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You are here: Home / Articles & News / In These Tough Economic Times, Mary Kay is NOT the Answer

In These Tough Economic Times, Mary Kay is NOT the Answer

By L J January 8, 2009 66 Comments

Beware.

No doubt Mary Kay directors everywhere are training their consultants to recruit based on the economic situation.

I can just hear it now: “Mary Kay is an ideal source of extra income, especially today, when everyone is feeling the pinch from the economic situation. For just $100, you can have a part-time business making full-time income and help out your family.”

Please…don’t buy it.

First of all, we all know it doesn’t just cost $100 to join.

Second, you’ll most likely have MORE debt if you join Mary Kay, and if you’re like lots of Mary Kay consultants, more debt than you ever had in your life.

If you’re still intrigued by the Mary Kay shindig, at least do some reading here. You’ll more than likely thank us later.

Comments

  1. Lipstick says

    July 5, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    Anna, do the math!  Unless you are charging your customers for their samples, shippimg, not giving any GWP,  PCP mailings, hostess gifts , have no web site, no class supplies, no sales tickets, walk and don’t use gas, virtually have NO expenses, you are NOT making 50%.  Add in unit dues, MK events, postage, printer paper!
    Nobody does any business without expenses, take a look, do a balance sheet and then come back and tell us what percentage you are REALLY making!
    I have a life, thank you very much!  I took back my life after 8.5 years in MK and I have never felt better or more free.  Now I can truly put God 1st, family 2nd and career 3rd.  I love my life post MK.
    I’m glad you are happy, but take a look at your business without those pink glasses on, please!  MK would roll over in her grave if she saw what acts her SD”s and NSD’s are committing all in the name of making a buck!
    Last but not least, how many of your bills has Mary Kay’s legacy paid for you?
     

    Reply
    • Eliza says

      March 1, 2015 at 2:16 am

      I realize this post/thread is REALLY old, BUT has anyone actually done a cost analysis of being a consultant? It isn’t pretty.

      Reply
      • Amanda says

        March 8, 2015 at 12:41 pm

        I agree with you 100%, it sounds good when that potential recruit is in the excitement bubble. “its only a $100 investment to get started”, that is the first false statement of any consultant thriving on building a team; I recruited 5 people in less than 60 days, two of my recruits were Stars; by buying inventory at 1800 and 3600; well needless to say the other two were smart and did not go in buying inventory at all. Although it was highly recommended by our Director and Senior Director. The only one that is active as of date is the 3600.00 recruit. I am just glad I was able to write off my losses via my taxes and currently in the process of returning my section 1 products. I have realized after 3 attempts in MK. I will just purchase items from random MK consultants online. My next business venture will definitely not be a product based business. I can honestly say Avon sells it self better that MK. Avon is a household name. I have done both and neither is for me. Let me add this also I received a bill from MK, due to the return of products by one of my recruits, I have to pay back the commission of 47.52 on a 1800.00 inventory order.

        Reply
  2. Tam says

    July 5, 2009 at 11:10 pm

    You people are PATHETIC

    How kind and “go give” of you.

    Yet with Mary Kay – 50% of everything is always yours for the taking

    I’d have to agree with Lipstick.  Not if you pay shipping, purchase books, samples, bags, sales tickets, gas, etc.

    Most people work their whole lives for a company for what?

    Ugh, a regular weekly, bi-weekly paycheck, insurance, 401K?  A J-O-B that has a start and a finish time and does not require you to leave your family on the weekends and/or nights?  One that PAYS you to go to training events?  That you don’t have to aggravate your family, friends, neighbors to “come to work” with you (for sales meetings and guests events).

    Reply
  3. Anna says

    July 5, 2009 at 11:59 pm

    your right… it is very go give of me. very honest of me. and i believe in honesty. it is not right to knock a company you know nothing about. and if someone fails at MK which is pretty fool proof – there’s a lot more wrong with them than what they are blaming. it’s called money managment people. stop charging and start living. be debt free with MK.

    Reply
  4. Anna says

    July 6, 2009 at 12:01 am

    and btw… my customers LOVE me. i make women feel what they are – beautiful from the inside out. it feels wonderful to take a woman with low to no self esteem, show her how to shine and bring out her inner beauty and a smile. i have watched this business change lives and i see it in my clients every day. they are beautiful and very special to me regardless of age, color or status. MK has given me the freedom to be me – and I love that.

    Reply
  5. Anna says

    July 6, 2009 at 12:03 am

    and do you people not watch the news? MK rocks this recession. i will list some websites. you go to them, listen to the newscasts and tell me MK doesn’t outshine the rest.

    Reply
  6. Lipstick says

    July 6, 2009 at 10:07 am

    Anna says:  your right… it is very go give of me. very honest of me. and i believe in honesty. it is not right to knock a company you know nothing about.
    you must not be reading ….our experiences are REAL and TRUE so that means we do know something about this company..we lived those experiences  and could never make up something so bad
    Anna says:  and do you people not watch the news? MK rocks this recession. i will list some websites. you go to them, listen to the newscasts and tell me MK doesn’t outshine the rest.
    Come on now, you don’t believe every ad and every news interview you hear do you?  These so called “interviews” are very one sided, they only present the views of a select few.  How do you explain the high turnover rate in MK?  The world can’t be that full of lazy losers and failures.  To take a line from MK  “numbers don’t lie”.
    Let me say it slower this time around:  The sales figures from MK do not represent sales to customers they represent sales to IBC’s, so those numbers prove nothing about MK being recession proof, it only proves they still have the ability to recruit, even though they can’t keep most of those recruits, becasue their business plan is stacked against the success of the IBC and in favor of MK.

    Reply
  7. Amy says

    December 13, 2010 at 4:07 pm

    I agree with Lipstick.  MK Corporate is successful because of the income they get from their consultants.  Go to craigslist.com to see how many consultants are trying to sell their MK inventory below the suggested retail value.  Why?  Because the stuff does NOT “sell itself” (like the company claims).  The company changes up it’s products quite often and then advertises “Try Before You Buy.”  That means the consultants have to fork out money to buy samples to please their customers who expect to “try before they buy.”  On top of that, MK Corporate advertises its limited-edition items and then only makes a few of them, leaving the customers disappointed when they can’t get that new item that’s out for the quarter.  Even after a limited edition item has sold out, corporate will STILL advertise that item on its main website.  Dumb, dumb, and dumb.  And nobody in MK is making 50% profit.  If you go 3 months, sometimes less, without placing a $400 (suggested retail price) order, you will lose your 50% off and will have to pay the FULL suggested retail price + tax + $8 shipping – meaning you won’t make a penny off that order.

    Reply
  8. Tarra says

    February 25, 2011 at 7:48 am

    I tried to sign up for Mary Kay back in 1999.  When the woman from Mary Kay came to the house and it explained how it works I was surprised.  I was told I would have to invest in the product and buy it up front (meaning I would have to keep stock here at my house) plus purchase all the other materials I would need to get started.  It was very expensive.  I can’t remember how much it cost at that time, but it was enough for the woman to refer me to a loan officer friend at a bank to take out a loan.  The next day on the phone when I told her I had spoken to my husband about this and that I refused to take out a loan, she got quite upset and was demanding to speak to my husband.  She claimed she had a way with husbands.  I hung up on her.

    Reply
  9. Tam says

    February 25, 2011 at 10:23 pm

    They now call it the “husband unawareness plan” and tell you to pay a little cash, a little check and a little by credit card so he won’t know how much you spend.  Hmmmm, Golden Rule – I don’t think so!

    Reply
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