New Price Comparison Sheet Attempts to Show Mary Kay Products Are a Bargain

I received the latest Price Comparison sheet going around now in Mary Kay. When I was a consultant, such sheets were common, as directors were always comparing the prices of Mary Kay to other “department store” in an attempt to show how inexpensive Mary Kay products are.

Yes, many Mary Kay products are cheaper than their competitors’ similar product. But I’ve always been a little skeptical about comparing Mary Kay products to those of companies like Clinique or Lancome. To me, Mary Kay isn’t quite at the same level of quality as those department store brands. I think Mary Kay products are more closely comparable to brands like Maybelline, CoverGirl, and Loreal.

In fact, Mary Kay is LESS on trend than any of those three companies, yet such drug store brands are usually looked down upon by the Mary Kay community as being inferior.

This latest sheet is supposedly trying to show how, in these penny-pinching times, Mary Kay is a better choice than the popular drug store brand Loreal.

Unfortunately, it fails.

Loreal beats Mary Kay on price for 16 of the listed 19 products. One product that Mary Kay makes doesn’t have an equivalent in Loreal, so we can just throw that one out.  Therefore, Loreal wins the price contest for 16 of 18 products.

And I’ll be the first one to argue that for the quality, price and timeliness, Loreal is the CLEAR winner, not Mary Kay.

Here’s the document so you can check it out yourself:

Color Cosmetic Price Comparison Sheet

Popularity: 14%

No More Discontinued Color Products on Consultants’ Websites: Now What?

One of our active consultant members sent me the latest copy of the Mary Kay “eMessenger,” the email newsletter that MK Inc. sends to its consultants.

Buried in the middle of the newsletter is this one-sentence notice :

Mary Kay® Personal Web Site Last Chance Section
If you have a Mary Kay® Personal Web Site, please note that beginning Jan. 15, 2009, discontinued MK Signature® color products will no longer be available for posting on the Last Chance section of your Personal Web Site.

So now what? Consultants won’t be able to sell the discontinued color products online on their websites. Why? What’s the point of this?

If you’ve been a consultant, you know how challenging it is to get rid of those discontinued products. Once new colors come out, usually accompanied by new packaging or design, customers want the new, pretty stuff, not the old stuff. Sure, you can have a 50% off sale and try to recoup your cost.  In my experience, this is rarely very successful.

Now consultants are stuck with these old products AND they can’t feature them on the websites that they pay MK Inc. for each year, in hopes of getting rid of some of it.

Hmmmm…so what’s a consultant to do with all this old stuff?

I know! Sell it to a liquidator.

Oh wait…Mary Kay Inc. is suing all of them.

Popularity: 4%

Wonder If Mary Kay Inc. Knows About THIS Auction!

In O’Fallon, Illinois, there’s going to be an auction for the Edward A. Fulton Junior High to raise money for the eighth graders to travel to Washington, D.C.

Whoopee, you say. Why do I care?

Well, maybe you don’t, but Mary Kay Inc. might.

The chairwoman of the auction, Kathy Sheppard, is a Mary Kay consultant. And she’s donated about $160.00 worth of products in order to participate.

This is a quarter auction, which means everyone who bids on an item throws a quarter or two in a pot. Here’s an attempt to explain it, from the article that appeared on the Belleville News Daily website ( http://www.bnd.com/news/spiers/story/574607.html ) :

“It’s actually more of a lottery. Your quarter goes in a pot, along with other quarters from other people interested in the same item.

Then an auctioneer picks a number from all the numbers people were assigned for the auction and that number wins — if the person holding the number decided to participate by throwing in his or her quarter.

If not, then another number is chosen.

Clear? Or clear as mud? “

I vote mud.

