'Fess up...if you sell for mlm companies, give us the dirt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The work entails helping people that reach out to you for help, being very good at following up with them and truly helping them with their issues with their skin. It's being honest and true about your own results and sharing them with people and it is about reaching out and letting people know you are doing this, but def. not harassing anyone. People who do that, don't work the business correctly. This particular company has a full 60-day return policy, so I don't feel badly having my friends try the products. If they don't work, no problem, send them back. Just like any sales job, this is making a sale, except it's to your own network. Like I said, you have to be a normal human being and act like yourself. I don't do the scripts and I don't harass my friends, that doesn't work, clearly

Ok, so question for you here. Do you not realize/feel guilty about charging your friends $200 for skin creme that is probably worth $10 just so that all of the people up the pyramid get their cut?? I just don't know how you could do that to your friends?

No, absolutely not. One cream is never $200, first of all, it's about $140-$190 for a full 4-piece skincare regimen, which lasts 60-90 days/minimum. Completely in line with Clinique, Estee Lauder, etc. I buy it myself at consultant discount, which is 25% off, so I pay for it just like everyone else and I like it. I used to buy one eye cream for $100 from Estee Lauder at Nordstrom's, it was way more expensive and I think the ingredients in the products I use and sell are better and more effective. They doctors are same ones that created Proactiv, so they are not just some sales people selling random skincare. They actually formulated these products and tested them through clinical trials. Of course, there are people who try the products and don't love them or decide they want to try something else, so they return them for a full refund within 60 days even if they've used them up. You can't do that at any retail store if they have been opened. I see myself as a wholesaler really. Company gets a cut, I get a cut, and yes, the cost is passed down to consumer, just like in any other retail business. I'm also there and provide great customer service. I manage customer accounts, make sure they're getting right products that work for them, follow up with them, delay and move up their orders, etc. I do a lot of customer care work just like any good store would. If you buy something at the store, that's it. Your transaction is done. I'm always there for my customers and take pride in them being happy bc as you pointed out they are my friends and family.

ok, so $190 top end and I said $200. Big difference.

I just bought Clinique Redness moisturizer for $46. Soothe is $160 I think.

But you see - company gets a cut, you get a cut, but you also are giving cuts all the way up the pyramid. How do you not see that? How do you not see that you are ripping off your friends and family? You are not a skin care professional?!

First of all, one cream for $46, or 4 for $150. Soothe is $144 for 4 elements in the regimen. They are also sold individually and they are $36-$70 each. I'm not ripping anyone off. I've seen other regimens at the stores for much more. What do you say about Le Mer, where one cream is $500? Sold at stores, so it's ok?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why Proactive (a great product) is sold in stores like Target, but the other R+F products are all sold via pyramid scheme?

Sure, I can explain. It's two totally different companies. The Proactiv doctors no longer own the rights to Proactiv, they sold the rights, but the formula is still theirs. They decided to go into anti-aging market which is much larger and they started out in retail stores (Nordstrom and few others), where they did very well. Few years in, they bought their rights back from Estee Lauder and decided to go into direct sales for many reasons, one of them being that their products were sold better word of mouth. They cut out the wholesaler and their growth exploded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10k per month is still six figures per year...

So one can make six figures per year...before paying six figures per year in product and other staff (what are the nurses for?)?

You would never pay six figures/year for product. We buy about $80/month for ourselves and make commission on that. Nurses are there to answer questions regarding regimen use and any issues that come up. Why do you think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a lady who was one of the top ten sellers for Stella & Dot a few years ago. This woman is gorgeous, bubby, worked her ass off, did parties every weekend, knew tons of people, etc. Definitely one of the few who you'd expect would be making the big bucks, and her FB statuses also gave that impression. She quit abruptly because apparently S&D changed the commission structure and screwed a lot of people at the top, including her. Another of my friends was considering signing up, so I asked the former rep what she thought about it. Former rep told me flat-out that no matter how hard you work at S&D, you will NEVER make more than $2-$3k per month. It's just not possible, given the commission structure and the amount of jewelry the reps have to buy, etc. Plus, the amount of hours she was putting in were absolutely insane. She probably did 2-3 shows every weekend, which is way more than most reps would ever be able to book. I don't know about anyone else, but if I needed an extra $2-3k per month, I'd work at Starbucks or something before I'd go into MLM, but whatever. I have no idea how much she netted overall, but I'm guessing it wasn't a particularly impressive figure.

There's no way you can make $2-3k per month at Starbucks, even if you worked there full-time.

