Hey Guys, I was thinking of getting involved with Pampered Chef, and was wondering if any of you have ever done this, and how it worked out for you. Tons of people in my Wilton classes swore they were the best products out there, which intrigued me. I also was wondering if any of you would be interested in purchasing some of their products if I did decide to do this... Thanks! Bree

I have a few things from them that I bought when a co-worker had a party .. I really haven't seen what they have to offer in years though

I thought about selling a while back to support my PC habbit but I couldn't fit it into my schedule. I have probably more than 3/4 of the items in the book. I love almost all of them! They work great and last a long time. Other than my cake pans the only pans I use for baking in are their stones. If you have the time it's worth a try!

I've had several parties and just placed an order last week for someone at work that was having a book party.

Good Luck!
Debbie

I used to sell for them a few years ago....I really LOVE their products!!! You can find comparable things out there in stores, etc...but most don't come with the guarantee that Pampered Chef gives, nor the service...that's what a lot of people like about it.

I wish I could've stayed with it, but it was difficult for me. At the time, I had a 3 yr old and 1 yr old...and my husband and I had started our landscaping business the same year, which we ran from the home & I was the bookeeper/secretary, etc. for....so Pampered Chef just kind of fell to the side. The only draw-back that I found is that you really have to have a WIDE WIDE circle of friends & family who have other friends or acquaintances who don't mind having or going to the parties and buying things. It's fine to start out with your friends, but after a while they're not interested in doing parties or buying lots of stuff....so you have to have the time and an out-going-ness about you to really get out there and meet new people and get your cards circulating, etc. You've got to have more free time than they'd like you to think it will take to actually make a business out of it and really make any money. I also would try to find some local shops that wouldn't mind setting out some of your cards & catalogs...and leaving the catalogs at the doctor's/dentist's office, coffee shops and places like that is a good way of reaching people who aren't friends or family. ANother piece of advice I have is to maybe NOT start out trying to sell to your friends and family....Pampered CHef actually recommends to start out with them, but they can get "worn-down" rather quickly and easily!! lol You could start out by just getting the word out @ school, church, family, etc. But don't bring up the subject of hosting a party with the people you know/are related to....just make sure everyone knows you're a rep and then work on making contacts outside of your circle of friends/family with the above mentioned ideas of leaving catalogs/cards places, posting flyers @ the grocery store, etc. Eventually, when the people you know see you're serious about it and all, then they'll get interested and ASK YOU if they can host a party....then it just snowballs from there!!

Of course, this was just my experience and opinion!! lol I'm sure they're others that may think differently.....it really all comes down to what works for YOU!

Jenn

I'm pretty new here and new to decorating but just wanted to chime in here. I am a PC consultant and I love it. There are several items that have been useful to me in my cake baking and decorating. Besides the fact that I just love the majority of the products. I don't do as much with it as I would like just because I work a full time job, am married, have a 3-year-old, am taking a class in decorating, and commute 2-3 hours a day round trip for work. I try to do 4-6 shows a month and that usually works well for me. Please let me know if you have any further questions or want any more information. I would love to talk to you about it.

I was a PC Consultant and liked it but my job is 2nd shift and had no time for everything I wanted to do.. I still love the stuff and would do it again if I had more time...

I say go for it.

If are thinking about a second job look at this site; you here on this board for cake decorating why teaching and sell products at the same time. I have a call into the person in my state.

http://www.cakencrumbs.com/home.asp

I've never been a PC consultant but I wanted to let you know that I love every product that I've purchased from them. I was just thinking today I wanted to get another set of pc mixing bowls, love them! Let us know when you're ready to take orders.

bikegal

I love, love, love Pampered Chef! My cousin is a consultant! I have over 50% of the products in the catalog! I use them for everything. My favorite is the medium size rubber scraper. It is the best when scraping out cake batter.

I've also used the glass mixing bowls for baking dome shaped things like dresses for Barbie cakes, or breasts for a naughty cake...even used it to make a teepee when my son was in Boy Scouts and we won honorable mention with it.

I can't say about how much time it would take to make money as a consultant, but I will vouch for the excellent products. I just love kitchen gadgets!

I Love everything Pampered Chef that I have ever purchased. It is one of the few home parties that I do not groan when I get invited. (Tastefully Simple is another one, yummmmm!) I have never found a dill seasoning mix to compare to PC's. It is awesome! Good luck if you take on this venture! But as a few others have warned, it will take MUCH more time and energy than you think to be successful to the point that you are earning a good chunk of change.

I was a Pampered Chef consultant for a few months until I finally decided to quit. I love PC items and I have TONS. There were 3 reasons that I decided to quit:

1. The main reason was that they don't withhold taxes. This is probably pretty common but since I've never had jobs like this, I hated the fact that I had to pay taxes at the end of the year.

2. The free gifts are taxable income!! Sure the gifts were nice, did I NEED them? Probably not. Would I have bought them? No. So it was nice to get them but I didn't like the fact that I had to pay taxes for them, especially the expensive gifts. I would have rather gotten the money than receiving gifts that have never been used!

3. I work full-time (M-F) so I didn't like the fact that my weekends were always full. I had some shows during the week but most of the pople wanted a weekend show.


It was fun. I enjoyed meeting people but I will never do it again. I still get asked if I can host a show and some of my customers have asked me to join again but in my opinion, it's not worth it. I am so used to my regular job that withhold taxes!!

I love Pampered Chef as well. I sell part-time for the extra income. I haven't made as much as I had hoped to at first but I believe you get what you put into it. I did really well at first but things with the summer got really slow and I am slowly starting to pick things up again. I have also found if you don't like the phone this may not be the thing for you. I am trying to get over my anxiety of the phone if I could completely get over that then my business would be booming. If you have any questions or just want some more information please feel free to PM me.

