Home Purse Parties Part Of The Home Party Puzzlement
Selling by the home-party method started more than 70 years ago, and today there are home parties for many different kinds of products, one of the biggest trends being in purse parties. It all started after a former door-to-door Fuller brush salesman started his own company called Stanley Home Products in 1931. One of the Stanley salesmen started making record sales by initiating the home-party method of selling. By 1940 the Stanley company had completely switched from its old door-to-door selling method to home-party selling. This switch encouraged women to get into the direct-selling business because of the flexibility it allowed them.
One very successful Stanley saleswoman, in the early 1950s, took her expertise to Tupperware's top management and made Tupperware the home-party leader. All other early home-party companies came from Stanley or Tupperware people. And the concept just keeps spreading to new companies today.
The concept is that companies' products are demonstrated, usually by women (ever since the 1960s), in the living rooms of hostesses who provide their homes and invite some female friends to come to a "party." The saleswomen demonstrate products and take orders from many people at once. This is a much more efficient sales system than knocking on doors one by one. Party hostesses are rewarded with products or prizes. Guests are rewarded by having a good excuse for an evening out and a couple of hours of fun interaction and bonding with peers, and in return they typically feel some obligation to the hostesses to order some amount of the product. There are home parties these days for every variety of products: lingerie, adult novelties, beauty, wine, baby, health, candles, arts and crafts, home (including the perennial Tupperware).
What's puzzling and somewhat surprising about home-party sales having such a long and successful life is that this is in such contrast to the social trend of moving away from actual in-person socializing. Historically, people have been getting together with each other to worship, work, plan, visit, have fun, and more. People used to actually associate with neighbors, but today we could live beside someone for years and never introduce ourselves. We're much more likely to have interactions with others through social networking, online gaming, instant messaging, emailing, or telephoning than going out for coffee with a friend or acquaintance.
Long-lived home-party sales successes have been apologetically explained simply as a retro female trend toward nesting and luxury seeking. But it's not that simple. Home parties have consistently proven to be a viable way to sell products. This cannot be explained as a trend. One reason this sales method lives on is that some products that women want can only be purchased this way. The main reason, though, is that women-the saleswomen, the hostesses, and the customers-continue to make the home-party sales process into a fun-filled shopping social event that fills a void (an ever-widening one) in our lives. Is anyone up for a Miche bag purse party?
One very successful Stanley saleswoman, in the early 1950s, took her expertise to Tupperware's top management and made Tupperware the home-party leader. All other early home-party companies came from Stanley or Tupperware people. And the concept just keeps spreading to new companies today.
The concept is that companies' products are demonstrated, usually by women (ever since the 1960s), in the living rooms of hostesses who provide their homes and invite some female friends to come to a "party." The saleswomen demonstrate products and take orders from many people at once. This is a much more efficient sales system than knocking on doors one by one. Party hostesses are rewarded with products or prizes. Guests are rewarded by having a good excuse for an evening out and a couple of hours of fun interaction and bonding with peers, and in return they typically feel some obligation to the hostesses to order some amount of the product. There are home parties these days for every variety of products: lingerie, adult novelties, beauty, wine, baby, health, candles, arts and crafts, home (including the perennial Tupperware).
What's puzzling and somewhat surprising about home-party sales having such a long and successful life is that this is in such contrast to the social trend of moving away from actual in-person socializing. Historically, people have been getting together with each other to worship, work, plan, visit, have fun, and more. People used to actually associate with neighbors, but today we could live beside someone for years and never introduce ourselves. We're much more likely to have interactions with others through social networking, online gaming, instant messaging, emailing, or telephoning than going out for coffee with a friend or acquaintance.
Long-lived home-party sales successes have been apologetically explained simply as a retro female trend toward nesting and luxury seeking. But it's not that simple. Home parties have consistently proven to be a viable way to sell products. This cannot be explained as a trend. One reason this sales method lives on is that some products that women want can only be purchased this way. The main reason, though, is that women-the saleswomen, the hostesses, and the customers-continue to make the home-party sales process into a fun-filled shopping social event that fills a void (an ever-widening one) in our lives. Is anyone up for a Miche bag purse party?
About the Author:
Learn more about purse parties. Visit www.michebag.com where you can find out all about designer purse party opportunities for you.
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