selling products?

[simple987]

I have a question about people (women) who sell products from home, such as Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, scented candles, etc? Is there any other reason for doing this other than to make money? Socializing? Networking? Boredom? Discounts on the products? And if the only reason is to make money, can I assume they are financially hurting?


Background: I have friend who works full time as Nurse and makes approx ~45k. She recently married an engineer who makes ~95k. They are both 3 yrs out of college. At the time they got married they bought a house for 193k, and two brand new SUVs for themselves. I assume they have student loans to pay. However I thought they would be financially well situated, with such a high income. Now she is she is working as a consultant to sell scented candles. She seemed to have a busy schedule before this. Is my assumption right, must be for extra money or she wouldn't bother with it?

[disneysteve]

I would think that's a reasonable assumption. Sounds like they are living beyond their means. They finished school and bought 2 new SUVs and a house, plus got married. They're probably like that guy on the commercial who says he's in debt up to his eyeballs.

Seems like she, as a nurse, should be able to do something a lot more lucrative then selling candles. She could pick up extra shifts and make a lot more money that way.

[scfr]

Perhaps she's trying to see how much she can make at it, thinking ahead to the day when they may have children and she may want to quit the nursing job in order to stay home or have more flexible hours? Back when my DH & I both had salaried jobs, we started a little side business which was our way of testing the waters to learn about running our own business: to see if we had what it took, and to learn about taxes, state regulations, etc. when there was very little of our own $ at risk. We did not make a lot of money at it, and some people wondered why with our busy lives we would bother, but it was an excellent learning experience for us, and I honestly believe that if we had not done that, when my DH finally did quit his salaried job to start a "real business," we would not have done as well.

So, I guess my answer to your question is NO, you cannot assume that they are financially hurting. She may have much bigger things in mind than just selling scented candles. And she may not feel like sharing right now, because she could be in the "just thinking and bouncing ideas around" stage.

[kork13]

Originally Posted by scfr

So, I guess my answer to your question is NO, you cannot assume that they are financially hurting. She may have much bigger things in mind than just selling scented candles. And she may not feel like sharing right now, because she could be in the "just thinking and bouncing ideas around" stage.

This is my thought as well. I wouldn't make that assumption, personally. She may simply want to raise their standard of living. I see a distinction here between needing to do something like this on the side in order to make ends meet, and choosing to do so in order to expand your options.

[cschin4]

She may be really "into" candles and found a way to get her candles for free by selling to others as the consultants get free stuff and/or reduced rates. Personally, I avoid those people like the plague. I find it insulting when a friend tries to turn me into a business client.

[isthisused]

Home business can provide some tax advantages.

[Goldy1]

My friend's cousin sells ARbonne. It is like a "natural Avon" product line. It encompasses things from body ash, lotion, to diet aids like teas.
It is a pyramid type thing. THe products are very expensive.
The cousin literally pulls in about 100K as a national vice president. She just bought about a 350K home and gets a free car to drive. She rakes in checks now b/c all the people she trained on down the line make her commisison(hence the pyramid) IT kind of amazes me and I wonder how long the cash cow could keep coming in?
She is in the small few who make it big. She was able to quit her teaching job and be a "SAHM" and do this. She earned it by hard work.

In other words, I think it can be the promise of something big like that.
The time commitment is huge to get there. I was never interested, but most people "fail"