Mary Kay Cosmetics: Destroying half a million women a year
To many, my fight against Mary Kay Cosmetics is puzzling. Why would I want to waste my time with it? After all, they’re only selling lipstick. It’s a harmless company started by a little old lady 45 years ago who wanted to give women an opportunity.
WRONG! Mary Kay Inc. is anything but harmless, and that’s why it’s so important for me to continue to educate people about the company. They are running a scam that brings in $2 billion in sales to headquarters each year.
Where does this money come from? Often from those who can least afford it. The name of the game is recruiting and frontloading. Bring her in and get her to buy an inventory package of $600 to $4800 right away. (If she doesn’t buy within the first couple of weeks, the chances that she will buy anything at all go down exponentially.)
Start with the largest package and work your way down. All the while, tell the new Mary Kay consultant that she can’t be successful without a “full store” of products. Tell her that if she wants to be at “profit level” and really start bringing in money for her family, she needs a lot of products. After all, you can’t sell from an empty wagon!
Mary Kay is a recruiting scheme. The vast majority of the products sold to the consultants is never resold to an actual customer. Is it because the consultants really don’t try to sell? No! It’s because the products are of mediocre quality and are overpriced. Besides that, women have oodles of choices on the internet and in the stores. There’s just no need to go through the hassle of dealing with a Mary Kay lady, especially when you know that she’ll eventually try to recruit you and never let up!
Here are some numbers and facts that I pulled together for Pink Truth, my consumer education site about Mary Kay. Word on the street is that recruiting figures are way down in the past year, but the below numbers are the most recently reported numbers from Mary Kay Inc.
From Pink Truth:
I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some real figures regarding Mary Kay and consultant turnover. We often hear pro-Mary Kay women (and their brainwashed husbands) rave that there are millions of women who have had wonderful experiences as consultants, so the company must be fantastic.
Now here’s my theory. Are women quitting Mary Kay because it was everything they wanted and more, and because they were making money doing it? Or do they quit because they are dissatisfied and are not making money? I submit to you that the reason women quit being independent beauty consultants for Mary Kay Cosmetics is by and large because of failure in the business.
I do understand that some may be perfectly happy in Mary Kay, but quit because of family circumstances or other reasons. I’m just saying that the vast majority likely quit due to a negative experience.
Over time, Mary Kay has been increasing its beauty consultant count. Now it’s important to note that this is the count of consultants at any given time, such as the year end total. The number disclosed by Mary Kay does NOT include all the women who may have come and gone during the year. Mary Kay simply picks a point in time and says “Today we have X consultants.”
In the United States, there were 500,000 consultants in 2001. In 2005, that number was 715,000. Worldwide the numbers have been growing quite a bit faster. (Hence the push to open new markets like India and the Czech Republic.) In 2002, there were 950,000 consultants worldwide. In 2005, that number was 1.6 million.
Here’s where it gets interesting and where we find out the truth about the number of consultants that Mary Kay Cosmetics churns each year. I’m using United States figures below, because of the disclosures that Mary Kay made last year.
In 2006, Mary Kay disclosed that the company had over 700,000 independent beauty consultants in the United States. This was similar to the 2005 reported figure of 715,000 consultants in the United States. This implies that at the current time, the number of consultants is staying relatively stable. (i.e. For every consultant recruited, one drops out.)
Mary Kay stated in its response to the FTC’s proposed Business Opportunity Rule , that there are 2,400,000 “disclosure opportunities” (meaning interviews) per year. That’s 200,000 women interviewed per month. Mary Kay Cosmetics further stated that there are 40,000 new recruits per month. (Thank God those other 160,000 per month said no… a total of two million women per year who turn Mary Kay down.)
At 40,000 new recruits per month…
That means that during 2006, Mary Kay Inc. recruited 480,000 women in the United States, and 480,000 women in the United States quit. Add the 480,000 quitters to the 700,000 (or so) U.S. consultants on the books at the end of the year, and we’ve got a total of 1,180,000 (yes that’s over 1 million) women in the United States who were “in” Mary Kay at some point during 2006.
What a staggering churn rate, though, isn’t it? Depending upon how you look at it… 41% of the 1,180,000 involved during the year quit. Or of those 700,000 on the books at the end of the year, 69% of them will quit in the following year. 480,000 women churned and burned in 2006.
During 2007, Mary Kay will burn through another 500,000 American women. And in 2008, they’ll burn through another 500,000. And so on every year….
Mary Kay, destroying half a million women’s lives every year.
I don’t understand why people write such negative things about this company. I have been with Mary Kay for 1.5 years and I am very proud of it. I think the people that dislike the company are the ones who gave up and quit because they failed to put the effort in. People want the get rich quick method, and if they don’t get there quick enough, they quit. With any job, you have to work hard for what you want. I am sorry for the ones who chose to give up. I truly believe this is a fantastic, positive company that I am so proud to be a part of and I know I will be successful with it.
