What do you think about Stella and Dot jewelry?
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Anonymous
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My friend is an S&D "stylist" and has absolutely drunk the kool-aid. I've gotten a couple of things from her as gifts and felt obligated to buy something through the website last year. The quality is really poor. I am allergic to nickel and rhodium, so I can tell in seconds if something is real silver or stainless/rhodium.
More than anything, I am creeped out by the Stepford Wives quality of the 'stylists,' and the cultish way they seem to approach the business. Good for the founder of the company who is surely making heaps of money off their backs, but it really gave me a case of the ickies to see them all at Hoopla this year. I met up with my friend in Vegas just before Hoopla began, and when the flood of women (99% Caucasian, 75% blonde) came in, I found the whole thing a little upsetting. I asked a bit about what they cover in the sessions during the conference, and she was vague about it, as if they aren't allowed to disclose trade secrets to outsiders. I know they all learn some sort of dance every year, and there are chants and different team-building exercises, but it all sounds like a para-religion to me. Now that I've witnessed it for myself, I can't see wearing any Stella & Dot jewelry again. Creepy. |
Anonymous
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THE GOOD, THE BAD, and THE COSTLY...
I really loved S&D jewelry when I went to my first Trunk show! For the most part, I find direct sales home parties (Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Epicure, etc...) enjoyable. I have never felt pressured to buy anything, and I don't have a problem helping out a friend get some extra stuff by buying something I can use. If I don't like the product, I either don't buy anything or I don't go - end of story. I found S&D jewelry to be well made, of better quality than a lot of other fashion jewelry companies that I had seen in department stores, and I loved the variety of styles (bold and fashion forward, classical and delicate), mixtures of different metal finishes and the use of semi-precious stones, silk and even some wood. I also thought the little girls line was really cute. I was also quite impressed with the S&D website, the promotional products, packaging, the New Stylist Kit, etc.., so I signed on as a stylist a few months later. No matter how easy S&D says it is to sell ("the jewelry sells itself"), unless you have a large group of fashion forward friends and acquaintances who have disposable income, it is going to be difficult to make a go of it. Most of my friends are STAHM's and a lot of their tastes are more casual - arts and crafts (ie. Silpada ). A few friends who are more fashion forward, but can't afford S&D, seem to be fine with drug store quality jewelry. Prior to signing on I asked a few ladies if they would be interested in hosting a party. All but one of the ladies that had told me they wanted to do a trunk show backed down. I think the price was a large part of it. I don't think that S&D is hugely overpriced. When I compare it to other high end fashion jewelry, it seems to be comparable, but if it’s not your taste, or affordable to you, then why would you host? The majority of the pieces that I have sold and have bought have been fine and have held up well. However, I did have a few defect issues right from the start. Rings, right out of the box, with missing stones (twice), frayed bits on a woven bracelet, a large stone on a ring popping out, stones not being set properly in another ring, which I sent back, only to have a stone in the replacement pop out, and some other defects. The only positive thing I can say about this is that customer service was always very helpful and tried to fix everything. The return/exchange process was easy. You are always going to have issues with jewelry that is mass produced in a factory, but, at this price point, I really think S&D needs to invest more time with checking their jewelry for defects prior to shipping out. This issue gave me pause in selling such a high end line, with apparently, low end inspections. Also, from a time and cost perspective, for the first year as a stylist, I invested a lot of time, money, and energy into my business. I must of drank the S&D kool-aid! (-  . Unfortunately, for me, the input was not matching the results.
