How Do Hostess Party Gifts Compare

One of the oldest traditions in direct selling and multilevel marketing is the party and the party hostess rewards. Companies that use hostess rewards cover a wide range of products from jewelry and fashion (Trades of Hope) to home goods (Clever Container) to beauty products (Younique) to unique products such as Damsel in Defense and more. Rewards vary from company to company; however, they typically fall into three categories:

First, a company can offer free product or reduced priced products either as a percentage of total sales or a set amount of total sales. Some companies like Pampered Chef will offer both a percent off product and free product. The percent ranges from 10% to 30% of the party sales.  Most companies start around $200 total sales for free product.  For example, Plunder Design offers 12% off product when your party gets to $250.

Second, hostesses can get a set number of items from the company catalog for half off, and the number of items they can get for half price increases with guest sales. The number of half off items typically ranges from 1 to 5.  For example, Gold Canyon states for every $100 over $500 you get an additional 2 items half-off.

Third, a hostess can be rewarded with a free item just for throwing a party or given access to items that are “hostess exclusive” meaning that they can only be purchased after throwing a party.  For example, Traci Lynn Jewelry offers exclusive gifts when your party reaches $600.  Home product companies seem to have exclusive hostess rewards more often than other company types. It may be that other companies offer exclusive hostess rewards, and it is not shown on their hostess rewards graph or page.

We wanted to compare how party plan companies compare across these characteristics. The following chart provides a comparison as of today for a few companies:

Any given company may offer any combination of these three types of rewards, but the first two are by far the most common and are almost always used together.

If all hostess parties share these rewards, what tactics do these companies use to distinguish themselves from one another? Some of them offer benefits to hostesses when their guests throw a party of their own.  For example, Signature Homestyles’, Mary Kay Cosmetics and Lemongrass Spa are a few companies that offer more rewards when someone at the party books a party.  Some companies take this a step further, and offer rewards based on the performance of future hostess parties. Other companies offer hostesses free shipping such as Simply Said and Initials Inc. Other companies such as Tastefully Simply offer additional rewards based on the number of orders placed at the party.  This helps encourage orders so that the hostess gets the free gifts only with a certain number of orders.

Another way for a company to set itself apart is to have a wish list. Wish lists are items that hostesses choose before scheduling their party that they would like to be able to earn. Origami Owl does this, having their hostesses set aside items from their “Take Out Menu” prior to the party. The list doesn’t affect the rewards that are actually given out, instead it sets up in the hostess’s mind specifically what she wants to achieve from her party. Having a hostess take this step is a good motivator.

Hostess parties are a great way to boost sales without having to train more people on your product. After all, who knows you better than your customers? Plus, hostesses can be incentivized directly by things you already know they want, your products. In the end a lot of creativity can go into the reward package for parties.