Your Inability to Be Smart About Mary Kay

A college student in Boston has all the answers for us!

New Pinkie here! I did the e-sign for $30 AND my sales director is giving away the $100 start up kit to me for free because another lady has an extra. They look out for me AND definitely don’t force me to spend any money that I don’t want to. If nothing else, say I don’t end up selling with MK, I get 50% off of a product that I genuinely love and have seen positive results with. I’m happy with just that! But hey, if I end up making a little money along the way, or even just build new relationships with awesome ladies, that’s enough for me. I signed up for the discount and relationship building opportunity.

Also, I make my customers pay shipping. It’s not a big deal. If they need or want something, and hopefully have the funds to do so, they can pay the shipping. And they do.

You don’t have to lose money at all in this…just saying. And no, I’m not building any sort of inventory. So it’s honestly a win win for me. But of course, everyone joins for different reasons, and goes about their business differently.

Also, a pyramid scheme means that if my director doesn’t move up, neither does anyone else. In MK, I can surpass my director if I want through my own success. It’s all up to me. Just wanted to point that out. The company itself isn’t evil…it’s simply put just not an experience for everyone. Just like anything else. There are plenty of other problematic companies out there.

This is just all about a person’s inability to be smart about their business with Mary Kay. Stop giving out freebies. Stop paying for shipping. How much money do women spend on makeup per year? It’s not just MK, I see little girls spending HUNDREDS at Sephora. Because parents money so who cares. How’s that for something worth talking about. The horrible way we spend money on things we don’t need like clothes and excessive makeup.

There are WAY more important things going on in the world to spend your energy on. Please do the world a favor and make a website on something else like eliminating worldwide poverty, ending homelessness or hunger. Or if you really are about this makeup stuff, build a site that can be used as a tool to call out all company’s on the many harmful ingredients they use. I’ve recently found a few that have been helpful for me. I’ve tried to keep a green and clean household to the best of my ability, from shampoo to deodorant all the way down to toothpaste and makeup. But it’s a give and take, because we can only use what is accessible to us.

Make a website that demands accessibility of products that are unproblematic! I implore you. I make what I can, (shampoo, toothpaste, soaps and disinfectant sprays) but there is only so much I have time, energy, physical space for creating, funds and knowledge for. At some point, I have to enjoy life – which I have the immensely great privilege of doing, and I do my best to give back to those who do not. I hope you will too.

SO, moral of this long story, spread love and please find something more productive to do with your care for us ladies out here, trying to make a living like the rest of you all <3

Oh and for those of you in the back, I don’t force anyone to buy anything. Building clientele is done similarly to any other company. If women want to spend their money on makeup, that’s their choice. I don’t push anyone to buy anything they don’t have the money for. I literally just told all of my friends there is never any pressure to ever buy something. My one friend said she wanted to help support me and bought the $10 sunscreen lip balm.

I don’t know any other way to say this… but it is up to each consultant how she or ze goes about their business. Some people are pushy….it’s not any different from going to Lancome at Macy’s and having someone at the counter try to sell me a $100 mascara… .also I must point out that people DO buy this stuff and Mary Kay as of this day currently has no mascara that cost more than $18. And for your reference, for the past 2 years I have been buying $22 Better Than Sex mascara. So stop bashing on how expensive the products are because that clearly matters to no one. People out here spending THOUSANDS on whatever they want from a t-shirt to face cream.

40 COMMENTS

  1. Yeah, I had all the answers when I was in college, too. Thankfully, I grew out of it.

    “New Pinkie here! I did the e-sign for $30 AND my sales director is giving away the $100 start up kit to me for free because another lady has an extra. They look out for me AND definitely don’t force me to spend any money that I don’t want to.”

    Yet. They know you’re in college and don’t have much disposable income yet. Wait until you graduate and get a job, or else they’ll be after you to throw away your degree and work your MK “business” full-time because the money is sooooooooooooooo much better.

    Watch how supportive she stays. She’ll start nagging you to build up an inventory, just to have your customers’ favorites on hand. And you could make so many more women happy if you had some popular products on hand ready to go. Because her income comes from commissions she makes on purchases made by her downline, which is you. If you don’t start earning her some money, she’ll drop you like a hot potato.

    And someone just “happened” to have an extra starter kit? If you believe that wasn’t a calculated tactic to sucker someone in, then hello, I’m Queen Camilla.

