Brenna Will Be Tearing Up That $100 Check She Wrote Yesterday
Written by L J on August 8, 2008 – 9:09 am -Your Name: Brenna
Date Joined MK : August 7, 2008
When Left MK or Still Active?: August 8, 2008
Initial Inventory Purchased: None
How were you recruited?:
I recently moved to a new area and a lady randomly called me and said she wanted to welcome me to the neighborhood by giving me a bunch of free MK products and a free facial. (The “free products” were actually just a bag of those stupid paper samples tied with a ribbon–Thanks for adding to my recycling bin lady) That facial took 3 hours. My husband was pretty annoyed since it was his day off.
Memorable experience you had in MK:
The hilarious “scripts.”
For an answering machine: “Hi Sue. This is Mary. You ARE coming to my Mary Kay Debut, AREN’T you? I REALLY need your support. You CAN come, CAN’T you? I KNOW you’ll be there. I’ll count on you as coming unless you call me. Can’t wait to see you!!!!!”
Can we say “shoot me now to redirect my agonizing pain?”
What did you learn from MK?:
That all of life revolves around winning a free watch.
What are you doing now? :
Full time parent, part time art instructor.
Additional Comments:
I was actually really excited about the idea at first. I am an artistic stay-at-home-mom, and the thought of doing makeovers for a living was attractive. So, I sent in my hundred dollar check with the lady who came by today. Not until after I signed everything, did she tell me that the minimum starting inventory was $600! Luckily, I had known someone who just ordered as they got orders, so I knew that it couldn’t be the “real” minimum. She finally admitted as much when I pressed her.
Now that I have been researching and thinking about it tonight, I came to realize that when it comes down to it, MK parties are just plain cheesy, as is all the literature that I’ve been given so far. I don’t want to be some kind of pink robot.
As far as “reinventing the wheel goes,” I’m a creative person, and if I were to do it, I would want to do it my own way. No pressuring, just girls having fun gettin pretty!
The recruiter wanted me to make a list of 50 friends/relatives for my debut party, and the script she gave was soooo whiny and pathetic. “I’m counting on you” blah blah. AND she was going to be the one giving facials at the party–some strange old lady no one knows? I was thinking of telling her no way on that humiliating party, but then I started having visions of going door to door in my neighborhood handing out flyers, inviting other full time moms to a block party to meet the neighbors. The tag line would be something like: “How excited would your husband be if you actually had makeup on when he came home from work Friday night?” (Since most moms of toddlers can look pretty haggard at the end of the day)
I did the math though, and I would need thousands of customers to make a living at all. So the question remained, even if that worked, where would the other thousand customers come from?
I already got suckered once with Cutco (selling knives-$215 starter pack-got my money back on that one too). The whole reason I was interested was to try to contribute financially to our family as a SAHM. But it definitely sounds like I would have to sacrifice a lot of family time to be successful at this.
And now, hearing that the product is not all it appears to me, especially that the mineral line could even be harmful… I called the MK lady and told her to hold the $100 check until I can “get more info” from her. She agreed, so I will go by tomorrow and tear it up. Also, I am going to exchange the Mineral foundation powder I bought for the Medium cover foundation. I prefer tumorless lungs, actually.
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who was so helpful in sharing their opinions. You saved me lots of time and money!
Tags: initial inventory, makeover, Mary Kay, Mary Kay Consultant, mk, Scripts, Selling, stay at home
Posted in Mary Kay Consultant Stories |
Colleen on 
Tam on 
Sassy_C on
August 8th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Good for you, Brenna…you saw through all the pink BS before they could even send your check in for the Starter Kit.
Even though I have never met you, I like you, your BS meter is working girlfriend! If it doesn’t feel right, trust your gut instinct. When you catch your recruiter lying right off the bat, you have good reason not to believe anything she said! Bravo!!!
August 8th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Way to go, Brenna! I wish I had run when I was invited to that party! You go, girl! I use Bare Minerals and love it…no talc to cause lung cancer! And if you join their club, instead of $25 a tub, it’s about $12 a tub…3 tubs shipped to you every 60 days or 90 days…however often you decide, so you’re getting a savings and you won’t be hassled by the MK lady! Plus, you can send any of the Bare Minerals back for a refund if you don’t like it. As a consultant, you can’t do that with the product that you have used. You’re just out of luck or have to lie to get the product replaced and who would want to replace product when you’re trying to get rid of it. Take care and keep us all posted!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
You’ve not only saved a ton of cash…but a whole world of heartache and humiliation! JMO!
So thrilled for you! You rock! WOOO HOOO!
August 8th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Thanks, your comments made me smile.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Brenna -
Congrats! You REALLY are 1 SHARP woman! Your BS meter picked up right away on the MK lines! 1) Scripts - who would ever really talk like that & still have friends? 2) Inventory - don’t even get me started! 3) Customers - they really don’t come knockin at your door! 4) Family time - you would be expected to attend weekly meetings, normally from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm, plus socializing, then drive home, not counting classes, phone call booking attempts, etc, etc!
Way to go! You ROCK!
