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?

Popularity: 2%

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

Popularity: 2%

Mary Kay Cosmetics Video From 1977

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

Popularity: 3%

In Business, You Don’t Turn Your Customers Into Competition

I remember well the “recruiting interview” I did with what ended up being my third team member.

I went over all the usual stuff and then asked her if she had any questions for me.

She said, “It all sounds great and I’m really excited about Mary Kay. But there’s one thing I don’t understand. Why would you want to recruit me? Wouldn’t I then be your competition? It seems like that wouldn’t be something you’d want to do.”

Yikes! Read more

Popularity: 1%

Mary Kay’s Lawsuit Against Touch of Pink Cosmetics

We have obtained the full complaint filed by Mary Kay against Touch of Pink Cosmetics and owners Amy and Scott Weber.

Here is the entire 71 page complaint, in pdf form.

Mary Kay Inc. v Amy L. Weber, Scott J. Weber, and Touch of Pink Cosmetics

Mary Kay Inc claims that Amy Weber sold Mary Kay products on eBay and thus violated her Mary Kay Beauty Consultant Agreement. Mary Kay Inc. issued several “pleas” for Amy Weber to stop selling on eBay and when she didn’t, Mary Kay Inc. terminated her Mary Kay Consultant Agreement. Read more

Popularity: 19%

Mary Kay Inc. Sues Former Consultant

Women’s Wear Daily is reporting today that Mary Kay Inc. filed suit Wednesday against a former Consultant.

Mary Kay Inc. is suing Touch of Pink Cosmetics, a Mary Kay liquidator and reseller of Mary Kay products, for Trademark infringement.  Their website is touchofpinkcosmetics.com

You can read the details of the filing at the link below:

Mary Kay Inc. vs Weber et al

Popularity: 1%

Lies and the Golden Rule

Mary Kay Ash founded the Company on the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”So let me ask you this: Do you like being lied to?

You see, a lot of women who were in Mary Kay had a big problem with the fact that they had to tell little and not-so-little lies just to get appointments or recruits. For instance…

• We found ourselves calling customers and telling them we were in a contest or our Director had challenged us to do 30 faces in 30 days. Yet we knew we weren’t. We knew that it was just a script; a gimmick to get our customer to hold a class with some new people so we could increase our customer base and maybe get a new team member.
• We told potential recruits that it only cost $100.00 to join Mary Kay. We knew that technically this was correct, but that our recruits would be “encouraged” to purchase large inventory packages after they signed that agreement.
• We knew that when we invited guests to meetings that it wasn’t just about having a “girls’ night out” or trying out the latest Mary Kay products. We knew our Directors were going to do a marketing presentation, just as they did every week, with the intent of getting our guests to sign up as a Consultant.

Is it any wonder that we dreaded calling our customers? Is it any wonder that we felt just a little bit dishonest?

Popularity: 8%

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