Hostess Rewards and Party Prizes
I LOVE to give books away! It is one of the most fun parts of being an Usborne Books & More consultant. My hostesses and customers are so excited when I give them a bonus book or when they win a prize for a free book. It’s also a great incentive to book parties, gain repeat customers, and build a community of followers that truly love that you are their book lady!
There are several categories of “rewards” that will be helpful to learn:
- Hostess Rewards: Usborne Books & More generously offers rewards to hostesses with a qualifying party over $100. Hostesses receive free and half-off books for hosting. For example, a $100 party gets your hostess $10 in free books AND $25 worth of books at half-price. During your first 12 weeks in your incentive period, all parties over $250 in sales with one party booking receive double free books. Once you are out of your incentive period, there is always a monthly hostess special the usually provides $50-100 in extra free books. NOTE: Your double hostess rewards is ALWAYS a better deal than the monthly special. Visit your back office, consultant toolbox for the rewards chart.
- $50 Bonus Books @ 65% off: Additionally, when closing a party, you will order your hostess’ rewards in back office and will have an opportunity to order $50 worth of books at a 65% discount. This means, you pay 35% the retail price which would work out to be $17.50 for $50 worth of books. You can use these bonus books however you’d like. You can offer an extra book to your hostess as a booking incentive. You can offer an extra $10 free if they have 25 guests “going” to their facebook party. You can use the full $50 to stock up on prizes for your party guests. You have a lot of freedom to create promotions that work for you. Keep in mind, you are still paying 35% of the cost out of pocket.
- Prizes: Your customers will attend your parties because you make them FUN. What’s more fun than a prize or giveaway? This is certainly not required, but definitely adds some excitement to the party. You also need to make sure your giveaway strategy is cost-effective. Let’s talk about how to maximize the rewards provided by home office so your out-of-pocket expense is minimal. Here are some of my typical giveaways and prizes:
- Party prize: I usually give away at least one prize to a customer for participating in the party. I typically mail out a sample set of Animal Doodles. These come in a set of 50 for $9.99 and I can split them in packs of 5-10 cards and get a few prizes out of each pack. They fit in a 5×7 envelope and can be mailed out with just 2 stamps. Mini books are also a good prize. They range from $1.99-$3.99 each and are lightweight enough that shipping isn’t painful. If my customer is local, I might take a book from my inventory and hand-deliver. You could do this with books that arrive with your kit.
- Hostess prize: When a hostess agrees to have a party with me, I offer her a prize. I usually will use the $50 bonus book category when I’m closing her party to ship her prize with her hostess rewards. This saves me on shipping and the time required to package and mail out a prize.
Watch this short video to learn:
- How hostess rewards work from Usborne Books & More
- How to use prizes to get bookings
- How to leverage the hostess rewards from home office to minimize your out-of-pocket expenses
Becky’s Bonus Tip: As an Usborne Books & More consultant, YOU receive hostess rewards, as well. Make sure you always have an “open” party so you can begin accumulating hostess rewards on small orders and orders placed outside of a party. Make sure to close out your party before your first 12 weeks in the biz are over so you can take advantage of those double hostess rewards!
Your To-Do List:
- Watch this 10-minute video on hostess rewards and prizes.
- Decide on what prize(s) you’re going to offer to your customers and hostesses.
- Comment below with which rewards YOU are most excited about.
- Download the 30 Day Launch Workbook.
I am so confused on how to use the rewards I got from the party that I was the consultant for. I sold over $500 in books and I want to order the books that I am supposed to get for free and some half ones too. I just don’t know how and my team leader is just not very helpful.
Hey Jessica! Sorry to hear you aren’t getting help from your upline. If you go to https://www.myubamuniversity.com/ and log in, and go to the CLIMB videos and lesson 10 shows how to close out an order! Good Luck!
Can a consultant use the party bonus book section to build their own library as well? or is this strictly to be used for the hostesses, to buy book prizes, etc?
Hey Whitney! Yes, a consultant can use the bonus book section to use at their own discretion. Whether that be for personal stock or for the host etc.
How do you split shipping charges for the hostess rewards & the party bonus books? Also, the addresses are not the same.
When I have closed out a party- I will enter all of the hosts rewards first and then see the total in step 4. Then go back to step 3 and enter the party bonus books. Go to step 4 and then subtract that total from the amount it was previously, that is your total. If you are in the bonus books, there is a box on the right hand side that says “Customer Special/Direct Delivery” select the button that says ADD then put in the address you are shipping it to.