But you'd get health insurance/benefits, so that's something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The work entails helping people that reach out to you for help, being very good at following up with them and truly helping them with their issues with their skin. It's being honest and true about your own results and sharing them with people and it is about reaching out and letting people know you are doing this, but def. not harassing anyone. People who do that, don't work the business correctly. This particular company has a full 60-day return policy, so I don't feel badly having my friends try the products. If they don't work, no problem, send them back. Just like any sales job, this is making a sale, except it's to your own network. Like I said, you have to be a normal human being and act like yourself. I don't do the scripts and I don't harass my friends, that doesn't work, clearly

Ok, so question for you here. Do you not realize/feel guilty about charging your friends $200 for skin creme that is probably worth $10 just so that all of the people up the pyramid get their cut?? I just don't know how you could do that to your friends?

No, absolutely not. One cream is never $200, first of all, it's about $140-$190 for a full 4-piece skincare regimen, which lasts 60-90 days/minimum. Completely in line with Clinique, Estee Lauder, etc. I buy it myself at consultant discount, which is 25% off, so I pay for it just like everyone else and I like it. I used to buy one eye cream for $100 from Estee Lauder at Nordstrom's, it was way more expensive and I think the ingredients in the products I use and sell are better and more effective. They doctors are same ones that created Proactiv, so they are not just some sales people selling random skincare. They actually formulated these products and tested them through clinical trials. Of course, there are people who try the products and don't love them or decide they want to try something else, so they return them for a full refund within 60 days even if they've used them up. You can't do that at any retail store if they have been opened. I see myself as a wholesaler really. Company gets a cut, I get a cut, and yes, the cost is passed down to consumer, just like in any other retail business. I'm also there and provide great customer service. I manage customer accounts, make sure they're getting right products that work for them, follow up with them, delay and move up their orders, etc. I do a lot of customer care work just like any good store would. If you buy something at the store, that's it. Your transaction is done. I'm always there for my customers and take pride in them being happy bc as you pointed out they are my friends and family.

ok, so $190 top end and I said $200. Big difference.

I just bought Clinique Redness moisturizer for $46. Soothe is $160 I think.

But you see - company gets a cut, you get a cut, but you also are giving cuts all the way up the pyramid. How do you not see that? How do you not see that you are ripping off your friends and family? You are not a skin care professional?!

First of all, one cream for $46, or 4 for $150. Soothe is $144 for 4 elements in the regimen. They are also sold individually and they are $36-$70 each. I'm not ripping anyone off. I've seen other regimens at the stores for much more. What do you say about Le Mer, where one cream is $500? Sold at stores, so it's ok?

If you don't believe me, here's the link to Soothe. I just can't stand how you isolate one thing I type and don't include the other part, which is that it's a 4-piece regimen, not one cream! https://www.rodanandfields.com/Shop/Soothe (btw, I'm sure someone will yell at me bc it says $160, just so you know, we can give 10% and free shipping so that's why I said $144. People on here love semantics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a lady who was one of the top ten sellers for Stella & Dot a few years ago. This woman is gorgeous, bubby, worked her ass off, did parties every weekend, knew tons of people, etc. Definitely one of the few who you'd expect would be making the big bucks, and her FB statuses also gave that impression. She quit abruptly because apparently S&D changed the commission structure and screwed a lot of people at the top, including her. Another of my friends was considering signing up, so I asked the former rep what she thought about it. Former rep told me flat-out that no matter how hard you work at S&D, you will NEVER make more than $2-$3k per month. It's just not possible, given the commission structure and the amount of jewelry the reps have to buy, etc. Plus, the amount of hours she was putting in were absolutely insane. She probably did 2-3 shows every weekend, which is way more than most reps would ever be able to book. I don't know about anyone else, but if I needed an extra $2-3k per month, I'd work at Starbucks or something before I'd go into MLM, but whatever. I have no idea how much she netted overall, but I'm guessing it wasn't a particularly impressive figure.

There's no way you can make $2-3k per month at Starbucks, even if you worked there full-time.

But you'd get health insurance/benefits, so that's something.

I don't need that, I get it through my full time job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Agreed and that's not what I was doing at all. I should've just said over 10K/month. Very few make 100K+/month, like top 20 people. They are the million dollar circle achievers and there aren't many, of course. I still think 10K+/month, working from home, on your own schedule, etc. and when and where you want is awesome. I hope to get to that level and quit my 9-5 job and I think I can. I'm not there yet, but I'm also not losing all of my money, etc. I'm making around $2500/month, in addition to my full-time job. I think that's excellent for a side venture.

I'm confused...first you said you made over 10K/month, then you said you made 2500/month. Which one is it?

Not to defend someone who has clearly drunk gallons of the Kool aid, but I think she said her upline makes that money.

As a former retail employee in the cosmetics field - a real one, not one conducted out of my trunk - I'm curious what her training is. Since she's so convinced that she's better informed than the average counter employee.

