Purse Party Hostess Tips

A Miche Bag purse party is a great opportunity to gather together with your friends and family around yummy food and drinks, fun games, and most importantly....Miche Bags! We've compiled a list of tips and suggestions to ensure that the purse party that you're hosting is a success.

Top 10 Tips for a Spectacular Miche Bag Purse Party:

The more the merrier! Encourage invited guests to bring a friend or two.
Be sure not to alienate people. If a friend brings a friend, make an effort to greet and thank the person for coming.
Serve an assortment of fun and delicious purse party friendly finger foods, check out our fabulous food guide for ideas and suggestions.
Try throwing a Miche party with a theme. Try a fun “fiesta” theme with food and drink to match.
Incorporate a contest into your party so that your guests have a chance to win a great prize, like a new Miche Bag shell! Whether it's a simple raffle or another fun activity, it will sure to be a hit.
Make a strong effort to make people feel that they are going to the gathering to socialize and not just to purchase things.
Let people know that they are not obligated to attend. This will give them more motivation to feel comfortable attending in the future.
Invite your friends together on nights that are not purse party nights. This will allow you and your friends to come up with great ideas for future purse parties in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
Send out invitations about one week before your party, too early before the party and your guests may forget, too late and they may already have other plans.
Take advantage of social networking options (blogging, twittering, myspace, facebook) so that you can easily remind your guests of your upcoming party one or two days before the event.

Hostess Submitted Tips

For my purse party that I hosted, I suggested that if the ladies wanted, they could donate a gently used purse and bring it to the party. Now that I am a Miche Rep, my clients have used this idea by contacting local woman's shelters and other charitable organizations.

Renée Gray

Hostesses, mark on the brochures you set out at your parties: P=premium shells, GTRS=going to retire soon. I have a master copy that I keep in a sheet protector that lists these items. The GTRS allows people to buy the shells on their lists that are going to retire so they don’t miss out. Also, the P makes it easier for guests to know which shells cost more. My guests really like this and it makes my job easier because I don’t have to continue to answer the same questions over and over.

Shelly O.

I think that a Shell Exchange Party would be awesome! Invite all of your clients to gather together for a shell exchange and conversational party. This is advertised for a fun shell exchange gathering but you can still invite friends and sell the Miche Bundles. It’s also an opportunity to show off the new line of shells to all of your customers. I’m sure there will be plenty of ladies buying new shells.

Trina A.

My Purse Party idea is called "The Wish List." I print up a flyer and give to everyone attending and ask them for important dates in their lives such as their birthday and anniversary. I then ask them to make a wish list of the items that they would like to receive as gifts for these special dates as well as Christmas, Mothers Day, Valentines Day, and Easter. Also, on the form is an area to include names of people I can contact via phone or email to help them with gift ideas for that special woman. It's a win win situation because now she can add to her Miche collection and no one has to try to guess what to get her.

Penni T. and Viv P.

During the beginning of the show, an icebreaker is played. I ask the guests how many bags they own and how much they spend on average. This takes out the factor of price!

After the party and while decisions are still being made, I have a fashion show so that the guest can feel and play with the shells. They can also see how fashionable and fun the shells are!

Jessica S.

My friend and I work with lots of men and we get comments about our Miche bags ALL the time. My friend goes in to work with a new shell almost everyday and the guys ask "which one do you have today?" Might sound silly, but guess what? They want to buy them for their wives, girlfriends, sisters and daughters as gifts. We came up with a way for them to do that! Miche Money!

All sales are done on a cash or check basis, no credit cards. We fill an order for them, give them a total, they pay us and we issue them a MICHE MONEY gift certificate! The MICHE MONEY has the $$ amount and our info on it. The gift "receiver" then contacts us to place the order. We collect their MICHE MONEY and place the order. It's that simple!! The best part is that if the MICHE MONEY is worth $70, they might want to spend $100, so we make additional sales on top of it!

This isn't just for men, it's for anyone that would like to give MICHE Bags as a gift to someone else.

Kathy R. and Nancy L.

Before the party is held, call a couple of the girls and tell them they will be modeling the purses and say there are 4 black purses, have them dress in black to possibly walk around the party room and display the bags.

Sandra O.

Personal Shopper: During the holidays I provide a Personal Shopping program to my local guests. I place orders for their husband's/spouse etc., gift wrap their purchases and deliver the purchases to the women. I give each guest wishing to participate in this program a business card to give to their spouse. On the back of this card, it will list the woman's 4 top wish list items, along with info about gift wrapping for the spouse. They will give this card to their spouse and I will place a call to the spouse 3 weeks before the holiday to place their order.

Cherese J.

I prepare a 4 x 6 card with questions for my hostess and guests.

I ask:
What is your favorite color?
What is your favorite texture? i.e. Snakeskin, Alligator, Smooth, Rouched...
and so on. This helps me to determine if the guests have looked at everything they may have liked and to suggest items when they are getting ready to total their purchase.
I then draw a name from these cards and give a doorprize to the winner!

Karla M.

I like to show my own Miche bag and what all is inside. Everyone is amazed at how much it actually holds!

LeAnn L.

Take advantage of opportunities to get the word out! Recently I read in my local Sunday paper about a new section that was to be published in our local paper. That day (not the next or the next, but that day) I emailed the editor and told her about my new Miche Business. I did not hear from her for two weeks, but during the third week she contacted me and told me her article that she was working on for that week fell through and she wanted to know if I could be interviewed and photographed on a short notice. I told her absolutely and we met the next day. The following week, I was the cover girl on the magazine insert and a very nice article appeared online and in the printed paper. (I've included the link to the article.)

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20090909/LIFESTYLE/909090310/Clarksville-Miche-bags-stylish-way-to-switch-it-up Some may call it a lucky break...I call it just plain using my business sense. Had I not taken the initiative, I would not have been given the opportunity. My sales for this week have tripled, my reps have booked more shows,and my retail store called for more stock because they sold out!

Joann Wagoner

Offer "Punch Cards" for purchasing so many shells, "get the 12th one for free" type of thing...this keeps the client coming back for more, consistently!!

Paula and Pamela

In order to keep your sample shells clean, make a nice, pretty little sign to post near your sample shells asking guests to wash their hands before touching the shells.

Lori P.

Have some more suggestions and tips? We'd love to hear your ideas or Miche Bag purse party experiences. Check out our Purse Party Blog to post your comments and thoughts!