It seems Ms. Sheppard rounded up every MLM person in the area, from the list of participants:

“The Fulton auction will have more than 60 products with a total value of more than $1,500 from local businesses and from vendors such as Mary Kay, The Pampered Chef, Longaberger Baskets, Dangles Handmade Jewelry, Tastefully Simple, Tupperware, Party Lite, Stampin’ Up and Southern Living at Home. “

So…is Mary Kay Inc. is okay with this auction?  Is it okay because it isn’t on eBay? Or is it okay because the consultant donated the products to a worthy cause?

Does tossing a few quarters in a pot in front of a display of Mary Kay products at an auction enhance the Mary Kay brand?!

Popularity: 2%

Another Message from Someone Who Thinks We’re MK Inc.

It’s always entertaining when we receive messages from visitors who think they’ve reached the official Mary Kay site.  I thought this one was particularly fun.

For 28+ years I have been a faithful Mary Kay consumer. Placing my last order a couple of months ago enlightened me to the fact that I can longer purchase your products. I realize that the economy has affected us all and most products have taken on a “they won’t really notice” agenda.

Well, I’m not in that “stupid” category of consumers, after all the years of using your products, that I could not see that you have drastically reduced the size of most/some products (eye shadow pallets while also changing the compact so the old ones do not fit). I realize we all have to downsize but, come on, this is a little too much to bear. It’s a shame as I really did enjoy being able to order a product I liked and not having to go into a store, but… your prices/sizes in today’s market outweighs my option to stay at home and shop! Thanks for the good years.

I hate to tell this person, but I doubt MK Inc. cares.

Popularity: 2%

If You Sell Mary Kay Products on eBay…Beware!

Just wanted to post this to increase the likelihood that resellers and liquidators will see this. I have posted this on eBay as well.

Mary Kay Inc Files Lawsuits Against Numerous eBay Sellers of Mary Kay Products

Dateline: December 4, 2008

If you sell Mary Kay products on eBay…beware! Mary Kay Inc. may be coming after you.

In the last week, several eBay sellers of Mary Kay products have been served with lawsuits.

You may also be aware of the ongoing lawsuit that Mary Kay Inc. filed against Touch of Pinks Cosmetics, and eBay seller who also runs a separate online store selling Mary Kay products.

The Mary Kay consultants who spend their days policing the listings on eBay and turning Mary Kay sellers in to Mary Kay Inc. are surely gloating and celebrating now. Unfortunately, there’s no evidence that these sellers have done anything wrong. And especially given that Mary Kay Inc. has yet to win any judgment against seller Touch of Pink, these additional lawsuits seems a little premature and aggressive.

If you sell Mary Kay products on eBay, I would urge you to make sure you be careful — whatever that may be, I suppose, at this point. Mary Kay Inc. is out for records from these sellers to see if they are purchasing products from active consultants and directors in the company. They assert that this is interfering in their business.

We will have to wait to see how this all plays out, but either way, it is vitally important to anyone liquidating all those excess Mary Kay products on eBay, and for that matter, other sellers of similar products.

Popularity: 7%

Another Liquidator Sued by Mary Kay Inc.

I just received an email from yet another Mary Kay inventory liquidator that they were served with a lawsuit on Monday. This person has been selling on eBay and her own online store since 2000.

It’s apparent that Mary Kay Inc. is going after anyone who is selling Mary Kay products on eBay and in an online store.

If you sell Mary Kay products on eBay or online, beware! Mary Kay Inc. is on a mission to get rid of you.

PinkLighthouse will keep you informed on how this proceeds.

Popularity: 3%

Allure’s Best of Beauty 2008: What?! No Mary Kay Products?!

Every year, dozens of editors at Allure magazine spend months testing thousands of beauty products. This year’s list contains 182 products that the editors deemed the best.

And there’s not a single Mary Kay product on the list.

What the heck is going on here! No products from the company who for years identified themselves as America’s Best Selling Brand?! You’ve got to be kidding me.

Oh sure…you could use the excuse that Allure only chooses products that are sold in retail outlets, not from direct sales companies.

And then you’ll notice that AVON made the list. Oops! 

Here’s the complete list for your reference:

Allure’s Best of Beauty 2008

Popularity: 9%

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