Music Trade Review
Issue: 1927 Vol. 84 N. 10 - Page 22
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
22
The Music Trade Review
How a Retail Salesman Lost
a Piano Sale That Meant $1800
(Continued from page 7)
the King, and the
the Queen.
call the
"I haven't time," said Mr. Brown, "what .-uits
The former is a fine piano, but it is a man's you suits your mother atid me." He looked up
at the white-haired salesman and said, "Just
piano. The tone is not as mellow as a
."
tell me the price and I'll write you out a check."
"How much is this piano?" asked Mary.
"$1,475."
The salesman told him and suggested that he
Then Mary explained about her sixteentli step back to the desk to write. Mr. Brown
birthday, and asked if she might use the tele- wrote out the check and handed it to the sales-
phone to call her father.
man.
In a few moments she had her father on the
As Mary, Mr. Brown and the courteous sales-
line and told him to come over to the M— man stepped onto the elevator to descend to
Store at once. As she and the white-haired the first floor, the- salesman handed Mary a
salesman'stood talking pianos, she noticed sev- card and said:
eral younger men watching her companion. Fif-
"If at any time in the future 1 can be of
teen minutes later her father arrived.
further assistance to you, I shall be only too
"Did you find your piano, Mary?" he asked, pleased to have you call me." He walked with
laughingly.
them to the door and again thanked them for
"Yes, father," said Mary happily, "come back the sale.
and see it."
Outside, as Mary and Mr. Brown walked down
MARCH 5, 1927
the street, Mary told her father of the experi-
ence she had had with the first salesman.
"But wasn't this salesman nice, father?" she
demanded.
"Yes, he was," said her father, smiling at his
daughter's pretty enthusiasm, but he stopped
short as his daughter suddenly said excitedly,
"Look, father, read that card." Her father took
the small card from his daughter, read it, and
laughed.
The slender, courteous white-haired salesman
who had sold Mary her grand piano wasn't a
salesman after all. For, printed opposite his
name on the small white card were the words,
"Vice-President."
So, of course—in comparison with the first
salesman—the vice-president wasn't really a"
salesman.
Now—was he?
Reserve for Bad Accounts
Subject to Income Tax
U. S. Board of Tax Appeals Rules That Such
Sams Set Aside by Instalment Dealers Are
Not Deductible From Gross Income
UNANIMOUS
is the choice of the country's leading piano
makers for American Perfected Piano Wire.
This is the wire used in every quality make
of American piano—indisputable evidence of
the superiority of this excellent product.
Perfected Piano Wire holds its tonal quali*
ties. It is guaranteed against breakage. It is
a tough, fibrous wire of absolute uniformity.
It possesses maximum tensile strength with-
out extreme hardness.
At the Paris Exposition in 1900, Perfected
Piano Wire was awarded the Gold Prize —
shattering once and for all the popular belief
in the supremacy of foreign wire.
Avoid cheaper grades of wire, with their
constant breakage. The truest economy is to
use only the best. Let us send you full par-
ticulars about the wire that has met every
test for more than sixty years.
American Steel & Wire
Sales Offices:
CHICAGO
208 So. La Salle Street
CLEVELAND
Rockefeller Building
DETROIT
Foot of First Street
CINCINNATI
Union Truit Building
MINNEAPOLIS—ST. PAUL
Merchant! Nat 1 1 Bank Bldg.. St. Paul
ST. LOUIS
506 Olive Street
KANSAS CITY
417 Grand Avenue
OKLAHOMA CITY
Firat Nat'l Bank Bldg.
BIRMINGHAM
Brown-Marx Bldg.
MEMPHIS
Union and Planter! Bank Bldg.
SALT LAKE CITY
Company
NEW YORK
BOSTON
PITTSBURGH
PHILADELPHIA
ATLANTA
WORCESTER
BALTIMORE
BUFFALO
WILKES-BARRE
DALLAS
DENVER
Walker Bank Bldg.
30 Church Street
185 Franklin Street
Frick Building
Widener Building
101 Marietta Street
94 Grove Street
32 So. Charlej Street
670 Ellicott Street
Miners Bank Bldg.
Praetorian Building
First National Bank Bldg.
