You know that interchangeable costume jewelry that your grandma from The South likes to wear? The charm bracelet that she decorates in palm trees and flip flop charms when she goes down to Florida for vacation, and the earrings she decks out with wreaths and baby angels around Christmas time?
Well, give grandma a ring and let her know that she can sell those ugly, cheesy bracelets with Magnabilities now. If she knows how to hustle, she might even make enough money to pay her cable bill.
Does this mean I’m involved?
This video explains everything:
Make sense? Either way, here’s the full review on Magnabilities.
Overview
Magnabilities is a magnetic jewelry direct sales company based in Sumner, Washington. Thing Silpada Designs, except even less trendy (and we saw what happened to them).
They were founded in 2008 and are a member of the Direct Selling Association.
The company is currently generating $1 million to $5 million in revenue each year. Small numbers after almost a decade in business, but there’s still potential. We don’t all come out of the womb running.
Susan Fahsel, Kari Hoke, and Brent Hoke founded Magnabilities and are in charge of design, marketing, and technology, respectively. Their mission is to “spread POSITIVITY, make an IMPACT, and become EMPOWERED.”
The company still runs primarily on in-home parties thrown by independent consultants, though, which is really not a good way to get your revenue off the ground in regards to product sales. No one wants to spend countless Saturdays over at Kathy’s house listening to her pitch her magnet bracelets yet again. Not only is this not a sustainable sales method, but after a while, consultants really start to alienate their friends, family, and customer base, and it brings down the company’s reputation as a whole.
Even consultants and employees themselves don’t seem to be too thrilled about Magnabilities. Their rating on Glassdoor, an employer rating website, is 2/5 stars. Multiple former employees warm prospects to “stay away from this company”. [1]
How much does Magnabilities cost?
A basic starter kit costs $99, while a “Party Kit”, which presumably includes everything a distributor needs to throw in-home parties, costs $249.
In order to remain active, distributors have to maintain 400 PV per month.
Products
Magnabilities sells magnetic, interchangeable jewelry, with over 250 products in their catalog. The concept is a little 2003 Home Shopping Network-esque.
You purchase “base jewelry”, which can be a necklace, charm bracelet, or earrings, and these base pieces have empty slots that allow you to insert your favorite magnetic interchangeable charms and decorative inserts.
Inserts range from typical costume jewelry charms to dogs and cats to holiday-themed inserts to personalized photo inserts. Most are an affordable $5-$10.
Base jewelry is also affordable, with bracelets running around $20-$25, pendants for $25-$30, and earrings for $15.
Products are made in America, Thailand, and China, and most are made from cheap but decently durable materials. All jewelry is made from lead and nickel free base material and shipped from their warehouse in Sumner, WA. They also have a 30-day return policy, but shipping and handling is not refunded.
Opportunity
Independent Associates at Magnabilities can earn between 25-60% commission on personal sales. On the low end, commission is somewhat average, but if you can make your way up to 50% and 60% commission rates, you’re doing pretty well.
Once Independent Associates sell and recruit enough to qualify for override commissions, they can earn 10% override commission on personally sponsored team members and 4% overrides on organizational sales.
The company also offers some generous fast start bonuses and matching bonuses.
Party hostesses get reward credits that can be used to purchase product at a major discount as well as a free gift set, but they have to sell enough.
Recap
The monthly requirement for remaining active is one of the biggest I’ve seen at 400 PV per month (or 1,200 PV in a three-month period). You’d need to hold 1-2 SUCCESSFUL parties per week to maintain those numbers, and that’s just to remain qualified.
One or two parties a week might not sound like a lot, but it can be pretty difficult when your friends and family have gotten tired of being invited over just to listen to your sales pitches. Also, these have to be successful parties, meaning you have to sell well. Not all parties rake in decent sales numbers unless you’ve got a really stellar product.
The company also doesn’t seem to offer much in the way of training and education. Without extensive sales and marketing knowledge and experience, it’s really difficult to do well in MLM.
Also, you’ve got to be passionate about a company and a product to succeed. If you’re passionate about ugly magnetic costume jewelry, go for it, but if not, you’re going to have trouble making money.
It doesn’t help that this company relies almost solely on in-home parties. MLM is still a booming industry, but only for those companies that know how to innovate and set the trends. Considering Magnabilities is relying on re-vamped Tupperware parties from the 50s and the kind of jewelry your clueless grandma might buy you for Christmas, I don’t think they’re one of those trend-setters.
via http://mlmcompanies.org/magnabilities/
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