Avon Hints and Tips (Part 3)

DFWJane

yummymummy85 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I posted on this thread just before Christmas about starting Avon. I tried Usborne Books after my first son was born and a year later I've still got two boxes of books in my room that I'm trying to get rid of!
I've since had another baby so can't see me going back to work anytime soon since the childcare costs for one child are phenomenal let alone for two! However, I do (as most people these days) need to make a bit of extra money to add to the pot as we are starting to struggle financially.
I need some honest opinions about Avon before I make a decision - need to put a solid case to hubby if I do decide to do it given the recent failure of me trying Usborne!
I know this is probably a how long is a piece of string question but what sort of money can I expect to make? Are the figures in some of your signatures how much you actually make as your money or how much your sales are (if that makes sense!)
Would I find this difficult to juggle with two boys under two? Even though most Usborne Reps rant on about Usborne being easy to do with kids coz you can go to toddler groups etc - sounds easy but trying to sell books and look after a toddler is no mean feat!!
Also, have seen territories mentioned on the thread - what's the average size of the territories and can you only sell in those territories? Would I be able to say hand books out at the playgroup we go to, hubby take some into work etc even if people already have an avon person?
May sound silly but do you get much repeat custom or are you always trying to find new customers?
Sorry if I've gone on a bit, just trying to find out as much as I can before I make any decisions!!!

Hi, I am an ex rep trying to persuade hubby it's a good idea for me to rejoin!
I left after 2nd baby as I couldn't keep on top of it but I was trying to cover 2 areas and I had a baby and a 2 year old who were both demanding.
DS is starting preschool so I think I will find it easier to get books out now but in your situation why not think about joining as a friends and family rep? Just show books to everyone you know and take them to toddler groups. You don't have to have an area but if you do you will be allocated approx 100 houses which you canvass and try to build up.
The more you put in, the more you earn. Cosmetics and toiletries run out so people will need to put in repeat orders. Once you are established new customers will find you. It won't happen overnight but if you keep going at it, it will work out.
Get yourself a good team leader rather than joining direct so you have support.
HTH

Elliebee_2

Hi YummyMummy :wave: I've been doing Avon since October 2007 and can tell you how it has worked out from my own point of view, but I think everyone's experience is different so it will be interesting to hear from other people. I hope also that others will correct anything I get wrong

I'm a retired '60 something' and do Avon to give me some 'whoopee money' which definitely doesn't come as part of my meagre state pension I have to say that it has worked out much better than I expected. The initial outlay is only £15 (charged in two halves over your first 2 campaigns) so you don't have a huge amount to lose; you will also need to buy your books after the first couple of campaigns, and some cheap plastic bags to put them in. You need to achieve a minimum order value of £78 (?) in order to get a discount of 20% on your whole order, and something around £148 I think for the 25% level.

You should find that it fits in well will your childcare routine, as you can collect and deliver books and orders when it suits you. I usually place orders around an average of £350 and find that takes me 2-3 hours to sort and pack once every 3 weeks (except at this time of year when it is every 2). You are unlikely to earn huge amounts of money as an Avon rep, but you can certainly earn money for 'extras', and it provides some interest and some free or discounted products. There is more money to be made as a Sales Leader, but also more of a committment in terms of time and travelling etc. My average commission is about £75 per 3 weeks, but it could be as little as a fiver or as much as £150 according to sales. I find that the customer base builds up naturally as people realise that you are going to be reliable - I have some customers who have been with me since the beginning, although of course you will always lose the odd one but hopefully gain some too. I don't find I have to work too hard at it to keep my customer base around the same level. Unlike books, people use cosmetics and toiletries all the time so you get fairly frequent repeat purchases.

You can either do just 'family and friends' or elect to have a territory as well(which will usually be fairly close to your home). If you have a territory, then it would be exclusive to you, although other reps may have family or friends there. My initial territory was around 180 houses but the number will depend on your Area Sales Manager or Sales Leader, and you can usually add more when you've proved yourself to be a stayer! The Playgroup would count as family and friends, so you can certainly do that, plus shops, businesses. hairdressers, doctor's surgery etc, etc.

As I said at the outset, there isn't a huge outlay, so I would say give it a go and see if it works for you. There is certainly plenty of help and support on this thread, so you wouldn't feel isolated.

I've rambled a bit but HTH

yummymummy85

Thank you both for your replies, it's definately something that I'm seriously looking into. I'm not looking to make a fortune, just enough for me to feel like I'm doing my bit towards the household costs and so I don't feel so guilty when I buy something for myself (a rarity I can assure you!). Another bonus I can see for myself is walking around delivering and collecting the books might help shift some of this 'baby' weight!
If I was to do it for say a few months and decided that it wasn't working are there any catches to getting out of it? I know obvioulsy unlike Usborne I'm not going to be stuck with loads of stock sitting around months later!!
My main problem is selling this to my husband as like I said he's very cautious about these type of things after Usborne.
Also, how would I go about finding a team leader myself?
Thanks again!

