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                           bargain basement

                        By CHARLES L. FONTENAY

                  _How could it give away such buys?
                   Very easy--by doing a business in
                  pennies and a profit in billions!_

           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
             Worlds of If Science Fiction, September 1959.
         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]


Jack Hanshaw was madder than a wet hen and his roommate, Ken Adaman,
was enjoying his misfortune hugely.

"Not a blame thing!" snarled Jack, fiddling with the knobs of the
television set. "Not even static lines. First they give me a set
without a plug-in cord, and now this one's got a no-good picture tube."

"You get what you pay for," said Ken, laughing. "I've warned you about
the