To wish that my friends would just get proper jobs instead of these selling parties..

[Maisiethemorningsidecat]

...the Jamie at Home/jewellery they've made/aloe vera stuff/Candlelight or whatever it's called type thing?

I am sick to the back teeth (OK, this is PMT talking!) of going along under duress, trying to be a dutiful, helpful friend, only to find myself parting with £20 or whatever is the cheapest thing in the catalogue for overpriced utter crap? I know I don't have to go, I know I don't have to buy anything, and from now on I have decided I'm going to be busy when they decide to throw any more parties - no more £14 for 2 glass oil pourers from Jamie the Twat for me when I can buy the same thing from Asda at £4.

My point is - why does anyone do them? Isn't it the height of cheek to even think of working when your job basically involves going to your friends, appealing to their better nature (and possible guilt) and asking them to pay your salary?

Peaches - I think the very fact that I have been to several of these parties shows that I've been very supportive of friends. However, knowing that you're being ripped off by your friends selling overpriced tat that could be bought at a fraction of the price in Tesco or Ikea hardly means I've a closed mind - just one that thinks "hold on a minute here, do I have m-u-g written on my forehead?"

I'm liking the idea of paying to hostess to not go to her boring Virgin Vie party..

YABU
We are in a worldwide recession and lots of people can't get 'proper jobs' and would prefer to be doing this than being on the dole.
Surely it is obvious that the reason the party is being held is to sell the product. If you don't want to buy the product, don't go to the party - simple!

Sorry to hijack the thread but I'm really curious to know how much Phoenix traders make. One mum has invited me to a charity coffee morning tomorrow morning and everything in the catalogue seems really cheaply priced, how do you make money?!!!

And I got a Pampered Chef invite today! Never even heard of that before... My neighbour used to host all sorts of parties for her sister, I used to pop by very quickly and left very quickly, before I got convinced to buy the crap goods.

yanbu
My SIL keeps doing these. She keeps trying different ones - like it's the actual product that's the problem!
I can't think of a single one that isn't overpriced for what it is. And in this day and age we can order almost whatever we want and receive it in a couple of days - why these parties make you wait a fortnight I don't know.

this is quite funny - and some of the partylite consultant's (consultant!) comments.

If the stuff is so bloody great that they are flogging why don't they sell it through shops so I can buy it when I want to and not because I feel I have to?

If a company has to arrange to get you pissed to buy their products, then I would steer clear of them.

Yes - worldwide recession - so why are the rest of us being expected to fund our friends and relatives by buying tat that is so wonderful that you can't actually buy it in the shops? My friends choose not to work during the day - so the rest of us who do have to work for a living during normal(ish) working hours then have to pay their wages?

Anyway - no more. The worldwide recession has hit me too, and from now on I shall be declining their kind invitations to drink cheap wine whilst listening to the sales rep extolling the virtues of a Candlelite candle over one from Tesco (yawwwwwn), and I shall refuse to pay anyone else's wages apart from the people who actually do something for me - like my lovely window cleaner.

the 'holiday for chairty isnt actually a holiday paid for by other people. you have to pay your own expenses for the trip organised by the company. and you only get to go if you pay the four hundred odd pounds for your own expenses AND send them a cheque for between two and a half and three and ahalf thousand pounds paid out already to your chosen charity. if youdont give them 80% of that amount, then you dont get the bargain cozt of four hundred pounds for your walk around china or whatever.
i would love to do one of these,partly because i would love it, and partly because the charity i would give it to is small and would really appreciate the money. But there is no way i could fundraise thousands of pounds

that is 80% upfront, and the next 20% within a specific period of time after completing the event.

I bet your friends, relations and work colleagues are heaving a collective sigh of relief that they're not going to be stung for sponsorship .

You need to stop going. Just say you end up spending too much money so you;d rather not.

I refuse em all.

YANBU, in fact I was invited to one of these parties today!

I really don't like them and always end up buying tat stuff I dont need because I feel sorry for the person doing the selling.

nope, not at all. i do an annual bike ride. costs me in the region of £30 to enter for myself and ds1, plus petrol to get there, (but its a great day out for us, so cheap at the price) and i insist they all sponsor us for that. in fact, we are doing the race for life next weekend, and my answer to everyone who tries to sponsor me is, 'thank you, but i would prefer youto sponsor me for XX charity instead' i KNOW the money for XX goes into helping the clients, and not expensive marketing and advertising and admin costs, therefore i would rather support XX

You insist they all sponsor you???

yup. i am a cheeky bugger. i've never had anyone say no. the closest i got to a no was ds1#s ex headteacher (ie from primary) who gave me a pound for him, but refused to put name down for gift aid.

If you think that Race for Life sponsorship is wasted on marketing and advertising then why would you want to be part of it?

Yes, you are a cheeky buggar. I bet you've never had anyone say no - most people are too polite to say what they are really thinking.

Perhaps you could just give your own money directly to the charity you choose to support, to make up the amount you think they should have, instead of expecting other people to?

i do maisie. i have a monthly direct debit set up and i also give sustantial amounts of my time voluntarily.
the cancer charities, and there choice on how they spend hard earned cash is something that i dont agree with. not right or wrong. there isnt any right or wrong in any of this. also, apologies to the op as this has gone off on a tangent to the op.

to the op, just say no. if the products arent something you could see yourself buying/using in the normal course of things, then dont be guilt tripped into it. its a business, not a charitable cause.

I am the OP - no need to apologise for the tangent, I do it all the time myself!

Definitely not going to anymore of these parties - enough is enough.

YANBU, on the other hand, where are the tupperware ladies? I need tupperware!

Tupperware was a integral part of life in the seventies - our cupboards were crammed with the stuff when I was growing up. My kids just wouldn't appreciate it in the same way we did.

Tsk.

Was it cheaper then? My parents were pretty hard up when I was small but had an extensive Tupperware collection, majority of which is still going strong today.

I think it must have been cheaper - my parents were also pretty hard up, and very few of the mums worked, so it was just one income for the vast majority of our friends and neighbours. Every house positively leaked Tupperware though..

Good pointI need tupperware. And nobody better diss my Avon lady eithercan't do without that stuff!

My idea of hell. Dh's sister, the much more married one, was always trying to sell us Aloe Vera products - despite the fact I and dd are allergic to it. It all felt very cult-ish and contrived. We then had 2 years of Aloe Vera 'gifts'

Got inadvertently trapped at a Pampered Chef one and it was excruciating watching ppl pretending to have their lives transformed by an apple-corer and a stone slab for pizza all for the bargain price of £40.