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Sorry, I'm trying to convince DH that I need to become a SU demo :cool: , he wants answers before he'll let me sign up. His first question: If you go inactive, is there a fee to become active again? Second: Once you purchase your kit are there any other fees involved? And finally: Do you always get your discount (and how much is it) or do you have to purchase a minimum before you get the discount?
Sorry, I'm trying to convince DH that I need to become a SU demo :cool: , he wants answers before he'll let me sign up. His first question: If you go inactive, is there a fee to become active again? Second: Once you purchase your kit are there any other fees involved? And finally: Do you always get your discount (and how much is it) or do you have to purchase a minimum before you get the discount?
Thanks for your help :mrgreen:
Suzanne
If you go inactive, you would have to buy your starter kit again to get active again. I was a demo in 2005 for 3 quarters and went inactive (I was a hobby demonstrator just to get the discount for myself). I just decided the beginning of June this year to sign up again. You get to pick out what stamp sets you want, ink pad colors, cardstock colors in your kit so you don't get stuck with the same products at least. If you do get a couple of duplicate products, you can always sell them to your customers. Once you purchase your kit, there are no other fees involved, unless of course, you purchase more business supplies like catalogs, giveaways, etc. And the first order you submit after signing up you get a 30% discount and all orders after that you ALWAYS get a 20% discount.
Hope that helps. PM me if you would like more info!
These are great questions! I've been thinking about becoming a demo for awhile now but want to make sure that I have a lot of info about it first. I can't wait to see everything that you find out!
Just a few more, 'cause I think DH is convinced ;)
1) What stamp sets would you suggest getting? I have quite a few sets (no sentiments or BG), but most of them are Christmas or retired....
2) Is the add-on worth the $50? Is it really necessary?
Thanks again!
Suzanne
The add-on is worth the price. Is it really necessary - no. I got it because it was a good deal and I had a lot of potential customers who were much more into scrapbooking than I was, so I wanted what was in the add-on so I could have the items in hand to be able to answer questions about them since I didn't really use them before myself.
Everything you get after the initial kit costs. If you're doing this as a business, any additional business supplies (order forms, incentive stamps for customer give-aways, etc.) all cost you and they don't count towards your quarterly minimum. Business supplies have to be placed on a supply order and you don't get any credit towards special demonstrator incentives, quarterly minimums or anything. If you want mini catalogs for your customers, you either have to order them on a supply order or you can have them mailed out by SU, but it's all at your cost. The brochures and forms usually change from year to year, so many of them will need to be replaced with the new, updated forms - all out of your pocket.
I am 99% hobby demo, my sister just moved closer to me so I have a
sell-a-bration party and a retirement party for her, but the rest of my sales are to me. If you spend $100.00 a month on stamps you will meet your minumim requirements for staying active. It is totally worth it to me to be a demo cause I was spending about that much before!!! HTH
You need to sign up anf get the paperwork through another Demo who will then become your upline, so choose this person wisely.
You can swap out any of the stamp sets for the same or lesser value set of your choice. This goes for the ink as well (exception is black).
Good Luck to you, it's wonderful being a Demo!
__________________ Sarah CAS Challenge Spring 2013 Design Team Member Visit my blog
I think the add on is definetly worth the price! And you can make substitutions with stamps and inks. Needs to be a comparable price. As the previous posted said you want to pick your up line wisely, someone who will be there for you and answer/help you with your needs. You do need to sign up under another demo. Good luck and congrats on your decision to become a demo!
Sue
As a business demo... I am just curious... because I often wonder why people don't come to me with their questions.
For those of you asking about being a demo, have you approached your future upline? Or is it that you just don't feel comfortable asking? Or is it something else?
I hope you have someone you can really sit down with and ask all these questions. It makes sense that you would have a bunch of questions to ask and if your future upline can't answer them, she should be able to find some one who can. Aslso you can both call DS (or you can on your own) at 1-800-stamp-up.