I am constantly trained on just our products, we have ingredients lists, videos, and the doctors conduct many webinars, etc. Plus I use the products daily myself, which is a big deal. I know how to apply them and how much to use and when to add in an exfoliator, etc. bc I'm only dealing with one product and not hundreds, that's why I'm better equipped than most, not all, counter employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've got one digit for ya.

/THREAD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Agreed and that's not what I was doing at all. I should've just said over 10K/month. Very few make 100K+/month, like top 20 people. They are the million dollar circle achievers and there aren't many, of course. I still think 10K+/month, working from home, on your own schedule, etc. and when and where you want is awesome. I hope to get to that level and quit my 9-5 job and I think I can. I'm not there yet, but I'm also not losing all of my money, etc. I'm making around $2500/month, in addition to my full-time job. I think that's excellent for a side venture.

I'm confused...first you said you made over 10K/month, then you said you made 2500/month. Which one is it?

Not to defend someone who has clearly drunk gallons of the Kool aid, but I think she said her upline makes that money.

As a former retail employee in the cosmetics field - a real one, not one conducted out of my trunk - I'm curious what her training is. Since she's so convinced that she's better informed than the average counter employee.

I am constantly trained on just our products, we have ingredients lists, videos, and the doctors conduct many webinars, etc. Plus I use the products daily myself, which is a big deal. I know how to apply them and how much to use and when to add in an exfoliator, etc. bc I'm only dealing with one product and not hundreds, that's why I'm better equipped than most, not all, counter employees.

I asked this earlier but what does this mean exactly. I mean how are you "trained" on a face cream. Does that mean they feed you the marketing hype that you should feed the customer?

I am not against MLM but at the end of the day the products aren't special. What is special is the ability of the company to get other women to pay them money for the privilege of marketing their opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is filled with the Stella and Dot "hoopla" in Las Vegas.

Mine also! The best part is all of the women saying things about how awesome their job is and look how much fun I'm having at work.

Be honest. Are you being paid to attend this or did you pay them to attend and pay your own way for tickets and meals? Because if the later is the case then you're being duped big time. Or you're not being honest.

I am a very successful real estate agent and other companies and agents try to recruit me. Last week I had a settlement with an agent who works for an MLM and the agent begged me to have coffee with her. The purpose of course was a pitch to join her 11 agent team. After a minute if drilling down, she confessed that her 11 agent team did about the same amount of business as I did last year as a sole agent.

The top agent recruited the first level of 2 agents and the other agents recruited others. Each if the agents takes a cut of the earnings of the agent below her. This agent told me she was on the third level. Last year she made about $20,000 from agents she recruited. After cuts and referral fees were taken from the commissions she earned, she made about $85,000. As an example, we closed on an $850,000 house and the commission to her company was $25,500. She went through the math with me. After her company took its 10% split, the team leader took her split (agent would not say how much) and she paid the person who recruited her, she would receive about $7,800.

Obviously if you st up one of these teams MLM and can persuade people that they need you money is easy to make at the too. But the ,owner level people are better on their own.

I do know that I was forced to go to a Stella/dot party and bought the least tacky necklace I could find for $150. I saw a very similar necklace at an overpriced boutique for $95. It depends on what the markup is between what the Stella/dot person pays for the necklace and what portion they have to give along the MLM ladder. IMHO it can't be much as it is small dollars

This is KW, right?

Yes. Plus they put this BS at the bottom of each email about how they contribute a portion of each sale to a children's charity. To me that is the most manipu,active thing this agent did. Even if they do. The point of charity is not to brag about it

I wondered what the "new" way of doing real estate they keep bragging about was. We've been going to open houses a lot lately and every single one of their agents seem to be trying to recruit my close-to-retirement military husband.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Agreed and that's not what I was doing at all. I should've just said over 10K/month. Very few make 100K+/month, like top 20 people. They are the million dollar circle achievers and there aren't many, of course. I still think 10K+/month, working from home, on your own schedule, etc. and when and where you want is awesome. I hope to get to that level and quit my 9-5 job and I think I can. I'm not there yet, but I'm also not losing all of my money, etc. I'm making around $2500/month, in addition to my full-time job. I think that's excellent for a side venture.

I'm confused...first you said you made over 10K/month, then you said you made 2500/month. Which one is it?

Not to defend someone who has clearly drunk gallons of the Kool aid, but I think she said her upline makes that money.

As a former retail employee in the cosmetics field - a real one, not one conducted out of my trunk - I'm curious what her training is. Since she's so convinced that she's better informed than the average counter employee.

