Would you think cutco and vector marketing is a scam?

Cutco is a company located in New York and that company sells culinary items such as knives, non electrical kitchen appliances like ice cram scoops and potato peelers and some other things. The prices on these items range from 20-2000 dollars. I worked with vector marketing a while back but the items you sell can only be sold to people in your family or the people your family knows. The job is calling the person and making an appointment to go to their house and show them what you are selling and try to sell them something no matter what. People get sucked into this because they claim you will make $15/hour but you really only make $15/an appointment. What happens when you run out of people to make appointments with? You lose what you had going. Vector marketing has been hiring rooms full of people every single day for years. They are only out to scam you and your family and friends. Vector marketing and cutco is still doing this right now. They also teach in training that a demonstration of showing how their items works so well is cutting up money and then tossing it in the trash. Wow, over time all the money that is cut up amounts to alot. That could also be a reason why the U.S economy is suffering because of companys like this. Companys like this tend to get the ignorant people to work for them and the people right out of school or still in school looking for a summer job. Here is some links below of other people who realized this scam and some links that shows you what exactly cutco/vector marketing does.

www.scam.com...
www.screwedbyforums.com...
www.ripoffreport.com...
www.indeed.com...

While this is all good information and I appreciate the thoughts...

There lies one fact - The damn things work! Cutco knives are freaking awesome!

reply to post by freakjive


The knives are great but the prices and things they are doing to sell the knives are not so great. You wouldnt purchase a gun from a serial killer for 50,000 dollars would you? Probably not

reply to post by demonologist842012


You're right. I'm definitely not advocating their tactics...
But, I'm not saying it's wrong either.

I hate the fact that the promise good paying jobs to students and unemployed people only to find out that the money making is short lived.

That being said, this seems to be a very smart business model, as you trust friends and family and you want to help them make their "commission". At least that's why I purchased a set through my little cousin. Then it turns out that the product is actually a quality product so you refer to your friends, etc.

reply to post by freakjive


Seriouslt Cutco knives are awesome, I have about 10 of them and they cut as well as they day I bought them.

reply to post by demonologist842012


Seeing is how I agree with Bill, I'll let him speak for me.

If I really need something I'll find it.
Hope it helps

reply to post by demonologist842012

Depend's is it a +5 Gun of murder or?......

Sorry Iam in a silly mood.
Also Yes Bill Hicks is bang on right.
Pity he died he would of made a great supreme leader of the world

Anyone who approaches me is a scammer.

I dont care if it's Cutco knives, Kirby vacuums, a Jehova's witness, the mailman, the police, the fire department, whoever they are if they're approaching me they're scammers.

Like I say to every sales worker accosting me in any retail establishment: if I need you I'll find you, otherwise leave me alone.

I found an ad some years back, turned out it was Vector(they hide under different ad ads and numbers when advertising one time I had found about 3 ads in one paper leading to them). Upon research about the co. and their vague answer upon calling them about exactly what the job was, I knew it wasn't worth it. Similar in other newspaper and CL ads, you will see "Make 2 thousand a week!", etc... when you see those ads follow this: "If it's too good to be true, it is."

reply to post by freakjive


if the knives are so good - why dont they compete in store based retail sales ?

reply to post by g146541


Am I the only person who doesnt get Bill Hicks? His whole schtick conists of "drugs are awsome, the government sucks, business is evil" to which his fanboys would cream in thier jeans and say "MAN, YOU ARE SO F-ING DEEP".

He never said anything that 1000 others before him didnt say, and he usually said it much less eloquently.

reply to post by ignorant_ape


They are too busy scamming people and their families. They make more money then any knife company in the world but its only because it is one huge scam.

reply to post by ignorant_ape


Thats thier marketing/sales strategy and has served them well so far. Some people say if it aint broke dont fix it.

reply to post by freakjive


I agree. The marketing tactic is a scam, but that doesn't mean the product is bad. They hire people and then use them up. It is the easiest way to get into people's friends and families. Some people will buy, just to help out a friend or family member, so they have a captive audience. I think it is dirty, and underhanded, and I think we've all been caught up by it at some point or another.

Rainbow Vacuums. Cutco Cutlery. Currently the Body by Vi craze. Encyclopedias. The list of products that have used the tactic is endless!

Still, the rainbow vac was a pretty good vac. The cutco knives are pretty good. Those cheap encyclopedias are all I ever had as a kid. And, I'm currently using the Body by Vi products, LOL!

So, apparently, the marketing is very effective.

HAHA... I worked for Vector Marketing selling Cutco knives for about two months. The knives the sell are not a scam, in fact they are great, what is a scam is the way in which they make money. Dont get me wrong if you're a great salesman/women you can by all means make a living off of the commission.

It all boils down to this:
First of all they hire and train masses of new employees each month while requiring them to buy a rather expensive starter set for sales demonstration purposes.

Profit is made by the mass amount of initial employees selling the products to their friends and direct family.

What's supposed to happen is each time you close a sales pitch you ask for their friend's numbers or for them to give a friendly call on the spot.

Initially this works as your friends and parents are rather compliant about this.

As you continue you will find that once you leave the safety of friends and family people start getting pissed that you would even dare ask for them to compromise information (phone numbers) of their friends.

The goal is for each one sales pitch to have at least 10 phone numbers to call afterwards, and this is how you expand your business so to speak.


90% of the initial employees they hire (some 40-50+ per month) quit after the first week or two when they cannot get customers.

Revenue for Vector marketing is generated mainly by the initial sales of the employees along with the $250-300 you must spend to get the starter kit.

Not a scam but nonetheless a crappy way of doing business.

It was a good learning experience that definitely directed me away from sales/marketing.

its called going out and making relationships with people... you get referrals from each person you meet, on average you get 5

thats 5 new people to call and they have a script for you to say that is engineered for you to get people to accept a sit down with you

its tough because most people are used to secured jobs that say do this simple task etc.

i used to work for cutco, i didnt like it because i felt bad because its all based on emotional buying (although ive never gotten a complaint about the knives everyone seems to be happy with them) and i felt bad that people were spending their hard earned money on something that they didnt really need most of the time or that didnt contribute to their dreams and goals in life

besides that i think they have a stable business model if you just work the system and do what they say, at least my office offered alot of support!!!

ps. my starter kit cost $99, i still have it but i could sell it for probably $200

I worked for them on an internship in 2002 for 3 months. Although I agree the prices are ridiculous but their quality is supposedly very high. Of course I will never pay $70 for a knife, but people who can afford it, will definitely do.
Not sure what the conspiracy is here. That's how most companies work.

reply to post by himalayanhermit


Multi-level companies are less honest than the typical business that sells a product at a reasonable price and has professional sales people that have been with the business or industry for several years.

An honest business sells products at a reasonable price to customers and makes profits of its customers. Multi-level marketers make money by selling products to their own employees and their closest family and friends at inflated prices and makes money of its own employees.

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint


Regardless. What's the conspiracy here is my question? No one is forcing you to buy the knife. If I give you a preso, and you are easily convinced to shell out $70 on a knife, then the onus is on you, not on cutco. Most people I gave my sales preso to did not buy it