Saturday, March 8, 2008

Mary Kay Jewelry - Do you love it or hate it?

I was looking at some of the jewelry available for consultants as prizes.

I don't wear rings, necklaces, earrings, etc., so it doesn't affect me one way or the other. If I win something, I will probably give it away anyway. (I only wear my wedding ring - and even that took some convincing for me to wear.)

What do you think about the jewelry offered by MK? Like it or not?

Is/Was the jewelry a good motivator for you?

Did you ever strive for a prize?

26 comments:

  1. I like some of the rings offered for Seminar. Those flower shaped rings they had the past couple years I thought were really pretty. I'm not so crazy about the really huge gemstones. I have small hands and I just think some of those rings would look silly on my fingers.
    One quarter I starred, I wanted this leather-bound office supply set and they were out of them. I opted for this pink-stoned earring and bracelet set instead. It was awful!
    For the most part, I'm not motivated by the jewelry, but if I do see something I like, it gets me a little more excited about my goals.

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  2. My 5 year old got excited about the MK jewerly. I gave her everything I won. It was all so gaudy. Not something for me. As an adult.

    My director would show us some of the rings she won. I could not believe how she'd go on and on. Did she not know they were diamond chips all stuck together to look like one big stone? And some of that stuff was not even real. Why would a grown woman flaunt that?

    Personally I think the prizes should be more business oriented. Something to help your business. Organizers, biz cards, etc. Something that is useful and attractive, not over the top, not something that makes other people snicker.

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    Replies
    1. To each their own that's why I always tell my girls let me know what suits them best but with women out there that are always see the negative, such as yourself, someone would never please you. Even if they gave business card holders, you'd complain there too cheap or ugly so why bother, I tell my girls there are women put on this earth that will work with you and are humble and will look for the good in all we do to help you succeed in this business and then there are women who have nothing better to do than sit on a blog and trash all the good this company has created, oh well can't please them all
      I was a Tom boy growing up because of caddy women like you soooooo glad I get to pick who I work with and they appreciate my time , yes time is their gift and helping them earn more money and cars ANd sometimes even gaudy jewelry!!

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  3. Aon -

    I agree. Not everyone gets excited about jewelry. There are those of us that do not wear jewelry for religious reasons, and there are those that simply do not like the particular jewelry offered. :o)

    You bring up a good point, though - what if you have a Director or consultant that does not wear jewelry? Or does not want to wear what MK offers? I wonder if that breaks an unwritten rule. LOL Is it like a General that doesn't wear his medals? ;) I dunno.

    I would love to see an alternate prize offered that you could choose instead of jewelry. A business-oriented prize, like you suggested, would be nice. :o)

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  4. That should have read "Anon" - LOL

    Darned typos.

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  5. That should have read "Anon" - LOL

    Darned typos.

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  6. That should have read "Anon" - LOL

    Darned typos.

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  7. Hey, Shades!

    I would have been bummed if I had qualified for the prize and had to get jewelry instead. Maybe that's a sign that the office supply sets are popular and they should offer them more often! :o)

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  8. Sorry for the triple post. Blogger doesn't like me tonight. LOL

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  9. I agree that the jewelry is beyond my taste, although I do have some of it. I have very small hands and those big gaudy rings look silly on me and to be honest, I really don't understand some of the prizes at all -- pink guitars? pink "baby grand" pianos for children? Sweat suits with MK on them - we are not supposed to be wearing that out when working our business! Sleeping bags?

    I agree, a nice professional looking briefcase / bag would be much better. The office stuff this quarter for 1800 was okay (I already have much of this in place though). I really didn't see anything I was too excited about this quarter.

    Why not additional product or new product bonus, ie Free $100 products as an option with $ 1800, and so on?

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  10. Hmmmmmmmmmm....good points.

    Maybe a choice of business cards or other items from MKconnections?

    I would be curious to see how many people would choose the business item over the jewelry. :D

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  11. i really dont like the jewlery. I cant wear pierced earrings and all of it is always made for pierced ears. Besides some of it is not my taste.

    I have not been motivated by any of the star prizes lately. I too have wondered why they would offer some of the things like a toy piano or a toy car. I remember when you could win phone cards for a star consultant or luggage. I won a set of luggage for my daughter and she still uses it. Those kind of gifts are pratical and not just for show.

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  12. The only Star prize I ever got excited about was the Barbie doll. That was the first quarter I joined and I do have a Barbie collection. I earned that one, but ever since I have not been real psyched about the Star prizes. I have kitchen appliances, I don't have children, I'm not crazy about the jewelry. That's why I started focusing on what I really want from my business. I set goals based on business achievement and how that benefits me and my husband. He gets more excited about some of those prizes than I do! lol

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  13. Has anyone on here written MKC and asked for different prizes to be awarded?

    Do you think it would help?

    Maybe we could start a campaign. :D

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  14. Okay, this is Kare...haven't commented in awhile.

    Anyway, I like some of the business stuff they've done for star consultant. And some of the luggage and purse-type stuff is nice as well. I would love if they did more of that kind of stuff and less of the jewelry.

    Frankly, I can't wear jewelry. I can't wear bracelets, can't wear rings, can't wear earrings. I have extremely sensitive skin, and whether it's junk jewelry or real gold and gems, I get blotchy and red if I try to wear anything. I can't even my wedding rings! So the jewelry that I have earned for various things I end up giving away. I would love alternate prizes.

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  15. I guess like anything else, we are going to please some of the people some of the time but never all the people all of the time.

