Buying goods from a specific dealer is a common form of payment, amounting to the supply of protection from competition on behalf of the beneficiary. Calzetta reports, for instance, that "[Michele] Graviano used to go around telling everyone to buy their iron from Giuseppe Casella because this was in [Graviano's] interest. He intimated that everyone should continue to buy iron there even if the price was 50 lire higher [per kilo] than that offered by other dealers" (SC: II, 62).

DEFINE: Exemplifies how patron-client buying acts as a form of protection payment or extortion, not just a commercial transaction.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 464