I been in paparazzi for a year & have not gone broke. I’ve only paid $99 for a kit & made bout $400 & probably would have made more if I didn’t slack. You adding internet bill into this but I had cable & WiFi before this lmao 😂 what people don’t realize when you make a $50 sale you only get $25 & spend the other $25 on jewelry.
Already having wifi/cable and a phone bill doesn’t mean it’s not a business expense. I already have wifi but I write off 50% of the cost as a business expense, same with my phone. I also write off the office portion of my mortgage (which I had before I started a business). Any resource you utilize for business should be counted as a business expense, regardless of “having it before.” If you don’t count it, your profit estimates aren’t accurate, and you’re also missing out on valuable tax write offs. If you run paparazzi from your home, please make sure you are getting your tax write off for internet and phone/computer costs or you’re leaving money on the table every year (But to do so, you would have to acknowledge it as a business expense). As for your other comment about $25/25 on a $50 sale...I definitely did include that the cost of jewelry is $2.50 and the sale price is $5.00. I think most people do realize the basic idea of a profit margin. The point here is the amount of time involved in making this many sales may be too high to make the profit margin worth it. It’s not easy to sell hundreds of pieces of jewelry consistently. You’ve made $400 all year? Is that $400 profit so you’ve sold $800? Or is that $400 in sales so you’ve made $200? How many hours would you say went into that? Would it equal an hourly pay you could get at a job? I don’t mean “broke” literally, I mean the effort and money may not be worth the time. Making $200 or $400 over an entire year isn’t a good return on investment of $99.
I would not be promoting this logic, you may had that cable bill before but now you are using it for a business you do not own and will not be refunded for. Rule #1 if you have to pay to sell for someone's business it is a MLM. I would not be laughing at someone has a MBA, it kind of shows your stupidity amongst your bad accounting that you just wrote out for everyone to see!!
@@MalloryMay , I’m in agreement with some of your assessments about Paparazzi but I do not agree at all about not making a profit. I’m not desperate, I just wanted to add some income because I took a pay cut when I lost my job. I’ve been st it for 3 years. When I could bend at conferences, I moved between 150-200 pieces of jewelry, usually in a 6 hour timeframe. On Friday nights, I’m on for 3 hrs, sell one avg 60 pieces, that comes out to $45 an hour. There are many of us selling at this level, we are all over the internet. Many have retired and living solely on Sales. You are making blanket statements which are not correct, but it’s your prerogative as it’s mine to not have to prove it’s a scam. My customers would disagree with you for sure.
Its like paying a car payment, which could be 400 a month depending on the model. You pay 400 a month and in reality, the car place really gets about 20 of that, going by the apr a month.
As a former Paparazzi consultant, you are not wrong. After only a year of selling and an amazing husband who sat with me to look at the actual "profit", I saw the light. If anyone makes massive money it is typically from the downline. The income disclosure doesn't lie. The company is literally showing its hand.
This girl I’m friends with on Facebook just recently joined paparazzi and she’s always boasting that her life has changed “soooo much” and she keeps trying to recruit more people. It’s exhausting. Most of their jewelry is ugly too hahah. Great video, I learned a lot!
You could LITERALLY make WAY more money by just making your own jewelry and selling at whatever price you want. The quality would also be FAR better. (The start up might cost more because of supplies and tools - but in the end, you could charge WAY more than 5$ and you could have a free etsy page instead of paying a company to set up a website for you, or heck, make a free website yourself, there's tons out there). Really hope anyone considering an MLM thinks hard on finances before joining.
Former paparazzi consultant here- the jewelry is junk. No lie, I always had some broken jewelry in every shipment and some of the pieces I was able to fix, but other pieces I had to return. At first, I was selling a LOT. The thing is, customers won't return if your crappy jewelry is breaking on them, going green, or getting rusty. So slowly, but surely people did not want to buy anymore. They were better off purchasing fantasy jewelry from Walmart, Target, Claires..etc. I started losing hope and I am now stuck with about $200 worth of inventory. I'll probably sell at $2 to get some of my investment back🤦♀️
That sounds so awful! I suspected as much, but because I’ve never actually worn any Paparazzi I couldn’t make the claim. I would definitely sell off what you can, even at $1 a piece. Just make something back if possible!
@@MalloryMay yes, thanks to videos like these I was able to realize that all mlms are the same. I had been in Herbalife before (not by choice) and then later on went into paparazzi, because in my mind it was a different "niche"...sadly, it's the same crap. A scam covered up by an overly priced product (Yes! $5 is too much to pay for this junk🤣). If it weren't for these anti mlm videos I would still be under the facade that I chose the wrong company and didn't give it my all.
The jewelry must be of crappy quality as you pay $2.65 for a piece and this amount shall cover materials, packaging, payment to the manufacturer and commission to your upline and the uplines upline and ... and the uplines uplines upline ...