    “Also, I make my customers pay shipping. It’s not a big deal. If they need or want something, and hopefully have the funds to do so, they can pay the shipping. And they do.”

    How many customers have you got? Just wondering.

    “Also, a pyramid scheme means that if my director doesn’t move up, neither does anyone else. In MK, I can surpass my director if I want through my own success. It’s all up to me. Just wanted to point that out. The company itself isn’t evil…it’s simply put just not an experience for everyone. Just like anything else. There are plenty of other problematic companies out there.”

    No. Take the four seconds it’d take to Google pyramid schemes. A pyramid scheme means that the people above you earn money off commissions on product purchased by their downline. That’s one of the whole heap of lies they tell people in order to hide the fact that they are a pyramid scheme. If they laid it on thick about “direct sales” or “dual-level marketing” or “cutting out the middleman” those are more of their favorite lies. MK IS evil, not just because of their slimy recruiting tactics, but also because of how they lie to sucker people into it.

    “This is just all about a person’s inability to be smart about their business with Mary Kay.”

    Yeah, I knew better than everyone else when I was in college, too. Again, I grew out of it. Trust me, there are plenty of people on this site smarter than both of us put together, who did everything right, bled pink, drove Cadillacs, and still wound up broke and miserable.

    “It’s not just MK, I see little girls spending HUNDREDS at Sephora. Because parents money so who cares. How’s that for something worth talking about. The horrible way we spend money on things we don’t need like clothes and excessive makeup.”

    It’s a free economy, babe, and if their parents are that permissive with their money, that’s their problem. At least Sephona sells quality goods honestly.

    “There are WAY more important things going on in the world to spend your energy on. [snip] Or if you really are about this makeup stuff, build a site that can be used as a tool to call out all company’s on the many harmful ingredients they use.”

    Ah, yes, the highminded call to save the world with a website. I thought that was a killing argument back in the day, and I am cringing so hard right now remembering it. FYI, this site has called out MK for animal testing and harmful ingredients before.

    “Make a website that demands accessibility of products that are unproblematic! I implore you. I make what I can, (shampoo, toothpaste, soaps and disinfectant sprays) but there is only so much I have time, energy, physical space for creating, funds and knowledge for.”

    If it’s so important to you, do it yourself rather than shilling for a company that prides itself of dubious “green” initiatives while changing its entire product line on the regular and urging its “sales” force to buy up thousands of dollars worth of plastic, paper, glass, metal, and ingredients that are going to sit and rot until they are thrown away. Start a booth at farmer’s markets to sell your homemade stuff instead of shilling overpriced face flack to a handful of people.

    “SO, moral of this long story, spread love and please find something more productive to do with your care for us ladies out here, trying to make a living like the rest of you all <3"

    Oh, yes, the supercilious disguised "get a life" message. Yep, did that one too; yep, still cringing.

    "My one friend said she wanted to help support me and bought the $10 sunscreen lip balm." No better than those available for a couple of bucks at CVS. Either a pity purchase or she's a Rockefeller.

    "I don’t know any other way to say this… but it is up to each consultant how she or ze goes about their business."

    I'm all for inclusivity, but you're just showing off here. The singular "they" is the accepted form for referring to "person(s) of unknown gender." And speaking of inclusivity, Ulta and Sephora are both very good at helping people who present as a gender other than they were assigned at birth, i.e. covering up stubble, downplaying a square jaw, etc. Good reasons to support them rather than an outdated company with a mostly white, heteronormative "sales" force. I can show off, too. Some things I never grew out of.

    "So stop bashing on how expensive the products are because that clearly matters to no one. People out here spending THOUSANDS on whatever they want from a t-shirt to face cream."

    Yes, but they're not buying it from MK and it's sitting and rotting in IBCs' spare bedrooms. That's kind of the point of this site.

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  2. “Some people are pushy….it’s not any different from going to Lancome at Macy’s and having someone at the counter try to sell me a $100 mascara.”

    Oh, its very different. Lancome does not make you commit to spending ~$1000/year to remain qualified for a discount. That Lancome sales person does not stalk customers in public places or on social media. Lancome does not use guilt to generate pity purchases. Oh, and Lancome does not push their customers into “front loading”.

    Most Mary Kay consultants are pressured into purchasing way more than they can possibly use. And 100% of those Lancome sales folks make actual positive income. Less than 1% of MK consultants can say this.

