LuLaRoe steals not just from their consultants, but also from artists!
Let’s just cut the crap, LuLaRoe is terrible. Their leggings are soft, and that’s where the positive things I have to say about LuLaRoe end. A lot has been written about Multilevel Marketing (MLM) stuff in general and a lot of that stuff has been about LuLaRoe, specifically. But I’m about to add my voice to the chatter because it’s important and I can.
There are some dirty dirty business practices going on here. But before we talk about that, let’s just hit MLMs in general.
I do not care WHAT YOU ARE SELLING, if it is a MLM, it is shady. The end.
Here are a few things you should know about MLMs overall:
1. MLMs target the vulnerable.
Yep. Moms at home, they are coming for you.
These people know that you want to be home with your kids and they are going to tell you that selling leggings (or mascara, or lipstick, or essential oil, or whatever) will allow you to do that.
It’s a damn lie.
They don’t care about you being home with your kids.
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2. They promise that you can make a good living working from home in your spare time!
No. But they will invite you to work 60+ hour weeks to earn enough money to buy more product.
3. They say that there is room for everyone!
Think that there is no limit to the number of Mary Kay consultants that your town of 50K can support?
A lie.
Another damn lie.
Yes, there absolutely is such a thing as too much lipstick/leggings/frankincense.
But sell to your friends, they say. They'll network, they say.
You're going to run out of friends. And the ones you have are going to start avoiding you because they have already given you all their money. Every Facebook group add is yet another opportunity for them to become increasingly irritated with the whole thing.
4. Your family is not first.
They will tell you that it is, while encouraging you to spend every last dime you have on inventory.
John Oliver has some choice feelings about MLMs that sum it up pretty nicely:
Before you come at me with, “Yeah, but have you ever done MLM?”
Yes. I have. I have done many. At one time, I too was trying to stay at home with my kids at any cost. I too fell prey to a number of such "opportunities."
And let me tell you something: I sold multi-million dollar real estate, and that was easier than trying to convince someone that they need ANOTHER tube of lipstick.
But let’s get to LuLaRoe in particular. I know a lot of women who have sold/are selling LuLaRoe. What was once an endless opportunity for income and potential for growth is quickly becoming a nightmare.
A few key points to consider:
1. LuLaRoe steals from you with the very first jump!
You’re going to give them $9000 and they are going to send you a variety of inventory that THEY select. You can pick the style of the product (from a limited number) but you’ll have no hand in choosing the patterns.
That’s right, they might send you any of these:
Here we have (in descending order):
The All Seeing Eye Of Lesser Africa
Floral So Pale I Can See Your Ass Crack
(Alternatively known as: This Pair Looks Like It Has Been Washed 584 Times But Is Actually Brand New)
ZebraSkeleton Cupid
Minnie Maus
UP CLOSE ON ZEBRASKELETON CUPID:
This looks like smooth muscle tissue, not clothing.
And my personal favorite, Earthworm Picasso:
LuLaRoe will send you all of these and expect you to find a person who would not only wear them willingly, but will also PAY ACTUAL MONEY FOR THEM.
OR they might send you seven pairs of mustard leggings — because everyone wants pants that look like a newborn crapped on them.
2. And it doesn’t stop there.
Once you’ve bought your original stock, you can now move on to stocking the really cute stuff.
The Amelia, for example.
That’s pretty cute!
GOOD LUCK FINDING THAT PATTERN. I searched ebay and found literally zero of these dresses. Not in any size.
You can get this weird dress with a bow right on your boobs, though.
Or this weird floral/stripe amalgam nonsense.
3. The Great Return Policy Switcheroo.
If you did end up with all of this garbage and then decide you want to return it (for 100% of your money back), TOO BAD.
Yep, what started out as a promise to give you all your money back (even if you returned things you didn’t buy) has become a labyrinth of paperwork you now have to navigate to get even a little money back.
If you ask LuLaRoe, they’ll say:
LuLaRoe provides a fair and generous path to Independent Fashion Retailers who want to exit the business. Last week, we simply reiterated a long-term written policy that each Retailer agreed to when he or she signed up. We had temporarily provided a waiver on some of the policy requirements between April and September 2017.
No. Well, yeah. That’s true. It’s not the fact that reinstated the old policy, it's the fact that they did it in such a way that folks who were waiting for their returns to be processed (something that takes time) were screwed. See, told you LulaRoe steals!
4. LuLaRoe is shady as sh#t.
Case in point: Micklyn Le Feuvre.
LuLaRoe steals not just from their consultants but also from artists. This has been talked about before, but this one takes the cake. Micklyn, an artist and mom of 11 (ELEVEN), was surprised to find that a pair of LuLaRoe leggings featured artwork that look surprisingly like hers…
Right down to the WATERMARK.
(Head over to Micklyn’s Spoonflower account.)
And it’s not just Micklyn. Hungarian artist Balaz Solti has sued them for copyright infringement.
Balaz’s artwork:
And the LuLaRoe legging version.
A pretty clear rip-off.
This is really the tip of the despicable iceberg.
If the multiple ways in which LLR screws over their consultants isn’t enough, the way they screw over the human race in general should be.
