Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears

[Jel]

1 hour ago, Galloway Cave said:

Kody in leggings and a man-bun? PLEASE NO!

That just sent a cold shiver up my spine. The horror, the horror...

[xwordfanatik]

5 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

Kody in leggings and a man-bun? PLEASE NO!

OMG, that Kody-tail that Janelle thinks is sexy, is horrible enough!

[Natalie68]

8 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

Kody in leggings and a man-bun? PLEASE NO!

Oh come on!  It would make some great memes!  

[Galloway Cave]

20 minutes ago, Natalie68 said:

Oh come on!  It would make some great memes!  

Some things should not be seen, ever. Even in great memes. ;)

[DakotaJustice]

On 4/13/2017 at 2:43 PM, MrSmith said:

Some problems with that thesis. First, we know MLM's don't make the consultants money unless they're recruiting people. Second, it seems pretty clear that Meri is not recruiting anyone. 

She actually has suckered at least two women to sign up under her, and more people asking about getting in the queue under her.  Poor women. And now that she has a downline, Meri is required to purchase a minimum of 175 items a month.

[MrSmith]

@DakotaJustice Good information. I shouldn't be surprised, and yet I still am.

[RazzleberryPie]

I actually bought a pair of leggings. I had two pairs from almost two years ago, won at LLR parties, decent fit, one was tiny purple flowers on a navy background, the other had little dragons. Both pretty comfy, long enough, fit well, don't stretch, etc. Good for low sweat stuff like yoga, lounging, etc. Not for strenuous exercise or they stink horribly.

Anyway......bought a pair with big pink Sleeping Beauty looking roses a few weeks ago. Planned to wear them on a Disney cruise this summer, so I didn't think the loud, cartoon roses were too bad. Washed them one time, and they have five or six little teeny holes in the butt. Not seams, but like where your booty cheeks go. They've also slightly faded. Quality control has gone way down hill in the less than 2 years since I got the freebie pairs.

[TurtlePower]

26 minutes ago, RazzleberryPie said:

I actually bought a pair of leggings. I had two pairs from almost two years ago, won at LLR parties, decent fit, one was tiny purple flowers on a navy background, the other had little dragons. Both pretty comfy, long enough, fit well, don't stretch, etc. Good for low sweat stuff like yoga, lounging, etc. Not for strenuous exercise or they stink horribly.

Anyway......bought a pair with big pink Sleeping Beauty looking roses a few weeks ago. Planned to wear them on a Disney cruise this summer, so I didn't think the loud, cartoon roses were too bad. Washed them one time, and they have five or six little teeny holes in the butt. Not seams, but like where your booty cheeks go. They've also slightly faded. Quality control has gone way down hill in the less than 2 years since I got the freebie pairs.

LLR probably went with lowest bidder contract-wise for production and that's when everything goes to shit. The agency I work for went down this road--we went from quality uniforms that fit properly and uniformly (pun intended) to garbage uniforms that are chintzy and fit differently even when the items are the SAME DAMN SIZE. Lowest bidder = shitty quality. 

I don't know how LLR-ers can currently sell leggings knowing that they're rubbish. 

[Featherhat]

On ‎15‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 4:14 AM, DakotaJustice said:

She actually has suckered at least two women to sign up under her, and more people asking about getting in the queue under her.  Poor women. And now that she has a downline, Meri is required to purchase a minimum of 175 items a month.

Hmm, guess there's always people willing to joing with someone who is on TV. So being slightly successful at getting a downline (the only way to make money) means you have to commit to even more items a month at minimum, which she is already having trouble shifting. Wow and MLM really is "the house always wins". You need to sign up loads of people to make any serious money from that and if you can do that when there are other sales/work opportunities for you, even if you are a stay at home Mom or retired etc.

 

I get why these things are so popular. They allow people (and for this sort of product mostly women) to feel like they have a starter pack for a DIY own business with their own hours that fits with the kids and allows you to connect to a wide group of people doing the same thing and make friends but holy moly do your research first on what financial implications there will be. No one can count on their friends turning up every time for a shill-a-thon, especially as many of the people you might know will be shilling the same stuff or similar.

