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Well for years, buying things on TV shopping channels usually meant buying, you know, cheap or tacky products

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that were sold by overly excited pitchmen, but no more.

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The U.S. channel QVC has attracted top designers to its airwaves, selling some 166 million products worldwide last year.

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Alina Cho takes a look at QVC's new image.

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It was a little shaky in the early days.

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Everybody wants this ladder. I live in an apartment with vaulted ceilings. Uh-oh.

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That was then.

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They're not in Kansas anymore as they would have said in The Wizard of Oz. They've arrived.

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This is now. Founded in 1986, QVC, the 24-hour TV network for at-home shoppers

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is now an $8 billion business.

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But here's the real news: among the big-name designer set, QVC is suddenly cool.

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It's mesmerizing, but on top of that now it really looks great.

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QVC is so selective, it's reported thousands apply for just a few spots.

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Like Isaac Mizrahi, Diane von Furstenberg and Vivienne Tam.

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Dennis Basso, furrier to the stars is on Madison Avenue and on QVC selling faux fur amounting to tens of millions in sales

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and it is not just designers.

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You just have to feel how stretchy this is.

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Even the Kardashian sisters are getting into the game, but in order to stay, you have to sell.

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Pressure's on. When you're on, it is like sell, sell, sell.

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Yeah, you have to sell, so we try and just give as much information as we know about the products

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and why we love them, why we created it, what the fit's like, what the cut's like

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and it helps for them to see it on us.

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It is all part of the game.

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They psych into the consumers in a way that nobody does.

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They know, they know. They know how to move goods. It's a fascinating thing to watch.

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Show hosts caress handbags, and what about candles? How do you sell products you can't smell?

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Caramel, nutmeg.

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There are tricks to selling.

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They'll tell me when I'm saying something to go back and say it because the customer reacts to it.

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Then there's the interaction with designers that customers don't get in a store.

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Like a product? Don't like it? Call in.

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Are you getting our "today's special value"?

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Oh, yes, in the amethyst.

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They get to talk to you on the phone.

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That's my favorite part. That is my favorite part.

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And that connection breeds loyalty; 95 percent of QVC's revenue comes from repeat customers.

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And our numbers tell us that if you make two or three purchases on QVC,

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you will be a customer for life.

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New designer Coralie Charriol's family is in the luxury jewelry business,

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but when she started her own brand, she wanted to go affordable selling handbags on QVC.

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Her task on this night? Sell 800 in 15 minutes.

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So, fewer than 200 bags remaining. The plum is completely sold out.

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And you hear, "This color is not available anymore." You're like, "Yes! Somebody likes what I'm doing!"