True or False: It only costs $100 to join Mary Kay

TRUE and FALSE.

To become a Mary Kay Consultant, you must sign an agreement and pay $100 for your “starter kit.”

However, in order to stay “active,” you must place a $200 wholesale product order with the company every three months.

Now, it makes sense that you can’t just sign up and never place a product order. That would be silly, since the whole point is to sell the product. And it makes sense that in order to be considered a Consultant that you would have to order certain minimums to be able to represent the products.

What doesn’t make sense is the big presentation on “initial inventory packages” that comes after one has signed the agreement, and the sudden push by your Director to start your Mary Kay venture with hundreds, even thousands, of dollars worth of inventory.

The problem is that in my observation and experience, Directors almost always emphasized the $100 starting figure and never mentioned what came after that: a hard push to buy an “initial inventory package.”

Many women know nothing of the impending “Inventory Interview” they will be subjected to once they join MK and many current consultants feel guilty recruiting women with what they feel is only half of the story.

Mary Kay Invades India — Part 2

As I was looking at Mary Kay’s India site, something hit me.

The models on the site.

When you market products, don’t you want your potential customers to see themselves using your brand? And shouldn’t your marketing materials reflect that?

Then tell me why the models on the Mary Kay India site are blondes and fair-skinned brunettes (with an occasional black woman thrown in) ?

Are there no beautiful Indian models they could put on the site? (Of course there are.)

But check out the picture of the models on the main page at the bottom:

http://www.marykay.co.in/home

And on the main makeup page:    http://www.marykay.co.in/Makeup

And the model on the fragrance page:  http://www.marykay.co.in/Fragrances

And the model on the skin care page: http://www.marykay.co.in/SkinCare

The message I would take away, if I were an Indian woman, is that Mary Kay is a company that sells products for light skinned women but they probably don’t have products for me.

Is it just me?

A Little Taste of Seminar

Are you sad because you weren’t walking around Dallas in July’s 100+ heat wearing a “sharp” wool blazer?

Well wipe those tears, missy!

Here’s a little snippet of all the excitement and inspiration you missed at Seminar this year, complete with the final candlelight (pen light) ceremony.

Now can someone explain to me why those not-so-sharp guys in this video are dancing ?

Mary Kay Facial Box & Signup Sheets

Here’s everything you need for a “Facial box.” Includes graphic to put on the outside and the signup slips for people to fill out.

Mary Kay Facial Box & Sign Up Slips

Mary Kay Grand Opening Invitation

Here’s an invitation to use for your Mary Kay grand opening.

Mary Kay Grand Opening Invitation

Agreed Protective Order Filed in Mary Kay Lawsuit Against Touch of Pink

An Agreed Protective Order was filed in the Mary Kay Inc. vs Touch of Pink Cosmetics case on 14 July 2008.

What the heck does that mean?

Who did Touch of Pink Cosmetics buy MK products from? We may never know.

Well, the protective order means that both Mary Kay and Touch of Pink may keep certain “trade secrets” and other information about how they run their businesses confidential. This is designed to keep information from falling in the hands of your competition.

Interesting, but not unusual.

But it means you may not get answers to some questions you had. For instance, there has been discussion here recently about whether or not Touch of Pink Cosmetics got some of its inventory from current Mary Kay consultants.

According to item 19 of this protective order:

“The parties agree that the identity of persons selling products to Defendants shall be treated as though designated “CONFIDENTIAL” and may be used in connection with this Lawsuit, including but not limited to deposing, calling, and/or treating such persons as witnesses in this Lawsuit. Notwithstanding anything in this Order to the contrary, the obligations under this Order do not prohibit Plaintiff from contacting, interviewing, negotiating with, terminating its agreement with, filing suit against, or taking any other action Plaintiff deems appropriate regarding any person selling Mary Kay products to Defendants.”

So the identities of just exactly who sold products to Touch of Pink won’t be revealed to inquiring public eyes who want to know.

Is Your Director Calling? It Must Be June!

Seminar is coming soon. Can’t you smell it in the air?

If Mary Kay was such a brilliant businesswoman, why did she decide it would be a good idea to hold the company’s annual pageant during the scorching heat of July in Dallas?

It is truly sad to see these swarms of women, “dressed for success” in their wool blazers and director suits. The sweat is pouring off them, yet because they don’t want to seem unprofessional, they don’t dare take off that jacket. No, no, no.

If you haven’t heard from your director in awhile, rest assured you will probably be receiving at least one desperate call from her this month. The Mary Kay year, as far as production is concerned, ends on June 30th. This is make-it-or-break-it time. They have to get thousands of dollars of inventory orders in NOW. And that’s why they’ll be calling you.

It doesn’t matter what is on your shelf now. You need to place an order. Otherwise your director won’t get that ring she’s been counting on or go on that trip she’s been telling you about.

Notice I didn’t say anything about selling.

It’s not about selling. It’s about ordering.

Word to the wise: Unless this stuff is flying off your shelf, keep your credit card in your wallet. Ignore the calls from your director. It’s not about “helping the team.”

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?

Mary Kay “Request For Repurchase” Form

A member of our site sent us a current copy of the Mary Kay Request For Repurchase form. This is the form the Repurchase Department sends out to verify the amount you are eligible to return for the 90% buyback. This Consultant was eligible to send back over $11,000.00 retail! Yikes.

Request For Repurchase Form

Mary Kay Cosmetics Video From 1977

Thought you would enjoy this classic video featuring Mary Kay Ash herself!

Next Page »