I am constantly trained on just our products, we have ingredients lists, videos, and the doctors conduct many webinars, etc. Plus I use the products daily myself, which is a big deal. I know how to apply them and how much to use and when to add in an exfoliator, etc. bc I'm only dealing with one product and not hundreds, that's why I'm better equipped than most, not all, counter employees.

I asked this earlier but what does this mean exactly. I mean how are you "trained" on a face cream. Does that mean they feed you the marketing hype that you should feed the customer?

I am not against MLM but at the end of the day the products aren't special. What is special is the ability of the company to get other women to pay them money for the privilege of marketing their opportunity.

What I mean is that I educate myself on what the 4 regimens we have do, what their ingredients are, what conditions they help alleviate, and why the multi-med therapy works, just like it did for so many with Proactiv. I need to understand what I am selling and why it works, is that a bad thing? How are you trained on what you get at the store? You look at the ingredients, you do your research and you find out if it's the right fit for you, right? Same thing here. These are still over-the-counter products. They may not be special to you, but if they help fix your acne, they become very special, believe me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is filled with the Stella and Dot "hoopla" in Las Vegas.

Mine also! The best part is all of the women saying things about how awesome their job is and look how much fun I'm having at work.

Be honest. Are you being paid to attend this or did you pay them to attend and pay your own way for tickets and meals? Because if the later is the case then you're being duped big time. Or you're not being honest.

I am a very successful real estate agent and other companies and agents try to recruit me. Last week I had a settlement with an agent who works for an MLM and the agent begged me to have coffee with her. The purpose of course was a pitch to join her 11 agent team. After a minute if drilling down, she confessed that her 11 agent team did about the same amount of business as I did last year as a sole agent.

The top agent recruited the first level of 2 agents and the other agents recruited others. Each if the agents takes a cut of the earnings of the agent below her. This agent told me she was on the third level. Last year she made about $20,000 from agents she recruited. After cuts and referral fees were taken from the commissions she earned, she made about $85,000. As an example, we closed on an $850,000 house and the commission to her company was $25,500. She went through the math with me. After her company took its 10% split, the team leader took her split (agent would not say how much) and she paid the person who recruited her, she would receive about $7,800.

Obviously if you st up one of these teams MLM and can persuade people that they need you money is easy to make at the too. But the ,owner level people are better on their own.

I do know that I was forced to go to a Stella/dot party and bought the least tacky necklace I could find for $150. I saw a very similar necklace at an overpriced boutique for $95. It depends on what the markup is between what the Stella/dot person pays for the necklace and what portion they have to give along the MLM ladder. IMHO it can't be much as it is small dollars

This is KW, right?

Yes. Plus they put this BS at the bottom of each email about how they contribute a portion of each sale to a children's charity. To me that is the most manipu,active thing this agent did. Even if they do. The point of charity is not to brag about it

I wondered what the "new" way of doing real estate they keep bragging about was. We've been going to open houses a lot lately and every single one of their agents seem to be trying to recruit my close-to-retirement military husband.

Wow, so if I have a KW agent list my house, that agent will be busy recruiting other agents at my open house instead of trying to sell my house? That sucks.

[Anonymous]

What I mean is that I educate myself on what the 4 regimens we have do, what their ingredients are, what conditions they help alleviate, and why the multi-med therapy works, just like it did for so many with Proactiv. I need to understand what I am selling and why it works, is that a bad thing? How are you trained on what you get at the store? You look at the ingredients, you do your research and you find out if it's the right fit for you, right? Same thing here. These are still over-the-counter products. They may not be special to you, but if they help fix your acne, they become very special, believe me.

I'm done. You're wasted on the koolaid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What I mean is that I educate myself on what the 4 regimens we have do, what their ingredients are, what conditions they help alleviate, and why the multi-med therapy works, just like it did for so many with Proactiv. I need to understand what I am selling and why it works, is that a bad thing? How are you trained on what you get at the store? You look at the ingredients, you do your research and you find out if it's the right fit for you, right? Same thing here. These are still over-the-counter products. They may not be special to you, but if they help fix your acne, they become very special, believe me.

I'm done. You're wasted on the koolaid.

I'm don too. You are wasted on your own brand of koolaid, where you can't see that just because it's something that isn't right for you, it can't be a good option for someone else. Everything you buy has marketing/PR/advertising behind it, but you just want to zero in on MLM bc it doesn't suit your idea of what product sales and company structures should look like. I get that and I hear it all the time. My bottom line is that I'm making money, using the products for free and growing a nice paycheck month over month. I don't care what you think of me. I only replied to the thread in the first place because I really wanted to give an honest and true answer about how it's worked for me, that's it.

[Anonymous]

I zero in on MLM because everyone is bugging the SHIT out of me (and trust me, all of their friends complaining behind their backs) to buy idiotic products because they are "miraculous" and "amazing"!!!!!!!