Have You Seen the Dec. Specials Yet?

[Becca_in_MD]

Waiting for the Oct. CN has me in anticipation of the Dec. specials. Any guesses?

 

[Liquid Sky]

snowman platters/dishes and the beaded servers

 

[ChefBeckyD]

snowman platters/dishes and the beaded servers

Except that both of those are partially included in the November special....which makes me even more curious, because I would certainly hope it wasn't the same products 2 months in a row.

 

[Liquid Sky]

Isn't that what they have done in the past? Partially include some of the holiday stuff in Nov then do the whole collection (basically) in Dec? I know the past is not the true indicator of what they'll do this year but I thought I saw a trend of that the past few years.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Isn't that what they have done in the past? Partially include some of the holiday stuff in Nov then do the whole collection (basically) in Dec? I know the past is not the true indicator of what they'll do this year but I thought I saw a trend of that the past few years.

Last November was Simple Additions & barware, and December was Snowman stuff, beaded stuff, and cookie press, if I remember correctly.

 

[Becca_in_MD]

Which is why it's a big guess for this year since we're already seeing the snowmen and cookie press in Nov. Hmmmmm Bamboo again? Customers comment on it a lot, though I don't think it's a high enough priced product that the 60% savings will entice someone to host.

 

[skaugchef]

Trifle Bowl is also often the Host Special in December.

 

[Liquid Sky]

AH, that's right. Forgot about last year's specials. My second guess is stoneware.

 

[babywings76]

Hmm, stoneware or Simple Additions, or how about bamboo stuff?

 

[Becca_in_MD]

Forgot to say that my guess is the Dessert Sauces for the Guest Special. Great for serving at holiday functions or makes a handy dandy hostess gift.

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

The 2 cooling racks were on sale too for hosts. But that's included in the Nov. special.

I really don't think they'll waste stoneware on December ... they usually save that for November or February. A bigger sales month.

Here's a random thought ... we got "bamboo-zled" at the beginning of the year when we had three consecutive months of some form of bamboo being on sale. Since then they've come out with those round bowls everybody likes but nobody seems to want to invest in. So probably they will be on there.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Forgot to say that my guess is the Dessert Sauces for the Guest Special. Great for serving at holiday functions or makes a handy dandy hostess gift.

I think that's a good guess! Hope you're right!

 

[Malinda Klein]

Would love to have the Deep Covered Baker at 60% off for December!

 

[Junderwood2009]

I've heard through the grapevine...it is a NEW product! And that it will be our Nov. incentive (two show by the 15th).

 

[BethCooks4U]

Would love to have the Deep Covered Baker at 60% off for December!

Would like to have the Deep Covered Baker available for EVERYONE in December - lol!

...I think Malinda guessed it though! And I agree about the sauces as a guest special. We'll soon know!!

 

[Jenn822]

I've heard through the grapevine...it is a NEW product! And that it will be our Nov. incentive (two show by the 15th).

That would make sense if the news about the new holiday catalog and holiday minis was also true... Hmmm...

 

[Humble Beginnings]

When do we get our Oct CN or when is it available online?

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

I just bought catalogs b/c I have a fair tomorrow. Could have gotten by without them. I swear I will SCREAM if they introduce another new product mid-season. Isn't that what changeover is for?

 

[BethCooks4U]

I just bought catalogs b/c I have a fair tomorrow. Could have gotten by without them. I swear I will SCREAM if they introduce another new product mid-season. Isn't that what changeover is for?

Being in the publishing business you know that print has a lead time. If a new product isn't guaranteed to be ready at print date it will not be in the catalog and rather than waiting on a hot item for a full year (the cool & serve wouldn't have made sense in September so summer it was) a mid-season change is best. PLUS doing that change gets people excited and thinking other things are new too - creating DESIRE. It's a good thing.

They used to introduce mid-season products every fall and summer. Then for a little while they were doing a midseason cover change just to mix it up - they announced that research had shown that just changing the cover drew more people to look at the book more often, and then buy. Thankfully they stopped that but if there's a new product it is nice to have it in the book rather than just a flyer.

