Why I Don’t Sell Beautycounter Anymore…

In this post you’ll learn why I joined Beautycounter, why I don’t sell Beautycounter anymore, and why I will not join another direct sales company.

Woah, woah, woah – those are heavy words in the title, Hannah!

You may know me from following me on Instagram or you may be a prospect for a Beautycounter friend and you’re research the pros and cons before you sign up to become a Beautycounter consultant in Canada or the USA.

I’ll let you know right now, selling Beautycounter is not as easy as your upline leader is making it out to be. You work your butt off all year, to be told if you do not make another $1200 in NEW sales (not sales from your formed client base) that you will not be eligible to be a Beautycounter sales consultant.

Talk about stressful pressure!

Now I’m sure you are curious on why I don’t sell Beautycounter anymore, well… let’s start from the beginning.

For many of you who have been around for at least the past year you will have read my Why I Joined Beautycounter and Why You Should Try Beautycounter blog posts, along with a lot of my Beautycounter product reviews before and after I joined Beautycounter as a consultant.

So the reasons I joined Beautycounter in May 2017 were – 1. I had worked with their PR team for a year before I joined, when they announced their availability in Canada, sharing their new products as a freelance blogger creating honest reviews in exchange for free product. 2. I loved their skincare and makeup products and how they made my skin look (vanity, I know). 3. Their mission statement on toxic ingredients in beauty products and educating people on what they were consuming was a movement I wanted to become a part of.

Overall, I loved their products and their stance on educating consumers.

When I joined I had no previous sales experience, some would say my experience in testing out beauty products and speaking true to their nature is experience enough, but for me sales (in-store, or online) is actually very different from giving an honest opinion online.

But as you can see, I take pride in my photography skills. Photography is a passion of mine and what drives my brand and blog.

So, when did my experience as a Beautycounter Consultant go a little haywire?

Before I get into that let me praise the company, I still use their products. Their mission statement is amazing and authentic. The drive of the consultants is powerful and admirable. But… being a Beautycounter consultant was not for me.

There’s a long version and a short version of why I stopped being a Beautycounter Consultant in Canada, and I’m going to give you the short version for my sake.

It essentially boiled down to the terms and agreements that is not stated when you sign up (my law student husband at the time was shaking his head at me when I expressed my frustration), and that I learned about it more than a month into the online training course they have set up.

It felt slimy and left a bad taste in my mouth, because what I discovered well into joining as consultant is that any content or images produced with Beautycounter products or images by a consultant is owned by the company and can be distributed between consultants freely without charge.

What does that even mean? Why was I upset?

As a blogger I create content to share with you guys, I pour my creativity into it. When I was aware of the awesome new products that were going to be available in 2017 I made sure to buy a big bundle of holiday products ($300 value) to photograph and have ready for their release so I could share all the goodness with you. I was using my photography skills to enhance my Beautycounter business.

Shortly after I had published my content I was contacted by another Beautycounter consultant asking (and I am so thankful that she asked before because that’s content courtsey, photo rights and copyright infringement are real things that you can be sued for if you violate) to use my photos that I created. Naturally, I responded with my photo rights rate which she replied that she would pass. No problem, sounds good!

Later that week I received a text from a lady higher up on the chain of consultants (I don’t know how else to explain it to people who don’t know the system of Beautycounter, sorry if that sounds weird “chain of consultants”) that I can’t charge for my custom photos, it’s stated in the terms and agreements page that all images created with Beautycounter products can freely be used by any other Beautycounter consultants and that you cannot charge a fee for images likewise.

The solution offered for this situation was to watermark all my images.

What? Where was this stated?

In an attached document to a module after you’ve signed up.

And I am 100% for women supporting other women, but I also know my worth as a content creator. It’s a fine balance, that is always shifting and readjusting in each situation. That is just my experience as a content creator! I joined thinking I could elevate my business with fine photography and online marketing, and if that is what you are expecting out of your Beautycounter business it’s likely you could find a similar experience to mine.

Though I hope not!

That leaves us with, why I will not join another direct sales initiative?

Everyone needs to dip their toes into the side hustle business at least once in their lives right? For some it’s Tupperware, for others it’s a fitness business, and for me it was Beautycounter.

All the MLMs companies  claim they are not like the “others” – that’s true in some aspects of Beautycounter. But it seemed for me all the new products that were coming out this year were selling mostly because they (I’m not even sure who they is) make it seem like you need every new product for showcasing to your clients. You end up spending a lot of money each month.

The pressure to sell product, host socials (Beautycounter parties), and acquire new clients is too much for me. Being a consultant didn’t fit well with my family and lifestyle, but I will say Beautycounter makes amazing products and I stand by that.

You may be thinking: That’s a lot of negatives… You negative Nancy! Where are the positives of your experience?

The connections I made were amazing. I will never be able to thank Dallas and Tara enough for sharing their passion and friendship with me. From them they taught me a lot on how to run a business and how much dedication it takes – I love watching them continue to grow.

And not only did I make connections with them, but I met a lot of wonderful local women that have become friends and even neighbours (hey, Allison!). Becoming a Beautycounter Consultant forced me, in a good way, to connect face to face with my community. Which is a huge plus in my books!

I hope you found answers to why I am no longer a Beautycounter Consultant in Canada! Thanks for listening to my story!

If you like this post, check out my Cost-Friendly Safer Beauty Products post before you go!

Make sure to pin this post on Pinterest so you can come back to it later!