I make a fortune selling Paparazzi jewelry. I owned a chain of retail stores prior to this and I made great money in my stores but Paparazzi is easier. I have never been into MLMs or recruiting but with Paparazzi people come to you to join. I don't even worry about recruiting because I make so much selling the jewelry. Many of my customers buy $20-$40 per week and they shop every single week. They buy jewelry the way people buy Starbucks coffee everyday! My customers buy jewelry everyday the way some people buy cigarettes, beer or lottery tickets everyday. And Paparazzi puts out new designs daily, therefore, there is something new for them each day. It's great. Big money and lots of fun. My good friend sold $1 million dollars worth of jewelry last year. Her gross margin was $450k almost half million. After payroll and expenses, her salary was a quarter of a million just on selling. Not including any team commissions. Easy to make 6 figures on selling alone if you don't like recruiting.
Yup thats what I'm saying it the quantity. I've done events and make an easy 3k in a weekend . She's speaking on selling 1 piece. My customers buy alot more than 1 piece.
I find it alarming when the profit margin per item is so little. A large company moving thousands of pieces a month can bear some losses. The average individual can't. Anyone who decides to join a scam like this had better be doing it as a hobby since it's not going to being in a real income. You'd need to sell more than three pieces an hour, without additional expenses, to make the federal minimum. You'd need to move five pieces to make my state's minimum. The sad thing is that they're recruiting women so desperate for any income that they'll accept $3 an hour. This is deplorable. And no, this isn't self-employment or owning your own business. This may be the saddest thing of all. These sellers/distributors are left believing they understand how to run a business, which can set them up for much larger losses later on.
Really? Maybe you should tell that to my uplines who are making over $6000 a month (and YES I CAN SHOW RECEIPTS SHE DID A TRAINING VIDEO SHOWING THEM) AND ANOTHER MAKING 6 FIGURES A YEAR! ITS NOT A SCAM ITS CALLED A BUSINESS AND YOU NEED TO BE BUSINESS SMART AND HAVE BUSINESS STRATEGY AND MARKETKNG TO DO WELL. Literally no business in the world can be started for free and make tons of money right away. You need money to make money and it don't happen overnight, but i see it happen every single day! So bye felicia
I love selling the jewelry but this is not my first MLM. I started very young and learned a lot and also study small business and marketing so I have a little edge. I also have not begun to recruit anyone because it's not for everyone and I am not in this business to babysit non-performers.
@@brittany1385 EXCEPT IT IS NOT YOUR BUSINESS. Your up line can only make that because of the people below them. Look at how a pyramid scheme makes money. Is it the jewelry? Or is it the “team ?” Smell the roses. You can make a hell of a lot more money opening your own boutique.
Selling low-cost items means you have to sell them in large quantities with little effort to make a profit. And that's just not realistic when it comes to MLMs. This type of jewellery can be sold through shops like Claires or Wallmart because people come into the store and impulse buy it, it's not something you would want to make a big effort ordering and you would most likely not want to pay a lot of shipping on it. The worst is that this is probably the same quality as 99c jewellery from ebay/wish and you could probably earn more if you imported and resold those.
Former Papparazi Consultant. I was in college and I was using papparazi to make some profit to pay for expenses (obviously not alot) but someonthing fun to do. After doing it for a year as six months I found it stressful and a waste of money. The jewelry is junk. I left Papparazi in spring 2020, and I dont regret it. You seem like an intelligent woman, thank you for your information. And I will tell you, what she is saying is very true.
It’s true. That’s why I find it so enraging. It’s preying upon people who haven’t been taught or haven’t learned about how a business should be structured. Not everyone has the privilege of college or family members to help teach them. These MLMS prey on that natural desire to be successful.
@@brittany1385 I disagree. Sure, lots of people can be lazy at times, but I don't see evidence that most people are lazy. I know this is what MLMs preach in order to set up their reps to blame themselves when they inevitably fail. But I can count the number of truly lazy people I've met in my life on one hand. Most people I know work very hard.
So, what about the consultants that ARE successful, and are making thousands of dollars every month, on their sales alone, team commission, bonuses?? What's the difference in them and the next consultant?? Are they getting special treatment, or they know someone who knows someone?? They too are "normal" people. I think it just boils down to who's working their business vs not.
I was in Paparazzi. Before I was aware of MLM's and what they truly are, I tried it. I fell in love with a bracelet and kept buying. Then joined. 🤦🏻♀️ Got out when I saw the light. You cannot make a living selling this jewelry. Period.
Actually with social media, YOU CAN! I love how all you jealous hating miserable women have so much shit to say but none of ya'll have actually tried it a day in your life! The amount of bonuses this company gives you is amazing IF YOU WORK FOR IT! ya'll just lazy and want shit handed to you
Brittany you say “none of ya’ll have tried it a day in your life”, yet you responded on a thread started by someone who WAS a consultant. So...she must have tried it.
