What is Direct Selling and How Does It Work?

Direct selling has been around since the 1920s and it’s still going strong today. It is a business model that allows you to sell products in person, by telephone or online with just about any product imaginable. You can use your own home as an office, which means lower overhead costs like rent and utilities for your company. Direct sellers also have much more flexibility than traditional employees who are stuck working set hours and often in a specific location every day of the week.

This article explains what direct selling is, how it works, the types of direct sales, the advantages and disadvantages and offers tips on how to succeed in direct selling.

What does direct selling mean?

Direct selling is a business model where individuals or businesses sell products or services to customers in person. It also may be done by telephone or online with just about any product imaginable. Direct selling is a good way for people and companies, especially those who have trouble finding traditional employment, to earn money without being tied down to inflexible schedules and office spaces.

The direct selling industry includes products like clothing, cosmetics and jewelry. You can also sell food items or gift baskets that you have assembled yourself.

Direct sales are booming right now with a wide variety of companies joining in on this trend by representing different types of goods from personal care to kitchenware.

What are the types of direct selling?

Some of the most popular types of direct selling include:

• Network Marketing: This is a form in which a company representative will sell their products to other people and then get paid commission on any sales they make. The more commissions you earn, the higher status you reach within your direct sale team or network.
• Mail Order Houses: These are companies that offer their products through catalogs or the internet and do not have physical locations. It has a wide variety of products for sale, but if you want to buy something specific it may be difficult because they don’t carry all types of items. The direct seller will also get commission on anything sold by other members of the company.
• Network Marketing: This is where you can sell products through a network of representatives and earn commissions on any sales they make as well. This type has more than just one product, but it may be difficult to find other people who are interested in working for them because there isn’t really a specific location or office.
• Multilevel Marketing (MLM): This is where the company sells products and they have a physical office space. They also usually make money off of any sales made by other members in their network, so it may be easy to sell more items from them because you’re already part of that network. However, many people are put off by MLM because they think it’s a pyramid scheme.
• E-Commerce: This is when the company doesn’t have any physical office space and sells products through their website or other online store. The pros of e-commerce are that it can be easier to find specific items, there may be less overhead costs in general for both the business and the customer, and there are fewer restrictions on who can sell for them.
• Retail: This is when the company sells products through a physical store that they own or lease space in. The pros of retail sales include lower advertising costs as well as having more control over inventory because it’s always available to purchase at their location. However, there are also disadvantages such as high overhead costs and managing multiple locations.
• One-on-one: This is when the company sells products one on one with a customer or through parties that they host themselves where customers can attend in person to buy these items. This has many of the same advantages and disadvantages as retail sales but it’s not always possible to attend the one-on-one sale in person.
• Via social media: This is when people can sell products through their social networks and promote them on other platforms like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. This has many of the same advantages as retail sales but it’s not available 24/365 because these are all online channels which means that the people promoting them have to be online during these times.
• Via a home party: This is when direct sellers host an event at their house and invite people from their network to come buy products live in person and often get a discount for attending these events. This has many advantages as well; it’s a social event, you can meet other people in your network and if they buy from the party host that means more commission for them which is great for their business.
• Via the internet: This is when you run your own website, have a newsletter and sell products through it with the goal to make money from having commission on each sale. This can be beneficial because there are no overhead costs but you still need to maintain an online presence which can be difficult if you’re not tech-savvy.
• At a show: This is when you’re trying to get people at the event (such as a craft fair) to buy your products and rely on word of mouth for marketing. The downside is that it’s harder because there are no mechanisms in place like online advertising or having an own website so if you want to sell anything then you have to rely on a show being scheduled in your area.

Are direct selling companies legal?