I didn't find anything in search. I need to get a job asap while I look for a more serious job. I have heard horror stories about these places, but they say there is a 17.25 base pay. This is most likely a scam, but can someone explain how they get around the base pay part? Is it only when you are actually in someone's home?

7/12/2006 11:01:14 AM

do you really want to go door to door selling knives?

7/12/2006 11:04:01 AM

i just need something that can make me about 1k for a month, and then hopefully i'll have something different, but what is up with the base pay? I am skeptical enough to know there is a catch, I just want to know what it is so I know whether to go to the interview or not.


it's hard bc my schedule is pretty inflexible since i'm in grad school

[Edited on July 12, 2006 at 11:06 AM. Reason : lj;ds]

7/12/2006 11:05:39 AM

do you really want to go door to door selling knives?

7/12/2006 11:17:38 AM

the $17.25 base pay is "per visit"

So theoretically you could do one per hour, although IIRC, the presentation is close to an hour, and unless you've got several appointments lined up on the same street, it would be very hard to do it.

Also the "interview" they give you is bogus. They "hire" anyone, but when they "hire" you, they tell you that youre special, and very few people actually get hired.

Also, the knives aren't as good as they make them out to be. They're nicer than your average wal-mart knife, but nowhere near a true high-end knife, although they certainly try to position it that way in the sales pitch as well as the pricepoint.

7/12/2006 11:17:58 AM

http://thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=408191

7/12/2006 11:20:09 AM

Cutco knives are the SHIT. My roommate that just moved out had a set....i miss those knives

SHARP AS HELL...will cut through absolutely anything.

7/12/2006 11:22:21 AM

^yea, that's what i figured about the base pay. also, I know they hire anyone, my phone interview consisted of me being asked what I would rate my customer service on a scale of 1-5 haha. I gave a detailed answer highlighting my experience (and also said five), and after that she put me on hold, then came back and said, "ok, what i asked was what would you rate your customer service on a scale of 1-5," I sigh, and say "5." that was it. haha

anyway, the point is that you can't scam a scammer. so i get 17.25 per visit, I'm going to assume that they call to verify you made a visit so.....I got all my friends and familiy to say that I visited them, but actually not do it. If i can get 100 people that would be 1700 and that would be straight until i find another job. fuck selling knives. would this work?

^^i searched cutco, vector, and scam, but not in chit chat, sorry

[Edited on July 12, 2006 at 11:24 AM. Reason : adsfs]

7/12/2006 11:23:28 AM

hahahaha hell, why not try it.

what're they gonna do, fire you?

7/12/2006 11:25:13 AM

^^ so will any other half decent knife.

7/12/2006 11:25:31 AM

^^yea, I just thought about that, they'd probably fire me before I did 100 visits, but f that, i'll do it all in one week or something.

7/12/2006 11:26:20 AM

Quote :

"Also the "interview" they give you is bogus. They "hire" anyone, but when they "hire" you, they tell you that youre special, and very few people actually get hired. "

same way with southwestern. that let's you know it's a scam

7/12/2006 11:29:03 AM

the only potential catch is that (I think) you have to buy the demo set from them. It was like 8 years ago that i almost did this, so my memory's a little foggy.

7/12/2006 11:30:07 AM

Haha any "job" where you have to pay to start is obviously a scam.

7/12/2006 11:49:29 AM

yea, im probably not gonna do this, bc there is no way im buying that fucking set of knives

7/12/2006 11:49:56 AM

ok, here is the deal.

I HAD to work for them for a personal selling class, so this is the real deal.

the knives are above average, but expensive. they are backed by the best warranty ever. they are the last knives you will own, or anyone you sell to will own because they are sharpened for free forever by cutco, you just have to ship them there(like $12).

they start you out selling to your friends and family. you then ask if they know anyone who would just listen to your presentation. very low key selling technique with a lot of demonstrations. you get one of the knives from their drawer and compare by cutting leather, then letting them cut. etc. etc. etc.

good job for some money, but they train you a lot. a lot. I got around this by a special arrangement with the class, but the "real" employees have to work and are checked up on.

true story though, one of my sells was to a friend of my moms, the lady lost half her cutco in a divorce(yes, they split the knives) and wanted to but the rest of the set that she lost. had had hers for 34 years and they still looked perfect condition. she swore by them, other customers did also.

7/12/2006 11:56:35 AM

You don't have to buy your demo set. But you have the option of buying them for like 1/3 of the price when you're done with the job. Good deal IMO.