99% of women who get involved with Mary Kay lose money. Do you think they’re all lazy losers who didn’t try? Or do you think just maybe there’s a problem with the MK system? You sound like you really need some pink truth! http://www.pinktruth.com
I am sorry but I respectfully disagree. I would never call anyone a lazy loser. I do not presume to know what anyone’s personal situation is. Not everyone joins Mary Kay for the money. But I do know this company works and I am very proud to stand behind it. I have seen pinktruth and think that is sad that people who want nothing to do with Mary Kay spend their time writing about it. I choose not to expose myself to such negativity. That’s fine you choose not to like Mary Kay, but everyone is entitled to form their own opinion. ~
Well you may not have used those words, but it was close when you said “… the ones who gave up and quit because they failed to put the effort in.”
And I’ll tell you why I spend my time writing about Mary Kay: Because the scam needs to be exposed. Enough women have lost enough money. Women need to know that they’re getting into nothing more than a pyramid scheme… throwing away money that could be used to feed their families. Enough!
Tracy, I have been in Mary Kay for 9 years, recruited by my neighbor who never went to anything with me. Fortunate for me I am a self starter. I have been #1 in sales and recruiting for all of my 9 years within my unit. WHY? Because I work the business like a business. I never tell women to order inventory they cannot afford, I don’t recruit women who are on the verge of welfare because that would be asking too much of them. I think quite a few women in MK have ruined the reputation of our wonderful company. It is chrisitan based, but not everyone that joins is of christian mentality. People lie, cheat and steal. I have made a choice to not work as hard as I would need to make directorship, however I have a car thru MK and yes its hard making production every month, especially if I don’t sell product. Yes I have chosen to use my own savings to make production for car, is that a choice? YES, I made that choice the company did not make me do that. I think a lot of what is being said is of personal choice. No one can twist someone’s arm and make them order inventory and YES it is important to have product on your shelf or women will go to the mall and purchase their makeup and skin care their.. I don’t agree that our product is overpriced and not good, oh my gosh if you only knew the skin I have changed for the better with this product that other products they were using did not work. I understand where your coming from, I really do but everything good and bad needs to be disclosed. This is about choices and some are encouraged to make poor choices and some good.
Sadly, Mary Kay is far more bad than it is good. That’s why it’s so important to expose it. Ever hear of a wolf in sheep’s clothing? This company has been flying under the radar far too long. It’s got a deceptive and destructive business model. Thank goodness for the internet so we at Pink Truth can educate consumers before they sign up for this money loser!
To generalize this company as being “all bad” is fallacious. Mary Kay is a network marketing company, meaning we are each responsible for our own successes or failures. As with anything else in this world, you are going to have a few abusers of the system. However, in comparison with other companies out there, (especially in network marketing/direct sales) MK is closer to the good side than the bad side. You certainly have the right to your opinion and you have obviously not been happy with your experience. I have been an Independent Beauty Consultant for over 11 years and have never experienced the “wrongs” you have obviously encountered. I am sorry that happened to you but taking your experience, generalizing it, and then using that to misrepresent what I do is insulting. I am educated, knowledgeable about my product as well as the industry, and my customers find value in my services. I am also very proud of my team. You can twist my words (as you have above) and put a negative spin on this if you want, but I urge you to allow another point of view to stand. A person cannot make an educated opinion of her own without understanding both sides of the story.
Mary Kay has been telling “their” side of the story for 45 years. It’s time that we stand up for women who need the REST OF THE STORY. Karin, you may be insulted by my words, but I am insulted that you would recruit women into this scam. Pink Truth is not based upon my own experience. It is based on the experiences of the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of women who have visited the site since it was started almost two years ago. There are thousands of stories on the site about the pyramid scheme that is Mary Kay. I hope you’re not proud that 99% of women in Mary Kay lose money? I hope you’re not proud of the fact that the women you recruit into this scam have almost no chance of turning a profit?
Darlene said: “Yes I have chosen to use my own savings to make production for car, is that a choice?”
How much money have you spent to keep “the car” … and what kind of a car could you have bought and owned outright with that money?
No matter what you call it, direct selling, dual level marketing, or network marketing, MLM is MLM. It is a flawed system designed to fail 90% of participants. Darlene is buying her “free” car each month to maintain the illusion of success. What else is illusion? MK is not all it seems. I urge you to dare to see beyond the fluffy kumbaya. Do some research. All is not what it seems.
Darlene said: “No one can twist someone’s arm and make them order inventory ..”
Of course not BUT how many times have you been asked to *Stretch*, *Be a Team Player*, and *Invest in your Business* – Remember *Stars drive Cars* ladies!
Frontloading – call it what you want – but it is what it is.
I was in MK for over 5 yrs before I quit as a Future Director. I defended MK tooth and nail in the begining, I was making around $200-300 per week and grew a nice client base. But as the yrs passed I realized I lost more than I gained. As a Director your expenses are higher, so you really have to recruit weekly and front load like crazy if you want to make any kind of money, and in no way is it an executive income. I was in the top 10 list in my unit and national area of recruiting and sales, so I didn’t suck at the business, I quit because I couldn’t lie and manipulate women anymore. So many were losing money, over charging on their cards to make production or win cheap prizes and attention is sad and pathetic and it needs to stop. My Cadillac winning director also realized how brainwashed we were and how little MK Corp cares about sales to the end consumer, only selling inventory packages to new consultants, which is where units makes their real money!
