Thinking of Usborne bookselling as a side hustle - I know what it is, but many of the usual warnings don't apply. Any thoughts?

[AnonyLonnymouse]

I have had quite a busy work-week and perhaps my brain is a bit addled, but I am suddenly wondering if selling Usborne books might be a useful side hustle for me? I know that it is an MLM - and know all the arguments against MLM - but it seems that it might actually suit me quite well. I have existing freelance work and I am looking for a new job but would like a side activity that I can scale up or down as needed.

The reasons why it seems like a good idea - at 11pm on a Friday! - are:

I want to get out of the house!
I like selling at NCT sales etc and am quite good selling face-to-face, but not pushy
I like interacting with parents and pre-schoolers/primary age children
I would not be selling to friends, as they are mostly beyond that stage
I have an existing FB page with 2k+ followers in the right type of audience
I have the cashflow to buy stock and not worry about recouping it ASAP
I have the storage space, although tidying up a bit would help!
I would not push anyone to join a team, as I know that isn't ethical
I can drive
I can use social media for business purposes
I live in an area where people definitely have money to spend and would happily spend a bit more on a book at an event rather than wait to buy it cheaper elsewhere. Lots of grandparents around here too!
I live in an area where there aren't really large supermarkets or discount shops nearby.

Bearing all the above in mind - not the typical situation - what do you think?
Thanks.

My son's school runs a book fair every term. I'd far rather buy from that than a MLM because it raises funds for the school. The school also sends a couple of 'fun' (ie not phonics type books) home a week so we have a constant supply of new things to read.

Anyone who had looked into MLMs won't buy from one, so the only hope you have of finding buyers is the slim Venn intersection of wealthy and uninformed.

Looking at your op..
You can drive
You want to get out of the house
No supermarkets nearby
People have money to spend
(I'm assuming) you want it to be flexible

Signing up with Deliveroo or Uber or Evri or similar seems a better bet.

Or being a cleaner, dogwalker, babysitter etc you would earn 100× more money in the same time period doing any of these things, than selling with an MLM

Same here, and skim-reading it took 2 mins. Given you’re very active on this thread and asking for opinions, it’s not unreasonable to think you might have given it a glance by now. It tells you all you need to know so I would prioritise reading it.

If you want to sell children's books at events, do that. I used to live near an amazing £1 kids bookshop and talked to the bloke a fair bit. People used to come to him and empty the shop to resell on. But presumably the really clever thing would be to source as he did. I don't know why you want to use Usbourne to give your money to.

I would not push anyone to join a team, as I know that isn't ethical

I fully agree with your stance op... but then you will be even less likely to earn any money.

If you want to do events why don’t you book a table and have a second hand book stall from books you source yourself?

Using Amazon isn't just about cost either. In less than time it's taken to read this thread, I could have gone onto Amazon and ordered books for myself. I've just looked and some even have same day delivery so would be here later today.

All of that said, we love the sticker books here but Amazon have the best range.

How did he source his books?

I’m embarrassed to admit that I fell for this when my dcs were little. I made no money, wasted time and I’m pretty sure I annoyed people. Luckily people were kind about it, I think because they understood that I was doing it because I needed something to do with my brain and I was used to working, and tbf I did enjoy having ‘a project’ for a couple of months before the realisation dawned on me!

I like Usbourn books but think far less of them using MLM approaches to selling stuff. I also hate all those book fair things because they are a complete rip off, and the same stuff is on Amazon for pounds less.

I didn't ask him that! We usually chatted about his family and how busy he was. But they were mostly children's picturebooks so I guess ring around publishers and see?

For certain the OP would earn more delivering for deliveroo or cleaning, but selling books is naice. That’s how the company draws in middle class women. The sort of people who would never usually consider themselves MLM victims.

Thanks to this thread, I've just bought a couple of Usborne books from Amazon. Maybe this is stealth marketing? 😂

I didn't realise that Usborne did MLM prior to this thread. That article was very illuminating. It's tainting their whole brand as far as I'm concerned. What poor judgement on Usborne's part. Bizarre.

I don't see how your circumstances are different to any other MLM seller. You want to make money from it like all others. I'm guessing you think it's different because you're posher than others?

When I have been to fetes and things the Usborne stall is always dead with no one buying from it. People won't buy from it because it's expensive and they don't want to but from a MLM.

Everyone has a smartphone. They can check the price of things online. If Amazon will deliver them the same book the next day for less money, why would they order from your stall and wait much longer?

I'd never considered that you don't get the book on the day from a stall. It wouldn't be much of an enjoyable experience choosing a book when an a fair of something with your child , paying more for it then not getting it until later.

I used to take my dc to bookshops for the lovely experience of actually getting a book.

I know what you mean but the thing is... it isn't.

If "naice" means socially acceptable among middle class people (say), well, MLMs aren't. Nearly everyone has now learnt what an MLM is and all the Joneses would be raising eyebrows and gossiping.

It's true that my other suggestions aren't necessarily "naice" either but at least they'd actually make money!

Although I'd suggest dogwalking is almost naice

Why do you think that you are so different to anyone else drawn in by the false promises of MLM?

@Mumoftwo1312
Good ideas and thank you, but they don’t really appeal to me for various reasons - mostly because of the time of day you would need to do them.

@NerrSnerr
You have it in one - I’m a raging snob! 😄

@AnonyLonnymouse so what else makes you different to the others?

I think what the OP knows, which so many others in this thread don’t seem to, is that there are very many people who really don’t care if they can get something a bit cheaper elsewhere. People in posh areas will buy things because they want them, they are in a bunting covered village hall and the person selling them is a naice lady with a Home Counties accent. If you doubt that just visit any ‘farmers’ market in a traditionally posh or gentrified area this weekend.

OP still won’t make money though.

@ClutchingOurBananas
I do have a particular set of circumstances that I don’t really want to go into on this thread. But trust me when I say that things might make sense for me that wouldn’t make sense for others.

Quite a few of my business colleagues that I follow go into this. They soon post nothing but selling, instead of the things I followed them for in the first place. I soon unfollow.

I don't know how true this is. I live in a very affluent part of West London and there's a constant stream of Amazon deliveries here. Most people will happily pay more for organic meat or fruit/veg (although the Aldi that popped up recently is always heaving) but there's no benefit to buying more expensive books which are less convenient to purchase.