Invites to 'Home' Parties - Page 3

lulu2 · ‎03-09-2010

I do not do any kind of home party ever. If I get an invitation, I thank the hostess but tell her I will not be attending. If that offends the hostess I have not noticed, invitations still arrive.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@ncascade wrote:
I think it is best to be honest and just say you don't go these things. Mom used to call them "demonstrations". If it destroys your friendship what does that tell you.

Come to think of it, my mom used to call them demonstrations too. They really aren't "parties"!

seaBreeze · ‎02-04-2014

If it's a close friend, I attend and order an inexpensive item to give as a gift for the holidays. Like you, my cupboard is full !

PS: If you attend Pampered Chef, purchase a jar opener,.... very inexpensive and it's the only thing my MIL, my mom, or me use to open those pesky jars. It actually works!!

January121 · ‎03-21-2010

Just say NO and if anyone gets upset they weren't your friend to begin with!!

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

January121 wrote:
Just say NO and if anyone gets upset they weren't your friend to begin with!!

Yeah - where I kind of got stuck was where they would be miffed if you didn't go. That doesn't seem very friend-like to me either.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

@ncascade wrote:
I think it is best to be honest and just say you don't go these things. Mom used to call them "demonstrations". If it destroys your friendship what does that tell you.

I agree with your mother, those things aren't parties by any stretch of the imagination and I don't pretend that they are. They are sales presentations....with cake. No one ever invites anyone to those things to socialize; the whole point of them is to gather a group of women around so they buy something. So, I don't know why anyone would feel compelled to go. However, once you do go. You always feel compelled to buy something....that's the price of the cake and punch...lol I gave my fair share of those things back in my sahm days. Pearl parties, chrystal parties, jewelry parties, lingerie parties. I never felt slighted or disappointed or miffed when someone declined my invitation. I understood, it was okay. Actually, if I had a big group coming, I appreciated it when those who weren't going to make purchase didn't come. It wasn't really a social occasion and I didn't want my other "guests" thinking that "If Sue isn't buying anything, I won't buy anything either".

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

I hate home shopping parties and I now refuse to be strong armed into attending one. Some friends and family members still send me an invitation now and again, but I never respond even it it says RSVP. Most have taken me off of their list.

The last home party I attended was horrid. A manager at work had a party and made it clear that she expected us to attend. I went.

i had no idea that the products were adult toys geared towards a woman's ah... Personal pleasure. The consultant demonstrated and explained how the products worked and how to use them. I am not a prude. But I felt very uncomfortable at a party like that with my coworkers and managers in attendance.

That was the last party that I went to. I felt obligated to buy something, so I purchased something that was very inexpensive. The order was delivered to me at work in a brown paper bag, stapled shut. I came home and threw the item away without peeking inside.

At the very least, my last home party was memorable.

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

I've been on all sides of this. I've attended parties, hosted parties, and I also sold Tupperware so I did selling at parties!

Always, always, always I had a no-pressure approach. As a host, I always told my friends that they should not feel obligated to buy anything, and of course I never gave anyone a hard time if they chose not to attend. As an attendee, I said from the start that I likely wouldn't buy much, and I stuck to that. If something interested me enough to buy it, then I did, and otherwise I didn't. No big deal. And when I was the one doing the selling, I always told the hostesses that we were there to have a good time, and I would not put pressure on anyone to either purchase products or book a party. It's not my personality and not my style, so it was easy to stick to that.

Back in the day, lots of us were busy Moms, spending most of our time with children, and it was nice to spend an evening with adults. It was usually a lot of fun, and the few carefully-chosen items I did buy ended up being things that I loved. Worst case-scenario, it was a night out with lots of laughs. I have no problem with that! More recently, sometimes I go and sometimes I don't. It depends on what else I have going on and how much I feel like going. Exactly the same as anything I'm asked to attend.

It's an invitation - not a command performance! A friend who would be "miffed" that someone was not attending or buying is not a good friend! I can't imagine using my friends that way.

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

@January121 wrote:
Just say NO and if anyone gets upset they weren't your friend to begin with!!

Absolutely! There's nothing wrong with saying no if you don't want to attend. I'm not understanding why this would even be a problem.

Go if you want to. Decline if you'd rather not. It's really simple. And if it causes a serious problem or jeopardizes a friendship, then there wasn't much there to begin with.

panda1234 · ‎04-27-2015

@Carmie wrote:
I hate home shopping parties and I now refuse to be strong armed into attending one. Some friends and family members still send me an invitation now and again, but I never respond even it it says RSVP. Most have taken me off of their list.

The last home party I attended was horrid. A manager at work had a party and made it clear that she expected us to attend. I went.

i had no idea that the products were adult toys geared towards a woman's ah... Personal pleasure. The consultant demonstrated and explained how the products worked and how to use them. I am not a prude. But I felt very uncomfortable at a party like that with my coworkers and managers in attendance.

That was the last party that I went to. I felt obligated to buy something, so I purchased something that was very inexpensive. The order was delivered to me at work in a brown paper bag, stapled shut. I came home and threw the item away without peeking inside.

At the very least, my last home party was memorable.

That is unprofessional and in very poor taste.