~Avon Hints and Tips~(Part 5)

lullypops

i was told "if you dont tell the tax man, we wont" LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! She said she had been doing it for 22 years and knew a lot about some of the other SL'S so i assume she is an ASM...! Its fine, i'll do it all myself! lol (with the help of you all of course!)

MarsdenCuckoo

mrandmrsm wrote: »

Hi,
Could anyone let me know how good Avon is? I've recently enquired about it and I think I'm getting a call tomorrow about it.
Would really love to make something big out of it but scared about all the door to door bit?
I suppose from reading the article in the Daily Mail I've been given a push to give it a go.

Lots of reading and really good advice on these threads, Mr&MrsM.

A lot of us tend to think it's better to sign up with a Sales Leader rather than direct with Avon, who will probably just pass you to an Area Sales Manager. Yes, ASMs are very knowledgeable re. Avon but they're very tight for time so if you're quick you may find via the Poll Thread that you have a SL near you..... Maybe too late but thought I'd mention.

Irrespective of which way you go, you'll get lots of support on here. :T

Good luck.

Kitten_Claws

Hi,

I was thinking of becoming a rep to boost my income a bit. I haven't read all of the thread (would take me ages lol) - just wondered how much time it actually takes per campaign? It does seem really time consuming.

MarsdenCuckoo

lozza1985 wrote: »

Haha yeah my old asm said to someone when she was showing me how to do an appointment - its cash in hand!!!!!!!!!! Poor rep read through the paperwork and rang me up later to ask why does it it say to register as self employed then! Poor woman, I had to explain and of course it made me look bad as well as the stupid asm!

Could be wrong but am guessing this is a '6 of one, half a dozen of the other' type case.....

I was told the same i.e. 'cash in hand' etc. but also that Avon reps are classed as 'self-employed' so it's up to you to notify the Taxman. Guess that covers all eventualities! :rotfl:Additionally, I was told that Avon would not notify the Taxman until you became a Sales Leader. Whether that's true or not I have no idea...... I did speak to the Taxman and was told that until my annual personal income approached £2K then they didn't want to hear from me. Who knows?

Guess 'you pays your money and takes your bet'.....

MarsdenCuckoo

Kitten_Claws wrote: »

Hi,

I was thinking of becoming a rep to boost my income a bit. I haven't read all of the thread (would take me ages lol) - just wondered how much time it actually takes per campaign? It does seem really time consuming.

There's no simple answer, KC, sorry. Depends very much on you i.e.:
* how many friends/family customers you have/can get
* how close your territory is (if you want territory)
* how you prep your books
* how many books you order
* how 'savvy' you are
* how chatty you (and your customers) are and even...
* whether your customers are in/out/good communicators.

The prep work you can do in the evenings whilst watching TV etc. so depends if you want to add that into the equation or not too.

It's definitely not a £x/hr job and if you're looking for maximum income with minimum effort then I deffo wouldn't recommend Avon to you. On the other hand, if you like a bargain and enjoy meeting people then the discounts you can get and the new friends you can make all add up to making Avon a lovely 'pastime'.... (Err, and got to add a 'not too enjoyable pastime sometimes'.....)

Even though I'm a SL I view Avon as a 'paid hobby with perks' rather than 'a job' per se. Hope that doesn't sound too negative but don't believe anyone if they tell you Avon is 'easy money'.

johanne

MarsdenCuckoo wrote: »

I did speak to the Taxman and was told that until my annual personal income approached £2K then they didn't want to hear from me. Who knows?

so do you not fill in a self assessment??

Surely that isnt true! i only made £588 in my first year but had to fill out a self assessment etc.. and will be doing it for last year to at about 2k income for the whole year.

I was told and everything ive read is that no matter what your profits you should be registered self employed no matter what your income and submit a SA . (SA even includes a section on if youve made a loss so i dont see why youve been told the 2k figure)

not having a go at you but id be seriously worried that someone at your tax office doesnt know their job!! And id hate for you to be penalised for it!!

having witnessed what happens when you dont fill out a SA when your suppossed to (fines and baliffs!) id just double check with HMRC maybe get it in writing?!

