Tonya Ferguson sells house to travel for doTerra

[DGayle]

My grandma sold Avon in the 50's and early 60's, and she feels gratitude for it since it was a company that she felt helped empower women at a time when society expected women to stay at home. Home sales allowed them to do something, while still saying they were home with the kids. So it was a step in the right direction. If she didn't sign up people under her, no big deal.

I'm weary of the MLMs that put so much pressure on signing up more and more and more people, with unrealistic promises.

[DGayle]

ETA: Google says it's a skincare mlM founded in guess where? Provo, Utah! Isn't UTAH like the MLM Holy Land?

Yes. A Mormon friend of mine moved away from there because she was tired of how there were so few acceptable career paths for Mormon women, and those paths were mostly MLMs. She's an at-home mom here, but at least her daughters get to see women doing more.

[SoybeanQueen]

Thanks for pointing out the LA traffic prayers, GeoBQN, I'm dying... The picture she posted has practically NO traffic in it!

Yep, because maximum traffic in Hutchinson is nowhere near what you'd get in off-peak times in big cities. The most traffic they see there is during the state fair, and even then you can get all the way across town in 20 minutes. I teach in Hutch sometimes, so I have to drive during the morning "rush hour." I teach about 10 miles from where I stay. It takes 20 minutes at the most, if every single stop light is red.

[lawfulevil]

Yep, because maximum traffic in Hutchinson is nowhere near what you'd get in off-peak times in big cities. The most traffic they see there is during the state fair, and even then you can get all the way across town in 20 minutes. I teach in Hutch sometimes, so I have to drive during the morning "rush hour." I teach about 10 miles from where I stay. It takes 20 minutes at the most, if every single stop light is red.

This isn't even limited to "big" cities...

{L_MESSAGE_HIDDEN}:

although "big" is kind of a stretch- Sac only has about 80k people on Wichita.

It just takes forever to get places in CA. Evil urban planners, a witch's curse, population density, all of the above? I live a little further than that from school (11.6 miles) and it takes me anywhere from 35 minutes with light traffic and friendly lights to almost an hour during rush (which is not an hour long here, try 3 or 4, ugh) to get home. Accident or event? Up to double that. Construction adds at least 10-15 minutes, as well. I leave an hour before I need to be there and I've been late before, thankfully not often enough to be a problem. I'm rarely more than 15 minutes early. Back before guaranteed parking I had to leave 2 hours early.

If it's not gigantic traffic jams in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason (so not kidding, the last massive traffic jam I was in was in freaking Dixon, CA, population 18k), it's construction. We don't go to Tahoe anymore because I'm sick of the construction traffic doubling the drive time. 2 hours up and 2 hours down is fine for a day trip, 3.5-4 each way is not.

On the road, all the time... yeah, WELCOME TO MY HELL, TONYA.

[salex]

This isn't even limited to "big" cities...

{L_MESSAGE_HIDDEN}:

although "big" is kind of a stretch- Sac only has about 80k people on Wichita.

It just takes forever to get places in CA. Evil urban planners, a witch's curse, population density, all of the above? I live a little further than that from school (11.6 miles) and it takes me anywhere from 35 minutes with light traffic and friendly lights to almost an hour during rush (which is not an hour long here, try 3 or 4, ugh) to get home. Accident or event? Up to double that. Construction adds at least 10-15 minutes, as well. I leave an hour before I need to be there and I've been late before, thankfully not often enough to be a problem. I'm rarely more than 15 minutes early. Back before guaranteed parking I had to leave 2 hours early.

If it's not gigantic traffic jams in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason (so not kidding, the last massive traffic jam I was in was in freaking Dixon, CA, population 18k), it's construction. We don't go to Tahoe anymore because I'm sick of the construction traffic doubling the drive time. 2 hours up and 2 hours down is fine for a day trip, 3.5-4 each way is not.

On the road, all the time... yeah, WELCOME TO MY HELL, TONYA.

THis. We made the mistake of driving LA to San Franciso a year or so ago. Someplace in the absolute middle of nowhere we ended up on a wide modern multilane highway that was stopped... totally stopped. Our Garmin said "Would you like to switch to pedestrian mode?" No wreck no construction just too many people on a Sunday afternoon, out in the boondocks. We've heard the phrase fro the Garmin 3 times, always in CA. Not that New Jersey is better (or Seattle), just that Tonya's picture was NOT heavy traffic.

