Why PC is so much better than MK

jenniferlynne

Ok, if you are thinking of becoming a Pampered Chef consultant, but just can't make up your mind, read this!!!

I used to be a Mary Kay consultant. Actually, I still am, but I don't sell it, I just order for myself and 2 family members about every 6 months.
First of all, Mary Kay pushes you to keep inventory. You can't submit individual orders. Minimum order is $400 retail. So, you have to spend thousands of dollars "guessing" what you think your customers will buy and keep it in stock. Then, they like to up and discontinue things or change the shape of the compacts, so the eyeshadows and blushes you have in stock no longer fit the new compacts. So, who is stuck with the discontinued stuff? YOU ARE!!!
Pampered Chef is the one that takes care of the discontinued items that are left in supply. Not us!!

Here is another. Mary Kay gets a lot of consultants to sign up, because they tell you that you will make 50% off of what you sell. Buy a cleanser for $5 and sell it for $10. People sign up like crazy when they hear this. What they don't tell you is, YOU are the one that pays for what a host earns at her party and YOU are the one that pays for all the shipping. So, you don't really make 50% profit. What if a customer wants to pay with a credit card since you already have the product in stock? That's easy. They give you a special ID# and and 800# where you can call it in. Then they will cut you a check. What they don't tell you is, every time you do that, they take a percentage of that money for a fee. So why would you want anyone to spend a lot and pay by credit card?
With Pampered Chef, their is no inventory. Customers pay for shipping. PC pays for what the host earns, and you don't get penalized because someone wants to use a credit card!

Here's another. MK consultants don't want more than 6 guests at a show!! The company tells you that it's too hard to pay individual attention to all the guests if there are too many. The whole time I was an MK consultant, I had 1 $500 show and my average show was about $200. As a PC consultant, my average show is $500!!

Ok, just one more. When MK comes out with new products they will sometimes let you earn a few of them free. PC always lets you ears ALL of them for free. Here is just a comparison of each of their latest incentives:

Mary Kay-Order $7,200 retail (now this is all at once and not over a period of time), receive $126 in retail products free.

Pampered Chef December incentive-Sell $5000 retail over the course of one month and receive products valued at MORE than $350 in retail products PLUS 2,500 points towards the new Incentive Program.

If any of you know people that may be thinking of joining MK, stop them and tell them about PC instead. I don't remember the exact details, but it also seems like you have to have some unbelievable number of recruits to become a director too. Like 15-20 or something. I don't remember for sure.


Pampered Chef is the Best!!!!

pamperedbecky

That's a good comparison! I've heard waaayyyy too many negative things about Mary Kay and I would never be doing anything other than PC anyway but I really hope people who are considering MK really do their research and do internet searches for honest opinions about MK. There are some sites dedicated to people who've been through some terrible experiences with that company so they can try to spread some honest and accurate information.

It's nice to hear a direct comparison from someone who has experienced both PC and MK. I'm so happy you found the right one!!

kitchenshowchef

I agree with you! I signed up with Mary Kay so I could get my items at a discount too. Plus there were 2 or 3 ladies at my husbands work who order every couple of months. But like you said you have to have a huge order before you can place it not to mention you have to have at least $200 retail before the half-price kicks in.

I LOVE Pampered Chef too! I sold Tupperware for a couple of months and they are even crazier than Mary Kay! Their products change every couple of months....and something you ordered last year is already in their obsolete pile...so if a customer needed a replacement its not available!!! How dumb is that!? Plus they have hiked their prices up so high its rediculous! I've been trying to persuade Tupperware consultants to switch to PC - not necessarily under me but just to switch. There 3 month starter bonuses you have to pay $25 each month for! Where PC you get yours FREE! Anyway...don't get me started down that path! I could go on forever!

April

chefnicole

So glad to hear that I am not the only one who thinks that PC is just a much better run business! I sold Tupperware for a few years and just never could make much out of it. I ended up spending my own money to stay active. So not worth it. Although I do like some of their products, there are only so manyh colors you need the same bowl in. I have a garage full of obsolete items from them. I was spending all of my money on PC stuff anyway so my PC lady (now my director) convinced me that I should be selling. Since I joined I have not had any problems selling enough to stay active...in fact, I have made a PROFIT!!!! I love Pampered Chef!

ringocat22

I, too, used to be a Mary Kay consultant. I usually had 2 or 3 customers per show, and my show totals were always very low. The last straw for me was when I had a show with three ladies who paid absolutely no attention to me, pretty much ignored me the whole time, and the host brought her baby in and started breast feeding, uncovered, right in the middle of the party. (I have no problem with breast feeding your kids, but for heavens sake, cover up!) Anyway, I ended up selling all my inventory, hundreds of dollars worth, for pennies at a yard sale. I sold my display kits at another yard sale. At least with PC, if I ever quit, I'll have a fully stocked kitchen, full of tools that I love and use daily. Pampered Chef showers their consultants with incentives and free product constantly. As I've heard one consultant say, we are grossly overpaid for what we do! In addition, I had NO support as a Mary Kay consultant, not at all. But with PC, I have support from Home Office, my cluster, my director, Consultant's Corner, this website, and more.