Can you connect 1 party to 2 orderpro orders. Such as doing the $50 @ 65% off as one order and then a order of hostess specials seperate?
Hi Rachel! It needs to just be one order.
I just stumbled upon this website/training and I wanted to make a clarification here. You absolutely can ship the party bonus books to different addresses! You will be charged shipping per address. I just watched a tutorial video about it. And I just did this on Friday for a hostess who’s party did not reach the $100. I transferred her orders to my own “open party” link that I was ready to close out and still was able to offer her some books for hosting!
Here is the link to that tutorial: https://vimeo.com/300353831/fa243830a9?fbclid=IwAR1xqUb93EM8O2z358P33iHvuzJlGANc_eF0EtLFNismJEg6CVJuVIfxPlQ
Thanks again!
Thanks so much, Sarah!! 🙂
Does your party have to reach a minimum before the $50 in party bonus books is offered?
Where can I find the double host rewards and monthly host specials to download and print?
Hi Jessica! You can find the double host rewards and monthly specials in your back office. They are also emailed out in the UBAM newsletter.
I closed my first party and did my drawing for a prize thought free shipping would be fun since the gal also booked a party. How do I do this though when closing the party I looked to be sure I could see it but couldn’t find it. My team said she just reimburse the prize winner. I don’t know if I want to send people money or Checks all the time.
Hi Anna! That’s right. If you’re reimbursing shipping, that is out of your pocket. You could paypal or venmo the winner. Another alternative is placing their order on their behalf and then invoicing them the total via square.
Hi there! I recently had a party and the sales unfortunately did not reach $100 and the host does not want to try again before the 6 months time is up. Is there any way to combine parties so that the sales she did have do not get wasted? Thank you!
No, you can not combine parties but you can always rename the party for yourself and use it for your own customer’s orders (outside of parties) or the next party that you host. That way, the rewards won’t get “lost”. 🙂
If rewards are not claimed right away do they expire? How long does a hostess have to use her rewards?
Technically, the rewards expire 6 months after the show according to UBAM policy. I’m not sure that it is actually enforced in the system. She should be able to claim rewards far after 6 months. 🙂 That said, it is a pain when shows linger on forever. I’d try to get it wrapped up, if you can.
I had a party last December. I took a bit to decide and had to pay the seller by paypal and just didn’t have it set up. We moved, life happened. I reached out a bit ago, and she just responded the rewards had expired?.. is there anyway for her to work around that since you say they should be able to claim far after 6 months?
Thank you!!!
Hi Sarah, I suggest reaching out to your consultant and asking her to open a ticket with customer service!
Question: Does the $50 @ 35% off only work if your hostess is local? Based on some previous comments, I’m a bit confused as to where the bonus books can be shipped. I would love to use this category to offer a giveaway, give a hostess gift and buy some books/doodle cards to offer as giveaways to future parties. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hey Michelle! You have $50 worth of books you can get at 65% off for every party you close, though they can only be sent to one address (not split). So, if the hostess is local, you can give her a portion of that $50 and have all the books ship to you so that you can give her the ones from her portion. If she’s not local, you wouldn’t not be able to offer this.
I really like the idea of offering a free book to anybody that books a party with me! I think I will do free shipping and doodle cards for prizes and maybe an additional free book drawing if the party has an x amount of participants.
I really like the idea of giving my hostess doodle cards or mini books as a thank you gift. For my FB launch party I gave the 2 prize drawing winners the choice between free shipping or a free book $5.99 or less. I did offer for anyone that booked a party from my launch party would receive a shine a light book.
I recently joined Usborne and had a home party. I closed the party and ordered the hostess items already through OPOL. I didn’t know about being able to order $50 of books at 65% off. Anyway I am able to go back and get that??
Hi Jamie! Oh, no! Bummer. You’d have to call home office to cancel the order right away. Shipping is so good right now, it likely already went out. The good news is that you get the perk of $50 worth of books at 65% off in EACH party!
I love the idea of giving a book away. the party that I first attended did a drawing…every time you made a comment referencing the video, your name got place in a drawing. It definitely motivated me to watch all the videos so I could have something to comment about and watching the videos created a deeper interest. I do have 2 questions…
Does a hostess have to reach the $100 in sells in order for us to take advantage of the 65% discount?
