I know Erica has because Tim’s mom uses their products. But has anyone else? It has been around for a couple decades at least and I just now heard of it. A piano student’s mom introduced me to their products which are all made without harmful chemicals, etc.
It is like a shopping club which you join, then place an order every month. They sell 5 categories of things – household and cleaning supplies, vitamins and supplements, drug store type items (pain relievers, etc), health foods, and beauty items. The cleaning items are really concentrated, so they are actually cheaper than name brand products you would buy at Walmart.
I went on line and researched the company and it has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received a number of awards. I listened to people talk about the products and the company and it sounds really good. I’m waiting eagerly for my first order which is mostly laundry supplies, but also some cleaning supplies that I was almost out of.
I guess one of the biggest selling points was that their products don’t have phosphates that are so hard on our lakes up here. Also, there is nothing harmful in any of their cleaning supplies, so you don’t have to worry about breathing fumes or wearing gloves to protect your hands. I’m anxious to see how they compare to the things I have been using. I’m saving my cleaning for the week until the stuff arrives. Silly to have a clean house when you get a shipment of cleaning supplies!!
Just as a side note – this shouldn’t be as concerning to those of you who look out for me (e.g. my dear son, Nathan) as my last venture, which I’m still doing, but don’t actually know what I’m doing, so am basically paying $5 a month…. I need to sit down with Pete K. and have him get me started, so I can at least earn my $5 back. I’ve discovered it has an advertising part to it, that would be good for people that don’t have an advertising budget and would be interested in just advertising to other members. Anyway… life goes on.
Also, I’m holding a catalog sale for Sentsy and wondered which of you already have Sentsy burners (if you don’t know what they are, obviously you don’t have one!) They would make great Christmas gifts (I’m thinking ahead!), and if you already have one, I want to make sure I don’t get you the same one, plus you could tell me which fragrances you prefer. If you don’t have one, just let me know if you like fragrances that smell like fruit (think tangerine, lemon, etc.), flowers (like lilacs, roses, etc.) food (my favorite – like coffee, vanilla, brown sugar, baked apple pie), or other (things like leather or outdoor smells).
(If you have a burner and need some refills now, I could do that for you, too, and bring it when I come later next month. My order has to be in a week from today. The best deal is the 6 pack for $25. I’m not trying to get you to order – I’ll have plenty with what I’ve collected, but if you are out and want some, feel free to let me know.)
I’ve heard good things about Melaleuca and their products. If you test them out and like them, let me know. I might be interested in ordering some stuff from you.
I don’t have any Sentsy things. Sounds fun! Any scent is fine 🙂
The tricky thing with direct sales is to compete with the immediacy people want when they are out of stuff and just want to run to Walmart and get it right away. If you can help people plan and look ahead to what they will need in a month, 2 months or whenever, I bet you could have people ready to order when you place your monthly order. I think there would be a niche with people who are interested in more natural things because they might have to direct order them anyway. So, why not just do it through you? Just some thoughts. . .
Melaleuca isn’t direct sales (which appeals to me, because I’m bad at direct sales). It is just commissions paid for referrals. I tell people what I like about the products, then they sign up on their own to be a part of the buying club, and I get a commission on what they purchase. I’m excited about the fact that the products are all safe to use and that they are all made in the U.S. and I think that other people would be interested in paying a little more for a product like that. The hard thing for me is that when things are concentrated, I tend to use too much. I’m interested in getting them and seeing how easy it is to dilute them before using, so I don’t waste them! Some of the products seem pretty pricey, but it is probably because I’m used to buying cheap stuff. For instance eye shadow is $12.00. My eyelids are not worth $12.00. But the cleaning stuff seems to be a pretty good value. And the vitamins and other health stuff seems to use really good ingredients, so I think that will be worth the extra cost.
When you join, you agree to buy so much each month. I just put it in our budget and tweaked some other categories that are for the same sorts of things, like food and toiletries. I think it might be easier for people to start off splitting a shipment with someone else, so it isn’t quite such a hit on the budget. I ordered a little more than the minimum this first month, but my cost was a bit over $80 with shipping and tax. So I budgeted $85 a month for it and hope to come in a little under. For the first 5 months, the company kicks in extra so you can try certain things for free, but you still have to purchase the minimum — you just get more things for those months.
Anyway, I read a lot of comments on the Better Business Bureau site and people seem to like the products a lot. The company has been growing very fast the past 15 years or so, and 95% of customers re-order, so I would guess the products are good. I’ll bring some samples when I come to visit and you can try them out.