Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, PIANOS ONLY, JANUARY, 1U2
group of service industries — and dealers
could do a whale of a job at it. No one ever
hears of "piano service" because the indus-
try has specialized on only one section of it
—tuning. With most piano owners having
tin ears, as long as the piano can be thumped
with any kind of a noise, they think tuning is
something of "illegal foistering."
T is true that much retail advertising of
the past has created the wrong public
impression that "pianos can be bought
for nothing." This curious American
advertising strategy of developing store
traffic via the bargain appeal, and then step-
ping up the sale to units other than adver-
tised, is a form of sales lubrication neces-
sary to develop impulse buying, and we still
believe it necessary to overcome obstacles
of public thinking. Such will be more neces-
sary than ever a c of the installment regula-
tions. Step by step merchandising has been
fundamental in our tremendous national
business. Tactics cannot be changed over
night, so the eventual sale of a piano whether
it be $350 or $400 actually means much less
now on factory prices if the production is to
be clipped. Dealers, therefore, can vitalize
their efforts to support an industry program
to insure its general all round stability.
I
HEARLE'S V.P. Callaway asks: "Is
it possible to consummate any piano
sale without a 10% cash payment of
the net purchase price?" If a piano
is sold on a "charge and send" basis, which
gives the customer 90 days credit and then
the customer decides to buy it on install-
ments, at the end of the 90 day period the
papers are made out with the 10% down pay-
ment. This is ok, provided there was no
side-play of words at the time of the charge
sale between dealer and customer.
T
A
L E G I T I M A T E rental of a piano is
nothing more than customary rental
terms. But the rental must be a
rental, with no double talk. Now if
it happens that the customer, who has paid
a certain sum, wants to buy the piano; the
rental paid in equals the needed 10% down,
and thus the sale is made. But puzzling to
me is that such a thing, legally, serves to de-
feat the law, for it is the same as giving a
year's rent free if it takes a year to total the
10%.
There is nothing in the law to stop the
renting of pianos, or to demand certain
amounts as minimum or maximum in piano
renting.
A
ND just the opposite is the angle of
not permitting the trade-in value
i as part of the 10% down. This
• would prompt dealers to be in
cahoots with a second-hand guy, who would
pay cash to the customer, who would bring
it in to the piano dealer, and thus use the
trade-in as the equivalent to the 10% down
—or more—whereas now, no matter if it is
worth half of the new purchase price, 10%
cash must be added.
T the way, it didn't take the factories
long on the excise taxes to get re-
I bates for the cash discounts de-
ducted by dealers. 2% cash dis-
count on a $300 piano nets $294 to the mfr.,
but he must pay excise tax on the $300 when
billed, getting a rebate tax on the 2% not
taxable.
B
EMTOK
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
Only Dealer Merchandising magazine in the piano business awarded five medals for "the best"
Established 1879, and published monthly by Henderson Publications, Inc., at Radio City,
1270 6th Ave., New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Carleton Chace, Executive Editor. 1 year $2.
2 years $3. Also publishers of Radio Television Journal, Musical Merchandise, Parts.