United States Steel Products Company
SAN FRANCISCO
I.OS ANGELES
PORTLAND
SEATTLE
WASHINGTON, D. C, February 28.—Merchants
selling musical instruments on the instalment
plan may not set up a "reserve" for the collec-
tion of bad accounts, it has been held by the
United States Board of Tax Appeals.
The decision of the board was rendered in a
case where a taxpayer engaged in business on
the instalment-sales plan at the close of each
operating year set up on his books, an account
designated "reserve for cost to collect bad ac-
counts" and, in his income and profits-tax re-
turns for such years, deducted from gross in-
come the amounts so added to reserve as col-
lection expenses. The board held that such
method of accounting does not clearly reflect in-
come, since no portion of the outstanding ac-
counts were treated by the taxpayer as worth-
less, and that expenses incident to the collec-
tion of such accounts at some future date should
not be deducted until actually incurred.
Imports of Second-hand
Piano Into Canada
Canadian Customs Official Refers to Regulations
as to the Proper Valuation of Such Instru-
ments—Many Complaints
TORONTO, ONT., March 1.—Reference was made
in a recent issue of The Review regarding com-
plaints made about second-hand pianos coming
into Canada from the United States at valua-
tions far below the fair market price, causing
injury to the piano trade; of Canada. The mat-
ter has been investigated by the Government
Department at Ottawa, and recently George W.
Taylor, Acting Deputy Minister of Customs and
Excise, issued the following bulletin for the
guidance of appraisers at the various points of
entry: "Information before the Department in-
dicates that the U. S. A. markets are flooded
with used pianos. Importations have been noted
invoiced at values far below the fair market as
required by the Customs Act. Section 43-1 of
the Customs Act requires the appraisal of every
importation as to its true and fair market value.
(Any invoice or affidavit thereto to the contrary
notwithstanding.) Any such used article is
subject to appraisal at the value of a similar new
instrument at the time of export with a reason-
able allowance for depreciation for the period
of use."
Pearson Discontinues Branch
The Pearson Piano Co., which has operated
;i branch in Shelbyville, Tnd., for the past four-
teen years, has discontinued business in that
locality, and the stock has been removed to the
company's headquarters at Indianapolis.
22
The Music Trade Review
How a Retail Salesman Lost
a Piano Sale That Meant $1800
(Continued from page 7)
the King, and the
the Queen.
call the
"I haven't time," said Mr. Brown, "what .-uits
The former is a fine piano, but it is a man's you suits your mother atid me." He looked up
at the white-haired salesman and said, "Just
piano. The tone is not as mellow as a
."
tell me the price and I'll write you out a check."
"How much is this piano?" asked Mary.
"$1,475."
The salesman told him and suggested that he
Then Mary explained about her sixteentli step back to the desk to write. Mr. Brown
birthday, and asked if she might use the tele- wrote out the check and handed it to the sales-
phone to call her father.
man.
In a few moments she had her father on the
As Mary, Mr. Brown and the courteous sales-
line and told him to come over to the M— man stepped onto the elevator to descend to
Store at once. As she and the white-haired the first floor, the- salesman handed Mary a
salesman'stood talking pianos, she noticed sev- card and said:
eral younger men watching her companion. Fif-
"If at any time in the future 1 can be of
teen minutes later her father arrived.
further assistance to you, I shall be only too
"Did you find your piano, Mary?" he asked, pleased to have you call me." He walked with
laughingly.
them to the door and again thanked them for
"Yes, father," said Mary happily, "come back the sale.
and see it."
Outside, as Mary and Mr. Brown walked down
MARCH 5, 1927
the street, Mary told her father of the experi-
ence she had had with the first salesman.
"But wasn't this salesman nice, father?" she
demanded.
"Yes, he was," said her father, smiling at his
daughter's pretty enthusiasm, but he stopped
short as his daughter suddenly said excitedly,
"Look, father, read that card." Her father took
the small card from his daughter, read it, and
laughed.
The slender, courteous white-haired salesman
who had sold Mary her grand piano wasn't a
salesman after all. For, printed opposite his
name on the small white card were the words,
"Vice-President."
So, of course—in comparison with the first
salesman—the vice-president wasn't really a"
salesman.
Now—was he?
