MLM is Failing
News of MLM companies not MLMing anymore is really upsetting the bots who are completely invested in these scams. They’re the kind of people who won’t admit that they’re in an MLM.. and they play word games and call their scams “direct sales” or “network marketing” or “social selling.”
Just this year, we’ve seen these companies eliminate MLM from their business model or shut down altogether: Beautycounter, Seint, Rodan + Fields, Beachbody BODi… did I miss any?
So it’s important for Mary Kay die-hards like Katy Goldstein to remind us how fabulous and strong Mary Kay is, and there is no way they could ever stop being an MLM.
Just remember… As a consultant or director, you own nothing. You have no rights. The company can terminate you at any time, with or without a reason. You take nothing with you. And if the company shuts down or decided to get rid of the distributors, you’re also out of luck.
A lot of lip service is paid to how “strong” Mary Kay is. What a great foundation it was built on. This is being touted by those who are completely blind to what a scam the whole thing is. They can’t admit to themselves that 99% of people lose money, not because of their own failures, but because the system is designed that way. They can’t admit that they company fills the pockets of Ryan Rogers at the expense of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who are being swindled out of their money.
Make no mistake: It is the same scam as all other MLM companies. And therein lies the risk for MK. The numbers have been falling in the U.S. for a really long time. The company has boosted their numbers by entering “emerging markets.” (i.e. Countries that are much worse off, where consumers are less educated about this type of scam.) There is no guarantee that this scam can continue into infinity.
Visit the
Wasn’t she supposed to be an NSD by now?
I guess she’s just a lazy loser who isn’t willing to work hard! You can promote yourself whenever you want in MK if you’re just willing to put in the work!
Her pumpkin patch wasn’t sincere enough.
And yet car qualifications have been made more difficult (ie expensive), star inventory packages are more expensive, their InTouch website is about as functional as a 2002 Geocities fan page, they’re discontinuing samples of color cosmetics because “the factory don’t make ’em no more” instead of, you know, just finding a new factory, and closing loopholes on time-honored tactics like placing fraudulent orders and on hold orders.
Basically, they’re making life as difficult as they can for their consultomers, almost as if they’re trying to push out as many of them as they can ahead of a paradigm shift…
Oh, discontinuing samples of color…That “free pampering/ makeover session” is going to really suck (Skin care only?) Or be EXPENSIVE for the consultants. They’ll have to buy full-size everything.
I’m sure you’re right; trying to push people out.
I literally had the exact same password from 2003 to 2021 on intouch. I only changed it at that point because I thought it might be a good idea. Shamrock1 .. my ancient (in 2003) computer monitor was “shamrock” brand, and it was written on the monitor. I would never forget the password when it was right in front of my face. I would never need to change my password because MK would never require me to do so. But they are really up with the times. And technology. Also, until the big website update in the summer of 2023, it didn’t change much, either. But they’re cutting edge.
Coralrose, it was mentioned by directors they aren’t allowed to use full size product for sample purposes for hygiene?? Every solution had an obstacle thrown in front of it for the most part! Searching google THEMSELVES for “color makeup sample manufacturer” is not permitted either!
What?! So the whole “try before you buy” for color is not a thing, then?
Good luck with the sales, ladies
There are ways to use full-size samples hygienically. Sephora and Ulta do it.
It’s almost like Corporate only cares about recruiting and not sales. But, no, not that. They are “Enriching Women’s Lives.”
I thought the MK factory itself produced the samples, but what do I know?
Katy’s post will be fun to revisit when the inevitable happens.
Monat is slowly tearing itself apart. A large group of market partners were terminated after they joined Olive Tree People, others for “not fitting the aesthetic” and finally the suits and countersuits issued by former CEO Stuart MacMillan and Toni Vanschoyck who was the first market partner had had over 95% of the other MPs in her down-lines.
Mary Kay Corp is well aware of the shenanigans going on in the downline. They are well aware that most of the product ordered is never retailed, and of the product that IS retailed, little if any sells at MSRP.