August 9th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Ok, the deed has officially been done. I couldn’t get a hold of her yesterday, but today I tracked her down. I politely said, “It seems like a lovely opportunity, but it is just not the best timing for me right now.” She gave me a long speech about how I “just have the fear of the unknown.” But, I stood firm and ever so sweetly twisted her arm, and she finally gave in and returned my check. Also, I did exchange the mineral powder for the medium cover foundation. When I left, she even gave me a parting gift of a bunch of different mini satin hands products. So, in the end, I didn’t feel like it was a complete waste of time because I did end up getting more than just those paper “samples” after all. Hopefully all of this has taught her that honesty is the best policy. If she had been more upfront with me in the beginning, I might have actually been more open to everything. I just don’t feel comfortable doing business with someone who acts sneaky and insincere.
August 9th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Glad to hear the “deed is done”! LOL! Cheers to you!
August 10th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Yeah Brenna!!! So many of us that fell for it, wasted years and thousands of dollars, are SOO happy that you were able to see through the fakeness before getting sunk. This is basically what we’re here for - to warn others. I’m so glad you did your research and decided not to join. Now “that’s something I can get excited about”!
August 10th, 2008 at 11:52 am
You guys are all pathetic…it is no scheme…its a chance to make a business and a name for yourself. Mary Kay is simply presenting the marketing plan its up to you to work to where you want to be. There is nothing wrong with being an “MK lady” its a job, and I am one of those so called ladies. I love what I do, I was able to quit my 2 jobs and make more than what I did annually with Mary Kay then working in 2 long term care facilities. Its great work, which btw, doesn’t even feel like work when you are able to enrich the life of another woman by making her feel good about herself. Where is the harm in that. Seriously, unless you have been in it for more than one day…grow up. This is a company built by a woman who had a focus to help women in the world have their dream job, if its not for you thats fine, that doesn’t give you free range to speak so poorly of a company that has changed the lives of millions of people.
MK may not be for everyone, but all we do is simply offer the opportunity to those who we feel are women with passion, heart and love to pass it forward to others too.
I am a proud Mary Kay consultant and future director and I love my job, and everything it entails.
Jennifer B.
August 10th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
“You guys are all pathetic” That’s quite rude! Aren’t you supposed to be positive, happy cheery pink? Those are NOT pink happy words! Please do not be rude. You are entitled to your opinion (as you voiced quite clearly) and we are entitled to ours. SO PLAY NICE!
August 10th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Jennifer, I’m glad your MK business is so successful. You must be one smart cookie to have avoided all the pitfalls.
As you stated you have your opinions and we have ours, but believe me we were in MK for more than a day and we worked very hard.
All we have left is a stack of credit cards and debt, oh and all that product that didn’t “fly off the shelves”
Come inside and hear our side of the story. We have members who were in MK anywhere from 1 day to several years and at all levels. We have former SD’s, IBC’s, Team Leaders, car drivers.
As you say MK is not for everyone and not everyone’s life was enriched by this MLM.
As Sassy says, you are welcome to visit and state your opinion, just be respectful of those who have a different one and please no name calling.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Jennifer, we are giving the public our experiences. Why should we keep quiet about a company that has “changed our lives”, changed our lives for the worse that is. So how much inventory do you have? Are you counting profit when you say you make more now or just sales?
There is no way you are actually making aliving doing MK. what does your husband say? Oh Oh OH! You are just an MK consultant? Then you are outright lying aboutmaking a living! Next!
August 10th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
“if its not for you thats fine, that doesn’t give you free range to speak so poorly of a company that has changed the lives of millions of people.”
No, being American does. We can say whatever we want whether you like it or not. I’d reexamine who you’re calling pathetic, since you are a Mary Kay Consultant.
Good luck with being a future director, lmao.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Way to go!
August 11th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Jennifer,
I know that I do not have any room to judge the company after only being “with” Mary Kay for one day. (Not that it even counted) I have plenty of respect for Mary Kay. I actually learned a lot about her in business classes in college. I never said it wasn’t possible to make money selling MK products. I even mentioned buying some myself. In fact, I was just on facebook and a relative (who I didn’t know was an MK rep) invited me to try the virtual makeover, and it was pretty fun. I’m not here to necessarily bash MK (although I did have a little bit of fun joking about my experience) The point to my story was that thanks to this website, I came to recognize that the job just wasn’t going to add up financially in MY situation.
August 12th, 2008 at 5:26 am
LOL!!! ”I prefer tumorless lungs, actually.” OMG that is so funny.
You are a very eloquent, well-spoken person who will undoubtedly find financial success in a way that will acommadate your family schedule. Blessings!
August 15th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I want to join the MK team just to get the 50% on my make up, but I have read so many bad reviews that now I am scare to sign up the contract. I am still not sure if to get discounts I need to spend $400 retail price a year like my MK consultant told me or every 3 month as I read on a review.
August 15th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
My wife is a consultant and we have two small children. So that is a bit about me.
It seems that both sides of the argument contain valid points. Jennifer correctly states that Mary Kay represents opportunity and a fairly solid business plan. I can even see the reason for the name calling. It takes true grit for the many of us to be successful. Mary Kay and any business takes hard work, dedication, and the ability to grow for your goals.
On the other hand, as in most competitions, there are those who see winning, not playing, as their main priority. Mary Kay was not built by passive women and it is no surprise that more than a few consultants/directors/aspiring entrepreneurs have acted badly or solely with there own interests at heart. Their actions fuel this type of discourse. People such as these make and live by there choices.
That is what seems to me to be the real issue at hand: choice. Most of us here know what it is like to act in our own best interests and, for the most part, we do it daily without regret or remors and the acts themselves are of no consequence. When we compromise the interests of others for personal gain it is usually not something we get away with. Most parents try to instill a sense of fairness in there children as we do ours. Witnessing a Mary Kay representative acting in a dishonest and self-serving manner gives the company a bad name. So in that the justifiably irate people who share their stories here have valid points.
