Market America in the Boston Globe

Jan. 14, 2008, was going to be a big day for Allen Goldman, a cosmetics entrepreneur based in Canton. His Skindinavia product would be featured several times throughout the day on the Home Shopping Network, and he had flown to St. Petersburg, Fla., where the cable channel is based, for the occasion.

Goldman had hired a former HSN host Margaux St. Ledger to demonstrate his Skindinavia Makeup Boosters kit on the air, and HSN had stocked 3,500 of the kits ($19.95 plus shipping) on consignment.

But the next day, Goldman, 35, was back on a plane to Boston, dejected.