Agnes and Dora Liquidating Product to Retail Channels
Today, a video was provided to MommyGyver showing the owner of Agnes & Dora- Buffy Bandley speaking to her sales reps on what MLM participants refer to as a "call". Live video has replaced the conference call as MLM grows with technology. Live video allows for a more one on one feeling and personal communication between the speaker and the audience. Facebook live video also allows for real-time communications with the speaker- as they talk, the audience can comment, ask questions, even express disgust or upset- as was the case with today's call with Buffy. I would share the call video here, however the party that made the video is unknown to me, though their voice is audible- I am not able to identify them, and wouldn't want to provide ammunition for anyone else that may want to identify them. The video begins with Buffy discussing her braces. She seems a bit uncomfortable, self-conscious perhaps. She asks her audience to "allow her to be vulnerable for a moment", and begins to talk in a way that seems like she's wrangling back some emotions. She talks about the higher points of Agnes and Dora in 2018, and then begins to talk about thousands of items in stock in many colorways- that need to be liquidated. Buffy claims that they have over 60,000 square feet of warehouse, as well as several trailers in cold storage completely backlogged with old inventory. She assures the reps that those who she has sold this dead merchandise to were instructed to sell as much of it overseas as possible- to minimally impact the reps in the USA still trying to offload their own dead inventory. The immediate feedback I was able to see was pushback from already angry reps that they had just bought the products that were up for liquidation and paid the full "wholesale" pricing. Those same items were now going to be discounted to 75% BELOW wholesale for immediate purchase and the reps could elect to offer these items for sale to their customers at up to 75% off retail. Except... as some reps pointed out with dutifully collected pictures- the liquidated inventory had already made it to the retail market- available for purchase at BELOW the regular wholesale price to reps- and the retail market was NOT overseas. In the photos below, you will see Agnes and Dora cardigans available for sale at Fleet & Farm stores for 25% off the marked prices of just over $18. So $14 lands you a sweater that Agnes & Dora reps have been hawking for two years as "high quality" and "luxury".
Surely Fleet and Farm is the epitome of couture outlet for anyone living the Green Acres lifestyle. High quality and luxury doesn't exactly resonate with the Fleet and Farm Brand name- unless you're searching for a tractor that's a little "extra", or a fancy new grain to feed your pigs... in fact- other than some pretty snazzy cowboy boots that can run into the hundreds at one of their locations, there isn't much in the category of "fashion" at all- rural fashion or not. I'm sure the choice of outlet is a slap in the face to reps all over the country rural and urban alike. But the overall tone I'm collecting is outrage. Reps are reporting that the infinite sku's the company produces aren't at all what they have asked for- and trying to keep abreast of trends, they bought these items anyway- at full wholesale- just to have them available to customers at less than what the reps paid- at a local feed store. You can't make this up, folks. I'm hearing the rumblings of lawsuits as groups are forming to take on the Agnes and Dora brand- ironically founded by the niece of infamous and undoubtedly American Greed feature bound DeAnne Stidham. (Founder of LuLaRoe, currently embroiled in numerous lawsuits alleging millions in unpaid bills, ponzi schemes, and more) Buffy has gone to lengths to publicly separate herself and her image from the shadow of her aunt's troubled billion-dollar blunder of a brand. But is it beyond the scope of belief that the apple may not fall far from the tree- even if it's a slightly different branch? With the amount of scandal in LuLaRoe in the spotlight- and a new drama seeming to manifest almost daily, it's not surprising that reps are starting to wonder aloud- if Agnes and Dora isn't somehow related to the LuLaRoe brand- outside of blood relations anyway. Reps are also making a comparison between the two brands as LuLaRoe did away with its' 100% buyback plan earlier last year- and an amended policy and procedure for Agnes and Dora was released in August of last year- also nearly eradicating any chance of a rep's ability to sell their product back to the company. Reps claim that they were given the new policies with little to no notice, and then given even less time to decide to sign it- or be involuntarily terminated. But what to do with any remaining inventory? Certainly Fleet and Farm is accepting liquidations. The next issue addressed in the video is Buffy's announcement that the company will offer a drop shipping program. Reps that are currently overloaded with dead inventory are rightfully concerned with competing with a rep working off an affiliate link with access to the entire company catalog of offerings- while still holding old merchandise after buying into the frontloading model. It appears to these reps at least- that this is another no-win MLM situation. Reps can't compete against the liquidation pricing- or a full Agnes and Dora catalog being offered by new drop-ship reps with zero "skin in the game". Buffy continues on in the video about slow response time from the home office- citing holiday travel and absence- but reps are claiming that the slow down is really reflective of a recent home office layoff. According to a source, many of the usual suspects in home office, from the "COO" to social media were all recently terminated. To say there's change a'coming to Agnes and Dora would seem to be a gross misrepresentation. Why is the question that needs answering. LuLaRoe set tens of thousands of MLMers into shock, many jumping ship to join the related yet unrelated Agnes and Dora or P!phany (P!phany is the renamed creation of DeAnne's twin sister, Dianne. Originally named Honey and Lace, the monaker changed with the introduction of Jack Petersen as CEO) keeping it all in the family, I suppose. The shellshocked reps are perhaps quick to suspect something is afoul with the slightest change because of their misfortune in LuLaRoe. Is A+D headed down the same path? Is it possible to have that level of deceit coursing through all the family veins? Or is this just the unfortunate cost of miscalculated inventory purchases and the brand's inability to offload it appropriately? Malice or not, it's a good reminder that while you might be able to control your own actions as a "business owner"- you can not control the actions of the brand. One signature can move hundreds of thousands of pieces of inventory into a farm and feed store chain in the blink of an eye- and then how do you compete? The lesson here: don't buy into companies that require a front load or large enrollment fee. (Frankly, don't MLM, but you know what I mean.) If you front load, you risk having to compete with a backdoor liquidation deal- and there's nothing a rep can do outside of what they are already doing- looking for lawyers that can try to recoup some of their losses.
1/11/19 Update: Buffy declined to offer comment on the issue.