Takes a few campaigns to really earn anything (Avon)

Member Name: chaobreeder16

Product:	Avon
Date:	03/08/09 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Earn a bit of extra cash

Disadvantages: takes a lot of hard work, have to do for a while to make a decent amount of money

Little did I know that I would be spending this summer as an Avon rep. I am not in the slightest cosmetically minded and have never really worn more than some nail polish and a bit of lip gloss. My grandmother was an Avon rep before I was born I was told but she lost patience for it after a few years and quit. My primary reason for joining Avon was because it was the only company/ job which would take me on in the current job climate. Though I do have to say I have earned fifty pounds worth of commission within my first two campaigns even considering the exclusion of admission, brochure and equipment costs.

For anyone who didn't know and am sure this is just a heads up for a very few number of people but Avon is an international brochure which is distributed door to door and sells things like cosmetics, accessories, kids toys and lingerie. It has reached its fiftieth year just recently of selling in the UK and is probably one of the most reasonably priced ways to obtain your liquid soaps and make up in my opinion anyway. I find the books really well designed and organised, they are fairly easy to use and order from. All you have to do is fill in the products description, page number and product number on your order form as well as the price but providing the customer has provided at least one of those descriptions I find it easy enough to work with.

This obviously isn't an occupation for everybody and it really does require a lot of hard work. At the moment where I am living and selling the local commission rate is 20% for your first target around 80 pounds and 25% for anything around and above 150 pounds. I can usually make the higher target quite easily and earn even more but for the first two campaigns I was limited to selling only 200 pounds worth of products per campaign.
I also obtained an Avon account online which I do all my ordering on and it tells me if payments are still outstanding or are paid and tells me if certain products are sold out or have delays. I also get messages occasionally and can check out all the special offers online also, which is handy for people who do not have an Avon rep in their area. There is also a heads up on the presidents club and associate on the site and keeps you updated on how much more Avon products you have to sell to get to the next level up. If you can sell a really significant amount within a year you receive a formal dinner and get more benefits from Avon.

Some products which seem to be popular are the glimmer sticks and am/pm face creams, Avon also constantly be doing 2 for 1 deals and change from a pound deals for really huge amounts of cosmetics. One of my customers got three really large bottles of hair products and a little of lavender bubble bath for only 7 pounds and these especially the shampoo are high quality. I had to carry her order in a box as nothing would fit in the Avon bags.
I would say to be successful at this you have to keep yourself distracted from getting all the extra unnecessary items which you don't really need. There is no point blowing all your earnings on hundreds of samples which may never get used. Also if you are the only rep in the area don't be afraid to drop your brochures in at the next street, give them out to friends and friends of the family and send some books in with your kids and spouse when they go to work, I seem to get most of my orders from the girls in my mother's office and their families.

Although it probably takes about 5 or 6 campaigns before you can tell if this is really the right job for you. This is good for a little bit of extra money but you won't be earning a huge amount unless you work really hard at it and do it for a while. Your admission fees are 15 pounds which are taken out of your commission and you have to pay for your brochures, order forms and bags, but I don't see much point in the bags to be honest they aren't that durable. Unless you think you can sell 150 pounds upward I do not think there is any point in this job.

Summary: Its not bad if its the only job you can get