What I never understand is the higher ranks purchase the "best sellers" leaving scraps for the rest of the reps. What do the lower reps do they purchase at full price from their uplines and they still think they are running a business! All you have to do is watch an "elite" doing a live show and their downlines are buying multiples of items they could not get. Running at a loss before they start.
I have a couple of friends on Facebook who share their Paparazzi friend’s streams and it’s really sad. Behind them you usually see a wall of inventory but also there’s usually only 2-5 people watching the stream at any given time. Most the viewers appear to be just supporters (uplines) not customers.
Exactly. Window shoppers are the worst and I hate to see people with fully loaded walls in their lives. That truly takes away the focus for a potential customer. Ijs.
My background is engineering so I LOVE love love your straight up math approach to how explain how much of a scam this "opportunity" is (and all MLMs are). Well done!! 😁
I signed up May 2020 almost a year in and I’m already considering quitting. Worst experience to be honest. There were lies I was told when I signed up and after being a consultant after like 6 months truths started to come out wish I would of watched RU-vid videos on this before I signed up. I made my money back many times but I was making money to get more inventory so I actually did not get any money I made
Thank you for making this video. I’ve had an older friend, who was a teacher as well as working part time, in the past who was a part of this one, I’ve always had a bad instinct feeling when she would talk about it, at the time I thought maybe I just wasn’t interested but now I feel like it was my instinct. They are so scammy it is unbelievable.
I used to think like that but the reason why people don’t believe in it or get upset or frustrated is because they don’t know or understand the financial part of it, you have to know your numbers. Because you can easily get caught up with comparing yourself to others, trying to rank, and trying to purchase the best jewelry. I live by, your goal is not my goal. In any business you have to invest into it always. If you were to start a business from scratch you will spend more money than what you make at least the first six months to a year. But you don’t have to with paparazzi the money is there it’s just that we choose, let me repeat that choose to spend more than what we make. There is the power of 15. And there is the sell 2 buy 1. If you understand it nothing comes out of your pocket or should come out of your pocket. Good luck
I wasn’t very educated on MLM till this year and every time I hear paparazzi it makes me sad. I know this lady who never recruits anybody and just sells it. I have bought a couple of pieces and I loved them. The rest... 🤮. But I’m picky on jewelry. However I just think about how much work she puts into and how much her family help her. She is such a sweet lady I just don’t think she is educated enough on MLM.
That’s when you hire someone for one day a week to do invoices and shipping so u you don’t have to do it all lol. It’s like anything that you do you can’t do it alone
As a person working in the health industry I would love you to do the same video for Herbalife or 4life, hope the math helps the consultants quit selling products that “cure cancer”
I have several paparazzi pieces and I really like them. I am not interested in selling but occasionally I purchase from friends. You can tell which pieces are junk and which are good quality. The one thing I don't like is some sellers add taxes and they still advertise it as only $5. That's not cool.
They cannot give you the income of any consultant. They have zero idea what the sales are for each consultant.. I would imagine a bonus is all any MLM can give....
I was part of this company I can tell you that I DID NOT make any money with them. Thankfully I got out before I had a huge amount of inventory and you are so correct on what you stated. I didn't try to have a team nor did I cold message anyone now I can say from what I did deal with was my upline telling to make sure I was active by the 5th of every month. If I heard make sure you go live everyday once I heard it 100 more. "You can't sell if you are not being seen I could go on and on. Thank You and I truly appreciate everyone that is speaking out about MLM companies.
Another thing Paparazzi is not a multi level marketing company, Paparazzi is a direct sales company. There’s a difference. I do not have to build a team to make money. I can just sell the jewelry and make money
3 years at this point is just to have something to do while dealing with depression. Lost los of money. I hardly sell 3 pieces a week in a good week. I Stop buying
A friend invited me to her friends page for jewelry and I naively was like cool let me check it out I am here to support local jewelry makers, and I looked at the jewelry and its TACKY AF!! I noped outta that page so quickly.
Real companies keep careful track of supply and demand, making sure they don’t put too many franchise owners in one area, etc. MLM that are constantly expanding sellers are doomed to fail - eventually the number of sellers outrun the limited buyers.
I watch anti-MLM videos constantly. I stumbled upon your channel and I enjoy this very cut & dry analysis. While I enjoy the reaction videos, I am NOT a numbers person so I wouldn’t ever sit down and figure all that out. Love that you did! I’ve never been apart of an MLM, but I did buy Shakeology from a “coach” friend. Thankfully she didn’t push me to join. I think my fixation with them is the whole cultish aspect of it. Definitely subscribing :)
Thanks! I actually have a clap back video (kind of a reaction?) going up today. It’s a reaction to comments made on my two-part personal series. I’m going to try to get into reaction videos but I definitely want to put some hardcore educational info out too.