To all those folks: I know what you are going through and I wish you well. It has been tough on me and the kids having to let mom go out and do. We need her and love her very much.
To the those that defend Mary Kay: I support my sweetie as she did me when I was building my career. I took risks to get to where I am. (I didn’t think I had it in me)! The only way to rise above the rest of the crowd and achieve the success is by taking risks.
I hope those who feel burned will get over it, get out, and get ‘er done
Good luck to you!
August 15th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Oh dear:
there != their
My grammar was atrocious! DOH!
August 15th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I want to join the MK team just to get the 50% on my make up, but I have read so many bad reviews that now I am scare to sign up the contract. I am still not sure if to get discounts I need to spend $400 retail price a year like my MK consultant told me or every 3 month as I read on a review.
Eyeshadow MK…here is the REAL truth. You must place an order for $400 retail to get a 50% discount. That order will get you a 50% discount only in the month you place the order + the next 2 months.
In order to receive a 50% discount in the 4th month + you must again have at least $400 retail.
You can stay “active” without placing additional orders for up to 12 months after your last order of $400 retail or higher.
After that you will have to “rejoin” as a 2nd chance IBC for $25 or resign with a new agreement and starter kit for $100 + shipping and sales tax.
most recruiters will not tell you “the full story” before you are recruited and they won’t mention that you need “inventory” to stock yoru store” and be succesful until you have signed and submitted the agreement.
It is possible to be a personal use consultant and only order when you and your friends can get together a $400 retail order. If that is what you want, don’t let anyone talk you into more!
August 15th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Justin, I can’t tell from your post if you are supporting your wife as a “success” or hoping she “will be successful”.
If you are not sure where she is, be sure you have a hand in the finances or you could be unpleasantly surprised at the amount of debt she is “racking up” while she “fakes it until she makes it”.
You may want to step inside our forum and read some of our stories. It is not possible to make an “executive” income in MK and it is not possible to reach and stay at the Director or higher level without recruiting and “frontloading” your recruits with inventory, constantly.
The commission made from a recruits wholesale orders is not safe to “spend ” until after a year from the date she received it as when a recruit decides to return product to MK for 90% buyback, MK will “chargeback” that amount and take it from her commission check or “bill” her for it!
So when MK boasts that commissions come from MK and not the consultants, they are not being honest with you. In most jobs where a “sales” commission”: is earned, even if the item is returned, the sales rep does not have their commission taken back…in MK this will happen!
It is a vicious cycle that many women find themselves using their credit cards in hopes that they someday will be making that “executive;” income and be able to pay off all the debt and live the “high life”.
Glad you posted, Justin and I wish you and your wife success…but odds are it will not come from her MK business, which by the way she has very little control of…read the fine print in the agreement. MK makes all the rules and decisions about how and where you can make a sale, advertise or do any incoming producing activity and it is in MK’s best interest not the consultant!
August 15th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
LJ…how did my “monster change”? Note the difference in both of my posts which I made sequentially!
August 15th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Testing……
August 15th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Another test!
August 15th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
LJ, can you tell what email address I typed in for each of the above “ monsters”?
August 15th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Hey thanks for responding! Nice Handle
You said a couple of things that I agree with. The front loading is an unacceptable practice and my wife refuses to encourage it and I am proud of her for that. And you are generally correct about when it would be safe to start taking a profit from your sales - 11 to 12 months.
We are honest with each other about house and life finances. As far as inventory building she did things according to our means and not what was being recommended. She has been slowly building up her inventory as time and money permits. I am proud that she is willing to go slow and steady and build good business relationships. She is a rare and special lady. “What is the rush?” We asked each other. Clearly her personal philosophies are at odds with what is being promoted in the field. She has even called the corporate about certain ingredients in MK products. In short she has fun but keeps her BS detector well tuned.
I agree debt is indeed a vicious cycle. Ick! As for the commissions it all in the end must come from the person finally using the product. The company does indeed make its money in wholesale and seems to do rather well off of those who choose to sell it.
The mention of the “high life” made me smile. It would be fun for sure. But as we go through life success entails being comfortable together and helping others through whatever careers we choose.
She has a real chance to use what is being offered to her and our advantage. The crux of it really came from being told how wondrous it would be to achieve director status. My wife went to Texas and participated in the MK convention and one of there super-directors was advising a more steady and solid road to success without a flurry of shotgun recruiting. This is the way the company should be run. I can see a genuine threat to the MK business model coming from idiots (I do not use that term lightly) concerned only with short term gains. As Chris Rock famously said, “Life is loooong!” Plenty of time to do it right.
It is my hope that people like my wife and that million dollar director can help make sites like this less necessary. This site serves a vital purpose right now that can not be ignored by the company. The message should apply to all companies. “Dishonesty and predation is bad business.”
Cheers to those that give the disenfranchised a voice. This is vital.
August 15th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Geez Lippie, you were a guitar pick, then a pac-man ghost bunny, then a viking sheep guitar pick!