Sorry if youve already sorted it. x

angelatgraceland

Well I intend to register as self employed but haven't yet. Im on my third campaign. Is there a timelimit?
Im keeping all of my paperwork and will make sure I include any items such as petrol/printing/cards etc.
MC I think you have it spot on in terms of a hobby with perks! I did Avon yeaars ago and so Im a "returner" about 25 years later!
Enjoyable and can pay ok bu its hard work-a case of no pain-no gain-never guaranteed.
Newbies
Its a great way of meeting the people in your area and there are a lot of perks re buying things for yourself and your family.
The tips on creative ordering are very helpful indeed and the orders I receive this time I am ppricing every item against the last campaign. I type in my orders and save them as I get them-no way I could cope with the headache of doing it all on the final evening. I also submit my orders 2 days early so if anything goes wrong with the website or my computer/internet Ive got time to deal with an alternative!
Im running 2 books at present and my area is one of the later ones to submit from what I gather-I'm currently on C14. Ive got my books for c15 and 16 already prepped! I do this in front of the tv as it takes a while-but a lot less with my new stamp!
I did start off knocking each door on a new road but now "stuff and run".
My thinking on this is:
Quicker for me initialy
If they have a book and don't know Avon they may discover something they like whereas if I ask them on the doorstep they may say no.
The downside is you lose more books and have to go back more often but that is onllly the first couple of campaigns.
Some people may get on a downer regarding returns but I think myself that you need to do it happily.
If your customer knows you will return without fuss they will order lots from you knowing there is no risk and probably won't return much. If you don't make your customers feel comfortable they won't order just in case they are not going to like the item as they will be "afraid to ask you to return it".
Avons return policy can help sell higher priced items-we need to be confident with it.
Ive got lots to return this time unfortunately but Id rather do that than make my customers worry about ordering in the future.
I live in a hilly area and can get snowed in every February so I will be missing the Feb campaign and will explain to customers why.
It will also give me a little break after trekking about all winter. Does anyone else do this?

lozza1985

Yeah you can miss a campaign out depending on what you feel like, or if you're going to be on holiday etc etc. We had quite a bit of snow, but thankfully we still managed to deliver the orders thanks to OH doing the driving.

Edited - but of googling, you need to register within the first 3 months of starting.

angelatgraceland

Just looking on the HM revenue pages! What a lot of reading! It is probably worth paying NI also-a friend of mine did this and did need to claim sick pay recently. She is self emplyed and also has part time job but was off work sick. Couldnt claim via company but did get 13 weeks due to voluntary NI class 2 contributions. I intend doing this right! What do most people do regarding this>? Any recommended software?
Glad I did a bookkeeping course now!
Got to admit-I didnt register first time around!

MarsdenCuckoo

johanne wrote: »

so do you not fill in a self assessment??

Surely that isnt true! i only made £588 in my first year but had to fill out a self assessment etc.. and will be doing it for last year to at about 2k income for the whole year.

I was told and everything ive read is that no matter what your profits you should be registered self employed no matter what your income and submit a SA . (SA even includes a section on if youve made a loss so i dont see why youve been told the 2k figure)

not having a go at you but id be seriously worried that someone at your tax office doesnt know their job!! And id hate for you to be penalised for it!!

having witnessed what happens when you dont fill out a SA when your suppossed to (fines and baliffs!) id just double check with HMRC maybe get it in writing?!

Sorry if youve already sorted it. x

No, J, I don't fill in anything. I rang the Tax Office and gave them all my personal details and that's what I was told. (Bear in mind our personal circumstances are probably not the same.) Got the impression that the pittance I earn is not worth them bothering about. Of course, that would probably be different if I had another job or were claiming any benefits.