[DakotaJustice]

I've been watching llr videos on YouTube. Most of them are happy happy joy joy but there are a few that get into the nuts and bolts. Like that 33 piece minimum requirement monthly order is $550-$800. Uplines encourage their downline to order weekly rather than monthly because customers always want to see new merchandise. Which means a lot of Meris inventory is stuff that none of her customers were interested in purchasing and the rules say she can't advertise markdowns which would be the normal way a retailer would move stuff that won't sell at regular retail. 

[DakotaJustice]

Some MAJOR shit going down with LLR over the past two-three days. 

People are leaving in droves. LLR is no longer accepting credit cards for payment of wholesale merchandise purchases by consultants.

And that's just part of it.

[toodles]

1 minute ago, DakotaJustice said:

Some MAJOR shit going down with LLR over the past two-three days. 

People are leaving in droves. LLR is no longer accepting credit cards for payment of wholesale merchandise purchases by consultants.

And that's just part of it.

Details, details.

[MrSmith]

@DakotaJustice Unload the dirt! Inquiring minds want to know! :D

[MrSmith]

These are interesting!

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Lularoe-RVW13047225.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Lularoe-RVW10358369.htm

Edited to add: The sad thing is the first review describes all the stuff that PinkTruth.com talks about. How you have to invest insane amounts of time to make money, you have to have a downline/team, it's all about what you order (not what you sell), and on and on and on.

Edited April 20, 2017 by MrSmith

[toodles]

http://www.scarymommy.com/thats-enough-lularoe/

Since it looks like it may be an LLR kind of day, this is pretty good.

[MrSmith]

Here's some more: http://www.mommygyver.com/single-post/2017/04/20/Bombshell

Edited to add: OHhhhhh, their credit card processor wants to start withholding 20% of all charges processed for them. That means they're either getting a lot of chargebacks, disputes, complaints or some combination of the three. That's interesting! I've been wondering when something like that was going to happen. Seems like it happens to all MLMs at some point. At least, it has for all the ones I've done programming for, anyway.

Edited April 21, 2017 by MrSmith

[MrSmith]

Wow! There are "mentors" who are actually encouraging people to cash out IRAs, 401(k)s, refinance your house, and more - all to pay for these clothes, many of which don't sell because they're too ugly. LOL. Lots of good information on that latest link I posted. WOW!

[MargeGunderson]

Sad how gullible some people are - and how mercenary others are. 

[taragel]

11 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

Here's some more: http://www.mommygyver.com/single-post/2017/04/20/Bombshell

OMG! The part where they suggest things you can do to "make your LulaRoe Dreams happen" including cash advances on your credit cards, cashing out your 401k, and remortgaging your house !!! But my favorite one must be.... "GET A SECOND JOB." 

So you should get a second job (third job) to pay for your second job selling LulaRoe? LOLOLOLOL. OMG I shouldn't be laughing because I know there are people who will really do this and that's just incredibly sad.

[tabloidlover]

Quote

 

LuLaNoFuckingWay do I have time for this fresh hell nonsense.

Listen, I’m sure the leggings are really comfy. I’m sure angels sing beautiful hymns of praise and glory as you pull those LuLaRoes over your tired mom hips. But, seriously, if they were that amazing, wouldn’t Target carry them? Wouldn’t I be able to buy them on Amazon in the way the good Lord intended — during a Prime and Wine shop-a-thon on my couch?

 

This was awesome....  I've never owned a pair, but the blogger summed up my thoughts pretty succinctly.

Edited April 21, 2017 by tabloidlover

[Absolom]

1 minute ago, tabloidlover said:

But, seriously, if they were that amazing, wouldn’t Target carry them? Wouldn’t I be able to buy them on Amazon in the way the good Lord intended — during a Prime and Wine shop-a-thon on my couch?

Now there is the truth.  As with all "miracles" be they medical, clothing, or whatever, if it's that great, it will find it's way to be readily available.

[ginger90]

Quote

and remortgaging your house 

 

 

Perhaps Tony is involved.

[Wings]

Quote

But, seriously, if they were that amazing, wouldn’t Target carry them? Wouldn’t I be able to buy them on Amazon in the way the good Lord intended — during a Prime and Wine shop-a-thon on my couch?

@tabloidlover.  I love you!

[tabloidlover]

Aww :)  I wish I could take credit for it, but I copied that from scarymommy's post.  She summed up my thoughts so well I just had to share! 

