Let’s hear from a consultant who has been in Mary Kay for almost 40 years. She is not impressed with this whole system and the fact that consultants can’t really service their customers well in it.

This new Mary Kay website system has been a huge step backwards.

I’ve been with Mary Kay since 1986, and many of my customers have been with me just as long. One of the reasons our business has continued to thrive for decades is because Iʻve never hounded people. Customers appreciate being able to order online on their own terms without feeling pressured or constantly contacted, and I completely understand and support that approach.

What I object to is losing control of basic business functions.

Every year I offer an annual 20% off sale, but with the new system, no longer have the ability to apply discounts online unless the order is at least $100 before tax and shipping. Even though I advised customers to contact us directly for discounted orders under $100, after years of encouraging customers to order online, many naturally still placed their orders through the website — only to receive no discount at all.

We’ve also lost the ability to properly control shipping settings.

Because I live both in Hawaii and on the mainland, enabling free shipping can literally mean paying $37 to ship something as small as an eyeshadow to Hawaii. A company the size of Mary Kay should absolutely have the ability to set different shipping rules for different regions and should also be able to negotiate far better shipping rates to areas outside the continental US. Our own ecommerce business ships to the mainland daily from HI and is able to offer significantly better shipping rates than what we’re seeing through this system.

Today I called corporate trying to find a way to refund customers who should have received their 20% discount. For the first time in all my years with Mary Kay, I encountered a rude representative with an attitude. I was told there was no way to refund customers, no solution available, and supposedly no supervisor to speak with.

So now I’ll personally have to mail checks or send Venmo payments just to make things right for loyal customers.

What’s especially frustrating is that these limitations have nothing to do with FTC regulations some mention. I run my own ecommerce business outside of Mary Kay and can easily refund customers through my Stripe account, create discounts, and set customized shipping rules.

From my perspective as someone with years of ecommerce experience, it increasingly feels like Mary Kay no longer truly needs consultants.
The company now controls the website, payments, shipping, and fulfillment. At this point, consultants have essentially spent years building customer bases that Mary Kay can continue selling to whether we are involved or not.

I recently completed a survey about the new website and gave very honest feedback. The entire experience felt more like dealing with Amazon seller support than the Mary Kay company I’ve known since 1986.