Pyramid Schemes Take From the Bottom People
But Mary Kay isn’t a pyramid scheme!!! A woman is beside herself because she mentioned Mary Kay in a group and got a negative reaction. There were a bunch of supportive comments, but the funniest one was that “pyramid schemes take from the bottom people to pay the top people” and Mary Kay isn’t like that!
She says they don’t take from your team member’s commissions to pay you. No, they just take money directly from those team members and use it to pay you. The upline doesn’t get paid if the downline doesn’t order and give money to Mary Kay Inc. MK then takes that money and distributes to the upline.
But you can “contact corporate to get more info.” LOL. Here’s what they will tell you.
Visit the
People like Amy Carpenter-Mason probably thinks that “gullible” isn’t in the dictionary.
“They think I just want to sell them stuff or force them to sign up.” Well DUHHHHHH!!!
And don’t forget to talk to your director to learn how to effectively manipulate, guilt, flatter, lie to, and borderline harass your potential customers so that next time you post a question it can be “why does no one answer my texts or emails?”
Question for the consultants in this thread. Where does corporate get the money to pay out commissions? Do they have some mysterious revenue stream that does NOT depend on product orders from consultants?
If they’re creating profit from “wholesale” orders to consultants, then using those profits to pay commissions to uplines, that would be the definition of a pyramid scheme… If they’re pulling money in from some other source and using that for commission pay outs, I’d love for someone to cite that source.
That’s an excellent point, Frosty. Like always, follow the money. MKorp doesn’t have a magic wand, so the money has to come from somewhere. MLM doesn’t track retail sales, only sales of product to its consultants. As long as the pyramidlings are buying the stuff, corporate doesn’t care what happens to it afterwards. It’s a closed loop that can only sustain itself by finding enough people to become active consultants, and the only qualifications they need is coming up with enough money to keep the loop going. THat’s why the rewards (chintzy as they are) are based on recruitment and production. They know you’re not going to sell all that junk; they just want your money and for you to find more people to give them money.
Compare it to a REAL retail company, where its money comes from the sale of products to end users. They use that money to pay their workforce, and it’s to their benefit to restrict the number of employees and only hire the ones who are good at sales. Rewards (good ones, meant to inspire you to work harder and sell more) are based off of sales success. It’s an open system, which depends on putting out a good product and making it appealing to the masses.
Take something like McDonald’s, which is constantly trying out new menu items, new advertising campaigns, and reworking its restaurants in order to stay relevant in the new takeout/delivery centered fast food market. Compare that to MK, whose formulas are easily 20-30 years out of date, aren’t allowed to advertise, and make it difficult to order their products.
Consultants, don’t just parrot what you’ve been told by your upline and the official MK propaganda. Think about these things. If you do and decide to stay in, at least you’re making an informed decision instead of taking things on blind faith.
MLM doesn’t track retail sales, only sales of product to its consultants. As long as the pyramidlings are buying the stuff, corporate doesn’t care what happens to it afterwards.
Louder for the people in the back.
Ah, yes. I remember the disappointment of excitedly rushing out into the world to spread the news of Mary Kay and make millions of dollars, only to be greeted with eye rolls, sullen expressions and suddenly-remembered dentist appointments one had to rush off to. It was such a let down. The pink bubble did not exist in the real world and responses were nothing like Mary Kay said they would be. I had this vision of women sitting around a table nodding and interested in learning about the “opportunity” as they pulled out their credit cards. Reality check! Women don’t want Mary Kay. They don’t want to buy the products. They don’t want to sign up. Especially nowadays, people are wise to this system.
Notice the dishonest and deceptive wording (emphasis mine):
“Mary Kay is a privately owned company and they pay us from corporate, they don’t take from your team members commissions to pay you.”
Contrast that to this more honest wording:
“Mary Kay is a privately owned company that literally takes from your down-line team members’ orders to pay you.”
Don’t believe this? Then explain why Mary Kay claws back your commissions if your down-line orders are returned.
Mary Kay Corporate has exactly one revenue source: consultants. Is it any wonder they have to use crafty, deceptive wording to hide this truth?
“Mary Kay is a privately-owned company and they pay us from corporate, not from team member commissions. If someone gives you a hard time you can use my example.”
Somehow, I don’t believe her “example” will change anyone’s mind about the company or its products.
“They think I just want to sell them stuff or force them to sign up!,
That has to be the most self-unaware thing I’ve read in years.