That being said they will provide a beautiful flyer/catalog insert that we can get very inexpensively and still use the fall catalogs so if you have catalogs it's not a worry.


Hint: If you don't need to place a supply order because all you need is the new product inserts or some small items call your director or other local consultants and put your orders together and divide shipping. Directors can order supplies as many times a month as they want at the $4.50 shipping so even if you are the only one who needs something it would save you money to ask her to do that. If I need anything I let my team know I'm placing an order and if they want to add to it I cover the whole shipping.

 

[mountainmama74]

Hint: If you don't need to place a supply order because all you need is the new product inserts or some small items call your director or other local consultants and put your orders together and divide shipping. Directors can order supplies as many times a month as they want at the $4.50 shipping so even if you are the only one who needs something it would save you money to ask her to do that. If I need anything I let my team know I'm placing an order and if they want to add to it I cover the whole shipping.

I had no idea, thank you for sharing that!!

 

[debbie mc]

Being in the publishing business you know that print has a lead time. If a new product isn't guaranteed to be ready at print date it will not be in the catalog and rather than waiting on a hot item for a full year (the cool & serve wouldn't have made sense in September so summer it was) a mid-season change is best. PLUS doing that change gets people excited and thinking other things are new too - creating DESIRE. It's a good thing.

They used to introduce mid-season products every fall and summer. Then for a little while they were doing a midseason cover change just to mix it up - they announced that research had shown that just changing the cover drew more people to look at the book more often, and then buy. Thankfully they stopped that but if there's a new product it is nice to have it in the book rather than just a flyer.

That being said they will provide a beautiful flyer/catalog insert that we can get very inexpensively and still use the fall catalogs so if you have catalogs it's not a worry.

Beth;

You make very good points - and I understand the "creating desire" goal.

It's very difficult, however to plan for one's coming season when catalogues *may* change mid-season because of a new product being added. I *try* to get enough catalogues at the being of the season to create hosting packages for the entire season, etc. IMHO it's unfair to consultants.....we try to teach each other & our downlines to only spend what is necessary.....don't make it rocket science, make it easy & profitable. That's difficult to do if 30 days after the season changed over, there is a whole new catalogue available because of ONE new product. I also feel we shouldn't have to pay for the new inserts. If I order 200 catalogues F/W Catalogues in September because that is what I feel I would use for the season, I should receive 200 inserts for free. I know PC is in it to make $$ too, but I should not have to pay for inserts when they were "holding out" on me.....knowing there would be a new product introduced is springing a new product on us.

I wish they would let us know there will be a mid-season product added - they should be letting us know in AUGUST (or February)....we don't have to know what the product is, but by knowing there will be a product change in October (or April), we can plan better - and give a more professionally presented business material to our customers.....a "complete" catalogue, not one that has an insert.

Of course, this is just my opinion......

Cheers,
D.

 

[melissasutkus]

Darn - I am new and just ordered a bunch of catalogs, had no idea that they could possibly change them! Oh well.. Couldn't you just make up your own flyer with the new item(s) and print them out to give them to people with their catalogs instead of buying it from PC?

 

[debbie mc]

Couldn't you just make up your own flyer with the new item(s) and print them out to give them to people with their catalogs instead of buying it from PC?

Yes, that is an option for those with access to a colour printer....unfortunately, I don't - would have to take it to a print shop if I wanted colour - which I think would look better for the catalogues...IMO.

I still maintain, we should not have to pay for the inserts for the F/W Catalogues we have already ordered for the coming season. PC held out on us :grumpy:....the product has been in development/manufacturing for a while....it wasn't done yesterday So, it should be on PC to "make up the difference."

Now, this doesn't mean I'll carry around a grudge with PC about it, but if all this speculation of a new product does come to fruition, I will certainly be calling/emailing HO to let them know my thoughts - in a nice way. It would be frustrating to have yet another mid-season surprise, but I'll deal with it the best way I can financially. I wasn't happy about it when it happend with the Cool n' Serve, but thought.....oh well. This time, not so much "oh well" - more perturbed than anything.

Cheers,
D.

