“Tofu was a tough sell"

December 4, 2016 1:22 PM

In what remains a QVC record, Ina Garten — the only guest who Mr. Venable says made him feel like a crazed teenager at a rock concert — sold out of 30,000 copies of her latest book in 25 minutes 4 seconds. And that doesn’t take into account what the publishing industry calls the QVC effect. That is, the extra sales and marketing power that rises up through Amazon sales and bookstore orders because QVC has deemed a book worthy. -- QVC’s David Venable: The Man Who Helps America Cook by Kim Severson, New York Times
posted by Room 641-A (16 comments total)

Reminder: you can usually get around the NYT paywall by opening the link in an incognito tab or by googling the name of the article and clicking through from there.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:24 PM on December 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

My book isn't doing QUITE as well. How do I get on that show?
posted by Repack Rider at 2:03 PM on December 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

My book isn't doing QUITE as well. How do I get on that show?

WITH JUST 4 EASY PAYMENTS OF $19.99, ACT FAST, QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED, BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE....
posted by Fizz at 2:41 PM on December 4, 2016 [4 favorites]

We former and current Central PA people of a certain age, remember David fondly when he was an anchor at WTAJ-TV 10.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 3:24 PM on December 4, 2016 [4 favorites]

QVC knows its audience. A typical shopper may be an upscale metro suburban woman over 35 who wears Spanx, drinks Starbucks and is thinking about ordering a KitchenAid mixer on her iPhone.

I am stunned to learn I am prime QVC territory (give a few years), as I have never watched extensively. My Mom loves watching it, but I don't know if she orders. Is this my destiny???
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:30 PM on December 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

Also, little known fact. Every year around November 1, we got a form to fill out at work so we could get an additional 20% off of any QVC purchase. Never took part but it was a nice perk to have ( worked for a cable company )
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 3:37 PM on December 4, 2016 [2 favorites]

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the a cappella group David Venable belonged to in college. It is the Clef Hangers, not the Cliffhangers.
posted by andromache at 4:07 PM on December 4, 2016 [6 favorites]

When I worked at UPS several years ago, QVC rivaled Amazon in terms of volume. Totally didn't expect that.
posted by schmod at 5:59 PM on December 4, 2016 [6 favorites]

I am stunned to learn I am prime QVC territory (give a few years)

Me too!! At least if you subtract the Spanx (*involuntary shudder*) and tack on "...after obsessively cross-referencing reviews and technical specifications for all the pasta maker attachments like Aziz Ansari after too much bourbon" to that KitchenAid-on-an-iPhone statement. Whiiiich I'm pretty sure excludes me from the target demo after all.
posted by deludingmyself at 7:37 PM on December 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

(Somewhere Bob Bowersox stares grimly at his copy of the NYT.)

David Venable is hilarious in small doses. I can't take him for longer than an hour at a time. But to me, the start of QVC cooking shows is Meredith Laurence who demonstrates quite a few products on-air. She's an actual chef that teaches techniques and her non-pressure cooking cookbook was fantastic.

Yeah...I'm a QVC person, without the Spanx. Sometimes they GOUGE you on things by bundling a bunch of crap you don't want with the item you do and messing with the price, but otherwise I've had some really good deals. During a less-fruitful time, being able to use their monthly easy-pay system with my debit card for big-ticket items was a godsend. As always, moderation is key.
posted by kimberussell at 7:54 PM on December 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the a cappella group David Venable belonged to in college. It is the Clef Hangers, not the Cliffhangers.

Is he Andy Bernard?
posted by rhizome at 8:46 PM on December 4, 2016

In my rural PA location, with an antenna in the attic, I can get 30-something OTA channels, including subchannels. At least 8 of those are QVC, HSN, and similar stations, including one entire channel+2 subchannels.

Also, my dearly departed grandmother was a QVC addict for a few years. Sometimes she would have stuff mailed to my mom's house so my grandfather wouldn't find out she ordered yet another thing from them.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:22 PM on December 4, 2016

...what's a subchannel?

(Sorry, haven't had cable or broadcast TV in many years. No, I'm not bragging.)

Edit: never mind. Huh.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 4:01 AM on December 5, 2016

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the a cappella group David Venable belonged to in college. It is the Clef Hangers, not the Cliffhangers.

Bunch of treble makers, that crew.
posted by mintcake! at 8:48 AM on December 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

My mom is a die-hard QVC fan, and she adores David. Any time I visit here, I'm usually subjected to many, many hours of QVC and I have to admit, it can get a little addictive. The kitchen stuff isn't really my cup of tea, but they carry a lot of high end fashion and beauty products that are so very tempting.

I always assumed their target demographic were people like my mom - 60s women who stay home a lot. After reading this, I don't feel so weird for ordering a few of my Christmas gifts from QVC this year.
posted by tryniti at 6:11 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Bunch of treble makers, that crew.

And on what, pray tell, did you bass that conclusion?
posted by Celsius1414 at 9:22 AM on December 9, 2016