To Jennifer and those who think like her: I find it highly doubtful that you are making more annually, per your taxes, in MK than in 2 full-time jobs at long-term res. care facilities. I am all too familiar with that line of work and even back in the ’90’s it paid more than what a long string of “good weeks” in MK pays! And I’m not even factoring in inflation!! Go read your taxes, those losses are real losses. That’s money you actually spent, and did not recoup. The pink rah-rah rhetoric says “Yay, it’s tax deductible!”. Well, if you are spending more than you are making, you’re losing. Come tax time, you’re only allowed to take up to a pre-set dollar limit of deductions. The exact amount depends on what tax bracket you’re in. So although MK makes it sound so cheery that they can find a way to say anything is a tax deduction, in the end, if you’ve spent over that allowed amount, you are POL (pink outta luck).
Would you MK’ers quit making me repeat myself? lol
August 16th, 2008 at 12:48 am
RTP…you make some very valid points about the expenses and tax deductions. Most people only see one side..and you presented both very well!
Justin, sorry if i made you feel that I thought your wife was not being honest with you. It sounds like you have a great relationship, share the same values and believe in and trust each other. That means a lot.
The only reason I brought the issue up is that many MK SD’s encourage hiding expenses from husbands and the “fake it till you make it”
strategy as a way of making it to the top.
I applaud your wife if she is working her business ethically and I applaud you for supporting her.
Just both of you beware of the pitfalls and I do wish you both success and much happiness.
It is not nearly important in life to have things as it is to have a good person to share with, both good and bad and it seems that you are both lucky to have found a good person to “do life with”!
Be mindful also that there isa great deal of turnover in MK and that as a SD she will need to constantly keep recruiting replacements for those that fall out and her unit has to be very high in her personal recruits at all times, lest one of her successful offspring become a SD and take half her unit with her!
I applaud both of you for trying to do what feels right to you instead of blindly following!
Best of luck to you both and just be constantly aware of all the expenses in the business and the pitfalls!
August 18th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
It’s me again ladies! Still mulling over how to make my exit from MK. The only appealing thing that I can still see in remaining active is being able to get my own products at 50% off. But then I have to have $400 retail order every 3 months basically, Now with that, am I making my $200 profit from that? So if I am correct and I can actually make a profit from this, I will make about $200 every three months? Wow, I think my decision is made. To Jennifer who posted a few days ago, I would love to be a fly on the wall when you prepare your taxes next year! You cannot convince me that you are making a substantial living as an MK consultant or even a Director. I am not even going to ask you about how you are paying for health care or saving for retirement. Oh that’s right, MK will set you on the path to financial freedom so you don’t have to worry about that little thing called old age, and you won’t look old either because will have used about 200 Miracle Sets! You won’t have to worry about Social Security and Medicare because you will be a million dollar Sales director and your “business” will practically run itself. Please don’t rest your future on that nonsence.
The reality about MK has set in for me and not a moment too soon. I still have plenty of time to send back this inventory, pay off this $700 on the MK Card, take the rest of my money and live my life. I am so glad that my debt is only $700 as opposed to the thousands some of you have lost, for which I am sorry.
So Jennifer if you really want to enrich a woman’s life, tell her the truth about MK. Go to you local Boys and Girls Club and mentor a young girl or go a battered women’s shelter and help a wounded women get on her feet. And don’t make her spend her last $100 on MK starter kit! Encourage her to think for herself and pursue her own goals. Tell her to get an education and get a job that pays benefits. If they want to be real business owners, tell them to go to their local community college of any nonprofit organization and learn about starting a small business.
You might also want to be careful with who you call pathetic. What’s more pathetic than using scripts ( ie. ” I’m so excited”, “Can you get excited”, “Show up to go up” , “Can I count on you”, blah, blah, blah!) that if you weren’t a consultant you would laugh at, just to sell a product that supposedly can sell itself? Think that over and get back to me.
August 19th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Brenna, it sounds like you know what you want to do and you want to return your product, but you are waiting on somebody to tell you why you shouldn’t?
I’m going to tell you to return your product get what money you can out of it and be done with it.
You can pretty much buy whatever you want at wholesale here on the forum, wihout having to make a minimum order. There are current consultants as well as new ones gettting out every day.
If they don’t have it, you can get it from the liquidators in this forum or e-Bay or TOP.
Go on and make that call and return your product. You will feel instant relief when it’s all over!
August 19th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Wow, I’m really impressed with Justin right now! He obviously IS a husband who knows what his wife is up to, and she was very wise to build her inventory over time (which in MOST cases, imo, is the best way).
I feel as though I should apologize for Jennifer’s opening comment. :( Jen, as a sister consultant, love ya pal, but watch the tone! I agree with many of your points, but name-calling is really not the best way to get a point accross. If someone called me a liar, or naive, or just ridiculous for LOVING mary kay as opposed to being disillusioned with it… I prolly wouldn’t listen to what they had to say next! But I understand completely! I’m proud of our company as well, and it hurts to hear people who have been hurt by others who, in my opinion were misrepresenting the truth about Mary Kay.
However, as a rebuttal to the naysayers
My mom makes between $2000-$4500 per month in commissions. And that is WITHOUT pressuring her unit!! Her girls see the potential in Mary Kay and are just reproducing HER success. How is that NOT a good income?? She also SELLS a whole heck of a lot on her OWN, and that covers her overhead, with some still left over.
My best friend and I looked into a Dogtopia Franchise. It’s a dog daycare. It was $30,000 to open the francise, which gave you all of THEIR proven methods of success and operations. PLUS the building costs, getting codes for the county, etc was gonna be between $150-$200k. Most businesses it takes roughly 5 years before you start to see black.
