Frequently Asked Question for Starting LuLaRoe

By: Kate Crump

Contact me personally for more questions via my LuLaRoe Kate Crump Facebook Group
If you’d like to shop in my store, visit LuLaRoeKateCrump.com

I wrote this blog post as a way to help others find answers to questions before joining LuLaRoe. I personally asked most of these questions myself, and wanted to share my experience with all of you! I hope these help! If you haven’t joined yet, make sure to check out my blog post What YOU Need to Know Before Joining LuLaRoe.

Q: What makes LuLaRoe different than any other MLM?
A: One of the biggest things that sets LuLaRoe apart is that we don’t have a set catalog. When you purchase your inventory, you purchase styles, sizes and quantities. LuLaRoe will send you variety of prints in the sizes and styles you’ve ordered. This means that the competition for customers is extremely low because every consultant has completely different inventory, and everyone carries different styles. It’s an incredible business strategy that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Because of the way this is set up, all the retailers are always willing to help each other and it’s created a culture of love and service. Mostly any retailer will allow you to come a do a sale in their store, where you pay them wholesale of what you sell. This allows your customers to see new inventory AND the retailer to move pieces and make some money back to place another order. Both retailers win.

Q: How much do I make from each sale?
A: You’ll make anywhere from 100%-110% on each sale, depending on which items you’re selling. For example, you could buy an item for $15 and sell it for $35. Not all items have the same percentage mark up but they’re all around the same percentage. The least you’ll make is 100% which is more than any other MLM I have ever found.

Q: What does it cost to become a LuLaRoe Consultant?
A: LuLaRoe recently changed the start up cost to begin your own LuLaRoe business!! It is now only $499 to start, and with that, you get to choose ANY 65 pieces that are in stock at the time of your onboarding call. Check out my blog post LuLaRoe Start Up Cost for more details.

Q: What is included in the initial package?
A: There are currently no set packages anymore. Now, you just choose whatever styles/sizes/quantities you’d like and customize your entire start up order. Start up costs are now as low as $499 (65 pieces).

Q: What ways can I pay for my initial investment?
A: You can pay for your initial investment with a debit card, ACH Account, or any major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover Card). Some consultants find a credit card that offers 0% interest for 12-18 months to pay for their initial investment. Most credit cards offer rewards for using their card, so this is an easy way to earn some rewards if you’re disciplined to pay off your card. You can use as many credit cards as you like to pay for your initial order.

Q: Is there a consignment program?
A: There used to be, but there is not anymore

Q: What happens when you enter the queue?
A: Once you submit your application to become a retailer, LuLaRoe will call within a day or two, and place you in the “queue”. During your queue time, they’ll do a training call with you. During this training call, they’ll give you challenges to complete, before you officially become a retailer. Some of these challenges include:

1. 1. Create a list of 50 names
   2. Host a pop up with a sponsor or retailer nearby
   3. Book a pop up with a Customer

Once you have completed these three challenges, you are invited to join the LuLaRoe T.E.A.M.

Q: How long can you stay in the queue?
A: You can stay in the queue for up to 6 months before you have to submit your application again.

Q: What if I sign up and decide it’s not for me? Can I get my money back?
A: If you decide to terminate your account, LuLaRoe offers an 85% buy back program where they will refund you 85% of the cost of your inventory that was purchased within the last year.

Q: What are different ways that I can sell my inventory?
A: Most people sell online in a Facebook group created specifically for your business. A lot of retailers like to do home pop-up’s (home parties), vendor events, open houses at their own homes, instagram, and even your own website that LuLaRoe provides for you. You can customize your business to what works best for you.

Q: How will not picking my own prints help my business?
A: This is another cool thing about LuLaRoe! If you were to pick all of your own prints, then you’d only be catering to people who like what YOU like. By allowing LuLaRoe to send you a variety of prints, you’re catering to everyone. You might get a print that you think is unattractive, but one of your customers will love it.

Q: What if I get prints that are taking a while to sell?
A: Every once in a while you might get a print that you may have a hard time moving. Not because it’s not cute, but maybe you just don’t have the right customer for that print. In this case, you can trade it with other retailers, or offer a discount on it to your customers. Often times I’ll do a promotion such as, buy 3 get 1 free, and for their free item I’ll include a print that I’ve had for longer than a couple months.

Q: Can I create a website for my business and sell there?
A: LuLaRoe provides us with a website to list your inventory and sell directly there!! It’s free too!! You upload your inventory to the website through the Bless portal, and they provide you with your domain. Your customers can add items to their cart and checkout straight from your website. Other than this website, you are not allowed to create your own website for self-checkout.

You are more than welcome to create a blog to share your LuLaRoe experiences (see my LuLaRoe Kate Crump homepage); however, you are not allowed sell or promote product directly from your blog.