So for you newbees, of course MK is fun and the ladies seem nice and seem to care, but as time goes on and the higher the ladder you go, you find out the real truth about this scam, so the sooner you get out, the less debt you’ll have, the less hurt you’ll be. I’m sure you ladies are not stupid, you were just lied to like me and emotionally manipulated. Do your research and make the choice that is right for you and your family!
It took almost 15 years and 5 cars, offspring, and top ten area standing to finally wake up to the wreckage and havoc that Mary Kay’s “system” hides from the lower Consultant sales force. The name of the production game is new recruits and star orders. We have been reduced to applauding “high weeks” of 200-400 Bucks…and meeting attendance down to 3 to 5 women. No matter how long you are in, if you care about the debt building for your people, you wont be able to pull orders. If you don’t care…you will manage to maintain. Contests and promo’s are out of control all trying to get another order out of someone regardless whether they have been able to sell. Customers cancel appointments and do not reschedle, so recruting is all anyone cares about. To recruit, you have to lie about conditions and your own personal success rate. It is sick. And Nobody talks about it because it is “negative”. That is the insiders view of the Mary Kay opportunity.
MaryKay is like any other company that you might own!! You might have to put lots of money forward to get it started!! And the only way your going to make the money back is by working hard, selling, marketing and recruiting ….on average in the united states all businesses within the first year LOSE money!! I was looking into starting my own business and i realized how much i was going to have to put into it, rent for a building, products, employees…. with marykay i didnt have to worry about that…Also some people may make it in the business and some people may not… its like applying for any other job, if you dont have skills in the position your applying for then need not apply…. alot of people may want to try it and realize sales is not one of there best qualities or maybe after they start they realize they dont have enough time to put into it….If your going to gang up on marykay then why not gang up on every other self employed company…. you negative people just need Something to complain about…. everyone can makes there own choices…. i just wish with all this passion you guys have to bash this company, you guys could be using it for something good…. like feeding starving children or rebuilding houses in New Orleans… theres soo much more important things out there……. open your eyes to the REAL problems of this world…… lifes to short to complain….. at least thats what my mom always tells me!!!
I’m not a guy, buy I’m going to answer you anyway. Wanna hear something GOOD we’ve done? We’ve gotten $1 million back in the hands of women who were scammed by Mary Kay. NOW THAT IS GOOD!
My mom was in mary kay in the late 80’s early 90’s – My mom is not bright, but fortunately my dad went to harvard. I have done well, very well. My mom never sold shiznit and tried with her socializing skills to do so. We had a house full of mary kay crap that she ended up giving away or disposing. What a total joke.
Those posters above who support Mary Kay sound like the classic MLM brainwashed, giving money to “make the car” – you poor pathetic souls. Being self employed with your own business is not the same as being a tool within an MLM system. Self-Employed folks don’t buy massive inventory to start – there is no need to do so when working as a service consultant.
Think about it – you might need -maybe- 100$ worth of product to demonstrate to others. Anything more than that and it is a pure outright scam. MK should be -giving you- inexpensive sales and demonstration kits.
Please, don’t be another suckah !
Mary Kay is a business that works. It teaches women about running a business and the many things that go into that. It offers women the opportunity to try a dream and dream big — then wake up and do the work necessary to make the dream come true. It won’t for everyone. But for many it does bring in an extra $200, $500, $1,000 a month, easily and generally while having a good time.
Women learn about themselves while doing this. They hear it’s simple, but they didn’t realize is it’s not easy . It’s hardly easy for anyone at first. You run out of family fast and learn which friends are committed to you. But there’s a plan, help available. Women have to decide whether they are willing to take the next step, then the next one.
Sometimes you just want to try something new. Or be with new, positive people. Sometimes you want to believe in something. Or believe in yourself. Enter Mary Kay. It can work. It can change lives — positively.
I don’t understand exactly why someone wants to trash a company that inspires women, offers them training, opportunity and support. Then, if they feel they can’t or don’t want to do it, it gives them 90% of their investment back if they want out. Try that on your own; start a business without a mother company.
I’m sorry for those of you who didn’t come across the good pink people. I’m sorry they believe that a company paying more women in the U.S. $100,000 or more a year than any other company is somehow a scam. Learn what a pyramid scheme is; this isn’t it. Learn about ability to move up corporately and how that works — and doesn’t work.
It is possible that I may never drive a pink Cadillac, but the company has an awesome set up and great opportunities as well as philosophies and beliefs for success.
Blessings to the other pink women out there willing to strive for something more, something different, something bigger.
Good luck to all you negative sourpusses out there, too. May something come along to brighten your spirits and end your distribution of doom and gloom.
It’s important to speak out against Mary Kay because of lies like these spread by Michelle. The lie about “more women making $100k” is pure fiction. The number of women actually making money in Mary Kay is pathetically low. 99% of women lose money in MK. That’s not helping them, and that’s not positive. Mary Kay doesn’t help anyone except the owners of the company. And http://www.pinktruth.com will continue to expose that.
