Phoenix traders - what is your most successful selling technique?

wongawonga

Facebook, Smartphones, competition from companies like Moon Pig and Funky Pigeon, and the high cost of postage are having an affect on the Greeting Card sector. To hint otherwise is nonsense.

jasperconran

wongawonga wrote: »

Facebook, Smartphones, competition from companies like Moon Pig and Funky Pigeon, and the high cost of postage are having an affect on the Greeting Card sector. To hint otherwise is nonsense.

yes but there are traders out there earning very well. all I was saying really was these companies have massive overheads, traders do not!! plus traders can offer discounts on postage etc if they want to.

wongawonga

jasperconran wrote: »

yes but there are traders out there earning very well. all I was saying really was these companies have massive overheads, traders do not!! plus traders can offer discounts on postage etc if they want to.

I was referring to the sector in general not just big companies. Surely you are not suggesting that the factors i mentioned want affect traders business.

How can traders help customers save on postage out of interest ?

jasperconran

wongawonga wrote: »

How can traders help customers save on postage out of interest ?

I know many people who do direct selling including phoenix trading and many of them offer special discounts with regards to postage costs and they also do offers in connection with what they are selling. I may ask one of the traders I know to come and comment and give their opinion, might help

ShallITrade?

I must confess to being utterly stumped about whether to proceed with applying to Phoenix or not. I have been reading this thread (& its previous incarnation) over the past couple of evenings & was feeling fairly confident in moving forward but suddenly the posts ground to a halt (last June I believe) & a question began to perplex me...

Where on earth have all the original, enthusiastic, oft-posting Traders gone? It seriously concerns me that not a single one remains. They may well have all departed for the sunnier climes of Facebook, I shall have a search & read for that later, but this all feels a bit Twilight Zone & not wildly encouraging.

I have gone from looking forward to my sponsor's call, plotting my launch & reading up on events I could take a stall at, to scrutinising my information pack for flaws in the whole enterprise.

Troubled.

Jenjen

I think you'll find most of the original posters on facebook and twitter where there is a massive community of traders (many of them in private groups that you will only find once you join) and also the company now has its own forum which traders use to communicate. Hope that helps.

glitterball

huge group on facebook and a lot of teams have their own closed groups, you should ask your sponsor.

I read with intrest the comment that Moonpig, Funky P ect would be having an impact on the card industry, which I have no doubt they do, but when I get one of those (usually from my brother) I just feel hacked off that he couldnt be bothered going to any effort. Its almost insulting, there is nothing personal about it and he would be as well not bothering.

Maz1981

I'm here and happy to talk about Phoenix. Not been a trader long but have to say I have met some lovely people along the way and built confidence to take my cards to events and people's home's to hold parties. The Phoenix HQ staff are really helpfull.

There are so many different avenues you could take the business, parties at home, basket of cards in workplaces, events, brochure drops.

A few of you mention postage.... I personally dont charge postage to people I can deliver to (obviously) any others I charge £2.

duckeggblue1

Hello,
This is my first post and I'm not too sure how to go about it so apologies in advance if I get it wrong.
I'm looking for a part time opportunity which I can work around shift work and it always seems to come back to mlm/party plan as the only really flexible way to make some extra cash. However, I've tried several before but from my experience none of them provide a decent income unless you build a team (which I don't want to do)
Anyway, I've now come across Phoenix Trading and am tempted to try again as I love anything to do with stationery. I was wondering if anyone who is or who has been a Trader with Phoenix could tell me if it is possible to make a few hundred pounds a month (profit) just from part time personal sales?
Also, it is £30 to join with a starter pack of samples but is this realistically enough to start with and apart from the cost of the cards, what are the monthly extra costs, eg. I read somewhere on here that you buy the cellophane to put the cards in separately?
I can't seem to find any posts for 2013, is this because the demand for this has died down (eg due to moonpig and cheap in town retailers etc)? I have just emailed Phoenix with some questions but it would be really useful to have your opinions/experiences also.
Thanking you in advance!

dingdongavon

duckeggblue, personally I found it very hard to make money from Phoenix and only made a few hundred a year let alone a month, but like everything else it depends on how much time you can put into finding customers, doing parties etc. I did have some good customers but as they bought in bulk they didn't really order more than a few times a year and you will need a lot of customers doing this to earn much money a month.

You can just start off using the samples but some people will always want to buy some immediately at a party so a small amount of stock is useful but of course this is tying up money you may not have to begin with.

If you do events you might find you break even or lose money after paying cost of table more times than you make money but I am sure that many reps will disagree.

I don't want to put you off doing it but out of all the selling jobs I do, Phoenix was the hardest for me to make money. Other people will not find it so hard.

Hope you get more positive answers to your questions and have a good look round the up your income forum as you may find other things that will suit you better eg surveys, swagbucks etc.