The mere fact that certain groups of retailers and middlemen meet demands made by producers and consumers is not evidence in itself that there are no sources of waste in our present system of marketing. One, the delivery system, has already been mentioned. Another is poorly written and poorly prepared advertising copy. A third is in the failure to make distinctions between consumers. A city department store, let us say, maintains a free rest-room, a free nursery, and provides telephone service without cost, the entire expense being paid in the long run by its customers. Those who come in often to rest, or to leave their babies while they shop, and those who use the free telephone service regularly, can well afford to pay higher prices for goods than would be the case under more modest surroundings. But how about those customers who are never tired, have no children, or are dumb ? Why should they be compelled to pay for something they cannot use? The usual answer is that this store, because of its large volume of sales, sells as cheaply as its smaller competitors. There is truth in the answer, which, however, does not explain why customers should be charged for services they cannot enjoy.

Another waste in the present system of marketing, but which in itself is not inherent therein, comes from selling goods on credit. Any merchant, whether he be retailer or jobber, knows from experience or observation that a credit business always involves bad accounts, and that its maintenance in the mere matter of bookkeeping incurs considerable expense. Clearly, cash customers must, if the seller is not to lose, bear the burden of bad accounts. Here as in many other cases of waste the consumer is largely responsible. If every cash customer should confine his purchases to cash stores, the practice of granting credit would cease in a short time. What has been said in this respect is merely illustrative. Any one of us can, by observing, discover a surprisingly large number of other sources of waste in marketing.