Thinking of selling Tupperware, anyone got pro's vs. con's

[DaynaJ]

Sorry if this isn't the right place for this question, but we've got to do something. Lost income, gotta do something else--Thanks for any feedback.

[Beeman]

Never looked into it. If it costs money to start I would stay away especially if you don't have money to throw away.

[clovis]

The downer about TW, in my opinion, is that they charge shipping on every order. There was a young gal at our church going gangbusters with TW, so I ordered three items from her.

I got nailed for 7.50 for shipping per item. So I spent about $30 on TW, and paid $22.50 in shipping on top of that. I was NOT a happy camper because this was never explained. She made it sound like my order would be free shipping when ganged up with all of her other orders.

Just be mindful that your customers have budgets too, and make sure you explain everything before hand.

She lost a very good customer when she allowed that $22.50 in shipping to come out of my pocket, especially when I could have gotten similar items at a retail store for 1/3 of that.

[Common Tator]

I haven't bought tupperware for 30 years. There are so many less expensive alternatives out there, that I can pick up at the grocery store or a department store. In fact, I gave away most of the tupperware I inherited.

The shipping that Clovis had to pay, is more than I would pay for the item itself.

[plowjockey]

Isn't Tupperware now a Multi-level-marketing business, in that the only way to make good money, is to sell "distributorships" and not by selling products?

MLM is a great way to throw away a bunch of money and totally annoy, all of your really close friends.

Can you find a part time job?

[Tom in TN]

Okay, I'm a guy so maybe my opinion doesn't count when it comes to Tupperware.

As a general principle though, I hate any multi-level marketing scheme. Usually, the person selling the stuff calls on friends and relatives to sell the stuff to. In my opinion, this amounts to "using" a friend for personal gain.

My wife and I have been asked to attend these sales pitches many times. My wife is very nice - I'm not. When I've been invited, I've told the person doing the inviting, that I'd just give them some money and not bother with the sales pitch.

I've been tricked into attending a few of these things thinking my family had simply been invited to a friends house. When we arrived, we found out that many others had also been invited. The "invitation" ended up being a sales presentation.

Did I mention that I hate multi-level marketing schemes?

Tom in TN

[luvrulz]

TW is very expensive and I can buy cheaper items elsewhere...can't stand the automatic shipping and handling amount and haven't bot any TW in dozens of years.... There has to be something else you can do...? Is there a Farmer's Mkt by you? Can you bake? Put together some homemade granola or brownies or cinnamon rolls and take them to the market and sell them. Check out in MO if they have cottage industries like they do in Ky.... JM2cents

[rambler]

Friend's wife got into it.

Ended up doing mostly warrenty type work, no money in that part of it replacing stuff that broke.

Today every Walmart & Target sells a knock-off of TW for 1/3 of the price, no shipping. Sosales are pretty very quite slow.

Her experience.

--->Paul

[MO_cows]

Honestly, I didn't know Tupperware was still in business. If I was going to do a sell-at-a-party type of home business, I would look at Pampered Chef instead. Friend of mine had a really good PC party. Not too many people so we could gather in the kitchen and a few of the products were demo'd by making some of the refreshments for the party. I have been more than satisfied with the things I bought from them. With the economy, cooking at home is more "in" again, and pointing out how much it costs to make a nice dinner at home versus eating out, the sales pitch is, these things SAVE you money.

[am1too]

I will never buy from a MLM company again in my life. My friends told me no when I ask them and then turned around as asked to join under them. Them when I make a commercial sale some one will come in and sell at cost without my customer joining. So I lost my friends too.

[kimmom2five]

I've sold both Tupperware and Pampered Chef and there are both pros and cons to both. Tupperware is alot lighter and easier to carry to your shows. Stoneware is heavy! They are both direct sales they are not multi level schemes like Amway. Your uplines do make a small amount of money off of your sales, but the company is sales driven not recruitment driven. Tupperware is a very good product. Yes you can get cheap imitations at discount stores but I prefer the real thing that will last.
You can make decent money if you keep good records for your taxes and work at it. Good luck!

[frogmammy]

Try Avon...perople keep needing that, having to buy more when they use all of something. Tupperware lasts forever, so you can't get a customer base that lasts forever.

Mon

[salmonslayer]

I'm with Tom in TN, when you get into those kind of things your using your friends and they probably wont like it...I sure dont.

[Sunbee]

A lot of how well it works will depend on you. Two SILs got into it for a while. If you will advertise properly and look for customers it might well work for you. If you go the route my SIL's took, which apparently many of those types of companies push (I know Mary Kay does), of selling to friends and family, you will irritate friends and family. I don't have spare money for stuff like Tupperware. I'd like to support my SILs, but I just don't have spare money. Some of my friends did really well with Mary Kay. They told their friends they were selling it, but never asked them to buy, instead, they went to the bridal events at the mall and offered drawings for free makeovers and built their customer list that way. Tupperware might be a really bridal shower friendly sort of item as well. One of the things Mary Kay has going for it, though, is that your customers will use it up and buy more. Pampered Chef and Tupperware just don't have that built in reorder deal.
Now if someone ever came up with a party sales deal for second hand books . . .

[halfpint]

FWIW, I would not buy tupperware since it's too expensive, and I try to stay away from plastic. I find old glass jars and canning jars better for storage anyway.

I have purchased Pampered Chef and My Thirty One (purses and such - make great gifts).

Dawn

[thesedays]

I've actually seen Tupperware booths at flea markets. I think it's how longterm vendors get rid of their "floor models", but hey, whatever works.

I have some Tupperware that I bought almost 30 years ago, and it's still in good shape.

[Danaus29]

Tupperwares lifetime guarantee isn't free. They lost me as a customer when I had to pay shipping to replace an item that was covered by the warranty. Shipping cost more than the original item. I can buy Rubbermaid for less than 1/3 the cost and if an item ever fails I can take it back to the store for a free replacement.

I did sell Tupperware for a year or so. I stopped when the minimum monthly sales requirement tripled. Income is based on your sales (commission was around 10% when I sold TW). Sometimes the time is not worth the couple of bucks you earn. And it's not taxed so you probably should report your commission as income and pay income and social security as you go. IMO, easier to just get a part time regular job.

Forgot to add, you have to buy the catalogs and party prizes, often in bulk. They aren't cheap.

[Wolf mom]

Anything made of plastic is bound to get more expensive and price itself out of the market. It's a petroleum based product. With oil at $104.00 a barrel today - I don't think it's a good product to sell.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_plastic_made_of

I hate plastic products......

[Joshie]

Originally Posted by frogmammy

Try Avon...perople keep needing that, having to buy more when they use all of something. Tupperware lasts forever, so you can't get a customer base that lasts forever.

Just what I was going to suggest. My sister's MIL makes enough money to support herself selling Avon. She gives away great boxes too. A friend of mine also sells it. She even has a website.

[7thswan]

I wouldn't buy TW, but would/have bought Avon.eta, plasic is cheep at the store,while skin products are expensive. My skin is not happy with too many products,but Avon hasen't bothered me.