Direct Sales From Home Can Be A Tricky Investment
Jamie Gerdes of Sioux Falls, S.D., is hoping a $150 investment means she can leave her full-time job and stay home with her 10-month-old son, Boston.
“He’s my first baby, and he’s almost a year old,” said Gerdes, 26. “I feel like I’m missing out on things.”
So Gerdes looked into home-based businesses and discovered Uppercase Living, a company that creates decorative lettering and embellishments for homes.
“It’s fairly new to our area, and a lot of people haven’t heard of it yet,” Gerdes said. She signed on as a consultant and bought her startup materials last month; she has booked three shows and will earn a 20 percent commission off whatever she sells.
Nationwide, home-based sales are on the rise, and most often involve women. But earning a living with a home-based direct-sales business isn’t always easy — nor are the companies always legitimate.
According to the Direct Selling Association’s latest numbers, 14.1 million direct salespeople made more than $30 billion in sales in the U.S. in 2005. The numbers include person-to-person sales and people who sell their products to a group of people in someone’s home, association spokeswoman Amy Robinson said.
More than 80 percent of direct sales involve women, said Nicki Keohohou, co-founder of the Direct Selling Women’s Alliance, an online education and support group based in Kailua, Hawaii.
Image by Uppercase Living.
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