U.S.

DIRECT SELLING IN 2004

2004 U.S. Retail Sales $29.73 Billion Compensation Structure
(Multilevel vs. single level)
Percent of firms 84.3/15.7
Percent of Sales by Major Product Group
Percent of sales dollars 76.1/23.9
Personal care (cosmetics, jewelry, etc.) 30.8
Percent of direct sellers 82.7/17.3
Home/family care (cookware, appliances, etc.) 30.5
Wellness (weight loss products, vitamins, etc.) 16.1
Services/other 14.3 2004 U.S. Direct Sellers 13.6 Million
Leisure/educational (books, videos, toys, etc.) 8.3
Percent of Direct Sellers by Work Status**
Percent of Sales by Location/Medium** Independent contractors 99.9
Face-to-face selling 73.1 Employees 0.1
In the home 61.9
In the work place 6.7 Percent of Direct Sellers by Distributorship
At a temporary location (fair, exhibition, etc.) 3.9 Type**
Other locations (salespersons office, etc.) 0.6 One-person distributorship--female 71.9
Remote selling 26.9 One-person distributorship--male 16.7
Phone 15.6 Two-person distributorship 10.3
Internet (World Wide Web, e-mail) 10.8 Multi-person distributorship 1.1
Other (mail, fax, etc.) 0.5
Percent of Direct Sellers by Hours Worked**
Percent of Sales by Census Region** Fewer than 30 hours per week 85.1
South 36.0 30-39 hours per week 7.6
West 24.8 40 hours or more per week 7.3
Midwest 23.1
Northeast 16.1 Percent of Direct Sellers by Gender**
Female 79.9
Percent of Sales by Sales Strategy Male 20.1
Individual/person-to-person 69.8
Party plan/group 27.8 **Data for 2003.
Customer placing order directly with firm Sources: 2004 Growth & Outlook Survey, 2005 USDSA SEIS
(in follow-up to a prior face-to-face solicitation) 1.6 Survey of Direct Selling Organizations, and other DSA and public
Other 0.8 sources.

U.S. Retail Sales ($Bil) U.S. Direct Sellers (Mil)

35 $29.73
$28.69 $29.55
30 $25.57 $26.69 16 13.6
13.0 13.3
25 14 12.2
11.0
12
20 10
15 8
10 6
4
5 2
0 0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
For further information contact Amy Robinson, Director of Communications & Media Relations, at (202) 452-8866
or visit our website at www.dsa.org.

DIRECT SELLING ASSOCIATION 1667 K Street, NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20006-1660
Phone: 202/452-8866 Fax: 202/452-9010 E-mail: info@dsa.org Website: www.dsa.org