I was a consultant for almost two years and ur math is almost right, and yep I went into debt. My best friend is still in papa. I support her and buy from her but it was not for me.
I saw a girl promoting them and I wanted to learn more about it. As a Marketing major she had asked me to help advertise for her. I told her no because I'm busy with classes.
my ex's mom does paparazzi and has the peg boards just like you said! haha wonder if its the same woman... but fr, just before we broke up my ex and i argued bc i said i didnt support his mom doing that bc its an MLM and it would cost her money in the end and he got upset with me:/ shes still at it apparently bc shes on facebook all the time doing it and he claims shes made money but i cant imagine how much bc she has so much jewelry in her house that just doesnt move...
It’s not the same woman. The one I know is 30. I think it’s a company wide thing; where they all suggest the same type of set ups. It’s also a common jewelry set up in brick and mortar stores.
As an ex paparazzi hun who “profited” I use that term lightly because the work is not worth the time AND once you realize how scummy the mlm structure is it’s not worth it. I didn’t technically lose any money but I lost my dignity and it took me a while to gain that back
I like the jewellery no lie. And I like the parties..so I got sucked in... immediately the start kit came. I THOUGHT WOW COVID doesnt stop their shipping. Was TOLD after joining their shipping is slow but keep ordering so when it comes you dont lose inventory. It wasnt until this week I gathered i will never get my order no time soon to but is mlm so upper is getting paid
@@NadiaDarlington this is so true! I got my kit immediately! I ordered 5 times since, beginning 3/25/21. The stuff hasn’t left the warehouse yet! Not ordering another piece😡
Ugh when people are in that deep there’s no telling them different. My heart truly hurts for everyone involved in MLM scams. The loss is horrifying. And they’re also constantly told they’re just “not trying hard enough.” Financial and mental abuse.
taishea I tried to sell it...it broke my heart... and my pride....junked up my house. My family lost respect for me ... ( shuddering thinking about it)
@@zeroeffsdoigivezerozeronon9202 I'm so sorry you went through that. You didn't deserve it. I hope you have a good support system to help you turn a corner.
Mallory May id already been in the Mary Kay cult years ago and really thought this was different... nope gotta hustle hustle hustle ..🙄 lesson learned this time ...I feel stupid... I really thought it would be something I could retire doing. Soooooo many people are sooooooooooo successful! They tell you all of the time. If you don’t work and hustle your business it’s your fault if you don’t succeed ..there are only so many Facebook lives I can do....having to start wearing Halloween costumes was a low point for me ... 2 or 3 hour lives...nobody buying. Tons of photo albums in vip groups ...took hours to photograph each piece of jewelry and post. It’s true they give you sales challenges on what you buy that is dropping in the NEW... meanwhile you have inventory collecting dust and you could win stuff. Great incentives but when I’d buy more jewelry it got harder and harder to sell it. Couldn’t get vendor gigs Bc consultants already had those gigs in the bag a year in advance... or longer. I have the personality to show it ... but it wears you down after awhile and you take it personally... ugh. I feel so bad for the debt. I’m ok. I just wish I’d never done it. I was so impressed by the novelty of it on fb I signed up under someone who ended up quitting a few months after I signed under her. All of the stuff you discussed were reasons she was getting out. Tarnished jewelry, breaks easily, cost of shipping and after crunching numbers she said she saw no way to sell enough to break even...let alone be financially independent lol... I’m soooo embarrassed still 2 years later.
Tax consultants may look at this another way. The ability to stay at home with your kids, say you are self-employed and not just a stay-at-home mom makes a huge difference when re-entering the workforce. I do not sell this stuff but I definitely understand people having the motivation to do this. I know as a mom if I have kids in daycare that I lose $5/hr of income for each hour I work and commute bare minimum. Then I have my transportation fees and other expenses to be able to work a job.
If by losing money every year you mean the families get a bigger tax write off, sure, tax consultants might find a positive. The point is this form of “self-employment” has a 99% money loss rate, regardless of a woman’s motivations. That’s the exact thing that makes it so sad, is a stay at home mom is motivated to help out with finances and 99% of the time they actually lose household finances due to these schemes. I totally understand the draw to MLMs, which is why I feel strongly about warning women about the predatory business model.
@@MalloryMay Do you know how much money you need to claim every year to be able to get your Social Security benefit credits? If you are a stay-at-home mom or self-employed this is very important information. MBA does not equal CPA or EA.
@@livingto1035 $5880 annually, however you must profit that much, and pay taxes on it. The FTC says 99% of women in MLMs lose money annually, so the likelihood of someone profiting (not earning, profiting) that much is 1%. SSA is also a complete gamble for anyone under 50 right now. www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/credits.html#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20you%20earn%20one,to%20be%20eligible%20for%20benefits. I'm aware I'm not a CPA but I don't make statements I can't support.
