OIIBOII & JJ

These items that we have on hand fo'r immediate shipment or PickuP at ouf werehouse:

Sash - IDoors - Mouldings

Trim - Panels - Ironing Boards Medieine Cabinets

O. P. amd B.edwood

Bough and Surfaeed Lumber

f W" .r" also manufactur€rs of a[ I f it"-r of special and detai[ millwork I

Hoenm LumBER @@.

Vholecalets and Jobbers ffir

OFFICE, MILL, YARD AND DOCKS

2rd & Alice Str OAKLAND Glencoun 6&il but it certainly makes a lot of work to collect it and report it and to handle the complicated and difiicult questions that arise in its execution, We have one man who does nothing but compile the sales tax report from the tickets and records after the tax has been figured. Without exaggeration, it takes just twice as long to figure customers' tickets as it did three years ago. The new State Truck Regulations make more trouble and expense, and the State Cartage Tax on sales made outside of incorporated limits will make a lot more trouble and expense. If you happen to have any service falling under the State R. R. Commission. the reDorts necessarv to make out are unending. To operate our wharf at-Wilmington nlecessitates a financial and statistical report containing 22 large pages, the most exhaustive report I have ever made out. Added to all the State reports and regulations, I understand the Federal Government will soon have employment tax reports on each employeer for us to keep, and the payroll deduction to make and remit after the first of the year.

City, County, State and National taxes will increase in dollar volumethere can be no question about that. The relief and emefgency expenditures of all governmental divisions must eventually be paid for in increased taxes. In the writer's opinion there is little or nothing that can be done about reducing the dollar volume of expense. The percentage of expense will naturally reduce from its present level with increased volume of sales, but in my opinion, considering the extraordinary addition of dollar expense at present and to come, and considering the reasonable'expectancy of sales in the next four or five years, the industry on the average cannot expect to reduce the cost of doing business belon' ZiVo to 24/o on Sales. If this is somewhere near the proper percentage of expense expectancy, what is the gross margin of profit expectancy?

In considering the gross margin of profit on lumber and merchandise it is naturally necessary to state what is considered cost of goods. Cost o,f goods is taken here to mean the original invoice cost plus freight, wharfage, in-coming cartage, milling, and piling on the pile. The sales price of the goods is the price F. O. B. yard, the cartage to the job being credited to cartage account. A simple illustration would be the purchase of 2x4s for $20.00 per M, wharfage $1.32, freight $1.00, piling on pile 68c, or a total purchase of $23.00; if goods are sold for $30.00, the gross profit would be $30.00 into 7.00 or 23-l/3%.

The industry has had no combined statistics on the subject of gross margin of profit. It is my opinion that the percentages I will now give you represent the gross margin of profit for the lumber industry in Southern California in the various periods, The average gross margin of profit on lumber and merchandise in Southern California has been between 23 and 24% on sales for years. One year will vary from another, but in my opinion, almost any combination of years will show the gross profit'to be between 23 and 24Vo on Sales. It is my opinion that the gross profit for the industry for the period covered by the group of sales first mentioned in this discussion would be Z3.6Vo; that in the period covered by Dlivision A sales would be 23.4%; that in the period ending December 31,

(Continued on Page 20)

When You Sell

Booth'Kelly Douglae Fir, ttre Association grade and trade mark certify to your customers the quality of ttre stock you handle. Builders guit gueeeing about what they'rc buying, and buy where they know what tfiey'rc getting.

LUMBER gO

SUGENE ORE:

Crcneral Saler Office: Eugene, Ore.

Mills: Wendling, Ore., Springfield, Ore.

CALTFORNIA REPRESENTATIVES

Northcrn Crliforair

Hill & Morton, Inc.

Dcnniron St. Whuf

Orhlead ANdovcr 1077

Southcrn Qliforuir

E. J. Stantoa & Soo zt50 E. 3tth st., Lor Argclcr AXridgo 92U