How many of you felt (or feel, if you’re still in) the sting of the holiday open house failure in Mary Kay? Your upline insisted that you order a ton of Christmas products. After all, they’re going to sell out fast! (They sold out, but only because everyone has a ton sitting at their houses, not because they actually sold the stuff to customers.)

You also bought all the supplies. The cute bags, tissue paper, cellophane, bows, crinkle paper, boxes…. packaged up all sorts of sets.

And then no one showed up. You have $500 or $1,000 or $2,000 into all of these products, and you sold a couple of pathetic little sets. Just like this lady:

But she is not getting discouraged!

Honey, that is exactly what Mary Kay is counting on. You’re going to keep trying. Because YOU must be the problem here. It can’t be the system. (Although if you looked a little, you’d see that 99% of people lose money in MLM.)

It is the system. You are almost guaranteed to fail in MLM. Get discouraged. Please get discouraged. Stop throwing money down the toilet. Discount this stuff to wholesale. Get your money back. And leave MK as just a bad memory.

And how sad are these comments?

17 COMMENTS

  1. Ah, the clearly visible cross in the second picture… and the prayers to bless this debacle… I mean EVENT.

    Try listening to what god is actually telling you instead of what your upline says he’s telling you. Hint: his advice sounds a whole lot like Tracy’s. Get off the hamster wheel, unload the unwanted face flack and reclaim your living room, and take back your Christmas. It’s his son’s birthday, after all.

    15
  2. Oh, Patricia Anderson? IT’S NOT A FREE CAR and “next year will be better” is zero help because A) no, it won’t and B) she’s out of pocket and overloaded with unsellable junk NOW.

    12
  3. If I get invited to someone’s house during the Christmas season, it traditionally involves sharing of holiday treats and holiday cheer (of the adult beverage variety).

    ‘Tis not the season for exploiting your relationships for personal gain. Giving, not receiving, is the name of the game for adults this time of year.

    21
  4. But these products fly off the shelves!

    Director, before I sign up can I come with you to one of YOUR open houses to see how busy it is and how much you sell?

    19
    1
    • This was my thought. All these people chiming in with their recommendations. Do as I say, not as I do.

      You know these others stopped doing the holiday open house ages because of how they turn out. But you should throw all that stuff in the trunk of your car and waste gas driving around because YOU aren’t allowed to see it as a waste of time and money. .

  5. So, what’s the definition of insanity?

    The executive level income for part time work, while she stays at home with the kids, is right around the next corner/order!

    I particularly like how the fellow cult folks cast their various spells/posts.

    14
  6. Puts right hand on consultant’s forehead and says, “Praying for a shower of blessings on your event.” Throws her left hand up to the sky and pushes the consultant back off her balance and yells, “JEEEE-sus does not want you to be discouraged. You must keep the faith and stay positive…[because I don’t have evidence to back up my claims.] Do not doubt our leader, and do worship thee.” (All subjective goobledygook.)

    You know what’s not subjective? Tithing. That’s very real. You give the organization/person real money….just like you do in Mary Kay.

    Cult is as cult does.

    11
    2
  7. Will they ever learn? – Rhetorical question. This is such an outdated mode of selling. No way I’m going to someone’s open house and feel obligated to buy something. All that work for no results. Only MK Corp makes sales selling all that stuff to the “sales force.” It’ll be interesting to hear how the company is doing with sales and recruiting at year end.

  8. I don’t need to leave my house to order online from Sephora, Bath and Body Works – and with coupons, Ratuken and free shipping I don’t have to worry about gas or crowds!

    • The IBCs are told to “build relationships.” Lady, I don’t want a relationship with you, just quality skincare and makeup at decent prices.

      And if I’m looking for expert advice, I can go on line and learn from actual professionals. Honestly, I’m shocked at how bad some of these MK consultants look. Bad skin, bad makeup application. I’m sure some are talented, but I wouldn’t take the chance of selecting the wrong consultant and then feeling “stuck” when she tells me, “Mary Kay helps feed my family.”

      I have a Sephora order arriving any day. Free shipping, free samples, and points that add up quickly toward high-end freebies. No relationship, no commitment, no guilt if things don’t work out with that serum I bought.

      12
      • I’ve never seen a Mary Kay consultant I’ve ever wanted to get makeup or skincare tips from. Most of them look incredibly outdated and I suspect the ones that look decent are using other products but claiming it to be MK so they can make a buck.

  9. If it’s not working, just keep doing the same stuff but MORE and HARDER … that’s not advice you will get from any business course.

    • Virtual open houses, virtual parties, virtual appointments, virtual facials…

      By golly, it’s a virtual business making virtual profits.

  10. The business model of MK is pushing a cart with square wheels. The cart isn’t designed well because it has square wheels. You can put a lot of energy into pushing it, spend a lot of time pushing it, and still get no where. The suggestion to drive to people’s houses, get them to make reservations, calling them before the event, etc. don’t change the square wheels on the MK cart because people just don’t like MK products or the outdated mode of selling them when there are so many better options. I know I am not alone when I say I am much more comfortable buying make-up and beauty products online. I don’t want to be pressured or guilt tripped into making purchases and I like the wide variety of products I can get elsewhere. It would also be hard to trust a consultant because she has motivation to unload her inventory, not to find the products that would be best for me. Also, it makes me feel used if people target me to buy from them or try to recruit me…in those situations, the person never sought my friendship until I became a potential source of income for them. I also like good value, I don’t mind paying up for something, but I want it to be quality. People pay up for MK, but 50% of that goes to the person selling it and most of the rest goes to the up lines.

    11
    • Also there are now so many great makeup dupes out there for a fraction of the pricewho would want to even get hassled by these sales reps for makeup that is just meh at a high mark up?

  11. Wow. This really brings back memories of when my dearest friend was a MK hunbot. She spent so much money on product, packaging, spent two weeks decorating her house and spent countless hours baking cookies and making hors d’oeuvres for her first open house. I picked up my mom and we went together. I felt incredibly sad for my friend because only three people other than mom and I showed up. This was in the early 90’s, so no social media. She made and mailed all the invites and I think she sent about 50.

    I bought a few things and my mom felt so sorry for her, she bought ALL of the gift baskets she’d made. When my mom died a few years later, the same friend helped me pack up her bedroom. In mom’s ‘gift closet’ we found some of the gift baskets sadly sitting on a shelf. Mom had given most of them away, but those few leftovers were a glaring example of how no one wanted that crap!

Comments are closed.

Related Posts