I think it really depends on who you join under. The bonuses are paid for team building, so yes they are bonuses. The income disclosure statement has nothing to do with your sales, so team building commission is a BONUS. YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN MAKE MONEY WITHOUT BUILDING A TEAM. Your upline should never tell you to continue buying inventory if you aren’t moving it. Most people who are working his or her business will move WAY more than 25 pieces per month. The bare minimum to stay active per month is 25 pieces, that doesn’t mean star consultants can’t buy more than 25 pieces. LOL A star consultant, who has chosen NOT to build a team, could still be making BIG money, just off their sales. I think the biggest issue with these reviews, is the people doing them don’t really know what they are talking about exactly. They think they do, but there’s a lot of missing info. LOL 🤷🏻♀️
That's me. I do it because I never hardly leave my house or talk to anyone besides my family. If I just make a little I'm happy. It's not about the money to me. It's like a hobby, an entertainment and therapy.
I am seeing so many truly unattractive, bumbling reps going live. Television going in the background, not able to effectively communicate, messy background etc. I'm sorry but if you are selling jewelry you need to look like a professional.
@@fasfzr1 where are you getting your data from? 99%, but over 400,000 folks are selling it. What are you talking about? What is shitty about affordable jewelry?
One thing I can say is I sell it once a week , just whenever I have time and people always come to me wanting to purchase. The jewelry sells itself and I enjoy selling it. I make good money selling it. I sell it to pay my car note and insurance and surprisingly I make that plus more, 🙂
You can do much better running a business with a product you create or purchase from real wholesalers! I believe you can do amazing things without an MLM ❤️
You forgot PayPal or Venmo fees :) I seriously considered joining. It looked fun and I liked some of their items. Then I did the math too..and wondered WHY these people were live all the time..it’s because they aren’t making dollars..they were making pennies…maybe.
Congratulations! If the cash for your home came entirely from (or even significantly from) Paparazzi profit you should definitely make some sort of post that proves the source. Proof of income (not just an income claim) would be great to help you recruit.
@@MalloryMay I respect your opinion with this video etc....... But surely your joking by asking her to show proof?? Lol. You DO realize MANY consultants have hundreds/thousands of consultants UNDER them right? My leader just hit 6 figures this past year after 4 years of hard work. Plus she goes live 5 nights a week and sells. And yes, I've seen the proof. When you have a big team, it's easily doable. Is everyone going to do this? Definetly not...... But many do. As with any business, you have to spend money to make money. And the average business takes 5 years to truly show profit. I don't recommend going broke doing it, but let's be reasonable. I've been in the business a year and a half and I do ok. I did better when I went live more often, but when I was rolling I was selling anywhere from 100-130 pieces during a 2-4 hr live. We have fun, you meet lots of cool ladies and where else can you make that money sitting, drinking a glass of wine and showing jewelry? Yup, I put money back into it. Etc. But I know if I keep rolling like I was I'm gonna be fine. You grow your team and Your audience grows too. Doing lives.... Selling a product etc, isn't gonna work for everyone. However, it does for some. While this video may show the average numbers, I don't feel your giving the WHOLE picture. Many of us are much better than "average". 😉
MLMs are extremely predatory and they thrive on people in vulnerable situations and/or people with no or low education and these people may not be able to break down the numbers and they may choose to trust the recruitee that is telling them that it is very easy to sell products and make a lot of money. I have to break down the numbers for several women I know and they simply could not wrap their head around how much product they had to sell to make a sustainable living ...
I’m a smart cookie but admittedly I’ve never been a MathMagician😉 so I love how you broke this down in hard dollars and cents simply and effectively. Looking forward to your future posts💙
I'm wondering if you could make more collecting 10 cent deposit bottles and cans than selling paparazzi jewelry. You'd only have to find 23 bottles to equal the income you'd make by selling one piece of jewelry. You'd only need to find 500 bottles to make 50 bucks a month, only about 17 bottles a day. I'm telling you the homeless collecting bottles are one uping these paparazzi huns haha
Some Paparazzi Consultants are not in the business to make a profit. Some Consultants are doing it as a hobby, for fun, incentives and/or to get the jewelry at wholesale prices for themself...
@@msgee104 that part. I really love selling the jewelry. I buy only the pieces I like or think are interesting. I sell at my own pace and never under pressure. I'm not interested in recruiting because it does take money to make money. I work a full-time position and my jewelry business is a business. I have a boutique because I love to dress the ladies up. Those that shop with me know the quality of the jewelry and I consult on how to wear and maintain the jewelry. My agenda is not hidden and I give the jewelry to those whom can not afford to pay even the smallest amount. I'm not trying to get rich but I am building morale, confidence, and empowering any and all women who will allow me to. DETERMINE YOUR OWN STATUS...."your status should not be determined by how much you spend but by how well you present what you have spent". MLM or not, it's not what you do but how you do it.
