Question by Abagayle: Cutco/Vector Marketing – Scam?
I have an interview with my local Vector Marketing division tomorrow and am very curious about the claims that its just a scam. Can anyone give me personal experience or general thoughts on this job? I want to earn money, not be taken advantage of. Thanks.
Best answer:
Answer by michie-chan
It isn’t quite a scam, but they don’t give you all of the information up front. They also charge you to start the program.. and that to me is always a big warning sign. It is true that you can make money from programs that charge you to start then tell you all the information afterward, but only if you’re very stubborn and good at sales.
With Cutco, you go door to door trying to sell incredibly expensive knives. The leads you get from the company aren’t enough to keep you going, and unless you’re some kind of sales genius, you’re probably going to make a couple dollars a week. While the knives are REALLY good, the market just isn’t there.
If you really want to earn money, get a job that requires an application, resume, and no up-front payments from you. If you don’t have job experience, try working in retail like the grocery store or a place in the mall.
What do you think? Answer below!
March 4, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Everyone who interviews with Cutco/Vector gets a “job.” You get to sit through unpaid training, have to buy a set of demo knives (at a pretty substantial cost to yourself), and then try to sell knives to all of your family and friends. The only people who make money in is Cutco/Vector themselves.
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March 4, 2011 at 2:34 pm
Yes it is a scam!! I went for the interview and upon walking in my radar went off! I was a small office with posters, pictures, and trophies sitting in a corner and not on a shelf. I was given an application and set to a room full of other applicants in cheap fold up chairs. I was called with a group to do our initial interview which was bogus. I was asked to stay for a second interview for 90 minutes (everyone was so called asked back too). The second interview was actually a sales pitch to get you to pay $ 159 for a Cutco Knife kit so you can start selling the knives. There are other things they ask you to pay for like extra training classes etc. In a nut shell most people make no money and have actually lost money paying for there so called knife kit. Little did I know my uncle tried this same company in the 1990’s and lost about $ 1000. I went to the Better Business Bureau and there are complaints from almost every state and this company. Just google the vector scam and you will see. Don’t go!! You will be waisting your time.
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March 4, 2011 at 2:42 pm
It’s not an interview, you will be hired. Everyone who goes for an ‘interview’ is hired.
If you have friends and family to take to the cleaners for overpriced knife sets and $ 140-$ 170 to lose to buy a set of these as demo products, which you have to sell for $ 700, then go for it.
But the best knives in the world won’t cost you this and these are NOT the best knives in the world.
Vector make their money from conning students into their ‘get rich quick’ scheme.
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March 4, 2011 at 3:00 pm
I have done plenty of research on this. The best thing that I can say about it is that it is as close to a scam as they can legally make it. Not necessarily something that the government would get involved in (hence why they have not), but I would equivocate it with something like a well thought out scheme.
The primary goal is to get you to sell the product to those that are closest to you. The company offers incentive to those who sell more and more, most likely with full knowledge that the majority will bet frustrated and quit after only making two or three sales. However, they have therefore made their profit and are fine with it.
From numbers I have seen and researched (as an earlier poster said, simply google it), they hire around 40,000 people a year (almost all falling within the college teen demographic) and do not have a very high return rate. One study I saw said that somewhere around half of 940 people that worked for Vector made no money or actually lost money by working for the company.
I think the main thing to remember is this: Vector is a company, they will do what is necessary to stay alive and make as much profit as possible. The seemingly most noticeable difference is that they care less about the individual and the individual’s relationships than others. They seem to prey on those that are less knowledgeable rather than those that are more experienced.
Conclusion: It is a legitimate job, however, it has miles of red tape. If you are looking for a job that will be more direct and honest, find something else. However, if you are looking to be a door to door salesman (or woman), then give this a shot.
Final note: Do research and do not leave this decision up to one message board. Check the Better Business Bureau and other websites that specialize in things such as this. Knowledge is power. Bear in mind that if something is getting this much attention, something is surely wrong.
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March 4, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Vector is NOT a scam.
It is however, hard work and you do have to sit through many unpaid hours of “phone time” (i.e. contacting potential customers). “Phone time” is done at your house and you can choose to do as much or as little as you want. This job can be very stressful, but it gives you valuable training in marketing and personal relations skills for the future. (It looks impressive on resumes)
Vector jobs was featured in the Wall Street Journal; it gives a pretty accurate description of the job.
Yes you do have to pay $ 144 for a sample set, but you can return it when you’re done with the job or sell it for profit (it’s worth $ 540). And you make $ 14 to $ 18 per appointment depending on where you live (these you have to schedule)
Vector is now a BBB accredited business with a grade of A+.
It was known in the past to have various lawsuits against it, at times in the past people did lose money or receive very low paychecks while working at vector. Now it has cleaned up, you can visit the link for the Better Business Bureau rating and review.
