CASH ORDER TRADING

Taranaki Daily News, 30 January 1930, Page 19

CASH ORDER TRADING

“MOST PERNICIOUS SCHEME.” Promoters of cash order trading having failed in their attempts to establish the system in Hamilton, kindred spirits are abroad with the same idea thinly disguised as a benevolent institution for all and sundry (states the Waikato Tillies). It is a case of a sheep in wolf's clothing. ■ Under 'the old scheme one simply got ebupons on tick and paid through the nose in interest. Under the new proposal coupons give .way to “our copyright orders” and direct interest to*, indirect. ' ' People will he asked to become “shareholders,” and on payment of £1 down will bo handed wliat is purported' to be £5 worth of “copyright orders,” the balance, without interest, to be paid over a number of weeks. These ordojs will be exchangeable at certain shops for, presumably, their face value. So far so good; it seems an excellent scheme —credit nnd no interest. But that is where the- whole trouble comes in. Eventually there will be interest charged, although in an indirect manner. The interest will take the form of dearer goods, and for a very palpable reason. The . shopkeepers who agree to join the project and accept coupons as cash do so at a loss, or will do at the outset, for the simple reason that when they send the coupons collected to the “company’s” headquarters for payment they—and here lies the crux of the matter —will not receive the full face value, but a considerable percentage will be deducted by the “company” according to agreement. Now, it stands to reason, and it should be as plain as a pikestaff to any man of average common sense, that a trader is not going to- suffer. loss. If he sets a cash price on an article he ex 1 - pects that, and docs not expect to be haggled with for a '■ reduction after the manner of an Eastern bazaar. In the case of the coupon he would be haggling, and would lose accordingly. The only and obvious result in the long run would be that the percentage payable to the “company” would be added to the'cost of the article, and therefore the coupon holder would pay more—he would be paying the interest the promoters of the scheme so glibly tell him ho will not have to. It will be said the shopkeeper is not to know what customer holds coupons. Quite true; but that only makes matters worse. If the scheme gets any sort of a hold prices will go up for everyone, coupon holder and non-holder alike. That brings us to the undeniable fact that the cost of living would go up all round. SHOPKEEPERS CONDEMN. The better class Hamilton shop* ’weepers realise this, and the Hamilton

Retailers’ Association has already flatly turned down the scheme. Its members are level-headed business men, and see what the scheme would ultimately mean; and, jealous of their good name and in the interests of their customers, they immediately dismissed all thought of participation in a project that would benefit only the promoters —they and no one else. The promoters need not have a penny of their own money at stake; they will merely be using other people’s money. They will not lend actual cash to the public, nor will they have to pay any out. They will be receiving all along the line, for what they pay out to shopkeepers in return for coupons, less a considerable percentage, will have come in from the credulous public, and the percentage deducted from the shopkeeper will be interest gained to them on money that was not their own at any time! That it is a great “get rich quick' scheme for the promoters is proved even beyond this by the fact that certain well-known Hamilton business men have been offered substantial honorariums per annum merely for the use of their names on the directorate, the idea naturally being to fool the that there are men df--at'anding and business integrity behind the concern.