 

[Jenn822]

Realistically, catalog changes quarterly aren't TERRIBLE - a lot of DS companies have them even more frequently than that - but what would be nice would be a heads up and letting us know so that we don't stock up and have to buy additional inserts later...

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Beth, yes I am in the publishing business, but NOT the magazine publishing business. Therefore, the only amount of lead time we need is ONE DAY. So I sometimes have a hard time wrapping my brain around lead time for projects like the catalog. From a daily paper perspective, where a skeleton crew lays out pages much larger than this within a space of five hours, it's hard to imagine laying out much smaller pages over a longer period of time.(IMHO, cool and serve makes perfect sense for winter, I've used this and its predecessor to bring eggs to a family gathering that was indoors, but that's another topic.) You DO make good points ... HOWEVER I just went in with my recruiter and purchased 100 catalogs. It's unlikely that either of us will need any more between now and March. I am out of "old" catalogs and have fewer than 20 current ones to take into my craft fair this weekend. I probably could have gotten by with that but wouldn't have had enough for my next live show. Neither of us have much if anything to do with our upline or clustermates. Long story short, we don't trust 'em. Lots of them are the back-stabbing kind that don't return e-mails or phone calls. Banged my head against that wall far, far, far too many times.The last order was done in her name so I might just put in a small one so I can get us a bunch of inserts and little things we forgot to include and get the freebies too. But I just want to whine a little. I know others complained that they just bought catalogs when the Cool and Serve came out.I don't think it's too much to ask to put a simple line in the newswire along the lines of, "We'll be introducing another new product this season. We'll have winter catalogs available on XX date!"

 

[ChefBeckyD]

YEA Becca! You nailed the Guest Special!And I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the Host Special!AND our incentive for turning in 2 shows Oct 1-15! So excited!

 

[chefsteph07]

YEA Becca! You nailed the Guest Special!

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the Host Special!


AND our incentive for turning in 2 shows Oct 1-15! So excited!

I totally agree w/ everything you said Becky! :sing:
And I also love the picture in the guest special flyer of the sauces on the bottom of the martini glasses w/ ice cream and the little fruit garnish! So pretty and a GREAT idea!

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

I love the December specials too! And if anyone complains that the October/November specials are too pricey, they should host in December. If they really want to, they can pick up a special for less than $3!

 

[mountainmama74]

Oh my gosh!! What an AWESOME host special!! I'll be hosting an open house in December for sure!! Woohoo!

 

[Jen1409]

can someone post the link please?

 

[ChefBeckyD]

can someone post the link please?

It's all up on CC now.

 

[Becca_in_MD]

Let's note this for the history books that I was right about the guest special. I'm sure it won't happen again And kinda right about the host special b/c the new round bamboo bowls are on it.

Just to clear up the rumors posted in this thread... I have only skimmed through the CN.

No new product? I think the host-only apron is what the NED referred to.
No mid-season catalog?
Yes, holiday mini catalog?

Time to do my supply order.

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

There's always a mid-season catalog, but usually they just change up the appearance a bit to make it more holiday-like and festive. Nice but frankly "dates" your catalogs if you've still got 'em in January.YAY!

 

[BethCooks4U]

There's always a mid-season catalog, but usually they just change up the appearance a bit to make it more holiday-like and festive. Nice but frankly "dates" your catalogs if you've still got 'em in January.

YAY!

Not always. There was no fall midseason last year.

I just called HO about this again and was told that she didn't think we are getting one this season but she will check and call me back.


...last week they said yes. lol

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Sorry, I was talking about the mini catalogs. They usually come out with a mid-season book that simply has something different on the cover. Maybe a different recipe or two. But your customers won't be feeling like they get an "inferior" catalog if they get this rather than its mid-season replacement. That's the way my June customers felt.

 

[skaugchef]

Well was there a mention of the mid season catalog change or when can we buy the mini catalogs in the October CN?

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

I think so. I know there was something about the holiday minis.

 

[BethCooks4U]

Well was there a mention of the mid season catalog change or when can we buy the mini catalogs in the October CN?

There has not been any mention about a full catalog change for mid-season but they have suddenly announced such a change. I'm waiting for a call back from HO on this.

You can buy the holiday mini starting today!