But…
Vector’s methods of getting employees is sketchy (but quite smart). They target recent high school graduates or college students, who are usually the poorest and most desperate people on earth. They are also the most sympathetic salesmen to potential customers. (my parents bought $ 900 worth of books from a college door to door salesman because they felt bad for him. No one in my family has touched those books) Also, Vector is very vague in the job description. Never is the potential employee told that he or she would be selling knives to their friends and family. The routine used during the sales appointments is scripted and targeted to getting the customer to buy the $ 945 set of knives. The closing part of makes me feel like a jerk, so I often word it differently than said in the manual. But the routine given is marketing genius. And the knives are incredibly good. They were featured on the History channel in Modern Marvels as some of the sharpest things in the world.
The company is pushy though in the beginning, offering various prizes, including $ 2000 if you can sell $ 10000 worth of knives in 10 days. They make you feel terrible if you can’t sell; even though you get paid if you don’t sell, the fact that commissions (starts at 10% then goes up to 50% if your career sales are $ 30,000) can earn you much more drives you to sell a lot. And the reason they hire anyone is because a lot of kids quit because this job can become very stressful. It’s really hard to schedule appointments with friends and family who really don’t take you very seriously and are reluctant to buy for the most part (though you may be surprised-I sold a $ 400 set to my neighbor) I thought about quitting, but decided against it because of the valuable skills and life lessons this job will give me. Oh, and the paycheck keeps me here, which varies depending on how many appointments you schedule and how much you sell. The girl that hired me had a paycheck of $ 10,000 last summer-she’s an incoming sophomore in college, age 19 (of course this is highly rare, she sold just over $ 22,000 worth of cutlery and kitchenware over the course of a few months). Expect to earn about $ 3000 this summer (this is the average income of a newbie sales rep)
I would say go to the “interview” (you’re guaranteed to get hired) and see if you like it. If not, decline the offer.
Better yet, read the Wall Street Journal article on the job to decide if it’s even worth your time going to the “interview” (link is below in the sources).
P.S.
To Uriah, as a vector rep, you are NOT a door-to-door salesman. Vector reps are technically self employed, and the appointments are done first through friends and family then references. We don’t go through any cold calls or knocking on random doors (think about it, knocking on random people’s doors with a bunch of knives is strange if not illegal)
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March 4, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Anyone who condudts a google.search for “vector marketing” scam, will bring up some 64,000 search responses which simply state: “It’s a scam!”
Good luck!
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March 4, 2011 at 5:01 pm
Vector is not a get rich quick scam. Granted, you can make a lot of money fast, but you have to put in a lot of hard work and many hours. Not everyone gets the job, but most get the second interview. Yes, you have to pay $ 143 for your sample kit, but I made $ 130 in my first 2 days. Also, the knives are as great as they say they are, I use mine every night for dinner, and I love them. The extra sessions are can only help you, and even though they cost money, they increase your sales greatly. I think you should take advantage of this opportunity. Its a good summer job at least.
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May 3, 2011 at 8:08 pm
who ever wrote this is WRONG! a good question i’d like to ask you is, DID YOU EVER WORK FOR VECTOR?!?! plus cutco no longer charges people to start the program and in turn are accepting less applicants unless they appear to be of a certain caliber. And even if the company went back to charging for the kit, you could get a refund on it, when and if you decided to stop selling. Do you really expect a company to just hang any average joe a sample kit worth hundreds of dollars?? That wouldn’t be a very smart marketing strategy and would inturn lead to loss.
SERIOUSLY, i do not know why im bothering to reply to this rediculous post, but it rather agrivates me. Also, Cutco does NOT go door-to-door! Are you kididng me?!?! That is against DSA regulations. And if you knew anything about knive and how they really are the best out their you would think they were not charging enough. Plus, by having it personally sold the company cuts all the costs of storing them and shipping them.
The company doesnt give you leads, you are required as an independent contractor to generate them yourself. You do NOT have to be a genius to sell cutco, all you have to do it follow the training packet in the presentation, reading it word for word, smile, be friendly, and do what you were taught in training to sell the product. IT SELLS ITSELF.
Alright you really are mis-informed i can guarantee that. Working for VECTOR is a REAL job, you can make money from. In one week of work i made 1,133 dollars and i am no expert. Tell me how i could have earned that in my bank account direct deposited else were as a full time college student?? No where. Answer this: WHAT IS A REAL JOB TO YOU?!?! working at Mcdonalds flipping burgers? or maybe behind a register at a gas station? Tell me, do you only want to make MINIMUM WAGE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE??? seriously. if so work at those locations and goodluck using that on your resume. OR you can work for VECTOR, gain resume experience that employeers are looking for and money in your pocket.
THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO DO NOT SUCCEED AT THE JOB ARE LAZY AND UNMOTIVATED.
Also, there are plenty of people out there to buy from you, you just have to see the right people. EVERYONE can afford something that is cutco as long as they like the product.
This response was the most wasted of my time i will be doing, and i only came across it while writing a marketing paper for college. Thought you should know that you are very WRONG and that this is unacceptable. Granted that we are all entitled to our optinions your is based off of fiction not fact.
YOU REALLY NEED TO CHECK YOUR FACTS BEFORE POSTING AGAIN.
THANKS FOR READING.
HAVE A GOOD DAY
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