The Encyclopaedia of the Mail Order Business
A do-it-yourself reference published in New York in 1908 at five dollars, in four sections.
What it is
A do-it-yourself reference published in New York in 1908 at five dollars, in four sections. Section One warns beginners against the "stock catalog" that supply houses imprint with a beginner's name (Berkwitz says he saw seven identical ones in one farmhouse) and prints letters from people it ruined, then covers renting letters, pleasing customers, misleading advertising, bunco games, the origins of Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward, and postal, freight and express tables. Section Two is his twelve-instalment course: staple lines before specialities, selling through agents, the premium "trust scheme", partial payments, medical and toilet preparations, sources of supply, advertising, dividing capital, and keying replies by changing initials or street letters in the address. Section Three prints small-capital schemes, from a fire-extinguisher powder to laxative candy and egg preserving. Section Four lists manufacturers, jobbers and the best paying papers.
Why read it now
The durable parts are about trust and measurement. His attack on the stock catalog, identical offers that buyers learn to ignore, describes the template dropshipping store of today, and his cure, make the offer and the story your own, still holds. Settling even ill-founded complaints because one pleased order can win a whole village fits modern evidence on referral and word of mouth, which he calls the most potent mail order advertising. Keying each paper by a different initial or street letter in the address is attribution done by hand, and putting the price in the ad suits low-priced goods. What has dated or fails: the medical chapter treats home-mixed cures as a line of business, which modern health-claim law forbids; one scheme advises working districts after a fatal fire; the remark that women want the price first is a stereotype; and the supplier and freight lists are a century old. Use it this way: before launching, write down how your offer differs from the identical ones your buyer already sees, and do not launch until you can.
Passages worth keeping
The writer has personally interviewed mail order customers, he has traveled through the rural districts, stopped over in farm houses, and saw with his own eyes, no less than seven identical “stock catalogs” in one house.
المؤلف زار بيوت الريف بنفسه ورأى 7 كتالوجات متطابقة في بيت واحد، فالعرض الجاهز الذي يرسله الجميع لا يلفت نظر أحد.
No man living can afford to despise the day of small things, and particularly no mail order man can afford to fail to please the smallest and the most difficult customer.
لا يستهين التاجر بالطلب الصغير ولا بالعميل الصعب، لأن رضا عميل واحد قد يجلب إليه جيرانه كلهم.
the most potent mail order advertising is the “word of mouth” advertising
أقوى إعلان للبيع بالبريد هو العميل الراضي الذي يتحدث عن تجربته لغيره.
There is nothing so powerful in an ad as the price.
إذا كنت تبيع سلعة واحدة فاذكر سعرها في الإعلان، لأن السعر أقوى ما يجذب المشتري إلى العرض.
Get your customer’s good will first. Profit will come after.
ابدأ بكسب ثقة العميل ورضاه ولا تستعجل الربح في البداية، فالربح يأتي بعد ذلك من تكرار الشراء.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
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