DFWJane

If you decide not to do it, there is no obligation and you can just stop.
The £15 start up fee is deducted from your 1st 2 invoices so you get the chance to earn the money - no cash outlay.
The reservations my OH has is that before it took up a lot of my time but I was trying to earn a living from sales leadership at the wrong time in my life and the house was filled with boxes of books and stuff i hadn't bagged up or had accumulated. This time I will be very routined, bag the goods when they arrive and if i do sales leadership I won't chase every lead but let people come to me and do it slowly. I tried to take on more than I could cope with, basically.
I also joined a party plan book company, which i will carry on with, but with hindsight I think Avon is the easiest to do and is a repeat product.
There, talked myself back into it too!
Look in your local paper to see if anyone is advertising for reps. Prime recuitment time!

victoriaplum1

I did Avon a few years ago and I found it pretty good for some extra spends my only prob was spending them all on Avon for myself so mo real profit made! I had a good leader who put no pressure on me, I joined to do friends and family but she gave me 2 streets to do aswell, but there was no pressure. My mum used to take the book to work in a care home and the other carers bought alot, once people know you are reliable to come back for books you will also pick up orders and repeat orders off the streets and they do have lots of good offers on esp coming up to Christmas. I used to buy up cheap products when on offer like bubble bath and put 'free mystery gift when you spend £20' etc on order forms and then give away a freebie like that, but you do have to pay for books etc and they can work out expensive, bit of a bind if you keep losing books on the round. I know Betterware for instance do not charge for any stationery or books, I used to be an area coordinator for them and suffice to say their stuff used to sell as won an all expensive paid trip to Monaco for best sales in the region. Not to be confused with Kleeneze who charges for books and who doesnt give you an exclusive territory.

Aesop

DWFJane, do you think Debbie might have an SL in yummymummy's area?

victoriaplum1

Another co that you could look into is Phoenix trading who sell cards and giftwrap, really nice cards most only £1 and a bit different, I think no pressure with them either...maybe good for craft fairs, playgroups etc. I did consider joining them but thought I would have to sell alot of products at £1 a pop to earn a decent commission, suppose depends how committed you are though and how big a customer base you can build

pugsley_h

yummymummy85 wrote: »

Thank you both for your replies, it's definately something that I'm seriously looking into. I'm not looking to make a fortune, just enough for me to feel like I'm doing my bit towards the household costs and so I don't feel so guilty when I buy something for myself (a rarity I can assure you!). Another bonus I can see for myself is walking around delivering and collecting the books might help shift some of this 'baby' weight!
If I was to do it for say a few months and decided that it wasn't working are there any catches to getting out of it? I know obvioulsy unlike Usborne I'm not going to be stuck with loads of stock sitting around months later!!
My main problem is selling this to my husband as like I said he's very cautious about these type of things after Usborne.
Also, how would I go about finding a team leader myself?
Thanks again!

I think that my ASM told me that you were supposed to give 1 campaign notice if you were to resign - so that they have chance to get another rep to cover your area without losing your customers.

I have been doing avon for nearly 12 months now, and I enjoy doing it. I have 2 kids under three, and I find that I can fit it around my life. My DH helps a lot as well - which is a bonus. He will push books through for me on the way home from work, and when I go and deliver orders in the dark, he comes with me.

I had a very difficult year last year - within 2 weeks I lost my Grandad, and I was diagnosed with cancer (thankfully now gone - touch wood). I have to say that it really helped doing avon - it gave me something else to concentrate on. I like doing the admin, sorting the orders out etc - it is like playing shop when you are a kid lol. I really like delivery day (sad but true).

You will find though, that you will need storage - through creative ordering etc, you can end up with quite a lot of stock, as well as the books and bags etc. I send my spare stock around the family and to my Mum and sister's work, and sell them at good prices. I also made up a lot of hampers at Christmas, which sold really well. I sometimes do car boot sales, and sell stuff on there too (I had loads of free mascaras from campaign 17 and they sold like hot cakes). So there are other ways of bringing in a bit more money.

Give it a go - it only costs £15 (which is taken out of your earnings) - so you have nothing to loose.

MarsdenCuckoo

Just to add to what has already been said, you may not earn a great deal but to my mind the advantages are:

* Exercise (as you say - will help re. 'baby weight') - also a mood booster too
* You'll make new friends (just happens naturally)
* As a rep you can literally try any products you like and just send back the ones you don't like - talk about a kid in a sweet shop!
* You can work when you want (prepping books in the evening whilst watching TV etc.)
* There are always bargains in every campaign - usually cheaper even to your customers than readily available in the shops
* Most of all you get to buy at discounted prices...... :T and that's not even taking into account 'creative ordering' i.e. ordering products more cheaply from a different campaign to what your customers have ordered from and/or the benefits just from consolidating your orders.

Hope that helps convince your OH.

Good luck!

lozza1985

as for the figures in our signatures - mine is my actual sales, I get approx 25% of that figure as earnings - so usually around £100 each campaign as make a little extra from "creative ordering", which I don't think is bad. To start with - it will take you a while to do stuff, it took me ages to sort & bag my first few deliveries as I hadn't a clue what was what lol, but now get it all done in a couple of hours, and my customers are "trained" now lol to leave their books out on the right day, and they know to be in on the day I say, and if thats not convenient they know they can contact me & I'll happily arrange something to suit them. Once you first few campaigns are out of the way then it's much easier.

As for leaving - you don't technically need to hand your notice in so to speak - I've had reps go awol, won't even just send me a quick text / email to confirm that they are leaving. After a few campaigns your account goes dormant, and so long as you don't leave owing any money then thats not a problem - but it is best to give the person who signed you up the courtesy of telling them, as it means we aren't left wondering!