Time and energy: I tried to branch out past friends and acquaintances - leaving look books at the gym, on bulletin boards, renting tables at two trade shows, creating posters, holding a draw for free jewelry to get new contacts. Apart from selling two necklaces from a lady who found a lookbook at my gym, I had zero results from this. I lost money from the costs of the rentals, the earrings I gave away at the draw, the catalogues I ordered and had to recycle most of. If you are not a phone person, this is not a good choice for you, as you will have to do a lot of follow up calls to try to get trunk shows. Even though I only called people that said they were interested in S&D, it totally felt like a "cold" call due to the reaction - not remembering your table at the trade show or not remembering telling you they wanted to do a show. Not so much fun, unless you are a natural salesperson that is ok with this. I'm not! I don't like hard sell, and I refuse to be pushy. Costs: The initial Stylist kit is very reasonable (at the time it was $199.00 which included $450.00 in free jewelry). To maintain your membership, you pay an annual membership fee ($59 Cdn). The quarterly website fees cost appx. $150.00 Cdn/year. To qualify for your stylists 25% discount you must buy or sell $250.00 every quarter. To qualify for the 50% off the quarterly new sample discount you are required to sell (not buy) $250.00/ quarter. The local monthly team meetings - training/pep rallies, New Sample Galas and boot camp training sessions cost from $10.00-$69. The catalogues (lookbooks) are almost $50.00/20 books (with shipping and tax). When S&D switched over to a new pay system, my commission was dinged $1.50/month to pay for the new and improved pay system! Hey, it all adds up. I am quite curious as to what the turnover rate for stylists is, as S&D is constantly encouraging stylists to recruit new stylists and they offer incentive to do so. The only thing is, if you've spent a lot of time training your recruits and are not able to keep your sales up, you lose your entire downline (team) and your team goes to your sponsor. Not a lot of incentive to sponsor if you have a few slow months, from time to time. I still love S&D jewelry, but my days as a stylist are over. Since leaving, I have purchased some S&D from ebay and a few other discounted websites and have found the items to be authentic and free of defects. Most of the ebay items are stylists selling off their retired display items. |
Anonymous
| The stuff is junk! |
Anonymous
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[I looked on the Contagious Creations website - all the pieces are the same style. Since CC goes up to at least $415 for one of the necklaces and all of the styles are basically the same, I don't think it's an apples to apples comparison. CC appears to be artisan created and will appeal to a narrow demographic - although it is beautiful. Stella is mass-produced and does appeal to a wider demo. Though they do have some high priced items, they also have items that are $24 (Soiree Studs, among other studs) that are gorgeous and can be styled a number of different ways.
I own a boutique, and having seen what's out there to stock my shop with, I appreciate the style that's put into Stella & Dot. I understand the business model and that that's what necessitates the high prices. I can't say I didn't wish it were different, but it's working for a TON of ladies out there and the company seems to be growing like crazy. They are doing something right. I think the quality was better several years ago, but that was before the massive growth they've experienced over the last two years. I can only hope my boutique sees a little bit of that growth.] Thank you. This is refreshing. And I hope you and your boutique enjoy much growth and success. So many of these comments are seemingly from nattering nabobs of negativism (to quote someone back in the day). I only wish for those involved in Stella & Dot, whether selling or buying, a wonderful and positive experience. I know for a fact that it works very well for many people. For the rest of you, I hope you find something in your lives that will bring out the positivity that is surely lurking somewhere inside. The world could use it. |
Anonymous
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I have had it with these "parties".
Basically here is the deal- you are my "friend" so you are obligated to come to my "party" where I will put all sorts of pressure on you to buy crap at inflated prices or try to get you to sell so that I make money on your "sales" With friends like these- who needs enemies? |
Anonymous
I'm def feeling the quasi-religion creepiness from this post. signed, A Nattering Nabob |
Anonymous
| Shit shit a mo' shit.... Pretty fancy for manasses as and Bristow though |
Anonymous
| Crap. |
Anonymous
| HATE. |
Anonymous
| I have obtained REAL SILVER jewelry in South America for 1/2 the price of S&D. This is the cheapest jewelry and way over priced! Shame on the greedy people who lure their friends into buying this crap! Get a REAL job! |
Anonymous
| Junk, complete rip off. |
Anonymous
| Why do all these people who sell this stuff via trunk shoes refer to it as "my business"? And this is across the board no matter what the product they are pushing. Maybe it is a "business" technically but to me it is not a REAL business. When I think of someone having a business it is of a person who busts their ass, pays their dues and builds something real of their own. Not this silly nonsense of paying your own money in to some cultish group only for the right to harass family and friends to purchase things they most likely do not want or need. |
Anonymous
| I love Stella & Dot and have been buying it nearly since the company started although the jewelry that they are making now is a lot more fashionable. Between gifts and myself I have probably bought damn near 50 pieces of jewelry. I have only had to return one piece (which was well past the 3 month return period) and my "stylist" just contacted customer service and made it happen, even though I bought it probably 9 months prior. My rep is never pushy, I think you just have to find the right rep. I did one "party" with her and it was awesome. Anyone who didn't want to be there, didn't come and everyone who was interested showed up. |
Anonymous
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Just wanted to drop another piece of feedback on the quality of the S&D products.
I purchased two different sets of earrings and BOTH sets of earrings fell apart and broke upon first wearing. -Stella & Dot Capri Chandelier Earrings -Stella & Dot Signature Clover Chandelier Earrings I also have a nice S&D necklace that I purchased but I am afraid to even wear it as now I am paranoid this jewelry just falls apart whenever the wind blows. I am very disappointed and very frustrated with the poor quality of these products. |
Anonymous
| Considering that the CEO and founder of Stella & Dot is almost at the billion dollar mark, someone must be buying this "crap". |