The illusion of being a business owner must be maintained at all cost. The goal is to create a vast customer base of folks willing to order way more product than they can ever use or sell, and get those same customers to recruit others to do the same.
All the incentives in Mary Kay promote these simple business goals. Nothing in the corporate incentives reward the selling of product to outside customers. The problem is in pretending to support a grossly outdated business model (door to door sales). As time goes by, fewer and fewer people see the value in promoting such an inefficient distribution model, since no one buys other products this way any more.
Every new generation needs to discover and learn to recognize MLM. Thanks to social media, folks are learning about the pitfalls of MLM long before they are approached for the first time. Thankfully, the MLM smell can be detected at a distance, once folks are familiar with the odor. The FTC can smell it too…which is what scares MLM corporate types into abandoning their MLM distribution model once the FTC is onto them.
MK aside, I feel like we are living in a gaslit phony baloney world. I teach reading to elementary children and am POd about how lied to I’ve been for the 20+ years in my career. How to teach children to read – we haven’t been. “It’s your fault, Ms. H. You need to put in more hours… There’s no traffic on the extra mile… we’re not in it for the income, we’re in it for the outcome… We’ll be looking at new curriculum next year… oh he comes from a terrible home life… BLAH BLAH.” How about we just quit BSing and do things right? I KNEW we weren’t doing a good job, but nobody would fess up. They DID make me feel like a loser. If you wonder what I’m talking about, learn about the “Science of Reading,” which is also a shiny name for We Knew How to Teach Reading Fifty Years Ago but We Had to Stop because Nobody was Making Billions of Dollars that Way.” Oh shoot, did I say that out loud?
Well, mk’s demise is inevitable. The makeup sample printing company quit!
Please. The first thing your nepo-baby CEO did was slash your car program. Mary Kay seven-last-names Ash’s family doesn’t give a crap about the sales force. They only care about the trust fund they all depend on remaining fat with cash.
I wonder if this is to force consultants to use more product. Instead of samples, all that unsold inventory is now perfect for testers!!
Another company that dropped the party plan is Stella and Dot. The party plan is DOA. All the companies are going to affiliate or ambassador. It’s only a matter of time before MK changes. They say they won’t but they have already started changing. Wait and watch.
When this shift happens what will the lifers do? Will Kimberly Copeland go out and get a real job? What about waverly, Dacia, Krystal, Jamie or anyone else. What about all the directors who are close to retirement age with no 401k built up?
The writing is on the wall. Mary Kay is crumbling and Ryan Roger’s does not give a single care about anyone but himself. The fact that these women believe they are safe is laughable. Get a back up plan in place because you will need it.
The traveling vineyard also made the change recently.
Another major sign is the nsd board no longer having any say with the company decisions, as well as making the qualifications to maintain nsd status. The company seems to fully intend on pushing as many to lose their positions or make selling as difficult as possible so they can blame it on the sales force “just not pulling their weight.”
I was just discussing this with my husband a couple days ago… the company likely sees the potential for full retail price. (Although they are in for a shock when it comes to what actually is selling). Add on the expense of sales force support , making section 2, training videos/website expenses, legal wouldn’t have to be so extensive , events, and all other expenses relating to keeping the consultants.
One more thing I forgot to note- if they make it difficult for nsd’s to maintain their status, they can get out of paying nsd retirement plans which could be another financial hardship on the company if they changed. They probably collected data on how many nationals will age out at which date. Hence the change they made a few years ago.
Yes but the NSD’s are given many a chance to build back up. My former NSD had ONE SD left and she never had her title taken away. This went on for years. She passed away recently and retired at this year’s leadership right before she passed. Sales directors are given exceptions from the company and the company does it for NSD’s too.
But if they’re going to eliminate all of the consultants, it doesn’t make sense to expand into Vietnam and that other new country. Oh, man. I hope they don’t just use those new consultants as a temporary influx of cash & then eliminate them right away. But that’s probably what’s happening.