Do we open a new party after the 12 weeks incentive period is up?
Yes! I always have an open party so when orders come in direct to me (outside a hostess’ show) I can easily add them to my open party! And, yes to qualify for hostess rewards, your party needs to be $100+ in sales.
I am new so learning a lot from you! When you say here that you can “easily add them to my open party,” how exactly do you do that? Is that if they send you an email or call you with an order? Otherwise, wouldn’t their order just be random on your page? Sorry – this is probably so simple, but it all seems very complicated at the moment!
Hey Nicole! That’s exactly it. If they call, email, message you, etc. with an order outside your current hostess’ parties, you can always place their order through your open party. Or, they can go to the website and select you as the hostess at checkout, too! 🙂 Easy peasy! You just always want a party open under your name for those direct orders!
Doodle cards, $5 gift cards, free shipping offers, and, of course, actual books!
Are we able to send the $50 bonus books to two separate addresses yet? I am signing up tomorrow and I can’t wait to start this adventure! ?
Yayyyyy for signing up tomorrow!! Welcome, welcome!! And…. sadly, nooooo — still needs to go to one address. Fingers crossed we will be able to do so soon!!!
Good questions and thoughts about prizes and shipping. Love the doodle cards idea and giving an extra book or $5:00-10:00 off a book they order. So many thoughts about this. I am confident that as I go forward and learn more, there will be additional creative idea for prizes
I just bought 60 pins at @ 10c a piece that I intend to use as gifts at house parties. I also thought of making up some bookmarks with a pretty image on one side and the Usborne symbol & contact info on the other side.
I like the idea of the doodle cards too.
My plan is to max out party rewards at $30 & use the remaining $20 for my own purchases, this way I get my money’s worth too.
I haven’t started yet, but am planning on buying my kit in the next 2 months & wanted to get a head start on training.
I won a prize at my first Usborne party and I got 5 of the doodle cards. She gave me an option…I think of either the cards or free shipping. I liked the idea of the cards so I picked that. I think those would be a great prize!
I will be doing the doodle cards and mini books. I really like that we could use the $50 bonus book category to build inventory or to offer extra bonus for hosting.
How does it work when you offer free shipping on online orders? I get how to do it with party orders, I would just pay that part, but is there a way to do that when people order online separate from the party order? I’m a new consultant and am looking into various prizes I could give away. Thanks!
The only way to offer free shipping on an online order would be to reimburse your customer with a personal check, paypal or venmo. I do wish there was a promo code we could use to offer that kind of deal but that scenario is not yet available!!
I think adding a free book that they showed interest in during the party to their hostess rewards as a way to get them to book is a fantastic idea!
Is there no way to get the 65% off $50 books shipped to me (the consultant) separately?? I am brand new and haven’t closed my first party yet. My sponser just told me today that they have to be part of hosts order. I’m extremely disappointed to learn this and feel like this takes away a major perk of being a consultant. One of the reasons I signed up was to get discounted books for my family. Is there really not a way around this?
Hi Devin! If you’re placing a smaller order, you can order books from your open party on your website! That would get you the 25% commission / discount back in your paycheck the next week. Or, if you’re placing a larger order ($100+) then you can do in OrderPro, take advantage of the hostess rewards ($10 free + $25 worth of books at half-off) and use the bonus book category (another $50 worth of books at 65% off). Those are your best options for now. Next time you have a local hostess, you can have the books ship to you, then take advantage of any “extras” leftover that your hostess didn’t use. 🙂 Hope that helps!
So far, all of my hosts have been out of town so I haven’t been able to get small prizes to send out to guests from the 65% off $50. I’m really hoping they will change that! I’m new and not many of my local friends want to do a home party :/ Currently, I offer a free Shine-A-Light Book for the host and I pay the $4-5 bucks when I check them out. I still do one drawing during the party for a prize of $10 Usborne Cash that only gets refunded to them when they place an order. The doodle cards seem to be a way cheaper route, however I feel like a bigger incentive gets more attention from the guests. I also, offer free shipping on orders over 75 by midnight. I really don’t want to break the bank either- the $10 is a little steep but I want the guests to be motivated and excited-does $5 seem to be reasonable as well. Of course, this is all up to our discretion but wanted to bounce it off of others. I’m new so I’m always playing around with ideas.