Q: How do taxes work? Do they send you a 1099? How much do you have to put aside, do they take taxes out of your check?
A: LuLaRoe sends you a 1099 if you earn over $600 in commissions from them. Commissions are earned if you have a team or at least one person in your downline. If you don’t get a 1099, then you are responsible to file your own taxes and report it all yourself. LuLaRoe doesn’t take income taxes out of our commission checks or customer purchases; however, they do withhold the sales tax and pay that to your state for you. I set aside about 10-15% of my profit for income tax.

Q: How often do you get paid for my customer’s purchases?
A: Immediately! LuLaRoe gives you a debit card, where the money from your customer’s orders are immediately deposited to after the transaction is completed. You can use that debit card anywhere that Mastercard is accepted. If you’d like to deposit these funds into your checking account, there is a $1 processing fee per transfer, and the transfer takes 2-3 business days.

Q: Will I be paid per transaction or per day?
A: You are paid as often as you’d like!! In your bless app, there is a “Get Paid” button that, when pressed, pays you immediately to your LuLaRoe Debit Card for any payments that have come through since the last transfer. If you don’t manually transfer the funds, then LuLaRoe will process the funds to your Debit Card once per day. Once the money is on your LuLaRoe Debit Card, you can choose how often to transfer the funds to your checking account, should you choose to move them there.

Q: If I have a downline/team, how often am I paid my commission check?
A: If you build a team and qualify for a commission check, your check is Direct Deposited to your Checking Account once a month around the 15th of the following month. For example, for June’s commissions, you’d get paid around July 15th.

Q: Am I required or pressured to build a team?
A: You are not required or pressured to build a team. Another awesome thing about LuLaRoe is that you can make plenty of money from your personal sales, and you are not required or pressured to build a team. You can just sell the clothing if you want. I’ve never felt pushed to build a team, but have been encouraged to build at my own comfort and pace.

Q: Is there a waiting list to join LuLaRoe?
A: There’s not! They do have a two week waiting period after signing up where they send you trainings to help you be successful as a retailer.

Q: What can I do during the waiting period?
A: The “waiting period” is referred to as the “queue”. While you are in queue, LuLaRoe will do a two week training with you. During this training, they’ll have you watch some training videos, they’ll guide you to set up your Business Page and give you some assignments including:

1. Create a list of 50 names
2. Host a pop up with a sponsor or retailer nearby
3. Book a pop up with a Customer

I will also coach you and help you with all you need to do. Some things include setting up your Facebook group, advertising that you are a new consultant, purchasing your racks, hangers, lights, business cards, label machine, labels, and getting your LLC set up. There is seriously so much to do, that the 2 week wait is a blessing!

Q: When do I pay for the initial investment?
A: You won’t pay for your first order until you are all done with your 2 week training.

Q: When you order new inventory, how long does it take to receive?
A: That kind of depends on where you live, and which distribution center your inventory ships from. I’m in Utah, so it takes about 3 days to get my orders from California. If for any chance my order is shipped from the South Carolina Distribution Center, then it takes about a week. Ground shipping is free, but if you want to upgrade your shipping to get it faster, there are options to do so.

Q: Is there a purchasing minimum in order to stay active?
A: Nope. You do not have to order ANYTHING to stay active. The only requirement is that you SELL 1 item once a month. Your sale needs to be processed through LuLaRoe’s sales platform, known as “Bless”.

Q: What is the wholesale cost on each item?
A: Most of the items are about 50% off the retail cost.

Q: How do you keep track of sales, with who purchased what?
A: Every retailer does it a little different, but when someone claims an item in my Facebook group, I’ll hang it on my “sold” rack with a sticky note in front of their items so I can keep everyone’s items separate. Some people use bins to put their sold items in. When you invoice through Bless, there’s a way for you to include a picture of the items they got so you can always refer back to their order. It’s pretty simple.

Q: In regards to shipping…do you have a “deal” with the post office for pick up or do you have to bring everything to the post office to drop off everyday?
A: You can schedule the USPS to pick up all your packages everyday, through their website. This is convenient so you never need to go drop them off. My mail carrier comes around noon everyday so sometimes when people pay after that, I’ll go drop it off so it ships same day. If it’s later though, I’ll just wait till she comes again the next day. You can also get an account through Fedex to ship your packages, but from what I understand, you have to pay a fee for them to pick up your package. At least the USPS is free 🙂

Q: Do you get discounted shipping?
A: I use shippingeasy.com as my shipping platform. They have collaborated with LuLaRoe and offer a discounted shipping rate. Their staff is incredibly helpful and offer other tools to specifically help your LuLaRoe business, including a free service to generate marketing e-mails to your customers. It’s pretty cool.

