Cutco Cutlery - It's a Scam, but the Knives Are Fantastic
After investing around $200 in a sales kit, which is required to sell Cutco, I was ready to begin. Where are you supposed to start? Well with your parents of course. Of course they will buy! After that, you go to your nearest relatives and family friends. This is (supposedly) so you can practice your sales with people you are comfortable with. While that is true, it also gives great insight into Vector/Cutco's business model.
My parents, relatives, and family friends did buy Cutco. They did not buy because they were wowed with the products. They bought because I was selling to them, and they were supportive. This is what Cutco preys on. Bring in young kids. Use these kids to make sales to the kids' family and contacts. Vector essentially plays the pity card or the manipulative card.
Once you have sold to all of your family and friends, what do you do then? Vector does not give you leads. As if the $100+ dollars each family member has spent on knives is not enough, Vector then has you pull your leads from them. You ask each person for 10 leads under the guise of a scholarship, which only loosely exists. The scholarship happens to be in the form of free knives, which I guess you might use to rob a bank to earn money for school. (that's a joke)
That being said, the knives are phenomenal. I feel bad for tricking my family members into purchasing a product they did not want or need (although I am afraid I convinced many of them that they did want and need them). However, most of them are pleased with their purchases, which definitely comforts me.
Has somebody called you asking to show the cutlery to you? Do they get paid just to show you the knives, even if you choose not to buy them? Sounds innocent and harmless, but be prepared to be manipulated into buying. The seller does not get paid just to show you the knives. There is no $18 per hour. You get paid a minimum of $18 per appointment. However, it is extremely embarrassing to request the minimum, because that would indicate that your commissions are low. I never took the $18 minimum.
Thinking about taking a job with Cutco? Don't get me wrong, you can make a lot of money if you are good at it and have a good base of relatives and friends, but be prepared to be a little manipulative.
Again, the knives are good, but the prices are extremely high. If a friend or relative asks you to just look at the knives, you will most likely be buying them, and at a high price. Prices are much more reasonable if you buy them used on ebay, which is what I would recommend you do. Unless you are just supporting your young relative, which is exactly what Cutco preys on.
Published by Scott Schlimmer
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289 Comments
Post a CommentWell as an owner of Cutco Cutlery for 36 years I can be quite optimistic about the product. It is the very best cutlery on the market & worth the money. As you can imagine it was quite a bit cheaper 36 years ago, about half the price of today's prices. The best thing about Cutco cutlery is that it has a lifetime guarantee. You can send the knives or others item to be sharpened at any time, no charge to do it. There is a charge to cover shipping. I can tell you that after 36 years my knives still look like new compared to other knives I have on hand & I seldom use the other knives as I use my Cutco knives every day. For the money & how long they last I'm not sure you can find many other knives that can stand the test of time like the Cutco cutlery can. I am a very satisfied customer.
I also worked for Cutco at the time my purchase was made. I went to the presentation & signed on. I got the Cutco kit, which included: The whole set of knives 2 turning forks, spatula, slo
Cutco is the epitome of a "Network Marketing Company" a term that most college students (Vector Marketing's target niche) are unfamiliar with. The way a network marketing company works is this: you pay a fee to become a sales rep, you sell for the company, you earn a commission based on sales. The majority of Cutco sales reps don't understand this, they come into the interviews thinking it's a regular job with base pay (which I agree is one of many ways Cutco falsely advertises the business opportunity). Most other network marketing companies you don't see that kind of false advertising, you are just given the facts of the opportunity.
I expand on this more on my Cutco Scam review, you can visit it at www.squidoo.com/cutco-scam
CUTCO IS AWESOME!!! :)
well from just my personal experience with Vector... the company has screwed both me and my girl friend hard, they use their employees' references for others that would be "good for the job" and then they again do the same process over again. I remember when they told me if i couldn't afford the kit that i should ask my parents to loan me the money. but i don't think it would be responsible for some one in a commission based workspace should ever do that. then after i worked for it and then sold some "product" i was told i was doing bad cause my commissions were down. I look at their application process which they run constantly and see their employees shelf life is quite short. so i would not recommend it.
You have to believe in yourself and believe in the product you sell. The person who wrote this negative article should research the information before calling anyone or any organization a scam. It's true that many people have gained very valuable experience and have moved on to some very rewarding and successful careers.
Best of luck in your future Scott. Or maybe you just wrote this to see what kind of responsed you would get.
I personally just started working with them today. I won't lie, I'm a bit scared that I'll never find anyone to buy to them, but then again I'm friends with tons of culinary school graduates who would probably love them to death. Not to mention, I think it's all about the networking and how much you're willing to do to go out there and be like hey buy this outrageously awesome knife. Btw, I'm not looking forward to buying my own kit.
Well i wouldn't necessarily call it a "scam" you an actually make alot of money doing this, i worked for Vector over the summer for a little extra income and if went well i was going to make it my full time job. i was wooed over at first in the interviews/orientation but as i progressed i noticed that i was tricked into the job at first. they told me that i wouldnt cold-call people or go door to door and that they had a pre-approved list to call people from. okay first off yes you dont go door to door and as far as cold calling no you dont call random people out of the phonebook ect but you gather as they call it "recommendations" from your clients as you see them which in return you call them to try to schedule a appointment, but since they have no prior knowledge of you or the business technically you are cold calling them. at the branch i worked for they offered $15/Appointment and a progressing commission ladder that increases with sales. i think it was like 0$ for 0-1000 in sales
Selling the Cutco was the best thing that could have happened to me. I made about 10k a summer during college and then got a sales job with a Fortune 500 company when I graduated. I never would have gotten that job without my experience at Vector Marketing. I'm now making $150k a year thanks in part to selling Cutco. Not everybody is good at sales - the fact that you suck at sales doesn't make it a scam.
So, in short, if you can't sell, AND you choose to take the commission, AND you lose your knives and have to replace them, AND you drive all over the place and don't actually TALK to anyone.... THEN you might lose money doing this. But you probably won't have any money at that point anyway because you're a blockhead.
You. Can't. Lose. Money. Doing. This.
The job's easy money, but I don't recommend it to most people.
Apparently this website cuts you off after awhile.
You CANNOT lose money doing Cutco. You don't pay a cent other than gas for driving (and if you actually go anywhere and talk to anyone, you're making $$$). You have the option EACH PAYCHECK whether you want the flat appointment fee (which is pretty generous, 15-20 dollars typically, per appointment), or the commission (which, unless you're selling a lot, is about zero). You also don't pay for the knives you carry around. You give them a check for $170 or whatever they're worth, and they DO NOT CASH IT. When you quit the job, you return the knives, they return the check. It's called collateral.