Reserve for Bad Accounts
Subject to Income Tax
U. S. Board of Tax Appeals Rules That Such
Sams Set Aside by Instalment Dealers Are
Not Deductible From Gross Income
UNANIMOUS
is the choice of the country's leading piano
makers for American Perfected Piano Wire.
This is the wire used in every quality make
of American piano—indisputable evidence of
the superiority of this excellent product.
Perfected Piano Wire holds its tonal quali*
ties. It is guaranteed against breakage. It is
a tough, fibrous wire of absolute uniformity.
It possesses maximum tensile strength with-
out extreme hardness.
At the Paris Exposition in 1900, Perfected
Piano Wire was awarded the Gold Prize —
shattering once and for all the popular belief
in the supremacy of foreign wire.
Avoid cheaper grades of wire, with their
constant breakage. The truest economy is to
use only the best. Let us send you full par-
ticulars about the wire that has met every
test for more than sixty years.
American Steel & Wire
Sales Offices:
CHICAGO
208 So. La Salle Street
CLEVELAND
Rockefeller Building
DETROIT
Foot of First Street
CINCINNATI
Union Truit Building
MINNEAPOLIS—ST. PAUL
Merchant! Nat 1 1 Bank Bldg.. St. Paul
ST. LOUIS
506 Olive Street
KANSAS CITY
417 Grand Avenue
OKLAHOMA CITY
Firat Nat'l Bank Bldg.
BIRMINGHAM
Brown-Marx Bldg.
MEMPHIS
Union and Planter! Bank Bldg.
SALT LAKE CITY
Company
NEW YORK
BOSTON
PITTSBURGH
PHILADELPHIA
ATLANTA
WORCESTER
BALTIMORE
BUFFALO
WILKES-BARRE
DALLAS
DENVER
Walker Bank Bldg.
30 Church Street
185 Franklin Street
Frick Building
Widener Building
101 Marietta Street
94 Grove Street
32 So. Charlej Street
670 Ellicott Street
Miners Bank Bldg.
Praetorian Building
First National Bank Bldg.
United States Steel Products Company
SAN FRANCISCO
I.OS ANGELES
PORTLAND
SEATTLE
WASHINGTON, D. C, February 28.—Merchants
selling musical instruments on the instalment
plan may not set up a "reserve" for the collec-
tion of bad accounts, it has been held by the
United States Board of Tax Appeals.
The decision of the board was rendered in a
case where a taxpayer engaged in business on
the instalment-sales plan at the close of each
operating year set up on his books, an account
designated "reserve for cost to collect bad ac-
counts" and, in his income and profits-tax re-
turns for such years, deducted from gross in-
come the amounts so added to reserve as col-
lection expenses. The board held that such
method of accounting does not clearly reflect in-
come, since no portion of the outstanding ac-
counts were treated by the taxpayer as worth-
less, and that expenses incident to the collec-
tion of such accounts at some future date should
not be deducted until actually incurred.
Imports of Second-hand
Piano Into Canada
Canadian Customs Official Refers to Regulations
as to the Proper Valuation of Such Instru-
ments—Many Complaints
TORONTO, ONT., March 1.—Reference was made
in a recent issue of The Review regarding com-
plaints made about second-hand pianos coming
into Canada from the United States at valua-
tions far below the fair market price, causing
injury to the piano trade; of Canada. The mat-
ter has been investigated by the Government
Department at Ottawa, and recently George W.
Taylor, Acting Deputy Minister of Customs and
Excise, issued the following bulletin for the
guidance of appraisers at the various points of
entry: "Information before the Department in-
dicates that the U. S. A. markets are flooded
with used pianos. Importations have been noted
invoiced at values far below the fair market as
required by the Customs Act. Section 43-1 of
the Customs Act requires the appraisal of every
importation as to its true and fair market value.
(Any invoice or affidavit thereto to the contrary
notwithstanding.) Any such used article is
subject to appraisal at the value of a similar new
instrument at the time of export with a reason-
able allowance for depreciation for the period
of use."
Pearson Discontinues Branch
The Pearson Piano Co., which has operated
;i branch in Shelbyville, Tnd., for the past four-
teen years, has discontinued business in that
locality, and the stock has been removed to the
company's headquarters at Indianapolis.
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