Usborne Books - Does anyone do this from home?

blondy24

Morning All - I am really appreciated of all the posts so far.

I didn't realise that Usborne did 6/8 page brochures £4 for 50, that seems like a possible viable thing to consider if I do join. I have been thinking that I might do brochure hand-outs and also do fetes and see how things go and like one of you mentioned add that I can do parties too. Thanks

I do have a couple of other questions -

• Do you have to sell the books at their full price?
• Also I am moving in a month or so (we have yet to find somewhere else to live that suits our needs) but do you think it would be a good idea to start with Usborne now or wait a couple of months, as we will be moving about 30 or so miles away.

Thanks again and hope everyone is having a nice Sunday :j

Kit603

blondy24 wrote: »

Morning All - I am really appreciated of all the posts so far.

I didn't realise that Usborne did 6/8 page brochures £4 for 50, that seems like a possible viable thing to consider if I do join. I have been thinking that I might do brochure hand-outs and also do fetes and see how things go and like one of you mentioned add that I can do parties too. Thanks

I do have a couple of other questions -

• Do you have to sell the books at their full price?
• Also I am moving in a month or so (we have yet to find somewhere else to live that suits our needs) but do you think it would be a good idea to start with Usborne now or wait a couple of months, as we will be moving about 30 or so miles away.

Thanks again and hope everyone is having a nice Sunday :j

1.) I don't think you have to sell the books you get in your starter kit at their full price. Not sure about future books though!

2.) I'd start now, if nothing else then it'll give you some experience

blondy24

Thanks Kit603 for your advice.

vivatifosi

Kit603 wrote: »

I'd agree that if you use those brochures and posted those, or left them in public places such as libraries, schools, doctor's surgeries etc then you might be able to get a good response and if you stapled a little insert to the front saying you're a new rep in the area and you're also available to do book parties then you could get parties that way! £4 for 50 isn't bad at all but 6-8 pages isn't very much so it can't really contain all the products available. However, I know that my secondary school worked with an Usborne Rep and always had a pile of these on the library counter and seemed to get some regular orders from kids that took them home to parents and the school was happy to do that because, from what I understood, they got free books out of it.

If this is going to be your marketing strategy then I would ask around at the local public and school libraries first before shelling out. I work part time in a public library and it and all neighbouring libraries do not allow any advertising by such organisations. Sometimes people try to leave little piles of literature and they are picked up and put straight in the bin, never returned to the seller who has paid out for them. However I do agree the Usborne books are popular with children.

jaxjax123

My cousin does Usborne books she is busy at shopping centres and events all weekend and she hardly makes any money at all and it's not for a want of trying.

Looneylee

Hi Blondy,

I work for Usborne too and have done so for 4 years now. I really enjoy it and there are so many avenues you can take with it.

You basically buy the books at 24% discount (which is your commission). I have no problem selling the books at full price - yesterday I did an event where we sold £450 of books . We do also get lots of special offers which are fab.

It's a lovely flexible business that you can pick up and put down when you want to. Now we are in the run up to christmas, sales will be really good. The first £100 order is usually quite easy by showing your catalogues to family/friends/work colleagues etc. Once you've done this order, you have no other commitment.

Good luck if you do decide to go ahead.

Lisa

keggs

Kit603 wrote: »

I'd agree that if you use those brochures and posted those, or left them in public places such as libraries, schools, doctor's surgeries etc then you might be able to get a good response and if you stapled a little insert to the front saying you're a new rep in the area and you're also available to do book parties then you could get parties that way! £4 for 50 isn't bad at all but 6-8 pages isn't very much so it can't really contain all the products available. However, I know that my secondary school worked with an Usborne Rep and always had a pile of these on the library counter and seemed to get some regular orders from kids that took them home to parents and the school was happy to do that because, from what I understood, they got free books out of it.

Steve have you actually worked for Kleeneze? I think its very unfair to make judgements such as that if you haven't, and its very unfair to compare products that are completely different. I think that some of the books offered by Usborne can be really good and can be good value, but I also think the same of our products. Still, I wouldn't like to compare books against cosmetics or cleaning products if you know what I mean? Lol.