Sure with our company they say $100 for starter kit (altho we tell full price with tax and shipping), $200 to activate (altho you even have 3 months to do that), PLUS you have 50% discount on product (if you’re really tracking finances well, just say 40% to cover shipping and section 2)… really, where is the problem? Even if you took orders from people, and they waited for you to deliver it, you still make decent part time income! Altho I haven’t really begun working MK like the career I know it can be, I’ve still made great pt income that has helped me out of a jam many times!
August 19th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I just had a thought… could you all post which seminar group you were part of? Perhaps Pearl Seminar just has better leadership? I honestly don’t know, but I know many ppl in my upline would be heartbroken to know how many directors and other consultants have been acting this way
August 19th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Oh! Sorry I’m a talker… and I know it comes from the fact that I AM passionate about Mary Kay. :) But My Beauty, and others, have talked about the enthusiasm, and stuff in a negative sense. My response is simply that if you DO love Mary Kay (as I do and many others as well) you ARE excited about it! :) It SHOULDN’T be fake in any way! We have a few personal use consultants in our unit, and they are very happy doing just that! One lady even comes to all our special events just to fellowship with the rest of us! We LIKE each other! You don’t get that way by being fake with people.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Sarah, there is no way your mother is selling enough MK to cover all her overhead, I will bet she gives away more MK than she sells!!!!! You said in another post that she has 4O+ in her unit and 1 red jacket? Trust me, she is spending tons of money right now trying to stay afloat. Also you said that your mom is so nice that the girls are going to help her get her Caddy. You mean that they are going to go in debt for your mother, how nice…………..
August 20th, 2008 at 9:44 am
“but I know many ppl in my upline would be heartbroken to know how many directors and other consultants have been acting this way”
No they wouldn’t. Trust me.
You have NO idea how some of these directors act behind the scenes. It’s not pretty. It’s not even nice. They may be “good” people, but the run for the dollar, the pressure to recruit and get those orders makes a lot of them nasty.
I know that a lot of consultants want to think this isn’t the case. They can’t believe it. But they’re blinded by the brainwashing and the rah rah. Lots of others here were too.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I typed a great respons a while ago that didn’t post! So mad! LOL, it was probably my fault. Anyway, Sarah I respect your feelings about MK and you are entitled to them. But dear, if I am seeing questionable things after just over a month there must really be some problems with it. These things aren’t being made up. I just told everyone that a team member is improperly advertising MK, which our team leader has knowledge of and did not attempt to correct. Now does this represent everyone in MK, no but too many women here have referenced several unethical practices that they have also witnessed firsthand.
Now as for the money, if you are satisfied with what you are bringing in great. I would be interested in knowing though how you solicit customers and how consistent are they with purchasing? I also wonder if you have had to markdown your inventory to move it so that you could make even a small profit. You stated that your mother is bringing in $2000-$4500 in commissions monthly, which is quite a large range. I am not sure what a “heck of a lot” is, regarding her own personal sales. In any event with that I kind of commission, looks to me like she could go to a dealership and lease her own Cadillac, which she will essentially be doing when she “earns” it with MK. Why is it the unit’s responsibilty to put her or anyone else in a car? Will the entire unit get to drive it? I doubt it.
Some consultants speak of how “sweet” and “nice” fellow IBCs are as though MK is a sorority. Is it? At times my unit meetings have felt like one and I never wanted to be in a sorority! Bottom line, show me a woman who has not put herself in debt, can have a conversation without scripts, and has substantial earnings from MK on top of her primary income, and is NOT a ISD or a NSD. For the most part I still believe that the women who have the most “success” with MK are middle aged, retired, married women, with either zero or adult children. They have the extra time and sometimes the money to devote to it. Young women who have other ambitions will just be disappointed.
August 20th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
For the most part I still believe that the women who have the most “success” with MK are middle aged, retired, married women, with either zero or adult children. They have the extra time and sometimes the money to devote to it. Young women who have other ambitions will just be disappointed.
My Beauty you summed it up in a nutshell and it didn’t take you years to figure it out either! The biggest reason older women without children “seem” the mpst successful is because they are at a tiem in their lives when they have extra money or their husbands are at the top or have been at the top of their careers and can afford for their wives to have an “expensive” hobby.
Young women who are successful at MK usually don’t have children andthey listen to the “do it fast” advice and hurriedly recruit a unit of 30 and then either fail becauase they can’t sustain the numbers or get into the practice of recruiting “new meat” every month and frontloading!
Now before all you “MK is wonderful ladies” jump all over me for making a generalization, I will qualify that by saying there are a few who do not meet the above criteria who are honest, ethical and they don’t need to make a huge salary.
This is what I have seen in the 8-1/2 years I was in MK.
August 20th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
the mpst successful is because they are at a tiem in their lives when they
I should have proofread before I posted. The above should have read: “the most successful is because they are at a time in their lives when they….”
August 21st, 2008 at 8:41 am
Hello everyone……I am thinking of joining the MK team, but after reading these posts I am a little nervous. However, I did read over the MK IBC Agreement thoroughly and did not see anywhere that I would have to spend $400 wholesale a year to stay active and receive the 50% discount. What I understood from the agreement and the SD I spoke with is that if I choose to be a consultant for the makeup and facial cleansers only, I would need to make a $200 wholesale purchase once a year. But I have seen so many different variations of what people have been told on here, I am having a hard time understanding what the truth is. I really like MK products, they work well with my skin and I am really just interested in getting the discount…..is this something that is possible? The SD I talked to didn’t have an issue with it that I wasn’t looking to go into this guns a blazing……maybe the ladies in my area are just honest? I’m not sure…….I also want to make sure I let you all know that I am super appreciative to have found this website and I value the opinions of everyone on here. Can someone help me out? Thanks!!
