Disclaimer: This article is opinion of the author and should not be taken in lieu of professional financial or professional legal advice. At no time has the author of this article worked for or been compensated by Color Street or its affiliates.
So you heard that Jamberry is no longer around and you’re looking at the next big direct sales opportunity. Or perhaps you’ve never heard of Jamberry, but you just learned about Color Street. Maybe you just like articles that analyze direct sales companies.
Regardless of what brought you here, welcome!
In this article, we’re going to take a look at Color Street, a direct sales company. Color Street recruits Independent Stylists to sell their product. The main product Color Street sells is nail strips.
This is very similar to Jamberry’s nail wrap product.
So let’s dive in.
What does it cost to become a Color Street Independent Stylist?
Like most direct sales companies, Color Street requires that you pay to sign up for the opportunity.
To sign up as a Color Street Independent Stylist, you need to purchase a Basic Starter Kit for $129.
It seems like you get a lot for this price, and Color Street claims it’s a $250+ value.
But you need to consider that it’s a $129 value – because anyone can purchase the Basic Starter Kit and get all of these things. So keep that in mind.
How much do Color Street products go for?
The cost of a Color Street Nail Polish Strip set ranges from $11 to $14.
Since these photos are clearly the work of a graphic designer and not the actual product applied, we looked for examples of the actual product.
For your information, here are some screenshots of the actual product applied.
How much money can I make from selling Color Street nail polish strips?
According to Color Street’s Compensation Plan, you make 25% base commission off of the Personal Volume (PV) sold.
Important note about personal volume (PV) in direct sales
Many people are confused by direct sales commission and payouts. It’s important to note that the retail sales volume you sell is not typically the amount you earn commission on. Personal Volume, or PV for short, is what the direct sales company defines as your commission-eligible value.
I’m interested in becoming a Color Street Independent Stylist. How much money can I make?
Let’s break down the initial investment and the earnings potential using the following assumptions:
- You become a Color Street Independent Stylist at the lowest level, with the cheapest starter kit ($129)
- You earn at the lowest level, which is 25% base commission on PV
- You want to sell Color Street to earn an income – an income you’d otherwise be unable to attain due to daycare costs or other time constraints
- You think that selling Color Street would be a better alternative than getting a minimum wage job. For the purposes of this analysis, we’ll show how much you’d need to sell in order to earn the equivalent of a minimum wage job.
Color street independent stylist costs
The Basic Starter Kit costs $129. Are there additional costs to consider when selling Color Street?
Yes. Other costs include:
- Website – $9.95 per month. Your first month is free.
- Quota – You must sell $300 in product every six months to stay active and be commission eligible.
So the Year 1 annual costs to be an Independent Stylist:
- $129 Basic Starter Kit
- $9.95 x 11 months = $109.45 website costs in Year 1
We’ll leave out the sales quota (for now). And we’ll revisit that later.
How many nail polish wraps do I need to sell to earn the equivalent of minimum wage?
The Federal Minimum Wage is $7.25 per hour.
Let’s assume you’d like to earn the equivalent of a full-time, minimum wage job before taxes.
So 37.5 hours per week at $7.25 an hour is $271.87 a week. Or roughly $1,087.50 per month, before taxes.
Remember the point about PV
For simplicity’s sake, we’re going to stick with retail value and not make assumptions on Color Street’s PV policies. Why? Well, for starters, we can’t find the information.
So how many nail polish strips do I need to sell per month?
Let’s assume you sell the nail polish strips for $12 each. That’s more than the lowest cost of $11, but we’ll assume your friends and family want to splurge a little.
For each $12 nail polish strip you sell, you may earn $3. Why “may” and not “will”? Because of our point about PV. We don’t know what the PV is on a $12 Color Street nail polish strip.
So if you earn $3 per $12 strip you sell, you’ll need to sell 90.62 nail polish strips per week to earn the equivalent of a full-time minimum wage job. Round that up to 91, because you can’t sell 0.62 of a nail polish strip.
