Avon Products Inc. is the second largest multi-level marketing company in the world with over 6 million members. Is this really the Avon scam? Could a company that has been around for over 130 years really be a scam? I’m going to answer these questions for you below. You may be shocked on what I have found.
Avon History
Screen shot of Avon website
Avon was founded by David McConnell in 1886. David was a door to door salesman in New York City. He started the company by selling perfumes. In 1894, he joined with Alexander Henderson and called the company the California Perfume Company. In 1932, they patented the name Avon.
Today, the company is Avon Products Inc. and the CEO is Sherilyn McCoy. The company headquarters is now based in London. In 2016, Avon had a revenue of $5.7 billion.
Products
The company started out selling perfumes. Today, Avon sells a wide range of cosmetics. Their product line includes make up, skin care, bath & body, fragrance, jewelry and some fashion. Avon is considered to have some of the better products within the MLM industry. Checking out the reviews, you’ll find there are many fans of the Avon products. You’ll also find some that dislike the product. I personally have no experience with the Avon products. The women that I know say it’s a good quality product but not a top of the line product.
Customer Service
In researching Avon, I found many reviews discussing issues with the customer service. It’s always difficult getting a good feel about a company of 6 million members by reading a handful of reviews from former members. But there was a theme running in these reviews. The constant among the reviews is that when Avon members call customer service for any type of problem, they are not helpful and many time deceptive. Many also mentioned that the customer service reps were not native English speakers and that the customer service may be out sourced.
This should be very concerning if you are considering to join Avon. If as a member you call customer service and can’t get problems resolved, how are you going to respond back to your clients. This is a situation that is going reflect badly on you to your clients. This potentially could mean lost sales for you.
How To Earn
As a multi-level marketing company, you’ll have 2 methods to earn with Avon. The first is commission on the sales of products. You’ll earn up to 40% commission on your sales of the products. Second method to earn is recruiting new members to join. They have a variety of bonuses and down line commissions for earning from those who you have recruited.
I’m sure if you talk with anyone at Avon, they’ll tell you about the great earning potential. They have a great product so how could it not be a great opportunity. If you are in this situation, ask them for the Avon Income Disclosure Statement. This will reveal how much an average member actually makes as well as what percentage of the members make the big money. If you actually have the Avon Income Disclosure Statement, please post a link to it in the comments below. I’m not able to find a copy.
Why a Scam?
In general joining a MLM is a poor choice for a business opportunity. Those at the bottom/last to join have little opportunity to make money. Avon already has 6 million members and they have been around for 130 years. There are not many people that don’t already know about Avon. This is definitely a situation where you are the last to join. Plus checkout the reviews, many former members talk about their location being saturated with Avon members.
Avon has been a successfull company for many years because they started as door to door salesmen. The focus was always on selling the product and not on recruiting. With the great recession some have noted that the focus at Avon changed from product sales to recruiting. During the 2009 Super Bowl, Avon apparently had a commercial about their business opportunity and not about their product.
Is The Avon Scam Real?
It’s hard to say a multi-billion dollar company that has been around for 130 years is a scam. So I’m not going to say that. For the longest time, Avon has been one of the most legit companies in the MLM industry. They have a quality product that can be sold. It does appear that over the last decade that they are trending in the wrong direction. Their overall revenue and stock prices are also reflecting this downward trend. Avon’s best days may be behind them.
This is an excellent review of Avon. I don’t like MLM companies abut as you say Avon has been around for a long time and is still going strong. This does speak volumes about the product and you would have to be a hermit in the middle of Sahara Desert not to have heard of it. I know several people who sell Avon and from what they say they don’t make much money. The biggest objection I have to Avon is their method of selling. I think I will stick with companies that pay a commission for any sales I send to them without me having to recruit people to sell for them.
Hi Margaret,
Avon is one of the largest and oldest MLMs. There are lots of people selling their products so most of us know someone that is selling Avon products. Plus most of these people are trying to sell to family and friends which is a good way to lose friends if you get too pushy with your sales.
There are many better ways to make money than recruiting people to your business opportunity.
As you have mentioned, Avon is already one of the most well known MLM’s in the industry. I find it impressive that it has stayed for more than a century. in this day and age, I feel like it is unprecedented.
With that being said, because avon is already saturated and there is a good chance we know someone who works as a distributor, do you think it would make sense to sign up primarily for wholesale discounts and not so much reselling the product?
I find that that would be the only good reason for “joining” an MLM at that point.
Jessie
My advice is if you truly love the product then join the MLM. Otherwise stay away because it’s not a good business opportunity.
I never thought Avon was a scam, but rather it’s a classic MLM company: selling Avon products and recruiting. If you have the gift of gab and do so in a way to not annoy your friends and neighbors, you can actually make a living doing this. My own warning would be: for extroverts only. Good stuff. Thanks.
I agree that Avon is a classic MLM company. MLM is all about selling which is more suited for extroverts. When getting involved with any MLM, people need to realize that it’s all about selling and you need to be willing to be a salesperson. If not, you will fail no matter how legit the MLM may be.