Direct Selling Thrives

The nation’s unemployment rate is hovering at 10.6 percent, but direct-sales companies like Tupperware, Avon, and Mary Kay are thriving and continue to draw in new salespeople.
Mary Kay has seen a 22 percent increase in global sales consultants between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009.
Tupperware, thanks in large part to a strong expansion into global markets, saw a surge in sales reps internationally two years ago, from 1,851,450 in 2007 to 2,275,934 in 2008, and continued to see growth in 2009.
Likewise, Avon’s ranks have swelled from 5.8 million total sales reps in 2008 to 6.4 million in 2009.

For some of today’s direct-sales consultants, selling plastic wares, makeup, and other home accessories is not a hobby. It’s a significant source of income, say direct-sales firms. “Our early consultants came from a group of women who had a pretty good life—their husbands were in construction or contracting and doing well. They did this for fun, but when things turned [economically], it became the big job of the household,” says Orville Thompson, CEO of Scentsy, a wickless-candle company that began direct sales in 2005.