mommymonster Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 This is an odd question, maybe. I'm considering becoming an Usborne consultant, but I'm not great at sales--I'm concerned about being pushy. The good thing is that I love, love, love the Usborne books and can talk for days about them. My question is how do you find people willing to have parties? My concern is that I become a consultant and then don't know how to get parties/customers. If I'm going to invest in the package and put myself out there, I want to have a "plan" to work so that I don't feel all overwhelmed and adrift. In any case, if there is someone who does sales like this, can you give me some hints on where sales come from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Me. PMd you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 Ellen, Thank you so much for your messages! I think I have a plan taking shape. Anyone else out there in the book selling business? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I have known women who tried to sell Usborne books, but aside from getting discounts on their own personal purchases, they never really made any money at it, and at least two of them put quite a bit of effort into it and treated it as a real business. (I'm not sure about the others, but I do know they didn't last very long with Usborne.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I was an Usborne consultant. I got the mini package on special for, I think, $25? They offer LOTS of support. The facebook group I had was great, the training is thorough, I had an in person contact who was awesome. Often available, she checked up on me, was not pushy at all. Couldn't have asked for better back office support. There really are no requirements for sales. I never did book a party. I went to one vendor fair and made about $25 for four hours work. I made a website for $1, had 1 random person order off of it. I never did anything else, and I let my website expire. Despite that? It was overall a fine experience. No drama, no trauma. The mentor I had was an introverted, really reasonable person and I absolutely believe her when she says she never expected to do much with it. It certainly ended up being smart and good money for her. That didn't turn out to be me, but, it might have been with a bit more effort on my part. They make good products, they're honest, the risk is low. Having said that, they are selling the kit to make money from the kit. I'm sure most people who buy it don't do that much with it. Like me. So I suggest not making a huge investment! If you go for it, hope you have fun with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 Thank you, everyone, for your feedback! I'm leaning towards going for it -- it really does seem low risk. And my whole family loves their books! :001_wub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 Exactly, Heartlikealion! Everyone is all nice, and I was hanging out with friends, and there were snacks. Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Without intending to offend, why be an Usborne representative or order from one when you can buy them online at BookDepository.com? I'm asking sincerely. Do people not know about BookDepository? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joules Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I did for quite awhile. I did parties for fun, but I made money in sales at daycares and selling to libraries and schools. I'm not sure if the company still does that with consultants, but it worked out well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Without intending to offend, why be an Usborne representative or order from one when you can buy them online at BookDepository.com? I'm asking sincerely. Do people not know about BookDepository? Never heard of it.... is it your business? There are lots of places to buy Usborne books. Consultant sites, boutique toy stores. (But not Amazon). That's true of many products. If you are a copnsultant, you can have parties - real or online - to highlight nifty new products. They have books with tactile elements, books that show secret messages with flashlights. Their sticker books are SO much nicer than the run of the mill. All stuff you probably wouldn't see on a random online shop selling a variety of books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Never heard of it.... is it your business? There are lots of places to buy Usborne books. Consultant sites, boutique toy stores. (But not Amazon). That's true of many products. If you are a copnsultant, you can have parties - real or online - to highlight nifty new products. They have books with tactile elements, books that show secret messages with flashlights. Their sticker books are SO much nicer than the run of the mill. All stuff you probably wouldn't see on a random online shop selling a variety of books. No, it's not my business. :huh: It's a bit like a British Amazon, and they ship internationally for free. You can get Usborne from them, Galore Park, etc. It's quite well-known. I always look at stuff on Usborne's website and then order them from bookdepository. I agree, Usborne books are wonderful! Just like I would wonder why you would need a representative for books readily available from Amazon, Usborne books are generally readily available at bookdepository. I think I learned about their website on these forums. Just wondering. Sorry to offend. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I love usborne books and tried selling them because I thought they were so great. I tried getting into schools and daycares but other consultants already had those covered. I did a few parties. It was a lot of work lugging lots of books in and then having people say, "gee I wish I could see x,y,z. book" that I didn't have or "yeah I love those books. My sister just handed them dwon to my kids." I just found a lot of people thought they were great but too expensive or they could buy them from Amazon used or McKays. In the end, I realized that I'm a better consumer than consultant. Ymmv. I still love usborne and think that it is a great company! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted September 26, 2015 Author Share Posted September 26, 2015 I hadn't heard of bookdepository.com. But... now that I know about it, things are likely to be purchased from it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 I went to one party. I was one of those who enjoyed the evening but didn't find anything to buy for my moment in time. I must have purchased ours from Rainbow Resource. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Book depository is part of Amazon and I think has been for some while. I have had two friends who sold Usborne, one of them didn't like the pressure to sell from her team leader (not sure if that's standard) and didn't do it for long and the other just struggled to find the opportunities to sell as it's just such a common thing that people sell and the books are everywhere so much cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieA97 Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 I started with Usborne at the end of July. I have tried direct sales in the past and was a miserable failure at it. So I asked a ton of questions. Tons! I joined for the lifetime discount and no sales minimums. I figured I would hold my kickoff party on facebook, make enough to cover the cost of my kit and be done. Well. Within a matter of minutes of announcing I had joined on Facebook someone contacted me about hosting a party. I had other friends contact me about hosting. I didn't ask them. My sons preschool approached me about doing a book fair for them-they usually do Scholastic but don't love it. In the month of September I have had 7 facebook parties which take no time. Guests on one party will contact me about hosting their own party amd so on. I am very introverted but love the boks and promoting literacy is huge for me. My upline is amazing (she joined just for the discount too) and I have 2 wonderful recruits. Who just want the discount too. I am all about not being pushy and have my sisters on standby to tell me if I am being too salesy. I don't post about it on my personal page except like the other day when new titles were released. I won't make a fortune with it and I am backing off a little in Oct. But right now its paying for my sons preschool so I am happy. And we have a ton of new favorite books! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 JulieA97, that's wonderful! I'm excited about the lifetime discount as well ... We're huge nonfiction fans here, so the discount will be used. I'm so glad to hear that parties are coming your way -- that's super! I went ahead an signed up as a consultant. I'm feeling a little nervous, but they have a September special ($25 to start), so it was pretty painless. Even if I don't get any parties booked... well... it was a modest investment. So... fingers crossed. I'm going to start chatting with folks about hosting parties and hope that something good happens. It seems like a good time of year to start selling, so... again with the fingers crossed. :001_smile: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 I was an Usborne consultant. I got the mini package on special for, I think, $25? They offer LOTS of support. The facebook group I had was great, the training is thorough, I had an in person contact who was awesome. Often available, she checked up on me, was not pushy at all. Couldn't have asked for better back office support. There really are no requirements for sales. I never did book a party. I went to one vendor fair and made about $25 for four hours work. I made a website for $1, had 1 random person order off of it. I never did anything else, and I let my website expire. Despite that? It was overall a fine experience. No drama, no trauma. The mentor I had was an introverted, really reasonable person and I absolutely believe her when she says she never expected to do much with it. It certainly ended up being smart and good money for her. That didn't turn out to be me, but, it might have been with a bit more effort on my part. They make good products, they're honest, the risk is low. Having said that, they are selling the kit to make money from the kit. I'm sure most people who buy it don't do that much with it. Like me. So I suggest not making a huge investment! If you go for it, hope you have fun with it. I don't think they make money off the kit. The kit price is usually a third of the price the contents would be if you purchased all of them individually. (Sorry, don't know how this got here.) I did for quite awhile. I did parties for fun, but I made money in sales at daycares and selling to libraries and schools. I'm not sure if the company still does that with consultants, but it worked out well for me. You still can sell to daycares, libraries and schools. You do have to purchase another kit and have extra training in order to work with schools and libraries (k-12) A lot of my business is daycares and preschools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 .... there is a lifetime discount?