If there are 4 weeks in a month, you need to sell 363 nail polish strips per month in order to earn the equivalent of a full-time, minimum wage job before taxes.
Keep in mind you’ll have to pay taxes on your Independent Stylist earnings, too.
What about the costs to start?
Before you even make a dime, you’ll need to recoup your initial investment.
If you want to recoup your initial investment in one month, you’ll need to sell 43 nail polish strips at $12 each, assuming your PV is 12 and you earn $3 per sale.
So before you make any money in month one, you’ll need to sell 43 products. If it takes you longer than 1 month, you’ll have to add the website costs to that investment, too.
Is it even possible to sell that much product?
Anything is possible. But is it probable that you’ll sell 363 nail polish strips per month? Most likely not.
what if i just want to make a little extra money?
You can use our Direct Sales Calculator to do the math for you. Keep in mind you’ll need to recoup your initial investment + yearly expenses to actually make a profit.
Who should consider this opportunity?
Look, we’re not in the business of telling women what to do with their time or money. We firmly believe that women should be empowered to make their own informed decisions, which is why we stick to the data.
Here are a few things you should consider before buying into any business opportunity:
- Are you comfortable with never recouping the initial investment? If you can afford to lose $129, that’s one thing. If you would have been better off buying groceries or paying down a debt, then you should consider your financial investments carefully.
- Have you ever been in a sales position before? While these companies boast that no experience is necessary, sales is a really tough job. Selling just one of a product can be tough. But selling hundreds of products monthly takes a huge amount of skill – and time.
- Do you truly understand what you need to do to make money? If the compensation plan is confusing to you, it’s not because you’re stupid; it’s because it’s designed that way. You should have a clear understanding of how much you need to spend, what you need to do, and how much you’ll make as a result. If you don’t understand, it’s usually a good cue to walk away.
But Bottlesoup, what can I do to make money from home that’s not a scam?
Great question! Luckily, we live in 2018 and there are plenty of legitimate work from home opportunities.
If you’re a good writer, you can find freelancing jobs from sites like Textbroker and others that pay you based on the work you do. No strings attached.
If you have a crafty skill, you can open an Etsy shop.
If you’re good on the phone, you can find jobs at Apple, Disney, Hilton, and other big name companies that allow their Customer Service Associates to work from home.
If you’re a degreed professional, many office jobs allow you to work remotely.
Invest in yourself first
So let’s say you can’t find a legitimate work-from-home job to help financially support your family. That’s rough.
But make the investment in yourself to learn the skills and certification necessary to get those jobs.
Data Junkie says
Great work once again Bottlesoup. Thank you for doing this! So 91 wraps per week, if you only want to work Mon-Fri, is 18 per day. If you only want to work 8 hours per day, that’s more than two wraps per hour, every hour, for 8 hours a day, five days per week. Good luck with that!
Mrs. Bottlesoup says
Thanks, Data Junkie! I like your hourly breakdown. Really puts it in perspective!
Steph says
There is a Facebook group called Lularoe Defective – they found the company that makes theses and you can get them for $4 LOL at Walmart. I will have to search and find it.
Bottlesoup says
Oh wow! I’d love to see that. Searching for the FB group now 🙂 Thanks, Steph!
Lauraine says
Incoco and Coconut Nails are sold at Walmart. Made by the same company.
Kelly Hunter says
Thank you so mach for your analysis. I was interested in becoming a consultant and decided to google the company to see what is being said about it. I liked your breakdown of the direct sales and the pv. I also found that they are not BBB Accredited and have an F rating. Their product is also available on amazon although at a higher price, when their rules state it has to be sold directly either through a consultants website or in person, no remote sales They also heavily encourage you to stay bonus qualified which is 300 dollars in sales a month(even if you make them yourself which can earn you free nail sets(8) that you can sell at full price and extra commission bonus. Supposedly you get 75 of this back as your 25 percent. All this to say it is like every other direct sale marketing company out there–you make more if you sign up others and advance in the company more if you do this
Bottlesoup says
Thanks, Kelly! You’re right on. Consultants are typically the #1 customer an MLM has.
