I heard that phrase many times - or similar wording - at every Amway meeting I attended.
The statement sounds reasonable enough. Shop from your own store and save money buying products that you would purchase anyway. Yeah, sounds good. Everyone wants to save money and get good deals on products they regularly purchase.
The problem is our upline bullied Ambot into changing his spending habits to buy shit that we never bought before, that I didn’t like, and often we didn’t end up using. He didn’t save money because he spent way more money than if he’d purchased comparably priced products at the grocery and drug store. And we ended up wasting money by throwing out a bunch of useless, shitty Amway products.
How is that saving us money? We’re spending hundreds of dollars a month on Amway products that we’ve never had on our shopping list. Energy drinks, food bars, bottled water, and vitamins to mention a few.
I don’t consider myself an avid shopper but I hit the drug stores and grocery stores enough times that I have a good idea of prices and quality and good value.
Ambot does not. Oh he might spot a good deal and stock up on the item but for the most part he doesn’t know how much things cost at the store.
He blindly accepted the upline’s (bad) advice that Amway’s products would save us money and these items were better quality than what could be purchased at the local retailers and that he should buy, buy, buy! He MUST be his own best customer. Including himself and a few occasional pity purchasers his customer base was five.
Because of the upline’s influence over Ambot being his own best customer I got stuck using inferior products that did not save us money.
The real damage with the “save money” by shopping at your own store philosophy is IBO’s like Ambot do not do price comparisons with other retailers and overspend by buying stuff that they normally would not have purchased.
I know how to save money when I’m shopping. Its by having a good idea of what the prices are of groceries and sundries that I regularly purchase at the grocery and drug stores and recognizing when something is on sale at a decent enough price to buy it. Then I watch the flyers and when I see something on sale that I regularly purchase I stock up. If I see something in the flyer that’s a good price but its not something I need - I don’t buy it. See? Saving money?
I save a lot of money now that we don’t have to buy overpriced Amway products.
Another way of saving money that was put forth in the cult meetings and open cult meetings was that you would not be spending a lot of extra money "impulse buying" in the biz. A good example of "impulse buying" is buying items displayed at the cash register, designed to get your attention and for quick sales. 99% of the time I don't succumb to this. When I do buy on impulse, I ask myself; "do I really want or need this?" I think the term "coerced buying" is a good term to use when buying from Amway, especially when you're doing it to make a PV/BV bracket. This does not save money, because you just cannot say NO! How could you ever say NO! to your beloved upline who only has your financial future at heart?
ReplyDeleteI'm not an impulse buyer either - unless I go into a bakery. I can't leave without jelly donuts! I tend to avoid going into bakeries...
ReplyDeleteI'd say much of the Amway products that ended up in our house were Ambot's impulse purchases while he tried to figure out how to get the PV/BV up there.
Anna, im surprised your ambot hubby put up with this garbage from his upliine. Especially when you both have a decent income by owning a real business. I use to think scamway was lame even when i was younger not making much money. Use to see my upline drive up driving this shit car & wearing this cheap suit. My upline use to try to convince me to buy nutrilite & amways toilet paper. Had some arguments cause i thought their competitors products where much better and more affortable.
ReplyDeleteKid you not, we spent 600-800/mo. on Nutrilite alone.
ReplyDeleteYes, we were taking vitamins before, but nowhere near that amount. I recall many, many times upline saying they would double up on everything for the PV.
The respons? Fired up!
I know, I know. Another CASSETTE TAPE for my daily attitude ajustment.
Anonymous I'm sure you probably heard at meetings that you don't need to eat fresh fruit and vegetables when you can pop Nutrilite vitamins instead which is why you spent so much money each month. Wow! You could have bought a 2nd home as an investment property with a mortgage in the same amount as what you're spending on Nutrilite and rented it out for a couple hundred more a month than what your mortgage was setting you back. And sold it 10 or 20 years later for a profit.
ReplyDeleteYou would never get investment advice at an Amway meeting other than investing your money back into Amway products, tools, and CASSETTE TAPES!
Colin, I could not understand it either. The power of a cult is a lot bigger than many people can understand. This was an expensive social club for Ambot. Not only financially but emotionally. He worked so hard to please his cult leader only to be scolded and mocked. And the final betrayal that they really were not going to be his only true friends forever and ever.
ReplyDelete"pity purchasers"... what an excellent choice of words! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks rlaurens. And pity purchasers they were. You know close friends or family who buy a couple of small things just to get Ambot to shut up.
ReplyDeleteThe double x was with my kit and i didnt even finish the container. Just thought the products where overhyped and very little benefit. I use to hangout at healthfood stores buying protein power,grape seed extract,greens drinks,ester c etc. I remember thinking holy shit the money they wanted me to pay for 2-3 amway vitamins ....i can get stuff way cheaper and better. Also no amount of vitamins can replace a proper diet & exercise. Which most of the ambots did very little of ....they are always busy dressed up in suits attending functions.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
Kid you not, we spent 600-800/mo. on Nutrilite alone.
Yeah ambots were too busy driving to meetings and then sitting through them, takes hours out of someone's day, who's got time to exercise or eat properly. Only time to grab some Amway meal replacement bars and energy drinks and take vitamins and gobble it down while in the car.
