Conference moira::parenting

Wendy,

I was just invited to my first Discovery Toys party - I'll let you know how
it goes...I also have a sister-in-law who sells them (in Michigan) and has
only positive things to say about the products and her involvement as a rep.
I trust her opinion greatly and have tossed the idea around but never got
serious (like you said, who has the extra time?).  Even if it's high quality
products (they are in my opinion - we have several and I've seen many at her
house...), it boils down to being a sales job (most parties on evenings and
weekends) that requires a good amount of "marketing" to build up contacts
and schedule the parties, etc.  Then, it's mostly bookkeeping to process the
orders.

Yeah, it's one of those "party-sales things" to be "endured", but it's a h*ll
of a lot more fun than Tupperware (no offense to the Tupperware salesfolks
out there - I love that stuff, too) ;-)  They do have "sale" catalogs, too,
which make some of the prices more reasonable.

I'm interested to hear what others have to say, as well (specifically, how
long or how many "parties" do you have to work before you make significant
income to warrant the time spent?).

Good topic...
-Cori

    I've purchased some items from Discovery Toys and have not been
    disappointed.  They have some things that I haven;t seen elsewhere
    (a neat alphabet fishing game that my son really loves!!).  I
    like buying gifts for my neices and nephews from Discovery Toys
    because I can usually find something that I know other family
    members won;t be able to find at, say, Walmart, so the risk of them
    getting the same thing from someone else is small!  The prices are
    higher than stores like Walmart (of course!) but comparable to the
    "educational" toy stores.   I especially like their games.  Many
    unique ones!  Lila
    

    re: .0
    
    My wife sells Discovery Toys and I think that I look forward to the
    "toy kits" more than she does.  The toys are of high quality and while
    educational, are also fun.  We got into selling them mainly because of
    their quality and that we wanted access to them for our kids.  My wife
    does not actively sell but will do the "party" scene when asked.  We
    tend to be low key also because of a lack of time.  As with other
    companies, the amount of money you make is direectly proportional to
    the amount of time you want to spend.  
    
    If you are interested in trying this out, let me know.  Just to give
    you an idea of the cost involved, the initial "kit" is around $130 or
    so.  This is for the toys and all associated paperwork.  What we did
    was to plan for a few parties prior to actually getting involved.  The
    commission from the first 6 months paid for the initial investment
    plus!
    
    Dan

    My wife really loves Discovery Toys and recently hosted
    a party.  She was VERY embarassed about the party appearing
    to be 'like all those other ones', but it was very low
    key.  I think many of our friends got some great toys and
    bought a lot more than we expected.

    We are now planning a much bigger 'party' as a fund raiser for
    our local nursery school.  Everyone who's kids come to the school
    will be invited and the 'profit' from the party (which is paid
    in toys) will all go to the school.  I'll let you know how
    it works out.
    bob

    I joined their book club a little over a year ago and on the most part 
    have been impressed. Their books are well done with beautiful pictures
    and they do a good job at judging age-appropriateness. My son gets a
    big kick out of his book in the mail every six weeks or so.
    
    Sue 

	My sister is very active in selling Discovery Toys.

	To be honest, just perusing the catalogs, I never saw what
	the *big* deal was.  However, as I've received several toys
	as gifts for Emily, then purchased a few of my own, I have
	found that these toys seem to have some sort of magnetic
	attraction for children.  Of the toys my daughter got for
	Christmas, she spends the most time with her Discovery Toys.

	I'm becoming a bigger and bigger fan as time goes on.

	The quality of the toys is excellent, by the way, and the prices
	are reasonable.  In comparing the "What's cooking" set that
	Emily got for Christmas with the other cooking toys I've seen
	in the store, the biggest difference is that you could actually
	use the Discovery Toys for cooking (the hand held egg-beater/mixer
	actually works, as does the rolling pin).  My sister uses the set
	with Play-doh with her daughter.

	Karen

    I have purchased Discovery Toys for my sons, and we have received some
    as gifts. They are well constructed and the kids enjoy them
    tremendously. At first they seemed expensive to me, but for the quality
    and durability I believe the prices are probably more than reasonable.
    
    

    	All right, all right, I'll give it a try. (mostly for my sister
    though and not for the toys in the initial start up kit ;-)) even
    though the thought of sales is not really a motivating one for me.

    	I'm not much of a sales person, and I don't have much time, but
    from what you people have said, and from what I've experienced (we do
    have a few toys in the house that are greatly used - the floor alphabet
    puzzle being used the most) they seem to be a quality educational toy.

    	This seems to be such a big thing with "full time moms" (of which I
    am, I just happen to have a full time job on the side). I'm wondering
    if it is really that effective as a "job". I have another friend who is
    willing to try this as well, perhaps if I can turn it into a social
    experiment, it will not be so bad.

    	More than the toys, or envisioned profit, I'm just so pleased that
    my sister seems to be coming out of a very dark cloud. She freely
    admits that she lost herself during the upbringing of her kids and that
    she put them first so often that she *never* got her needs met. (for
    those of you who remember, this is also the same sister who almost died
    a few years ago when they accidentally left the placenta inside of her
    after the birth of Curtis). She's been through a lot, she's a strong
    woman, and it's wonderful to see her do this for herself.

    	If you're interested, I'll keep you posted on my progress (or lack
    thereof).

    And if any of you are interested in the winter sales catalog (I'm not a
    sales person (Educational Consultant) yet), I just happen to have it
    here in my office. ;-)

    				Wendy

   Just as another data point, you might want to check out a different
   conference to see if there is more info...
   
