Direct Selling

nessauk

Hi All,

Am thinking about delving into the world of direct selling, but am struggling to find the right company to deal with. As I don't have much in the way of free time, I can't get involved with party planning, and am therefore pretty much dependant on earning comission on brochures, and getting sales through friends/family and work collegues.

I can't do Avon at work (where I expect the bulk of sales to come from) as someone is already doing it (and the last time someone else tried bringing in Avon into the office there was a big war of words about poaching customers:eek:), so want to stear clear of them, Body Shop and any other company that deals with cosmetics. So as a different avenue, am looking along the lines of jewellry, accessories, and home accessories. Most of the staff at work are women so I need something that will appeal to them. Have come across Partylite, but from what I can understand, they are pretty dependant on you hosting parties as opposed to handing out catalogues and generating sales dependantly on them (unless of course a Partylite rep can tell me otherwise:)). Have also come across Miglio and Jo Magdalena, but what I need to bear in mind with what I am selling is that most of the staff that I work with are on minimum wage, and I doubt that I am going to be able to sell much from catalogues whereby the minimum price for an item is about £10.

I've looked at the listing on the DSA website, but if anyone knows of any other companies that do direct selling that fits into jewellry, accessories and home accessories then it would be really appreciated.

katskorner

Hiya Ness,

I work with a large MLM company that is very successful. It is a really good place to be and you can build a brilliant income without needing a huge customer base. I would be happy to show you how it works. Where do you live?

Kat

LizD_2

As an ex-partylite rep, I can say that it's very dependent on holding parties. People generally only buy the products when they see them and it's quite difficult to do that in an office. The products are quite expensive too (although excellent quality), so you might find that an issue.

This website gives you an idea of what companies are out there at the moment:

http://www.comparextraincome.com/

Dr.Shoe_2

Kleeneze is probably one of the best business models around at the moment.

sunshine_girl_2

Hi

I am an independent Phoenix trader, selling greetings cards, stationery etc - very low start up costs and no targets. It works really well for me - please pm me if you are interested and would like some further information.

Good luck

mrsyardbroom

Books go down very well in our office. We have one Avon rep and another rep for cosmetics and they haven't come to blows. The book man doesn't work in the office. He travels around various outlets and sells a lot of stuff. This might be useful for anyone else on this forum looking to earn extra cash. http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/distributors/index.html

Other people in our office produce goods such as cards and holly wreaths at Christmas time. The card making lady leaves a ring binder in the kitchen filled with A4 pockets containing the cards she has made. People look through in their break times and purchase what they want directly.

JennyJewell

Hi nessauk
You could check out wikaniko/wikanico - I can't remember which way it's spelt sorry. It's similar to Kleeneze and Betterware but all the products are eco friendly I have tried Betterware and Kleeneze in the past and my personal preference was Kleeneze but some prefer Betterware. Betterware you have your own area which works better for people where they know they are the only rep and therefore have no competition whereas Kleeneze you can deliver catalogues where you like which suits others better where there is no limitation. There is a start up cost to join Kleeneze but as far as I know there isn't one for Betterware - someone please correct me if I have got this wrong.
Good luck
Jenny

LizD_2

Beterware doesn't charge for start up ( I did it for a while a few years back).

JoMagdalena

I hosted a Jamie at Home party recently and they have some really nice stuff. It wasn't just cookware - there was candles, table linen, kids stuff etc. Might be worth looking at? I bought a few storage jars etc and they weren't too pricey (£3-£5).

Or there's Pampered Chef but I think you need to do a cooking demonstration which might not work so well trying to sell it in an office (I'm not sure though)

Or Usborne books? They may be a better price point for you and make good presents?

(BTW, I am a Jo Magdalena consultant so if you do want any more info on JM let me know!)

bendtoy_2

www.businessopportunities.co.uk gives you some of the opportunities available by post code area.

Moonbeam

You are right about the price point of Miglio (I'm an independent consultant with them) - however we now have e-commerce enabled websites that we can use to sell across the UK so it opens up your customer base. We also find that the quality of the jewellery is so good and so different that people are willing to pay a wee bit extra as it is just so gorgeous. It's versatility also means that people can make the most out of their jewellery and add to it in small orders to build up their collection.

Parties are really quite essential in all of these businesses though - if only to get your started and form your initial customer base.

Hope this helps.