Until recently, I myself was a MK Consultant for about four years. What I learned about being involved in Mary Kay is that the story told to new consultants by our directors is both fact and fiction. For example:
1. Fact – you can make money with Mary Kay. However, it’s just not by selling the product. It’s through recruiting more MK Consultants and producing your own training materials or other products (think print materials like fliers, little pink baggies, etc.) that can be sold to other MK participants at MK events. After all, what are NSDs really? Motivational speakers that sure in the heck are not toting around a demo kit to make their money. They simply sell you stuff at career conference and other events telling you how you could sell MK stuff to supposedly make your money.
2. Fiction – you can drive a “free” company car. The car is not free. Let’s just face it ladies. The last time I checked, you would need about $96,000 in wholesale (or about $192,000 in retail) production over a 4 month period in order to drive a leased (no, not actually yours as in you own it) pink Cadillac. A Cadillac Escalade is only about $50K outright to own (not lease), so what’s really free here?
3. Fiction – you have to have a full store and start at “profit level” (at least $3,600 in wholesale) to make any money. The truth is, any consultant could probably start out with a minimum order amount of about $200, demo her products at skin care classes and take catalog orders and keep herself from eventually losing a substantial amount of money that she would probably have had to finance. But hey ladies, look on the bright side. If you have leftover MK products, give them away as gifts for every holiday, birthday, etc. until they’re all gone.
4. Fact – Mary Kay is about selling women their dreams and showing them new opportunities. This is true. Mary Kay can allow any number of women to buy their own dreams at a cost of a few thousand dollars per year and to have unparalleled equal opportunity access to becoming a hustler and scamming other women out of their hard earned money through recruitment thereby perpetuating a deceit about how to be successful in business.
5. Fiction – Mary Kay builds self esteem and teaches women how to run a business. Here’s the real truth, if you actually ran most businesses the way that MK teaches their consultants to run their MK businesses, there would be a lot of bankruptcy in the business world. The truth is, MK teaches people a system that almost entirely benefits the corporate headquarters. (1) The wholesale pricing is too high making the retail pricing for actual customers too expensive, especially compared to comparable products that are easier to obtain both online and in stores. (2) Offering free shipping in addition to hostess gifts and other overhead costs pertaining to running a MK business is seriously counterproductive since it greatly eats into profits. For any MK consultant, director, etc. that doesn’t agree with me, please calculate how much money you’re actually spending on catalogs, samples, gifts with purchase, shipping, hostess gifts and other customer freebies that you pay for as an expense out of your pocket. Trust me, there is not a 50% earnings margain when it’s all said and done. (3) So after you get done finding out how much money you’re actually losing and how little business sense the model your MK Director has taught you really makes, how good will you really feel about yourself?
Anyway, of course everything is all in how you look at it. Perspective changes everything. However, I don’t personally believe after four years of being involved with the Mary Kay organization that the company is really designed to allow consultants to be truly successful and make any real money.
Say what you want about it. Women will make of this business what they want. For those of you who quit, I’m sure there were mulitple reason. This Pink Truth bitterness sounds awfully like someone who failed at something where everyone has the same chance to succeed. It’s like any other business. You invest either your starter kit (only $100) or your inventory. Do you know of many companies that allow you to start your own companies for under $5,000? Imagine the rent of a store front. If someone is pushing you to do something you don’t want to do, then TELL THEM. Don’t lie about your goals. A true Mary Kay director won’t force you to do anything that you’re not striving for… if you tell her your goals, she’ll encourage you to get you there. Not force things. And guess what? If your mom had a ton of inventory and didn’t sell it… then that’s her own fault! She had the opportunity, she was given the tools, she just didn’t do it. Some people have the drive and the passion and the williness to succeed and some don’t. One of the greatest National Sales Directors has a degree from Harvard because it’s a smart company with an amazing business plan. If you do things the way Mary Kay intended them, then you can be successful. But it’s not a gimme…. it’s not a guarauntee. you are acting like it’s supposed to be a company that GIVES things to you. NO WAY! You have to earn them just like any other company. Get realistic. Estee Lauder, which owns 13 brands within itself, including Clinique, bobbi brown, etc. made $2.7B in sales last year. Mary Kay ALONE with no other brands made $2.3B. You think Mary Kay is just lipstick? You’re WAY out of the loop and are showing your age. Mary Kay has been the #1 Best Selling Skin Care & Cosmetics brand in the US for over 15 years. That sounds like more than Lipstick to me. Maybe before you write such biased things about a company, you should do your research instead of just being bitter about having failed at something quite easy.
Women don’t “make of MK what they want.” 99% of women who get involved in Mary Kay lose money. That’s a flaw in the system. It is set up for women to fail.
And that “Best Selling” claim is a total farce, which I see you’ve bought hook line and sinker.
Firstly the #1 brand thing is a HUGE lie in MK. Even while I was in MK I knew that. They’re counting the sales to the consultants NOT the end client. Remember, that new recruits are ordering $1,800 and up and not selling it all that’s for sure.