    Selling Lancome is actually nothing like selling Mary Kay.

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    • You beat me to the punch, DJ! How long will it take this “New Pinkie” to realize that she has to do a $225 w/s qualifying minimum purchase EVERY THREE MONTHS for her customers to be eligible to pay their own shipping?

      OP, I don’t judge you for your youth or your naiveté. You believe the crock you’ve been sold by your upline. I did, too. Soon enough, you’ll see the man behind the curtain pulling the strings, and we’ll be here to support you when you decide to quit. My hope is that that happens sooner rather than later, and that you are able to escape most of the more problematic cult tactics and their impact on your long-term mental, emotional, spiritual and financial health.

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      • Frosty, should we lay bets on her mental rejection of the money required for the DISCOUNT lololol? “$225 every three months is ONLY $75 a month!”. Not including s&h and tax on the retail amount, for HER own order. Hope she realizes that is $75+ a month WITH the vaunted 50% discount lol. After all, she believes kbots have starter kits just laying around. I suspect her director sees a big red bullseye on her and is betting on her being a good investment of $100.

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  3. yeah Pinkie, there ARE way way way more important matters in this world so why are you wasting your time hawking cosmetics to people who don’t need them – cause NO ONE needs them except those with truly life inhibiting facial abnormalities – while also completely misunderstanding the elements of pyramid schemes while being entrapped in one? And I hope your life relationships are way better than those you think you are forging now. Get sick, have a hard time, don’t turn to pink dreamers for genuine care and support. If something truly matters, DON’T TELL A KBOT. No negativity!

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      • I AM SO PROUD, DESTINY, POPINKI, LAZY GARDENS AND TOO MANY TO MENTION lolololol. I hit a nerve!
        PRAY TELL, HOWEVER, PHANTOM DOWNVOTER…..isn’t a downvote NEGATIVITY? You show yourself for the hypocrite you are. There are none so blind as those who won’t see.

        Don’t go away though downvoter…..please don’t go away. Stick around, turn them downvotes upside down.

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  4. New Pinkie here! I did the e-sign for $30 AND my sales director is giving away the $100 start up kit to me for free because another lady has an extra. They look out for me AND definitely don’t force me to spend any money that I don’t want to.

    And you fell for the trap which was nicely baited. And just wait until the end of the quarter when there are cars on the line, hat’s when the pressure will start.

    If nothing else, say I don’t end up selling with MK, I get 50% off of a product that I genuinely love and have seen positive results with. I’m happy with just that! But hey, if I end up making a little money along the way, or even just build new relationships with awesome ladies, that’s enough for me. I signed up for the discount and relationship building opportunity.

    If that is all you want, then fine. But be aware that these are transactional relationships, not true friendships.

    Also, I make my customers pay shipping. It’s not a big deal. If they need or want something, and hopefully have the funds to do so, they can pay the shipping. And they do.

    If I sign up to Sephora, I get free shipping. I have Amazon Prime for the same.. well no, I got Prime for Good Omens and kept it for the free shipping.

    You don’t have to lose money at all in this…just saying. And no, I’m not building any sort of inventory. So it’s honestly a win win for me. But of course, everyone joins for different reasons, and goes about their business differently.

    You don’t have to but over 98% of women who join Mary Kay Wagner Rogers Eckman Weaver Louis Miller Hallenbeck Ash’s company do per the figures released by corporate. There will be pressure to to build and build up your inventory, so be aware of that fact especially when the Team Car tm is on the line.

    Also, a pyramid scheme means that if my director doesn’t move up, neither does anyone else. In MK, I can surpass my director if I want through my own success. It’s all up to me. Just wanted to point that out.

    Every-one points that lie out. But it doesn’t always work that way. In order to surpass your director, you need to build up our own down-line because sales alone won’t get you there.

    The company itself isn’t evil…it’s simply put just not an experience for everyone. Just like anything else. There are plenty of other problematic companies out there.

    I don’t think any-one disagrees about the fact that other companies have major concerns which need to be addressed. I wouldn’t necessarily call Mary Kay Wagner Rogers Eckman Weaver Louis Miller Hallenbeck Ash’s company evil either but more highly problematic than Wal*Mart.

    This is just all about a person’s inability to be smart about their business with Mary Kay. Stop giving out freebies. Stop paying for shipping.

    🤣 I can’t see you not having to give out freebies or BOGO any time soon.

