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I am currently paying for a half a closet load of cosmetics myself. My ex-wife dropped the ball right after I bought into it. (She abandoned her children as well so there was no big surprise there when I ended up throwing away the Mary Kay cosmetics she bought).

My current wife Loves my two children, like they were her own and is my best friend. When she told me she was going to try selling Mary Kay cosmetics I supported her decision without telling her that I had been through this before. She is a career person and did not have the time for all the parties and demonstrations she was supposed to host. Months after she started, I overheard a speakerphone conversation with her area "leader" in which my wife was being advised to divorce me because I would not help her buy more cosmetics. My wife was in tears but would not defend me to her "leader".

The "leaders" comments were actually worse than I am disclosing in this E-mail. I was instantly sick, physically, I found the nearest chair and sat down. This "leader" is a husband's worst nightmare. I couldn't believe it, I still can't, I was floored by this "leaders" comments and my wife's lack of response.

I let go of, and will not associate with, people I considered friends because they keep bringing up my new wife's past or the fact she is older than me. I don't need that sort of negativity in my life. But none of my friends told me not to marry her or to divorce her. They could see I was, and still am in love and nothing they say was going to change that.

I can now say with all honesty that I have bought more cosmetics than either my ex or my current wife has ever sold.

The meetings my wife has attended have boosted her spirits and increased her confidence. I was really gung-ho on the things my wife was learning. She is woman, hear her snore! (I mean, Roar!) :-)

But Mary Kay and her area "leaders" have strained an otherwise beautiful marriage. My wife is resigning from Mary Kay, ( I hope).

I can't help but feel like I have pressured her into resigning by confronting her with what I overheard that day.

In my mind the "leader" became the "Home wrecker from Hell, and The Anti Christ". I went as far as to tell her I would not welcome her "leader" into our home, ever. This has been one frustrated husband's personal experience with Mary Kay Cosmetics.

If anybody has a desire to buy these cosmetics back please contact me and I will make a list of what we have.
Sincerely,
Richard Harris
user bigrichrph at domain qwest.net

That said, I have never been pressured by my director to purchase inventory and I couldn't imagine a director telling one of her team members to divorce her spouse because he wouldn't let her purchase more inventory. I don't doubt that this happened, but I think that this is probably a VERY rare instance. Mary Kay Cosmetics would not have been around for 40 years had this been the case.

I didn't start my business with any inventory, and hadn't planned on keeping any in stock. My director was fine with that. She never bothered me about it at all. And when I did decide to keep a small inventory on my shelves she helped me choose products wisely so that I didn't have inventory I couldn't sell.

Now, there is a chance that if your wife had been inactive for some time and has team members of her own that her director wanted her to buy inventory so that she wouldn't lose her team. My mother & sister are both consultants and this was the case at one point where my mother was going to lose both my sister & I if she didn't order. Our director informed her that she was at that point, but didn't pressure her to place an order. It was up to my mom.

As for recovering your money for the inventory you should contact Mary Kay headquarters. They have an inventory repurchase program. I'm not sure of all the details, but I know that if you can't sell something they will refund you if not 100% at least 90%. It also might be worth your wife going to her Executive Director or her national director and discussing the pressure she received so that her immediate director can be reeducated on Mary Kay principles, which are no where close to what you described.

Good luck! Kirsten

________________________

Richard, I would also like to offer a sincere apology for the behavior of the "leader" that you and your wife encountered. I can say with all honesty that is not what Mary Kay teaches. We stress the golden rule "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and I cannot imagine anyone wanting that said about their spouse.

Unfortunately there are people who join an organization and totally disregard its principles and values and it looks like you encountered one whose behavior is totally contrary to Mary Kay's.

It sounds like you have a great foundation for your marriage becuase you love your wife and you are still willing to recognize that you have seen personal growth from her association with Mary Kay despite your experience. She is truly blessed to have you in her life and if that "leader" can't see that she needs her head examined.

Please know that the majority of Mary Kay would never behave or approve of such behavior from any one at any level. I don't usually respond to opinion sites but your story really bothered me and I'd like to thank you for sharing your experience so that some of us real leaders can try and assure you that we don't all behave that way!!

May God richly Bless you and your Family, Patricia

Hey there!

I After reading Richard's story i felt sick to my stomache too. I can't imagine how many women are getting into debt because of mary Kay. It's three in the morning and i'm still awake cuz i just can't stop thinking about it. Many of you ladies say that it's the consultants fault for not selling what they had in stock. I don't agree, anyone under that kind of pressure would cave. Mary kay preys on young mothers promising them girl's nights out. What mother would turn down a ladies's night? After they get them to these meetings and classes they promise that if they buy a lot they will sell a lot. Do you think the leaders really care if you sell it? Hell no! they still make the money off that team member. I was forcefully dragged to a meeting and they tried to recruit me, even bashing the company i was working for. I felt that they were desperate...of course they are with only 1.1 million ladies selling as compared to Avon having over 3 million reps. It's not just the leaders fault that they are being forcefull, it's the way this company is run that causes these ladies to be this way. I have met many people who have family memebers that have lost lots of money through mary kay. I have met lots of people who have gone to the classes and felt obligated to buy a lot of product and ended up buying more than they could afford. I also hate it when i hear women say that they don't have to buy inventory first before they sell. YOU MUST in order to make any money. You pay before your customers pay you. you must have inventory to sell right away at your classes. The scary thing is that if you can't sell it and you send it back you loose %10 of what you first paid for it. Avon has the famous %100 moneyback guarantee. Wouldn't you want to work for Canada's number one direct beauty company? I love it and i would never get involved in this scam. I'm sorry for anyone who has let themselves be screwed by Mary Kay either through being recruited or buying the costly products. meghan

