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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think sodding Sell-You-Stuff parties are a work of the Devil ...

266 replies

Fecklessdizzy · 30/11/2011 22:25

Rant Alert ...

Seething (and stinking of garlic). Just got back from Stupidly-Overpriced-Cookware demo that I wasn't going to go to on account of having a foul cold and not being interested in podding out fifty quid for a casserole dish.

The friend who was hosting the thing was panicking about no-one turning up and guilt-tripped me into coming along to make up the numbers so I sat through the demo ( think shopping channel but much, much duller ) When the demonstrator handed round the stuff she'd cooked at the end I had a nibble or two then made my excuses and started to slink off when she says " Not buying anything, then?" My mate says " Oh, Feckless isn't feeling well, I made her come " and the bloody demonstrator whips back with " Shame, lucky it didn't affect your appitite, though! "

Snarl ... BlushBlushAngry

OP posts:
mogs0 · 01/12/2011 12:46

I can't stand these parties either.

This thread has reminded me that I've been invited to a jewellry party tonight but i was very non-committal when I received the invitation for two reasons 1) the stuff she sells is all fake designer stuff and 2) it's crap and falls apart.

I went to one a couple of years ago and ordered a couple of things. The first item went straight back because it was rubbish, the second item I'd ordered for my sister which broke within a week and the third was equally shite but I was too embarrassed to send anything else back. I'm still kicking myself for being such a wimp Blush.

I object to her selling at the school fete given that all her stuff is knock off but it's so popular and no-one seems bothered Confused.

tash640 · 01/12/2011 12:58

I hate them too - I'd rather suck blades to be honest. I had a bit of a falling out with my friend - she is a NYR ogranic rep and is obsessed I had already spent about £100 on various products for gifts etc and then I kept getting emails not hello how are you but 10% off etc. Then I got another email saying did I get the email about 10% and every FB status was about the stuff. Its like she's been brain washed! I joked about the hard sell and she got all defensive then I said I've spent quite enough, they are like pyramid schemes and that the only people making money are the companies making the products. In addition I sent her an article that Jan Moir wrote in the DM which had there is something morally wrong about wanting your friends to fund your income. In hindsight was probably a bit excessive but I was PISSED OFF! I was promptly deleted on FB by her husband but relations between us are starting to warm again. The parties should come with health warnings this may affect your friendship.

betterwhenthesunshines · 01/12/2011 13:03

I was invited to an evening where 'someone will come and cook us supper and do a cooking demo' and naively thought that's what it was. I drove half way across London to this friend's house - for a square bum after sitting listening to the hard sell for 2 hrs. V. disappointing, but only if you don't know what you're letting yourself in for.

Somehow I decided to do it (get me out of the house!) and it was good fun, but hard work. I kept the hard sell out of it, but I genuinely liked the cooking kit! But I wasn't very good at pushing people to host a 'party' so it petered out - but I have things in my kitchen that I use every day.

BTW - the lady whose stone shattered - this sometimes happened in any ceramic piece ifthere is an air bubble in the clay 0 they would have replace it for you immediately. Or should have done. I did for one of my customers once.

KatAndKit the garlic press from PC really IS very good - you can even press garlic with the skin still on..... I would happily go as a guest again, because it's not easy to buy the stuff direct

Lightofthemoon · 01/12/2011 13:05

AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL, they are designed for people like me who feel so awkward when you are being sold to and no-one is buying stuff that you give in and buy something because you feel 'sorry' for them, then everyone starts buying as no-one wants to be the person that didn't buy anything! ARGHHHHH.

I am now just brutally honest when someone hands me an invite and I just say 'thank you but I don't go to these things'. Then they ALWAYS say 'but you don't have to buy anything' and I just repeat 'I know but I don't go to them'....

TapselteerieO · 01/12/2011 13:46

YANBU Loathe them. I have been to a few and never again, I think if someone asks me to another one I will know I can never be their friend they are just hideous.

Get0rf · 01/12/2011 13:47

Didn't someone start a thread some time ago about some saucepan party, where you were pressured to buy saucepans which cost 3 grand?

