Is Vector a scam?
The Cutco cleaver
Rumors about the latest version of the “Vector scam,” otherwise known as Vector Marketing Company, are once again circulating the Internet. We’ve all heard of “work from home” scams, and many people believe that this is one of those.
Of course, others out there will tell you working for Vector is a lucrative job. In fact, there are plenty of online testimonials from people who say they have earned great money, learned a lot and been “pleasantly surprised.”
Claims tied to Vector scam
Here’s the basic scenario: Vector Marketing advertises online that it is looking for salespeople. The job offers $15 to $16 per hour, flexible schedule, be your own boss, etc. You’ve seen it before.
The job is selling Cutco cutlery — in other words, knives. However, the jobless people who decide to pursue a career with Vector soon find out they might need some quick personal loans just to get the gig going. The money will come later, or so they think.
Why pay for a job?
Vector Marketing requires salespeople to pay for a demonstration kit, meaning they must purchase a set of the knives themselves and use them to sell said cutlery. Also, and this is where it gets shady to me, they are required to pay for training.
I don’t know about you, but I have had several jobs and in each case the company paid me for training, not the other way around. But, still, Vector says if you pay for knives and sales training you can be an independent contractor and you’ll be allowed the privilege of selling Vector’s Cutco knives.
False claims
Now, as you can probably figure out, Vector Marketing salespeople get paid based on how much product they sell, not how many hours they work. That makes the claim that salespeople will make $15 or $16 per hour a bit misleading.
The part about the flexible schedule and being your own boss? Yep, that’s accurate. Any independent contractor works on his or her own terms. However, when it comes to the pricey “sales training” they offer, things turn a little shaky again. Spam Laws reports that some people who claim they were victims of the Vector scam say they were encouraged to sell to their relatives. What is this, a fourth-grade candy drive?
Similar situations
Still, it might be going a bit far to say Vector is a scam. There are plenty of other companies out there that operate in much the same way. Amway, Avon, NuSkin and a lot of other retail companies charge their salespeople for product, which they turn around and sell. Maybe Vector Marketing is just marketing itself wrong.
So maybe the case of the Vector scam is that they simply don’t give their salespeople the proper training to be successful, and this stings doubly because those people had to pay for it. Or maybe the scam is that the amount sellers earn on the product is too negligible to be considered fair pay.
Worth the risk?
It worth mentioning that Vector Marketing admitted to fraud in settlements with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (1999), Wisconsin Consumer Protection Dept (1994), and Arizona Attorney General (1992).
Long story short, if you’re seeking a job, you might want to just look for something else rather than get involved with something people are calling the Vector scam.
