Real Consumer Reviews and Ratings
SMC Business Opportunity Reviews and Ratings
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Could you use an extra 100 dollars a week? For nearly half a century SMC has been successfully putting people into business. Thousands of people have gained control of their lives by having a business of their own. Team up with SMC today! Get a free 4 color, 16 page booklet, Success Through Specialty Merchandising.
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I LOST 3500$ with SMC
11/9/2008 - ADAM of QC, CANADA writes:
SCAM bought the best Package they got cost me more than 3500$. what i got = GARBAGE. Product are cheap, Junk, [] store product (even Cheaper). NEVER AGAIN
You Get Out Of It What You Put Into It
10/13/2008 - Joe of Ohio, USA writes:
I have been a proud SMC member for 3 years. To start with, let me say, I hate the infomercial. The basic theme seems to be, it's a turn-key business, I'm not a people person, but I sold, and other such sit on your butt and make no effort and rake in the dollars type thoughts. Anyone with commonsense will realize that no one gets something for nothing. Does SMC make a bundle? Of course they do. The negatives about SMC are: the personal coaches are useless and should be avoided. The e-commerce website they promote is not run by SMC and is crap and should also be avoided. Having said this, I have enjoyed and profitted from my affiliation with SMC. All of my customers have expressed their satisfaction with the merchandise. If I don't want to sell a particular line, I make that choice. I may purchase as many catalogs as I chose. I therefore don't understand people who say they have spent big money on catalogs. Commonsense says to purchase a couple of catalogs and see how it goes and use that as a starting point. I have expanded my business to include mail order, online auction, in-person catalog sales and running my own website. Nothing in life is free. It has taken hard work, planning, money and, most important, commonsense. Long story short, if you want to make a slew of money while exerting no effort, lotsa luck! If you want to make some extra spending money, while working hard and carefully planning each step in the process, perhaps SMC is right for you.
NOT A RESPECTABLE COMPANY
10/10/2008 - MARCY of DELAWARE, USA writes:
i joined smc in may2007 after seeing them at 2am on an infomercial as i call it and said hey that looks interesting and i can do it so they sent me the info and the package and the guy said on the commercial that u can start for as little as 25 a month first off thats not true.I liked it at first and said ill give it a chance but i ordered my first items and were disappointed because the items are very small and u have to read the descrip very carefully because if u don't u get this cheap stuff from china and they don't look like the product in the book and to my suprrise which changed me and my business is that they have a california prosition law that thier dishes and anything thats painted as ornaments and teapots and harley davidson mugs contain a chemical that causes cancer,infertility and birth defects in people.Why would they do this to people and sell this junk,so i ended my business with them.I do not want to feel responsible for someone getting sick over something.That would be on my conscious not thiers and the fact that they do not care about u just youre money.They kept trying to sell me more giftcards and more junk and the website is a ripoff.I didnt have one order from it and it cost me $1300.00 for te site.Do not get scammed from these people.
Don't try it.
9/26/2008 - Joshua of WV, USA writes:
I payed the lowest price to get started, because honestly, I'm a sceptic. I didn't believe it, but there was a 30 day "money back" guarantee, so why not, right? As soon as I got the membership package, i checked eBay to find the same merchandise for the same price I'd have to pay for it from SMC. That was it for me, so I emailed them, through their official website, and got instructions on how to cancel my membership. I followed them, and forgot about the whole thing, thinking it was taken care of. When the next month came, I not only didn't get my refund, but I was billed again. Now I was a bit ticked. So, I called them. Explained that my membership should have already been cancelled, but that instead I got another bill. They ignored my problem completely, and started off on how instead of eBay, I should use Craigslist. Now, I was really ticked. So, I repeated my story, and she says, "Well, whether it was our fault or your's, something wasn't done right, so now it's too late for a refund." Now, I'm ready to strangle this woman. But, as calmly as possible, I told her my story once more and added in short, "Unless you refund my money like you agreed to, you will be hearing from my lawyer." Like someone else mentioned, this is the only thing you can do that will motivate SMC. So, they refunded my money at last.
