New Star Consultant Prizes

It’s been a long time since we’ve looked at star consultant prizes and exactly what you’re getting for your money. Mary Kay rewards ordering with prizes. Those in the MK cult will tell you that this is just the “extra” that the company gives as a thank you. The REAL reward is selling the product and making the profit. (Funny, the company doesn’t ever reward actual sales. They only reward consultants ordering products.)

Take a look at the items below. The numbers at each level represent the wholesale that must be ordered by the consultant during the quarter in order to qualify to get a prize at that level. So “emerald 3600” means the consultant must order $3,600 wholesale ($7,200 retail value) of product to get to that prize level.

It’s easy to see how much some of these items cost. Below is the retail value I’ve found online…. the amount you’d have to pay from a typical retail outlet to get the item. You better believe that MK is getting the items at a fraction of that, probably less than half. But the bigger point is that many recruiters and sales directors will push consultants to get to the “next level”… but these prizes are wroth a tiny amount compared to the money that must be spent on products that will likely never be sold.

  • $9,600 – Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer – $400
  • $7,800 – Sony Wireless Bluetooth Speaker – $130
  • $6,000 – Ted Baker Rolling Luggage – $150
  • $4,800 – JA Henckels Knife Block Set – $107
  • $3,600 – Le Creuset Stoneware – $100
  • $3,000 – Zwilling Sorrento Coffee Cups – $120
  • $2,400 Ruby – RJ Graziano Necklace and Earrings -$60
  • $1,800 Sapphire – Holiday Wreath – free grade school craft project

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48 COMMENTS

  1. I still can’t believe they’ll give a Christmas wreath as a prize. And what if it’s backordered as they’ve been in the past?

  2. As always, don’t spend the money to get to the next level. The prizes aren’t worth it! (But your director WILL try to convince you to order to STRETCH to the next level)

  3. Ladies buy your own prizes and save yourself from buying thousands of dollars worth of useless MK products.

  4. I liked it in when the girls in the unit would get excited over the pittance of Office supply credit…I was flummoxed. Supplies weren’t that expensive in the first place, but whoohoo spend $1800 to get $25 credit (or whatever it was)

    • Y’all feeling me! I’m glad to hear I wasn’t the only one picking up on this….

  5. For the few people still paying double retail to the consultant, a tip to save money:

    Tell your consultant you’re only willing to pay her “wholesale really retail” price, or you’ll buy it on eBay. If she grumbles, point out that your purchase will help her win a prize. (Big cheeky grin)

    WRR $50/MSDRP $100

    Wholesale really retail/Manufacturers suggested DOUBLE retail price ?

  6. It’s bad enough that the prizes are so tacky and overvalued. But the worst part is that when your overstated prize value exceeds $600 MK Corp issues you a 1099 tax form that increases your tax bill.

    You pay for the prize because your order’s supposed wholesale price is overstated, then you get to pay more tax as a result. What a deal.

    Deal me out.

  7. I just bought the LG TV offered for the Pearl level at BJ’s Wholesale on sale for less than $300. Figured it was on sale because they are phasing it out especially since the other LGs had much better resolution (but for a much higher cost).

    Besides, if I’m making “executive” income, shouldn’t I be able to afford my own private home theater … oh wait, that was the dream they sold me on, not reality.

    • They’re phasing it out, so MK snapped up a whole truckload of TVs for, maybe, 25% of original retail price?

      Of course, the IRS Form 1099 they’ll issue you next January will show the full original retail price. MK knows better than to make waves with the IRS.

      And they have absolutely zero intention of providing you any paperwork saying they paid less than original retail price for the prize. Why, if MK did that you wouldn’t feel special any more!

      Smoke and mirrors. It’s all about appearances.

  8. Hey ladies! Can one of you gifted writers do a piece on the Kimberly Copeland NSD/Scarlett Simpson NSD family? Scarlett and Kimberly are mother/daughter NSDs, Krystal is a director and so is granddaughter Waverly. How is an 18 year old driving a Cadillac within 9 months? I hate to admit it, but this bunch fascinates me…

    • Waverly can do it because she’s been taught by her Mom that bought a garage full of inventory to finish NIQ. The Fortenberry Area has notorious for finishing goals magically but then never showing up high on any scoreboards afterwards–a red flag for how legitly things were done.

      Bottom line: It’s all about shifting money from one person’s credit card to another and to act like you’re dripping of diamonds. Kimberly has admitted to spending her entire commissions on prizes to get her Area doing something.

