I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

following companies.
Thank you.

Lia Sophia - Love jewelery
Park Lane - same thing
Tastefully Simple - Food that is easy to create
Avon - seems easier, no parties
Pampered Chef - not really a fan, don't like to cook.

Or any other you can suggest and why.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

I've been to a Lia Sophia party. It was good, but their stuff is expensive. I was able to get gifts for my mom and MIL, and a couple things for me because they do buy 2 get 1 at 50% off stuff. I think of it as this: As the hostess, how much jewelry will you really like enough to buy once you have all your free credits? Plus, you HAVE to keep that piece of paper they give you otherwise they won't take back the jewelry if it breaks.

Pampered Chef is pretty good - but again, their stuff is expensive, and if you don't like to cook, then what's the point?

My two favorites have been Tupperware and Party Lite. Tupperware has so many great things that I've used since we've had the house.

Party Lite just has great candles - I like their quality much better than Yankee Candle and will most likely order from them from now on.

I know a consultant for both Tupperware and Party Lite if you are interested in having a party. You can FM me for their info if you want. I've attended parties given by both of them.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

my mom does park lane and she loves it.

she has made a nice amount of money and has accumulated a huge collection of jewelry (from making sales each month and winning contests)

She has also made some great friends and went on some trips.

If you have specific questions feel free to FM me and I will find out for you

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

I love the Lia Sophia parties.

Other ones that I have had are:
pocketbook party
Lillian Vernon
Psychic party

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

The only one I have been to is pampered chef, and I enjoyed the party. I also know it is a great company to work for. The only other company I can suggest (where I have been to the parties) is Home Interiors.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

I think you're talking about working for a direct sales company not actually hosting a party right?

I worked for Partylite for several years, I started in 1995 & the economy was weak then but on the way back up, not down. Partylite candles do cost more than other candles & people notice they are way better & they get hooked. There are so many more stores that sell beautiful candle holders than there were then. People were willing to spend $$ on candle holders because you never saw them in stores. The commisions were generous, working the parties is fun.

I also worked for a company that is now called signature style, its a home interiors type of thing, but more like southern living at home but not as pricey. I was their first consultant on Long Island & loved working for them.

I also did Avon for a short while, even though you don't have to have parties its not easy finding new people as customers and you have to seperate everything & deliver it to your buyers.

The bottom line with direct sales & money making is you need to be willing to "sponsor" or bring more people in as consultants. That is where the real money is. You also need to be the kind of person that won't get suckered into spending more than you earn on samples & supplies.
Here's another thing, the economy stinks now so you need a product that is more of a need than a want or something like candles or make-up that people run out of & need more.
Middle class people may not be willing to spend $$ on pampered chef when you can find similar things in the stores for less money. There is a certain demographic that will NOT have parties & they generally the people that can afford to buy whatever they want.
Also you want to find out how many active consultants there are for the company in this area, if its saturated you'll never get any bookings in this economy.

If you have more specific questions please ask. Good luck!

Re:

Message edited 3/26/2010 8:53:18 PM.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

Lia Sophia is SO expensive!! it is nice stuff, but TOTALLY overpriced!

same goes for Pampered Chef IMO

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

I had a friend who was doing this for a while. She worked for Arbonne for the sole reason that it was consumable. For instance, you have some jewelry from Lia Sophia - do you really need more. However you run out of skin care products. So things like that, Mary Kay, avon, etc are better than things that give u one time supplies.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

If you are looking for something spicy I sell for a company. FM for more info.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

i've had tupperware parties. everyone could use tupperware and they have good stuff

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

I hosted a Southern Living Party awhile ago. The merchandise is really nice, but expensive.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

I have been Lia Sophia. And although the jewelry was nice I loved Park Lane so much better. The prices were much more reasonable.

My hostess was just amazing. She winded up booking some parties through my friends and when I went to their parties she would always help me out and get me the best price. Like if someone just bought a chain extender, she would add it on my order so I could get something else for cheaper.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

Lia Sophia- love it. Great stuff. Expensive, but beautiful things.

Southern Living- I hosted it once. AWESOME home decor. Loved EVERYTHING. Expensive, but worth it. Plus, as a host, I earned so much free stuff. LOVED it!!

Passion Parties- hosted it and went to many others. FUN party!! All adult, ahem, toys! I've built myself an arsenal already. FUN FUN parties!!!

Home Interiors- good stuff. More home decor items. More reasonably priced than S.L., but I like S.L. stuff better.

Pampered Chef- not really a fan. Some stuff I bought from them broke, and I don't need a pizza stone (their big item). If someone had one, I'd go. But I'm not running to go. KWIM?

I've been to others, but these are stuck in my head.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

Ugg, the one Lia Sophia party I've been to was so expensive and the jewelry I bought has all since broken and it was less than 6 months ago.

I love Southern Living, and I personally think they are very reasonably priced on most things.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

I was going to suggest Southern Living as well. They have so many nice items! All the women I work with love going to those parties!

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

If you decide to do Simply Delicious (or whatever that one is) I will so have a party for you. I went to one like 5 years ago, loved all my stuff and have been wanting to get more stuff ever since.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

Oooh I was just at a Tastefully Simple party yesterday. I always end up getting something and their prices are pretty good.

Southern Living has cute stuff and their prices vary.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

I am a Lia Sophia rep and I love doing it. Are you looking for info on having a party or becoming a rep for a company?

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

Cookie Lee jewelry is a little cheaper than Lia Sophia. I like cookie lee better.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

Thank you, thank you and thank you. I actually was thinking of becomng a rep for one of them to get me out of the house some.

I love ppl and everyone tells me I woud be great at this.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

I know someone who is an independent rep for Arbornne; from what I understand she loves it and is making ok money from it too.

I agree that you should look into something that is more of a need than a want (like tupperware) because I do think people would be more inclined to buy something like that.

Something else to look out for is the start up costs. I know with like Mary Kay, in order to be a rep you have to buy their rep kit which costs over $1,000. My husband's friend's wife sold MK and in the end it too a LONG time for them to recover what they first had to invest in it before they started to see some kind of profit.

The other problem with Mary Kay is that you cannot relocate. Same couple we know moved out of state. She could not sell where they moved to and now that she's out, she can never sell MK again.

So before you really get involved make sure you read all the fine print.

Re: I was thinking of doing those home parties. I would love any and all opinions on the....

Wildtree Herbs is a good one