Q: For pictures, are there certain procedures you have to follow or can you do how you want?
A: You can take the pictures of your inventory however you want. They suggest they look neat and clean, which will only help your business look professional. Do not take your pictures on carpet or a blanket. I recommend you take your pictures as a flat-lay, with a white background, in good lighting. You are representing your business and LuLaRoe through your pictures.

Q: What are your commission bonuses based on?
A: Bonuses are based on team sales. When your first level team sells product through the LuLaRoe point of sale system “Bless”, LuLaRoe pays you 5% of the wholesale cost of their sales. The compensation changes depending on what rank your team members are, and what rank you are. There is also a leadership bonus pool given to anyone who ranks trainer and above. Let me know if you want more information on the compensation plan!

Q: When looking for a sponsor in LuLaRoe, what are some things to keep in mind?
A: The first and most important thing to remember is that YOU run your business, not your sponsor. You determine the growth and success of your business. It’s incredibly helpful to have a sponsor that is resourceful and a coach for you, someone who will give you ideas and tips, and constructive feedback. Someone who cares about your business and wants you to succeed. Just always remember that the success of your business is on YOU. Not on your sponsor.

Q: In addition to my initial investment, what kind of extra supplies are required? 
A: You’ll need to get racks, hangers, size tags, poly mailers, label maker, labels, merchandise bags, business cards, post it notes, bins for leggings, Re-tagger etc. I spent about an extra $600 on these extra items.

Q: Are there monthly fees to be a consultant?
A: No, there are no monthly fees!

Q: Do you have to sell a specific amount each month?
A: Yes. To stay active, you need to sell at least one item per month.

Q: Are there trainings that will help me be successful?
A: YES! LuLaRoe does training calls every other week, where Home Office trainers will provide tips and ideas. In addition, they ask different LuLaRoe retailers each call to share some of their business strategies. It’s nice hearing from so many different retailers. It always gives me so many awesome ideas.
LuLaRoe also holds in-person trainings all over the country so they can come to YOU and provide you with excellent training, in addition to the annual convention, held every July.

Q: Is there a certain price that I have to sell the clothing for?
A: When you sell the clothing online, there is a MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) that you are required to advertise the clothing at on Facebook. LuLaRoe provides us with a website, where you can list your inventory. On this website, you can list your inventory for whatever price you’d like.

When you post your inventory on Facebook, it needs to be advertised at MAP; however, if you are to do a live sale, you can verbally say what your price is for your items, but you cannot post it in writing. There specific guidelines are laid out in the Policies and Procedures if you’d like to read more about that.

For in-person sales, you are welcome to sell the clothing for whatever price you’d like.

Q: Am I allowed to do sales online, since there is a MAP requirement?
A: Yes, you can sell the clothing online for a discount, but you can’t post the sale price on Facebook. Should you choose to discount, you can either do a Facebook Live where you verbally tell them the sale prices, or you can direct them to your website where you have the items marked down.

Q: When you get new inventory and there’s something you want for yourself, do you just keep it or do you buy it from yourself?
A: That is entirely up to you. You can either purchase it from your business or you can just keep it. Most retailers just keep it. I like to log what I keep for tax purposes.

Q: How many hours a week do you put into LuLaRoe?
A: Every week is a little different for me, depending on my schedule, but I try to put in at least 40 hours into my sales a week. Some weeks I want to spend more time doing things with my kids so I work less. Other weeks I have big sales goals, so I put more time in. The amount of quality work that you dedicate to your business will really determine how much you will sell.

The more dedicated time you put into your business, the more successful you will probably be. At first, when you’re working to get your business going, it’s going to take a lot of time and work. Once you get the hang of things, it might not require as much time. But it all just depends on how much you want to make/sell.

Q: How much should I set aside for income tax?
A: I’ve estimated that I may need to pay 10-15% of my profit so that’s what I set aside to pay yearly. Some retailers pay quarterly. You may not owe much at the end of the year, depending on your write offs and your actual income. It is definitely smart to save and set aside money for taxes, just in case! Please see a tax professional and/or financial advisor for advice regarding taxes.

Q: What do you like best/worst about LLR?
A: I love the culture of LuLaRoe. They are all about giving and serving others. They always say the more you give the more you’ll see your business thrive. They’re incredibly positive and motivating. I love that since all the retailers have completely different stores, there isn’t really any competition.

I love that all the retailers help each other, even if we aren’t on the same team. We are a sisterhood. It’s amazing, and you won’t find this anywhere else, because in any other MLM, everyone is competing for customers. Here, we share customers and help each other to be successful. It’s amazing.
Right now, LuLaRoe is in the BEST place that they’ve ever been! This is truly the best time to become apart of this incredible company. The prints are beautiful, Home Office is listening to the retailers and constantly making changes for the better.