    I agree I would love to see more business builders offered and less jewelery. But I do have many, many, star consultant prizes that I just love, and I can still look over at the clock on the wall and have a feeling of satisfaction knowing I earned it, and then setting the table and knowing I earned the entire collection, and packing and knowing I didn't have to go buy luggage. Because I know I EARNED them.

    I thought when the offered the wheel invetory carrier and the color carrier as a prize, it was one of the most exciting quarters for me and my unit. I love it when they do the entry to career conference, seminar, or reimbursement for the directors suit. The selections have often made me WORK harder if they item I really like was in a category above where I was working. Gave me the reason to work a little harder to get to the next level.

    But I don't buy it, I earn it!

    If you are really unhappy or would like to see changes, all we need to do is let MK know, they do listen!!

    I am still waiting for my pink guitar because my stepson can't wait to start teaching me how to play (this will be an adventure and a half) hope he has tons of patience! lol

    If I am not excited about something, I let a family member pick out an item and then work to earn it for them.

    As many of us have said though, it isn't that you are buying the prize you are earning the level.

    Hey maybe MK did listen to the exconsultants that complained about paying $1800 for a pink toaster so they made the prizes less exciting so consultants would stop buying them instead of doing the work and then getting the prize as a bonus!!

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  16. I think anything you earn (or win) is fun. If I received a piece of the jewelry, I would be happy I earned it, but would not be able to "enjoy" it - does that make sense? :D

    I agree that no matter what the prize is, it is special if you earn it; however, if it is a prize I really want and know I can use/enjoy, then I know I will work harder for it. :)

    I think I will be writing to MKC - what can it hurt? - and asking about having alternatives to jewelry.

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  17. There have been a couple of times that I have written MK corporate about things and they responded with a personal phone call! I think that says a lot that they would take time out to call me back after an email or question that I had.
    Its worth it to ask, like you say what can it hurt

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  18. Lately, many emails I send are answered via phone call--usually when it is in regard to medical relations or legal questions. I think that is amazing. They really do listen to us! :)

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  19. About the phone calls...wow, that IS awesome! But back to the prizes...
    when MK started giving out the prizes, she wanted to give women something that they would never buy for themselves, thus the jewelry and "non-practical" gifts. I think they keep those type of prizes around to keep that same purpose and spirit around.

    Most of the time in my unit there's a group of us that totally fall in love with some of the prizes (like that pink guitar!! I LOVED it!), and some of us aren't fazed (sp?) at all (like this quarter...there's nothing there that I "must" have). When you dont' fall in love with anything, you just have to work your business for the right reasons, and your profit is your prize. If you earn your star, your profit will probably be worth more than any prize on there anyway.

    As for anonymous' comment aout the director flaunting a ring: I haven't earned a ring yet, but I'm sure if I worked hard all year to make the court I'd be thrilled to show off my ring. That ring represents profit!! I won't pretend its a Harry Winston or anything, but I'm sure I'd be proud of it.

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  20. Sabrina -

    Good point. That is the reasoning behind the jewelry and other "non-business" prizes.

    However, I think ladies nowadays are more likely to buy jewelry and other things for themselves than they were when the company first started. Do you think?

    What does everyone else think?

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  21. It really depends on the jewelry and who's doing the selecting. And with a lot of the stuff that was offered from MKC directly, no I did not care for it at all.

    The gifts from my former SD for placing in her various courts were always a surprise but she has good taste and in one category in particular she pretty much knew that she was buying for me specifically and geared the prize towards my taste in jewelry. So I was usually happy with those.

    Having been the perennial adoptee, I got to see the jewelry (and other prizes) being offered in a number of units and national areas. My observations are that it seeme to be a function of a number of things: the personal tastes of the SD/NSD (some people have good taste and some just don't), whether the unit was struggling to make production (which actually went both ways, some of the nicest AND some of the worst gifts were offered in struggling units) and lastly (and it's sad to say but true) some people are just plain cheap and pick stuff that's so obviously cheap that it's an insult to the consultants in the unit.

    Continuing on, and in the interest of being kind, let's just say that my NSD's taste in jewelry and mine had no convergence points and because of that, her prizes wouldn't have motivated me to breathe air. But I would do the challenges anyway and when the prize arrived, I'd just throw it in a box that I had set aside for "MK jewelry that I don't like".

    A lot of my Star prizes wound up there as well. I preferred that really useful stuff but what's useful for me isn't always useful for someone else (for example, I don't have children so I wasn't interested in kids' stuff) and if I had to pick a default prize it was often the jewelry, just because it didn't take up as much space. With very few exceptions, into the "box".

    However, there was my National Queen's Court ring. Sadly, I hadn't seen one offered in years that would motivate me to put in that level of effort but one year, they had not one, but two rings that I absolutely loved! And my entire booking, sales, etc. strategy for the entire year was based on earning one of those two rings. And I did it and it is one of the few items that I kept after leaving MK last year.

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  22. Thanks for sharing, Curious! :o)

    I haven't seen any kind of prize yet that motivates me a whole lot. :o(

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  23. After 2 star quarters, a saphire & ruby, my prize amount was like $ 50Why would anyone spend $ 3200 to get $50 ?

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  24. This is really really like a hard compiegn to fine earrings goldwhen you have too many choices to go, among a pool of styles its not easy to choose for yourself so I often have to go for this confusion but my problems solved when I visited the store pravins and I got a beautiful range over here.

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  25. Kays
    I love to look at these beautiful pieces of diamond and sterling silver and white gold Jewelry. they are so beautiful.

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