    How much money do women spend on makeup per year? It’s not just MK, I see little girls spending HUNDREDS at Sephora. Because parents money so who cares.

    I never see little girls buying make-up, I see adult people buying make-up. So stop being patronising about your potential customers.
    Plus if my children want to spend hundreds of dollars on make-up it’s because they have real jobs with real paycheques not my money and not money they “earned” playing with make-up like Chelsea.

    How’s that for something worth talking about. The horrible way we spend money on things we don’t need like clothes and excessive makeup.

    Welcome to late stage capitalism.

    There are WAY more important things going on in the world to spend your energy on. Please do the world a favor and make a website on something else like eliminating worldwide poverty, ending homelessness or hunger.

    If (general) you feel that strongly, do it yourself. Stop pretending to be a beauty mogul and change the world one person at a time starting with yourself. Practice what you preach.

    Or if you really are about this makeup stuff, build a site that can be used as a tool to call out all company’s on the many harmful ingredients they use. I’ve recently found a few that have been helpful for me. I’ve tried to keep a green and clean household to the best of my ability, from shampoo to deodorant all the way down to toothpaste and makeup. But it’s a give and take, because we can only use what is accessible to us.

    Since this is Tracy’s website, she is allowed to do what she wants and we are allowed to comment how we want. IF you feel strongly enough to berate us, perhaps you should put your energy into doing this not being one of the many other Boston based MK boss babes.

    Make a website that demands accessibility of products that are unproblematic! I implore you. I make what I can, (shampoo, toothpaste, soaps and disinfectant sprays) but there is only so much I have time, energy, physical space for creating, funds and knowledge for.

    Google is your friend. There are plenty of other websites out there that do this. This one, Tracy’s one, is focused on Mary Kay Wagner Rogers Eckman Weaver Louis Miller Hallenbeck Ash’s company and has been for over 15 successful years.

    At some point, I have to enjoy life – which I have the immensely great privilege of doing, and I do my best to give back to those who do not. I hope you will too.

    You do you, boo. But I can’t see us changing just to suit your agenda.

    SO, moral of this long story, spread love and please find something more productive to do with your care for us ladies out here, trying to make a living like the rest of you all <3

    There’s a moral? You are not Aesop, there is nothing novel or deep about your self-righteous screed.

    Oh and for those of you in the back, I don’t force anyone to buy anything.

    Good for you, I guess.

    Building clientele is done similarly to any other company.

    I’ve never had Wal*Mart send me a DM on the book of faces. I’ve never been cornered in the library by some-one from Amazon. So no, you are not building up a clientele in the same way.

    If women want to spend their money on makeup, that’s their choice. I don’t push anyone to buy anything they don’t have the money for. I literally just told all of my friends there is never any pressure to ever buy something. My one friend said she wanted to help support me and bought the $10 sunscreen lip balm.

    Never any pressure, now. But there will be. And so far you have got one solitary pity purchase.

    I don’t know any other way to say this… but it is up to each consultant how she or ze goes about their business.

    Guess you’re not an English major, since the use of “they” as the third person singular pre-dates Chaucer.

    Some people are pushy….it’s not any different from going to Lancome at Macy’s and having someone at the counter try to sell me a $100 mascara…

    Yes, there are pushy sales-people in all industries not just make-up.

    also I must point out that people DO buy this stuff and Mary Kay as of this day currently has no mascara that cost more than $18. And for your reference, for the past 2 years I have been buying $22 Better Than Sex mascara.

    Holy Non Sequiturs, Batman.

    So stop bashing on how expensive the products are because that clearly matters to no one. People out here spending THOUSANDS on whatever they want from a t-shirt to face cream.

    Some-one is feeling that this site is rather too close to their own inner concerns. The price matters because of all the people who make a small slice of their income from a non-premium price point make-up thus raising the prices. And as I said before, “Welcome to late stage capitalism”.

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  5. “…is giving away the $100 start up kit to me for free because another lady has an extra.”

    Your director ALWAYS has an extra start-up kit available.

    “… for the past 2 years I have been buying $22 Better Than Sex mascara.”

    Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara is one of the top-selling mascaras out there, and I never paid for one since I always seemed to score freebies at Ulta and through the TF website. Plus if you watch for sales on the TF site, you can easily get 20-40% off your BTS mascara as well as most of the other products. (Plus they usually have good cash back from Rakuten.)

    “…little girls spending HUNDREDS at Sephora. Because parents money so who cares.”