So, there it is: incentives, free product, no inventory, great pay, and more support than you could ever use. Seems like a no brainer for me!

sweet

I started MK before I knew PC existed. I started because I need to make money, but boy Iwas wrong. I did it for 2 years and NEVER made a penny out of it. And got in dets because you need it inventory. I'm still paying for it today. Don't get me wrong I LOVE MK product it's all I use but for the business you need to sell a lot to make money. What I love about PC is that you don't have to have inventory!!! That is the greatess think NO INVENTORY can I say it more????

jenniferlynne

I would love to also hear about other companies so I can use that as a recruiting tool. Anyone ever sell Party Lite, Home Interior or Southern Living? I only know one small thing about Party Lite and just heard about it the other day from the friend of a former consultant. The company forgot to include an item in an order and the consultant couldn't get them to do anything about it. The customer threatened to sue the consultant over it. I think she finally got it resolved but said she would never sell it again. And no, she's not interested in selling PC either. I knew someone would say that if I didn't!

KirstenAnne

I sell Pampered Chef and Partylite. Only reason why I joined PL was for the free stuff.
Partylite- need $500.00 in sales/mth to stay active
PC- need $200.00 every two/mths to stay active
PL-make 25% profit of sales/ additional 7% if over 1800.00 per month.
PC-make 20% profit/22% if over $750.00
PL-Consultant incentives-January was a tote bag/10 pens /coffee mug/sticky notes for selling over $900.00-
PC-Consultant Incentives- NEED I SAY MORE!
PL-TRIP DEAL-GET TWO MONTHS BASICALLLY TO EARN
PC- TRIPS-GET ALL YEAR TO EARN
PL- Takes forever for orders to ship
PC-In one day to ship
PL-hostess program- 15% of sales/no booking or 25% sales with one booking of free product, half price items, hostess specials but have to be over $250.00 in sales
PC- NEED I SAY MORE

Ok enough said. I like both but PC does treat their consultants better I think.

showmehow2

I don't know about the consultant side of it but I recently purchased about $100 of Party Lite items for Christams gifts (placed order Dec 3rd). I was assured that I would receive everything in time to give as gifts. I didn't. What a surprise. That wasn't the worst though as I suspected it wouldn't arrive in time. I ordered a special - 18 tea lights for ordering $40 or more for $6.95. It appears that they were sold out of the special so they sent me a gift certificate for $6.95. To say the least, I was extremely ticked. They never asked if I wanted my money returned or anything. I was not given any kind of choice. I called the consultant to complain and she said she'd send me a set that she had extra. It took her almost 30 days to get them to me! I sincerely hope that her other customers aren't treated the same way or she won't be long in business! Just in case you wonder why I was so upset about getting the gift certificate... There is nothing inexpensive in their entire catalog. On top of that, I would have had to pay shipping again. Sorry for going on but it's still fresh.

jenniferlynne

KirstenAnne,

I have been wanting to ask a PL consultant this question, but I only know one and she's the one that I think took advantage of me.

I hosted a party about 2 years ago. She told me if I had 3 bookings I would get like an additional $75 free, but not until after those 3 parties held. Well, I had 3 bookings and all three held. Then she turns around and says that one didn't qualify (she never said a word about this at my party, just that I had to have 3) so I was only eligible for $50 free. I had actually booked a second one and was going to choose the free $50 then. She told me no, that she couldn't order it and that I would get a voucher from the company. I was to fill it out with what I wanted and mail it back in and they would send me my stuff. Well, years ago I had 3 or 4 parties and never had anything like that happen. Well, needless to say, I never received a thing from the company, and when that second order did come in, there was $50 worth of extra products that no one had ordered. I'm assuming she picked out my free products for me.

What do you think happened? I had no troubles with her on my first party, but the 3 people that booked off me did and then I had that trouble with her on my second party.

beepampered

Anyone know about Southern Living at Home benefits. I know someone who loves both companies and would love to do some comparisons. SL is VERY hot right now in NC..Thanks...BEE

PCTinIndy

One of my moms neighbors is a MK director and when i told her that i was going to sell PC she tried her hardest to get me to sell MK instead.

She said that MK was the best because... PC products are built to last and that you only have so many things you can sell to someone.

She went on and on about how her customers ALWAYS come back because they wash her products down the drain every night.

I said well for 1. I am not going to sell something that I am allergic to myself and for 2 I am not snotty enough to be a MK sales lady!!!