* I do own a few pairs of leggings from Target and I love them.  And they were only ten bucks!

[Kohola3]

Loved the scarymommy's post!  

Quote

Forget Trump and his wall. Just station a bunch of LuLaRoe consultants on the border. Ain’t no one getting into the country on their watch, yo.

Hee!

[Featherhat]

In recent weeks there seem to have been a rash of consultant's videos on youtube etc "explaining" why people are leaving LLR, many seem to blame new consultants being too trigger happy to quit if their first month didn't go so well or that they didn't realise that you have to work at it. Nothing about the convoluted system, fugly prints or mandatory spends, but that's nothing compared to the Kool Aid drinking in some of those links. Yeah, such LLR can pay for private schools, swimming pools, new cars and probably private jets from the way that lady was going on. Yeah re mortgage your house so you have more money to throw away on a business that isn't even your own. I hope Meri enjoys "living her why" whilst she can because I doubt it's going to last much longer before this house of cards collapses and she has to move on to another MLM scheme again.

[Absolom]

I want to know, but likely will never find out, how much inventory Meri has left when she quits or LLR folds and the net loss (or gain) overall. 

Edited April 21, 2017 by Absolom

[DakotaJustice]

5 hours ago, MrSmith said:

@DakotaJustice Unload the dirt! Inquiring minds want to know! :D

Sorry - I've been on the Facebook page for LLR Defective all day. 

It's compelling. To say the least. 

But I knew you'd sleuth it out!! 

[MrSmith]

Well, this is interesting. https://www.classaction.org/blog/lularoe-hit-with-class-action-lawsuit-over-unauthorized-sales-tax

LLR is being sued because they're charging sales tax based on where the consultant lives rather than where the customer lives. Plus, I would think (and it seems the lawsuit is arguing this as well) that LLR wouldn't be the one to collect the sales taxes on sales to non-consultants; I would think the consultants would be required to collect and remit sales taxes. If LLR is going to collect any sales taxes, then it would be based on the clothing they're selling to their consultants.

This comment from that link is interesting (and I also live in MN):

Quote

For those who believe this class action lawsuit is wrong I want to provide with some context I believe will be helpful. Last year I escalated the issue of LuLaRoe charging sales tax in MN to our State Attorney General. The State of MN does not allow sales tax on clothing. This is true for anything purchased in state or out of state but shipped to MN. I used to work for a retail company years ago and am aware of the tax law regarding clothing.

It took awhile, but Jamie Ellis, Senior Tax Analyst at LuLaRoe, responded and acknowledged they were not supposed to charge tax in MN. They blamed it on their system. Jamie also indicated their software development team was working on correcting the invoicing system. This was back on June 28, 2016. I did receive a refund for some purchases. LuLaRoe was instructed to refund taxes to all MN purchases that had incorrectly been charged sales tax. That has yet to be done.

I will be reaching out to our State Attorney General's Office to give them this update and purchase this will finally force them to update their system.

 

This link is also interesting: https://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1555167

That has to do with payment processing by LLR. And it dovetails with some of the information I've found about the dispute between LLR and CMS (their current card processor). Basically, it looks like LLR is trying to own the entire payment processing stack, from processing the credit cards their consultants' customers use to pay for their purchases all the way up to and including the fund disbursement stack whereby consultants are paid commissions and receive the funds from sales to end customers. I'm not terribly surprised by this, really. First, MLMs would love to own the full stack because then their card processor can't blacklist them or decide to withhold any funds as security, like what CMS is currently trying to do to LLR. Second, it lets them make extra money off the card processing and consultants' funds disbursements. Really shady stuff.

[lettsjetts]

Check out the hashtag #lulano on twitter, YIKES!  So many holes in the clothes and rude consultants.  

[MrSmith]

5 hours ago, lettsjetts said:

Check out the hashtag #lulano on twitter, YIKES!  So many holes in the clothes and rude consultants.  

So hard not to reply to so many of them saying something along the lines of "Duh. What did you expect?" However, I managed to restrain myself and only reply (politely) to one or two.

[VedaPierce]

On April 5, 2017 at 8:07 PM, Jel said:

Ah, Toodles, you're taking me down memory lane. 