Good Luck! I hope you take the plunge! Being a demo is so much fun!
My demo hasn't contacted me in close to a month - that's ONE of the reason's I'm trying to become a demo.... I never rcvd the retiring accessories list or any of the last 3 minis! The only reason I got the retiring list of stamps is because I kept bugging her, but it was out here for close to a week before she sent it. At that point it was old news to me! I already had my list together.... Also, a couple of my friends would prefer to order from me than her, so I figured I already have a customer base....
I have been contacted by a wonderful lady here who has offered to be my upline....
I have a question as well. Say you have $300.00 in product before the 20% discount, this is enough to count as your minimum correct? So if I enter in my order on Stampin Up and then they only charge me $240.00 my minimum is made correct?
As a business demo... I am just curious... because I often wonder why people don't come to me with their questions.
For those of you asking about being a demo, have you approached your future upline? Or is it that you just don't feel comfortable asking? Or is it something else?
I hope you have someone you can really sit down with and ask all these questions. It makes sense that you would have a bunch of questions to ask and if your future upline can't answer them, she should be able to find some one who can. Aslso you can both call DS (or you can on your own) at 1-800-stamp-up.
Good Luck! I hope you take the plunge! Being a demo is so much fun!
Yeah, in answer to your questions, my demo has not been as forthcoming as I would like on some of the answers she has given me and is actually thinking of not being a demo anymore. At this point I don't know which upline to go to because the stories I heard about her upline made me think that I didn't even want to have that person as an upline either, so I am at a loss.
I have a question as well. Say you have $300.00 in product before the 20% discount, this is enough to count as your minimum correct? So if I enter in my order on Stampin Up and then they only charge me $240.00 my minimum is made correct?
In a nutshell yes. You do have to pay S&H and Tax as usual (no tax on the Instant income if you place a demo order). In addition you may get even more back in the form of a rebate check if you sell over $400 in a month (easy to do with one workshop). This is all under the new career plan.
You have to have one alphabet set with the add on kit (it says Best Friends upper, or alphabet set of your choice) but you do have to have an alphabet since it's scrapbooking.
I forgot to say, Good luck in deciding what you want to do! I found the my upline online...I didn't have a demo when I moved, so I went online and found a list of local demos, called a couple and met with one that I felt was interested in talking to me and being an upline, and it was the start of a beautiful friendship! Kind of a shot in the dark, but it worked out great
I have a question as well. Say you have $300.00 in product before the 20% discount, this is enough to count as your minimum correct? So if I enter in my order on Stampin Up and then they only charge me $240.00 my minimum is made correct?
Yes this is correct ;) ... It is the sub total that counts towards your quota. ~example : your sub total ( before tax and S&H ) of 300.00 is counted towards your quarterly quota BUT the 300.00 is NOT what you end up paying ( - 20% ) HTH Dawn
For me, I didn't really want to talk to my demo about too much before I knew some of the facts. I had 2 demos and hadn't really chosen either one for my upline. Now that I've chosen my upline, I'll probably ask her more questions rather than post questions here on SCS. That's not to say that I still won't post here! I think part of it is the idea of knowing you may get more than 1 answer when posting a thread. I guess it could be the thought of getting several different inputs/thoughts/answers, etc. on 1 question. I think it could also be the anticipation of receiving a reply?
Quote:
Originally Posted by staramaze
As a business demo... I am just curious... because I often wonder why people don't come to me with their questions.
For those of you asking about being a demo, have you approached your future upline? Or is it that you just don't feel comfortable asking? Or is it something else?
I hope you have someone you can really sit down with and ask all these questions. It makes sense that you would have a bunch of questions to ask and if your future upline can't answer them, she should be able to find some one who can. Aslso you can both call DS (or you can on your own) at 1-800-stamp-up.
Good Luck! I hope you take the plunge! Being a demo is so much fun!
