Seller

“ No sooner had the buyer mounted and paid the price than he sank through the earth, horse and man, to the astonishment and terror of the seller, who, experienced, however, no inconvenience from dealing with so extraordinary a purchaser. ”

“ This is no more than an expansion of its simplest signification, that of an exchange of goods, the bringing of them from the seller to the buyer, however vast the range now comprehended by the term in the progress of society. ”

“ A learned author says, 'If any one of the ingredients be wanting, there is no sale.' Atkinson on Sales, 5. Benjamin on Sales, p. 1, note, and p. 2, says, 'To constitute a valid sale, there must be (1) parties competent to contract; (2) mutual assent; (3) a thing, the absolute or general property in which is transferred from the seller to the buyer, (4) a price in money, paid or promised.'
How, then, can there be a sale of seven hundred and five packs of iron, unless there be a purchase of it? How can there be a seller, unless there be likewise a purchaser? ”

“ It is the duty of the seller to deliver the goods, and of the buyer to accept and pay for them, in accordance with the terms of the contract of sale. Unless otherwise agreed, delivery of the goods and payment of the price are concurrent conditions, the seller, therefore, must be ready and willing to give possession of the goods to the buyer in exchange for the price, and the buyer must be willing and ready to pay the price in exchange for the possession of the goods. ”

“ The seller, with silken manners and brazen countenance, will always name a price four times as large as it should be. Then the real business begins. The buyer offers one half or one fourth of what he finally expects to pay ”

“ Oriental cloth merchants call in the sun as an expert witness in determining the quality of the finer products of the loom. Servants of the seller pass the web slowly between the purchaser and the sun. ”

“ If there is any doubt in the mind of the would be purchaser as to the character of the seller, that should be the first thing investigated.
What the buyer must satisfy himself of is:
1. Who is the seller? 2. What do the bonds represent? 3. Are they negotiable? and 4. Can they be sold again for about their face value?
Every one who has saved money, it is to be supposed, has a bank account and is acquainted with the president of his local bank. When in doubt, the advice of such a man may be of great help. ”

“ A broker had offered us a parcel for future delivery at a price he thought cheap and we accepted it. Later he called and said when he gave up our name as the buyer, the seller declined to confirm unless we would deposit with him, the seller, five thousand dollars as security. ”

“ And as in other things, so in men, not the seller, but the buyer determines the Price. ”

“ A dealer once, selling a nag to a gentleman, frequently observed, with emphatic earnestness, that "he was an honest horse." After the purchase the gentleman asked him what he meant by an honest horse. "Why, sir," replied the seller, "whenever I rode him he always threatened to throw me, and he certainly never deceived me." ”

“ The buyer was engaged in a controversy with the old dealer, the point at issue hinging on one chicken, the Israelite contending he had bought thirteen hens, and the dealer maintaining there were only twelve to be sold. Arguments are taking place all the time between buyer, seller and auctioneer. ”

“ If you do so he will ask for commission from the buyer, you may be sure he will try and do his best with the seller. If you go into a shop and price a certain article, they fix a price they never expect to get ”

“ It permits the seller of an article which bears his trade mark, brand, or name, to prescribe a minimum resale price by contract, if such contracts are lawful in the state where the resale is to be made and if the trademarked article is in free and open competition with other articles of the same commodity. ”

“ A wise dealer always knows how to keep up amicable relations with a possible seller or buyer, and never descends to abuse, or the assumption of a personal injury if he cannot persuade a seller to accept his price, as is the case with some dealers with less savoir faire. ”

“ Another habit is for a buyer, when making an offer which he expects will be accepted by the seller, to ask the seller to open his hand. This being done, he slaps the open hand in token of an agreement as he makes what he pretends to be his last bid. ”

“ Looking at bargains from a purely commercial point of view, someone is always cheated, but looked at with the simple eye both seller and buyer always win. ”