Nice, Maria!! $10 free is pretty generous, I think! It’s totally up to you on what you offer and it definitely takes some time to play around with prizes, but don’t break the bank! Our books are so awesome that guests will be motivated to order without being awarded a giant prize. I’m giving away some $1 bookmarks that I just got at Target as a door prize for my upcoming party! It’s the little things that make it fun!
Do consultants get any commission back on the free reward books and/or half-price books the hostess receives?
Hi Sue, nope – no, you only receive commission on the “full retail” part of your order. 🙂
I am new to the business, and haven’t closed out my launch party yet. I have asked my team, but still don’t quite understand this part. I have been told by my team that I can offer non-book-related prizes to my hostesses. How would that work? Would I somehow use the actual hostess book rewards to build my inventory and then buy them a prize out of pocket? They do things like opportunities to win necklaces and the instapot and gift cards. I suppose that could work out in my favor still? (I personally LOVE this idea, because not everyone cares about getting more books, especially if they aren’t moms — I just don’t understand the logistics of how it works)
Wow! I’ve never offered anything like that, Heather! I suppose you could do that, but I think most of our hostesses are motivated by the BOOKS and that’s why they host! You could certainly try it out, but do the math first and make sure you’re still making some money on the party!
I haven’t quite decided yet…
I love the doodle cards idea! It will be helpful to get multiple prizes from the one item!
Yup, such a great deal!
I really like the idea of the Animal Doodles and Mini Books to attendees, I need to get some ordered. Maybe I will do that with my hostess rewards from my party this weekend? I also love being able to offer a % off books to the hostess! So many awesome ideas.
Yipeeee! Love using my hostess rewards to stock up on prizes, too!
Hi Becky! I’m hosting a fb party for someone on the other side of the state. So I couldn’t take advantage of the free bonus books unless I have all the books shipped to my house and then shipped to her, correct?
That’s true. If it’s a local hostess, you can take advantage of those bonus rewards, but if you’re shipping to a hostess, then it won’t work. :/ I’m still hoping we will be able to ship rewards to multiple addresses soon enough!
I’ve already purchased some Doodle cards to use as prizes for my Launch Party On-Time and Overall Winners. I have also given them the option to UPGRADE their prize to a free book if they want to book a party with me. Still waiting to get answers but hoping for the best! The $50.00 for 17.50 is a great way to build inventory and get those books you would Love to show off!!
I have a question about the $50 at 65% off. So say I wanted to offer my hostess a free book for hosting, like I use that as an incentive to get them to book a party with me. Then at the end of her party can I just use some of that $50 to send her the book, and the rest to build my prize inventory? I guess what I am asking is can the $50 be split, send 1 book to her house and the rest to mine?
Hi Katie! Right now all the rewards (hostess rewards + bonus books) need to be shipped to one address. Home office has indicated we’ll be able to ship the bonus books to a separate mailing address in the future, but for right now they need to just go to one address.
But you could do what Katie has stated just ship it all to yourself and then mail the hostess the book right? Im new and am about to close out my launch party. I can use the bonus books for myself right? Im learning more but the $50 for 65% part really confuses me. I guess i have to do it once or twice before i really get it.
Hi Maggie! It definitely takes some practice. You could ship everything to yourself, then mail your hostess their rewards if they’re not local. If they ARE local, then you can easily do this and hand-deliver their books. I would certainly enjoy the $50 of books at 65% off bonus book category for yourself i you’re not using it for your hostess.
I like the $50 Bonus Books to incentivize the Hostesses. So far I have been doing a free book worth $5.00 for the prizes. I do like the card idea. Do you mention what the prize will be either in the description of the Facebook party or somewhere in the party and if so do you assign a value to it or just mention what it will be? What about if the prize winner has a baby do you still give the same prize?
Hi Celeste! I don’t usually mention what the prize is until the guest messages me. 🙂 I still do the same prize even for babies… they’ll grow into it or be able to give it as a gift! 🙂
Question, If you do the cards for the free gift wouldn’t i also need to include the pen? is there a place to order extra pens or do i just go buy a pack of washable from Walmart lol? Or do i omit the special pen altogether? Thanks!!
I used to send pens with the cards, but realized that most all of my customers have a dry erase marker at home so I skip it now! I just mention that any dry-erase marker will work! 🙂 Everyone is usually excited about their prize and I haven’t received any complaints!
I haven’t totally decided what host rewards I’m going to offer. My sponsor offers extra $10 in books and I liked that lol. As far as rewards I’m definitely doing the cards!!!!