An official Usborne Books thread....

Looneylee

Hello!

Yes - if you do a book party and take £100 in any payment form, then you pay Usborne 76% and keep your 24% commission upfront.

Hope that helps!
Lisa

delgal

Hi,

Thanks for all your help so far. I had my first book party last night and it went well. Got my first £100+ order, plus met my neighbour who i'd never met before, who turned out to be lovely!:)

Just wondering what the best way to build up my stock of books is? I think that for parties, the starter kit is probably fine. In preperation for my first book party yesterday I went to my local library and took out some Usbourne childrens books from current ranges that I didn't already have examples of in my starter pack. It made my display look bigger and meant that I had a broader range of books to show to my friends. So I'm thinking I can also do this in future and just take out books that will be suitable for the target age range of the party i'm going to.

What about for schools though? Do I need to build up stock so that I have one example for each book in a particular range to show at book fairs?

Also how does the ready-steady-read / listen work? Does the Usbourne rep actually run the sponsored event, or do we just give the schools the materials they need to eb able to run the event themselves and let the teachers run the event?

How do the book fairs work? Do you set up a display in the library / hall that is up for several days and just man the stall at certain times of day e.g. immediately after school so that children can some with their parents to look at the books?

For other types of fairs e.g. Christmas fairs etc do you needs lots of stock? Which titles always sell well year round? I don't want to buy a load of Christmas books and be stuck with them! Do people also place orders at these types of events or do they only want to buy what is immediately available?

Thanks in advance for humouring all my questions!! x

Looneylee

Well done on your first book party - sounds like a great success!

Your stock will build gradually as you go along, with the freebies, special offers and Kit Boost books. The starter kit is definitely fine for parties and small groups, but it is great to have a few more books for bigger events.

Take advantage of the 20% free books in your first 6 weeks, as this will help build your stock nicely for free!

For Ready Steady Reads, we just give the material to the schools and agree dates etc, then wait for them to collect in the money and choose their free books.

For book fairs - I just do one day in the school where the children come in class by class to view the books and write a wish list. Then stay after school to catch the parents and take orders. They can also send orders in over the next couple of days using the wish lists the children have taken home.

In respect of building stock, the way I started was to choose a book from each range as I went along with my freebies etc. This way I built a good range and worked out what sells well for me.

I wouldn't get any christmas stuff in now personally, but just take orders for them instead. The story collections (Stories for Little Girls etc) are lovely pressies, as are the Illustrated collections (Illustrated Fairy Tales etc). Snap cards are great stocking fillers, and I sell loads of the Doodle cards (Monster Doodles etc).

I find most people are happy to order, but if they do want to take it away there and then, then I would let them so as not to lose out on the sale. You would be able to deliver back to them within a week with the quick order turnaround.

I will drop you some info on book fairs/rsrs.

ctw123

Hi
I am an Usborne rep and completing my 1st tax return. I earned £1172 for tax year 2010/11. How much can I claim for phone and gas and electricity? I know it will be a small percentage but I haven't got a clue how much. Please help.

Ewaf

Do you reckon any sucess can be had by setting up a website to sell these books? Or is that against T&Cs?

Looneylee

Ewaf wrote: »

Do you reckon any sucess can be had by setting up a website to sell these books? Or is that against T&Cs?

You can only sell Usborne Books through a templated website that you can purchase through Usborne. The online catalogue is automatically updated on your website then, and makes it so much easier. A great tool for pointing customers, potential recruits and schools to.

Ewaf

Damn, thats annoying. So you cant buy books to sell and sell them on your own website? Shame, could be very lucrative with proper search engine optimisation. I guess this is why they only let you use their template

Looneylee

So how's everyone getting on? Do you have much booked in for World Book Day?

I've been quite quiet on the event front Jan/Feb, but have lots planned for March!

warstones

Hi! I found this thread by accident when researching for a home based business to join.

I have heard of Usborne, but knew very little about them. After reading this thread I am very very interested in joining the company! :j

I am rather a shy person and have never done a party before for anything. Would I be able to run an Usborne business?

I love books and have worked with children in the past (I was even going to volunteer with a children's reading charity last year until a family problem prevented me), so the books and schools and so on are something that I can really relate to.

I suppose I am just concerned that I wouldn't be able to run a party or find anyone to host my first one! Sorry if this seems negative, but I would want to do this properly if I decided to join.

Anyway, thanks in advance!

John

Looneylee

Hi John,

A passion for the books would go a long way in helping you sell our books. I'm not a salesperson in the slightest, but our product is fantastic and the books do sell themselves.

There are all sorts of places that you can sell the books, so you are not limited to doing parties. You can sell at childrens' groups, leisure centres, gyms, school fayres.... etc. Schools can be big business.

Most people start off with a starter party at their own house and invite all their family and friends to kickstart their new business. Although your first order doesn't need to be a party. There are plenty of ways of collecting orders together to make sure you get that first order in.

Shout if we can be of any more help!