1. I read the Harper’s piece with great dismay and I am heartbroken to see women recruited by MK being told lies by omission, women who sign up hoping for some success and recognition being left with unsellable inventory, legal debts and pissed off husbands/boyfriends, not to mention the crushed feeling of personal defeat.
   The other night, my wife and I were in the local Starbucks, and next to us a recruiting pitch was taking place. It wasnt MK but a jewelry company. Two immaculately presented women were pressuring a young woman to join their sales force. The pitch was precisely MK: order your inventory at wholesale prices, book your showings, and the cash from your sales will pour in. I sipped my drink and pretended not to be eavesdropping. (My wife and I speak fluent French, so we discussed in real time exactly what was happening in front of us. I dont think the saleswomen had any idea what I was saying, or that I was planning to ruin their scheme)
   What was happening in front of me was so unfair. These verbally slick, professionally trained operatives were pouncing on this poor kid. The attacks were so subtle. They were pressuring her to recruit her cousin as well. The poor kid didnt stand a chance against such slick psychology and marketing manipulation.
   I prayed that the two sales women would depart first, because I wanted to approach the kid with a warning. Thankfully, the two pros departed (and I watched them stand on the sidewalk, assesssing their chances of nailing this kid to a signed contract.) I saw which car the dazed kid got into, and quietly walked after her. I knocked on her car window in the Starbucks lot, and said “Please miss, let me speak to you a moment. I mean you no harm.My name is Bob and I’m a high school history teacher. I mean you no harm.” She looked scared at first, but I explained pyramid schemes and what I knew about MK. I had written down the title of the Harper’s piece and also this website and handed it to her. I begged her not to sign anything until she read the piece.She looked at me wide-eyed, and I could see light of comprehension go on in her brain. She understood that these slick sales women were a millimeter from getting their hooks into her, and that disaster would be her only result. (The jewelry looked cheap and garish.) I have no way of knowing if the kid signed or not, but I do hope that she looked at the Harpers piece and this site too. Perhaps we spared one young person this painful chapter.

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2. Bob, you’re a good man. These scammers do prey on the young ones.

   I was in my local Red Robin and overheard the same manipulation. In this case it was two herbal life “professionals” who were tag teaming a young man. He was an x-ray tech at a local hospital and didn’t fall for their lines, thankfully. After he left, they sat there and assessed their performance. After patting themselves on the backs for a job well done they left.

   I was going to intervene if necessary, we had parked next to a van with herbal life decals plastered all over it, so I was on the lookout. 🙂

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   • I particularly despise these “herbal supplement” outfits. I have family members who work in different sectors of the medical field and to hear these salespeople pitching that these supplements cure everything from cancer to the common cold just drives me up a wall. I’m cool with taking a daily multivitamin to keep things running smoothly, but I know that there is no way in hell it’s gonna cure cancer.

3. This is so true…I am thousands of dollars in debt because of MK and my director making me feel bad if I didn’t sell. In MK you can “fake” sell, meaning buying inventory to have “in stock” which in the end never gets sold because you are constantly paying fees (aka the chart above).

4. I have been a consultant for six years, and quit my “day job” four years ago. I have NEVER been pressured to buy inventory. Actually, I have never been pressured except by myself. I never took on credit card debt, nor was ever asked to by anyone “above” me. In fact, my director says specifically that you should only order product because you are SELLING product, and if you aren’t being successful selling, she will work with you so that you are. I choose to build an inventory, because in the real business world, you have to have product to sell to clients. Mine clients don’t like to wait for an order to be filled. Sort of like if you go to any store, you kiind of want there to be products you can actually take home. I treat my business like a business, not a magic money making machine – you have to actually work to make money. What a concept.

   I can’t speak for all, but the unit i belong to stresses integrity and truth in recruiting. I have no problem showing my earnings, because they are honest and legitimate. This person is upset because she “only” made about $14/hour. So, about twice minimum wage. I would personally say that is a good return on investment. To blame someone else because she choose to take on debt is not being personally responsible.

   To the man who is blaming Mary Kay, Inc. because some jewelry company was using high pressure is just wrong. Mary Kay is not a pyramid, and never has been. Having been in the business world long before becoming a consultant, I can say with authority it is more like a francise – you use the company name and the recognition, and you sell that brand. Rather like Starbucks, only FAR more cost effective; have you priced a francise lately?

   I realize that this is a hate site, but seriously, Mary Kay has made more women millionaires than any other business in the world. That not all women become millionaires isn’t the companies fault. How many people who own Starbucks franchises, or any other for that matter, are making millions? Yet nobody says they are dishonest or crooked. Makes me wonder.

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5. Annie, Annie, Annie – Mary Kay is NOTHING like a franchise. Mary Kay has all the control, and you have no recourse if they decide to terminate you one day. You don’t have a territory, you don’t even own your customers.

   And please stop spouting the lie that Mary Kay has made more women millionaires than any other business. It is completely fabricated.

   Nobody is saying companies like Starbucks are crooked because they’re not running pyramid schemes. In contrast, multi-level marketing is just a legalized form of pyramid schemes in which almost everyone loses money: http://www.pinktruth.com/mary-kay-facts/myth-of-mlm-income-opportunity-99-lose-money-in-mlm/

   Multi-level marketing is not a business: http://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfiles/2015/03/multi-level-marketing-is-not-a-business-its-a-pyramid-scheme/

   And this isn’t a “hate” site. It’s a TRUTH site. The truth that MK and its representatives will never tell you.

6. My SD is still in and 20 years later, she still has only one director. Both said 20 years ago they’d be NSD’s. I remember my SD taking advantage advantage of 2 really great women in DIQ. Neither of them made it and the SD built her unit from their recruits. Her husband maintained her business. Back then she had tons of unsold product. We had a really sweet professionally trained model and make up artist who was never asked to properly train us on glamor. Our SD taught very little but focused on recruiting. If MK was so great many of us would have made it to SD and beyond. My SD twenty years later hasn’t progressed one iota. However, hundreds of women were recruited by her and discarded once they had too much product and credit card debt.

7. Sometime ago, I was told the number one MK sales person was a man! So I would do great!

   And the woman recruiting me was the hottest looking girl I had ever met. So after a bit of talking, and a chat with her supervisor, we decided to get together and sign the papers.

   So, the initial was to be $3,000. I was in hypertension and really just wondering how I got there! And so I asked her for a minute, I would like to get a drink, a beer.

   Well, would you know? According to this lady, we were having an official meeting and drinking alcohol was not allowed!

   Wow! Talk about deliverance!! Whatever else can be said about her, she put the rules above my order!! I ordered a frosty brew and never looked back!!

8. Sorry, I mean in Canada! Man at that time was top agent in Canada!! haha. Although I know nothing about makeup and am personally dull and plain looking, I would have no MK problem if I approached women for sales!!

   Haha. I am still laughing!!

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