444 THE PRINCIPLES OF PERSONAL POWER
$25 for a basket of fruit which one could purchase just around the
corner for from $3 to $7.50, with the exception that the latter would
not be embellished with the seventy-five cents' worth of frills which
the former contains.
This is but further proof of the value of Imagination.
The American people-and this means all of them, not merely
the so-called rich-are the most extravagant spenders on earth, but
they insist on "class" when it comes to appearances such as wrapping
and delivery and other embellishments which add no real value to the
merchandise they buy. The merchant who understands this, and has
learned how to mix Imagination with his merchandise, may reap a
rich harvest in return for his knowledge.
And a great many are doing it, too.
The salesperson who understands the psychology of proper display,
wrapping, and delivery of merchandise, and who knows how to show
their wares to fit the whims and the characteristics of their custom-
ers, can make ordinary merchandise bring fancy prices. And what is
more important still, they can do so and still retain the patronage of
their customers more readily than if they sold the same merchandise
without the "studied" appeal and the artistic wrapping and delivery
serVlce.
In a "cheap" restaurant, where coffee is served in heavy, thick cups
and the silverware is tarnished or dirty, a ham sandwich is only a ham
sandwich, and if the restaurant gets fifteen cents for it they are doing
well. But just across the street, where the coffee is served in dainty
thin cups, on neatly covered tables, a much smaller ham sandwich will
bring a quarter, to say nothing of the cost of the tip for service. The
only difference in the sandwiches is merely in appearances. The dif-
ference in price is considerable, but the difference in the merchandise
is not a difference of either quality or quantity so much as it is of
" atmosp h" ere or appearances.