I find it amusing when people here post about the Pink Truth community being lazy, losers who didn’t work hard enough. Its hilarious, given that many on PT were Top Trip, Diamond winning, Cadillac winning, EESDs and even one story from a woman who was in NIQ.
So “lazy, loser’s” that’s a riot. You’re just too brainwashed, even your responses are the same crap I was taught to memorize and spew out in my 5 yrs. Its lies like this that is catching up to MK Corporate. Their sales are low and so is recruiting and many directors are wising up to the scam quitting and in debt.
I think the ones that defend MK the most are either new (like less than 5yrs) or have a lot to lose (like their team) and trying to stop us from telling the truth.
Honestly I have nothing to gain by telling my story, I’m out of MK and relieved. I just want to help others not make the same mistakes I did.
You’re Bitter – What inventory level did you come into Mary Kay at? Have you sold all of that product? If you actually did, how long did it take? Is there a high demand from the average woman you’re targeting as your customer to pay the price point we charge for MK products? And how did Mary Kay Corporate make those billions of dollars you’re referring to in the first place? Through retail sales similar to other cosmetics corporations, i.e. through customer purchasing dollars? Or from new consultants signing up and purchasing way more inventory than it’s likely that they’ll be able to sell and actually make a profit on?
You may say that this site is about bitterness, if that’s how you choose to look at it. However, more poignantly, I think this site is about warning woman of the pitfalls they will likely experience as a MK consultant before they make a costly mistake that they could end up paying off a long time after their Mary Kay consultancy tenure ends. It’s about helping people to weigh the real pros and cons ahead of time, not just airing grievances.
To tell you the truth, MK teaches some very important principles, but most especially, what not to do when you run your direct sells company or any business for that matter. You can buy into the “pink bubble” brainwashing if you want, but just be aware of the truth. This is only a reality check.
Michele wrote: “It’s hardly easy for anyone at first. You run out of family fast and learn which friends are committed to you.”
That’s pretty funny. You judge your friends by their willingness to buy crap from you or get scammed with you? No wonder you like MLM.
I just had someone I know tell me at the ballfields that they were now selling mary Kay. It brought back some bad memories for me and I told her to make sure noone takes advantage of her and she said “oh, these gals are all Christians, they are not like the others and so on….” I told her you never really make money, etc and she said the same old crap….I am starting with a large inventory so I will have things in stock” blah, blah, blah, they have already gave her the whole speel. She cannot afford this, has 3 boys like I did when I was brainwashed into it and just doesn’t understand how it works. For me, it started out great (except when I had to lie to my husband about what I bought) it made me feel good about myself that my director was paying attention to me and gave me all kinds of compliments. To be honest, she caught me at a low point in my life and I thought it would make me grow as a person and financially. My husband got a little bugged by the whole thing but continued to let me make my decisions. I knew it was a bad omen when my dog literally almost ate my first order and I couldn’t find the ups box for days, it was in the backyard and pretty tore up. Next, I had a customer mail back an eye cream with a nasty letter about her eye completely swollen and burning for 3 days! Next, I had my director continue to hound me constantly and call my home when i was sick from my “day job”. This was an experience to forget. I am glad I found this website tonight because I was really looking to find out what is in these wonderful products (i am learning to be more health conscious) and can’t find a damn thing. I did find some things linking it to breast cancer which, darn it, I will print out for the gal that is getting into this. Her mom died of cancer!!!! Keep up the site, this is informative and I hope many, many women come to their senses!
Thanks for sharing this information. I was actually thinking about signing on to be a consultant. You have helped me think twice about it.
Wow, what a bunch of sour grapes. M.K.. is absolutely not for everyone, but money can surely be made. Tracey really has a bone to pick to spend so much time on a ridiculous and uninformed hate campaign. What a waste of time!
Are you not aware that the company has a buy back policy of 90% on ANYTHING THAT YOU PURCHASED IN THE LAST YEAR?
That is a complete loss to them when they destroy the products. If you used or sold 10% you got your money back!
When a Store goes out of business, will the manufacturer buy back?
Does everyone do a blog on a business that closes up?
I have plenty of consultants coming back who are in their 2nd or 3rd time, because of situations going on in their life. After all the years I have given to Mary Kay, I have always said I would stay with it, even if I had not accomplished all that I have, stritcly for the personal growth, and caring, loving supportive women.
I wish you the best of luck in all that you do and I pray for you.
I’m well aware of the buyback and I encourage everyone to use it. SEND THAT SHIT BACK!!!
Inventory return instructions here
Yeah, that’s not a gift from MK. That’s the least they can do after exploiting hundreds of thousands of bank accounts every year.
They have that 90% buyback guarantee because legally they have to, if not they wouldn’t have it because right now sales and recruiting is down since more consultants are wising up and quitting this scam.
I sent all my stuff back this past March and it was the best decision. I now have a job with benefits and if I need training, the COMPANY will pay for it, unlike MK which requires you pay for everything yourself: travel, hotel, meals and the tax write-off is not enough to make it worth it.
