Mailing Invites - Reimbursement?

[mistym]

For those who mail invites

do you eat the cost of postage or get the host to reimburse?

I am currently mailing but am getting a little tee'd off with having to spend the extra. I know I know its worth it but I am wondering if it would be incredibly rude of me to get reimbursed?

I was thinking of taking $10 off the free product value and the buying myself SBRC for my furture shows...is this just insane?

What do you guys do?

thanks

m

 

[dannyzmom]

I write it off on my taxes as a business expemse.

 

[chefkristin]

I write it off on my taxes as a business expemse.

I do the same. I would feel silly asking for that back. I do it as a thankyou to my host. Plus I like knowing the invites went out.

 

[Teresa Lynn]

They have to invite 40 or more guests for me to send them. It is definately worth it for me. I have done this since 2000 and have seen my show average increase, attendance increase and cancellations have dropped greatly, That is probably he most important part of it for me. I only have about 5 cancellations a year now.

You have to do it fo awhile (I'd say 6 months) and see if you get from it what you are wanting. Do you want higher shows? Maybe cancellations aren't a problem for you.

 

[janetupnorth]

I had a thread awhile ago on mailing invites...one person on here says a minimum of 24...

She had a scale of 40 or more, she pays all, there was a lesser group where they paid half and a group where they paid all.

I'm trying that out...

Don't have it in front of me but search for threads started by me in the last month or so and you should find it...

 

[sfdavis918]

I don't ask for reimbursement. It's only $10.40 for 40 postcard invitations. My show average before doing this is $550, so at the lowest level I make $121. I can handle $110 instead. I'm hoping that by doing this my show average will go up like it has for others.

 

[katie0128]

I've started sending the mini-catalogs as the invite (with a sticker on the front inviting them to the show and listing the details). So far, I've only done it for three shows (and none of the hosts has over 20 people) and also made the reminder calls, but it seems to be working. The last show I mailed out the mini-catalogs for, I was able to ask guests during the reminder call if there were any products that really jumped out at them in it. That way I have a "lead" on what they want before the show and can be more specific about what they can get if they host a show... "With only a $xxx show, you can get the xxx that you had your eye on for free!" That show is over $600 with five bookings and two possible recruits. At least for this one, the catalogs and postage paid for themselves!
I decided I'm going to do this through the end of the year and then we'll see...

 

[pckelly]

I was mailing invites for a while, but seemed to be eating the cost. I don't own my own home, so I don't do tax deductable with my business. I will not go over the allowed 10,300 in deductions a year, if I was...WHOA, I wouldn't be making anything!! I don't own anything, so I don't save receipts on anything including postage for tax purposes. I just don't have the money to be spending on 40 invitations, that is just my opinion!!

 

[heather9892]

It's only $10.40 for 40 postcard invitations

sarah
unfortunately misty is in canada where it cost .52 cents for anything under 50g
a long long long time ago we used to have a xmas card rate that was cheaper but not anymore
for us to send 40 invites its over $20 :grumpy:

still think though that if the cost out weighs the end result its worth it

 

[jenm42]

I always mail the invites, that way I can control how many are on the list, and I have a pretty good impression of how strong the show will be from the get-go. IF a host is going to flake out and not send a Guest List, at least I will know 2-3 weeks in advance and can reschedule if necessary.

I USED to pay for the postage, but at 8-12 shows a month, with 25-40 invites for each one, it was getting expensive. At the bottom of the Guest List (that is included my host packet), I put these words in bold in a double box, so it stands out:

--------------------
I mail the Cooking Show invitations as a service to my hosts; however, the host is responsible for the cost of the postage. I use one 26¢ postcard stamp for each invitation that is mailed. You can send me a check to cover the cost of the postage for your invitations, or you can provide replacement stamps. Please include the postage when you mail your guest list.
---------------------

When I actually mail the invitations, I also send the host a postcard letting them know their invites are in the mail. If they haven't already sent the postage (a lot of people email or fax the list), I have this wording at the bottom:

-----
Friendly reminder: I mail the invitations as a service to my host, but the host is responsible for the cost of the postage. Postage for your invites: $______
-----

I did feel funny about this at first, but once I started doing it regularly, people don't even question it. If a host just doesn't send the postage, then I remind them when we are closing their show (I note it on my host coaching record, so I remember), and they usually decide to add the cost to their order total. It's not a big deal anymore for me.

The point is, hosts have certain obligations when hosting a show. It's no different than telling them they need to buy the ingredients for the recipe you're making.

Hope that helps...

=) Jen

 

[MicheleC]

Kelly,

Your tax deductions are on your business income not your regular income so it does not matter if you itemize your other deductions. Make sure you are saving those receipts for everything!! If you don't have them then try to recreate what you can and don't forget about mileage. The easiest way to find that is go to something like mapquest and figure the distance to and from the show. If you deliver packets by hand figure two trips per show and if you mail them then figure your average cost per mailing. Of course you can get all of your expenses for supplies from Pampered Partner. Even if you don't itemize you can still deduct your business expenses from you business income.

Sorry for hijacking .

 

[lockhartkitchen]

I mail my invitations for my hosts. I too, have found a great increase in show attendance since mailing them. I record the cost as an expense in PP. I don't ask for reimbursement.

 

[DebbieJ]

I , like Jen, used to eat the cost. But now I need every drop of income I make and am ramping up to 10-12 shows a month AND I started sending full size invites in #10 envelopes at 41 cents each. I just couldn't do it, so now I ask for reimbursement. The host sends a check along with her guest list. So I still have control over the date and the mailing but don't have to eat the cost. It just takes my time.

 

[mommyhugz1978]

I write it off on my taxes as a business expense~

 

[pamperedgirl3]

I write my postage off as a business expense. However, I don't see a problem with asking for the reimbursement if you need/want to. I have noticed after sending the invites that I don't have to try as much for bookings b/c people know how easy it is to host (I also buy the food, but get reimbursed for that unless they have $200 in oo before show), plus since they aren't paying for postage, many hosts will invite more people than they would have.

 

[Teresa Lynn]

They will definately invite more people.
this month I had 3 shows they invited 50 or more. Each show had 5 bookings because the hosts talked about how easy it was to do a party with me. I signed 1 recruit (she only had 3 people there due to a funeral small shows are good) commissionables sales were $931, $864 & $771

 

[pckelly]

Kelly,

Your tax deductions are on your business income not your regular income so it does not matter if you itemize your other deductions. Make sure you are saving those receipts for everything!! If you don't have them then try to recreate what you can and don't forget about mileage. The easiest way to find that is go to something like mapquest and figure the distance to and from the show. If you deliver packets by hand figure two trips per show and if you mail them then figure your average cost per mailing. Of course you can get all of your expenses for supplies from Pampered Partner. Even if you don't itemize you can still deduct your business expenses from you business income.

Sorry for hijacking .

Thanks for letting me know Michele