“ The wholesale trade is conducted by three classes of persons: dealers or merchants, commission men, and brokers. The dealer is one who buys the goods outright and takes his own risk on making a favorable sale to the retailer. The commission man is one who receives the goods, sells them at such price as he may be able to obtain and remits to the seller the amount obtained less expenses and his commission. The broker is a man who effects a sale without coming in contact in any way with the materials sold. ”

“ As a matter of fact, the seller endeavours to transmit the burden to the purchaser, and the purchaser places it upon the consumer as opportunity may occur in relation to the general market situation all over the world. ”

“ No purchaser can possibly discover many of the defects in commodities; he is therefore obliged to depend on the seller for information concerning them. All this the seller well knows, and if an honest man, will give the information. ”

“ And when, by the introduction of a medium of exchange and measure of value, a distinction has been made between buyers and sellers, the demand for any sort of commodities may be defined to be, the will of persons to purchase them, combined with their general means of purchasing ”

“ The seller does not expect more than about one-third of the price he asks. If the passenger looks indifferent the native will hunt him up and reduce his offer. “How much would the señor give?” “Thirty soles! ”

“ In the matter of the relations of sellers and purchasers, we may note, as one of those little touches of nature which make the whole world kin, that customers, as we learn from more than one old play, often indulged in the quite modern practice of having half the goods in a shop laid out for inspection before buying the most trumpery article. ”

“ I had a desire to know if I should deal with the Seller and procure Moneys in convenient time to pay for the Purchase, (my owne Money being in such hands as I could not call it in under six moneths warning) being desirous, I say, to purchase the said houses, and fully resolved upon it, I took my own Question my selfe, at what time I found my mind was most perplexed and solicitous about it; the time of my Quere to my selfe fell out according to the position of Heaven aforesaid. ”

“ Int. Purch. Old yoes—well, ye know, 'taint like young yoes, be it now?
Seller (when he has finished shredding tobacco in the palm of his hand) . That's true enough.
Int. Purch. I dunno as I can do wi' any moor shep just now, if 'twas iver so.
Seller (listlessly) . Cann't ye, now? Theer's bin a genl'man from Leicestershire 'ere, wawntin' me to run 'im off a dozen or so—fur his perrk, d'ye see?
Int. Purch. (with unaffected incredulity) . Ah.
[A protracted silence, employed by each in careful inspection of his boots.
Seller (addressing space) . They're a tidy lot o' yoes.
[Pg 144]
Int. Purch. ”

“ Indeed, it is the buyers that make this custom necessary; for they, especially those who buy for immediate use, will first pretend positively to tie themselves up to a limited price, and bid them a little and a little more, till they come so near the sellers' price, that they, the sellers, cannot find in their hearts to refuse it, and then they are tempted to take it, notwithstanding their first words to the contrary. ”

“ In England, or in any other great mercantile country, the bulk of the things which are bought and sold, goes through the hands of a wholesale dealer, and it is he who higgles and bargains with an entire nation of purchasers, by entering into treaty with retail sellers. ”

“ And, first, I premise that labour is, as I have already intimated, a commodity, and, as such, an article of trade. If I am right in this notion, then labour must be subject to all the laws and principles of trade, and not to regulation foreign to them, and that may be totally inconsistent with those principles and those laws. When any commodity is carried to market, it is not the necessity of the vender, but the necessity of the purchaser, that raises the price. The extreme want of the seller has rather (by the nature of things with which we shall in vain contend) ”

“ If the bookseller happens to desire a privilege for his merchandise whether he is selling "Rabelais," or the "Fathers of the Church," the magistrate grants the privilege without answering for the contents of the book. ”

“ Go into a store for a pair of gloves, even, mention the size you desire, and the salesman will show you every variety in kid, French dogskin, cloth, and leather; for soiree, promenade, driving, travelling, and every species of use, and different styles and kinds for each use. The salesmen understand their business, which is to sell goods; they are polite, they suggest wants, they humor your merest whim in hue, pattern, style, or fancy; they make no rude endeavor to force goods upon you, but are determined you shall have just what you want ”

