Complaint Review: SMC/Smart Living Company - Simi California

I joined Smart Living Co in 1999 when it was called Specialty Merchandise Corp. I have never had any problems with them and it's really just a matter of knowing how much you can afford to invest. The saying "it takes money to make money" is true and I haven't made a fortune because I haven't put alot of money into it, but I also didn't go in debt. I am currently working on upgrading my website and doing a little advertising to try to step it up a little, but I know not to spend what I can't afford. The company is on the up and up, and in my opinion is a great opportunity to make some money on the side or go all the way if you have money to put into it. I hope to someday open a gift shop starting with their products.

Sincerely,

Happy Smart Living Investor

I started with SMC back in 2002.  I received one online order and sold a few items at the flea market.  These sales nowhere covered the amount I spent for the SMC membership, catalogs and the products.  I would like to believe that I didn't put forth enough effort as to the reason I failed miserably at selling these items; but I knew different.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that SMC (known today as Smart Living Company (SLC)) were the biggest rip offs, but they weren't completely forth coming with their ads and the extra fees you have to pay.  

All they did was tell people what they wanted to hear.  I went on their Smart Living Company website today and was reading the testimonial excerpts.  They are the same exact testimonials that I heard back in 2002 (word for word).  I know this because I went into the garage and pulled out the video tapes I received with my start-up package and watched them.  So I wouldn't believe what is on their website.

But enough of that because I think you get the gist.

Now, with all of that set aside, I believe that you can probably sell the SLC products and achieve success if you put forth 200% or have just really good luck.  The problem I found with selling the products is that the market was saturated with their products by people trying to do the same thing I was doing.  Ebay was saturated with sellers selling the merchandise way below cost.  

At one time I wondered if SLC or SMC at that time, was listing the items on Ebay themselves, selling items at a very low price and making a profit since their cost was low.  Because I know that there was no way anyone else could profit from those low prices.  You would probably have to live in a place where people would have to drive 100 miles just to get to some form of civilization just to shop.  When I took my products to the flea market, there were so many tables selling the same thing.  

These sellers, including myself were making 25 cent profit on each sale.  I almost hit it big selling the electirc lint removers wholesale to a discount store chain.  I would have made 25 cents on each lint remover.  It wasn't a lot, but it was a start.  But bad luck set in really quick.  When I attempted to place my order with SMC/SLC, they had discontinued the lint removers.  Needless to say, I stopped selling SMC products 3 years later when I was about $6,000 in the hole with nothing to show for it.

To wrap this up, if you want to start your own business, I believe you can find some other company or way to pursue your entrepreneur dreams.  SLC is not the best route, and it is a very costly one; not to say other companies are not costly.  But if you want to start your own business, pick something that you are good at making or doing and sell the product/service.  

Or campus your neighborhood to see what products or services are missing and enter that market.  Create your own niche.  You can start with little or no money.  Start small and add as your customer base grows.  SLC will not get you there unless you live in the mountains or a town that has nothing but a small grocery store and a hardware store.

          What you are saying about Smartlivingcompany might be true, but I would like to make it clear that the firsrt amendment right to free speech can also infringe on me developing my web sities.
          You have reported a rip off by Smartlivingcompany and want to let you know how this might affect me.  I am not from Smartlivingcompany. I am the owner of domains  
 
Smartlivingcompany.ca. Smartlivingcompany.co. Smartlivingcompany.info. Smartlivingcompany.net.
Smartlivingcompany.us. Smartlivingcompany.mobi. 
 
I might have to offer them to Smartlivingcompany or put them for sale to the highest bidder.

I was a member of SMC but allowed my membership to lapse. Not because I found it to be a terrible or horrible company but mostly I couldn't afford the membership anymore. The membership gradually went up to about $50.00 per year, as of last year. 

To be completely honest I did little or nothing with my membership. I believe the business would have worked for me if I had put more of an effort into it. Nothing from nothing left me with nothing. But I don't ever recall the company asking or suggesting to me to go into debt to get my business going.

What I recall, it was suggested that as a beginner one might want to start slow. Use the catalogs to get orders. Or sell your items at a flea market or swap meet. There were other avenues such as: mail order, sub-wholesaling, fundraising, the internet, parties, operating a gift shop, and more. 

I think there were about ten to twelve suggested ways to market your business when I was with "SMC". They talked about the least expensive ways to start and the most expensive. The catalogs being dirt cheap was a low cost way to start, unless thousands of them were purchased at a time. 

Among the most expensive was opening up a gift shop. A pretty big budget would be needed for that sort of venture. So I just can't see how anyone can go $40,000 in debt unless that person was trying to start big from the beginning. 

My biggest gripe with "SMC" was their customer service. Those people were rude and acted as if they were doing me a favor. The way I saw it I was doing them a favor. I was a member and I was in a position to help or hurt their reputation.

If I decide to go back with "SMC" or "Smart Living Company" as they are called now, I will definitely not deal with any bad mouth customer service representatives. I will go directly to the daughter of the founder of the company and address any situations I have with her. 

So to reiterate, one has to use good sense and start from where it makes sense. It doesn't make sense to go into thousands of dollars in debt, if it isn't in the budget. No matter what it seems that someone else is doing. That's their budget. Stay inside of your budget.