit from the roll department, but are sad­
dling it with the expen se incident to ordering,
stocking and carry ing th e rolls, a no in co n­
siderable item.
The difference on a sin gle player may not
amollnt to tlluch, but when a dealer sell s J 50
players a yea r and give~ twelve rolls with each
player, crediting the roll department only with
the wholesale cos t of the rolls, it means that
he is deprivin g that dep artme nt of profits of
from $900 to $1,125, ac cord in g to the line oi
rolls h e handles.
On top of this comes the
handlin g charge, which, at a low estimate of
fiv e cents a roll , brings the total loss to the
roll dep artme nt to frolll $1,000 to ~1,200, or
III are.
O ne deakr to \vhom th e su bject wa s broached
appeared to take the matter lightl y, declaring
that to charge th e r o lls again st the player-piano
dcpartn le nt at retail list pri c.:s in order to pro­
vide a normal profit for the roll department wa~
~itnply robbing P e ter to pay Paul, or taking
money from onc pocket and puttin g it in the
ot her.
If the business is condu cted as a whole with
no o ne.: department being compelled to st and upon
it s own feet in the matter of cos ts and profits,
and su("h a method of conducting bu s in ess i"
both obsolete and unthinkable, then the dealer's
Ifvity would iJ(" proper. However, it happ ens
that in the av erage, we ll-regulat ed establish­
Ill e nt each department is operated as a unit for
th e purpose of protection, if nothing e lse. If it
is producing a profit, then the dealer is justified
in continuing it. If a steady lo ss is report ed,
then the department must be reorganized with
a v iew to get ting b etter results, or else di scon­
tinued for the reason that it repr ese nt s a drag
on the busin ess.
Music roll s are given with pl ayer-pianos not
to keep the rolls in circulation, or to help the
turnover of the roll department, but rather to
prove a factor in c lo s ing the player sale. In
short, they represent a definite part of the sell­
ing lxp e n se of the piano department. To charg e
the free rolls against that department at retail
list price will give th e roll department an
"mount of profit, eve n though it is paper profit,
that in many cases means the difference be­
tween loss and gain in the year's total. If the
P!!!!~
A Single Valve Action
Simplified to the Point of Perfection
Now Being Used by Leadinll Manufacturer.
Write for Full Particulara
PEERLESS PNEUMA TIC ACTION CO.
......6 Eut 133rd Streot
Now York
roll department under present conditions only
breaks even or s hows a small los s, that profit of
$1,000 or mor e from the piano department will
make a vast difference. Likewise, the practice
of charging fre e rolls against the player sale
at retail value should prove a mighty fine argu­
U. S. DEALER CO·OPERATION
In
National Advertising Campaign, United
States Music Co. Offers Dealer Co-operation
in Selling Players and Rolls
CHW,\CO, TLL., October 13.- -Since: it has always
been the policy of the U nited States Music Co.
to g ive the mu sic dealer fullest co-operation in
sellin g not only l T nited States mu s ic rolls,
but also player-pianos, it is quite natural that
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U. s. Rolls inspire dancing. Their melodious t"hythm
assures utmost enjoyment from your player piano•.
Hear the latest U. S. "ruts" at your music dealer's.
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UNI'J;'ED STATES MUSIC COMPANY
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CfJuy a Player­
the Latest Music}
One of the United States Music Co.'s Advertisements
ment in favor of discontinuing the giv ing of free
rolls entirely.
It is one thin g to give rolls
li sted at $6 or $7 with a player and another
thing to give the same rolls when they arc
charged at $12 or $14.
If thl: deale rs who still make a practic e of
giving free rolls still wa_nt to continue their
roll department as s u ccessf ul units of their busi­
nesses they must pla y fair with it.
The music roll department should by no
means be compelled to carry this expense, since
it is one that s hould, in all justice, be c harged
to the selling expe n se involved in closing the
sale of the player-p iano.
WHITE, SON CO.
Manufaelurera of
ORGAN AND PLAYER.PIANO
LEATHERS
530-540 Atlantic Ave., BOSTON, MASS.
II
the advert ising th e compa ny is doing in national
intent.
.\ ,dance at the accompa n ying illustration
show, what the compan y has desi gned to s u g­
g·est in preparin g this copy. For instance, the
dancing scen e is dcsigned to create a desire
among those who do not own a play er -piano
to h ave the same enjoyme nt through th e pur­
chase of an instru me nt. A strong line at th e
bottom of the advertisement reads: "Buy a
Player-Enjoy the L ate,t :Music."
This advertising is bound to create a demand
for more player-pianos and for United States
music rolls, too . It will appear in such national
mediullls as the Sat urday Even ing Post, the
Red Book .Magazine and a nUlllber of other
mediullls of nation al circulation.
111Cdiu111~ sho uld reAeet this
Consult the universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions.
~llIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIIlIlIllIlIIlIlIIlIfill1t11t11I1I11I1I1I11I1I1I1I1I1II1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1II1I1I1I1UII1I11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111!§
Worcester Wind Motor Co.
WORCESTER. MASS.
Makers of Absolutely Sati.facto""
WIND MOTORS for PLAYER PIANOS
Abo all kind. of Pneumat;cI and SuppJiea