It takes time
8/3/2008 - William of WV, USA writes:
Like most people I was looking for a quick fix on money. This IS NOT a quick fix. But if you take the time and money to get catalogs, itmes, and busines cards. You will start to sell. I opened my own web site with my SMC merchandice, while it did take over six months to start to sell, it did enventually work out. All you have to do is stick to it!
could not cancel sub before paying for a full year
7/1/2008 - Gilbert of Ca, USA writes:
To start with I bought the system like everybody else... I stated from the beginning that I wanted to do an online business and not set up a booth at a corner somewhere... Then, after many, many attempts to get a couch to assist me do business online I got frustated....and gave up... then, I tried to cancel my contract... Well, I couldn't...trial period was over....and had to pay for the entire year before being able to cancel my contract....and YES i paid for it....you know why....even though I was ...... I am an honest person and honored what I signed for....SMC hope you are enjoying my u$ 300.00 Good luck....what a way of doing business... Gilbert, Calexico,CA
Very satisfied with SMC
4/4/2008 - Bob of Nebraska, USA writes:
For those who complain about SMC on this site. Get over it. While I have had an occasional poor product from them, it is like any other vendor. Some product is great and some is less than garbage. They have been up front with me on all occasions, and I have not been disappointed with the majority of the product ordered. As a retailer you need to pick your market and the type of consumer you wish to target. It is not my only vendor but they provided me a great starting point. Retail is not for the feint of heart so pick a single line of product for your type of consumer and then proceed. You can always expand your product lines and list of vendors once you have success. SMC will only provide a limited success. You will need other vendors as well.
Canadian Investors Beware
3/16/2008 - Danielle of Québec, Canada writes:
I've never been so duped by a company. When I first contacted SMC, I explained that I was only interested in selling the products via my own Website, and that what drew me to their offer was that they would ship directly to my customers. The sales person did a good job of answering all my concerns about shipment including duty, and managed to sell me their premium package for $350, which included 15 free items, some catalogs and coaching sessions. I was never so excited to get a big box in the mail within the promised time. But that excitement quickly turned to anger when I came across the small print in the seller's manual that SMC does not ship directly to Canadian customers! I called to get a return authorization code, but gave up after being on hold for three hours. (I was angry enough to wait that long.) I then called my "coach", and I use that term loosely since this guy was absolutely not interested in helping out with my problem. When I told him that I had been flat-out lied to by their sales person, his answer was that these guys don't know all the ins-and-outs of the service. (After so many years in business, isn't it about time someone told them?) The coach told me that I should either open a store, sell at fleemarkets, or to other stores at wholesale prices. I wasn't interested in investing thousands of $$ to open a store, or doing the fleemarket run, and there's no money to be made in selling wholesale. He became increasingly rude with every objection and I could tell, and couldn't even apologize for the outright lie I was fed by their sales department. His only goal was to end our conversation, which I gladly did after three minutes when it became obvious I was wasting my time. Returning the package was going to cost me $150 in shipping, so I decided to sell the 15 items instead to recuperate some of my investment. However, 12 of the 15 items were either broken or defective. SMC's answer to that was to return them for replacement-- again, at considerable cost to me, more than they're worth. The point however is that if 12 of the 15 items they sent me were broken or defective, what kind of quality would I have been able to offer my Web order customers had SMC shipped directly to them in Canada? I think I ultimately avoided a nightmare! In the end, I accepted that I'd been had and learned a very valuable lesson: When it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
SCAMMER Company
1/23/2008 - paul of Maryland, USA writes:
my first Wife got hooked and reeled in with this company she answerd an ad for 25.00 and got some information and then they required her to send in a total of 2500.00 for fees and catalogues and business applications and I don't know what all, we had to threaten them with a law suite to stop harrassing us to get them to stop, but it is nothing but a joke and that was before the internet was around back in teh mid 80's total crap
Just stay away from gift card program
1/5/2008 - Laura of Texas, USA writes:
I had been with SMC a while and it was OK except thatI could hardly ever get my coach and then they really didn't want to deal with me because I couldn't put at least 30 hrs a week into it. But then they came out with their gift card program. They gave me very little information. My coaches were a joke! I just couldn't get real information or answers to my problems. With the card program you are restricted to one company to handle your web site. The site costs $30 a month. I had an account set up that was suppose to cover merchandise, they ended up taking almost $200 out of that without telling me. This was dispite the fact that I was told by several people that they couldn't access my site. I also had trouble accessing it. When they had tapped me out of that money their responce was basicly, "Oh well, I found it" Then I had told them I was having some problems and had to basicly had to put things on hold they said it would be no problem. I tried to go onto my site because I had given some cards for Christmas and just given the customers books. After having problems logging in, I was told it was because I was no longer a member. They said they hit my checking account and the charge was refused. I checked my account, it had never had a charge from them. Then I found out they had taken almost $200 out of a merchandise account that I had with them because they said if I had money in the account after a year I automaticly lost it! This was with no notice and not even a little bit of an appology. They said if I even wanted to look at my account I had to pay my renewal fee which had gone up $20 in a year and another $25 because my membership had lapsed. I would have been better off signing up as a new member!!!
