So Why Am I Leaving SU?

Note: This is the last in the series of "The Tales of a Soon to Be Former SU Demo" If you missed the beginning, scroll on down! I saved money and improved my stamping skills -- at least a bit. I get a nice discount, extra items for free once in a while, and still love my SU stuff. So, why walk away from a good thing? It is a bit complicated. The short answer is that there isn't a short answer! Here's a few reasons -- First and foremost, last April a personal tsunami of sorts rolled over our lives as my mom got sick and basically has stayed sick. Since she lives with us and is, financially, and in every other way, dependent upon us, my time, finances, good humor and energy were all adversely affected. I never know when a crisis will hit. (We were back in the emergency yesterday morning). Her illness meant that I had to cancel going to the SU convention -- going away for 3 or 4 days isn't possible anymore without making lots of complicated and expensive arrangements. So, I know that I won't be attending any SU events in the near future, and that was one of the reasons I loved being a demo. I had to increase my work hours from 20 to 32 so I have less time for everything. It takes time to place orders, collect the money, go to the bank and cash checks, handle the occasional return, etc. Time is just a bit too precious right now. I could stay a demo and meet the minimums myself, but money is also a bit too precious right now (no complaints here, just a question of priorities). My house is brimming with stamping supplies -- if I stopped buying anything I could last at least a year (with the possible exception of adhesive and maybe paper!!). Enough already. Finally, I said at the beginning of this "series" that I would be honest and share the good and the not so good. SU did a few things that, in my hightened sense of neediness, just rubbed me the wrong way. The owners of the company bought another stamping company -- Clearsnap. There was quite a debate among demos at the time as to whether this "mattered." Many felt that home based sales and store based sales are totally different animals and not in competition. However, I disagree. There are only so many dollars that most stampers can and will spend and every dollar spent on Clearsnap is one less dollar for the SU demo. The owners of SU -- the Gardners -- win either way, but I felt the demos lost out. In addition, SU doesn't permit its demos to own or demonstrate for competing stamp companies. It rankled me a bit that it was ok for the owners to spread their wings, but not the demos. Then SU changed its compensation plan for demonstrators. The new plan greatly benefits the very hard working successful demos, who have large personal sales and large downlines. I actually think that is the way it should be -- you work harder, you get more money. However, it hurt me. It is much harder for me to earn a little stamping spending money now. So, time to move on. Will I continue to buy from SU? You bet, although not nearly as much as before!! (I already have my eye on some dynamite looking classes from some local demonstrators.) Would I become a demo in the future? Possibly. The things that I love about Stampin Up! are outweighed by the things that bother me. So, in a month or two I will no longer be a demonstrator. Was it worth it? 100% YES.