Mary Kay is a MLM that takes advantage of women, emotionally, mentally and financially and pretends to be loving and caring and supportive (THEY ONLY ARE WHEN YOU’RE HELPING THEM EARN BIG COMMISSION CHECKS). After 5 yrs I’m glad to be done with it and actually have money saved in the bank. I couldn’t do that while being a consultant since my upline would guilt trip me to reinvest any profit (very tiny in MK) to help the team, unit and/or National Area.
Tracy has helped women get informed about this company and Pink Truth has women who were Top Directors in MK, including a NIQ share their true experiences to help others not make the same mistakes.
I was the top in my unit as a Future Sales Director and thank God I didn’t choose to be a Director or I’d be in more debt. My Caddy earning Director also quit and came to her senses and now makes more than she made in Mary Kay in a real job with benefits, paid vacation and training….and she was in the top 10 of our National Area, so she wasn’t an unsuccessful Director.
Visit Pink Truth and find out the real deal like I did. I read all I could for a month to make the educated decision to leave.You’ll find out months in advance of any product changes, behind the scenes experiences and everything Mary Kay Corp won’t tell you and Tracy has been right every time about the product updates.
I’ll be using the $1000 I use to spend at Seminar to enjoy a beautiful vacation with my loved ones and not into product that can’t sell because gas and food is more important than a lipgloss.
Minor correction: MK is not legally required to have the 90% buyback. However, I believe they do have to have it in order to be a member of the DSA (organization which protects MLMs from regulation).
“However, I believe they do have to have it in order to be a member of the DSA (organization which protects MLMs from regulation).”
(lol)
The 12 month repurchase program is one of the “conduct rules” member companies have to enforce in order be a DSA member. However, some companies, like Agel, are strangely not bound to this rule (their repurchade program is only ONE MONTH), so I guess it is a bogus rule…
Pedro
I am a MK consultant, and I have been for almost 6 years. I am appalled at the negative comments I am reading about a company I respect.
No-one pressured me into becoming a consultant. I was told the basic facts, and I made a $100 commitment. I was not pressured into purchasing huge amounts of inventory. In fact, in the beginning, I was only going to be in MK for personal use. I have pressured no-one into joining me. I have had several women question me about the company, and I have been blessed with several wonderful women as recruits.
I work another full time job; MK has become my “fun” money. My “fun” happens to be traveling, and I have taken several extended vacations abroad funded solely with my MK earnings. I have not gone into debt to do MK, nor do I intend to. I keep a separate MK account, and I have been trained via a wonderful adopted director to handle my business finances and run my business appropriately. I have no credit card debt, and I am able to add a nice addition to the principle of my mortgage payment each month.
I am not foolish enough to think, nor have I been led to believe MK cars are “free”. I know that a company car (at any company) means you are a producer, a mover, a shaker. Being a MK car driver is work…a lot of work. MK women are accused being in a “pink bubble”. I am thinking it is not our bubble that is the problem. It is the bubble of “desparation” that women who jump in without asking the right questions or who forget the old adage…”if it is too good to be true…it probably is”. It seems to me that there are a number of women commenting here who have had need of more money, heard the MK facts, and then plunged in without giving the reality of running a business enough thought or plan because they were hoping for an easy fix to some deparate situation in their life.
If you have had a bad experience with MK, it is unfortunate. However, no-one put a gun to your head to sign-up, purchase inventory, or choose a level of activity that did not produce the results of which you were obviously dreaming when you signed your agreement. Instead of spending time here, set a goal for your own success, and then go out and find the means to achieve that goal. In the meantime, we MK consultants who a satisfied with the choice we have made will be around. Remember to wear sunscreen.
I hate it when people try soo hard to denounce a product or business that is not illegal or dangerous.The title of the publication is fearful”MK destroying half a million women a year”.If a product does not work for you,advce other people that it didn’t work for you,dont tell them it will DESTROY them.I have sold MK in the past and have stopped not because it was DESTROYING my life,but because I could not give it the amount of time this type of business requires.The company is making lots of money,what is wrong with that? so is MAC, clinique etc.Nobody forces anyone to buy anything.The company does not tell you to buy to buy $1800 worth of products,this is definately a lie from a greedy sales director concerned with her own commission.You should should start an investment with what you can afford.Please channel your efforts to the real things that are destroying the lives of women.
The destruction of women and their finances by Mary Kay is very real and documented by thousands. I will continue to fight against the big pink cult as long as it takes so we can spare as many women and their families as possible.
I don’t hate the products, they’re not the best, but I don’t hate them. I quit MK due to the manipulative practices of my upline, (sales directors and national sales directors). I couldn’t in good conscious continue to associate myself with a company that guilt trips and lies to their sales force in order to gain higher commission checks.
Not 100% of the sales force behaves this way, but its too many that do to just turn a blind eye and ignore. We on Pink Truth want to help other women not make the same mistakes and know that they’re not alone like I felt.
No one has the amount of time available to devote to MK in order to reach the top unless you work it literally 24/7 and ignore your friends and families, front load huge inventory packages to brand new consultants who are very trusting of their recruiters to help them and guide them. If the recruiter tells them, “if you’re serious about MK and running a business you need the $3,600 inventory”, so they trust their judgment and guidance and don’t realize until too late the mistake.
