To go to a Tupperware party with the certainty of not buying anything

[Barbin]

I am going to a Tupperware party but I'm not going to buy anything. I see a Tupperware party as similar to a shop, no need to buy unless you really want or need something and I definitely don't want or need anything, so I won't be buying.

My dm thinks iabu and rude and that I need to at least buy something token.

I want to go to see some friends and have a look at what is for sale. Aibu?

I hate selling parties, I can't understand why this model is still going, probably because people feel obliged to buy the overpriced tat in these circumstances. I don't you're being unreasonable not to buy anything if you don't want anything, the host usually gets a discount off what she buys anyway. Personally though I've just found it an uncomfortable experience and not how I'd want to spend an evening with friends.

I agree with Pud. In these times when money is tight for a lot of people why would anyone think this is a good business model? Surely selling stuff considerably cheaper would be better? You'd sell more = more profit. Or is that too simple? My SIL sells Pampered Chef - you should see the price of that shit - unbelievable!

Yes it's odd to go and not buy. If you want to see your friends arrange a meet up.

Everything about these parties is just awkward. Everything.

No good could possibly come from people having 'parties' to earn themselves money from their friends.

You are not being rude by not buying anything, and if you are then you are at least not being any more rude than the host who has invited you to make money out of you.

I don't see why you have to buy if there's nothing you fancy. That said perhaps take a small amount of money just in case?

I don't think you have an obligation to buy.

Having said that, I normally go to these kind of things with the intention of coming home empty handed, but there is normally something I find I can't resist.

I think - good for you. If more people went along to these god awful things just for the chat then they would soon disappear. Hate them with a passion. Friends should not be expected to pay the wages of someone in their group.

Rude not to buy a fiver item fine though

Sometimes I think the host is more pleased about making up the numbers rather than everyone buying something.

Nope don't need to buy anything, shouldn't feel obligated

My friends know I'm a shoo in to buy something at most parties but I have been invited to some whose goods do not interest me in the slightest. In this case I have explained that I am happy to come along but probably won't buy anything

I have also hosted the occasional party and generally only invite fellow fans. I do extend the invite out but make it very clear that I am happy for my friends to come along with no intention of buying anything

Why is it rude to go and not buy? I refuse to host parties like these as I don't want to put pressure on my own friends. My mum thinks buying is obligatory and comes home with all sorts of tat which she then palms off on me or my Dd.

I try not to go as I'm a sucker for a catalogue! I find it very difficult to read one and not want half the stuff in it!

So, then the host shouldn't have the party in the first place.

But, she will obviously then feel bad about her friend, who hosted a party, where she herself booked this one. If she doesn't have the party, her friend will lose out.

These party plans are really sneaky in the way they play on people's feelings of obligation towards their friends.

Just don't go, but invite your friend over for coffee and cake or a glass of wine in a week or two, instead.

Sorry, that first sentence was to BearFeet.

YANBU not to want to buy anything. I have stopped going to these things because I detest the false pally pally bs as one PP so rightly put it.

The last one I attended was a Pampered Chef one. Because i did not want to buy anything, I offered to host a party thinking that this would increase my hosting friend's "points" so that she could get a better freebie as a thank you. Turned out she did not get ANYTHING at all as a thank you gift from the seller, so I cancelled my party. The Seller hounded me for a couple of months after that but i was blunt and told her why I would not be hosting.

Seller later told my friend what a lovely group of friends she has . Oh, and the "fact" that Simon Le Bon supposedly had his hand in the seller's oven mitt (no innuendo intended) was most certainly no bloody selling point for me.

Where I used to live, these type of parties were so common place, there would be a couple of invites every month for various things, virgin vie, party light, Phoenix, pampered chef, ann summers etc etc etc. stuff is always over priced and I always felt obliged to buy if I went. I stopped going in the end, didn't have the cash to fritter on stuff I didn't need and honestly, I don't think they sell anything for a fiver, so don't go wth the intention of only spending so little.

Luckily since we moved areas my new friends have never invited me to anything like this. We get together for other reasons noro buy stuff none of us really want.

I hate those naff parties....specially the awful jewellery ones....

At least Tupperware has its uses.

The only ones of these I ever contemplate turning out for are the charity ones. And even then the percentage that actually makes it to the charity tends to be a bit pathetic. I'd much rather hand over money to the charity and have my friends and bottle of wine separately.

A good friend is showing signs of having caught Forever Living

Alpaca that's really bad she will soon be whisked off to Southfork ranch to be initiated....

The clear purpose of those type of parties is selling, I wouldn't go if I definitely wouldn't buy anything. I'm going to a friends Ann Summers party next month, mainly for a laugh and to see friends but I'm open to buying something if I see anything I fancy. If I was set against it I wouldn't go as I think it would be awkward.

Whatever happened to good ol' key parties?

My mum used to hold these kind of parties back in the eighties with her work colleguees all,kinds of things makeup,cakes etc and than they realised nobody actually wanted to listen to anyone do a presentation or buy overpriced tat but they did enjoy the wine and get together so they cut out the mi ddle man and just had wine evenings instead!

I haven't heard of anyone having a tupperware party in years! I just took a trip right back to the 70's

Of course it's not rude to go. You have been invited to have a look at what they have - entirely up to you if you buy anything or not.

I don't really like these 'parties' but if I get invited and have no intention of buying anything I'll usually ask if they still want me to come or not, even though I have no intention of buying anything - they always do as they feel it's nicer with more people or helps them meet the quota of invited guests. Glass of wine, bit of a chat.... order something or not. No big deal.

Oh god I hate these events with a passion and your post has brought back horrendous memories. I'd pay £50 to be spared the ordeal.

I think it depends on how pushy the sales person is. I got ambushed by a Pampered Chef saleswoman at a school event, she wouldn't let me get away until I agreed to host a party. She then phoned me every day for a week asking if I'd thought about dates , telling me how many people to invite etc. I kept saying I'd phone her back when I was sorted but she kept I until I had to be quite rude to get rid of her (I had tried to decline politely!). I did like the idea of hosting, but the way she pestered made me worried she'd be standing in front of the door to barricade it until everyone had bought something!