Vente à domicile: Java lingerie

Last weekend my colleague hosted a direct shopping party (think Tupperware or Pampered Chef), but with the French lingerie brand Java that a friend of hers has been selling for a couple months.

We all brought some food to share, but couldn't chow down until the presentation was over. My colleague's friend took out her samples and presented the collection, letting the 10 of us touch the various bras, tangas, panties, and nightgowns. Once the presentation was over, we selected the models that interested us and tried them on (but no one was running around just in their underwear, much to my husband's disappointment when I recounted the evening :) )

After trying on the different models, we came back and told the saleswoman (or Démonstratice as the website calls them) what we wanted and in which size. Based on the amount of sales, my colleague got a discount since she hosted the party (same concept as pretty much all the direct shopping parties). I think between the presentation, trying on, and ordering, we spent 1 1/2 or 2 hours.

The party was on Saturday, and on Thursday my colleague was distributing the little bags that her friend had received on Wednesday. Since the 'delivery' was Wednesday, we have until next Wednesday (one week) to decide if we keep the items, as per French law for direct sales (payment is not cashed/deposited until this time is up).

I initially ordered a bra for 47€ (a bit expensive, but it had a nifty feature that let you transform it into a racer back bra), but in the end I won't keep it. For me, the main problem was that the saleswoman didn't have each model in multiple sizes and we had to try whatever size she had and "imagine" what the correct size would be like. When I got my order, it didn't fit the way I'd hoped, so my check won't be cashed.

In some respects, it's probably normal that someone selling clothing like that can't have every size. She had a carry-on size suitcase filled with the samples, and I can only imagine what size she would need if she had multiple sizes for the entire collection.

I also think the practice of only have one size it due to the organization of the selling process by the company that makes Java. They "lend" one size of each article of the collection to the saleswomen and once they have a certain volume of sales (around 1000€ in 2 months) they get to keep the samples and can sell them for 100% profit. If a saleswoman wants to have more than one size for her customers, she would have to buy them upfront and hope to sell them at the end of the season.

Another remark: the Java line is produced in limited quantities, so when we ordered, sometimes we learned that Model A is no longer available in the size or color requested. Our party was towards the end of the season for the collection, so this was frustrating that so many of the items we wanted were out of stock.

My colleague is thinking about hosting another party in a couple weeks for the swimming suit collection, and I'll go again since it was fun and an excuse to eat and drink, but I don't think I'll purchase a brand I don't already know if I can't try on the correct size. My bank account will probably thank me too!

I don't know too many direct selling lines in France like in the States (like Avon, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, etc) but Java seems decent for the saleswomen in terms of initial investment and earning potential. I'm not sure the hourly rate would be very high if the friend calculated how much money she makes and how much time she spends doing the parties, but at least she doesn't have to invest a lot of money. My mom sold Avon for a while, and she had to pay for the catalogues and then hope she made enough in sales to cover the cost. After about 6 months she stopped doing it because it took so much time to get the sales to cover the expenses that the earnings were practically zilch. My colleague's friend said she doesn't hope to make tons of money, but "arrondir les fins de mois".

Anyone else been to parties like this or done direct sales?