To Sell Avon or Not to Sell Avon, that is the Question

First off I will admit that I agonized over the prospect of selling Avon for several months and I was the one who approached a friend of mine who is a Rep. about selling it! However, in April 2009 I decided to give it a shot, so I signed up to sell Avon. I figure there just has to be many others out there who, just like me, have considered selling Avon, but just aren't sure whether or not to jump on board. Funny how it's just $10 to sign up and try, but hard to decide to do it.Personally, my concern wasn't the $10 sign up fee, but whether or not it would be a waste of time and more headache than it's worth. Plus, since I am a guy, could I swallow my pride and sell Avon? I mean come on, my Grandmother was an Avon lady(thanks for reminding me Dad!lol).

Since we all like to hear positive things, I will list some of the positives aspects of signing up to sell Avon. This is just my opinion from my experience as an Avon Rep. I hope you find this helpful.

Positives to selling Avon:
1)Just $10 to start.
2)Everyone knows Avon.
3)Good products at good prices.
4)No monthly fees to keep an account active.
5)No minimum sales requirements per campaign.
6)Sell at your own pace.
7)Online order submission.
8)Call center to help us Reps with order and product questions.
9)The opportunity to make some extra money(40% for first 4 campaigns)
10)Real live people to help us learn the ropes.
11)Quit at any time at no charge.

Some negatives to selling Avon:
1)Customer search.
2)Your account goes inactive if you have no orders after 5 campaigns, which is about two months time.
3)A lot of Avon Reps out there(but only a few good ones!)
4)Putting together orders and delivering them.
5)Not an 8 to 5, Monday to Friday deal(customers can and do call whenever)
6)Call center people with thick accents!
7)Returns.
8)People who order and then change their mind(rare occurrence for me)

The bottom line is, as with anything, you win some you lose some. You can't just throw books out the car window and expect to sell Avon, it takes effort. You don't just build a customer base over night, it takes time. Building an Avon business takes time, effort and patience and that is how I view it, as a business. I "reinvest" my earnings to growing my Avon business. I buy more Avon books and do some advertising, I also went crazy getting "free" stuff from Vistaprint! I sign up people to sell Avon and provide them with training and support as needed. At this point in time I am not worried about making money, besides most start up business don't turn a profit in the first year anyway, so I don't get too worked up about all that(I do often let Avon buy me lunch though!). I just make sure Avon pays for itself and doesn't use our regular income(I set up a separate bank account to be safe).

I will say, I know several people who sell Avon and make a great living at it. Some sell Avon like crazy, winning free cruise vacations, others sell less Avon and sign up new Reps every day! These folks put a lot of time and effort into it and were patient in letting it grow.

I may be several years away from supporting my family as an Avon Rep. , maybe I never I do, but it's worth trying. However, it did help us pay rent last month and puts gas in the car!

Who knows how long I can clean windows for a living, but I'm sure I could sell Avon for a long time, it just may be my retirement income.So, if you want to try it, I can help. If you just have some questions, feel free to ask me. Selling Avon isn't for everyone, but it could be for you.