Multi-Vendor Open House: Silpada Jewelry Consultant & Party Planning Tips

[kylschef]

I have been asked to come to an open house where a Silpada jewelry consutant will also be. Has anyone ever done this? If so, did you change your show format, have a good show, not recommend this? How would you go about talking to the host about moving to a date just for PC? Please advise.

 

[PamperedPrincess74]

I would NOT do this unless you could be guaranteed that there were going to be a LOT of guests (and by alot, I mean forty or so).

I did this as one of my first shows. The jewelry rep didn't do a demonstration, just had her stuff laid out. The host invited about 25 people. Only about 10 showed up. Sometimes people come with a set amount that they can spend in mind. Well, they also feel like they have to divide that amount if there is more than one vendor. I walked away with only 130 in sales and probably spent more than my commission that night on recipe ingredients, door prizes, booking incentives and gas to get to the show. It was a HUGE disappointment.

 

[kylschef]

So how would you tell the hostess that you don't want to do that and still get the show?

 

[reegrace]

I think situations differ. I am doing an open house this month with about 10 other people. I think we have PC, Mary Kay, Arbonne, ironwork, jewelry, leather purses, Lonaberger. I can't remember what else. We are doing it at the Longaberger rep's beautiful antique home. There is like 200+ people on our invite list. I have feeling it will be really good for me. I am not actually doing a demo. I will just have my products displayed and might have the chopper or the Ultimate Slice and Grate where guests can play. I am making cookies to show off the stoneware. The biggest expense I will have is that we are splitting the costs of invitations and postage. Now just to do a show with another rep of some sort, I probably would not do this, due to the reasons that were stated in the previous post.

 

[kylschef]

Just found out that the open house is at the Optomatrist(hostess's) new office and it is a boutique type setting. Any thoughts on this? I realize that it is NOT a show, but a business opportunity for 3-4 hours on a Friday night.

 

[pchefmomof2]

I have done this before (twice) once it worked really well and the other not so good at all. Have you asked if you are able to invite customers from your own list? That may be away for you to get more people at the open house. I have done it like a previous poster and we all mailed out invites and that worked well. With open houses like this you just never know how they will turn out. If you do this I would not spend a lot of out of pocket money because it could backfire on you.

 

[fruit76loop]

What do you want?

Just found out that the open house is at the Optomatrist(hostess's) new office and it is a boutique type setting. Any thoughts on this? I realize that it is NOT a show, but a business opportunity for 3-4 hours on a Friday night.

I love doing open houses! I have done one for the past 3 years at my home as well as one with other vendors. I also do kitchen shows with a friend of mine that sells Tastefully Simple. Sure, by having other vendors there is competition; however, more people like to attend because there are more vendors.


Decide what you are doing the open house for and what you want from it, then weigh the pro's and con's and decide.

 

[heat123]

I'm doing a vendor open house too!We have 4 vendors total. We agreed to split the costs of food and drinks since everyone shopping will want food and I will be making all 4+ recipes -eek! But are not splitting postage, for some reason a few of them want to do their own list and email them out instead. While I do have the most on my list it's for everyone to come see all the vendors not just mine so I don't know why not split mailing costs! WE have a total of 150 on our guest list. This will be my first vendor event. I hope it goes well for all our sakes! Good luck to yours if you decide to do it!

 

[jody]

Interested in setting up multi-vendor open houseHi all,

I'm fairly new to PC (I'm in SS2) and will be taking a vacation to Hawaii in February (SS3), which will take at least a week out of my month for having shows. I've recently spoken with a few friends/acquaintances that are in different home-based businesses like Homemakers Idea, Tupperware, and Mary Kay. All have been very responsive to the idea of a multi-vendor open house, but I'd be in charge of coordinating things. I think, if this goes successfully, it will help me reach my SS target for February with the other two shows I already have booked. Does anyone have suggestions on how to go about this? The venue would be a community center with kitchen access, plenty of tables & chairs and near downtown. (This is a VERY small community though!)

Thanks in advance for any help!
Jody