I hate these parties, and don't see the point. It is an incredibly outdated business model (in my opinion). There is no need for such a convoluted business model based on demos and ordering via your neighbour or friend, when most people today order online. The same goes for Avon. It is either rubbish (Avon and Ann Summers) or ridiculously overpriced (the rest). Their USP seems to be inducing your mates to buy the stuff out of guilt.

mousysantamouse · 01/12/2011 13:53

I attended two because my mother hosted and needed me for the numbers
thermomix and tupperware.
horrible things that you don't need and if you do you can get similar stuff on the highstreet for much less.

pigletmania · 01/12/2011 13:54

My goodness that woman was rude, and she wants people to buy from her Shock. I avoid those parties like the plague, you know the ones, the dreaded pampered chef, candle, and Bodyshop parties.

Get0rf · 01/12/2011 13:55

I have just googled Thermomix - what a load of crap. I bet it costs a fortune as well.

inchoccyheaven · 01/12/2011 13:55

I do chocolate parties seasonally ( for Christmas and Easter) and am quite lucky that I don't have to do the hard sell as there isn't a pyramid scheme or incentive for other people to book through a hostess. The hostess does have to get a minimum amount of sales to get commission but for most that isn't a problem.

Being seasonal means I only have a certain amount of time to do parties and I tend to do 3 or 4 a week during that time and always have to turn people down as don't have enough dates for everyone. If it was all year round I think it would be a completely different situation.

I give samples out for people to taste and tend to let people look at the goods and none of it is expensive so hopefully people don't feel pressured to buy something they don't want.

I wouldn't go to p.c. , jamie or candles etc as to me they are expensive and not the kind of thing I am into.

Wordsmith · 01/12/2011 13:56

I went to an Ann Summers one when I was a student. Excruciatingly embarrassing. Hosted by a lady who'd just had her third child and insisted on showing me pics of the delivery (I was only 19 FGS).

I went to an aromatherapy one and bought a 'body brush' for £10, only kept forgetting whether I was supposed to brush towards or away from the heart. The cleaner mistook it one day for the bog brush, I think.

I avoided my friend's Herbalife party, much as I like my friend, there is no way I will support Herbalife!

YankNCock · 01/12/2011 13:57

I hate all these fucking parties, stupid consumerism, guilting your mates into buying.

That salesperson in the OP should fuck the fuck off to fuck, and fuck off some more when she gets there. Fucker.

Disclaimer: Pregnant and hormonal and just went to an Usborne books party. But still. Fuckers.

ChinaInYourHands · 01/12/2011 13:58

I hate them with a passion. I detest being invited for dinner or coffee and accept, to then be told, 'Oh great yes, my friend will be there. She sells lovely jewellery...'

ChinaInYourHands · 01/12/2011 14:02

Oh and while we're on the subject can I just ask, what's the protocol? When I go to someone's house for coffee I usually bring cake. If it's dinner I bring wine and chocolates. When you get invited to one of these so called parties where you know you're going to fork out for some crap you don't even want, do you also have to bring a bottle or do you arrive empty handed? Not that it matters because I'm never ever going to go to one. Just curious.

mousysantamouse · 01/12/2011 14:04

a 1000 euros it was.
it is just a very expensive soup maker and very difficult to clean despite what they tell at the demo
but my mother swears by it and always mentions by-the-by today we had pumpkin soup cooked in my lovely thermomix

Get0rf · 01/12/2011 14:07

1000 euros! Good grief, that is awful. 1000 euros for a blender come supor maker with a weighing scale in. Shock

naturalbaby · 01/12/2011 14:16

i've just been to my first and was a bit confused. i thought the whole point was you don't have shop premises or a website to pay rent for so you get massive discounts, so wasn't expecting to pay full price on everything (when amazon is loads cheaper and i get nectar points).
we just sat around drinking and eating and chatting then quickly filled in order forms before dashing home to waiting dh's so i can't complain! plus all our kids and relatives kids presents are sorted.

