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I am interested in becoming a Mary Kay personal use consultant, but imagine it will be difficult to find a consultant to work under since I will be honest in saying I only want to purchase for myself, family and a friend or two. Any tips, has anyone been a personal use consultant only?
Thanks!:)

Hello eedoxies-

I sent you a private message (look in the upper right corner of the screen under "Your Notifications" - that is where you will find my message.

Loving Thoughts to All,

Pink Pea

You just have to find the right person to sign under. My daughter is a PU consultant so we can get our products for a discount and her director is a friend of mine. She gets a monthly newsletter to keep her updated on products and what's happening in the company. Besides that, her director knows that she is only buying for the 2 of us and maybe a friend or two and is perfectly fine with that! There are directors out there who are fine with PU consultants!

If I were an MK rep - you could sign under me - I would be fine with that. In fact, I am going to be telling people that are struggling with money to think about signing up that way. Alright, I am also hoping that they will think about it and try to build a business and get themselves into a better position- but if they don't - that is ok, too. PC is there to sign up for!!

I am interested in becoming a Mary Kay personal use consultant, but imagine it will be difficult to find a consultant to work under since I will be honest in saying I only want to purchase for myself, family and a friend or two. Any tips, has anyone been a personal use consultant only?
Thanks!:)


I haven't had a personal us consultant. I do not know what one is. I use Mary Kay. Let me know what one is.

You just have to find the right person to sign under. My daughter is a PU consultant so we can get our products for a discount and her director is a friend of mine. She gets a monthly newsletter to keep her updated on products and what's happening in the company. Besides that, her director knows that she is only buying for the 2 of us and maybe a friend or two and is perfectly fine with that! There are directors out there who are fine with PU consultants!

So a personal use consultant give you the ability to buy at a discount?

So a personal use consultant give you the ability to buy at a discount?

If you were to become a personal use consultant, yes you can buy your cosmetics at a 50% discount. HOWEVER -- in order to maintain that discount, you need to purchase $400 of retail product to give you that discount for that particular month plus the following two months.

Say for instance you signed up today (August 29) and ordered $400 in RETAIL product. You will get the product at 50% discount for the remaining 2 days of August, plus September and October. If, however, you wait until September to sign; the discount holds for September, October and November. Once your 3-month period expires, if you still want your discount you need to order another $400 RETAIL in order to obtain another 50% discount for THAT month and the following two.

If you want quality MK products at a discount, you are far better off helping ex-consultants recoup their monies by purchasing products off them from eBay.

I don't agree with getting your product off ebay. If you don't know the dates you can get stuck with old stuff. and MK date codes are codes not dates unless it is an over the counter product.


Its easy to say well get a good rated person. I have personally sworn never to use ebay because I don't beleive in it for personal use products.

But it is hard for ME to buy MK. I had a MK lady that was supposed to show up on a certain day. She never did, and didnt call. OK, then I heard a MK person was going to be at one of those direct sales groups where they get together. The lady said you can order but we are going out of town and won't be back for a month.!!!

I gives up! I don't use MK anymore just too hard to get too. Maybe it's my personal karma but it just doesn't work for me. It's get product but now unless I am a consultant with a company or it directly like Beauticontrol or Paula's choice I just don't use it.

What's good about being personal use is the product is shipped fresh directly to you. Unfortunately you also are caught up in the MK world which is relentless emals from director and corporate.

I think this new ship direct program is great but it doesn't seem to be used much because most consultants want to see what they have got.

As a former personal use MK consultant and Beauticontrol consultant, I know personal use. I have been with both companies off and on for many many years because both companies have some of the best products bar none even vs dept store (overpriced with mostly bored sellers)

I have seen ancient products for sale with ebay and a customer doesn't know if they are good or bad, where the have been stored, etc. I can't believe the number of consultants who store their products in their trunk!!! I am a not talking about MK alone here either.

As I said I have had a long good and not so good history with the companyconsultants and directors but I have always said most of the products are great, good and very good.