If you cannot even set up a spreadsheet, then you shouldn't be doing business to begin with. What kind of company would recruit just anyone, even if that person doesn't fit to be a businessperson? Well, these MLM companies are not recruiting business owners buy "buyers". Do not join MLM ever - if you do, your money and effort would only go to MLM and never yourself.
Girl please the mailman can pick up your packages straight from your house and take them to the post office for you so you're not wasting no gas at all
Great video. Paparazzi also charges taxes on the consultants invoice, depending on the state the consultants state they live in. They also charge it on the full $5. Free shipping on $100 or more.
Thanks for the added info! I always want to be sure I’m using correct information. Using the $2.75 whole sale price, free shipping at $100 would require the monthly purchase to be 36 pieces, not 25. Which still wouldn’t put them into the next PV level...
If they're charging the consultants sales tax, then they're treating it as a sale to the end client rather than a wholesale purchase. In some states, this would make reselling it the resale of a technically used (as it's now ore-owned) item, meaning that those consultants charging sales tax within those states could be breaking the law.
aaaand a lot of the mlm peeps sell at markets (or at least they do 'round these parts lol). To be a vendor, you have to pay to set up. It's usually in the $30-$40 range PER market day. Do 4 Saturdays a month.... there's some more math for ya lol. 💸💸💸💸
Paparazzi is such a sad one 😞 my mom got me a couple pieces in a gift basket once, I liked them and at the time didn’t realize that they were an MLM, but they broke really quickly.
It baffles my mind how it's possible to sell $5 jewelry. I design and make artisan jewelry and I look for quality materials because it's my work and I only want quality associated with my name and the material alone is usually twice that without counting the work and when pricing I try to be as fair as possible while still making a profit, it's not easy but I can guarantee my jewelry won't give you cancer and you'll have a one of a kind piece because I don't mass produce an rarely repeat designs.
@@demonicastar Their jewelry "breaks" because the jump rings aren't soldered together. Perhaps that's why it's so inexpensive? How much extra do you think it would cost them to have it soldered?
@@demonicastar I also am an artisan jewelry designer..i make my jewelry to last for years because i use quality materials....not aluminum junk from china !! I really hate to see vulnerable women get ripped off.
@@agentscullly Its massed produced junk from china..their quality control is horrible..they dont have any. The old saying "you get what you pay for is so true"
YES this video is spot on!! These companies prey on women who can't afford daycare- that hits the nail on the head. As a business owner, I also get mad at the $5 jewelry because they provide unfair competition for handcrafted jewelry makers at craft fairs... But I could go on about that all day
It’s not a flaw actually, because anytime a resource is used for your business it should be expensed out as a business expense. Just because you already HAVE something doesn’t mean it’s not a business expense. This is exactly why MLMs are predatory. They convince women to use their resources and think of them as “free” or “you already have it!” Consider this: you own a restaurant and you run out of flour. You borrow flour from your house. Would you pay yourself back for it? Of course you should, you wouldn’t say “well I already HAD the flour!” Someone is paying for the flour, the phone, whatever resource. Already having it, doesn’t mean it’s free.
@@MalloryMay There shouldn't be much of a difference in expenses, if these were already expenses, prior to becoming a Paparazzi Consultant. If this is the case, then maybe the profit made as being a Consultant or in sales can be used to help pay for Internet & phone services... Some Consultants probably aren't in the business to make a living, but could be investing for a future investment or cause, etc... Some are doing it as a hobby, for fun, incentives, to network, for a cause, etc., at their own expense...
You are the first anti MLM content creator who ever used the phrase “terrible investment” vs screaming “scam” and I have massive respect for that. MLM does attract the dreamer and those who have no business being involved in sales. It has a lot of work to do. But I am extremely pleased that you absolutely used the proper term for the bad side of the industry.
This is great my degree is in applied math and it is sound!!! Can’t argue the math lol. Thanks for putting in the time to put this together!!! Mary Beth😀😀😀
Yea, if only the math was right! But its not! We don't pay shipping because we recoup it from the customer and we are told to charge enough to cover supplies as well. So that makes ALL of this lady's math incorrect. And why did she use incorrect math? Oh right, because she's not a consultant and has NO CLUE what she's talking about or how our business works! Next!
Brittany are you saying next to me? I’m not the one who laid out the math I was saying that math is sound which it is and you can’t argue with that. If she didn’t have all the details of what is paid by the customer and such I would have no clue as this is not my video/content. But I do appreciate your comment bc I didn’t know that it is recouped.
I been with paparazzi for 3 years, and I am lost. Thank God for my second job I was able to buy inventory. Selling is getting harder, no clients. I have over $50000 worth of inventory at home. I know very stupid of my part.