PT provides honest advice and lets you know the pitfalls. I wish this site was around when I started as a consultant I would’ve quit sooner and not have been so trusting of my sales directors who only wanted my huge orders to provide for their lifestyles.
When I started the business,nobody told me to purchase $3,600 worth of inventory,infact I started out with $200.Blame the greedy sales director who mislead people.Before you atempt ANY business venture,you should put all factors into consideration.
You can fight with all your energy,all I can tell you is that even as you have thousands that claim that marykay “destroyed their lives”, there are thousands out there that have success stories.Your “fight against the pink cult” sounds to me like you have a personal issue with this company.Please ladies. dont let anyone discourage you,start small,advertise your products and find a sales director that will not mislead you.If it works for you,good,if it doesn’t work, let it go.
You’re right… I’ll have to correct myself. It’s hundreds of thousands whose lives are destroyed. 480,000 recruited each year in the U.S. x 99% who lose money = 475,200 women each year in the U.S. who are screwed by Mary Kay.
And those who were victims of this system that guarantees failure to 99% shouldn’t just “let it go.” They should scream from the rooftops to help others avoid these financial losses.
It sad to say, but fear gets a lot of women into bad financial situations. They are afraid that they aren’t going to have enough money for all that they want. They are afraid of disappointing someone. They are afraid to go out and stake their own claim in life. They are afraid of saying “no”. Ms. Coenen, I am sorry to tell you this, but you are promoting that very fear in women. You make them afraid to take a chance at anything, MK or anything else that might improve their situation. Women like you keep other women in dead-end jobs, in dead-end relationships, even in debt…I notice you manage to sell a few items of your own on your website.
I am with Fidelia. Ms. Coenen’s “fight against the pink cult” is over the top. If you are thinking of beginning a home based business, be it MK or some other, you need to ask questions. And you need to know how and when you are going to work the business–there is a definite difference between “personal use” time and the “paying the mortgage” time. And you need to be aware of the financial risk you are willing to take. No-one can make these decisions for you…not Ms.Coenen, not an upline. And you need to remember that nothing happens without effort, and that is true for any profession. But mostly, you need to make your decisions based on fact and research. You have only started your research here.
$1800 orders are the result of “a lie from a greedy sales director concerned with her own commission?”
I’ll see that and raise you these lies from some other women concerned with their own commissions:
“If you plan to do even one skin care class a week, you need to know that you need a full inventory – or at least, to work up to $3600.00 wholesale. (Executive Senior Sales Director Kathy Payton)
“Small orders handicap new consultants. $3,600, $3,000, $2,400 – these are the three levels to explain. ” (NSD Stacy James)
“A $3,600 order is an advantage because banks hesitate to make small loans. Most banks will not consider loans for less than $1,000.” (NSD Rena Tarbet)
“All working and aspiring Star Consultants need $3600 on shelf. If they do not begin with $3600 or get there within their first 90 days, they never get there. Get the agreements, get the STAR order; I want you desperately to stay focused on your personal selling, personal recruiting, and commit to bringing in STARS!” (NSD Pam Shaw)
Such gallant leadership; always having their downline’s best interests at heart.
That’s your opinion of MAry Kay. I happen to believe in the Co and use the products and have many customers that love this Co and will not use anything thing else. I have a Wonderful Sales Director who gave me great information and did not tell me I had to purchase any amount she told me my options of what I could buy and asked what I could do and what did I want to start with. Just because you had a bad experience does not mean everone else is being ripped off. I’m sorry for your Experience
Just wanted to update on my earlier posts. Just found out today that my Director (ex) and Senior Sales Director just quit and will remain consultants. They wanted to finish out the year and as of July 1, are no longer directors.
These ladies were, “I’ll be in MK forever” type of women, both had quit their jobs and were Caddy earners and love the products as well. However, just like everyone else in MK that have been in over 5 yrs, they have woken up from the pink fog and decided not to continue on the hamster wheel. My director got a 9-5 a few months back and has already received a 10% raise and is truly happy to be free.
She does have a big client base so she’ll just be a consultant for now and earn her 40% and never recruit again. So if you have a client base, love the products and feel that you’re earning more than you are spending than more power to ya.
Just never recruit, never attend meetings/Seminar/conferences and never order unless you need it…and you’ll be OK, otherwise you’ll be in the debt that myself, my ex-director and my ex-SSD are working to get out of every day!
PS: Don’t quit your job to do MK! EVER! No matter what anyone else says! Please don’t quit your day job. You’ll regret it.
Hooray for your ex-director and senior!!!
i have sold marykay but i do not anymore. i use the product and believe its a good product. people quit jobs for different reasons. not everyone likes sales or is good at sales. it is a business. you have to treat mk as a business. keep good records and be deligent. it is deligence that maketh rich or poor. i have another business ive had for twenty years. it suceeded because it was my dream and thats where i put my focus. but that doesnt change mk is a good product, it wasnt my dream. but mk taught me to dream. and to keep the dream of my vision alive. its a good company.