* In NO WAY saying all MK reps are snotty* but this one is!!!!!

just my story lol

jenniferlynne

Yeah, the woman who is my MK director is very snooty. I haven't been to the meetings in about 6 years, but she was always full of herself and still is from what I read in her mailings and emails. She was going on one day about how her family was looking to sell their house because 10,000 square feet was just too big for her and her daughter now that her husband was working out of town through the week and her son was off to college (I guess it was fine when it was the 4 of them). She also went on to say there was not another house around like it with that amount of land too. She said her husband had just bought a private plane and they were thinking of getting a place with a landing strip and a horse ranch for their daughter. AND they might also buy an apartment somewhere in a large city. She said her husband could just be her personal pilot and fly her in and out each week for the meetings. I was about to gag by the time I got done reading it.

PLUS, she sent this email out just weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit. She should have been offering to open up her genormous house to some of the thousands of homeless. You know, since it was way to big for just the two of them!!!!

PCTinIndy

Well Ladeeda... I mean I am glad that it is working for her but da*n did she have to brag about something like that WOW the nerve!!!

ErinPC

I by no means want to "bash" another company when I'm trying to recruit, but it is nice to know the pluses & minuses of other businesses. Having said that, I'm a little curious about the whole PartyLite thing. A friend of mine signed up with PL around the same time I signed with PC (November). She loves to play the "gotcha beat" game, and has made PL sound like I'm crazy for doing PC instead. I guess this is why she's doing a great job at recruiting. What are the requirements when you sign with PL (or any other company)? How many shows to qualify, how long do you have to qualify, etc.? All I know is that the kit is free, and I've personally lost one of my potential recruits to PL because theirs is free and ours is $90 ($70/$50 w/credit). I'm just curious...

snugbug

That was very rude, I'm sorry you had that experience and hopefully it won't happen again.

Your reaction to this was far more offensive and unprofessional. I seriously hope this is not an attitude or story you choose to share with others. If you want clarification on this I would be glad to chat with you, feel free to private message me.

I wanted to share my reaction here in hopes that others can avoid offending future customers, hosts and recruits- regardless of whether they agree. I try to always see myself as a guest in my hosts homes, yes I have a job to do, but I am a guest.

Sarah

kitchenshowchef

The Mary Kay lady I signed up under actually hosted a PC show for me. She made it sound so great that you make 50% profit..yada yada yada
Well when I did sign up so I could at least get my stuff for half off they basically said "go broke" so you can get your inventory. We just got our credit cleaned up and I told her I didn't have $400-$3,700 laying around..they were quick to say "go get a loan, credit card etc." I just think thats rediculous. You should just be able to order for customers no matter how much the order is. And all those Pink Cadillac drivers only have those because of all the ladies they duped into buying tons of inventory!

April

Cindycooks

Southern Living at Homes start up kit is $199. You get alot of stuff but it is all stuff to just sit around your house - you know "pretty stuff". PC is useful and pretty!!! I know that they get 25% of what they sell and they do not have to keep inventory. They win trips. I don't know about products incentives and bonuses like we get. I have a friend on another message board in Florida that sells it. She used to sell PC and she says they are a good company, much like PC. I believe her. The one draw-back she says, is their stuff is expensive...very. Do a search and look them up on the web...and browse the products. Just a simple vase is $40 and up. Dishes are $30 apiece! That adds up! I clicked on host specials and they are nothing to brag about. But still - good reputable company and beautiful stuff and very popular, if you can afford it.
As for MK - I know so many girls that used to sell it and hated the inventory. My niece sells Avon - likes it ok, making a little money, but has to buy catalogs every two weeks - deliver them - then when orders come in - deliever the orders! I'm tryin to talk her into PC.

monica_sweetconsultant

I almost signed up for MK after my sisters show. they wanted $100 to start up and then buy inventory. i didnt have that kind of money so i just said never mind. the girl called me every day begging me to sign. that really turned me off. as for avon, i dont have time to go around giving out catalogs, and then delivering orders. i have 2 friends that sell it and i have seen them going out until 10 at night delivering. no thanks!!! what i love about PC is i do a show, go home, send the show, and then make sure everyone is happy!! no worries, no deliveries!! I have thought about doing a second direct sales company to go with PC but to be honest i cant find one that has the same perks as PC so i probably will just stick with this one!

KirstenAnne

Booking gifts are just that. They have to be held and closed and held within a certain amount of time. That's why if I do a show, I really do not go over the booking gifts unless they qualify. And if my host doesn't get a booking, I normally step up and give her the booking from me. She was wrong on the three bookings @ $75.00. That is for four bookings. You can get a gift worth $50.00 or get retail credit for product of your choice. Once the three shows are held, a form is sent in and you get your booking gift or a PL certificate for the product of your choice. It's too bad you had that experience. I really do not do a lot of partylite shows, I have more of a repeat customer base who just order from me. I usually give them a discount. Sorry Once again you had that experience.