I can try, the problem with doing a monetary break down of ItWorks is they aren’t as simple as Paparazzi. They have lots of products and product margins, and I’m not sure they release the info of wholesale price vs retail. I will definitely look into it, and do some sort of video on ItWorks, though I can’t promise it will be just like this one
Shipping is $7! If you order $100 worth of jewelry, it's free. Commenting as I watch. Lol And I was director in the company. That number is bogus! If you have people leave the company, you are still considered a director in the company, but you do not get the number they said. I was maybe making $20 a month as a director. So, yeah....that statement is bogus.
Former consultant here. This is 100% facts!!! I spent more time trying to put that broken pieces of jewelry back together once it was delivered broken than anything. I made it to Director and quickly figured out it’s the down line that makes you money not the jewelry sales. Lesson learned
Soooo Mallory. I’m your one. I’ve had a woman who I’ve bought jewelry from before who messaged me just last week and said surprise me! Go on my website and join my team! Then I saw a cute bracelet like one I already bought but in a different color. Apparently I’m a sucker for fake awful “sterling silver” in stackable bracelets. So I commented and said I’d love to buy this too. My other one tarnished in one day of wear! I’m SO not trying to get handouts. I know this woman. I really and genuinely respect her. But outside of being friendly I never ever lead her to believe I wanted in on her “business model!” And I’m SUPERRRR personable lol I’m a waitress. It’s my job to be. No way will I ever join. I already watch and support the antiMLM community because my ex got suckered into one and I remember thinking “there’s GOT to be a catch” lol but she really made it sound enticing. We have daughters the same age. She makes her daughter her little partner. Said they made $6000 in a little over A YEARRRR. But. I literally thought about it, on more than one occasion. And also on more than one occasion she’s messaged me to tell me that HER up line would DOUBLE. Then someone else added TRIPLE my initial investment of $100 and 35 pieces of jewelry. Oh and that if nothing else, I get 35 pieces of jewelry and that’s that. I was DYING for someone to break paparazzi down for me like you’ve done. I didn’t see it being attacked so much as beachbody and arbonne so I never went out of my way to search for it.. maybe even said to myself.. well maybe it’s not AS bad since it does seem to be more about jewelry. But nope nope anddddd Nope... here you are. My educated, smart woman to slap the stupid right out of me and wake my ass up. And you’re being EXTREMELY conservative. I know when they do monthly set releases they all like “have to” stay up until midnight to buy as many as they can. They’re sold @ $20 a piece. They’re only making, with nothing else deducted...$9..$11.. something to that effect my math isn’t dead on but it’s close. And I’m too lazy to try to find their purchase prices again lol. But regardless. I just wanted to let you know, I’m your one who will now absolutely the fuck not join paparazzi 😂 I should probably stop buying too. I really don’t want to support the beast. Takes on being a customer? lol I’m not being a smart ass, I’d really like to know. Is it okay to support your friend who IS in an MLM? Or should I really not fuel that awful fire? Would love to hear your thoughts. I’m clearly quite chatty and wound up haha thanks again for your video!
Hi! I’m so glad you got some value out of this and it prevented you from making what could have been a financially devastating mistake. I can tell you’re personable, girl go use that to keep killing it waiting tables, or, start your own actual small business someday! As for being a customer, I personally refuse to support any MLM. I am sometimes gifted things that I might use Bc I don’t like to be wasteful. I wasn’t truly antiMLM until the last year so I also have things leftover that I’m still using (some YL peppermint oil, norwex cloths). But as for purchasing anything else? I will never do that again. You might think you are supporting your friend. But the truth is your money is going to the top of the pyramid, and your friend will be left in the dust, likely in debt in the end. Your purchase fuels the idea that this can be a successful business model. I understand wanting to be supportive, and I wouldn’t judge you if you continued to buy paparazzi. For me, it’s a decision I’ve made to not support the entire business structure.
So there are many ways yo save money selling paparazzi. I ship from home. My carrier picks up my packages daily for free. I print my labels on regular paper and tape them on. If you don't want to buy bubble envelopes, you can use large yellow envelopes from dollar store. 6 in a pack and use the free bubble insert that comes with your jewelry in every box. I use it to protect my jewelry during shipping. Also. For every 10 pieces you buy you get 1 free. That covers shipping and you pay .95 instead of 5.95.
Yeah they got me and I'm in for about $400.00 at this moment. Once I realized it was a MLM company, I was like o'crape. I can't believe I fell for it bc I usually spot a MLM really quick.. I think I need to get out before I get too deep in. Thanks for your video
In my opinion Paparazzi is the worst of all the MLM’s BECAUSE of their cheap price tag. To carry dollar store prices you need to move more product than one single person (with no real business savvy) can do. So, the company themselves are moving thousands of cheap pieces (to their distributors aka customers), while distributors get stuck with a garbage margin and no mass distribution ability. Hence, it’s a lot of work for pennies. I think it’s so tragic. At least with other overpriced MLMs the margins aren’t so bad...