    • Because the NSDs can assign consultants to units under them, they can make sure Waverley is propped up with enough producers to get and keep her status.

      • Absolutely, Lazy Gardens. I wonder why NSDs Kimberly and Scarlett haven’t hooked up sister/daughter Krystal Hunsucker, then? I have always found this to be weird. Krystal actually lost her pink Cadillac for a period of time this year.

        • That family gives southern and Texan women a bad name. Their attire alone is horrendous! And then they open their mouths.

        • Kimberly posted her top offsprings’ numbers: Waverly beat Krystal by something like $130K in production. That’s gotta hurt!

  9. Is this a joke? Are these really current-year prizes? LOL…the lamp, the “cheese dome”, those vases…

  10. I still have the dinner ware they had as one of the prizes one year. I ended up buying some from my recruiter bcuz neither of us had enough to set a full table. My husband loves them. Especially the bowls. So they are a constant reminder not to go down that road again

  11. Looks like the kind of crap your old credit card rewards program used to give you.. oh and also.. not usually worth it there either.

  12. Any other director do what I did when the Star Consultant prizes were announced for the new quarter? I would hang the poster up on my training center wall and have each consultant come up and write her name with a Sharpie next to the prize she was “committing” to go for. Then throughout the quarter, I could give extra recognition at each unit meeting for a consultant getting closer to her chosen prize.

    I learned this at some stupid director training class, and I’m embarrassed that I even considered it, much less implemented it.

  13. And I hope I’m not offending anyone here, but those Pearl-level Florence Mirror Accent Tables are like something off the set of Boogie Nights.

    • “something off the set of Boogie Nights.”

      I thought I was the only one. Seriously, I’m having some dark, disco-flashbacks of the 70s and dumb things I did…

      Phew! I’m over them now!

  14. Wonder if they put together awesome, unachievable prizes and then only obtain those by legally bundling efforts, blindly with downstream.

  15. In Canada, at 1800 there is a $25 digital meat thermometer, and at 4800, a $60 beach-shade tent that I’m fairly sure has been discontinued for several years. Top level 9600 Pearl – the choices are a jewelry organizer mirror or $400 pre-paid card. If the mirror retails at $250, then wholesale is between $150 & $180. They’d be crazy to take the merch over cash card at any level. But brain-washing is a powerful thing….

  16. Have you seen all the Directors selling their prizes…even diamond bumblebees on Shani’s Office Directors’ Tips Page on Facebook? It’s like a garage sale these days. Bottom line: most directors are broke.

    • Wow! As I’ve said many a time, if she’s not in a Cadillac, she’s not clearing more than $36K/year. Now THAT is the “Journey of the Broke”!

  17. Star Consultants? I’m seeing recognition being given for “On-Target Star Consultants.” And even for “Almost On-Target Star Consultants.”

    Anything to keep the donkey reaching for the carrot.

    • She says you’re On Target….

      It’s a very BIG target.

      Everyone fits on the target.

      There’s room for YOU on the target.

      In fact… you ARE the target.

      More precisely, your credit card is the target.

      Now don’t you feel special?

  18. It’s a sad commentary on women that they can be seduced into a business with mere trinkets and silly costume jewelry. It’s the mentality of a chimpanzee.

    • It’s a sad commentary on you to be saying that.

      It’s a sad commentary on the entire MLM industry that the management and upper ranks know it’s a con but have no problems lying about the chances of success.

      • They just revealed the new quarterly prizes. For 6,000 wholesale, you can get a Smeg juicer worth $169. MKI sure is raking in the dough!

        • A little research on drinking fruit juice – “Overall, drinking fruit juice in small amounts may be okay for some individuals, but people need to realize that despite the health halo, fruit juice really is very similar to sugary soda. Most importantly, your liver can’t tell the difference. All of the harmful effects of sugary drinks also apply to fruit juice.”

          Is it a dust collector, subscription to weight watchers, or your way to insulin resistance and diabetes? Or more like throwing away $6000 on a carnival game to win the fluffy pink prize?

    • I know plenty of men who were seduced into MLM schemes for trinkets. If you think
      It’s just women you haven’t been paying attention.

      Have you ever heard of Amway, Legal Shield, Herbalife, Man Cave, Zrii, Primerica, to name a few? Same con, different wrapping paper.

