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I'm glad she resolved this for you, but seriously, if you're going to be spending that much, think about being a hobby demo. I just ended my first quarter and I more than met my $300 quota. And with the retiring list and new catalog coming out soon, I'm sure I'll have no trouble meeting my next quarter's quota! And I love getting the hostess set and free merchandise all to myself! (no, I don't have any customers, so I'm not cheating anyone)
Oh, and the starter kit is awesome and you can pick and choose some of the stamps and ink pads.
I'm glad she resolved this for you, but seriously, if you're going to be spending that much, think about being a hobby demo. I just ended my first quarter and I more than met my $300 quota. And with the retiring list and new catalog coming out soon, I'm sure I'll have no trouble meeting my next quarter's quota! And I love getting the hostess set and free merchandise all to myself! (no, I don't have any customers, so I'm not cheating anyone)
Oh, and the starter kit is awesome and you can pick and choose some of the stamps and ink pads.
Hmmm... Does anyone know a thread that details the pros and cons of becoming a demo?
FYI, the $128.60 was before shipping, taxes or the 10% off that she was offering. It was my merchandise subtotal.
So did you end up with the level one hostess stamp- $15.00 in free merch PLUS the 10% off??
Just as an FYI- I know that CM earns 30% and SU! earns 20%. (CTMH earns 22%) Hostess benefits for CM are 15% across the board and you get a little something extra when you hit the $250.00 mark. (My friend is a consultant and says these items free with 250 are discounted by the company to make them reasonable for them to give and they are limited to only a few different gifts)
Speaking of CM though- have you seen their new paper?? It's gorgeous!! I love the romance collection and the whole Disney lot!
So did you end up with the level one hostess stamp- $15.00 in free merch PLUS the 10% off??
Just as an FYI- I know that CM earns 30% and SU! earns 20%. (CTMH earns 22%) Hostess benefits for CM are 15% across the board and you get a little something extra when you hit the $250.00 mark. (My friend is a consultant and says these items free with 250 are discounted by the company to make them reasonable for them to give and they are limited to only a few different gifts)
Speaking of CM though- have you seen their new paper?? It's gorgeous!! I love the romance collection and the whole Disney lot!
Yes, I'll be getting the 10% off merchandise total, the free level 1 stamp and the $15 in product (after spending an extra $22 on my order).
I have spent a fortune with CM over the years, but unfortunately it's been with different consultants so it hasn't always added up.
My scrapbooking has definitely taken a hit since I started stamping but I did make a 7x7 anniversary album for my husband in March (it was our 10th). I plan on finishing my daughter's baby album in the next month or two, she'll be 1 next Monday. Other than the baby books and the anniversary album, not much scrapbooking has happened around here since I started having kids ;) .
I haven't seen the new papers yet, I'll have to check those out!
Glad this issue got resolved for you. I often have customers who collect an order or two from friends and place a workshop order of $150 or more. They don't have to clean their house for a party, and I don't have to take time away from my family. Win win situation! They get a free hostess set AND money towards whatever they choose, and I get the instant income needed to make my minimums.
If you ever have questions in the future regarding hostess benefits or specials, please remember to check the Stampin' Up website for details! www.stampinup.com
Glad this issue got resolved for you. I often have customers who collect an order or two from friends and place a workshop order of $150 or more. They don't have to clean their house for a party, and I don't have to take time away from my family. Win win situation! They get a free hostess set AND money towards whatever they choose, and I get the instant income needed to make my minimums.
If you ever have questions in the future regarding hostess benefits or specials, please remember to check the Stampin' Up website for details! www.stampinup.com
Hope you have fun with your new goodies!
Mary Rose,
I just tried to look for details on becoming a demo and nothing came up. I guess I can look later.
As a hobby demo, I meet my own minimums which is $300 per quarter - but keep in mind - its $300 in retail. With the 20% instant income - I pay $240 for the $300 worth of merchandise (plus tax and shipping).
You need to sign up under a current demo (check out the demo locator on the SU site). And do an advanced search in the general forum for SU demo. There have been lots of threads about the pros and cons!
The $10 thing came from the fact that my first post said that my order was $140 when, in fact, it was $128.60. That is the merchandise total before the 10% discount. I do not believe that she did any of this to be tricky. I am sure that she was trying to put an order in to keep active for this order, and for that reason was giving the 10% discount. That having been said, I think that if my portion of a larger order was $128.60 it would be nice for me to get a little kick-back. Or at the very least a heads up to the fact that I was so close to getting a stamp that I had expressed great interest in. I am not trying to bash anyone here and I know that there are costs to running a business but it's not really my responsibility to have to worry about the cost of her ordering forms, is it?
Nope, I wasn't saying it is your responsibility to worry about her business expenses. I was just pointing out that she was probably not cheating you out of anything.
Glad to hear you resolved the issue with her. I also agree with others who have posted - if you plan to regularly spend such amounts it will well be worth your time to look into the demonstrator opportunity.
If you are not comfortable asking your current demonstrator about it, go to the Stampin' Up! website and use the "Find A Demonstrator" link to find someone near you. If they have a Stampin' Up! website, it will be listed; you can click on the link and then go to the "Join Stampin' Up!" page. There is a video there that you can watch. Also, many business demonstrators occasionally hold opportunity nights - you might be able to find one listed on their calender page.
I was the same as you when I started. My demo kept mentioning benefits, but I didn't read up on anything & thought it was all just for parties. After I read up on the benefits I felt stupid for all the freebies I missed out on, buying small orders vs putting them all together - live & learn. It's wonderful she's working with you on this!!!
__________________ As we slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way!
I know, I just don't want to think that she witheld that info from me knowingly... :( You're right though, maybe I should look for someone new. Do you know if they even have to live near you? I mean, it's drop shipped, right? She has always had it delivered directy to her house so she can "sort it" for me.
