The hostess sets come out in the next year's catalog so they are available for purchase then. (ie. last year's sets are now in the new catty...) But starting at a $100 workshop level is not that difficult...the incentives for workshop attendees to spend $30 for the free GWP/opportunity to buy the specials helps you there.
Once the newsletter is out, demos are allowed to buy one Stamp of the Month for the next month for demoing purposes.