    Their parents allow this. It’s a nunya — as in nunya business.

    You’re new, green, and incredibly inexperienced. The bloom on this rose will fade, and only then will you see what a scam this company is.

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  6. “I make my customers pay shipping” (Until they balk)
    “I get 50% off” (50% off an artificially high retail price. You’re not saving money.)
    “my director is giving the $100 start up kit to me free” (Because she’s desperate to hook you. Think about that.)
    “if I end up making a little money” (Track the money going out vs what’s coming in. You might make a little money. Very little.)
    “My friend wanted to support me and bought the $10 lip balm.” (Wow. You’re on your way to Mary Kay suck-cess.)

    Are you aware that Mary Kay’s China manufacturing unit still tests on animals? Be sure to tell your customers.

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  7. Lancôme mascara does not cost $100. And there are drugstore mascaras that perform just as well as MK that cost less than ten bucks. Take a seat, sweetie.

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  8. “In MK, I can surpass my director if I want through my own success. It’s all up to me. Just wanted to point that out.”

    Framing the situation “all up to you” might seem like a good thing to you, but they will use it to make it all your fault when you inevitably fail. Then you will go away quietly and not call them out on anything because you are ashamed that you couldn’t make it. It’s not your fault. It’s a scam and a cult. Admit that you’ve been duped. We all did and lived to tell the tale. There is no shame except for what Mary Kay does to women’s finances, relationships and self-esteem.

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  9. “I get 50% off of a product” NOPE you have to place a minimum order every 3 months to keep that so-called discount. And the discounted product is nowhere near “drugstore quality”.

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  10. Dear “New Pinkie”:

    The short time you’ve been dabbling in Mary Kay has not given you the knowledge to choose wisely, and you don’t know what you don’t know. You’re addressing a crowd who have much, much more experience with Mary Kay than you do; hopefully more than you’ll ever have (in other words: I hope you get out soon).

    Do you look up to Cadillac Directors? Do you think maybe they know more about the Mary Kay business model than you do? Well, we have former Cadillac Directors here. Some drove Cadillacs for over a decade. They’ve seen what you haven’t been privy to yet. They know that even the Caddy Directors are barely eking out a living, if that.

    You need to sit and listen before you stand and talk. You need to take the advice from those older and wiser than you are, who’ve been “successful” in Mary Kay, and learned what a crappy deal Mary Kay “success” really is.

    Come back when you get out; we’d love to hear from you. Believe it or not, we really do care about you and your success in life. But take it from us, you will not find fulfillment in Mary Kay; it will bring you only heartache and disillusionment.

    Wishing you all the best,
    NayMKWay

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  11. Hey, New Piknkie. Do me a favor. Read your post back in 3 months, and see if anything about your director or team has changed. Then read it in 6 moths. How many times has your director asked you to team build? How much have you been advised to stock up on the new products because you’ll want to have it on hand. I guarantee things will change. You will see it.

    And yes, please check out google or bing regarding pyramid schemes and neutral gender terms.

    What you wrote is absolutely fine. But you are NEW to this. The women here have gone through awful experiences, some made mistakes, and some were taken advantage of in the worst ways possible. If you stick to your grounds and your plan, you should be fine. Just please, read these all again in 3 months, and 6 months. Put alarms on your phone to visit your post here because we’d LOVE to hear an update!

    Popinki! Thanks to the shout out to CVS, my side gig, girl! (see what I did there?)
    That’s where I started getting a guaranteed paycheck bi weekly, after leaving MK…and where I get all my skin care AND mascara!

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    • CVS is one of my favorite stores! As long as they keep giving coupons and Extrabucks, I’ll keep buying everything from Christmas decorations to Slim Jims there.

      Oh, yeah, and Olay Regenerist.

    • Because you KNOW…over the year you’ll spend an extra $100 on yoursellf, or buy gifts for every female friend/family member you know.

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  12. I found this post laughable when she talks about using clean products like shampoo, deoderent etc. She needs to read her labels because apparently she hasn’t read the ingredients in Mary Kay products. They are far from “clean”.

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    • I was wondering if anyone else was going to say this! She makes her own toothpaste & shampoo, but uses and (hopes to) sell Mary Kay?! Does not compute.

      I think MK had a “green” or “botanicals” or something for a while. Idk if they still do. I just remember not being impressed with it, thinking it was probably just green-washing.

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