TOTAL SCAM!!!
11/16/2007 - Deb of Maine, USA writes:
GARBAGE! You will NEVER make a profit, the market is totally saturated with their JUNK items1 WEbsites are USELESS! It WILL drive you NUTS trying to get onto their own sales website to order your products! DONT WASTE your time!!
Just Like Most Pyramid Products
8/13/2007 - Shannon of Texas, USA writes:
I just found this rating site and wanted to share my past experience about SMC. My husband and I have tried many infomercial products and so we had no illusions about getting rich quick. I am quite a skeptic and refused to purchase any of the multiple add-ons that SMC tried to sell me over the phone. I figured that I was only willing to gamble the original sales price and no more. SMC would have been a great deal if you were the first to buy into the program - by the time I decided it was ok to try it, the market was already way too saturated with SMC merchandise. I tried selling on several different popular auction sites as well as a few lesser known ones. Basically, the popular sites had at least 10 people selling the exact same product, each trying to undercut the others. I found that I was having to severely increase the shipping and handling charges in order to reduce my minimum opening bids and still insure a minimal profit. I also started having to increase the opening bid amount for each item that closed without any bids because I had to recoup the listing price I paid to try selling it. And, of course, with the lesser known sites there just wasn't enough traffic to generate profitable sales - many items closed with no bids. The free website they created was very cheezy and pretty useless - I was not willing to pay extra for the fancy self-perpetuated site they offerd at a monthly fee. I figured that the popular auction sites would generate more business than a no-name website that offered the same products as 2000 other sites out there. I really became weary after watching the package video in which you are encouraged to employ others to distribute the brochures and sell the products for you so that you can add a percentage to their sales price for your own profit. Basically, I offer this warning - if anyone out there is familiar with such programs as Avon or Amway, this is a similar program. They offer many sound tips on merchandising which may help you generate other business ideas, but don't plan on making any money on SMC's products. Most of the products they offer are "alabaster" figurines of one sort or another that were made in some Asian country and probably for one-tenth of what they are selling them to you for. This is a middle-man position and is not a good investment opportunity.
SMC is not worth it whatsoever!
8/11/2007 - Melissa of Georgia, USA writes:
SMC is not worth it whatsoever! I started SMC a few years ago. Purchased a huge stack of catalogs. Gave them to friends & family to get started. My friends & family do love me but no one ordered anything. Everyone made comments "ohh this is cute" & "wow whats nice." No one ordered anything. Im now debating on renewing my membership after Ive paid $300 of my hard earned money for the membership to begin with. I am aware that being self-employeed means working harder than a normal wage job, but the internet is so saturated with these exact products that no one will buy any. I want to sell some things to atleast break $300 so I dont feel like I didnt make what I put in. My husband doesnt want me to renew. He thinks I wont sell anything. Not that I dont have the potential, but the products are worth the trouble. So if your thinking about doing this SMC thing, DONT BOTHER! Much easier & more profitable to find nice things in a thrift store or even a flea market and sell on eBay! But the best bet for you and everyone thats interested in this SMC is to go to college and get a degree in something and get a real career. I am currently doing an athome study course from a college in my local area to do Medical Billing and Coding. That has a definate future for me.
