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Show SHARP BARGAINING. - "Beating down" is so common among both young and old, now, that but few ever seem to guess that it is a form of dishonesty. A great deal of the vexations chaffering over tradesmen's prices springs from ignorance; but even ignorance is no excuse for that unfairness which assumes the second party in our bargain to be a knave, and refuses to allow him a lawful profit in his business. It would seem that the old heathen could teach us something on the morality of trade. If, in Sparta, a young man purchased an estate upon advantageous terms, or made what is termed a "a good bargain," he was rendered accountable to the state, and fined for being unjust, and buying a thing under its value. Our practice is the reverse, the young man who can make the best bargain is the smartest. |