I just got a new customer on my Mary Kay personal website. She is one that I met a craft fair where I had a booth. This is my second order from that booth, so it has more than paid for itself now. I did nothing to follow up with these women, they came to me. I know a lot of women on here (and PT) feel that you just can't make money in Mary Kay. But I have had good sales, I "attract instead of attack", and even as I am phasing out, I still have people coming to me for the product. For me the question of whether or not you can make money in Mary Kay is not so cut and dry. And ultimately, the potential to make money in MK is not the deciding factor of whether or not to stay in. I am indeed phasing out, and I'm doing it on principal. But it does make it a little tempting to stay in when I get these sweet little orders. *sigh* Anyone else have similar struggles?

Contrary to what others on here think I do think you can make money, I did.  But, some have said you really don't because you are buying all the other crap.  PCP, section 2 and so on. 

So, I say don't buy all the other crap!  I made money and I didn't do PCP and I didn't buy tons of other crap.  I hardly ever got section 2 items. 

I just sold to people who wanted the product and made money.  I wouldn't say I would have kept doing it for a living but, when I needed a few extra bucks I would sell the product and have some money.  I also made quite a bit just before I went on my vacation (with my family to CA) we went last May.  I had the extra money to have fun with and enjoy life for almost 5 days.


In the end you have to do what is best for you, what works for you! 

Follow you HEART and you can't go wrong!!

I hope this helps you!!

FreefromMK, I think you're prolly right. I never have been very good at really adding up all the costs of doing MK. It just feels good to get an order, I guess. *sigh*

I agree with each comment here...
And I have realized that there is serious money to be made in MK...especially if you are at NSD level.
My NSD spoke recently at a fall retreat and actually told us she had noticed that we were spending way too much money on sec. 2 stuff. That we should carefully limit our sec.2 purchases because those items were not profit-making. At the time, I thought to myself that maybe I had misjudged her...that she might actually be concerned about ME and my business.
At the same time, I wondered how I could run my biz without the samples, etc. that I got from sec.2, since usually, the first thing a new customer asks me is for a sample.
Now, I see...what was happening was that my sec.2 purchases cut into HER bottom line, not necessarily mine.
(I feel the need for a lightbulb emoticon right about now. I'm having an AHA moment...)

I feel so dumb sometimes, that I believed she was actually concerned about me, a lowly consultant, from way up there on her pink throne.
I just trust and trust, especially when they use that personality profile thingy to manipulate me. Oh, I'm a sucker alright...and they are sooooo good at it, aren't they?
BUT...I have spent literally HOURS reading the postings here and see that it is the way the game is played throughout the MK world. I haven't had some of the nasty experiences that many of you have had. Thankfully, I have an SD with a conscious who really, I think, tries to do her best by us. But I look at some of the other directors in my area and do not have the desire to become one of them. I see the crazed look they get in their eyes towards the end of the month or whenever NSD throws out some new unit challenge.
I am so thankful I found the PinkLighthouse...at least now my eyes are opened and I can continue to make my own decisions about how I deal with my customers with a renewed belief that I actually can make a difference in their lives by not trying to recruit them.

that is a great way to explain it. I never thought of it that way before.

Wow Sadie, that makes a lot of sense...and d'ya know I came in with a $3600 inventory package...*gulp*

Active...great suggestion...plus (correct me if I'm wrong) you are not charged double tax on Sec 2 items!

I don't want to speak for everyone else here but as for me, I'm no longer active and do not like how the company operates therefore choose not to be a consultant any longer. I do like the product but am currently searching for something with less chemical that works as well or better.......

Glad to hear this experience has been a positive one for you! Unfortunately a lot of people around here have had quite the opposite experience!