My step mom is a demo and she lives in Wisconsin and I live in California. I buy a lot from her and get home to have a wonderful stampin up box on my door step way quicker because CA is closer to Stampin Up then She is. I do have another demo close by for emergancy orders and classes that I can't get from my demo 2,000 miles away. I do have to say that I am very lucky and I am told about specials and both my step mom and my other demo encourage the 150.00 orders because of the perks
Happy to know you found a resolution that suits you. I want to ask though, what was the other "free set" you mentioned. Was that something "she" gave you? (as normally with that size order you wouldn't get anything free from SU...)
Happy to know you found a resolution that suits you. I want to ask though, what was the other "free set" you mentioned. Was that something "she" gave you? (as normally with that size order you wouldn't get anything free from SU...)
She isn't giving me another free set. I guess she was saying that if I had placed a $250 order, she would have personally thrown in one of her From The Garden stamps in addition to what I would have gotten directly from SU for my hostess benefits. I'm not sure why she was thinking this way and still didn't mention that I was so close to the stamp that I wanted but that's what she's saying. I don't know if that makes any sense but I do feel like the fact that she has a newborn is muddling her brain a little right now. Been there, done that.
When I first started stamping with su (about 15 years ago) I had a nice demo. But when a friend started as a demo with su I jumped ship and went with her. She lived quite a ways from me, but I went to her open houses and her classes. She always went the extra mile for her customers. She knew I wanted the Provencal set that was offered as a hostess gift. I never could have a big enough show to get it. So, she added enough outside orders so I could get it. She did this as a surprise. When I got my show orders, lo and behold there was that set I lusted after instead of the one I was going to take just because I had one coming. THAT IS A GOOD DEMO and FRIEND!!!. She recently went back to teach school and has left su and I had to troll around for one in my area. I now have a new demo, but I sure do miss Chris.
She isn't giving me another free set. I guess she was saying that if I had placed a $250 order, she would have personally thrown in one of her From The Garden stamps in addition to what I would have gotten directly from SU for my hostess benefits. I'm not sure why she was thinking this way and still didn't mention that I was so close to the stamp that I wanted but that's what she's saying. I don't know if that makes any sense but I do feel like the fact that she has a newborn is muddling her brain a little right now. Been there, done that.
CAmomof2 -
Glad that you got the set you wanted and that it all worked out. Look into becoming a hobby demo. It might be worth it for you. You will have first had knowledge of all specials, promotions, and freebies from SU. You just missed a great sign up promotion in May for new Demos. They run a few a year. If you are not in a hurry - wait and see if they run another one with the new catty coming out in August. I have not idea if they will - but I do know they run at least one or two promotions for recruits a year.
But you must always remember - do what is best for you. Everyone one has opinions (including me) - listen to everyones advice and tips - then decide what is best for you. What works for one person does not always work for another.
Happy Stamping - oh - I saw that you mentioned you haven't done much scrapbooking since you started stamping. That happened to me too.
Now I only use stamps in my scrapbooks (or at least mostly stamps) and since I started that I am scrapbooking more often! I use the (try to use)Craft ink on my scrapbooking pages.
I actually use to have a demo that would try to tell "new stampers" that they had to have an actual workshop in order to get the hostes benefits. She only did that to keep them herself. She even told me that was how she got so much free stuff. She would also hold customer orders for up to 2 weeks until she had enough to send in as a party so she could keep the free stuff.
I dropped her after I found out what she was doing.
I absolutely hate to say this but there are a few demos out there that do do this to get free stuff that their customers should be getting. Please do nto get mad at me for saying that but I have seen it.
I wouldn't have a problem with a demo who does this with smaller orders - but I would be LIVID if I found out that a large order could have qualilfied as a party with hostess benefits and the demo didn't tell me. Or if I was thisclose to qualifying as a party and the demo didn't let me know.
I don't know why she didn't tell me about the $150 thing, I just re-read through our emails to make sure that she didn't. She said it was $250 that I needed. My merchandise total was $128.60. I would have ordered more cardstock to get to $150 if I knew that it meant I could get the stamp. To be clear, this is the largest side order I've made with her, all of the other ones have been much smaller. Thanks for all of your advice!
Perhaps it was a typo and she meant $150?
__________________ Erika Martin * Vermont * SU! Demo * My blog: Stampin' Mama
I have corresponded with my demo and she was under the impression that I wanted the From The Garden stamp in ADDITION to the other set I'd be getting for free, and that's where the idea of a $250 show came from (??). Regardless, she has offered to clear this up by having me order the remaining $21.40 in merchandise and she will give me the stamp and allow me to pick $15 from her stock of supplies. I am happy with this resolve. I have learned from this experience that I need to be better informed myself next time I place a large order to make sure this doesn't happen again. I plan on using her again but if something like this happens again I will probably look for a new demo. I appreciate all of your comments and advice on this subject. Thanks to all of you.
I'm glad it all worked out.
When you're placing your next order, make sure to go over the hostess benefits chart to see what your order qualifies for. You don't have to actually hold an in-home workshop to qualify for benefits. If your order totals at least $150 before tax and shipping, then you qualify for free stuff. Just tell your demo that you want the benefits.
__________________ Erika Martin * Vermont * SU! Demo * My blog: Stampin' Mama
Hmmm... Does anyone know a thread that details the pros and cons of becoming a demo?
One HUGE thing to research is the upline you are signed under, be sure she is supportive. I have a friend who got talked into being a demo by someone we have both known for years and now that she's signed up, not so much help. Talk to her other people. No I am not a demo- but I have bought from 4-5 different ones (just SU!), and I know who I like for support and communication!