Rid Big says
This is good information for everyone to be aware of whether you’re a buyer or seller. You write good questions for people to be aware of before they get into MLMs. However, I don’t find your article completely neutral or covering all of the bases.
I am not a sales person and I hate selling stuff and with that said I LOVE the product. I was completely aware it was a pyramid based business when I bought my first nail set but for me personally, the numbers made sense to become a consultant to pay for what I used and gifted to others. I consider it a hobby and enjoy the creativity you can do with the strips. I like talking nails with family and friends and strangers. I enjoy hanging out doing nails.
Your point about PV is a good point for all to understand but obviously any company would not give an employee deals or discounts based on retail price. My husband worked in the technology industry for decades and deals and discounts were never based on retail pricing. To base those things on the retail price is taking away from the company which you want to be a success right? (This can lead us into a whole other topic about capitalism but I’m stopping here with that.)
Also Color Street compensation is more than what you’ve shared here which is misleading the reader about sales with this company. If a person is motivated to sell this product as a part/full time income, there is more compensation than what you give here or seem to be aware of so your calculations are not accurate or the full picture. I am not motivated to do sell on that level but the reader should be aware that there is way more to compensation; and if the reader is interested, again they need to fully understand compensation just like you stated.
The negatives you give for selling Color Street has points that are easily applied to the suggestion you made for using Etsy. Crafting in general won’t be a money maker anymore than Color Street because they are based on how much time you have, cost of product, and low return.
This product is called dry-polish and there are other sellers out there. Jamberry is a different product (a wrap that required heating and wasn’t nail polish) but that’s how innovation works – others learn from and develop different products based on other products and as in this case Color Street did and has a hot product. that people really like.
Color Street launched from a company called Incoco and was sold in a number of stores but now just WalMart and Ulta Beauty. Sales from this brand were used to launched the Color Street line. Those stores carry at most 10 styles a year whereas in 2018 Color Street had 180 styles. Those styles cost less than Color Street but there is no reward system/compensation with that line obviously but if you want the product in limited choices those work as well as Color Street.
I would like to counterpoint comments by Kelly.
Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, etc – Color Street does not condone sales on these websites. What you see for sale are likely stylists selling overstock or retired styles or drumming up business. The downside to buying from those stylists is the buyer pays a premium for the style. For some paying a higher price for a retired design is like having a hobby of any kind whether fabric or food. I personally don’t have a problem with stylists selling in those locations but for whatever reason isn’t Color Street’s policy. Some companies are like that.
Bonus Qualified (BQ) – yes you are encouraged to sell $300 in a month like any business would set sales goals. However you don’t have to sell $300 EVERY month but you do ever six month as stated in the article.
Bottlesoup says
Can someone else decipher this, please?
Beth says
PV = retail value. Stylists do not get paid commission on sales or taxes, but they get paid 25-35% on retail sales. The comp plan is not difficult to understand. The segue into “what can I do from home that isn’t a scam” clearly shows that you think all direct sales companies are a scam.
Bottlesoup says
When you call something a “job” or a “business,” but the overwhelming majority of people do not earn any profit, it is, in my opinion, a scam. Thanks for stopping by.
Beth says
So why bother analyzing all of the direct sales companies if your opinion is always, it’s a scam? Sounds like a waste of time if you come to the same conclusion every single time. I started reading your article with the impression that you were analyzing it in an unbiased manner. Obviously that is NOT the case.
Bottlesoup says
I am analyzing in an unbiased manner, using the actual compensation plans and doing the math. I’m open to finding a direct sales company or MLM that makes sense for people. We haven’t found one yet. If you have evidence otherwise, we welcome it anytime. Thanks for stopping by!