  19. What’s with all the flipping pink hate? If you couldn’t make decent cash in Mary Kay there wouldn’t be so many people doing it and the company would not have lasted 55 years. The star consultant awards are recognition and reinforcement for a job well done, as are all the prizes and Mary Kay. It’s not rocket science, it is a good business practice. If you study BF Skinner, as I did in college, you would know that positive reinforcement works a helluva lot better than negative reinforcement. It’s that simple. And the reason they track ordering is because there’s no way to track sales since the financial transactions are handled by the consultants themselves. People either give me cash, check or Venmo me money. On rare occasion I use my credit card reader. How is the company supposed to track that except to take my word on what I sell? The only thing they can reasonably track, legitimately, is ordering.

    And another thing, as to YOUR particular failure in the business, that’s on YOU. Whatever level you got to. As with any business, if you do not manage the business well you can lose your shirt. That’s true in Mary Kay and it’s true anywhere. I’m making excellent part-time income in Mary Kay and I love what I do. I don’t go for every prize that they offer because it’s not appropriate to my level but my director is a wonderful person who encourages me to grow as a person and as a business person, and yes, she even finds ways to reward me at the part time level. I think it’s sick how you’re spreading so much hate in so much false information when the reality is you did not do well in the business and you’re bitter because you were unsuccessful. I thought I was doing due diligence by reading different opinions on the Mary Kay business, and I’ve found your comments are very much ill-informed and unfounded. It’s fine to grieve your failure, even publicly, but stop spreading the ugliness.

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    • Susan – You have inadvertently highlighted the precise problem with MK. You ay there are “so many people” making money in MK. There actually aren’t many people making money in MK. Over 99% of people lose money in MLM.

      So why do people participate? For the same reason people participate in any scam. They don’t believe it’s a scam.

      The truth IS ugly, isn’t it? Any “ugliness” you see here is simply the truth that you don’t want to be confronted with. This site doesn’t exist because of any failure in MK. It exists because women deserve an opportunity to find out the truth about this fraud.

    • Susan:
      Read this article:
      http://lazygardens.blogspot.com/2015/09/mary-kay-home-business-opportunity-or.html

      All the data came from directors, and I leaned over backwards to make the results favorable to the participants. For the analysis I acted as though it were zero-inventory, just-in-time ordering with all sales at full retail, and with nothing on credit cards. I accepted the NSD’s own statements about what expenses would be.

      You know what?

      Even stacking all the factors in Mary Kay’s favor, it still sucked.

    • “How is the company supposed to track that except to take my word on what I sell?” –

      That’s just it, they don’t care what you re-sell. They don’t see profit from that. They care what you buy, and so does upline. Product has already been sold TO YOU.

      Throw in the fact that anyone can easily be “you”, then the re-selling eventually takes a back seat. You’ll quickly learn that recruiting is the way, which is what MKC and upline wanted in the first place in order for them to thrive. See above. Scam explained full circle. You’re welcome.

      P.S. Being a MK consultant isn’t a business. That’s your first mistake when doing your research. You’re barking up the wrong tree. You need to research MLM and why it’s not a business.

      • I found this gem on reddit today confirming again that it’s not about “you” and re-selling Susan. A former consultant writes:

        “For THREE YEARS I had that ad. [in the yellow book] Sold a lot of lipstick. I never had a downline, but I wasn’t interested in a downline. I just enjoyed selling lipstick and chatting with old ladies.

        Then I got a big letter in the mail from MK Corporate with photocopies of my ad and a stern letter telling me not only to not renew my ad, but to TURN OVER ALL MONEY I MADE FROM THAT AD, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, TO THE DIRECTOR WHO TURNED ME IN. If I refused to do so, I would henceforth no longer be allowed to buy product from MK as a rep. Or I could turn in my remaining product to MK Corporate at a 90% return (I would pay for shipping) and could never be a rep again.”

    • “star consultant awards are recognition and reinforcement for a job well done”

      LOL All you have to do is purchase a large enough order to hear, “Well done!” and collect your prize (that you’ve paid for.)

      Buy your prizes and recognition. Buy your trips and cars. Buy your way up the MK ladder. That’s how everyone else does it.

      As for due diligence, you should have done it before you joined MK.

    • “I think it’s sick how you’re spreading so much hate in so much false information when the reality is you did not do well in the business and you’re bitter because you were unsuccessful.”

      We’ve got a hat trick!!

      Standard shrieking of HATERS!!! about anyone pointing out the downside to MKult and product-based pyramid schemes.

      Standard shrieking that PT is spreading “false information”, yet not a single example.

      Standard shrieking victim blaming .

    • For going to college, you are not very smart. You are ignoring COG (Cost of Goods Sold), Market share, propensity to buy, measurement of effectiveness of advertising. Show us your balance sheet. If you are not a director, sit down.

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