Why Didn’t Mary Kay Inc. Warn Liquidators Before Suing?

Why is it that instead of issuing a “cease and desist” order or a similar warning to the people selling on eBay, that Mary Kay Inc. just went ahead and filed lawsuits against these sellers?

Why didn’t they give these people a chance to stop their selling if they wanted to?

Why didn’t Mary Kay Inc. use the VERO program set up by eBay to address the alleged violations of their trademark and copyright? If sellers were violating these guidelines, set up to protect companies, then Mary Kay Inc. can simply file notice with eBay and the offending listings are removed. Apparently what Mary Kay Inc. is alleging is beyond VERO. If sellers aren’t using copyrighted or trademarked material or images in their listings and not trying to sell counterfeit products, then there isn’t much to dispute with eBay.

But instead of giving these sellers a warning, Mary Kay Inc. brought down the hammer.

If Mary Kay Inc. discovers that their active consultants and directors are selling products to those who then sell it on eBay, then what? Do they terminate those consultants and directors? Do those people then become examples, used to scare future recruits into behaving?

And what responsibility do those buying excess inventory for resell have to check out the person selling it to them? If there were an underground counterfeit TimeWise factory, maybe that would be reasonable. But as it is, all they know is that it is someone who was probably at one time in Mary Kay. Why should those sellers be required to find out if that person is active? Mary Kay Inc. can claim that by purchasing inventory from their active consultants that resellers are interfering with their business. But actually…they may be helping MK’s business: after all, with more room on their shelves, these consultants can now buy more merchandise directly from the company and keep the inventory loading machine rolling.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, no question.

Popularity: 3%

You Want Pink Cosmetics Leaves Consultant with No Product & NSF Check!

Warning: You may want to think twice before using Mary Kay reseller You Want Pink Cosmetics.

I received this note from a former consultant who sold her excess inventory to them. Here is what she wrote:

I got a quote from them to liquidate some small inventory a couple of months ago… After sending them the products in good faith, they drastically reduced my quote, and held onto my products for a month with no contact. They finally, contacted me, said they had been “busy”, and sent me a check for the reduced amount (I didn’t get back the products they “rejected”).

The check bounced and my bank charged me an NSF fee.

I asked this woman to send me some verification of this so I could be sure of her story.

You will see below the verification letter that her bank provided her with (I have deleted the name & info of the bank for obvious reasons) :

One of the things that makes PinkLighthouse a great place is the great, reliable group of resellers we have here. We can no longer recommend that you do business with You Want Pink Cosmetics.

Popularity: 8%