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted September 29, 2015 Author Share Posted September 29, 2015 Poppy! Yes, I there is a 25% lifetime discount! So it's $25 to sign up as a consultant until the end of September, and then you get 25% off on the books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joules Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 I have one more thing to mention from my experience. I had an awesome upline supervisor. She was there if I needed help, but was incredibly low pressure. She never caused me any stress. I know with other people in MLM sometimes your upline can drive you stark raving mad with pressure to sell and participate in every single contest. It might be worth getting to know the people and structure before you sign up. (I think there is less of this in Usborne, maybe just because the personality of bookish people doesn't seem to include high pressure.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 I have one more thing to mention from my experience. I had an awesome upline supervisor. She was there if I needed help, but was incredibly low pressure. She never caused me any stress. I know with other people in MLM sometimes your upline can drive you stark raving mad with pressure to sell and participate in every single contest. It might be worth getting to know the people and structure before you sign up. (I think there is less of this in Usborne, maybe just because the personality of bookish people doesn't seem to include high pressure.) The company culture is much more about incentives rather than requirements. The only people who have minimums to meet are team leaders and those who want to work in the school/library market. I have been with them for 12 years. In that time, due to family circumstances - elderly parent, child with issues, my own health, I have had to put the business on the back burner many times. The only thing that happened to me is that I went inactive. Since I was not a team leader, there were no consequences of being inactive. It is just a status designation that really has no consequences. When I sold a certain amount, I was active again. Book lovers tend to be more introverted, so for a sales organization, it has a surprisingly larger percentage of introverted consultants. That said, as an introvert, I do find the sales-type tasks more difficult - like the calls to get business.. follow-up phone call to book a home show or get an appointment with a librarian/school official. Those types of activities require me to put on the extrovert suit, which is requires more energy than I have to spare these days. However, I rock the "share what we have to an already interested audience" type of tasks. No different that sharing my favorite curriculum materials with fellow homeschoolers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I went to an Usborne book party this week. What I learned is that if you buy from a rep you are saving on shipping without a min. purchase. But if you buy directly from the website (I'm guessing they meant the official Usborne site) you are out $6 or whatever for shipping prior to reaching a min. at which point it matches the rep's shipping fee which is a percentage. I don't know if this varies from location to location. We were told 8% of total is the shipping fee. I went to bookdepository tonight and compared prices to what I remember seeing at the party and what's on the Usborne website. Some prices were cheaper on bookdepository and some titles were listed as "unavailable" or I couldn't figure out how to search for them/they weren't there? So selection is probably what will mess someone up that wants to order strictly online. I haven't figured out how tax plays into it. There was one item I was interested in but they didn't have the color version at the party or else I would have asked if I could have just bought it today. I couldn't figure out how to locate it online. I won a book in a raffle at the party so I got to pick out something from the catalog in a certain price range. I picked something from a series. I don't know how long shipping takes for consultants but typically that's not a huge concern for me. Not unless I was shopping right before someone's birthday or very close to a holiday. The website said you get books free or half off for hosting a party? So otherwise it's 25% off? I don't understand. I'm going to keep these books in mind for Christmas ideas. Most orders from the website ship within a day. I usually get packages 2 days from when they are shipped. Shipping is 8%. However on the websites, it is a minimum of $6 (which comes out even at about a $75 order.) When you order through a party and have the book shipped through the party (usually to the hostess,) you only pay the 8% shipping without the minimum. Sometimes there is a delay with a party because the host may be taking too long to close the show and pick the free/discounted books that are the benefit for hosting a show. I work with my hostesses to minimize any delay. A consultant typically gets a 25% discount (give or take depending on the type of order.) The free/discounted books mentioned on the website are offered to host for having a party. This is not the same as any discount someone who wishes to be a consultant. I can't speak about bookdepository. oh yeah certain forms of payment don't work on the website. I'm not sure what forms of payment reps take. Usborne Books & More takes Visa, Mastercard, and Discover on their websites and through their consultants. Some consultants have a Square or Paypal device that allows them to accept credit cards on their phones and that allows them to take Amex, but most won't do that unless it is a cash&carry kind of event rather than orders since we have to pay a fee for those transactions. (Home office absorbs the fee for us if we put the credit card orders through them.) The website people order from through a show is a consultant's website that is maintained by home office. The consultant pays a subscription fee to have that website. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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