THE C.O.D. SYSTEM.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19343, 22 June 1928, Page 11

THE C.O.D. SYSTEM.

I TO THE EDITOR OP THE PRESS. Sir, —There have been a number of letters on the C.O.D. system in your columns during the past- few days. " West Coaster," particularly, is very indignant. I wonder whether he knows that no trading house in New Zealand is allowed to use the C.O.D. system. It is reserved for Britain and foreign countries. We have heard men talking wildly about ironmongery they were able to sell before the war, and the price it is to-day. Also a well-known local identity claims' that he has landed stuff at a very low price in comparison to what he can buy it for locally. Fish, too, is very cheap at Sumner, but some of the public think it is highly priced in the shops. However, we nearly all know that not many fish sellers make a fortune —whether they sell raw fish or fried fish. All the correspondents would do well to read the report of the company in Auckland, whose annual meeting is reported in tcf-day's Press. They have sold more than ajnillion pounds' worth of merchandise to the people, including soft goods, farm implements, pots and pans, furnishings, and they even have a tearoom. They show that they have made something over 3 per cent, net profit on their sales. It is quite likely they have paid our Government eight or ten thousand pounds income-tax, especially with land-tax included, yet these people are denied the privilege of the C.O.D. system. It is quite clear that no company, could work on a smaller margin of net profit, and for a number of years this company has actually made losses. Many of your correspondents are evidently men of little or no business experience, and it would be quite truthful to say that many of them know very little of what they are writing about. _ . _ One thing is still certain —competition these days in business —wholesale or retail—is remarkably keen, and excessive profits do not existv-except in the imaginations of men, and the public continue to be well served. —Tours, etc., FISH. June 21st, 1921 ' i