“ The laws and usages regarding sales at auction, in most of the United States, are similar, in their general principles, to those of Pennsylvania or New-York.
4. A great amount of merchandise, both foreign and domestic, in our principal cities, is sold by auction; and the price which staple commodities there command is generally considered a tolerable criterion of their value at the time. It very frequently happens, however, that articles which are not in steady demand, are sold at a great sacrifice. Auctioneers seldom import goods, nor is it usual for them to own the property which they sell. ”

“ SCHEME 14—THE RETURN POSTAL FILLED IN FOR MAILING And now that you have made clear your proposition and shown your proof, now that you have led your prospect to the buying point, the next step is to make him send you the order. And the only way to do this is to follow the example of the good salesman: put the pen in his hand, your finger on the dotted line, and slip the order blank before him. The salesman does these things because he knows that he might lose the sale if he asked his prospect to hunt up a pen, a letterhead and some ink. He knows the value of making it easy to buy. ”

“ When a salesman tells merchants that he can sell them goods that are better, for the same price or cheaper than he is buying them, he at once offers an insult to the merchant's judgment. One of my merchant friends once told me of a breezy young chap who came into his store and asked him how much he paid for a certain suit of clothes that was on the table. ”

“ Retail dealers, selling the merchandise of others at prices prevailing at particular localities and times shall hand over to the wholesale dealers as much of the sale proceeds and profit as is realised by them. ”

“ Our customer, however, is dually interested in what it costs to make and distribute what we sell her and in what our product means to her through its uses in her home. The merchant's, and hence the salesman's obligation, is to satisfy her that the price she pays is in strict conformity with the actual reasonable costs of making and delivering the goods. ”

“ The business of this place is conducted with great regularity, and the dealers and collectors of old clothes meet at a certain hour of the afternoon to make sales and exchanges, so that it is managed almost upon the same plan as the Royal Exchange, only that the dealers here come loaded with their goods, which must undergo inspection before sales can be effected: while the Merchant carries with him merely a sample, or directs his Purchaser to the warehouse where his cargo is deposited. ”

“ That will enable you to meet both real and imaginary competition. By this we mean, be familiar with the intrinsic merits of the goods you are selling, and know the market conditions which surround the trade. Read very carefully all the literature and advertisements put out by your house. Nothing will destroy a buyer’s confidence more quickly than to find a salesman ignorant of the claims made by his own house, or of the specific qualities of the goods offered for sale. ”

“ A little while ago I heard a salesman say to a friend, “I don’t care whether a man sells my goods or not, I sell him every dollar’s worth I can, just the same. If he is overstocking the store, that is his business. I push my sales just as far as I can.” ”

“ The general retail merchant is compelled to transact business with a great number of wholesale dealers, to whom he pays cash in hand, or agrees to pay it at some future period, say, in four, six, nine, or twelve months. ”

“ Such a dealer is very certain, that in a large connexion of trade, he will find some very good judges, who know how to prefer excellence in quality, [Pg 73] and are well acquainted with the perfections required in the article, and perhaps from their situation in life, are enabled to get a much higher, than a common Market-price, for a superior Article: Such a Person will have such goods, in what place soever they can be met with, and knows also that in order to procure them he must give a superior Price. ”

“ There are various grades of merchants. They might be classed and symbolized according as they use a basket, a wheelbarrow, a cart, a stall, a booth, a shop, a warehouse, counting-room, .or bank. Still all are tho same thing—man who live by buying and selling. A ship is only a large basket, a warehouse a costly stall. Your pedler is a small merchant going round from house to house with his basket to mediate between persons; your merchant only a great pedler sending round from land to land with his ships to mediate between nations. ”

“ Another set are actually in trade at the moment, if that can be called a trade, which consists of a shop of all sorts; these are called "general dealers," and partake much of the character of the jobbers; only that the latter for a shop, keep a "warehouse," upstairs in a garret; or their lodging room at the public house serves the purpose of a warehouse! I have known one of these, at the same time a dealer in cutlery, coffins, pictures, paper, hose, books, bandanas, and other heterogeneous articles ”