I've been doing this for 15 years now. I was so glad to see Customer Delivery Service happen. If I don't have what my customer needs, I just use the Customer Delivery Service. It's fantastic! Makes things a lot easier, in my opinion.

I don't agree with getting your product off ebay. If you don't know the dates you can get stuck with old stuff. and MK date codes are codes not dates unless it is an over the counter product.



The codes really ARE dates if you understand them. You need to ask your seller to read the code to you. The code tells you when the product was bottled/jarred/packaged/tubed. It would read something like B1229. The alpha figure (B) stands for the year it was manufactured. MK started using alpha figures in the year 2000 starting with "A" -- so in this instance, "B" stands for year 2001. The second number (12) is the month of December, and the third number (29) is the day of the month. So in this example, this "stuff" would have been manufactured on December 29, 2001.

I might have those last two dates switched -- maybe they put the day of the month before the month; but you get the idea. The year 2011 should be around letter K or M (the company skips some letters to avoid confusion).

Now where the consultants store their inventory -- that's something I cannot help you with.

Sparkler is right on with this one. It is a breeze to ask the ebay seller what are the date codes. And "translations" of the date codes are on many web sites. One never knows what goes on in any consultants home. .Mold, dogs, disease, Not to put down consultants, but also not putting down ebay purchases. There have at times been some specualtions re company product. ( such as what really happens with returned product? )
Recently the company issued news that we are "not to worry" so to speak that they put product in mis labeled containers.. That strikes me as odd.

What I mean is that MK products aren't sealed are they? They don't have that little band on the top of the bottle or one you pull off or the top of the tube?

Ladies correct me if I am wrong. I can tell if a lipstick has been used but not a creamy cleanser. I don't know what the current date codes are but I know WHAT they are and what they represent.

Thats why as much as I love some mk products i stick to ones with a pull tab or a cellophane wrap around things like eyeliners

Recently the company issued news that we are "not to worry" so to speak that they put product in mis labeled containers.. That strikes me as odd.

I have on more than one occasion ordered inventory FROM THE COMPANY HEADQUARTERS and received product with another consultant's label on it; and I have received used product (i.e., when we had liquid foundations, I received a bottle that had obviously been opened and used as there was remnants of the foundation on the outside of the bottle, and the bottle was not totally full!!! I have also received used lipsticks from the company when I ordered inventory.

They say they destroy (incinerate) all inventory that is returned by any consultant; but it makes me wonder why they insist that all product be returned in "resalable condition."

That's a head-scratcher, all right!

You're all correct.
No one knows where a consultant stores their products. Leaving product in a hot vehicle trunk, leaving product in a damp basement, storing product next to a liter box...you don't know.
And I wish we did have the little tabs on our cleansers.

Thinkin' about Avon now.... or maybe Estee

As the originator of this thread, I was excited about the possibility of becoming a MK personal use consultant and appreciative of the replies and offers to join others' teams.
The fact that the company sends out used cosmetics is a problem for me, I had no idea.
I would not personally want to receive a used product, nor would I want my family or friends to have that experience either. Frankly, I am shocked this happens. Love the products, but will have to reevaluate my plans.

Just to be clear...
The company does not send out used product. If a consultant does return product to the company, it is destroyed.

The chatter is where does a consultant store his/her inventory.

Sparkler's post above does indicate used cosmetic products have been sent out by MK.
Was this a past practice that no longer exists? If this is even a possibility, to me it is unacceptable. I appreciate the matter of where products are stored, etc... but unless ordering from ebay or similar, would that even matter? I am assuming consultants order directly from the company and that seems to be where the used products were sent from.

I have personally never ordered from eBay but can absolutely vouch for a fact that I ordered product (inventory) directly from the company and was shipped product with other consultants' labels on it and product that was clearly used and returned.

My question still remains that if MK states that they incinerate all returned product/inventory, then why do they insist that only product that is in resalable condition be allowed to be returned for the 90% buyback that they advertise?

Things that make you say "hmmmmm."