I would disagree about the building up relationships with customers too. As many Usborne Reps have said on the MSE boards, you don't always get a lot of repeat custom unless its through a school/friends/family - which is fair enough. However, with Kleeneze, I get the same people ordering time and time again and some of these people i've gotten to know really well. Again, I think its unfair to compare the two because they work in different ways and i'm sure that some Usborne Reps have great bonds with their customers whilst others barely know them, and i'm sure the same can be said for Kleeneze.

With regard to the Usborne brochures £4 for 50 isn't bad at all but again its unfair to compare these against the Kleeneze catalogues as your £4 brochures are just a few pages long whilst our Kleeneze catalogues contain more than 450 products and have over 100 pages - even our supplements are much longer than your brochures. Indeed, £32 gets you 50 Main books, 50 Health and Beauty Books and 50 Christmas Catalogues, a pack of order forms and 55 catalogue bags.

£32 divided by 150 catalogues = £0.21 each + the order forms and catalogue bags.

Plus, you can actually pick up our supplements cheaper than the main books:

£9 for 50 Christmas catalogues = £0.18 each
£6 for 50 of other supplements = £0.12 each

If you were to compare these to the cost of the actual Usborne Catalogues which I understand to be £2 each. This is much cheaper, but again they shouldn't really be compared because Usborne and Kleeneze work in very different ways!

The OP hasn't asked for your opinion on Kleeneze, therefore it isn't fair to use this thread to moan about it. I only mentionned Kleeneze to let the OP know that whilst my experience doesn't come from being an Usborne Rep, it comes from somewhere

Hi

I wasn't criticising Kleeneze. Sorry you felt I was. I was comparing the cost. I have done Kleeneze but it wasn't for me. That said, I like the idea of dropping Usborne brochures in the local area and while building a customer base this way will be slower compared to Kleeneze it is a useful way of developing relationships.

I don't agree about comments made about repeat business. But I agree it isn't as regular as Kleeneze. It's just different that's all.

As for making money from stalls. I think you will find most experienced Usborne Orgainsers don't look on stalls at events etc as being ways to 'sell' but rather to make contacts.

As for the brochures themselves I drop them them through letterboxes for two reason

1. To pick up possible customers
2. As a taster - they can borrow a main catlogue containing over 1300 products.

Certainly I think it takes much more work doing Usborne than with say Kleeneze. You have to put yourself out and about. I suppose you could with Kleeneze but most reps don't - relying on catalogue drops instead.

Incidentally, when I was talking about building relationships. The relationship is fundementally different from Kleeneze and other MLM businesses. It isn't just about selling books but is about advising on the educational benefits of a particular product. As a former teacher myself, that's what attracts me to the company.

Hope that helps

benbenandme

I agree with Lisa it is a nice little moneymaking business, but the other problem I found with it is that while the books are lovely, more and more places are stocking them now, Tescos and elc for example, and even the Book People do some of them at much reduced rates Good luck with it though if you do give it a go, I did it for a little while, met the first order no probelem, and when I stopped I have left a large selection of books that are great for birthday party presents or for ds bookcase in his room

Looneylee

Ah but, Tesco etc literally only do a handful of our books. We as organisers are able to offer the complete catalogue of over 1800 titles, plus we can offer a personal service and free books too for party hosts, schools, toddler groups etc etc. I think of it as good advertising for us too. If someone buys an Usborne Book from a different source, they'll then go on to buy other books from Usborne Organisers in various places as they'll just love the books!

:j

Lisa

keggs

Looneylee wrote: »

Ah but, Tesco etc literally only do a handful of our books. We as organisers are able to offer the complete catalogue of over 1800 titles, plus we can offer a personal service and free books too for party hosts, schools, toddler groups etc etc. I think of it as good advertising for us too. If someone buys an Usborne Book from a different source, they'll then go on to buy other books from Usborne Organisers in various places as they'll just love the books!

:j

Lisa

Couldn't agree more Lisa. This 'I can get it cheaper from Tesco etc' misses the point.

Steve