Home Business Ideas for Selling Products or Services to Women
Whether you are a stay-at-home mother (or father) or simply looking to supplement your income through home employment, there are various ways to generate income by trying to capture some of the female market share. Some of these suggestions are tried and true methods while others are trends that have only emerged in recent years.
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Cosmetics
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Companies employing independent sales representatives can be highly profitable businesses with most of the work conducted from home. Door-to-door sales may still be effective, but today sales women and men have various channels of distribution, including the Internet, catalog sales and home parties. Avon and Mary Kay are familiar direct sales companies, but there are others, such as Arbonne, a Swiss company offering organic, vegan, chemical-free cosmetic products and nutritional supplements; and BeautiControl, which specializes in anti-aging skin care, bath and body products, and chemical-free cosmetics. These types of companies are called "multi-level marketing" companies, and while many are legit, you should research a company thoroughly before starting a business. Websites such as MLMwatch.org list scams, FDA warnings, and other relevant data.
Handbags
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Whether you sell via eBay, Craigslist or directly from a personal website, women's authentic designer handbags remain top sellers. Gently used bags sell, but new bags will offer the best returns. For example, Coach handbags can be purchased through liquidation auctions for as low as $55 per handbag in March 2010. These bags retail on Coach.com for anywhere between $138 for a small bag to $800 for a tote, depending on size, material, and season. Other designers to sell include Dooney & Bourke, Juicy Couture and high fashion houses such as Gucci and Fendi. A Google search for "online handbag wholesaler" will connect you with resellers of handbags. Other suggestions, if you have the time, are perusing garage and estate sales and auctions for handbags. Educating yourself on how to spot a knock-off handbag will help you avoid negative feedback as well as returns. A store sales associate will be able to provide you with suggestions on how to spot fakes as well as online literature. If you purchase purses with a credit card, you are guaranteed some protection if they are determined to be fake.
In March 2010, consumers making $150,000 a year spent $3,000 a year on handbags, according to Forbes.com, and this percentage greatly increases when considering the international market. The average Chinese women making $18,382 a year reported buying two bags---and spending an average of $1,000 per bag---in the past 12 months, according to a study by Patti Pao reported by Forbes.com.
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Erotic toys and clothing
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As some home parties have declined in popularity, the new trend is vibrators, sex toys and sexy lingerie sold through direct sales parties. A January 2009 New York Times article described the industry as "... a thriving sector in an otherwise listless economy."
You might choose to use a drop-shipper, a company that houses and ships the product on your behalf while charging you wholesale prices, or sell items through Amazon or a personal website. You also might choose to sell products through home parties. Pure Romance, started by Patty Brisben in 1983, employs sales representatives to independently host and sell products. The company reported revenue of $60 million in sales in 2007 from 14,000 sales representatives. One consultant of another company, Passion Parties, reported in a July 2008 "The University Daily Kansan" that she was making an average of $500 at each party. The company had more than 28,000 representatives, the 2008 article said.
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- Photo Credit Sell image by robootb from Fotolia.com