7/12/2006 12:00:41 PM

you only have the OPTION of buying the kit if you're in the class

if you're doing this as a job you will have to buy the set up front

but you get the keep them

i did this for a class too. i thought it was pretty easy- the knives sell themselves if you just do the sales presentation they teach you

7/12/2006 12:58:28 PM

i am the authority on shitty jobs, i've worked at bath and body works, and blue beacon truck wash

7/12/2006 1:19:17 PM

do they pay you 17.25 to be at training? how do they check up on you?

7/12/2006 1:28:52 PM

Quote :

"they are sharpened for free forever by cutco, you just have to ship them there(like $12). "

You can get a knife professionally hand sharpened for $2 which is still cheaper than shipping and return shipping for Costco. Also, the knives HAVE to be sharpened by Cutco because you can't sharpen a serrated knife by hand, which is a serious pain in the ass.

Cutco uses stamped/folded knives instead of forged. Stamped sucks ass (except in rare cases, and this ain't one).

Cutco uses 440A grade stainless steel instead of the 440c grade found in quality knives.

You are better off buying some Emeril Lagasse or Rachel Ray re-branded knife than you are Cutco, and that ain't saying much.

To be honest, you only need 4 knives: a chef's knife, a pairing knife, a filet/boning knife, and a bread knife. Just buy individual ones from Wusthof Classic, Henckel Pro, Kershaw Shun, or Global and you will come out cheaper and with much higher quality knives.

7/12/2006 1:33:06 PM

Quote :

"do they pay you 17.25 to be at training? how do they check up on you?"

I did the class...and I'm pretty sure we didn't get paid to train. And we got like 10 or 12 bucks per presentation.

And we had restrictions with our presentations. You can't just present to your friends. They want you to present to married couples of at least a certain age. And they couldn't really "check up on you"...but I have a feeling that they would start calling the people that you "presented to" if you did 10 presentations and didn't sell shit.

7/12/2006 1:33:30 PM

people who love their cutco knives are idiots. they're nice, but not nearly as nice as people think they are

7/12/2006 1:41:54 PM

Most people won't listen to anyone selling ANYTHING door to door. I'm the type of guy who fucks with those who do. Don't do it. ANY CLASS that requires you to sell CUTCO knives or anything door to door needs the professor to be removed unless that's the type of business you won't to get into.

Aggressive marketting, thinking on your feet, pulling nice smelling bullshit out your ass... that kind of thing. Of course you're usually labeled as a douche bag by your friends and won't have any credibility in the end.

7/12/2006 2:13:21 PM

Quote :

"ANY CLASS that requires you to sell CUTCO knives or anything door to door needs the professor to be removed unless that's the type of business you won't to get into."

Wrong.

7/12/2006 2:37:48 PM

i think its a pretty retarded idea, why don't you explain some of the benefits.

7/12/2006 2:40:16 PM

you schedule appointments. it's not technically door to door...I mean at NO point do you walk around knocking on random houses.

As long as you have A LOT of time to devote to this go for it. It was basically my life for a whole summer and I almost went to management, but decided to be lazy and work at Abercrombie and Fitch instead. Some people I worked with moved up though and they make a killing.

OH and you don't have to buy the demo set...you can have your money returned if you turn it back in and leave the company. I kept mine though because it was a good deal and ended up winning like every other knife and a block by selling a lot.

[Edited on July 12, 2006 at 2:43 PM. Reason : ]

7/12/2006 2:41:14 PM

they do cut silicon like a freaking champ though

7/12/2006 2:41:37 PM

Quote :

"i think its a pretty retarded idea, why don't you explain some of the benefits."

First, lets start off with that it is not required in the class. You can do cutco or you can do a business project. Probably about 75-85% of the students do cutco.

Second, lots of students have slim to zero selling experience. The cutco project is a good opportunity for some kids to at least get some level of selling experience. It lets you follow a set presentation, but at the same time it gives you flexibility to actually work with a customer. And its not about selling knives...but selling in general. No matter what you do in the business world, you're going to have to sell something...even if you're just selling yourself in a job interview.

Third, the rest of the class is awesome. Professor Henard has been at just about every level of the business heirarchy in his career and he has a lot of knowledge to give out. His resume and job interview lectures are golden as are the rest of his lectures on material that a lot of other professors would put you to sleep on.

Probably one of my best classes at State.

7/12/2006 3:18:20 PM

Door to door stuff is a great way to learn how to close sales. Probably not the route I would go, but you can't say it's not a great way to learn various sales/closing techniques.

