Buying Again Every Month: Should You Activate a Self-Use Franchise? A Mom of Two Does the Math for You

This scenario is adapted from situations many repeat customers share. Names are changed and the conversation is illustrative. All plan terms follow what the site's "Join FP" page currently says.

On the fifth of every month, she places the same order

Jiaying lives in Taoyuan and has two kids, one in first grade and one in the middle year of kindergarten. Each month on the fifth, after the household money comes in, she places the same order on the official store: two boxes of JEROSSE 婕樂纖厚焙奶茶, and sometimes an extra box of JEROSSE 婕樂纖輕卡肽纖飲肽可可 for her husband. She has done this for fourteen months, and the orders in her account sit in one neat row.

One day she noticed a line on her account page: "After activating franchise status, all purchases are at cost price." She clicked in, looked around, and closed it. A week later she clicked in again and closed it again. She told us, "It's not that I don't want to save. I just don't know if doing this would be weird."

What she was unsure about wasn't the product. It was the status

Jiaying has been buying again for fourteen months, so the product isn't the issue for her. The real decision she was stuck on was this: keep buying at the three-tier retail prices, or activate a self-use franchise and buy the same things at cost price.

People usually get stuck here because the word "franchise" sounds like you have to go into business and go find people. But the site's franchise plan spells it out clearly. This is a path for loyal users. You can use it only for yourself, with no need to stock up and no need to find anyone. There is only one big difference from retail: the price you pay changes from retail price to cost price. Everything else is a choice, not an obligation.

Four standards you can check yourself, plus one conversation

You don't need to ask anyone whether to activate. Go through the four points below and you'll have your answer. All four are facts already stated on the site's /join page.

• 1. How much you use each month. Retail pricing has three tiers: the regular single-item price, a bundle price when you pick any 2 items, and a VIP price when you spend NT$4,000 or more. After activating franchise status, all later purchases are at cost price. The steadier your usage and the longer you keep it up, the more the "self-use price difference" between retail and cost price adds up. If you only buy once a month or just now and then, the difference is small.
• 2. Whether family or friends use it with you. This isn't about going out to find people. If your husband or sisters already use it with you at home, one order will hold more than it would for just you, and the self-use price difference grows with it. If not, that's fine too. You can activate for pure self-use.
• 3. Whether you're willing to meet the first purchase minimum. There are two activation plans. With Plan A, your first purchase of any products you choose totals NT$6,600 or more. With Plan B, your first purchase of any products you choose totals NT$19,600 or more. Both add a NT$200 processing fee, and you also complete app member registration and a 3.5 hour online course assessment. This first purchase isn't an extra fee. It's products you would buy anyway, just bought all at once to reach the minimum.
• 4. Whether you need to stock up. You don't. The site says it's a zero-inventory start: after activating, you order directly at cost price and buy only as much as you use. You can still order on the fifth of every month like you do now.

Here's a conversation Jiaying had with the Duoduo team before she activated. She agreed to let us share it, with only her name changed:

Jiaying: "I'm only drinking it myself. Would it be weird to activate?"
Team: "Not at all. Most people on the site who activate start out using it just for themselves."
Jiaying: "Do I need to stock up on a batch first?"
Team: "No. It's a zero-inventory start. You just order whenever you need something, and the price is cost price."
Jiaying: "Then do I have to go get people to join?"
Team: "You don't. If you want to share, share. If not, keep it pure self-use. Either way works."
Jiaying: "So the only difference is the price?"
Team: "Right. The difference is what you pay for the same things. Everything else is up to you."

Three common worries: being seen as recruiting people, stocking up, and not being able to work out the numbers

Worried about being seen as recruiting people. This is where most people get stuck. The self-use franchise is designed so you don't have to find a single person. You just buy your own things at cost price. Nobody will ask you to refer anyone, and there's no condition like "you need to find a certain number of people." If you later want to share with people around you, that's your own choice.

Worried about the pressure of stocking up. A zero-inventory start means that pressure isn't there. Your first purchase is products you would use anyway, and after that you buy as much or as little as you like each time. There's no monthly stock requirement.

Worried about not being able to work out the numbers. This one is the easiest to solve. Retail price, bundle price, VIP price and cost price are all numbers published on the site. Multiply them by how many you buy each month and you have the difference for a year. Usually the numbers feel confusing only because nobody has put them side by side in one table.

Run the numbers once with your own figures

Jiaying went on to activate Plan A. She told us that on the day she decided, she didn't ask anyone. She just took the two boxes of 厚焙奶茶 and one box of 輕卡肽纖飲肽可可 she buys every month and worked out a year at retail price and a year at cost price. Once she saw the difference, she felt this had nothing to do with "doing business." It was simply "the same things, bought at a different price."

We turned what she did that day into a calculator. Pick your products and enter how many you buy each month, and it works out a year of spending at the retail price, the bundle price and the VIP price, so you can first see clearly how much you spend in a year now. Franchise cost prices aren't public, so if you've already activated, log in and it will run the numbers again with your own tier price and show you the difference directly. It won't tell you whether to activate. That's your decision. It just puts the numbers side by side in one table.

Now it's your turn. Use the calculator to run your own numbers once. If anything is unclear after you're done, leave a comment and we'll add the answer to this article.

FAQ

Q: Do I have to get people to join if I activate a self-use franchise?
No. With the self-use franchise described on the site's /join page, you don't have to find a single person. You just buy what you use at cost price, and there's no condition like "you need to find a certain number of people." Whether you later share with people around you is your own choice.

Q: Do I need to stock up before activating a self-use franchise?
No. The site says it's a zero-inventory start. After activating, you order directly at cost price and buy only as much as you use. There's no monthly stock requirement, and you can keep ordering on a set day each month like you do now.

Q: What are the two activation plans for a self-use franchise?
With Plan A, your first purchase of any products you choose totals NT$6,600 or more. With Plan B, your first purchase of any products you choose totals NT$19,600 or more. Both add a NT$200 processing fee, and you also complete app member registration and a 3.5 hour online course assessment. Plan terms follow what the site's "Join FP" page currently says.

Q: How do retail prices differ from prices after activating franchise status?
Retail uses three-tier pricing: the regular single-item price, a bundle price when you pick any 2 items, and a VIP price when you spend NT$4,000 or more. After activating franchise status, all later purchases are at cost price. Cost prices aren't public. If you've already activated, log in and the calculator in this article will use your own tier price to show the difference for a year.