To chuck the Avon book in the recycling.

[Houseplanter]

So I know there's someone out there trying to make a living and good for them. But i don't want Avon stuff. My choices are to

a leave it out on the step where it'll likely get wet
b keep it in the house but I'm unlikely to be here when they call back
c (and this is my preference) chuck it in the recycling with the rest of the unsolicited trash.

Avon Glimmerstick would be a great name for a romance heroine.

Also if this stuff is on Amazon why would anyone try to sell it door to door.

There was a thread recently about eyeliner that stayed on, and Avon Glimmersticks were mentioned. I tried one and it smudged all over my eyes the minute I put it on. Straight in the bin!

Exactly this…..

I was an Avon lady years ago when my daughter was small. I had to pay for my books, and if people said they threw them away it meant one less book to sell with.
Just stick it in its bag and leave a note that you don’t want the book again.

You can't unilaterally create an obligation for people to do as you want with the unsolicited junk mail you dump on them.

You'll need to factor the costs of buying the marketing collateral into your business plan. If that makes it unsuccessful (and I don't see how anyone could make a profit on this these days, unless they've got a well-established and by now pretty old customer base from much earlier that isn't willing to go online) then you'll need to do something else.

@BatshitCrazyWoman oh that's a shame, they stay put on me.

This a million percent. This thread is full of people going round in circles with some saying 'be kind, leave the catalogue on your doorstep to get soggy/for you to go arse over tit on it/for the dog to eat it and incur a vet's bill' whilst the other camp are going 'why the fuck should I'.

I am firmly in camp B, in case that wasn't already clear.

Hi I'm a Avon rep myself and I just wanted to make a couple of points.

Yes we have to pay for every book we deliver (as others have mentioned)

It's alot of work to try to get a little bit of money and most of us do it around children.

If you are not interested just pop a note on the book to let the rep know that and they won't bother you again

Mmm. Lots of us do a lot of work for little money, fitting it around children, without also obligating strangers to write notes and leave litter on their doorstep for weeks on end.

What a load of patronising ill informed rubbish. Feeling obliged to buy says nothing about the product but everything about your self esteem, or lack of it.

So do you think that people who suffer from low self-esteem/anxiety or similar are to blame for it - and thus deserve all that they get?

It's alot of work to try to get a little bit of money

The thing is we're the ones you're trying to get money from and you're asking us to do you the favour of looking after your catalogue as well.

I'm amazed at the (presumably) adults who cheerfully shove their catalogues unsolicited through strangers' doors and then get upset when they're gone and can't be got back. It just makes me think of when babies throw their teddies or cloth books out of their prams, even though they do really want to keep them!

If the catalogues really are so very valuable (somebody said about 15p each upthread), why not print out some leaflets/notes and post those through each door, asking people if they'd like a catalogue e.g. "please message this number with your address and I'll gladly bring you a catalogue ASAP". But I'm guessing that will elicit further complaints about it then being potentially double the workload for the rep, when it's easier to just expect every householder to do your work for you.

I still don't get how everybody else happily pays for the mail they put through every door, in the knowledge that 99% of it will be recycled straightaway, but hopefully a few people will be interested; whereas Avon reps expect to not just post unsolicited stuff through people's doors, but then also get angry if the person doesn't dutifully return it to them!

It's alot of work to try to get a little bit of money and most of us do it around children.

Lots of women have to work hard around children. It's not a special status that obliges anyone to do anything in particular with junk mail.

No-one can expect someone who hasn’t requested a catalogue to leave it out for them to collect. People don’t like to advertise the fact they are not at home, or have clutter in their porch, or to wonder how long it will be there for.

I agree that the cost if the catalogue has to be factored into the costs of running the business.

It’s a reason why this kind of business is pretty crap and hard to make a living from.

If the seller knocked in Dorris and got agreement from people to receive a catalogue and then leave it out, then fine. But no-one can require those who haven’t asked for an item to leave it out. What next…..Amazon does unsolicited deliveries of goods and then charges us if we dint return them? No.

I'm juggling work around children too. That's another good reason why I quite simply don't want random junk pushed through my door with an expectation I will do anything other than shove it in the bin.

Avon are exploiting mums , and then expecting those mums to use the "just a mum trying to make ends meet" like to guilt others into buying stuff they didn't particularly want even though it mainly makes money for Avon. It's a vile business model and I feel for the mums caught up in it but I am not going to support it by sifting through my junk mail.

I can understand catalogues being shoved through doors in the 80s and 90s but I can't see the point now, surely no one wants to bother ordering through a catalogue nowadays

It's only because women are the target market that anyone's trying to use guilt as a manipulation tactic.

If the seller knocked in Dorris

Violence is a bit of an extreme method to try to get orders

It's alot of work to try to get a little bit of money

its almost like it's not actually a viable business model... for the reps at least. Avon the corporate company are probably doing great out of it.

Leave it outside in a plastic bag, they have to pay for them .Better yet leave an order for something small, their bubble bath is good value.You might make a new friend . No need to be mean to them

A dick? Huh? If I found a catalogue I'd assume it was junk mail. I had no idea Avon people went around hand delivering brochures that they had paid for. What a weird system. I doubt many people know that. Surely everyone thinks they are the same as all the other junk mail and bin them

If you choose to leave your property lying around you can't possibly expect to charge people who didn't ask for it for it. Don't be ridiculous. I'd assume it was just junk mail. I've never seen an Avon catalog. Do they look different from other unrequested junk mail catalogs ?

So you put the onus on them to keep a brochure I never asked for in a safe place and remember to put it out on the day you tell them. Haaahaaaa. As if I have enough mental space for that shite.

I wonder if people are quite so super kind and polite to cold callers - who are also just trying to earn a few bob?