Be careful but not cynical
7/16/2007 - Jay of Michigan, USA writes:
If you have one "takeaway" from you're reading here, know this: SMC is out to make their profits off of YOU, not your customers! For those of you who don't know what I mean, I'll explain: SMC is one of those companies that says, "We win when you win," which in essence means that if you sell alot, you both make money. Well, that may be true, but that's not SMC's mission. Their mission is to sell you add-on programs, like websites they will design for you for a price, but worst of all, your business "coach (who is actually a salesman)" will attempt to sell you a several-thousand dollar additional program, making it sound nessessary and legitimate. I highly recommend AGAINST doing this at all costs! Oh, here's another sleazy thing about the company: To be a member, you choose to pay a lifetime membership fee at once, or pay monthly ($39/month) for one year. If you do not quit within the first month and ask for your refund, SMC states that you are obligated to pay fees for the whole year--- even if you quit! That's close to $500! And on your first phone call with them, they will try very hard to get you to commit to the full membership "RIGHT AWAY" and they will offer a discount. What they want is to have you commit as much of your own money to them as possible and as fast as possible. I am saying alot of negative things here but also--- I'm sure people do make money with SMC and maybe some even make a living. It is possible and they do have many, many products to sell, and different ways to sell them. However, this company does not care about you, be aware. They want your money, nothing else. Caution.
Sell My Crap . Com!!
11/10/2006 - Rosa of California, USA writes:
My husband worked for their company. Its a scam! Dont buy from them!They just want money for their website and its up to you to sell everything. They do nothing other than sell you more stuff to fill their minimum requirements.
Another Bust!
10/4/2006 - Karen of Michigan, USA writes:
When I contacted the company for their brochure, I had it within days. The first thing I did was go into eBay and see if it had any potential. There was such a glut of SMC items that no one was getting anywhere near SMC's "profit" predictions. Most were selling below what they paid for the items - not an encouraging sign. I decided not to bother with buying their products, and within a couple of weeks I was contacted by my personal mentor, explained the situation to him (no chance of making any profit), and he suggested that I buy them and look for local shops that might be interested. If they're interested, wouldn't they be buying directly via SMC?? Besides, I didn't want door-to-door, I wanted items for auction. I'm glad I "lost out" on this program before I spent my hard earned money on it.
Lucky if you break even
8/29/2006 - Tony of Tennessee, USA writes:
I gave this product a shot for a full year before cutting my losses. The products are average to horrible; especially the candles. You might get lucky with friends, family and other "personal loyalty" sales, and you might even sell some at a flee market setting. However, you will take a hit to your credibility when they get the product and it looks and feels cheap...kiss repeat business goodbye. Avoid the website at all costs. It's the scam of all scams. You will have a monthly bill of around $75 and you start out in the hole by a few thousand dollars. In return, you get a half baked website that looks like 20,000 other SMC websites (different colors).
SMC is OK
8/28/2006 - Sherry of Oklahoma, USA writes:
I have been a member of SMC for many years. I have sold quite a bit of it in antique malls and flea markets. I have ordered many items as gifts for other people. I will never get rich off SMC, but I have enjoyed piddling with it all these years.
Wastes of Time & Money
8/20/2006 - Tom of Ohio, USA writes:
I purchased my smc membership a couple of years ago, I gave this two years to work,I have put thousands of hours into trying to build my own business but with very little success, Smc is so saturated that no one can make a profet except smc themselfs This will only give you false hopes of getting rich
rip off city
8/18/2006 - Ed of New York, USA writes:
this was a waste of money-i got this program--ordered 200 catalogs--it was the christmas season i thought i would clean up-i got one small order--i gave the money back to customer- s m c wouldnt let me out of the program till i paid another 250 bucks its exstortion--s m c -alos told me 1000's quit every month -who wants those cheesey nick nack stautes and figures-its crap-i would run the other way from this-that woman and bosely are misleading folks--
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