It is no longer the interest of many tradesmen to sell sound wares; the consumer can no longer rely upon the recommendation of the retailer as a skilled judge of the quality of a particular line of goods; he is thrown back upon his own discrimination, and as an amateur he is apt to be worsted in a bargain with a specialist.

There is no reason to suppose that customers are meaner than they used to be.

They always bought things as cheaply as they knew how to get them.

The real point is that they are less able to detect false cheapness than they used to be.

Not merely do they no longer rely upon a known and trusted retailer to protect them from the deceits of the manufacturer, but the facilities for deception are continually increasing.