22 
THE MODEL STOCK PLAN 
lists it at $9, making it as attractive as possible but keeping 
it more profitable for himself than the $8 article. His 
argument to buyers is about as follows: “See how much nicer 
this is. It costs only 8 cents apiece more. You can sell it 
sasily for 25 cents more. So it’s more profitable for you.” 
The argument sounds convincing. It would be, but for one 
thing: the retail demand actually bulks at the $1 price. 
Nothing that the manufacturer does will materially alter this 
fact. The mass demand for that line centers on $1 goods 
and not on goods priced at $1.25 or even $1.1 5. If theretailer 
buys heavily in the $9 line as a result of the manufacturer’s 
persuasion and marks the article at $1.25, it is certain that the 
goods, or a considerable portion of them, will have to be 
marked down finally to $1. 
Now, with the Model Stock Plan, the buyer, when he is 
shown the $9 article, knows he can sell it readily for $1 but 
not for more. Moreover, he knows that if he can get it to 
sell for $1 he will sell not only the article itself but also an 
increased quantity of the other $1 goods of his best-selling 
full line; for it is impossible to satisfy all customers with one 
style. Therefore, he will do what the average buyer does: 
that is, try to buy the article for $8. But there the resem- 
blance will cease. 
I know from experience that the average buyer, finding a 
good deal of resistance to a price reduction, will often be 
satisfied with the argument that he can get $1.25 for the 
article. After buying and trying to sell at that price, he will 
finally be forced to take mark-downs, because he has gone 
counter to the real buying demand of the masses of his 
customers. Even if he is successful in selling fair quantities 
of the goods at $1.25 by supersalesmanship and super- 
publicity, he is hurting the goodwill of his business in selling 
them and making less total profits with a great deal larger 
expense than if he fitted his selling into the stream of his 
customers’ demands. He has erred by allowing himself to 
be influenced more by a manufacturer's desire to sell at a 
given price than by the group desire of customers to buy ata 
given price.