Beauty

[Lulu Bea]

Word on the street is Avon is ousting it's CEO and replacing with the gentleman who runs Herblife. News sent stock up. 

Avon has to get a grip on Ecommerce being the name of the game. Gettng the color right for cosmetics is critical. And how will you get scent described so the average person can understand? I have no idea what "radiant water accord" is nor do I know what a Kyoto Flower smells like. Keep the actual notes but then put it in real words. As far as color, maybe they can start a small sample program that can be purchased.

The possibilities are endless with ecomm technology. Do they charge reps for having an online store or to do email campaigns to their customers. I'd love to get emails with new products in descriptions I can relate to when it comes to color or scent or anything.

I understand why they went after the Herbalife CEO as the selling channel and mulit-level marketing is applicable. I think they should have gone after a mover and shaker in the Ecomm community.  

[mistriTsquirrel]

I used to be an Avon rep.  I don't recommend it.  They claim that the stuff practically sells itself, but it was like pulling teeth to get people to buy.  And they had an order minimum when I joined that I thought seemed reasonable.  Then they doubled it.  They sent literature trying to tell me that it was for my own good.  (LoL)  If I didn't meet the minimum, I would not get a percentage off of the products, so I was paying the same as everyone else to get the products if I didn't meet the minimum.  I also had to pay out of my own pocket to return items that customers didn't like back to Avon.

When you go to the website, you can choose a rep to shop through.  It's all automated, so you never actually speak to the person when you make your order.  Anyway, there was an instance when a friend ordered through the website using my name and I got no commission for it.  I got a notice that she ordered using my name, but no check was sent to me and no money was deducted from my bill on any of my orders.  I don't know if that was just a mistake, or if it's a scam and they are trying to make people believe that they are supporting a rep when they really aren't.

As a rep, you have to buy your own testers, because their sample offering is small (and even those are something the reps have to pay for).  So you wind up buying things for people to try, thinking that if people can smell or see the product, they will be more likely to buy.  However, it seldom worked out that way, in my experience.  Most of the time people were not impressed by what I had to show them.

There were many times when I didn't meet the minimum, so I bought things myself in order to maintain my status as an active rep and get a small discount on the products (that piddly discount is what they refer to as your "paycheck."  LoL, again.)  At first I was willing to spend a little money on products I didn't need, thinking I was just getting my business off the ground.  Eventually I realized that I was losing more money than I was making, and Avon was reaping all the benefits.  I wasn't just working for free, I was losing money.

These MLMs are pyramids.  You are unlikely to make much money unless you recruit several others under you.  Then you get a small percentage of what they make when they sell anything.  Unfortunately, that involves putting unwitting individuals in the same losing situation that you yourself may currently be in.

I know there are some people who think that selling Avon is a great gig, because they know lots of people who are willing to buy, so they don't lose money doing it.  However, in talking to people who have been reps, I don't think that experience is the norm.  Most of the people I've talked to who have sold Avon have no interest in doing it again.  Avon has sent me e-mails, trying to tell me that they sweetened the deal somehow for their reps, and it's easier to make money now, but I'm not willing to play their games again.

I still have stuff I bought from them to use up.  I don't think I'm going to be buying any of their stuff after that.  Aside from the bad experience I had as a rep, I was regularly disappointed by having my favorite fragrance or other item discontinued.  And the quality of some of the items was hit-or-miss.  I'm just done dealing with their nonsense. 

It wouldn't surprise me at all if their business failed, and it wouldn't bother me either.

[ALRATIBA]

I've been buying Avon online since I retired in 2010.  I get periodic emails with specal offers.

[sandraskates]

@mistriTsquirrel- A now retired woman dropped her catalogs around various places at work, plus she had some regular customers. But like you, she said it actually costed her money to be a rep.

If I was judging from all the bags she brought in I'd have thought she was making money hand-over-fist!

I miss seeing her and her catalogs. I'd buy periodically and was happy with items I purchased, and some items were decorative, not beauty.

[Katcat1]

I think a woman would be good in that position; one that has worked in beauty products.  Hopefully, the new CEO does a good job.  I have not purchased Avon in over 40 years.  The lady in our building passed away that sold Avon.  I would not mind selling it if the odds were in my favor with the co.  

[AngelPuppy1]

Avon has been a part of my family from as far back as I can remember.  We all loved and still love Avon!  I have had good experiences with Avon and have had really good Avon reps. until the one recently who doesn't seem to care whether she sells or delivers your products at all.  I have always found the products to be very good and reasonably priced.  The jewelry has held up well and I have some from many, many years ago that still looks great.

I hope the company continues to make it and do well.  I really love this old company!!!  I would hate to see it go.

I did sell Avon myself a long time ago and I didn't have any problems with it.  I didn't make a lot of money because I didn't know a lot of people and I didn't really go after it.  But I enjoyed getting my little discount, and I enjoyed getting to see new products first and getting a discount on them.

Yes, it is true that you must purchase your brochures and other supplies that you need.  But at the time I did it, the cost was very minimal.  I don't know what it is like now.

So, overall, I have very good things to say about Avon!!! 

[mistriTsquirrel]

@AngelPuppy1  I can understand why you have nostalgia about Avon, and like things you've purchased from them.  I'm conflicted myself about no longer purchasing Rare Gold and a few other items.  Rare Gold is a fragrance I've liked for a long time, and I used to wear it quite frequently.

One thing I can tell you is that the brochures went up in price.  Maybe they once were inexpensive, but they went from being kind of pricy to being not really worth it when I was a rep.  And from the time I started to the time I quit, there were several changes made that made it harder and harder for me to make money.  It's possible they're trying to reverse some of those changes after losing a lot of their people, and that's why they've sent out e-mails saying it's more rewarding to be a rep now.  But I don't trust them.  The prices and minimums seemed reasonable when I started, and then they changed the terms on me.  So I have a feeling the experience of being a rep is different now than it once was.

That said, if you're just in it to get the discount for yourself, friends and family, maybe it's not such a bad gig (I can't say what their minimums or discounts are anymore, as I'm no longer a rep, so I don't know).

But based on my experience, it's not a good way to make extra money, which is one of the claims they make in their recruitment advertisements and literature, and it was something I had hoped for.

I don't talk about my experience with Avon much, but since it came up I wanted anyone who is thinking about becoming a rep to know what they could be in for.

[tototwo]

I never worked for Avon, but I did work for a different direct sales beauty company for a couple years.  I had the same experience as @mistriTsquirrel -- it cost me more money than I made, but was certainly educational!  Plus, we got to take my loses off our income tax, so it wasn't a total loss.  

I love several Avon products and have been buying Avon since I was a teenager back in the 1960's.  There was always an Avon Lady in my office or in my neighborhood to buy from.  For a few years, there was an Avon store at the mall.  These days I purchase online and some rep somewhere gets credit for my purchases, but I don't know who it is.  I hate to hear stories about Avon's going out of business - I would definitely miss it.  

[mistriTsquirrel]

For anyone interested in learning about MLMs and how they work, Google "John Oliver MLMs" and a YouTube video will come up that illuminates what's wrong with this type of business model.

[Harpa]

This is off-point, but my fondest Avon memory is when I was wearing one of their fragrances and got the compliment, "It should be illegal for you to wear a fragrance like that." Which was not expressed in any negative way! They were truly captivated.

(I got many a Tova compliment, but not like this.)