[Loveday]

My grandma sold Avon in the 50's and early 60's, and she feels gratitude for it since it was a company that she felt helped empower women at a time when society expected women to stay at home. Home sales allowed them to do something, while still saying they were home with the kids. So it was a step in the right direction. If she didn't sign up people under her, no big deal.

I'm weary of the MLMs that put so much pressure on signing up more and more and more people, with unrealistic promises.

My mother sold Avon in the late 60s/early 70s. She never signed up anyone under her, and was never pressured to do so. She made enough money to slightly ease the very tight family budget. We both still use a few Avon products--they work for us, and what's more, they're very inexpensive.

[Cartmann99]

I just read through the latest entries on her Facebook page. I feel for her friends and family members having to listen to her doTerra sales pitches 24/7. :?

[SoybeanQueen]

This isn't even limited to "big" cities...

{L_MESSAGE_HIDDEN}:

although "big" is kind of a stretch- Sac only has about 80k people on Wichita.

It just takes forever to get places in CA. Evil urban planners, a witch's curse, population density, all of the above? I live a little further than that from school (11.6 miles) and it takes me anywhere from 35 minutes with light traffic and friendly lights to almost an hour during rush (which is not an hour long here, try 3 or 4, ugh) to get home.

On the road, all the time... yeah, WELCOME TO MY HELL, TONYA.

Heavens. I grew up just outside of DC, so I've seen a lot of traffic in my day. Now I live in the middle of nowhere, and can drive to town sometimes without even seeing another car. 20 miles to town, including a mile and a half on gravel, takes exactly 18 minutes.

Wichita is definitely considered "big city" to many Kansans. It's the biggest city we have! Even for Hutch people, being pretty close to Wichita, it's still a drive to the city for them, and a definite increase in traffic. It isn't like in some states where the towns kind of flow from one to the next. Forgive me if you're actually from here and I'm preaching to the choir! Anyway, I bet Tonya and her friends probably do think the traffic she's experienced so far is the worst ever.

For a lot of Kansans, even Hutchinson is a pretty big town. Population over 40,000. They have the Cosmosphere museum, a good-sized (for KS) community college, and the underground salt museum, where film and other historic things are stored. Traffic, though, not a huge problem.

By contrast, the closest town to me has a population of 125. :) The only time a couple of cars back up is when a train comes through. No stoplights.

[Sister_Wife]

two other bloggers I used to follow are selling doTerra now as well. They were already RVing families though.

Sara Janssen - nestinggypsy.com. (Hasn't been updated in ages though) she is most active on IG - nestinggypsy

Sara is who I discovered Sparkling.Lauren through...

Tara Wagner - organichomehealth.com (she used to be known as the OrganicSister when I followed her)

and on IG - tarawagner

doTerra and RV life seem to be quite popular

[Walking Cat Bed]

Heavens. I grew up just outside of DC, so I've seen a lot of traffic in my day. Now I live in the middle of nowhere, and can drive to town sometimes without even seeing another car. 20 miles to town, including a mile and a half on gravel, takes exactly 18 minutes.

Wichita is definitely considered "big city" to many Kansans. It's the biggest city we have! Even for Hutch people, being pretty close to Wichita, it's still a drive to the city for them, and a definite increase in traffic. It isn't like in some states where the towns kind of flow from one to the next. Forgive me if you're actually from here and I'm preaching to the choir! Anyway, I bet Tonya and her friends probably do think the traffic she's experienced so far is the worst ever.

For a lot of Kansans, even Hutchinson is a pretty big town. Population over 40,000. They have the Cosmosphere museum, a good-sized (for KS) community college, and the underground salt museum, where film and other historic things are stored. Traffic, though, not a huge problem.

By contrast, the closest town to me has a population of 125. :) The only time a couple of cars back up is when a train comes through. No stoplights.

I also grew up in the (ever-expanding, like a fungus) DC "suburbs". They're halfway to Richmond these years. It's horrible.

I'm in a reasonably-sized city (NC's capitol) and, as long as you know which route to take at any given time of day, traffic is minimal. Hopping on the beltline during either morning or evening rush will slow you down, but literally any other route has pretty steady movement. I can think of two or three spots (not stretches) that get backed up, and that's usually on/off ramps to the beltline.