WOW! This has been very enlightening. I too sold MK products back in the early 1990s. Then I went back to college while raising four children and helping on my husband’s dairy farm. I no longer had the time for MK so I dropped out. I felt bad for dropping out, but after reading all these comments I am so glad I did. I was told “It takes 3 years to get a business started and before you will see any money. Just keep those products on hand and you will do well.” Guess what, I ran out of patience and dropped out. MK would change their compacts and a person would have to purchase all new ones for their new products to fit into. And then there were the customers that would want the products I didn’t have on hand so I would have to order MORE products.
I guess what I am saying is… Thank goodness I got out when I did. I now teach Kindergarten and LOVE my job.
Just call me “educated teacher”.
WOW
Listen to all of you.. If you want and like Mary Kay, then do it.
If you do not like Mary Kay, then stop doing it and whining about
what it did or did not do for you.
I have been in Mary Kay fo 12 years and a director for 11 years.
I own another business and work with my husband 50 hours
a week while I have raised 2 awesome kids., one who is
now is in his third year of medical school and our daughter
who will be starting her education in a veternarian school in the
fall. I have put both of our children through their first 4 years of
college with Mary Kay funds and have earned 6 free cars, the last
3 which have been pink cadillacs. This BUSINESS WORKS
but yes you do have to WORK!!!
If it is not for you or you do not like to work that hard, that is fine.
However do not ruin if for those of us who do.
I do not force or pressure women to buy inventory, in fact if they
do a small inventory order I am happy for them as they are excited
to start with a small store. I do not pressure women to start a MK
business unless it is right for them. Not everyone works this
business the same so please if you are not in Mary Kay then
keep your opionion to yourself.!!
signed a very successful happy Christian wife and mom first.
A Mary Kay lady second !!!!
I have just unwillingly signed up to be a MK consultant (no gun but a major guilt trip) as I couldn’t say no to my desperate-for-success young sister in law. In Australia it cost $179 for a showcase. My sister in law has actually spielled off that “MK wants you to have product, you can’t sell from an empty wagon” line to me! Which I never bought into. I’m happy to place orders for my friends who genuinly want the products but don’t feel pressured to make mimuim orders or commissions. I am just doing my first round of orders for all the ‘freebies’ then I’m out. I have 2 other part time jobs (=full time hours) and 2 small babies, I’m just looking to get out of the house for a little while then pack it in, I can see clearly and just want to get the product for myself and my mum. I will be one of those statistics that was in and out during the year, which I don’t mind one bit if I can get some product that I previously liked, unfortuneatly my sister in law has already sunk quite a bit of her welfare money and her mother’s credit card into building her ‘wagon’
Some people just need it to make them feel good about themselves if they can’t get it from their family.
Thank you Scrib for you quotes. Were the women who made them responsible for your checkbook? Were you relying on them to create a realistic business plan for you? When do you take responsibility for your choices?
Every business with which you associate, be it Walmart, your bank, or your local MK lady, has one basic goal. They are in business to make a profit. From you. That is the simple fact of business. Why would you think that someone else is responsible for what amount of inventory you decide to purchase? We are a country of people who compulsively jump without looking.
Don’t be foolish. Research and plan. Be responsible for your own decisions and finances. No-one but your has your own best interest at heart.
“PinkLuv” you’re missing the point. It goes far beyond taking responsibility for actions and choices, which the vast majority of women on Pink Truth actually do. You must also recognize the part the upline plays in the grand deception. When they’re telling you’re they’re Christian and they’re going to help you (while they’re lying), when they’re saying you must have $3,600 of inventory or you won’t be successful, when they say that you should trust them because they’re experienced with MK and want to help them succeed..
The list goes on and on, but I’m sure you understand what I mean here.
Up until a couple of years ago, there was literally no place from which a consultant could get real information on MK. All they had were director propaganda sites that encouraged continuous ordering. Now that Pink Truth is there for women, they have a chance to get the real story.
And that’s all we want. For them to make truly informed decisions, instead of relying on the only resource they had been able to find for 40+ years: directors and dishonest uplines.
I began selling Mary Kay and quit because I was too lazy. I was only asked to put in $100 dollars and take orders. I did fine and made what I put into it then I decided that I did not want to put the time involved and my business failed. I have been in several business adventures and the ones that I put my time in I do well and the ones that I start to be lazy in fail.The truth is I have family that sells Mary Kay and Avon. The Mary Kay People are financially better off than the ones who sell Avon. I have 6 aunts who sold Mary Kay since the 80’s and they were not directors however they made a killing. They had the nice cars and the jewely and the coats and the pink cars and the bees. They went to the Mary Kay seminars and they went to their Mary Kay meetings. What I learned was that even if you do not keep a lot of product or no product at your house you still can make money because you can call another consultant and borrow their product because you still make the sell. When you put your whole heart in something then 9 out of 10 times you will do your best but, when you start to have doubts and fears then you will not be able to succeed. So it will not matter if you have been in the business for one day or for 20 years if you are not giving your all. Tell you what. Today with no start- up kit I will start again to sell Mary Kay and I am sure I will do wonderful until I go back to school and have to pull some time away. I will let you guys know in a month how I did.