Parties that bring home spa treatments, wine tasting

Tag : Home Tool Kit

With the economy being what it is and more people looking for waysto make ends meet, chances are you'll be approached by a friend,co-worker or relative who'll ask you to open your doors and throw aparty.
Your party will allow that friend, co-worker or relative to pitchkitchenware, cosmetics or other products to your friends, and thentheir friends, and then their friends' friends, and so on.
Anyone who has ever partied with Mary Kay or purchased Tupperwarein a group setting is familiar with the pleasures and pitfalls of atype of retailing known as direct selling. In addition to the salespitches, you'll often be asked if you'd like to sell what they'reselling.

Direct selling is a way for unconventional retailers to get theirproducts to the public without the expenses of a store or aconstant payroll, but -- increasingly -- with the help of the web.And if it's about time you planned a get-together, demonstrationparties can relieve a bit of the entertaining burden.
Typically, you provide light snacks and the consultant bringslevity and, if you're lucky, learning experiences. You'll haveaccess to free samples of products you can't always find in stores.Even if you don't buy a thing, you might walk away with some freshideas to save money, time or your sanity.

LET'S TRY THIS
The relaxed nature of at-home shopping is what sets direct sellingapart, says Amy Robinson, a spokeswoman for the Direct SellingAssociation, a 200-member national organization of companies thatmanufacture and distribute goods and services sold throughindependent consultants. At the organization's website , you can find companies marketing everything from art to gardenaccessories to toys to wine.
"When you go into a retail store, you have limited ability to tryout the products," Robinson says. "At a party, you really have anopportunity to check those products out and get a hands-onexperience."