Rhubarbgarden · 01/12/2011 14:28

A close friend of mine was a Virgin Vie rep for years. I hosted a party to help her out, and somehow ended up doing them annually. To be fair, there was no hard sell, I always got a good turnout and some of my friends actually spent loads - they certainly weren't just buying a token bubble bath. Others bought nothing, just came along for the chance to have a natter. I did always cringe a bit when it came to inviting people though - I hated the thought that anyone would feel pressured to buy stuff, so I was quite relived when she packed it in.

At least with the parties you can choose not to go. I think the FB spamming is worse; I got really sick of all my friend's updates being about 10% off bloody eyeliner and how she 'only needed a few more sales' to make this month's target. Another friend does Enjo, and I find all the hysterical posting about over-priced floor cleaners quite disturbing.

blackteaplease · 01/12/2011 14:41

I just held a pampered chef party at my house for three friends and their toddlers. The kids got to bake, the consultant cleaned up and took away the dishes. There wasn't any obligation to buy anything at all and it was really relaxed.

The one OP went to was hosted by a very rude consultant by the sounds of it.

wasabipeanut · 01/12/2011 14:45

Oh I hate these things. I still get emails from someone who was the seller at a Pampered Chef party I went to 3 years ago. I shouldn't have caved in to the email address request but even so. If I haven't accepted her kind invitation to host yet it is unlikely that I ever will.

I mind less if people declare it up front and I can say yes or no with full knowledge of what they evening will contain. Its when you get the selling by stealth routine that I get cross.

A friend of mine has just signed up for a one of these jewellery at home type things. I knwo it is a matter of time before I am being persuaded to treat myself to some "affordable luxury."

Having said that I have happily attended Usborne book parties as I think they have lots of great books that my DC's have enjoyed and I also genuinely like Phoenix stuff.

mathanxiety · 01/12/2011 14:48

I've been to four and bought a few things. Yuck. The nicest thing I got was from Arbonne but definitely not worth what I paid for it.

The protocol is that you bring your chequebook and suspend disbelief.

Fillybuster · 01/12/2011 14:52

YANBU. I went to a Pampered Chef evening at a friends house a few months ago (my first ever experience of these things) and it was utterly dire....I felt really pressured to buy stuff but luckily am mule like able to stand my ground when being pushed.

As a result I bought a (v expensive, but admittedly excellent) microplane grater and said I would keep the catalogue and consider it over the next few days.

Worse (sort of)....I went to a Jemma Kidd makeup thing - at another friends house (with a lot of the same women) a few weeks after. It was great fun: there was a full 2 hour make-up training session, with a proper make-up artist (and only 8 of us), and a whole set of makeup and brushes for each of us to use as he showed us how to apply stuff.

So far, so good. But by the end we were of course all totally convinced by how briliiant the makeup and brushes were, and I coughed up over £100 (so so so unlike me) on a load of stuff I didn't really need.

I was kidding myself it was good quality, but now one of the brushes (£25....arrgh) moults all over my face when I use it.....:( :(

Never again...

cocoachannel · 01/12/2011 15:09

Katandkit, the PC garlic press is actually very good, and as betterwhenthesunshines says you don't even need to peel the cloves.

gramercy · 01/12/2011 15:09

I was going to start a thread on this very subject!

I am a bit of a Norma No-Mates, and when a mother I knew a little from the school gate asked me if I'd like to come for coffee, I jumped at the chance. Turned up, and found it was flipping' Pampered Chef and she didn't want my company at all, only the contents of my wallet. I was really embarrassed that I had thought for one moment that she actually liked me.

(I managed to get away with a pastry brush (£10 for a pastry brush!!!) and a pizza slice. Demonstrator got quite arsey when I couldn't be convinced to buy a baking tray for £50.)

MabelLucyAttwell · 01/12/2011 15:18

I used to go to Tupperware parties. I accepted invitations but only with the proviso that I would not buy anything. The number of people at a party gave the hostess some points for something or other. They used to have a quiz each time though with a choice of Tupperware as a prize. I used to win the quizzes and so have some long handled pickled forks and long handled gloop spoons and decorative plastic forks all in pastel shades.

I went to a Pippa Dee children's clothes party too, bought one garment, saw how poorly it was finished and never went to another party.