August 21st, 2008 at 9:19 am
Hi HanCandles!
You need to purchase $200 wholesale once a year to remain with the company, which is $400 retail. You may see people refer to it both ways–$200 wholesale or $400 retail.
But just be aware that you will be “strongly encouraged” to order much more. They will tempt you with free product and lots of convincing arguments as to why you should order $600 wholesale and much more.
Glad you found us!
August 21st, 2008 at 10:37 am
So what’s the amount that would actually come out of my pocket? The $200 or $400??
August 21st, 2008 at 1:41 pm
ACTUAL cost is gonna be $200/year PLUS shipping (each order is $8.95 shipping whether it’s a $200 order OR a $2000 order, it doesn’t matter what size). BUT remember, you’ll be paying TAX on the retail cost (this is a FTC requirement). so IF you only do $200/year ($400 worth retail - think about it as 4 miracle sets and one microdermabrasion set) then your grand total will be (with 7.5% tax) $236.95.
My mother doesn’t have too much overhead. We hold all of our meetings in our home. The largest cost we have is ink cartridges for the printer! Ack! LOL
We also have been trained to NOT give significant markdowns in the product, and I wouldn’t even if my upline hadn’t trained me that way. First of all, the products are exceptional (in my opinion of course) so why would I cheapen them by reducing the retail cost? If I do, in essence I’m saying, “My company sets this price, but it’s really not that great, so I’ll give you a discount cause I’m so utterly desperate to get this crap off my shelves!” Ummm… I don’t think so, tyvm.
Maybe it’s different in certain geographical areas as well, I dunno. But when I get myself out of the house (I admit I’m a homebody, and you dont’ do much business when you don’t talk to anyone LOL) I do quite well. Many people love the products.
I have 3 customers of my own that reorder about $200 per year in skin care and cosmetics, and my customer list is only 20 people. (I’m a slacker :P) Mom however has a customer list of 239 I think, last I checked. In all honesty I’m not sure of he reorders exactly but I know they are pretty good. I’d say at least 30 of those contact her every few months for reorders. (I do a lot of my mom’s office work LOL)
Ok her personal sales average about $1000 per week, does that help? A bad week can be about $300 for her. Sorry I wasn’t very specific.
Because my mother’s unit is small, but very active, she was Rookie of the Year in our National Area this year. How’d she do it? Mostly cause she works her tail off! She’s an incredible time manager, which is a skill I’m sorely lacking. She’s honest, LOVES her girls, is personable, likeable, and people can relate to her.
Mom started 6 years ago as a personal use consultant. They pastored for 20 years, and she’s also a full time teacher. They had zero retirement! So she began to wrack her brain to how they could get OUT of debt and start saving for retirment. MK came to mind, she talked to Dad and he said, “You don’t want to sell anything” and she agreed. Days passed but she couldn’t get it out of her head! So Dad finally said, “Give it a shot, if it’s the Lord, you’ll know, if not there’s nothing to lose in trying.” She’d tried teaching extra classes, selling artwork online, lots of things.
But when she began with MK (she actually had to FIND her director, she had no support and her recruiter had vanished into the wind LOL) she loved it! And it took off from there, just going one step at a time. That was 2.5 years ago.
I tell ya’ll that because my mother isn’t some weird flash in the pan success, and I’m not just blowing smoke. I just want the ladies who ARE interested in giving this a shot to know that MK is NOT an automatic easy thing, it DOES take hard work (unless it’s just personal use for you, your family, and some friends) to make it work. But it IS possible to do so with honesty, integrity, without stabbing anyone in the back or encouraging them to ruin their lives.
Honestly I’m a bit offended by the comment about our unit wanting to help mom get her cadillac. Can she afford one herself? Well, when you’re trying to save for retirement and pay off your home, no she really can’t! But she’s driving a Saturn Vue MK car, so that’s not a problem.
Look, the Cadillac is a GOAL, but she’s not going to encourage someone to go into debt to fund her goal! I’m sure there are ridiculously unethical ladies out there who DO do that, but mom isn’t one of them. I AM glad this website is here cause hopefully it WILL help some girls from making poor financial decisions based on unscrupulous directors and team leaders. But I also hope that those like myself will give the opposite perspective of when you do things the right way, this can be an excellent entreprenurial opportunity.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I shared this website with another of Mom’s consultants. And I asked her if when mom talked to her about her initial inventory order if she felt pressured or anything. She said no, that it just seemed like a good investment, that the extra bonus product she got with her $600 order would pay for her starter kit when she sold it, and much more. There are many reasons why it’s good to have inventory, but the fact is that if you are going to WORK the business then it’s a solid business decision. If you are NOT then DON’T ORDER INVENTORY UP FRONT. Bottom line.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Me again =/ My beauty I forgot to address the issue of consultants violating the agreement by displaying products illegally, etc. My only comment is: PPL like that suck big time, it makes it more difficult for other honest consultants, and the Team Leader is showing poor leadership by allowing that to go on unchecked.