   AKOFIN::HOME_BASED_BUSINESS
   
   I read that one on occasion, but I don't recall if there are any
   specific references to Discovery Toys.  I know it talks more about
   other types of home businesses like Amway and Watkins and NuSkin, but
   Discovery Toys certainly qualifies too...
   
   - Tom

    We have lots of Discovery Toys from a party that we had when Gina 
    was about 6 months old.  I sold enough toys to get quite a bit for free
    and tried to get several toys that she could grow into, rather than all
    the infant toys.
    
    We haven't been disappointed yet with a single toy and she still
    occasionally plays with many of them that she was supposed to have
    outgrown.  
    
    Now here's a testament.  I saved *all* of the boxes so I could sell
    them easier with the fact sheets and the original boxes.  About 5 years
    from now I'm going to have a heck of a yard sale.
    
    judy

    I have a different opinion. I think the quality of Discovery Toys has
    declined over the years, as manufacturing has moved from Europe and USA
    to southeast Asia. As an example, we have an older set of Frogs and
    Princes (made in USA) and a newer set (made in Hong Kong). There is a
    striking difference in the quality of the molded plastic between the
    two; the Hong Kong set is much lighter in weight, and has see-through
    thin spots. (Frogs and princes is a set of interlocking pieces that can
    be assembled into various shapes).
    
    We have a friend that got into selling Discovery toys about 7 years
    ago. She was good at it, and was able to build a team of 6 or 7
    "downstream" sellers, on which she made a percentage of the gross
    sales. Things went well for a couple of years - paid conventions in far
    off cities, increasing sales, etc. - until Discovery toys changed the
    rules for managers. Our friend didn't have enough downstream sellers
    and total gross sales to continue being a manager, and she got squeezed
    out of the organization. She was extremely mad, but had no recourse.
    Her manager acquired her downstream sellers. 

    Does anyone know if these toys are available in France?
    Carol

    Carol,
    
    I just became an Educational Consultant with Discovery Toy's here in
    Nothern California. I don't believe that they are available in France,
    however they are available in Canada and Mexico (all instructions are
    written in English, French and Spainish). But to be sure, I will ask my
    team leader tonight at our monthly meeting, and will let you know
    tomorrow.
    
    Wendy and Cori, 
    
    If you would like more detailed information about Discovery Toys I would
    be more than happy to talk to you from home.
    
    408-730-5158
    
    Laura Butler 
                

    Carol,
    
    Just wanted to get back with you. Discovery Toy's is available in USA,
    Canada, Mexico and Japan, unfortunately not France.
    
    Laura
    

    Thanks Laura, 
    Maybe they should consider it, France loves kids!

    
    I've never explored earnings from these sorts of things. Does one
    actually earn any money...I mean more than enough to pay for the
    babysitter while you are at the party.
    
    I like the toys altho' I find the selection limited...I'm always
    looking for more to buy ! Given that and the competition, I wonder
    who is making money at this sort of thing...like enough to support a
    family.

    	As an update:

    	I received my intro kit which has been a lot of fun. We've all been
    playing with the toys, I know which ones have gone over well and I know
    which ones I would not waste money on (in fact one toy broke after
    playing with it for 10 minutes - I called up the company and asked them
    to consider discontinuing it and told them that I would advise people
    *not* to buy it)

    	As I am so busy, I'm not looking to "recruit" people (which is a
    big part of the operation much like a pyramid business). When you sell
    toys from the catalogue, you get a commission of 22%, this could be
    significant if you sell a lot. The thing is though that the people
    *above* me also make money off of my sales, I'd rather have the toys
    cost less and have a different structure for selling.

    	I've offered my commission to Spencer's daycare and they are
    going to use Discovery toys as a fund raiser for the Toddlers (watch
    out Shaila - they're coming). In the past they have used candy and foam
    toys for fundraisers and I think the Discovery toys might go over
    better.

    	With the kit came a video of how to "perform" at a demonstration,
    not my cup of tea but because a friend of mine has "begged" for a
    demonstration, I watched it and took notes.

    	If you host a party and it is successful (minimum of 175.00 worth
    of sales) you get credit toward toys in the catalogue, it could be a nice
    way to get free toys.

    	For the most part the toys are of good quality and do a good job of
    teaching. For that reason alone I will make them available to others.
    The company also seems to be socially aware, we have an older version
    of the floor alphabet which has an "injun" for the letter I, they have
    replaced the "injun" with an iguana, and an igloo. nice to see that a
    company is responsible.


    	It looks like a lot of work, in the video they stress that this is
    a company for women (not one man mentioned - don't know if they are
    even allowed to join) who have their families as their first priority.
    They insinuated that "working moms" are "doing it" wrong.

    	My family *is* my first priority, I just happen to have a full time
    job on the side.

    				Wendy

    hmm.. at 22% commission for a party of $175, you'll 'make" about $40. 
    (i know, I know, probably everyone makes loads more at a party :-)
    
    Probably not enough to retire on, but the toys *area* great, and a few
    extra $$ can always come in handy!
    
    Jamd

    RE: a few
    
    One thing that should be emphasized here.  Discovery Toys CAN be a
    career if you want it to be.  As far as my involvement, the extra cash
    pays for the toys we have for demos.  My wife is not a salesperson. 
    She can not and does not "sell" the toys.  The toys sell themselves. 
    This is not the attitude shown on the video nor is it the attitude of
    the individual that ran the party for us initially.  We do it low key
    and make enough to break even or even make a slight profit.
    
    Of the parties that my wife has done, we have never done one at less
    than $300 and most are over $400. 
    
    All in all, given the fun we (my wife and I) have when the new kits
    arrive (about twice a year), I think the "job" is worth it.
    
    Dan