Stay Away from Kits if You Want to Sell

Be Original

No Market Exists for Handmade Products Made From Kits

by: Barbara Brabec

Beware of ads that begin, "$341.04 weekly possible making baby bibs at home!" or, "Make our kitchen aprons for fun and profit--$344.08 weekly!" Such advertisers say all you have to do is buy their supplies and materials, make products to their specifications, and they'll buy everything you make. Don't believe it!

There is no market for products that come in "supply kits" offered in opportunity ads. Since this is a scam thousands fall for every year, it deserves extra attention here. These people--mostly mothers who want to stay home with the kids and make money, too--are quick to believe the magazine ads that say it's easy to make money selling craft items such as baby bibs, potholders, aprons, jewelry, Christmas ornaments, pillows, and the like.

The promoters of such schemes will guarantee your complete satisfaction and a full refund of your money, but they simply won't do this. They may offer to buy all the products you make, but they won't, and their reason will be that your work does not meet their standards.

And it never will because they have no intention of ever buying anything from anyone. These advertisers are simply out to sell you cheap product kits.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Just listen to what some of my readers (all women) have reported:

* "I figured because you see handmade items advertised in virtually every catalog there must be an abundance of work-at-home opportunities," writes Dorothy in Illinois. "I pored through craft magazines and began writing for free information. After receiving a number of responses, I narrowed these down by type and pay and then called the Better Business Bureau in each respective area.

A couple of them said they had no information on companies in question, but the Better Business Bureau in San Francisco did say that one company on my list was a member of the BBB (although this was not to be taken as an endorsement).

I congratulated myself on being smart enough to check them out before sending a money order for $47.90 for the cost of their kit, directions and rush handling.

Two weeks later my anxiously-awaited package arrived. What a disappointment! I had settled on an ornaments kit because I don't sew very well. What I received was a couple of bags of beads, some fishing wire, and some complicated instructions for an ugly little thing that looked sort of like a wreath with about 8 dangling columns hanging from it.

I returned the kit immediately, asking for a refund minus the $10.45 I had agreed to in the initial mailing to cover ‘shipping, handling and inspection.

I decided this was their gimmick: they send out an ugly little complicated kit. Their customer is disappointed and sends it back, which still gives the company $7.50 off each respondent and an extra $2.95 if they are excited enough to request rush handling, as I did."

* Virginia, in Missouri, reported that she kept the jewelry kit she ordered and sent the completed products for payment, only to be told they were unacceptable. "I spent three months trying to get it right and finally gave up," she said.

* Cathy, in Florida, had made pillows for gifts for years, so she bit on the ad that promised her money from pillows.

After receiving her $50 kit and sending the finished pillows back to the company, she was astonished to learn that her work was considered borderline. "My friends told me I'd been taken, that these companies do this just to get the kit money," she wrote.

"I still defended my work by saying I had only a couple of pillows that did not meet their standards, and when I got them back I would just fix those and send them all back. Since I have worked in quality control myself, I was very surprised to see that not one of my 'mistakes' was marked in any way--which made rework impossible. That was when I knew my friends were right."

* Nancy, in Michigan, went so far as to file a complaint with her local BBB only to find that many others were in the same boat. "We were asked to complete all types of legal papers against the company," she said, adding that the state attorney general's office was investigating the matter.

As Dorothy pointed out, an unfortunate side effect to such scams is that once you respond to one ad, your name is automatically added to every "sucker list" in the country.

"Not a day goes by," says Dorothy, "that I don't receive work-at-home opportunity ads or 'you-have-won' garbage in the mail. I've turned many of the chain letters and other offers over to the postmaster, but the sheer volume of such mail finally wears you down to the point that you just throw it away."

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