The tools they’ve provided for us really help magnify our abilities as Independent Retailers… The company is 100% debt free.
I can’t think of anything that I don’t like about the company. LuLaRoe, and retailers as a whole, are in a wonderful place. I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.

Q: Do you think LuLaRoe will ever become over-saturated?
A: Until you see everyone, everywhere you go wearing LuLaRoe, you don’t need to worry about saturation. Quite often when I tell people what I do, they have never even heard of it! So it still has a long ways to go. Women will always be buying clothing! Saturation is not of my concern.

Q: There are already a few consultants in my area who sell. How will this affect my business?
A: This is GREAT news! With more consultants nearby, the better you’ll do because the Retailers help each other out. You can swap inventory with these other Retailers (to switch up your selection) and do multi-consultant sales together. Right now the majority of retailers participate in “Takeovers”, where they go to another retailer’s store and do a Facebook Live sale where you sell other retailer’s inventory. Then, whatever you sell, you purchase at wholesale from that retailer. So it’s actually really convenient to have a lot of retailers nearby so you can have a better selection of inventory for your customers.

Remember, everyone has totally different inventory, so you don’t need to worry about competition and losing customers to other consultants. If your customer service is outstanding, your customers will always come back. 🙂

Q: Are leggings included in LuLaRoe’s initial order?
A: You get to customize your order based on the styles and sizes that are currently in stock. Instead of the old start up packages they used to have, it’s now totally customized by you!

Q: If I get in the Queue and decide that I don’t want to do it anymore, can I still back out?
A: Yes, you can. You can tell them you aren’t interested anymore when they call you, or just ignore the phone call.

Q: Can I sign people up to be on my team while I am still in queue?
A: No. LuLaRoe wants sponsors to have experience selling the brand before they build a team. One of the requirements to be a sponsor is to have sold at least $10,000. Once you have sold that amount, and hosted at least 10 separate Pop-Ups, you can start sponsoring people into the business.

Q: Can I use “LuLaRoe” (or any form of it) in my business name?
A: The name “LuLaRoe” can only be used by LuLaRoe LLC. LuLaRoe, in any form, may not be used in any Retailer’s business names. They ask that you refer to their Policies and Procedures for how to name your LuLaRoe business.

Q: Can I change my Sponsor?
A: Your Sponsor is the person who helped you start your journey with LuLaRoe. LuLaRoe is a strong community based company and as such they do not allow any Sponsor changes, if you are an active consultant. You are more than welcome to work with others who are in your Upline (Trainers, Coaches, and Mentors) since they are a part of your T.E.A.M. If you are an inactive consultant for 6 consecutive months (meaning, you do not sell any inventory), then you can submit a request to change your sponsor.

Q: Can I sign up with a friend/partner?
A: Unfortunately, LuLaRoe no longer allows partnerships. If you wish to sign up, you are welcome to join with your spouse, but not with a friend/family member. However, if you sign up under an LLC, and both names are listed on the LLC, then LuLaRoe will allow it.

Q: How do I care for my LuLaRoe apparel?
A: You’ll want to wash your LuLaRoe inside out, on cold & hang dry. Always make sure to read the tags on each item before washing. Some delicate pieces require dry cleaning.

Q: How often do new LuLaRoe styles and products come out?
A: LuLaRoe is always keeping up with the newest fashions and designing new styles! They usually come out with about 15-30 new products every year.

Q: Does LuLaRoe have a catalog?
A: Because each retailer has different inventory, there isn’t one single catalog of all the items that are available. Each retailer basically has their own unique catalog. You can view LuLaRoe’s style catalog to see all current styles.
If you’d like to view my personal catalog, you can here: lularoekatecrump.com

Q: What if I get an item in my inventory that is damaged?
A: LuLaRoe stands behind their product and will reimburse you for any damaged items that they send you. Once you have 15 or more defective items, you’ll submit a ticket and return the damaged items. Usually within 2-4 weeks you’ll receive a credit to your LuLaRoe account for the amount that you paid when you purchased the items.

Q: If I go inactive, do I need to purchase the start up package again?
A: You don’t. You can go up to six months of inactivity. To reactivate, you just need to sell one item. If you go inactive for two consecutive six-month periods, then LuLaRoe will close your account and you’ll need to contact their Onboarding team to discuss reactivation options.

Q: When I do home parties, am I required or encouraged to give any presentation?
A: No way! The way we do our parties is an open-house style. Guests will come and go, as it is convenient for them. In your initial order, LuLaRoe will provide you with tools such as sign templates, fliers, bags and training documents on how to host a successful home party.

Again, feel free to Contact me personally for more questions via my Facebook page LuLaRoe Kate Crump, or via my Facebook group LuLaRoe Kate Crump.