7/12/2006 3:26:39 PM

let me reiterate

IN NO WAY AM I CONSIDERING SELLING CUTCO KNIVES, I AM HOWEVER, ONLY VERY SLIGHTLY CONSIDERING TRYING TO FAKE PRESENTATIONS, although i don't think i will do this either.

and yea, a class that makes you do this is bs, i bet that prof was getting kickbacks, that's sketchy

7/12/2006 3:33:43 PM

A SALE IS MADE ON EVERY CALL

7/12/2006 3:34:35 PM

I had a dude come by the other day wanting to sell a home security system. I told him to wait right there and I would show him my own security system. I left the main door open and closed the glass door and went back into the kitchen were my huskie was waiting. I let her go and she charges the door ( the main hallway is a good 40ft from the kitchen, straight line). I dont think she made it halfway to the door before the dude took off running.

7/12/2006 3:36:04 PM

nice

if cutco comes by, throw knives at them!

7/12/2006 3:38:52 PM

Naw, i'll put my machete by the door and ask them to show me their biggest knife, then do the whole croc dundee thing:

Thats not a knife, THIS is a knife. and proceed to run outside and start hacking limbs off the trees.

7/12/2006 3:41:55 PM

Quote :

"Also the "interview" they give you is bogus. They "hire" anyone, but when they "hire" you, they tell you that youre special, and very few people actually get hired."

I actually applied once, years ago -- i got turned down

I basically realized 5 minutes after walking in the door, that the job was a sales/marketing scam type of a pyramid scheme. So during the "group interview" i kept making pointed remarks and critical statements calling the guy on some of the bullshit he was spouting.

When it came time to say who would be "hired" and who wouldn't, he told me that I wasn't a "team player" and that he didn't think I "had what it takes" to be a successful employee at Vector Knife Sales or whatever they were called.

that was weird, cause i knew there was no way in HELL i would work for this lame ass knife selling company, yet i was like feeling all sad and rejected that i got turned down.

so i acted all apologetic, and said i really wanted the job, and that i knew i could be one of the best salespeople there.

so the guy said OK, he'd give me a chance. He gave me all the paperwork and literature and sales brochure stuff, and scheduled me for a training session the next day.

I went home, threw it all away and never showed up again.

NO ONE rejects ME, goddammit.

I showed them.

7/12/2006 4:13:12 PM

haha, you begged for a job that is handed out like candy

way to show him

7/12/2006 4:16:44 PM

I know.

pretty cool huh.

7/12/2006 4:19:48 PM

I feel pretty stupid because I almost got suckered into southwestern when I was a freshman

7/12/2006 4:21:31 PM

my roommate sold knives for cutco and we have a set in the house. def the best knives i have ever used and the scissors in themselves are worth their weight in gold.

7/12/2006 4:59:41 PM

^

holy shit.

there's one now.

7/12/2006 5:46:20 PM

^ I laffed at your story

7/12/2006 6:24:48 PM

OK, this site has a biased but fairly accurate overveiw of the negative aspects. Everything they say there isn't accross the board since there is so little corporate supervision; different offices have different practices. Some scam folks more than others. Anyway here's the link:

http://cutcocomplaints.blogspot.com/

7/12/2006 6:26:33 PM

I can also vouch for the quality of their knives, I had an old roomate who had a set and they were AWESOME.

As for the business, I've never heard anything about them scamming people or having illegal or shady practices. It's a pretty legit cold call sales job, and if you are good at cold sales, you can make a decent amount of money at it.

As for the door to door comment from Raige, dude shut the hell up.

7/12/2006 7:17:57 PM

In every knife review I have ever seen, that actually bothers to include CutCo, ends up ranking them dead fucking last. These are shitty knives for what you are paying, people.

7/12/2006 7:21:53 PM

The knives are not shitty by any means

7/12/2006 9:48:20 PM

when I was a freshman my sophomore year "friend" tried to con me into southwestern and acted like she didn't do anything wrong by telling me she wanted to "meet a cool guy for lunch".

7/12/2006 9:53:47 PM

if your in such a pinch just go out and get a job as a waiter/server/runner...if you work 5 days a week that will be easy $1000 for a month then you wont have to feel like a sucker for doing Cutco... although I do know the guy who sits in the brickyard with a shirt and tie and recruits for it...i just think in your situation you would be better off with something with a guaranteed income as you suggested is needed

7/13/2006 12:08:32 AM

everyone who says they are nice or the greatest, etc does not have a god damn clue what a quality knife is. walk into a nice restaurant & ask people behind the line what they think of cutco. in fact, maybe some of you should try selling it to them. you should be able to make a killing selling this stuff to the professionals who would use them for hours at a time right? but you can't... b.c its crap.

[Edited on July 13, 2006 at 12:31 AM. Reason : *]

7/13/2006 12:31:20 AM

yeah, cutco knives are definitely crap

the chefs/cooks i work with would laugh you out of the kitchen if you showed up trying to push that shit at them.

7/13/2006 2:15:02 AM