Latest Poll Results: Initial Inventory Purchased

Here are the results of our last poll regarding initial inventory.

Poll Question: How Much Initial Inventory Did You Purchase?

Answers: (from all votes received)

None: 13%

$200 required to be active: 17%

$600 – $1,200: 24%

$1,800 – $2,400: 31%

$3,600 or more: 15%

Thank you to all who participated. Make sure to cast your vote in our new poll.

Why Do You Need to Have Inventory?

MK Ash was fond of saying that you “can’t sell from an empty wagon” in business, meaning you have to have inventory in your store to sell. That makes perfect sense.

But I don’t think it adequately explains why MK Consultants have to plunk down hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to purchase “initial inventory.”

There are many home party companies and most of them do not require their representatives to stock inventory.

AVON, one of Mary Kay’s competitors, allows their reps to take product orders from customers and then place the order for product with the company. The customer receives their order about two weeks later. Many other companies, like Tupperware and PartyLite, work the same way.

Working this way just seems smart. For one thing, the consultant doesn’t have a huge up-front cost just to get started. For another, she never has to try to juggle her inventory to keep certain things in stock or try to get rid of lots of limited-edition or discontinued product that didn’t sell.

Mary Kay Consultants are told that having inventory on your shelf is motivating. It motivates you to sell because you want to get it off your shelf and convert it to cash. But many women find it to be paralyzing instead.

Consultants are also told that if they have inventory, customers will buy more and make more impulse purchases because they know you have it and they can get their hands on it now. While that may be true for some people, other women are perfectly content to wait for their products.

For Mary Kay Consultants, why can’t their catalog be their well-stocked wagon, as it is for many of the other direct sales companies?

A New and Happy Mary Kay Consultant

Name: Cathleen

Date Joined MK: June 2007

Highest Level Achieved: Consultant

When Left MK Or Are You Still Active: still active

Initial Inventory Purchased: $1,000.00

How were you recruited?
A friend invited me for a makeover and it was a glamour makeover class for mary kay

What about Mary Kay appealed to you most?
I love that fact that i can work around my family and i can woek when i want. also the fact that i meet new people and make friends because before i did this i didnt have any and its a good way to build your cofidence and well for me get a life out of the house.

Tell us about one of your most memorable or embarassing situations while in Mary Kay
My first party that my friend hosted for a skincare class. half the people turned up an hour late when i was finishing and an older lady said that her face was burning after putting the moisturizer on which I know now to be a lie.

What did you learn from your Mary Kay experience?
I learned that its your own business and to suceed you have to be dedicated and put in the hours to get out what you want like any business.

What are you doing now? Working full or part time? Working from home? etc.
I’m still with mary kay and trying to build up to director but in a small town where they dont have that kind of money to buy the products so im finding it hard.

Additional Comments
I’m trying to become a director so I can show my family that I may have had a rocky start in life and slacked in a lot of things but that I am more than capable of ecoming a someone and not a noone.

Mary Kay Consultant Started With Pearl Order

Name: Kim

Date Joined MK: July 2007

Highest Level Achieved:

When Left MK Or Are You Still Active: September 2007

Initial Inventory Purchased: $5,000.00

How were you recruited?
Newport Beach Mary Kay meeting. My 17 year old daughter wanted to sell Mary Kay, but couldn’t. The director explained that I should join then my daughter could take over the business when she turned 18. So, without talking to my husband and not praying about it, I foolishly joined Mary Kay again.

What about Mary Kay appealed to you most?
I was a consultant in 1987, and had to quit because of a move. I still used the product because I LOVE IT. I just hate selling anything, but thought it would be a step for my daughter.

Tell us about one of your most memorable or embarassing situations while in Mary
Kay
I really have none that is either embarassing or memorable. I have had nothing but grief.

What did you learn from your Mary Kay experience?
I learned the new products are wonderful, and I will still use Mary Kay products. However, I learned that I am not a “sales person”. I don’t like script-read presentations done to me and therefore following the Mary Kay Golden Rule I will not do that to others. Also Too much HYPE at the meetings.

What are you doing now? Working full or part time? Working from home? etc.
I am a stay at home mom. I will be going back to doing the things I love to do such as my writing, sewing, and volunteering.

Additional Comments
I would like to caution on the “Risk-Free” opportunity. I am finding out that there is a risk to everything. I failed to do the most important step and that was to PRAY. When I told my director that I didn’t take time to pray about signing up, she informed me that Mary Kay is a Christian based company. Hmm, again, just because a company makes such a claim, things aren’t always the way it appears.

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