Updated February 2018

Please read this post carefully before posting your questions on returning inventory. Most questions are already answered here! If you want to return your starter kit, please see this page.

THIS INFORMATION IS FOR CONSULTANTS IN THE UNITED STATES ONLY.

Call Mary Kay at (800) 272-9333 and follow the prompts to get to the Product Repurchase department.

You can cancel your agreement with Mary Kay at any time, and return the products you purchased from Mary Kay within the last 12 months. You do NOT need to be an “active” consultant to send back your inventory. You only need to be non-terminated (i.e. you have ordered at least once in the last 12 months).

If you send back your inventory using the repurchase option, you are terminating your contract and will no longer be an independent beauty consultant.

You do NOT have to communicate with your sales director or recruiter to do this. Simply call the company.

During this phone call, you will be told the wholesale value you are eligible to return, along with the date by which it must be RECEIVED by the company.

• You will receive two forms via email. One is the request for repurchase, one is the detailed report listing the inventory you’re eligible to return.
• The product repurchase department will notify your director that you are returning your inventory. You do NOT need to speak with her prior to doing it. (In fact, it’s advisable that you avoid her, since she will try every trick in the book to guilt you into not returning your products.) If you do speak to your director, kindly remind her that during the recruiting process you were told that one of the advantages to MK was the product repurchase option. You’re now utilizing that option.
• The form will list the deadline for your products to be received by Mary Kay. They say that they take a week to process the return, and then your refund is issued 4 to 6 weeks after that.

Mary Kay’s guidelines for the product repurchase policy are shown in the graphic at the bottom of this page.

You can return to Mary Kay Cosmetics the following items:

* All Section 1 products
* All Limited Edition Section 1 products
* All Discontinued Section 1 products

Be sure to follow Mary Kay’s list of specific products you are eligible to return. Do not return anything that isn’t on the list, as you will not receive credit for them and Mary Kay will not send them back to you.

How to complete your return:

• All items must be in “original and unused” condition. You do NOT need to have boxes to return the items, nor do you need to peel off any labels that you may have put on the products.
• Do the math for them. The Repurchase Department is known for doing “Mary Kay Math” and not always getting it right. Add up your retail and wholesale returned.
• Multiply the retail by your sales tax rate to determine the amount of sales tax that will be refunded to you.
• Multiply your eligible wholesale by 90%. This is the amount you can expect to receive back.
• Understand that they are going to deduct the company’s cost of prizes and free products received in the last year, but this is usually very minimal for most people.
• If you owe any commission chargebacks, this will also be deducted from your refund. Please note that you will be legally responsible to pay back to Mary Kay any commissions received on products that your recruits later return. Since consultants are eligible to return products for one year from the date of their last order, you could also be responsible to pay back that commission for one year.
• Box up everything and ship it via UPS or FedEx, and if you’ve got quite a bit of product, I recommend insuring it as well. Send the products to the address listed on the repurchase form.

Commission Chargebacks:

Anyone who originally received a commission on the inventory you are returning to Mary Kay will be charged back for that commission. It will be deducted from her next commission check, or if she’s not getting any commission check, the company will send her a bill.

Please do NOT let this stop you from returning your inventory. You have FAR MORE MONEY AT STAKE than the people who earned commissions. Suppose you are eligible to return $5,000 wholesale. Your sales director would owe back $650 in commission, and your recruiter would owe back between $200 and $650. That’s not much money compared to your refund of $5,000 wholesale plus sales tax refund of $500+.

Your director/recruiter tell you this is a business, and they are right. If they’re serious about their businesses, they will plan for the possibility of commission chargebacks. Don’t lose out because you’re worried about their commission checks!

Becoming a Consultant after Returning Inventory:

If you take advantage of the product repurchase option, you will not be able to be a consultant again. (In some situation the company HAS allowed women to become consultants again, but the official policy says you cannot.)

Do not let this deter you from getting your money back. If you ever want to get back into a business like this, there are plenty of other companies out there. Do what is best for your family now!!!