Before I moved home (so I wasn’t here this is what my mom told me) Mom had a new consultant who worked in a privately owned retail store. She wanted to display product in her store, but BEFORE she even signed the agreement my mother repeatedly emphasized the fact that such things violate the agreement, WHY it’s unethical, etc. She signed her agreement, and did it anyway. Mom confronted her on the issue and the girl said that there was another consultant (not in our unit) in the area who was doing the same thing, so why couldn’t she? Mom had reported that consultant already and said that it was the end of her responsibility over a consultant not in her unit, but as far as her unit went they would operate fairly and ethically. The girl got mad, quit, and sold her product back to the company.
You could look at my mom in a good or bad light there, but she did the right thing for all involved! That girl could have said, you’re right, it does violate my contract, so I’m gonna do the right thing, but she didn’t. It was her choice, just like it’s also the choice of all of those other ppl who do crappy things. =/
I work part time at Starbucks, and I love it! But I’m very picky with my co-workers. Most are teens, so they haven’t quite gotten the whole “working with excellence” thing down yet. Altho, many ppl NEVER do, I suppose. Any way, when I see them take shortcuts, not making a drink correctly, or things like that, I correct them. Because every drink that goes out that window doesn’t reflect on simply myself, or the person who made that drink. It reflects on STARBUCKS as a company! So when I’m at work I want to do my BEST because if I service my customers well, they come back, they bring their friends, business grows, and… so do our tips and paychecks!!! So, when you work for ANY company your behavior reflects on that COMPANY, not you! Same with Mary Kay, and unfortunately people don’t carry that weight of responsibility with respect. It’s my job to do MY BEST to be the best I can be and show a GOOD reflection of both Mary Kay and Starbucks.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:59 am
Sarah, you sound like an honest to goodness great young lady. I am not patronizing you either, I mean that. I do think, however, that you have proved one of my points about MK in your story of your mother’s success. At the end of the day I think that the women who really make any money with MK are older women with the time to devote to selling and recruiting. Young unmarried women, like myself, who are trying to establish their primary careers cannot give %100 to MK. I do not have a spouse to pick up any slack for me financially. My first priority is to the employer who provides me with health care and allows me to pay my rent. I am available on weekends to do parties and classes, but I still get the runaround with that. I love to work out, and very seldom do I allow anything to disrupt my work out schedule, but I have set at unit meetings that taught me absolutely nothing when I could have been at the gym taking care of myself. I changed Friday evenings and Saturday mornings around for customers who could not keep appointments. Do you know what I could have done with that time? I have gone to meetings because I felt like I had to, but I left feeling like I could have been doing something else, like working on my Masters thesis to finish graduate school, which I did BTW , WOO-HOO!
Anyway, I hope that recruiters keep this in mind when forming their teams. For a woman who does not understand how this works, she could really be in trouble. I think my recruiter, who I think is in her late 30’s, is trying to have a certain image with her team. I don’t think anyone on our team is over 40, most may be in their mid 20’s. My recruiter has earned her car, though not with my help, but if she wants to stay in it, she better recruit some more. I don’t think this current team will keep her in it.
So to you, Sarah and to any other young women who visits this site, let MK be a hobby for now and don’t let anyone call you lazy for doing so. Focus on your primary career, and if you truly have entrepreneurial ambitions unrelated to MK go for it!
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
I agree completely!! I think it’s awesome that you are devoting so much time to your career! Honestly, I admire your time-management skills and discipline! Work, school, AND working-out!? You rock! LOL
And, shoot, sometimes I don’t want to go to unit meetings, and they are in my house!! :P Each girl has to prioritize and follow where she wants to go.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I have to correct myself. Hancandles, I think it’s possible $200/ year. When you first order $200 you go into “active” status. That lasts 3 months. The next 3 months you are considered “inactive”. The next three are “terminated” 1, 2 and 3. If you get to T3 (the ninth month) your contract with the company is terminated and you would need to sign a new agreement with the company to continue. So, really, it’s not quite $400/year, but not only $200 either. I hope that makes sense.
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
“So what’s the amount that would actually come out of my pocket? The $200 or $400??”
$200.00 — That’s your cost.
You pay 50% of the retail price of the products. You must order $400 retail (which is a cost to you of $200) in 11 months time to stay with the company.
Technically you aren’t “active” but you are still a consultant. Active status is just MK’s terminology to keep track of when you last ordered $200 worth of product.
Sarah, you’re incredibly confusing and it sounds as if you don’t understand it yourself!
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:29 pm
“There are many reasons why it’s good to have inventory, but the fact is that if you are going to WORK the business then it’s a solid business decision. If you are NOT then DON’T ORDER INVENTORY UP FRONT. Bottom line. ”
There’s no really compelling reason why a woman needs to order ANY inventory. There are hundreds of “direct sales” businesses who do not require their “consultants” to purchase inventory. I’m sure many of you have been to such parties: Tupperware, Pampered Chef, PartyLite.
With those companies, consultants take orders at the party then order the products from the company. Guess what? They’re not stuck with a bunch of stuff that nobody wants to buy because they only order product from the company that they’ve sold.
If MK operated this way, it would be great. Unfortunately, instead they’ve decided to encourage front loading of product.
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
“Mom however has a customer list of 239 I think, last I checked. In all honesty I’m not sure of he reorders exactly but I know they are pretty good. I’d say at least 30 of those contact her every few months for reorders. (I do a lot of my mom’s office work LOL) “
Unfortunately it takes many more customers than 239 to even come close to making any money in MK. Besides, one doesn’t get pink cars and diamonds because of their sales to customers. They move up by recruiting. Period.
