There may be a bit of confusion here, and it’s understandable. Vector doesn’t produce any products or services; they’re the direct sales arm of Cutco Cutlery Corporation. Many people confuse direct sales with multi-level-marketing (MLM). This confusion has even led some to ask, “is Vector Marketing a scam” or “is Cutco an MLM”? While most MLMs use the direct sales model, not all direct sales companies are MLMs. Vector Marketing is what’s called a single-level marketing company. That means that a sales rep for Vector makes their money by selling Cutco products, not by recruiting additional sales reps.

In fact, Vector reps sell Cutco products and ONLY Cutco products. So just to make sure there are no surprises, and it’s clear Vector Marketing is not a scam, you will be selling actual products to actual customers, and those products will be Cutco knives (which are actually pretty high in quality and performance.) You will not be responsible for recruiting your friends or family to sell Cutco products. Here’s a news segment ABC 7 did in 2010 that explains a little bit more about Vector Marketing and Cutco:

Here is some more information about the Vector Company history taken from Wikipedia:

Vector Marketing Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cutco Corporation. Formerly known as Alcas Corporation, the company was formed in the late 1940′s as a joint venture between Alcoa and Case Cutlery. The factory in Olean, New York was completed in 1949.

ALCOA purchased Case’s share of the company in 1972. Then in 1982, members of management purchased the company from Alcoa in a buyout. The company remains privately held today, and is a major employer in Cattaraugus County, New York.

Vector Marketing began as an independent distributor of Cutco Cutlery in 1981. Vector was purchased by Alcas Corporation in 1985 (in 2009 Alcas changed its name to Cutco Corporation). Vector expanded into Canada in 1990.

Vector’s business model is that they are a direct sales company that markets Cutco Cutlery, which is a line of high-quality kitchen cutlery and accessories. Their annual sales are over $200 million dollars. Vector belongs to the Direct Selling Association, an organization whose goal is to promote a high standard of integrity throughout the direct selling industry.