Save on Postage: Asking Guests to Chip In for Mailing Invites - Expert Advice

[deanna_g]

I typically send out invites for my guests and am sending out mini-catalogs right now. Well, my host for August 11th got me all her addresses and she has SO many! That's a great thing, but it's going to cost me nearly $30 to mail all these! What would you do? Would it be fair to ask her to chip in for paying for postage? I already have the mini-catalogs addressed, so they ARE going as mini-catalogs (I've found that really pays off in the long run) and not as postcard invites. The host is a very good friend of mine, so I don't think I'd be putting her off to ask her to help pay for the postage. What do you guys think?

 

[Liquid Sky]

You said you send out the invites, and asking your friend to chip in and help pay is basically "punishing" her for having a fantastic guest list. Stick with what you do. Yes, $30 is expensive but think about the payoff that could come out of it.

 

[deanna_g]

Thanks for putting it that way, Caressa. You're right. I need to suck it up and send out the invites. (-:

 

[Liquid Sky]

:thumbup:

I have had a few of those too (large guest lists) and it does make it hard to fork out $30+ for postage. It's a service we offer so we gotta make good on our deal. lol.

It's like, we dream of those guest lists...then when we get them we kinda freak out over the price to mail them. hahha. Either way, you will have a fantastic party. :love:

 

[deanna_g]

Do you think it would be ok to ask her to hand out the ones to people she sees on a daily basis?

 

[Liquid Sky]

Do you think it would be ok to ask her to hand out the ones to people she sees on a daily basis?

You could. How I see it, is she went thru the work to get you the addresses so I would personally just mail them. This all depends on
your budget tho. It might confuse her as to why she went thru the work to get the addresses to just then having to pass them out. She might question why she went thru that work in the first place.

You know her best tho. I just try to get into the heads of the other side (or imagine myself in that position) and what I'd think about it.

 

[pampchefsarah]

Do you think it would be ok to ask her to hand out the ones to people she sees on a daily basis?

I wouldn't ask her to hand them out, but I might say something like "People really appreciate the personal touch when it comes to receiving invitations. Before I mail these, are there any you would like to personally hand out, so you can tell the recipients how much you hope they can join us?"

 

[NooraK]

I wouldn't ask her to hand them out, but I might say something like "People really appreciate the personal touch when it comes to receiving invitations. Before I mail these, are there any you would like to personally hand out, so you can tell the recipients how much you hope they can join us?"

This. Even though you are sending the invitations, you should still be encouraging her to invite everyone personally. Tell her the invitations serve better as reminders. Actually tell her that the excitement in her voice when telling her friends about the party will rub off, and they will get excited too, which will make them more likely to attend.

 

[chefsteph07]

A littel 'off topic", but still on since we are talking about mailing invites, but when I heard about the postage going up YET AGAIN, I am really debating discontinuing this service. The last few shows I"ve had have been low attendance, and I've mailed out about 40 invites for them...to me, it's almost become a waste for postage and mini's. I don't know. I"m thinking of really pushing the evites/facebook invites more--- and less emphasis on the actual snail mail. Thoughts on this?

 

[deanna_g]

I like the facebook invites, personally. Because then I can stay in touch with the guests, as well, through the event page.

 

[Liquid Sky]

A littel 'off topic", but still on since we are talking about mailing invites, but when I heard about the postage going up YET AGAIN, I am really debating discontinuing this service. The last few shows I"ve had have been low attendance, and I've mailed out about 40 invites for them...to me, it's almost become a waste for postage and mini's. I don't know. I"m thinking of really pushing the evites/facebook invites more--- and less emphasis on the actual snail mail. Thoughts on this?

I debate this myself off and on. I have had lower attendance the past few shows too but really think it's more of a summer issue.

I'd like to simplify the process and not mail the invites but I keep telling myself to not change what is working. The thing I like about it is that when I have their guest list I know it's a "confirmed" show and 99.9% of the time the show holds. I do let it slip w/ some hosts (they don't get me their list and have her invite personally) and 50% of the time I get a cancellation or "reschedule"....then that reschedule ends up rescheduling a whole bunch of other times.

I know it's all in the host coaching and I am scared to stop doing what's working....even tho I'd like to save the $$ and time of printing, picking up the invites, stuffing into envelopes...etc.

Thoughts???

 

[Tropicalburstqt2]

I was told by the post office workers that postage is supposed to go up in January & it is only allowed to go up so much each time. She predicted that they would stop going up once they hit 50 cents!! FIFTY CENTS!! Can you imagine that!?! Gee whiz!! FB it will be for me!

 

[[email protected]]

As long as you're getting phone numbers and e-mails along with those addresses, at least you can contact the no shows and make personal contact with them. A great way to add to your lead list...

 

[debbie mc]

I was told by the post office workers that postage is supposed to go up in January & it is only allowed to go up so much each time. She predicted that they would stop going up once they hit 50 cents!! FIFTY CENTS!! Can you imagine that!?! Gee whiz!! FB it will be for me!

Stamps here are $0.57. Yes, okay I am in Canada so a different currency, but either way you cut it, it's expensive! Stamps go up & up and a least in my province, the service goes down & down

 

[BlueMoon]

I was told by the post office workers that postage is supposed to go up in January & it is only allowed to go up so much each time. She predicted that they would stop going up once they hit 50 cents!! FIFTY CENTS!! Can you imagine that!?! Gee whiz!! FB it will be for me!

Isn't it almost 50 cents now?
Maybe now is a good time to invest in a large amount of "forever stamps" that you buy at today's prices and they are good forever. Still, how many stamps can one afford to buy at one time?I know a lot of people send mini catalogs, does anyone send postcards?Marghi

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Maybe now is a good time to invest in a large amount of "forever stamps" that you buy at today's prices and they are good forever. Still, how many stamps can one afford to buy at one time?

I know a lot of people send mini catalogs, does anyone send postcards?

Marghi

I usually send mini catalogs, but if the list is unusually large, I've sent postcards instead. I had one this past winter that was over 100 names - I sent postcards to half, and mini's to half.

 

[millthayer]

I do the same as Becky...but almost always send out the mini's even if the list is 50-60 guests....that way I'm almost always assured of at least 20 guests at the show and its usually a $1000+ show...the commission on these shows offset the postage. The reason I do this is because I have had guests come to a show and say they already knew what they wanted out of the catalog or have had guests come and say they were happy I sent them a mini because they had never heard of TPC and didnt know what we sold!!

 

[deanna_g]

Just an update on this....I was talking with this host and mentioned that some people like to hand out invitations personally because it gives that "personal touch." She handed out a good chunk of them and I mailed the remainder. She had 15 guest orders, 3 bookings (one of which is a huge fundraiser), and her total was over $700! For an OPEN HOUSE! I didn't even do a demo. I felt like I wasn't even working. So yay!

 

[Tropicalburstqt2]

Wow! That's awesome!

 

[sluna75]

Way to go! Congradulations!

 

[chefsteph07]

I just did a show over the weekend where my host gave me about 20 emails to do evites from the website...I plugged them in and sent them out, I checked them about 3 days before the party and almost ALL of them had not even been opened. I feared the worst, that they went into the guests spam boxes, so I called the host to let her know to call/email them herself and sure enough, they had ALL gone into spam! She said it was the last time she would ever use an evite service that wasn't her own (from evite.com or something) and she normally has 15 guests at her shows, she had 6 there.