Sam Cooper.  Those were some PTV good times :)

That was a fun summer :) 

On April 5, 2017 at 8:34 PM, Celia Rubenstein said:

I like Merri's hangdog "duh" face at 1:50, too.   What the hell is this video supposed to BE?

And can someone explain what the hell the name "VanLadyLove" is about, please?  It's like the WORST band name ever.   

Was thinking that too! Horrible name! Should have stopped at Van. 

Even though meri was on for 5 seconds max, her acting skillz shone through. Cringey

[VedaPierce]

On April 20, 2017 at 9:05 PM, taragel said:

OMG! The part where they suggest things you can do to "make your LulaRoe Dreams happen" including cash advances on your credit cards, cashing out your 401k, and remortgaging your house !!! But my favorite one must be.... "GET A SECOND JOB." 

So you should get a second job (third job) to pay for your second job selling LulaRoe? LOLOLOLOL. OMG I shouldn't be laughing because I know there are people who will really do this and that's just incredibly sad.

"Get a second job", or my fave...."GET YOUR SPOUSE to get a second job".

lol lol lol lol! I LOVE that idea! "HEY! Mr. Pierce! Ya hear that??? Go drive an uber after you get home from work so I can sell some MIME legging!" Lol lol! So stupid. Beyond. Are there really people that stupid? I know the answer. 

[toodles]

Just now, VedaPierce said:

"Get a second job", or my fave...."GET YOUR SPOUSE to get a second job".

lol lol lol lol! I LOVE that idea! "HEY! Mr. Pierce! Ya hear that??? Go drive an uber after you get home from work so I can sell some MIME legging!" Lol lol! So stupid. Beyond. Are there really people that stupid? I know the answer. 

This made me laugh.  Thanks.

[VedaPierce]

I just came up with a new financing idea lula didn't think of yet....

go to a loan shark! What about a good old fashioned loan shark for financing the dream of selling Mime rags. 

And because this can't be said enough..... MIME LEGGINGS!!! They're MIMES, people!! 

[Galloway Cave]

You would think that after bombing at one (or several MLMs, if I remember correctly), Meri would know better than to get involved with LuLaCrap. But this is turning out to be the MOAB of all MLMs, so maybe their last venture into that type of business.

Especially after she can't off-load the shit-ton of inventory she must have on the first floor of her house. How depressing to wade through all that stuff every day, knowing you can't sell it.

[MrSmith]

3 minutes ago, Galloway Cave said:

How depressing to wade through all that stuff every day, knowing you can't sell it.

In spite of the fact she should have known better (among all the other litany of reasons for which we shouldn't feel sorry for her), at the end of the day this is the one thing that will always make me feel bad for her once Lularoe goes down and she's stuck with all those clothes. I know she brought it on herself and I know that, at some point, everyone has to reap the consequences of what they've sown. In spite of all of it, between the fact she'll be stuck with at least some of it that even she won't wear (and will probably turn into rags at some point; oh, wait - that requires doing housework - nevermind) and the fact she'll be taking a massive loss on even the stuff she does sell, I'll feel bad for her. I wouldn't want to be in that position and it'll be a really shitty position to be in, too, because even the selling of some of it won't feel anything more than a Pyrrhic victory.

[Galloway Cave]

1 minute ago, MrSmith said:

I know she brought it on herself and I know that, at some point, everyone has to reap the consequences of what they've sown.

Right now she is in the throes of buying inventory every week (apparently the requirement of LuLaCrap at her level). Of course she won't give up, she HAS to try to "make it work" to make herself a success in Kody's eyes and her fan's eyes. But the business is a failure for the consultants from the word go. Her only hope to recoup any money/tax deduction is yard sales, swap meets and $400/year donation to Goodwill for the next 50 years.

[xwordfanatik]

7 minutes ago, Galloway Cave said:

Right now she is in the throes of buying inventory every week (apparently the requirement of LuLaCrap at her level). Of course she won't give up, she HAS to try to "make it work" to make herself a success in Kody's eyes and her fan's eyes. But the business is a failure for the consultants from the word go. Her only hope to recoup any money/tax deduction is yard sales, swap meets and $400/year donation to Goodwill for the next 50 years.

LulaCrap, LOLOLOLOL!  Perfect description.

