Joining FAQs

I thought it would be useful to share some of the FAQs and Answers to questions I had when I first joined as these will be useful to you if you are considering joining my team.

These are in no particular order, just the order I had them in my mind.

Q. What is the quarterly minimum and when are the quarters?

To remain an active Demonstrator and continue to benefit from the discounts and other benefits, your business would need to generate £270 retail price which is about £225 net. This can be from orders you place for yourself, or those made by others through you. The quarters are Jan-March, April-June, July-September, Oct-December. This works out at less than £2.50 a day, so is the equivalent to a coffee and a bar of chocolate, or in some places, just the coffee!! So that's easy, right?

When you join Stampin' Up!, you are probably already within a calendar quarter, so are given that first part quarter as a ‘grace’ period. A sort of settling in period for you to find your feet. So therefore, your first quarterly minimums don’t need to be met until the one after. For example, I joined in June, but I had all the way through until the end of September to meet my minimums, and anything I bought/sold during June also counted. Had I joined in April, I would still have had to the end of September to meet my minimums.

Q. What happens if I don’t meet my minimums?

You will be given an extra month to try and achieve them, but if you don’t, you are not required to return anything to Stampin' Up!, you aren’t obliged to do anything more, and aren’t tied in to anything. You will simply go into an ‘inactive’ state, and no longer be able to sell or buy at the 20% discount. However, should you want to rejoin, you can join the same team immediately by buying a fresh starter kit. But should you wish to go to another team, you must wait 90 days.

Q. Do my personal purchases count towards the quarterly minimums?

Yes! Stampin' Up! doesn’t mind who does the buying, whether it’s you, your neighbour, or someone else. They will just look at your total figures.

Q. How do I get the discount, and how do I earn commission?

As a demonstrator, you get the immediate 20% discount off the net price (i.e. after tax) at the point you make your purchase through the dedicated demonstrator website. Stampin' Up! does all the calculations for you!  If you are selling to someone you receive the same 20% but as a commission rather than a discount.

Q. Can I earn more than 20%?

Yes, from your own personal sales, you can earn up to an extra 15% commission based on your total monthly sales/purchases.

And if you have a team, there’s extra earning potential there too.

Q. Do I have to pay tax?

This depends on how much you sell, versus how much you buy, your personal Tax position and the country you are based in. This information is based on the UK Tax system.

If you sold £150 you would earn an approximate commission of £25. This would be the taxable amount. However, if you had purchased £100 worth of products for yourself and your business, then you are in a ‘loss’ position as far as income versus expenditure is concerned. To make a profit, you would need to sell 5 times what you spend to be in a profit situation. If you were to be in profit, whether you would need to pay any additional tax would depend on current income from other sources (day job etc.), so if this is your only income, for the 2017/18 Tax Year, you would have to earn in excess of £11,500 from ALL your work before you would need to pay any tax at all.

Q. I only want to buy products for myself. Is that okay?

Of course! I welcome all people to my team, whether they want to make this a business, or get a discount for their own hobby, or anything in between. I appreciate all my team equally, and give as much support as I’m asked for, and as much guidance as needed.

Q. I think I might want to make this a business in the future, but at this stage, I just want to buy a few things for me, is it okay to change my mind as to what demo I want to be at a later date?

Yes! Every person who signs with Stampin' Up! and my team joins equally. We are all called demonstrators, even those who don’t actively demonstrate. However you choose to enjoy your Stampin' Up! benefits is up to you, and should you head down one ‘path’ and want to move in another direction, then I will fully support you along the way.

Q. I live 200 miles from you, can I still be in your team?

Of course! My team is all over the UK and while we cannot get together as a whole group that often, I am in regular contact with everyone as and when it’s needed, making one to one phone calls and dates, Facebook Live Events.... In modern life, miles make no difference!

Q. Can I read the terms and agreement before I sign up?

Yes, and I recommend that everyone does. 

Q. Do I have to have a blog?

No! Having a blog is beneficial, but not essential. You can have a successful business without any online interaction whatsoever. Blogs and social networking are still only a few years old, yet Stampin’ Up! is nearly 30 years old…

I do hope this is useful to you, and I can’t wait for you to join Stampin’ Up! and to join my team.

And of course, I may not have answered your question, so I will always be at the end of the phone or email to answer it.