I think they’re ALL horrible and just scummy all around, but after seeing the actual breakdown this one really is the worst of them all!! I know someone who just joined Paparazzi and her posts just make me cringe and sad at the same time. I hope she gets out before it’s too late bc she’s got two babies...
And you’re right-the margins aren’t that bad with other MLMs, but the TIME one would spend on “working the business” is still worth more than what you’re receiving. They do all that bragging about having “freedom of time” when in fact, all of their Time is stolen from them.
I think you mentioned it briefly, but I wanted to reiterate that a consultant may not be able to sell all of the jewelry that they are sent from Paparazzi in a given month, so that is lost revenue on a product that they paid for for that month, further cutting into their bottom line. I have watched a few videos of live sales and searched Paparazzi's own website, and there were definitely a lot of REALLY fugly pieces shown.
Even only accounting for time, working 2 hours a week puts you below minimum wage. To match the income of my last job, I would have to sell around 996 pieces every month. That's like 33 pieces every single day or 4 pieces an hour (in an 8 hour shift).
I am a former Paparazzi consultant . I parted ways 3 years ago and am still selling the crap off in bulk sales on ebay for a huge Loss I just want it out of my house! I am going to take the left overs to the local thrift store and donate it. If they can sell it the proceeds go to the non kill animal shelter. I am going back to what I love MAKING JEWELRY. I actually make money on that! Wish I would have seen this Video before I Signed Up!
This is a great analysis of the numbers for Paparazzi. I think you should do more of these with other MLM companies. Seeing the numbers, hopefully, will prevent someone about to sign up to these companies. I would never join an MLM (again; once was enough for me) but others may be seriously thinking about it. I also wonder if it would be possible for you to do numbers if you recruit people where you show that unless you recruit hundreds of recruits you still can't make any money in these companies.
I don’t drive to the post office. I call for a pick up from my post office and never leave the house. In one hour, I sales minimum of 15 pieces. Which is $33.75 per hour. Where in the world are you pulling those numbers from??
I stayed with paparazzi for a year and some months. I stopped in December 2020. My Jewelry wasnt selling and i wasmt gonna buy anything new. I sold everything i had left for $80. It was to another consultant lol she went against their rules but i didnt care🤣🤣 i didnt want the jewelry in my house anymore
What do you know about the nonprofit donations? , $10.00 to 500.00 . Different categories to donate I am a teacher and clicked on education. This company doesn’t have charitable donation status. They taking peoples money and nothing is happening . The money is into the rich hands. They have a F status with the BBB. Better Business Bureau too. This video was informative.
You are correct and I’m sad that you missed more cost. Taxes the amount you actually make is pennies. Star consultants don’t make any money in commission bonuses unless you have someone signed under you (and they’re active) or someone purchases from your website.
One question - when people are buying these $5 pieces of jewelry, are they tacking on some shipping costs on them? Because if not, the PO costs would be a large part of the profit.
I've been buying for a few months. I'm picky about my jewelry especially because I need lead and nickel free. So far I've been happy with the items, no returns thus far. About shipping, I'm in Indiana buying from an out of state consultant. She charges $5 for shipping regardless of quantity purchased. I've also thought a great deal could be pocketed from shipping charges with 1 piece at 2oz.. On an average live I've noticed she's sold 50-60 pieces in a couple of hours. She seems pleased with her results..
Another expense: Shipping labels. Printing expenses for these add up, even when shipping costs go to the customer. Paper/label paper and ink, plus specialized label printers if you use them, need to be considered.
I use my normal printer for shipping labels, and put packing tape over it, it works just fine. I didn't feel the need to spend $200+ on a shipping label maker and sticky paper when my $100 printing system (printer, ink, paper and tape altogether) works just fine.
I have been a consultant for a few years now. According to paparazzi rules, NO discounts are allowed. You can “give” away pieces, but cannot offer a % discount. Facebook charges for ads as well. Free ship is over $100 of ordering. Most don’t order that much. Fed ex takes weeks to receive and if you don’t qualify for free shipping standard shipping is 5.95 and you are charged tax upfront for the $5.00 (the cost of the tax when you sell it)
Great break-down! The problem is too, it’s a style item. So, if you can’t move pieces that aren’t considered traditional or classic. (That’s assuming they have those kinds of pieces.) Then you’re stuck with last year’s looks that no one will want.
I've known several women who have sold paparazzi and one recently stopped not because she felt like she was not making enough money but she found that there were dangerous metals being used in some of the jewelry pieces and her conscience would not allow her to sell them to other people.
