CUTCO

'CUTCO' is a brand of cutlery and kitchen accessories directly marketed to customers through in-home consultations with independent sales representatives who are usually college-aged. The products cannot be purchased in stores. Cutco is owned by Alcas and has been in business since 1949. All its knives are produced in Olean, New York in the United States, although a few products (such as the ice cream scoop and the metal heads of the flatware) are partially made outside the US.[1]
★ More than 100 kitchen cutlery products are sold under the Cutco name, as well as a variety of kitchen gadgets, utensils and flatware.

Contents

Vector Marketing

Vector Salary Information

Awards

Memberships

Controversies and criticisms

Trivia

Vector Marketing

Vector Marketing is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Alcas Corporation and does all of the marketing of the Cutco products.

Vector Salary Information

Career Sales	Title	Percentage (Commission Rate)
$0	Trainee	10%
$1,000	Sales Representative	15%
$3,000	Advanced Sales Rep	20%
$6,000	Advisor	25%
$10,000	Senior Advisor	30%
$20,000	Field Sales Leader	40%(30%+10%)
$25,000	Senior Field Sales Leader	45%(30%+15%)
$30,000	Field Sales Manager	50%(30%+20%)

For the complete details, a scanned copy of the original document can be found here.

Awards

★ Winner of 2002 [Union Label & Service Trades Department, AFL-CIO] Labor-Management Award

★ Winner of 2002 Share Our Strength "Frontier Award" for its contributions fighting hunger

Memberships

★ Direct Selling Association (DSA)

★ Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

Controversies and criticisms

★ Cutco and its marketing arm, Vector Marketing, have been the subject of varied controversy. Vector Marketing's employment tactics have been targeted for criticism, specifically for deceptive recruitment practices. Vector was sued by the Arizona Attorney General in 1990, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 1999, and was ordered by the state of Wisconsin not to deceive recruits in 1994. Each time their legal trouble revolved around allegedly fraudulent recruiting tactics, and each time Vector settled and promised not to mislead their recruits anymore.

★ In the early 2000s, Vector made what they called "transparency" changes to become more upfront about what they offered representatives. Vector asserts that many of the people who were in upper-level positions with Vector 10 to 15 years ago when most of the criticism occurred no longer work with the company. Groups of former Cutco employees or contractors argue that these changes have not altered Cutco's business practices.

Trivia

★ The cutlery brand and its sales tactics were parodied in the episode ''I Married Marge'' of ''The Simpsons'' where a young Homer tries selling "Slashco" knives. It is also mentioned when Homer is trying to come up with a name for his internet business, claiming he needs a clever name such as Cutco.