This is the best day I’ve ever had. I can. I
will. I’m going to help 30 people a day live
a richer, fuller more meaningful life
because I stopped by and showed them
my books.’
— Southwestern Co. sales manual
left halfway through the summer, she
says. "She brought nine of us out and
didn't even have the guts to stay " Ben
ding and other students from the
University were based near Houston,
Texas.
Students are expected to remit at
least 60 percent of their take each week
and save only enough to live on At the
end of the summer when students
return to Nashville to check out, the
company buys back any undelivered
books and settles with the students for
their 40 percent share of the summer’s
take. Students who leave early often
end up owing Southwestern money as
did Carey. McBarron and Collins
Despite problems, the company
does very well making $30.(XX),000 a
year while letting college students do all
of the sales work The company has lit
tie if any overhead on the sales side of
the business Students pay for
everything from the hotel where groups
meet for the Sunday meeting to the
phone calls they are required to make
to their student managers each day
Students are even expected to find
lodging in private homes in their sales
area for the summer
Some of the students interviewed
said they were somewhat surprised to
discover all the expenses they were ex
pected to cover Others like Squire said
it was clear before he left that he was
going to be running his own business
and he would be expected to pay his
own way "It all tax deductable
anyway,” he says Bending says the
company never really lied but em
phasuted the positive aspects of the
program too heavily and glossed over
problems students invariably ran into
"They didn’t just gloss over them, they
buried them flat out," Carey says of the
negative aspects the company covered
Students were expected to pay the
postage for shipping books from Ten
nessee to the sales area wher« during
the thirteenth week students deliver all
the books they sold during the year
During this time students also collect
any money not paid when transactions
were closed The company buys back
any books not sold but students are
responsible (or lost checks, bad checks,
damaged books
Although a large number of students
from the University had problems List
year some students do make money
Lots of money. Schyer’s best summer
netted him a check for between
$14.(XX) and $15,000. he says But
even the best salesman will admit that
summers like that only come after
several summers of knocking on doors
Schyer made that in his seventh year in
the field
The biggest complaint University
students had with the company is not
that they were ever lied to but that they
weren't told certain things that may
have helped them make a more in
formed decision about whether to sell
for the company or not Sins of ommis
sion. in short
The list of sellers used to compute
the average take for the summer, for
example, contains the gross income
before expenses, which according to
students who sold last year can run as
high as $1,500 for the summer Those
amounts are listed simply as "Profit
No indication of whether these are
gross of net profit figures appears on
the sheet Prospective sellers are also
given a list of former salesmen and their
parents to call The names of Collins.
McBarron, Carey and others from the
University who had problems last sum
mer do not appear on that list
Students interviewed said they
would have either not worked for the
company or could have been better
prepared when they did go if they had
only been told certain things about the
program, namely, more about ex
penses, living arrangements and a
more accurate potrayal of what they
could expec t to earn □
THE SOUTHWESTERN COMPANY
SURETY BOND
WHEREAS..__ _ _ and
■Iritrr to irl •'
in ik City of _____ ______________ , Sum ol .. __ , and
WHEREAS, TV Soulhnealero I »mpin> of Naahiille Tiwimo moy benefit from
________ ’• and _ _'» actioem
• • paddle n. and
WHEREAS, tV City enquire* certain tuinmm Vfore it will allow
«nd in on •« peddWra within lit Itait*
NOW. THEREFORE. TV Soulhwealem Company agree* lo indemnify and bold Vrmlaaa
tV City from and againat all unlawful acta undertaken by__— - and
_in connection with aale of hooka and merrhandiac publiahad
by TV South ■ rat fro Company in an amount not to eicend a total of On* Thouaand Italian
(11,000 00)
Tbia Agr
ciarulad
akall imain in effort until tV end of tV calendar year in vkick it la
19.
SICNED. tlua
day of
■ ttMfc. I
iMnl
ilWnl
THE SOUTH WESTER N COMPANY
Ptrudml
I_I
The surely bond protected consumers in case one of Southwestern's "ped
dlcrs" oilUilid money hut didn’t deliver books. Some of the towns required
students to have the bonds before they would issue a permit to sell door-to
door.
STUDENTS
Donat* blood
plitma whit*
you '• studying
(You can mak* a*
many a* *»gh«
donation* • vary
month ) It * tala
aaay haalthy
Undar madical
lupaniiion B* a
ragular donor
EARN
$90
y AND
MORE
~A MONTH
NEW DONORS:
$5 Bonus
with this ad
EUGENE PLASMA
484 2241 • 1071 Olive St
Recycle This Paper
Fashion
with an
Ethnic
m rich colors fabrics and
, styles to coordinate
L with I-oik w ays cu (usin'
jL i olkctkxt of scarves
Ix'lts and lewelry
1
ImU lt>2 f. nth Ave
n next to the Excelsior
y 343-8667
Filth St Public Market
Flair1
downstairs
683-2204
FOLKWAYS IMPORTS
I clothing Jtwurcv & fou apt mjom around m world ■
Northwest Bestsellers
Week of May 11-15, 1987
Hardcover
NONFICTION
1 Thirty five Plus Diet Women
by Jean Spod
2 Small Sacrifices
by Ann Rule
3 New American Diet
by Sonja Connor
4 Superimmunity
by Paul Pearsall
5 Thia n That
by Bette Davis
6 Beverly: An Autobiography
by Beverly Sills
7 Momilles & More Momilies
by Michele Slung
8 Communion
by Whitley Strieber
9 Jolly Postman
by Janet Ahlberg
10 Feel Fear, Do It Anyway
by Susan Jellers
FICTION
1 Fine Things
by Danielle Steel
2 Heiress
by Janet Dailey
3 Haunted Mesa
by Louis L Amour
4 Bolt
by Dick Francis
5 Red Storm Rising
by Tom Clancy
6 Texasvllle
by Larry McMurtry
7 Seattle Green
by Jane Adams
8 Ladies ot Missalonghi
by Colleen McCullough
9 01 Love & Shadows
by Isabel Allende
10 Thanalos Syndrome
by Walker Percy