Mary Kay and Avon are two of the most successful direct selling companies for women. Garnering millions of sales each year, these two companies have provided many women with successful side businesses, home businesses, and even full-time jobs. If you are trying to figure out which company is the best fit for you to begin working with, here is a comparison of Mary Kay and Avon.
Start Up Cost
The start up cost for Mary Kay is $100. With your $100 investment, you are purchasing inventory, brochures, and business cards to start selling.
With Avon, the start up cost is simply $10. Your start up cost includes brochures, an introductory Demo, and an Avon tote.
Commissions
With Mary Kay, consultants earn 50% commission on the items that they sell, as long a you meet the $200 in sales quota each month. With Avon the range is from 30-50%, depending on how much you sell each month. For example, If you sell at least $145 for the month, then your profit is 30%.
Products
Mary Kay has a more focused product line, which is primarily women’s skincare. There is makeup and body products that help women become more beautiful. Mary Kay’s focus has always been beauty, and with that there is more focus on one set of products.
With Avon, however, there are many products to choose from. There are books, children’s items, skincare, apparel, jewelry and lingerie. As an Avon consultant it’s important to know about the products that you are selling, so there is a lot of information to keep abreast of, especially since Avon has a new campaign featuring new products every two weeks. Mary Kay only introduces new products every 90 days.
Figure out if you would be more comfortable with a set line of products like with Mary Kay, or a vast array of products like with Avon. There are pros and cons with each. A plus that I have heard of is that as a Mary Kay consultant you do not have to know every single thing about each product, because there is a nifty system where you can type in information regarding the products, and it tells you everything you need to know about a particular product, as far as the content of the product, and exactly what it is designed for.
How To Sell
Home parties have typically been the mainstay ways that consultants sell Mary Kay or Avon products, but you are not limited to holding home parties. Both companies offer their consultants websites where customers can place orders and choose products. With Avon, the website is free as long as you have at least one customer purchase every two weeks from your website.
With Avon, you can purchase brochures to hand out to potential customers, but now you can email brochures, and that is free. So that would cut costs for purchasing brochures to handout.
Mary Kay and Avon are both reputable and respected companies that help thousands of women realize their dreams of earning money from home, and spend more time with their families. Weigh the pros and cons of each company, and decide which of the two would be a good fit for you. Good luck in your endeavors!
