Do you want to find out what the latest Vector knives scam is all about? Well you are at the right place, continue reading for more details about the Vector Knives scam.
What is the Vector Knives Scam?
Vector knives are set of knives marketed by the Vector marketing company, The knives were manufactured by the Cutco company. Cutco manufactures the knives. Vector Marketing is a division of Cutco that sells these knives through independent sales people.
Vector Marketing is not a pyramid scheme in any way, shape or form. Vector Marketing is the sales and marketing division of Cutco. Vector reps are not responsible for recruiting new reps or buying any sort of product or service. In fact, Vector reps are independent contractors and they set their own schedules and have the opportunity to control how much they earn through a guaranteed base pay and commissions earned on each sale. Vector Marketing is also not a “get-rich-quick” scheme. Success is not guaranteed and it may take hard-work and dedication in order to succeed as a Vector rep.
Is Vector Knives a Scam?
In order to know for sure if it is a scam, we need feedbacks from other people who must have been involved in it in one way or the other. A former Employee of the Vector Company, has this to say, ”I worked at Vector Marketing during the summer of 2005. I learned how to sell and network with confidence. I also got better at talking on the phone with people I don’t know well. These skills are invaluable but so much else about the company turned me off. I quit after a couple months and had zero regrets. The more I learn about Vector/Cutco, the more I dislike the company. I’d never recommend it to anyone”
He further went on to outline the disturbing facts about the Vector Company.
- The ad in the newspaper but they didn’t say what the job was, except that it was good for college students. They said $20/hour which was a lie (I’ll discuss this later).
- Anyone who was semi-conscious during the first “interview”/information session was invited back. The turnover was ridiculous. Most people did not last beyond the first week.
- We had to buy a demo kit of knives (around $150 in 2005, equivalent to almost $200 in 2017). I’m told that Vector now lets you borrow the knives with a deposit. Regardless, this isn’t an amount many people, especially college students, could afford.
- The training was unpaid. You are an independent contractor so you receive no benefits or reimbursements for gas, phone, or other expenses.
- There is no hourly wage. You get $20 per appointment, regardless of selling anything. I can’t remember the commission structure but you had to reach a certain amount in sales to get any commission from your sales. Most people quit before they ever got to that amount.
- You had to attend sales meetings several times a week (all unpaid). Half the meetings consisted of learning stupid office chants. Very little was focused on actual sales training. You’d also be guilted into going to team nights at a nearby bar where you’d have to pay for your own drinks.
- A couple times a month, all the different offices in our metro area would meet at a conference center. Each office would do their respective chant and announce their top sales people. Then someone would talk about how selling Cutco changed his or her life. Inspirational, but zero practical learning involved. Your travel and time there was all unpaid.
- They try to guilt you in attending a monthly conference. They’d try to convince you how much of a great time you’ll have at whatever resort you were going to. In reality, you’d carpool, split rooms, attend a dinner with another inspirational speaker, and leave the next morning. Rooms, travel, and your time were all unpaid.
- They paid me to give my old high school phone directory to them. For a couple years after that, I had old classmates (whom I never kept in touch with) message me on Facebook as to why I recommended them for some stupid job. Entirely my fault and I regretted ever handing them the directory.
- Almost everyone I called (mostly parents’ friends and friends’ parents) had been approached every year by some young person they know selling Cutco. They just don’t want to buy more knives. I called my old teachers and before I could say anything, they ask if I was selling knives.
- If you’re 19–20 years old, you simply don’t know enough people who can afford Cutco knives or would have any interest in buying any. Once you run out of your relatives, parents’ friends, and friend’s parents, your market size is really small.
- We were encouraged to recruit people to work under us (like a downline in MLMs). We’d get a percentage of their sales, but like I said before, most people quit early and never made serious money.
Conclusion
So many people have gone on to call it a scam, saying it is a door to door scam. Even if it is not a scam, the business model is nothing to write home about.
