The Shocking Truth about Being a Kitsy Lane Boutique Owner

The Shocking Truth about Being a Kitsy Lane Boutique Owner

After receiving several questions from Boutique Owners who signed up under me, I decided to do an honest review of Kitsy Lane and include my own personal experiences.  

Before I give my review and explain my experience with Kitsy Lane, I should tell you a little something about myself.  I am lazy.  I was never one of those who would be successful at selling Avon or Mary Kay.  I just didn't like the idea of having to push my products on friends and family (i.e individuals).  To be successful at these MLM's you really have to be ready at a moments notice to sell your products and hopefully sign up other motivated individuals under you to do the same.  I just was never that person, which is rather odd being that my professional background is federal enterprise sales.  I was rather good at business to business sales...but business to customer?  Not so much.

So when these Multi Level Marketing companies come across my radar, my first thought is "eh, I know I will not put forth the effort, so why pay to be apart of something I will not be successful at?" (Furthermore, I despise canned cheesy "motivational" calls with a passion).

When I came across Kitsy Lane, of course I was a bit skeptical.  However, it was free, so what did I really have to lose?  Yet, I still did my research and tried to find as many reviews as possible.  Most of the reviews I read ranged from too good to be true to downright horrible.  Being an affiliate marketer and following recent tactics and strategies employed by political parties (disinformation, trolls, etc),  I can sniff BS reviews from a mile away.  If a review is too good, 9 times out of 10 the person is being paid or will be paid to advertise.  If it is too negative, that person most likely had a negative experience and is unable and unwilling to give a fair and balanced perspective. *Life Lesson*

With that said, I still signed up.  I like jewelry, I like the concept of having an online boutique with no start up cost and did I mention it is free?  I signed up and eagerly participated in the training calls and seminars they offered.  I picked my pieces, customized my boutique and  I eagerly connected all my social media platforms.  

I am not going to lie to you dear readers, some of the negative reviews are totally true.  Some of the most popular complaints:

"The prices are very high"

"I think they need to bring down the prices."

Unfortunately I do somewhat agree with this sentiment.  Some of the items, I feel are overpriced.  I personally wouldn't pay that much for them.  For instance:

This Riri Collar is totally adorable.  I love it!  However, $128?  I don't think so!  While I wouldn't pay $128 for this,  I actually have gotten two orders for this necklace.  So, obviously some people would.  Furthermore, the pieces offered by Kitsy Lane range from around $20 to $200, so there is a little something to fit in anyones price point.

"I have been at this for about a year I have not gotten any sales" 

"I was with kitsy lane for nine months. I had 49 customers and 37 store owners sign up under me. No one was buying and no sales were being made, not by me nor by those under me."

"I've "owned" a kitsy lane boutique for almost a year and have not sold a darn thing-even by doing all the marketing techniques and using the help that they provide."

This I totally relate to. While I did get a lot of people to sign up as customers and boutique owners by letting Kitsy self automate...it really didn't translate into orders. I will say Kitsy really did a good job with the social media push (automatically) and it did bring quite a few sign ups.  Just not sales.

However, I did not give up.  I started to put forth minimal effort.  I advertised on job sites for "work at home" opportunities and advertised on Instagram and Pinterest...when I got around to it.  Again, more sign ups and limited sales.


Recently, I have gotten motivated to really put in the effort necessary to build my business.  The good news is with Kitsy's automated advertising, 1/3 of my job was taken care of.  However, the rest was up to me.  I bought (and rocked) some jewelry (by the way you do earn commissions on the pieces you buy...just an FYI) anytime I received a compliment I told them all about my boutique.  If they seemed interested in starting their own, I sent them my invitation link.  I advertise on Instagram constantly.  I blog about my flash sales.  Next month I am purchasing a business starter kit from Kitsy complete with jewelry pieces, displays and marketing material, so I can host my own trunk shows and jewelry parties.  Lastly, I sent a marketing email to my family and friends (mind you I said, a marketing email...meaning one) and that one action really helped my business grow.  My mom (of course) sent it to everyone in her contacts and a few other wonderful relatives and friends did the same.

Since then, my business has really grown.  Can I retire on my own private island paradise?  Not quite, but I am receiving orders consistently, with about 10-14 hours a week worth of work.  Not too shabby!  

SO my review in a nutshell, as far as MLM's goes this is my favorite because you do not have to invest anything to get started (unless you want to).  Furthermore, I love a lot of the pieces (not all of 'em) and am pleased with the quality.

In a nutshell, Pros:

1) It's absolutely free.  Not free but pay shipping and handling...no totally absolutely free to set up your site, pick out jewelry, and start selling.  
2) Kitsy Lane offers a lot of selling support.  They offer webinars, newsletters and offer unique suggestions to really push your jewelry.
3) Once you connect your boutique to your social media platforms, Kitsy Lane automatically posts sales, specials and coupons for your clientele.  No thinking required

Cons:

1) Some of the jewelry items in my opinion are overpriced.  However, Kitsy Lane has pieces in all different price ranges to fit in everyone's budget.
2) Even with Kitsy Lanes fabulous webinars, sales material and automated social media marketing, to really see those commission checks flow, you have to put in some work.  Serious work!

All in all I am pleased with Kitsy Lane, and if I had to do it all over again, I would.  
If you want your own boutique click here https://iheartretailtherapy.kitsylane.com/offer/TvWsgfL 

To check out I HEART Retails Jewelry Boutique click here http://www.iheartretailtherapy.kitsylane.com  

To see how Kitsy Lane is doing as a company click here

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2013/01/social_commerce_startup_kitsy.html 

As always, Happy Shopping (and Happy Selling!)

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