The good, the bad and the itchy

Some money schemes are quite transparent: a prince in Saudi Arabia wants to send $253 million to your bank account, a mother of three earns thousands of dollars working from home and wants your email address so you can do the same, a Russian executive wants to use your bank account for financial transactions of which you get a cut. In short, there are more money schemes out there than there are tissues in a box of Kleenex.

But what about other schemes? Schemes that are not so easy to spot. Take Avon for instance. Lots of women (and men) like to earn a little on the side and selling Avon seems just the thing. After all, everybody washes their hair, takes baths and showers, while the majority of women wear moisturizer and makeup, and need something to take the makeup off with. In addition to these personal care items, Avon sells jewelry, household products, kiddies stuff, etc.

They make it seem so easy ... as an Avon representative you buy the brochures, distribute the brochures and watch the orders come rolling in. But it’s not that easy. For one, Avon has a bad reputation. The quality of their products doesn’t stack up to store items and quite frequently mistakes are made.

Someone orders a foot cream enriched with mint and Avon sends a foot cream enriched with lemon. Someone order a cherry red lipstick and receives a tomato red lipstick. Avon does not ask permission to substitute one order for another, they just do it. If the client refuses the substitution it’s up to the representative to return the item, at her own cost.

Or, someone order a necklace or a ring and the consultant gets the message that that particular piece of jewelry is no longer available. Then, two campaigns later that particular piece of jewelry shows up again, at higher price.

Consultants get to chance to buy sales aids, goodies to make selling Avon products easier. Easier? Maybe, but those aids come at a price. Brochures, samples, product kits ... it all needs to be paid, and they aren’t cheap.

If the consultant sells more than $300 per campaign, she might make a little profit, but if her sales dwindle, selling Avon will end up costing her money. After collecting from her clients, she might wonder why she is $30 short. Look at your sales aids consultant, those goodies don’t come free.

In the brochures it all looks so glamorous. Creams that promise to take years off a woman’s age. Not true ... women complain that the creams nearly took a layer of skin off their face because of itchiness.

Shampoos, conditioners and coloring products promise lustrous locks. Not true ... women complain that after using Avon products they found a suspicious amount of hair in the drain collector.

Long lasting nail polishes on beautifully manicured nails ... not true, Avon nail polish chips within 48 hours.

Yet that’s not all that bothers Avon customers. They wonder ... why hasn’t Avon come up with organic products? A lot of the better brands switch to organic ingredients, minerals and above all, make their products paraben free. Not Avon, they apparently don’t care that their creams and makeup products are loaded with parabens, which can cause certain types of cancer.

The only person who earns, not a little but a lot, is the Avon recruiter. Every district has one and she gets a cut of whatever sales the representatives in her district make. If she gets 10% of every sale and she has 100 reps that sell between $100 and $500, that adds up.

Want to earn a little on the side? Thinking of selling Avon? Think before you sign up, you could be signing your money away.