I love Longaberger baskets. They’re so much better than those wicker/rattan style baskets. They don’t snag your clothes or scratch your skin like some other baskets. Their neat lines and clean appearance fit in with almost any decor. I love that there are custom fitted plastic liners available for your basket(s), too. I have $150 worth of Longaberger baskets.
I hate Longaberger baskets. J. Christ they cost so much money. Why on earth do they cost so much? My $150 worth of baskets? Three baskets. Three!. I hate going to those silly little parties. I hate when my sales rep tells me I’m going to regret not buying the seasonal, limited edition baskets. “Ooooh,” she squeals, “How can you not looooove them?” Oh, for Pete’s sake, you daft broad, it’s just a silly basket!
I’ve found my solution. While lining the cash registers of many a store with my hard earned dollars on Saturday, I saw a sign for $4 baskets at A.C. Moore. I barely gave it a second thought because I assumed they were going to be those cheap, rattan style baskets that I hate so much. I looked through the window just to make sure there weren’t any baskets I’d be interested in and much to my delight they had some Longaberger knock-offs. I bought six. Yay!
Cons
The baskets aren’t as tightly woven as my Longabergers. There were, of course, no plastic liners available either. The handles are a fixed postion, too. I have no clue what I’m going to do with six baskets.
Pros
They were FOUR dollars each! I don’t have to worry about ‘protecting my precious investments’. I can stop dealing with my idiot Longaberger sales rep. I’ve got more baskets!
I live about 1/2 hour away from Dresden where the baskets are made, and I have WAY too many of them. Some are just stuck in the closet because I have no room for them. I quit buying then a couple of years ago because of the price, but my mother-in-law buys them for me now as gifts (which is nice).
Ditto on the Basket addiction here - when I was single I bought several - all total now I have about 20. And all they do is collect dust. What was I thinking? I’ll never sell them, so what does the value mean to me? I have 2 Longaburger purses. I’m so glad my sales person decided to move away!
And what to do with the extra cheap baskets? Fill them with stuff and give away for birthdays and holidays. You can work on filling them at sales throughout the year.
The daughter of my mother’s best friend deals in these things. Apparently, she does pretty well for herself. Personally, I never understood the appeal.
Don’t get me wrong - I like baskets. I have one in my living room that I use as a magazine rack and one in the bathroom to hold a mess of Reader’s Digests. I have a small one, lined with a plastic bag, to hold the toilet brush. I have a couple that hold planters. I have some I bought just because I liked the way they looked. But nary a basket cost me more than $10.
I never got into the Longaberger cult, nor did I get into Tupperware parties or Home Interiors parties or candle parties or whatever other sales pitch was disguised as a party. I dunno - maybe I’m just a grouch…
I like a few of the ones I have, but my two most expensive ones are useless and I’m going to sell them on Ebay. I’ve got a large Saddlebrook purse and a large Mail basket. I don’t use either one.
