Leadership is the key element in any business. There are good leaders and there are bad ones. When you get the latter you are in for a world of hurt. In this Stampin Up MLM review, you may see an example of the latter as the company seems to be without direction.
If the leadership isn’t there then the employees are left confused and not sure of their status and other important details. Even MLM corporations need strong leadership to survive the highly competitive niches they are often based in.
To find out if Stampin Up has the good leadership every company needs to survive, just continue to read our review. It goes in-depth to make sure you have the facts before you decide to sign up or not.
Checking out the company is not wrong and that research helps you avoid any pitfalls that come when you sign up with the wrong company. Take a few minutes to see if this company is made for you or not.
What is Stampin Up?
Stampin Up is a company that was started in 1988, by two sisters who liked doing arts and crafts. Shelli Gardner and LaVonne Crosby followed their husbands to Las Vegas first when they discovered that many women liked working with stamps because they may not be good at drawing.
This discovery gave the two ladies an idea and Stampin Up was born. While they chose to use the MLM business strategy, they took time to tweak some of the different points to make it better for them and their company.
Why LaVonne Crosby stepped down in 1998 is not known, her sister Sheila Gardner took over as CEO and held that post for almost 20 years. Ms. Gardner then left the company to do full-time missionary work for the Mormon Church.
That left the operation of Stampin Up in the hands of Ms. Gardner’s daughter, who has been at the helm ever since. This is a company from women for women and that is their target audience. Women who want to explore their creativity.
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How Does Stampin Up Work?
Stampin Up picked the MLM option in business and it operates, with tweaks, in a similar fashion. You have to sign up if you want to sell for the business and pay a fee to get your starter kit.
Currently, there are about 45,000 representatives in at least 6 countries around the world. These representatives do direct selling and market the different products the company makes. This manufacturing arm started in 1992 and has helped the company prosper.
It seems that representatives have a little freedom in their marketing style as one holds weekly and monthly craft classes for interested ladies. The product lines are all related to the craft niche and those range from stamps, to ink, to specialty paper and more.
There are 8 levels you can move up through in order to make it in this company. The commission splits depend on the group value points you earn throughout your tenure. In the bronze or beginning level, the commission splits go from 20% to 33%.
In signing up you have to go through another rep. If you don’t know any reps, the rep locator at the company website will help find 10 near you and we guess you have to pick one of the 10 to register through.
This procedure helps protect the reps and gets them more downline people to boost their sales.
Can You Make Money With Stampin Up?
The cost to sign up is $99 and for that amount of money, you get products worth $125 retail. That figures out to be just over 20% commission but the beginner level is a minimum of 20% so you are doing fine. That is if there are no hidden charges like shipping costs and other fees.
There is some training available through e-mails, a quarterly magazine, and other options so the rep is not totally left on their own after they join the company. This is mentioned to show you that there is a chance to make money working for this company.
It is possible to earn higher commissions but that requires you to move up the ladder and get into the elite categories. But moving up doesn’t just mean you get higher commissions. It also means you need to have a minimum number of recruits that fit into lesser categories all over the ladder.
You also have to meet certain group value points to earn your higher commissions. So there are few requirements that may hinder you from making a lot of money at this firm. The key to success at this company is to love working with crafts and being creative.
That natural enthusiasm and emotion will help you get sales and make extra money.
Examples Of How To Make Money With Stampin Up
There are several examples we can choose from that show you how you can make money working for this company. The first is through your own sales effort. That 20% commission is not going to be handed to you without you getting out there and meeting people, holding workshops, and other sales techniques.
You are going to have t put in a lot of effort and the return may not reimburse you fully for that workload. Next, you get commissions up to 3 levels of downlines. Those commissions range between 3 and 6 1/2%
A final example is what is called volume rebates which can amount to 3 to 13% in commissions. These rebates happen monthly and can put a few bucks in your pocket if you are at the right levels in the company.
Be careful as there may be hidden requirements like monthly sales quotas that hinder your ability to make any money. There may be other expenses, like home party costs, that will throw your profit out the window.
While the examples to make money look good, and there are bonuses available and motivation trips, the reality is there is more to this company than meets the eye.
The Pros & Cons Of Stampin Up
Good leadership has lots of positive aspects and develops positive aspects for the company. Bad leadership not so much. If the cons outweigh the pros, look elsewhere for your employment needs
Pros:
- Be your own boss
- Unique niche to work in
- For women only
- Good commission split
- Some training
- Can get your own website
- 30-year company to work with
- Good BBB rating at A+
Cons:
- Low success rate
- Small market area
- For women only, cutting your sales
- Long hours for little pay
- Pay to play
- High risk of cancellations
- Bad customer service issues
- Buy more products than you can sell
- Monthly sales target to meet
- Hidden expenses and requirements
Any Negatives? Beware of Lawsuits
The records we found concerning lawsuits show that the company has filed different court actions against other companies like Alibaba for copyright infringement and other problems.
There is no word on how that suit was resolved but it seems that certain Chinese companies are copying American company’s designs and selling them as originals through Alibaba
We did not find any lawsuits from customers or reps against this company so it may be doing something right even though there are reports of faulty customer service. But one company did sue Stampin Up for patent infringement just over a year ago and still no word on the results of that case.
As for negatives, it is an MLM and you get what you pay for. The common negatives associated with all MLM companies are present in this one but they do not seem to overwhelm the positives as this company seems to be carrying out its business without violating the law.
Is Stampin Up Legitimate?
In this case, we can say this company is legitimate. It has been around for 32 years and so far we have not seen anything that would move it over to the non-legit side of the business. They make their own products, ship them to their customers and most people seem to be happy with what they receive.
We have not seen many complaints from reps except for the lack of real leadership in the company. The new CEO seems to be having a hard time finding her direction and the company seems to be hurting from that indecisiveness
Bad leadership is not a sign of being illegitimate or a scam. The commission splits seem to be fair as well We did not come across any complaints about reps being cheated out of their pay but those may exist and still do not make a company non-legitimate.
All that means, if there are rep complaints, the rules to receive payment may be too strict, and too many
Stampin Up MLM Review: Final Thoughts
On the surface, this looks like a good company to work for. The products and niche are unique and seem to help women develop their creative side. The only drawback we see would be the overpricing of those products, which makes it hard to sell to consumers who are looking to save money on the things they purchase.
The registration fee is not that large and there are no upsells to worry about. One thing you should be concerned about though are any hidden fees like monthly quotas to meet in order to get paid. That requirement will have you buying more products than you can sell.
With this Standin Up MLM review, we conclude you should try it to see if it works for you.
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Hello there, MLM companies are really one side of the business that I have been always careful about when dealing with them because I really am bad at recruiting people into the business of growing downlines for myself. However, with a business that has stayed this long to still be up on running one, I feel it would be okay to try it out
So right, Justin, I have been involved with a few and recruited a lot of people, but it did not end there. For you to start to get a good return, your recruits must be able to recruit as well, and that is where I had problems and could not get the income to go full-time. You would be surprised how many people stay within a company and not even make $1k for the year.