“Ok her personal sales average about $1000 per week, does that help? A bad week can be about $300 for her. Sorry I wasn’t very specific. “
If a bad week is $300, then her average weekly sales per week are NOT $1000.
For 99% of the MK sales force, $1000 or more per week in sales is a rarety. Most consultants sell less than $100 per week. One only needs to attend a few MK weekly “success meetings” to figure this out.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Quoting Sarah, “My mom makes between $2000-$4500 per month in commissions” “Because my mother’s unit is small but very active she was Rookie of the Year in our National Area this year.” “…personal sales average about $1000 (per week) ”
For commissions, the unit would be ordering between $ 10,000 - $ 18,000 per MONTH, if you Mom earns 26%
Depending upon what you are referring to as “small unit”, lets use 50 as a #, each consultant would be ordering at an average of apx $ 280 per month.
With average weekly sales of $1,000 per week = $52,000 year / 250 customers who purchase over $ 200 EACH per year.
With these loose “averages” that places income in the range BEFORE TAXES & EXPENSES of ballpark $ 95,000.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Do I have to attend weekly/monthly meetings? I am thinking about joining MK, but cringe at the thought of sitting in long meetings…
August 26th, 2008 at 9:16 am
CareBear, you aren’t required to attend any meetings, but there are weekly “success” meetings that all directors hold and you will be strongly encouraged to attend. They call it training, but most of it is just for the benefit of guests you are supposed to bring so that they will sign up also.
August 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Sigh… ya, a small week is $300… that doesn’t happen often! A GOOD week can be $2000 in sales. That doesn’t happen often. So ya, her average is about $1000 per week in sales.
Grow up and stop treating people like they are lying when they are just trying to give you honest examples of success.
The unit size is about 40 consultants. Most are personal use. They sell a lot too, ie they order a lot. We don’t encourage front-loading, but most prefer to have inventory to be able to service their customers better.
The range you listed per month is about right. They aren’t all her personal team-members tho, so 26% isn’t accurate to use. And I’m not sure which percentage of the unit isn’t personal, many of them are, but not all.
Last years unit retail sales were $197,000. (yes, that is orders from the company, not neccessarily what they SOLD to customers) Most of the girls are new, and most have expressed they are really happy with what they are doing. Some girls just faded out and didn’t ever really pursue it. That’s their choice, no one is forcing them to stay!
Tuesday night we had a meeting. It lasted 1.5 hours. We had two guests up front. One girl hosted the “class” and the rest of us were in the sun room getting training. Actual training. There were 10 consultants there, including myself. We had fun.
August 28th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
“Unfortunately it takes many more customers than 239 to even come close to making any money in MK. Besides, one doesn’t get pink cars and diamonds because of their sales to customers. They move up by recruiting. Period.”
Move up by recruiting, yes. But re: the customers. Are you kidding? You can make great cash on just 100 solid customers, I’ve seen that. A customer who uses the skin care and color is gonna spend about $400/year, and that’s on the LOW end. That’s based on MY use, and I’d spend probably $600/year.
100 customers ordering like that, and you made $20,000 profit (you’d have to subtract shipping of the product to you from that, to be accurate, tho). How is that not good cash? Duh!
August 28th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Please see Wikipedia.com and search Mary Kay. They will corroborate what has been said here about the real MK experience. They did state though that the company keeps their stats tightly guarded. I wonder why?
August 29th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Quoting Sarah, “Grow up and stop treating people like they are lying when they are just trying to give you honest examples of success.”
Sarah, I did not intend to imply that you were not giving honest examples. I was giving honest examples as well. I respect that your Mother has put a lot of work and effort and has found a way for this to work for her. Obviously, there are a lot who have not, myself included.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
“You can make great cash on just 100 solid customers, I’ve seen that. A customer who uses the skin care and color is gonna spend about $400/year, and that’s on the LOW end. That’s based on MY use, and I’d spend probably $600/year.”
Unfortunately, you need lots of customers to even get 100 customers who are ordering like that. It just simply doesn’t work that way.
There are so many problems with the “women spend an average of $500 annually on cosmetics” line that is thrown around. Yes, they probably do, but they don’t spend it all on MK!
Even if you did manage to have 100 customers that order $400 annually, you won’t have made 20,000 profit because you have expenses that come out of that gross profit, like the shipping cost you mentioned. You also have gas, time and the fact that you undoubtedly had to discount many of those products to get people to buy them.
I’ve already spent years pointing these things out so I’m weary of spending more time repeating myself, when a search of this site and especially our forum will garner you plenty information.
But Sarah, if you’re happy and think MK is a wonderful profit-making experience, goody for you. I don’t see how you yourself could be making much, however, given how much time you spend here.
I couldn’t care less if you think MK is wonderful. If you think so, great. I just want people to be informed consumers.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Quoting LJ, “I couldn’t care less if you think MK is wonderful. If you think so, great. I just want people to be informed “ I agree!
But the $ quoted as profit isn’t accurate. If you’re ordering monthly, take off the shipping, if you’re sending out PCP mailings, take off the costs, if you’re delivering products, doing shows, giving hostess gifts, more costs to deduct - product used, gas, etc. For the # of hours actually spent vs amount of $ actually in your pocket - IMO you’d make more $ asking “Do you want fries with that?”
If it’s your thing and you have the time and money to do MK, fine. If you’re looking to make money and don’t want to incur more debt, spend LOTS of time and effort, look elsewhere. JMO