Mary Kay Review: Can You Earn Money With Mary Kay?
You might be wondering how you could make money with this MLM and is it worth selling Mary Kay? To earn more money with Mary Kay, Keep Reading!

The company is based out of Texas and is one of the largest cosmetics companies with sales in the billions. It got its start back in 1963 and was founded by Mary Kay Ash.
Multi-level marketing is the business model that is used and the beauty consultants sell products by hosting parties and recruiting others.
Its products are sold around the world in countries such as China, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and Canada. Some of its competitors are Avon, Motives, and Nucerity.
Pros and Cons of Mary Kay
Pros
- Established company
- Low start-up cost
- Large selection of cosmetics
- Good profit margin
Cons
- High priced cosmetics
- Quality
- Unrealistic income
- Stuck with inventory
How to Make Money with Mary Kay
To show you how to make money with Mary Kay, I have simplified everything into two main points:
- The retail commission is what you earn when you sell Mary Kay products to customers at a retail price.
- Recruitment commission is the bonuses and commissions you get when you recruit people (called your downline) into your team.
And when they sell products or recruit more people under them, thus growing the team, you get to earn as well.
The actual compensation plan is very complicated, as it depends on your ranking, as well as your team size, that will determine how much you earn exactly.
In fact, Mary Kay seems to be quite secretive about its exact compensation plan, as it cannot be found anywhere on its website.
This seems rather suspicious because usually, all other MLM companies do try to explain their compensation structure in detail, either through videos or PDF files.
Retail Commission

You probably already have some idea of the products that Mary Kay offers. The company currently has a variety of online catalogs and these all feature many different items,
The catalogs focus on beauty, which includes skincare, fragrance, and makeup. The product line is strongly focused on women, although there is a smaller range of products for males.
I’m not going to go through the product line in detail, because you’ve probably already heard about it.
Many of the items can be considered high-quality beauty products and often have a price tag to match. This is especially true for skincare.
There are some less expensive items too, including more typical cosmetic items.
Regardless of the product type, items from Mary Kay do tend to be more expensive than what you might find in a store. This isn’t surprising, as MLMs have additional overheads to worry about.
The price of the products does limit who you could sell them to. However, Mary Kay’s reputation is focused on quality, so people interested in the range may well be willing to spend the money.
Read: Genius Ways to Make Real Money Online in 2020
Recruitment Commission

Even with a 50% commission from sales, most of Mary Kay’s income potential comes from team building.
The idea is that you’re earning percentages from the success of your downline (which includes the people you recruit, the ones they recruit, and so on).
As your team grows and increases in the sales they make, your position in the company can grow, along with your income.
The bonuses are directly tied into the team structure, so a bigger team means more income in this way too.
Of course, the commission plan isn’t simple. There are different ranks of consultants.
The higher ranks offer more bonuses and higher levels of commissions, but moving through them means that your team needs to be a certain size.
How to Join Mary Kay
To qualify as an independent beauty consultant with Mary Kay, you need to first pay $100 for your starter kit.
It includes:
- Products that you can use for demonstration when you host parties,
- Samples that you can give to potential customers,
- Your Mary Kay replicate website, and
- Some brochures and catalogs.
Then you need to make 3-monthly purchases of products worth $225 in wholesale price, for which you would be selling to earn your retail commission.
Conclusion
You can do it by selling Mary Kay if you want to earn an extra hundred bucks a month. However, if you want a real salary, then when it comes to Mary Kay, you are out of luck.
If this form of income is what you want, then you have to find a real job. Even if you get to the point of earning Mary Kay $25,000 a year.
you have to remember the taxes on self-employment and getting no benefits, which makes the amount of income seem even smaller.