In the 1800s people in the city were able to get cheep prices on things since shop owners want to be in a city because more people were there so the likelihood people would buy their stuff is higher so there is more competition between the shops, leading to cheaper prices. There is also more diversity of products because more people means more people shopping. But in small farms out in the frontier there was normally only one store for a community of farmers that provided all of the necessities like rice, beans, potatoes, different animal furs and other things they could buy from farmers called a general store. But since the general store was the only store around it didn’t have to compete with other stores so it could raise prices since you either bought it high or starved. The general store also didn’t make sure their products were up to standard and didn’t do refunds if the product was bad. A man named Aaron Montgomery Ward became a traveling sales man and learned of the problem farmers had with the general store. The farmers number one problem seemed to be the high price the general store charged. So to lower the price Ward decided to cut out the middlemen like shopkeepers and salesmen. To do this Ward sent sheets of paper covered with advertisements and prices. Since he didn’t have to pay middlemen the price was lower and so farmers bought things through the mail and could get a refund if they didn’t like it. It was a success with farmers.
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