Avon Review: Is Avon A Scam or Legit?

“Knock, Knock” “Who's there?” “Avon Calling!” For those of you that can remember when Avon began to become a popular home based business in your area, you may have heard this phrase a few times. That is exactly how Avon grew so large, and have been around so long. When I say long, I'm talking about that they've been around since 1886! That's just unheard of longevity for any business let alone a home based business. But this success didn't happen by accident.

Avon consistently grew because of the word of mouth advertising of their reps. At any time you could ask an Avon Rep for information about their products and 9 times out of 10, they will have a catalog on hand ready to sell anywhere, anytime without having to actually carry the products. Just place your order, wait a week, and the rep brings your stuff back to you, and you pay. It's as simple as that, and that simple process landed Avon with $10.7 billion “with a B” in sales revenue for 2008. That's Oprah and Bill Gates money folks!

Well if you're interested in getting your share of the billions of dollars earned by Avon, you may want to read the review below. In theory it sounds all good in the hood. But if you're a loyal subscriber, you already know there are always pros and cons to any of the opportunities. So let's jump into them so you can make an educated decision.

How Avon Works:

There are two basic ways to earn money with Avon.

One is becoming a representative and making sales generated commission. You start off getting 10% and can move up to 50%. This is done by selling beauty products from their catalogs. You must be able to market and promote your products as well as yourself to do this. That means getting people to come buy Avon from you when there are so many other reps out there.

Another way to earn money is becoming a Supervisor and getting paid a 12% leadership commission from your team's sales. This means you must recruit others to work under you, as well as train them to market and sell products and the team. Currently there are over 5 million independent representatives worldwide, which indicates that the opportunity does work. However the flip side of this is that you're probably dealing with a lot of competition. Think about it, you or someone in your family probably already knows an avon rep. So where does that leave you?

How Much Does It Cost To Become An Avon Rep?

Unlike many other direct sales company, Avon is actually very affordable. To start with Avon it only costs about $10-$20.

What Do I Like About Avon?

Affordable

The problem with so many home business opportunities is that they can cost and arm and leg to get started. Fortunately Avon realizes this defeats the purpose of a home based business which by definition should have a lower overhead. So Avon keeps the cost to get started at a very reasonable rate so it can be in the grasp of the masses. This probably explains why they have millions of Avon reps.

The company is as old as dirt.

This company has been around since 1886. That's practically pre-historic! This gives Avon a legitimacy that most work at home opportunities can only dream of having. So when you approach someone to buy avon or to join the company, they're less likely to be on guard because everyone knows and trust the Avon brand.

Avon provides support for you and stands behind their products.

Although being as old as dirt provides legitimacy, Avon doesn't rest on their laurels. They have an on-line training center available to all reps 24/7, and it's free. The training teaches Avon Reps how to market, manage money, and build a business directed towards success. Avon also backs their products 100%. If something is wrong it can be replaced. How many companies still do this? So that's a big plus!

Earn money on your referral's back….

As previously mentioned Avon reps can also earn additional income as a Supervisor. To become a Supervisor you need to recruit people to your team and teach them to sell as you do. When they do you can then earn commission from the entire team. This can be a great source of residual income. Although primarily focused towards women, there are many husband wife teams out there. This is also a great idea for retirees because of the combined earning potential, as well as splitting the effort.

Great bonuses and incentives

Avon regularly provides opportunities for bonuses and chances to earn free products. What? You didn't think reps enjoy selling face creams and lipstick to people for fun did you? Of course not, and beyond commissions, Avon gives reps great reasons to push these products. At most any level reps enjoy receiving discounts, and free beauty products as an incentive. But wait there's more! Once you reach the stratosphere of Avon's incentive structure you are guaranteed 40% commission on all sales and you will earn prize points that are redeemable in a prize catalog. At the $10,000 level a rep qualifies for the Presidential Recognition Program which has 6 levels. The top level is known as the Inner Circle and it is reserved for reps with $200,000 in sales. Wow! That is a lot of face cream! The next level down from that is called the Presidential Council. Members of these top two levels qualify to win a car, and all win what's called a Celebration Trip. This is a group trip for five days to a well sought after location like the Bahamas or a cruise on the Mediterranean. Other incentives include things like attending meeting in a luxurious resort with VIP treatment, and exclusive gala dinners in elegant restaurants.

Avon Complaints

What? Did you think I wasn't going to speak about the complaints about this company just because they've been around since the 1800's and have TV commercials? You should know better than that. lol Although Avon is a great at home business opportunity, it still has its downfalls just like any other company. So let's air them out so you can make an informed decision.