The kids who grew up in rural areas complain about traffic, and I tell the story about being six or seven, in the middle of the backseat of an '85 Ford Escort (not an actual SEAT, mind you), stuck on the beltway going into DC for an hour in August. No air conditioning, no leg room, trying not to lean on my older sister or my younger brother's metal-frame car seat. They usually comment that local traffic isn't THAT bad.

[GeoBQn]

Now she is selling the family's season passes to the local community theatre.

Tonya Ferguson

Since we are moving, I cannot use our Family Community Theatre tickets this year, so we are needing to sell our Family Season passes for 4. Shows are Pinkalicious, A Few Good Men, Number the Stars, A Wonderful Life, Mary Poppins, Church Basement Ladies and Arabian Nights. Valued at $200, but considering all fair offers. Message me if you are interested in purchasing, thanks!

I can't find one theatre nearby that has all of those shows in one season, but damn. I can't imagine someone someone committing to buying tickets for that many shows and people if they had any inkling that they would be moving out of the area.

[DGayle]

Now she is selling the family's season passes to the local community theatre.

I can't find one theatre nearby that has all of those shows in one season, but damn. I can't imagine someone someone committing to buying tickets for that many shows and people if they had any inkling that they would be moving out of the area.

7 shows. Worth $200. 28 a show for the family. WOW. I'm used to paying that per ticket for community shows.

[GeoBQn]

She posted a photo of the theatre calendar. It turns out she won season tickets for the theatre's upcoming season, from June 2015-July 2016. At least it doesn't appear that she payed $200 for the tickets, but it's still strange. She must have thought she would still be in the area through July 2016 if she entered the contest in the first place.

[Jezebel]

Or maybe she entered the contest, knowing full well she wouldn't be around that long, but hey! Free stuff! I've seen plenty of people enter contests for prizes they didn't actually want, just for the possible thrill of winning something.

And now she's trying to get maybe half a tank's worth of gas money for them. Good luck with that.

As for why EOs and RVs seem to go togerher, it's likely because you can haul a big inventory of EOs in a small space. Not so much with Herbalife, or any of the other product lines that come in larger packages.

[GeoBQn]

Good point. I'm my background is in theatre, so I guess I am a trusting sort when it comes to people's motives for getting tickets.

[Peas n carrots]

Or maybe she entered the contest, knowing full well she wouldn't be around that long, but hey! Free stuff! I've seen plenty of people enter contests for prizes they didn't actually want, just for the possible thrill of winning something.

And now she's trying to get maybe half a tank's worth of gas money for them. Good luck with that.

As for why EOs and RVs seem to go togerher, it's likely because you can haul a big inventory of EOs in a small space. Not so much with Herbalife, or any of the other product lines that come in larger packages.

I have a friend that enters tons of blog contests, and wins quite a bit...then immediately sells on ebay or Craigslist for extra ca$h. I think it's pretty common.

[DGayle]

Good point. I'm my background is in theatre, so I guess I am a trusting sort when it comes to people's motives for getting tickets.

Unfortunately, people having dishonest motives is why tickets are starting to have non-transferable names on them, and some places even doing all will-call-only and mandating going in right after getting tickets.

[nelliebelle1197]

Unfortunately, people having dishonest motives is why tickets are starting to have non-transferable names on them, and some places even doing all will-call-only and mandating going in right after getting tickets.

I have never head of all that happening to tickets, and I go to some very large, prestigious events. Scalpers have been around since the dawn of time, and this is not the same thing. It is not dishonest to sell tickets you aren't going use. It is not even dishonest to enter contests then unload the stuff you win. So Tonya won some tickets, can't use them, and wants to sell them? Big deal. There is plenty more to see here than something normal like that.

[Jessica]

two other bloggers I used to follow are selling doTerra now as well. They were already RVing families though.

Sara Janssen - nestinggypsy.com. (Hasn't been updated in ages though) she is most active on IG - nestinggypsy

Sara is who I discovered Sparkling.Lauren through...

Tara Wagner - organichomehealth.com (she used to be known as the OrganicSister when I followed her)

and on IG - tarawagner

doTerra and RV life seem to be quite popular

Ahh, it makes me so sad how Sara went from really cool, into minimalism and anticonsumerism and now her whole life is about showing off her new stuff, shopping, and trying to get you to buy stuff from her. $27 for an "ebook" about why she cut off her dreadlocks. Right.