[MrSmith]

@Galloway Cave Well, there's also personal ego tied up in buying so much inventory, too. Who wants to fail? And who wants to feel like a failure, even if only privately? She's in a no-win situation and yet still trying to win. She'll eventually be able to accept and publicly admit there was no good way out. It'll just take time.

[Absolom]

::cough, cough::  About that expression MOAB, I'm guessing you weren't meaning the urban dictionary definition? 

I agree Meri is going to end up with several rooms of inventory and no easy way of getting much of her money back on it.  She'd be wise to quickly take advantage of LLR's current offer to accept returns and pay the postage.

[Featherhat]

3 hours ago, VedaPierce said:

I just came up with a new financing idea lula didn't think of yet....

go to a loan shark! What about a good old fashioned loan shark for financing the dream of selling Mime rags. 

And because this can't be said enough..... MIME LEGGINGS!!! They're MIMES, people!! 

What I don't understand is why they produce such awful patterns for their consultants to sell. Because yeah, mimes and sharks and in such nasty colours. If they produced better patterns then they'd get more money and their consultants would be able to shift more instead of getting fed up by hundreds of pieces they'll never be able to shift.

[toodles]

In spite of my resolve to stay out of the LLR rabbit hole, I was sucked in the vortex.  

There is a fb page called Lularoe GOOB.  GOOB=going out of business.  I had to look it up 'cause I can't keep up with the acronyms.

I have no experience with which to judge the activity, but it looked like a fire sale to me.  People are begging other people to buy their stuff. It's kind of sad.  The LLR base is SAHM and if I found myself stuck with thousands of dollars worth of crappy stuff I almost need to give it away to recoup some of my investment, I would be desperate too.  LLR is going down in flames and setting aside that these people should have done their research, alot of people are going to spend years getting out of debt.

[Kohola3]

I see the parallel between LLR (and all MLMs for that matter) with polygamy.  Both suck in women of low self esteem, poor education, nonexistent business  skills, zero common sense and no money promising a wonderful life and the support of other wives/consultants all without leaving the privacy of one's home.  Granted, LLR doesn't get you your own planet but I bet they are all told it will be heaven on earth.  

There's a sucker born every minute.

[ginger90]

She should have a yard sale or get tables at a flea market and be done with it. I have to wonder if she's even aware of what's going on outside the cul-de-sac.  She didn't research first, obviously.

[MargeGunderson]

7 hours ago, VedaPierce said:

"Get a second job", or my fave...."GET YOUR SPOUSE to get a second job".

lol lol lol lol! I LOVE that idea! "HEY! Mr. Pierce! Ya hear that??? Go drive an uber after you get home from work so I can sell some MIME legging!" Lol lol! So stupid. Beyond. Are there really people that stupid? I know the answer. 

Which really means get a third job to pay for your second job? Okay, anyone who falls for that gets what they deserve.

[MrSmith]

21 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

Which really means get a third job to pay for your second job? Okay, anyone who falls for that gets what they deserve.

Sad thing is that LLR is not the only MLM I've seen encourage their members do that. Amazingly, they fall for it.

[Almost 3000]

I've really been enjoying the posters on this thread. Thanks for the LuLa LOLs! [small voice] But really the reality of this whole MLM makes me sad...[/sv]

Just to see if there are any fire sales on ebay I checked out some legging listings. I just checked the leggings because I find the ugliness of them fascinating. There is one seller who appears to run auctions ending Fri-Sun and sells about 500 leggings many weekends for between $10-25 with $4 shipping. How much do sellers pay for leggings? Does this seller make money if most of their sales are under $15?

Edited April 23, 2017 by Almost 3000

[MrSmith]

9 minutes ago, Almost 3000 said:

Does this seller make money if most of their sales are under $15?

I don't know how much the leggings cost. That said, my guess would be they make very little money off it, unless they're getting them from somewhere even cheaper. (Other consultants? Or maybe it's someone highly placed in LLR moving returns via Ebay?)

[Almost 3000]

5 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

I don't know how much the leggings cost. That said, my guess would be they make very little money off it, unless they're getting them from somewhere even cheaper. (Other consultants? Or maybe it's someone highly placed in LLR moving returns via Ebay?)

I just found it interesting that they were auction/selling 500 leggings a week for not a lot of money.