Requires much effort and focus on marketing and promoting

I don't even know why I included this as a con because it's such a “duh” argument. But many people have been turned away from Avon because the amount of work and energy that goes into building a successful Avon business. (Uhhh… that's why it's a called business and not play time. It involves a lot of hard work!) I hate to break this to you but that's the case with anything that is going to make you decent money. Any of you who have read my Wealthy Affiliate Review are very familiar with this.

And if you think trying to make this business succeed for yourself is hard enough. This becomes even more of a reality if you decide to recruit others under you. Here's why; You're responsible for training these folks and making them successful so you make money. We are talking about making flyers, cards, passing them out, web sites, worth of mouth, and the whole shebang! It is a huge commitment.

Slow moving transition to higher levels.

Many people complain that the time it takes to move into a higher position is too long. This all depends on the amount of sales, and growth that you or your team shows. Let's be real here, if you are not the aggressive, go getter type of seller then don't expect to move up very fast. Some people move up so fast just because the right time and location. Something else you should know is that only 10% of people that try and become successful with Avon succeed. (See my comment above regarding how a business takes work, etc.)

Additional Financial Investments

Although you're not required to invest more than you initial $10-$20. If you want to be successful with this business, you'll probably be spending way more than that on advertising, flyers, business cards, websites, etc. It may not be necessary to do all this additional stuff but chances are you're not going to be one of the top sales people earning a full time living with this. Don't get mad at me. That's just real talk you need to hear.

Inventory Issues

Recently more and more people are complaining about how Avon has gone downhill when it comes to supplying products in a timely matter. (This may have changed since the time of this review.) Reps have posted various complaints on the internet of angry customers that have been waiting on their back ordered products for months, and some that have never got them at all! Some say it is because of Avon's computer systems are so outdated, others say it is lack of communication within Avon's manufacturers. No matter the reason is, a company shouldn't put their reps in this position. This makes it difficult for reps to continue to obtain sales from these people or anyone they mention the situation to. Even though in most cases it is not the reps fault, but that is who must deal with the unsatisfied customer. Recently many of Avon's manufactures have packed up and head deeper south to Mexico to reduce production costs. This may or may not have something to do with the inventory issues, but hopefully they can be addressed and you won't have to ever deal with a situation like this.

Reps are Dinosaurs?

Have you noticed that Avon now has commercials advertising their products? So where does that leave the Avon Reps that have built the business? Sure Avon does try to incentivize customers to use a rep by offering free shipping via a local rep and personalized make overs, etc. But I'm not really convinced that many people are going to opt to deal with a rep when they have the option to cough up a few extra bucks for shipping. It just seems to me with the advent of things like the internet and TV, reps will become less important to the Avon business model. That scares me and of course I can totally be wrong (which I hope I am). But think about certain industries that worked solely through reps that have changed. For example you can buy life insurance or car insurance online. Whereas in the past that was a face to face transaction.

So will Avon's move to TV commercials and an online store eventually lead Avon reps to the same fate of the Dinosaurs? I guess only time will tell. But it's something to think about.

So Is Avon Legitimate or A Scam?

Basically, if you can market and sell you butt off, then you could make some good money with Avon. The potential is there, especially with commission like 50% on products. The only kicker about that is making it to that commission level. It requires work, but so does everything else in life. You signed up for that when you were born into this world. So you're going to have to deal with it one way or another. You can spend the rest of your life working hard for someone else or you can do it for yourself.

But that decision all boils down to you, what type of work you want to do, and how much of it are your willing to put in. If you believe you can do it, then go for it! Because based on the research, Avon is definitely not a scam! Like any company or opportunity it has complaints to consider. However I haven't uncovered anything that was so egregious that one shouldn't consider Avon as a legitimate home business option if that's what you're looking for.

If not you can always consider traditional work at home jobs or some of my other personal recommendations. You always have choices, it's just a matter of picking the best option for you. Don't allow others to dictate that you can't be successful earning money from home just because they couldn't. Their experience doesn't have to be your reality.

In any event, I hope you enjoy this little Avon Review. I would love to hear from Avon reps or people that buy Avon products. Personally I love their black suede antiperspirant. I've yet to find any name brand antiperspirant that matches the strength of Avon's Black Suede. As a brother that just sweats thinking about humidity or heat, I'm a big fan of Avon for helping me avoid smelling like “oh my damn”. I know, too much info. But I have to give credit where credit is due. Cheers!