[DGayle]

I have never head of all that happening to tickets, and I go to some very large, prestigious events. Scalpers have been around since the dawn of time, and this is not the same thing. It is not dishonest to sell tickets you aren't going use. It is not even dishonest to enter contests then unload the stuff you win. So Tonya won some tickets, can't use them, and wants to sell them? Big deal. There is plenty more to see here than something normal like that.

Geo said se trusts people's motives for getting tickets, and I pointed out scalping happens. I'm not talking about trying to win tickets, but scalping. Ticketing places are trying to curb that from happening.

All reselling isn't scalping. Buying up a bunch of tickets to sell for a profit on face value is scalping.

[lawfulevil]

If you want to enter a contest because you think you're Jesus's favorite and you deserve cash, might I suggest the Lotto? :twisted: I think it's pretty shitty to try to get tickets for a local event just to sell them off. Surely there were other people entering the contest who actually wanted to go to the shows?

Where do we draw the line, exactly? What kind of moneygrubbing bullshit is ethical versus unethical? I'd truly like to know, because if it's morally okay to screw everyone else as long as you don't cross X line, I've got some serious moving costs to save (we have to move for his job)... so which scams/grifts are a-okay? My current plan is to carefully plan out weekly menus to reduce waste, grow more veg at home, cut our meat consumption, and do as much work as possible prepping the current house myself. But that sounds like a lot of work, so if it's okay to scam free stuff and hawk it to anyone in sight, do tell.

[Walking Cat Bed]

Geo said se trusts people's motives for getting tickets, and I pointed out scalping happens. I'm not talking about trying to win tickets, but scalping. Ticketing places are trying to curb that from happening.

All reselling isn't scalping. Buying up a bunch of tickets to sell for a profit on face value is scalping.

Yep -- when I realized I couldn't make it to an event, I thought about selling it -- but I paid $25, and since it was a Welcome to Night Vale show, I figured someone with a cash shortage would appreciate the chance to trade something. So I offered up a very basic trivia question and the guy who got the ticket brought me a HUGE bar of German chocolate. Worth it, to me.

If I'd paid more for the ticket, I'd have tried to get money, but realistically I'd get somewhere around $5-10 -- not very good German chocolate I can't get at local grocery stores. If I'd bought a good ticket and resold it, it wouldn't be scalping.

[nelliebelle1197]

Geo said se trusts people's motives for getting tickets, and I pointed out scalping happens. I'm not talking about trying to win tickets, but scalping. Ticketing places are trying to curb that from happening.

All reselling isn't scalping. Buying up a bunch of tickets to sell for a profit on face value is scalping.

I wasn't aware that comment was particularly pointing to scalping, especially since it was referring to recent times. People were criticizing Tonya for selling tickets that she won; I thought that was silly and pointed it out since there is nothing wrong with reselling your own property. Very confused.

[salex]

I think it reflects how sudden her "decision" to move was and how iffy their finances probably are. I suspect she would happily have used the tickets if she wasn't homeless from her Doterra Business. Now that she can't, it is telling that she didn't hand them off to a friend, but instead is trying to get a bit of cash.

Nothing in her choices here seem logical to me, unless her husband lost his job for whatever reason, or she, as others suspect, found him cheating again. Selling your house to afford to stay in your pyramid marketing group, and traveling to such diverse places, unemployed husband and kids in tow, seems bizarre beyond belief to me.

I am not trying to diagnose anyone, but could she be bipolar and this a "manic" phase?

[nokidsmom]

I think it reflects how sudden her "decision" to move was and how iffy their finances probably are. I suspect she would happily have used the tickets if she wasn't homeless from her Doterra Business. Now that she can't, it is telling that she didn't hand them off to a friend, but instead is trying to get a bit of cash.

Nothing in her choices here seem logical to me, unless her husband lost his job for whatever reason, or she, as others suspect, found him cheating again. Selling your house to afford to stay in your pyramid marketing group, and traveling to such diverse places, unemployed husband and kids in tow, seems bizarre beyond belief to me.

I am not trying to diagnose anyone, but could she be bipolar and this a "manic" phase?

To the bolded: I did think of this. I had a friend who would decided to up and move on some goofy plan when she was in a "manic" phase. She was diagnosed as bipolar but due to financial reasons had gone off her meds which made her go off the rails. She would go into phases, where she would decide to quit her job and moved somewhere to do this or that. Then she would come down from it but she often had jobs she quit, friends and colleagues who were left scratching their heads if not completely alienated, in her wake. I counted 5 moves and "this will be the next solution" in a two year period.