Is there an appropriate etiquet in choosing your upline? Should you choose the demo you work with currently? I ask because if I do this half of my demos customers would go with me and I want to know if I would be breakinga huge code of ethics but signing under another demo, plus taking some of her customers?
Is there an appropriate etiquet in choosing your upline? Should you choose the demo you work with currently? I ask because if I do this half of my demos customers would go with me and I want to know if I would be breakinga huge code of ethics but signing under another demo, plus taking some of her customers?
K
There isn't a CODE really... I really think you need to do what will be best for you business-wise. Is it "stealing" customers if someone opens a new grocery store down the street from an old grocery store? No because the first Grocery will always be getting new customers if they continue to market themselves.
Someone put it to me like this... You have a refridgerator right? You might even have two! and so do all your neighbors....yet you can still think of at least 3 stores in your area that SELL refridgerators. There are plenty of customers to go around. And it isn't stealing... because these are your friends and they have a loyalty to you.... it's not like you are going to say "hey, come buy stamps from me instead and I will beat HER prices"... that would be unethical. You are just assumong that your friends will make the choice to stamp, shop and spend with you instead.
I also think you need to really make sure your future upline is someone you feel comfortable working with, and someone who you feel will provide you with the leadership you need.
Is there an appropriate etiquet in choosing your upline? Should you choose the demo you work with currently? I ask because if I do this half of my demos customers would go with me and I want to know if I would be breakinga huge code of ethics but signing under another demo, plus taking some of her customers?
K
There's no real code. You should choose your upline based on "fit". Does your demo answer your stamping questions about products and techniques, etc.? If she does and seems knowledgeable or will find the answer for you in a timely manner if she doesn't know, then she will probably do the same for your business questions and such. What kind of business does your demo do? Is she pretty much just buying for herself and sells to a few friends? Does she regularly do workshops and classes/stamp camps? Does she do a ton of events, etc.? If you want to be a full-time business demo, you probably want someone who runs their business similarly because they've been there and can better answer your questions. If you just want to buy for yourself, then it doesn't really matter what type of upline you have. Look for a demonstrator who can help you for the type of business YOU want for yourself. Talk with and meet with the "canidates" for your upline several times if possible if you don't already know them so you can get a feel for the type of person they are and can compare the answers you get from them. Once you sign up under someone, you have to stay with that person unless you drop, wait six months, then sign up again (which means buying the starter kit all over again).
Is there an appropriate etiquet in choosing your upline? Should you choose the demo you work with currently? I ask because if I do this half of my demos customers would go with me and I want to know if I would be breakinga huge code of ethics but signing under another demo, plus taking some of her customers?
K
You need to find a demo that would be a good fit for you...my upline and I were friends before she became a SU demo and I held one of her first parties for her...I brought a number of customers to her and when I decided to become a demo she transferred all my friends to me...she didn't mind doing that since she knew it would be easier for me to keep them informed (most work with me) and she told me it would push her to find more customers for herself...
to answer the orginal OP questions...
should you sign up in July you would have until DEC to make your minimum before you would be considered inactive as it is calculated on the first FULL quarter...so you would have over 5 months before you would be considered as inactive...the first order you place (within a certain time frame - 30 days maybe) you get 30% off...
the total is calucated before your instant income of 20% so in any given quarter you will be out about $285-290 (depending on your tax rate) if you are buying everything yourself.
If you have a few friends that stamp - see if one of them might be interested in holding a party with you...or host an open house once a quarter and collect orders...all it takes is 2-3 customers placing a $50-70 order once a quarter to take some of the burden off...
I signed up with the knowledge of if I ever had to spend more than $100 out of pocket per quarter it wasn't worth it to me...after a few months my instant income and hostess benefits were covering most if not all of my purchases
__________________ Jenni -Happy SU Demo - MY GALLERY & MY CHAOTIC LIFE One kid makes you a Parent - Two makes you a Referee
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