Just guessing, but I think it's probably Mary Kay's actual cost of manufacturing these products.  Take eye shadow for example.  The consultant pays $3.25 wholesale and I'll bet it costs Mary Kay about .32 to make it.  That's probably why any commissions made off the consultant's order are charged back if she returns product.  Mary Kay is totally covered.  They don't lose one cent. >:(

Hi! I just wanted to give you some hope.  I was in MK for 7 years and just signed back up again last year.  I told my husband that I needed his support and that I was going to become a director and save our family financially.  Well needless to say I caused more financial problems than I saved.  Over my 7 years of MK about $10,000 of it went into inventory and I didn't turn much of a profit.  My husband started looking online for MK stories and found this site among others.  He brought all the information to me just like you are doing with your wife, and I was getting mad at him too.  I have heard the same "lines" that your wife is being told over and over again for 7 years that I believed so much in this company and that I could make so much money.  I never felt comfortable about telling people to spend thousands on inventory, but I knew that this is what made me money so I did it.  I went into DIQ twice and failed.  I think God was protecting our family from that financial burden.

 Well he started to back off and just give me some space and time, all the while he prayed daily for me to see through this scam.  I soon began to read stories of consultants and slowly started to see the true picture.  But it wasn't until I started reading about directors that had quit and what they went through and saw to save their production level, to keep a car, or keep their director status.  That really opened my eyes to what MK was all about.  It is about loading women up with a huge inventory so that the director can make her quotas and earn her next position, all while making her unit go into debt.  It is horrible and I knew right then that I did not want to be a director. 

It took me several months to see through all of the lies that I had been told through my director and national.  I felt guilty about leaving and loosing all of my "close girlfriends", and not one of them has called me and asked how I'm doing either. I felt like a failure.  That is when I joined several of these sites and started talking to other women just like me, who had gone through, and felt exactly what I was feeling.  This is my support group and my help through the hardest journey in my life.  Giving up MK was not easy after so long, but I finally decided that it was the best thing for our family.  I sent all of my product back to the company and got a nice "love check" from the company.  I have never felt better in my life.  Just to know that I can watch TV or play with my kids and not feel guilty about not making phone calls or holding a class.  I am a nicer, calmer, and well rested person again.

I know this is long but I say all of this to give you hope.  Just be patient with your wife.  Love her, support her, and you be that source of motivation and self-esteem boost that she needs.  MK directors know the buttons to push to motivate women.  I will be praying for you and your wife because this is hard to get out of with out a lot of emotions running. 

Becca

I agree, WOW Becca!  Thanks for sharing that...  Here's some karma  Love for you!

I know how you feel -- we do have a true community here and at MK Sucks!   

And I also have not heard from any of my MK friends since I stopped going to meetings -- not a peep...  Hmmm...  So much for the love there, huh?   

Okay so my wife (I'm not mentioning her name because I don't want her to be tracked down) after reading MK literature called MK headquarters today to ask how often she has to order.  They told her that she has to order at least $200.00 of product every three months to keep the wholesale price.  She told them that she just made a huge order, they said told her it doesn't make any difference.  Then her recruiter, who is a director called to tell her that the stuff has arrived.  She asked her.  The director sort of hemmed and hawed then told her that she doesn't have to order more for a year to keep the wholesale price.  I told her that maybe the director is lying just to smooth over a potential situation for the moment.  I also told her that she should just try to sell the crap then quit and be done with it (but not in those words).

Thanks, will pass that along.   

Question:  according to the quote, "As long as you are still in their system as a consultant (and you are kicked out after 11 mos)" does this mean that you actually only have 11 months in which to return the stuff, not 12?

About the stuff being sent to the director's house, nothing fishy there at least, living in the rurals we don't get mail to the house so she asked the director if she could have it shipped there this one time.  Though I neither like nor trust this woman I've asked my wife to make a careful check of the inventory to make sure it's all there.

A last note:  $4200.00 worth of makeup only comes to 9 roughly 1ft x 1ft x 1 1/2ft square boxes???

Chapparal,
She can return whatever dollar amount she has purchased in the last *rolling* 12 months.  Many directors say that it is within the first year but that is not correct.