LuLaRoe is the new big thing in work-at-home sales. You get to host parties online and at the homes of others, you help people feel great about their new outfits, and you make money. Sounds like a good plan, right? But what is the LuLaRoe startup cost like?
With many work-at-home sales programs, you don't have to have a huge inventory. You buy a few things that you can use to demonstrate with customers or possibly direct sell, but for the most part, customers can view your catalog (either in paper or online) and place their order, which then ships directly from the company. You pay a fee for your online ordering portal, but for the most part, your costs can be pretty limited.
Not so with LuLaRoe. The LuLaRoe startup cost is significantly higher. How high?
Well, to begin with, you have to buy their initial onboarding package. At the time of this writing, that includes:
Julia Dress- 30 pieces
Maxi Skirt - 60 pieces
Cassie Skirt - 50 pieces
Irma Shirt - 70 pieces
Randy Shirt - 40 pieces
Classic T Shirt - 40 pieces
Lindsay Kimono - 25 pieces
That's a total of 315 pieces of clothing. The cost?
$5355
But $5355 isn't your sole LuLaRoe startup cost.
First off, what is LuLaRoe known for? Leggings. And this order doesn't contain any leggings. So while you don't have to buy leggings... you probably want to. You can get 50 pairs of OS leggings for $525 and 40 pairs of TC leggings for $420. You probably want both, so that's an additional $945.
If you have shopped LuLaRoe online, you know that something a lot of consultants do is photograph their items on mannequin of some sort, so that's another added cost. Another simple method is to just put a hook on a white wall, hang up the item on a hanger, and photograph that way, but they just don't look as nice.
How are you going to store all of this clothing? You may want to get a series of Rubbermaid bins (or something similar) to keep everything protected. Other consultants keep everything on hangers on professional clothing racks. Neither of these options is free. And if you plan to do in-person parties at someone else's home, you will need the clothing racks and hangers. No one wants to plow through a pile of clothing to find what they want.
You will likely also want business cards, both to hand out and to include in your packaging when you ship items.
And, of course, packaging to ship isn't free! Yes, you can get free priority mail packaging from the post office, but you don't just want to shove a dress into an envelope. You likely want to wrap it in tissue paper or something similar.
Then there's the back end. How in the world are you going to track all of this inventory and your costs and income? Sure, you can do a series of spreadsheets, or you can purchase a software program designed for this sort of business.
One thing often not considered in the LuLaRoe startup cost is added insurance. Frequently, homeowners insurance or renters insurance won't cover business inventory of this level. You will want to check with your insurance agent to find out if you need to add to your inventory.
So you are easily talking $6000 as your LuLaRoe startup cost, likely even more. How long will it take to make that money back? It depends on what you sell and how fast you sell it.
I did some quick math. That initial package? If you sell every piece, you will make
$12,070
That's $6715 in profit, not factoring in all your other costs. So if you sell half of your inventory, you should make back your initial investment. Doesn't sound so bad, right?
That's still almost 160 sales. And this is assuming that you have the sizes and patterns that your customers want. Because remember, you don't get to choose those. You choose the style and see what you get. The way most consultants keep people interested is by continuing to add to their inventory. That means spending more money before you've made back your initial investment.
LuLaRoe startup costs are no joke. It's not easy money - it's hard work, and nothing is guaranteed. Make sure that you truly understand what you are getting yourself into before signing up.
For more on LuLaRoa and other ways to make extra money check out these other great articles.
How Do I Buy LuLaRoe?
What is Multilevel Marketing?
How to Make Money While You Sleep