Selling Arbonne?

[AC7179]

I have a friend that is trying to alk me into doing this. She swears that you can get SO RICH doing it and it is SO EASY. I'm skeptical because it seems like a get rich quick scheme. I know if I sign up to sell, she gets a cut of that---but I'm conflicted.

I'm a teacher, mom, graduate school student, and freelance writer. I have very little spare time. But..........she says she knows someone who is making 7500 bucks a month doing this. As a school teacher, that is huge!

 

[Dan Murphy]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=890222

 

[AC7179]

Whoops....got ahead of myself there.

Anyway, does anyone here sell, and is the money truly that good?

 

[Beth76]

I don't sell it, but I use the products and I have sold Discovery Toys which is the same type of business (multi-level marketing). My opinion is that in order to "get rich" you have to work full-time and work your butt off. You can't make a lot of money doing this type of work if you're only going to do it a few hours a week (which is how they draw people in). Unless, perhaps, you have a HUGE client base. And let's face it, I live in an affluent area and would have big trouble trying to convince people to pay more money for this stuff.

These companies thrive on telling people that it's so easy to make money just doing it a few hours a week. I wouldn't call it a scam, but they tend to be very misleading. You know, kind of like those weightloss commericials where they show people who lost lots of weight and then in the fine print it says "results not typical".

Plus, I believe it's a lot of money to get started. Like close to $2000. When I did Discovery Toys it only cost me $150 to get started and that included $300 worth of toys for me to keep. So, there wasn't much risk with that.

 

[disneyaggie]

Though I am listed as a "consultant", I do not sell the products. I only pay a few dollars (maybe about $20) a year to be called a consultant so I can get a nice percentage off all of my personal purchases. And I must say, I have saved a lot of money doing it this way.

I have never been into selling products like this, toys, candles or anything else that is out there, and have found myself lovingly avoiding those that do.

I had a friend who sold Beauty Control and you wanted to run and hide anytime you saw her.

And one major issue I have with any of these products is that when you are out, you better plan ahead. You can't just run to the store to pick up more. It could take days for you to get.

Like the saying goes, "If it seems too good to be true, it usually is".

 

[Rella Bella]

Unless you join because you are looking for your own "Business" you won't make much money.

Even if you are looking for your own business you won't be very successful in multilevel unless:
You are ready to work -- A LOT,
You are very organized and self motivated,
You are a born sales person... by that I mean the kind of person who can constantly talk and promote yourself and your business with out feeling the least bit guilty
AND you are so cheerful, friendly, outgoing and well liked that people are not offended when you constantly talk about and promote your product.

I am involved in one, (not Arbonne)... and doing okay. I love the products, wouldn't think of quitting for that reason BUT I've noticed the only people who are really successful have all -- or most all -- of the above qualities. You learn a lot about yourself and what you are and are not willing to do for a sale.

I have a friend (in yet another group) who has all of the above. She has been very successful... earned trips & multiple cars etc. But she works constantly! And now, after about 3 years she's gotten really tired of the turn over, constantly having to sign up new people in order to just maintain and REALLY tired of convincing people to have parties. And she HAS that un-named quality that naturally draws people to her.

I don’t' think these groups are scams or pyramid schemes... but there is a reason the people at the top get paid so well THEY ARE REALLY TALENTED AND THEY WORK REALLY HARD!

 

[Beth76]

Though I am listed as a "consultant", I do not sell the products. I only pay a few dollars (maybe about $20) a year to be called a consultant so I can get a nice percentage off all of my personal purchases. And I must say, I have saved a lot of money doing it this way.

How's that working for you? Are there any strings attached? My Arbonne "lady" is in CA and I'm in MO. She wants me to do it this way (wholesale buyer is what she calls it). I just don't want to get caught up in something more than just getting a discount. I don't know if the upfront fee will actually be worth it in the end.

 

[disneyaggie]

How's that working for you? Are there any strings attached? My Arbonne "lady" is in CA and I'm in MO. She wants me to do it this way (wholesale buyer is what she calls it). I just don't want to get caught up in something more than just getting a discount. I don't know if the upfront fee will actually be worth it in the end.

This really depends on how much and what you buy. I normally get their face cleanser, scrub, toner and eye moisturizing cream. I actually purchase my moisturizer from another cosmetics company, as well as my make up (just got hooked on Bare Essentuals).

To me, this is the way to go. I always love to save money. And besides their little e-mails and monthly or quarterly catalogs, that's it! The girl that told me about this sells it. She knew I just wanted to get the discounts without selling it. I have not heard boo from her -- no pressure -- just awesome savings! The wholesale buyer (or whatever it is called) for me is truly the way to go. I highly recommend it.

I also just go online and do my ordering. I don't have to have any interaction with a sales person (especially those who try to sell you more). I order online and get my product at the door. It's that simple!

One thing that might help is to list what products you really will purchase. Mark down two columns to the right of each item. List the "retail" price in one column next to the product and in the other column put the "wholesale buyer" price. Look to see how much that really saves you over an order or two. Renewing is very reasonable; it was the initial fee that was a bit high, but still paid for itself in my product orders since I was at that time also ordering my makeup from there.

 

[Pooh93]

Omg! I am laughing because I had never heard of this company until a week ago. Gotta luv the Dis because I should've known somebody out here would be familiar with it. I flew from St. Louis to Dallas last Sunday for a week of training and my flight was about 75% full of Arbonne people that had been to St. Louis for a convention. They kept "joking" about signing me up. Needless to say, I kept my nose buried in my book or my eyes closed. I figured out it was some type of skin products company and I also figured out it must be some type of pyramid business based upon the conversations. The one girl sitting across the aisle and a couple rows must have been a big seller because she had a dozen roses and the ladies surrounding her kept asking her how she drives her business. I kept hearing about cars/trips and that this girl was selling about $20,000/month. These women had come from all over the country and even gave the flight attendant a sample. The lady sitting directly next to me was from Palm Springs and said she'd quit her job of 10 years to do this full time. She kept telling me they could potentially be the next Bill Gates.

Anyways, probably more than you cared to read, but I thought it was funny that this was posted out here.

 

[KristiKelly]

I just signed on as a consultant last Wednesday. I told my sponsor upfront that I was not interested in selling the products but only signing on for the discounts. She said that's what most of the people she signs up does. I am not a salesperson at all but my Mom is already in love with the products as well, so who knows maybe I can sign her up under me. I do feel like the products speak for themselves and why buy at retail when for $29, you get 35% off.

 

[J Lynn]

I just became an Arbonne consultant less than a week ago so no money yet, but according to my team, our top girl just got a $4,000 check for one month and she started in Dec of '05. The key is to get about 4 people under you to sign up as consultants and you get a percentage of what they bring in from others. Your team is there to push up your sales so in turn, they get promoted. You don't do it alone. Once you reach the highest rank, all you are doing is helping others get where you are. There are no parties to give. It's just handing out samples and signing up those that want a piece of the pie. In less than a year, you could be driving a white Mercedes-Benz (their signiture car) and bring in big bucks to boot. There are women (and men) on my team that are already making a good living and are planning to make more doing this. Good luck. PM me if you want to follow my progress.