PLAN No. 389. A PARCEL-POST EXCHANGE
A young farmer in Illinois, who knew only too well that the city dealer always sets the price upon the farmers’ products, as well as upon his own goods, thought he saw an opportunity to help the producer get more for what he had to sell, pay less for what he had to buy, and make some money for himself besides.
He had about $1,000 in cash, and, removing to the city, he rented a small store and got in touch with a large mail-order house that agreed to sell him certain articles, especially for the use of farmers, at considerably less than catalog rates, provided he ordered a certain quantity.
He then prepared a circular letter, requesting those farmers who wanted higher prices for their butter, eggs, chickens, fruit and vegetables, to send them to him in exchange, by parcel post, for any of the articles on the list he enclosed therewith, assuring them of from 10 to 20 per cent higher prices than they could obtain from the regular commission houses, while the prices he quoted on the merchandise he would exchange for these were considerably lower than those of the mail-order houses from which he bought them, and yet left him a fair margin of profit. At the same time he addressed a circular letter to one thousand or more families in the city, offering to supply them with strictly fresh farm produce for much less than they had been paying in the city markets for articles of uncertain age and quality.
The farmers and the city people were only too glad of such an opportunity to save money on their purchases, and the young farmer with an idea soon had established a business that yielded a good living every year.