Kim

I just signed up lastnight as a consultant, so I am excited. I don't plan on making a ton of money, or have any grand illusions, but I do think the Kitchen Shows will be fun. So if any of you are interested in ordering.... He He. I am excited to use some of the products for my cake decorating!

About 99% of my kitchen items/gadgets are PC. But I tell you what! I'm very dissappointed with them right now. About two weeks ago my medium scoop broke!!! Yes, a PC product BROKE!!! I had the scoop for a year and a half and the warranty is one year on it! Well, I no longer have a consultant in my area so I email customer service about it and explained that I no longer had my reciept.

They emailed me back saying they needed more information from me, (note: my first email was very detailed). I gave them the information they needed and I recieved a second email from them saying that my scoop is no longer under it's warranty and they were not able to help me all the while telling me as if I was in grade school that I need the reciept and that the reason their products are so popular is because of their warranty!!!

Well, I explained to them in a third email that I was dissappointed with them and was wrong to assume that PC should guarantee their products for the lifetime of the product and that I will NOT be interested in any future products they have to offer!



Good luck with The Pampered Chef and I hope you don't experience any thing like what I just experienced! I am quite dissappointed because I still want a new scoop!!!!!


Amy

I was a Pampered Chef consultant for about 3 years. I absolutely love the products and that is the main reason I signed up (to earn them free or get a discount). I have a lot of the products and have yet to find one I don't like. I stopped consulting just recently because I found I didn't enjoy it anymore. There is a lot of work that goes into it that they don't tell you about when they are convincing you to sign up. There is a lot of prep work to get ready for the show, plus a lot of work after the show. I enjoyed it for a while, but I just became to busy with other things for it to remain rewarding for me. I have a toddler, work a full time job, commute 2+ hrs a day, attempting to take a class, just moved into a new home, trying to start up a cake business! I always felt guilty leaving my son while I went off after work or on the weekends.

Good luck with it! The first couple of shows can be nerve-wracking, but they are a lot of fun!

Cakemommy - Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience! Even though I no longer sell it, I'm always upset to hear about any negative experiences with P-chef! Their products are usually very reliable and I've never heard anyone have any problems with customer service. Just wanted to say sorry!

Yeah, I'm pretty upset! I never heard anything back from Pampered Chef. I was pretty furious when I wrote my email but then edited it down after I cooled down and so it wasn't so bad. I was really hoping to hear back from them and hoping they would send me a new scoop but NOPE! That sealed the deal!!! I love their stuff and that's the reason I am willing to pay their higher price! Now I'll just have to go to Wal-Mart or Target and get something that will probably break sooner. Darnit!! I have to stand firm on my decision though!


Amy

So, if I get a new scoop for you, will you buy products from me? (just a suggestion. I am joking with a bit of seriousness in it! LoL

I would definately buy products from you! I love their stuff. I'm just being stubborn!!! But still dissappointed!


Amy

I am sorry that you had such a bad experience with PC. Although from what I am reading it sounds like your scoop was out of warrenty therefore PC does not have to replace the scoop. Had the item been under the warranty PC would have replace the scoop for you. I have always had great turn around with returns and such. I am sorry that you feel this way.

Ok Cakemommy, I will see what I can do, even if I have to buy it for you! What size was it?

Cakemommy - I hear you! I'm that way too. It's the point. But in this case, I would probably make an exception. Not to downgrade any dept store, but their kitchen products aren't nearly as good as PC stuff. You will be spending more in the long run. I have been trying to convince my mom (who is a Wal-Mart junkie) of that for years. I don't sell it anymore so I have nothing at stake for saying this. It's just simply that PC products are better quality. But there are other companies that sell quality kitchen products too. I would take a look around online before wasting too much $$ on dept store kitchen tools and gadgets...

I am a Pampered Chef Consulatant, but I am not hard core like some people. I started doing it when my son was a couple of months old for some extra cash. I like their products and use a lot of them for cake decorating. Pampered Chef is very easy to do but I am not a very pushy person. I try to have a show every couple of months to stay active. Good luck!

Love most all of Pampered Chef products, especially their new mixing bowls!!! My Aunt sells it and I have "silent" parties for her every 6-8 weeks just so I can earn free hostess gifts. Good Luck with it!

I love Pampered Chef. I had a party a couple of years ago and I ended up with so much free stuff that it felt like a second bridal shower!!!

AND, now i'd addicted to twixit clips for closing my piping bags when I've over filled them or I'm taking them with me on a delivery! No more frosting wrists for me!

rvalee, my mom and your mom should get together! I'm forever telling her to spend a little more money on her kitchen products, something is always breaking. She still has harvest gold/avocado plastic measuring cups, banging head on counter as I post this message. I keep telling her we need to let the old measuring cups go to a happier place, preferably the trash. I'm a bad daughter. BUT if I find something I really like I always pick up an extra for her.

Bikegal, my mom is finally starting to see the error of her ways! She is now addicted to the scrapers. She loves them. But she still has a couple of her older ones. The ones where the scraper part comes off the handle! I actually took one of them with me to my shows when I was still demonstrating just so people could actually see and feel the difference. Now, I'm trying to get her interested in the Nylon Tools. She has cheap, flimsy ones. I have all the Nylon tools and the some of the PC cookware, which I adore! Anyway, this is kind of off the point a bit, but I had to share.

Oh yeah, Tastycakes, I never thought of using them for piping bags. DUH!! What a fantastic idea. I don't use the twixit clips much at all, but I guess I will be now!

I use the twixit clips for icing bags too! They came in handy when I took a dozen icing bags into kids club so they could decorate cookies with them!

Debbie