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Rich, sorry to hear that you are experiencing the same problems that I am.... John

Reading these posts really reinforces what I have thought all along. I am a male and I am married to a Mary Kay Cosmetics Independent Beauty Consultant. She has been in the business for 15 years, the same amount of time that we have been married, and has made exactly -$6,000.00 in her 15 years, but continues in the business because she is so brain-washed by the organization, her director and NSD that she will one-day turn her business around and become a “Red Jacket”. She has had 5 recruits in the past 15 years, and out of which NONE are active at this time (2 quit, 3 inactive). And the funny thing is, she expects to recruit 26 people in 3 months in order to become a “Red Jacket”……… Yeah Right !!!! She has a much more better chance of me going out and just buying her a damn “Red Jacket”….. I am so Anti-Mary Kay that I could fill up this website with opinions. Bear with me, here I go.

Dual Marketing – MK Consultants claim that the business is Dual Marketing….. What in the world is dual marketing??? They say that they get to buy product from the company for the same price as everyone else does. That isn’t dual marketing, that’s buying wholesale, plain and simple.

MLM – Many MK Consultants will tell you that MK isn’t Multi-Level Marketing….. but actually, They’re WRONG !!!!! Let’s first take a look at Multi-Level Marketing and determine what it really is. MLM is when you have an organization (we’ll call ours “The Unbelievable Wonders”) and I’ll be the director. I’ve got 30 girls under me, and each one of those 30 girls has 2 girls. Now our organization (Team) is made up of 90 Consultants….. AND ME!!!!

Now, in order to remain active in Mary Kay, The Director (That’s me) will remind all of my girls that they will need to place a $180 order within 3 months to remain active. I will also tell them that they will need to have their recruits place the same orders to remain active.

So, for the first 3 months of this year, I place a $180 order (to remain active) and all of my consultants (and their recruits, and their recruits) all place their orders (this is a perfect world scenario). 91 * 180.00 = $16,300 wholesale $32,600 retail. Now, I will make a percentage off of the whole unit placing a wholesale order. I don’t know the exact amount, but let’s say the I (being the director) will make 6% from my unit’s wholesale order. I’ll get a check for $982.00 from the company from all the money that my recruits and “downline” paid in order to purchase products. The consultants will get a very small percentage of what their recruits ordered, and then of course, everyone will make money on sales.

MLM is defined as a marketing structure where the individuals at the top (or bottom, depending on your pyramid) make the “most” money. And they make the “most” because of the unit as a “whole”. Mary Kay is in effect, a Multi-level Marketing company, and also a pyramid-scheming company. Everyone may be able to order products at the same price, but commissions are paid out at different percentages to different levels. The Higher up you are (NSD, Director) the more money you make. The lower you are (Recruiter, recruit) the less you make in commissions. Anyways, enough of that….. MK is a Multi-Level Marketing Pyramiding Scheming company. And if you believe otherwise, you need to get “real” with yourself.

As for the brain-washing, MK is great at doing that. I’ve listened to many phone messages left on our answering machine, and the PINK is layed on so thick that it makes me sick. “Hello my beautiful Susan, this is your Mary Kay Director Sarah. Just wanted to call and tell you that you can do this and I’m behind you all the way. Your beautiful and I love you…. We are having our glamour make over Monday night, and I want your beautiful face there with some of your guests…. Let them know that this is a time for them to be beautiful and to pamper themselves for the evening….. see you Monday my love!!!!!” Hey, if they layered it even more, maybe you could make some foundation for your face.

Any organization where you have someone higher than you (your director) stressing that you need to place an order, and telling you how much you need to order, is indicative of a multi-level marketing pyramid scheme. All they are doing, is trying to pad their numbers so that they will get a higher commission check, obtain or achieve that director status, become car qualified, and really don’t have any genuine interest in their recruits lives except to make money off of them.

I have been to several MK meetings and seminars where someone will get up on stage and say “My check last month was for $7,210”, and everyone claps, hoots, and hollers. But what they don’t realize, is that $7,210 was given to that person from all the money that their recruits paid for product…….

As a closing note, Mary Kay must really be a very brain-washing company. This past year, I found my wife cheating on me. She used Mary Kay on several occasions to be with her loser of a boyfriend. She left the house on many occasions, telling me and our two kids (both under 8) that she was going to her Mary Kay meeting, but secretively was meeting her loser for a couple of hours of pleasure. One of my stipulations for getting our marriage back together again, was for her to GIVE UP Mary Kay…. Because of the facts that 1)it was losing us money, 2)she used it as a cover up (not makeup) for her affair, and 3)it was causing her to waste time at meetings, glamour teas, this and that.

Do you know what her response was???? I AM NEVER GIVING UP MY MARY KAY!!! So, basically, she has chosen Mary Kay over 15 years of marriage, and 2 wonderful kids. I can really see now what the company does to its people, brain-washing !!!! Big Time !! I guess I am really gonna miss her…….. And I can live with her Decision !!!!

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