What is the investment to get started?
The minimum investment to get started with LuLaRoe begins at roughly $5,000. But, what we’ve found when speaking with consultants is that fronting more is better since you are using this money for your initial inventory.
For instance, Kristi Trimmer, blogger and LuLaRoe consultant, said that she began with $7,000, which provided her with about 400 clothing items. The recommended is 700-800 pieces, with many consultants having an inventory of 800-1,000 items.
While you can certainly stick closer to the $5,000 range, it seems better for sales to go bigger. This does not include, though, initial costs of expenses for your direct sales business. These expenses may include hangers and storage for your inventory, Facebook ads, business cards, and other marketing expenses. Even though it may not be required to purchase these other items, retailers yield better results when they do. In fact, the England marketing agency, SoMarketing, says that putting time in better imagery helps put you ahead of your competition and improve sales. Of course, better images means more money. Even Trimmer mentioned in her blog post that she decided to purchase a light kit to take better images of her inventory.
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How do you make money from LuLaRoe?
There is one major way to make money from LuLaRoe: Hustle. And no, we don’t mean steal from people; we mean work your tail off. Retail is hard, and it involves maintaining an inventory, maintaining an online presence (more so in the LuLaRoe case since there is no brick-and-mortar), and standing out in the crowd. You might find yourself attached to your phone conducting sales at 10 p.m., and you need to be OK with that. Doing so may lead to replacing your current income or creating an apparent substantial stream of revenue for you, as these two Floridian women did in 2015.
Consultants have been able to sell a minimum of $500 worth of clothes in one night, but that does not mean the profit is high. One thing you won’t hear many LLR representatives discuss is the actual net profit.
Mommy blogger, “Mrs. Bottlesoup,” warns that, after the numbers up herself, you MIGHT be lucky just to earn back your initial investment (depending on how much you put in) if you sell every item in your inventory. She uses the following example based on another LLR blog:
If you sell 70 items per week over the course of the month from your initial $5,500 investment, with an average value of $18 per item, you would earn $5,040 after expenses, leaving you with 101 items still available to sell. This still puts you in the red at $460 since your initial investment was actually $5,500. You would need to sell all the items from the inventory (381 to be exact) to put you back in the green at $1,358. Not accounted for is the time spent making these sales (breaking down the hourly wages you might be missing out on) along with any freebies you might give away for marketing purposes.
But then, you need to purchase more merchandise in order to keep making money. And thus, the process continues.
The Pros and Cons
If you are still asking yourself, “Should I sell LuLaRoe?” you need to weigh out the pros and cons.
Pros:
- Work from home and flexible schedule
- Geared toward stay-at-home moms
- Unique and comfortable clothes for both women and children
- Limited patterns, which helps to increase their sales because everyone gets a different inventory, making it easier to have more than one consultant in one area
- Signs on new consultants regularly, which may be a sign of business growth and product demand
Cons:
- People tend to buy from the same people, making it a challenge for new sellers
- Too many consultants can become overwhelming when inviting friends to join groups online on Facebook or trying to find people to sell under you
- Many LLR strict business policies end up hindering sales, such as publishing certain posts online
- Some consultants claim lack of quality control due to more of a focus of signing on multiple consultants a day
- Low rating score on the job hunting site, Glassdoor, including complaints of difficulty in contacting corporate and missing items
Should I sell LuLaRoe?
Signing up to sell LuLaRoe essentially means you will be running your own business, which means everything falls on you. Although you will have a coach and some tools provided with your start-up kit, you are still responsible for making the sale and bringing home the LLR bacon. Not to mention, you will stay have to pay taxes at the end of the year. Selling for LuLaRoe involves a strong mindset and not one that everyone has in order to be successful. But, it is definitely possible to be successful with LuLaRoe, as several women have proven.
The returns are not always high, and because you are only selling one brand, there is a lot risk involved. However, the company does also make it a point to include new styles fairly frequently.
Overall, the retail business, in general, is difficult, and it is not meant for everyone. Before you decide if you should become a fashion consultant for LuLaRoe, do research on the retail business, their restrictions for sellers, but most of all, know yourself; be real with what you know you are willing to do.
Have you considered selling for LuLaRoe or are you currently a consultant? Share your experiences in the comments below.
Photo credit: Andy DeVelin
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