350 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE.

COMBINATION NOT ADVANTAGEOUS.

In this connection some of the replies to this question are of interest.
 A manufacturer of carriage and automobile accessories replies
as follows: -
A disadvantage on account of our having a specialty to market that requires
a great deal of work among a very limited number of prospects in any given
Geld.

A manufacturer of sheet metal is of the opinion that:

While thoroughly indorsing the cooperative selling agency in principle, it
would be of no advantage for this company to participate in one, for the reason
that we are manufacturers of special grades of sheet metal and that all special
products demand individual and not cooperative selling.
Other replies of a similar nature are:

Disadvantage. In a specialty business selling on quality, a salesman must
thoroughly know his goods and his house. Our line is so large he could not
know ours and some one’s else too.
A disadvantage. Implements to become popular must possess individuality.
[f so possessed they proceed faster by reason of specially directed effort and
Individual demonstration, impossible to accord to a long, combined line of
varied manufactyres.
A disadvantage. Our product * * * is not a competitive article. We
believe best results can be obtained by propagating our own campaign, disassociated
 from any other concern. We believe that in this way we get greater
efficiency. Again, by associating ourselves with any other concern. should they
be unsuccessful, it might react on ourselves.
A different point of view is taken by a large manufacturer of
slectrical specialties, who believes cooperation advantageous:

Our lines are technical and should be handled by salesmen of engineering
training. The volume of sales to be expected from the majority of points where
business is at all possible is too small to justify devotion of entire time by a
competent representative, who thus could handle parallel lines with mutually
reduced expense.

It can easily be seen that manufacturers who already have an
established foreign business naturally would not favor any plan by
which their competitors in this country would reap the benefits of
their experience. A few thought cooperative selling agencies would
operate to their disadvantage for this reason. Thus, a large lumber
manufacturer, 60 per cent of whose product is now exported. answered
 as follows:

There might be an advantage—still. we would not [cooperate] if we lost our
dentitv.

Another large lumber manufacturer, 75 or 80 per cent of whose
product is now sold abroad, said:
It would be a disadvantage in our business. We have been exporting for
over 20 years and have our own selling agents in all important ports. If we
were engaged in some other line of business. and in a small way, our answer
might be verv different.

A fountain-pen concern replied:

To our disadvantage. The business race is to the swift, not the sluggard.
The conservative or timid firm lacking in initiative should not benefit in any
way, shape, or form through the efforts of their more enterprising competitors.
A manufacturer of oakum said:

There might be an advantage to us in cooperating with kindred lines, but
not with our competing manufacturers. Why? Because we already have the
ream of this business.