ReplyDeleteAnna, i got this info from another anti amway site. Thought it was interesting blog stating what we heard before. People who buy expensive vitamins like double x or whatever from amway are just urinitaing most of it away & wasting their money.
ReplyDeletethe blog:
The reason I said you would make expensive urine is your body absorbs about 15% from a vitamin supplement, assuming you don't have a deficiency for a particular nutrient. The rest is excreted in your urine.
Q: Are multivitamins helpful or harmful?
A: Depends on whether or not your diet contains enough food and variety to supply all the nutrients your body needs.
If you eat more than 1600 calories and a variety of food, you may be wasting your money and making some very expensive urine. Though, taking one multivitamin per day that has 100% of the Recommended Dietary Allowances for vitamins and minerals will not hurt you.
the rest are on this link
http://quixtarsucks.blogspot.com/2005/06/nutrilite-expensive-urine.html
I am an exercise devotee. Got certified (3 times) and taught for years. Have never stopped. Personal reasons for being obsessed about it.
ReplyDeleteWas very tough to keep up exercise regimen while in amway. But I did keep it up. That's the one thing they could not take away from me.
True story: at one major function, my upline and I decide to go for a run before the we began listening (and sitting) to 100 hrs. of non-stop blathering from stage. We were not familiar with the city we were in. After we had gone quite a way from our hotel, we suddenly realized we might not want to be in the neighborhood we ende up in. We saw a drug deal go down, and sensed it was not going well.
We ran like hell back to our hotel and finished up our floor work and lifting; which then gave us 5 minutes to shower, dress, and eat. Oh, never mind. We don't need to eat. Pop some XX and grab a food bar. See how wonderful life in amway is?
All right. All right. I know we should have been listening to the "Go Diamond in 2 Years" CASSETTE TAPE. Gimme a break.
I remember sitting in a weekend function eagerly lapping up the scraps of knowledge being fed to us from stage, and one of the speakers a very high ranking member of the IBOAI (International Business Organization of Amway Idiots) told us that "our" business weren't about prices... never would be... prices be damned get out there and get more people. About a year later that same moron was no longer with Amway and was bitching about their prices being non-competitive.
ReplyDeleteI was at a loss... when we as business builders complain that prices are too high and no one wants to be an IBO we are losers, quitters, or not working the system right... but when King A-Hole says prices are too high it's gospel.
Oh Colin, I hope your post doesn't send IBOFB running here with his investigative report and independent study he did to prove this is wrong!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - although I'm not an exercise nut I did get up early this morning so I can catch a class at the Y in a little while. I do keep myself in good shape and eat healthy meals. I didn't listen to the bad advice from upline about eating their meal replacement bars, taking vitamins, and drinking their drinks.
ReplyDeleteLobotomized I think that same story is true for every former IBO out there. If it wasn't then they'd still be buying Amway products once they leave the business but according to Amway's reports less than 5% of their sales are to non-IBO's. So that tells me former IBO's have gotten out into the real world of grocery stores and drug stores and have realized that Amway's prices are not competitive. Even the former big shots!
ReplyDeleteLob;
ReplyDeleteGood post. No matter what you give as a reason not to do amway, bots will tell you that is THE reason to do it.
Kids will burn down the house? No prob. Join amway
MIL will steal my kids and defect to Russia? No prob. That's why you need amway. Well, what if I WANT her to steal the kids and defect to Russia? No prob. amway can help with this, too.
I'm a nutjob with the I.Q. of a sloth. That's exactly why you need amway, You'll fit right in.
I'm broke and going to lose my house tomorrow. No prob. Join amway. You'll be rich in 2-5. Or is that how long I'll be in the big house? Or is that what time it is? No matter. amway solves ALL the world's problems.
But I don't have money for the CASSETTE TAPES. No prob. Sell you kids in Russia.
colin,
ReplyDeleteHow does this guy know whether you absorb 15% (or 5, or 50) from a vitamin pill? Doesn't this depend on the vitamin, your body, etc? Isn't the number different for different vitamins? Do you have a CLUE what you're talking about? LOL
Lobo,
ReplyDeleteWas that Orrin?
Tex, i knew you or ibofb would respond to my post. First of all i didnt write the post i just copied and pasted it. You just cant stand the thought that maybe you're overpaying for your water or your crappy vitamins. Had a naturopath tell me the same thing as the blog i put up. The naturopath said most multivitamins are the same and you'be peeing out most of what you consume. That nothing replaces healthy eating and excercise. Im sure ibofb or tex can some on this board and tell me artistry,doublex,or their water filteration is heads n shoulders above the competitors.
ReplyDeletecolin,
ReplyDeleteIn other words, you agree, you don't know what you're talking about. LOL
I don't overpay for water or vitamins.
Wow, a single person with a radical view tells you something, so it must be true. LOL
Do you know what is different about Amway vitamins? Answer: They are made from plant materials, and science is discovering something nearly every day there are advantages to consuming vitamins in their original state.
I agree taking any vitamin without exercise, good eating, and rest is a waste of money.
I don't use makeup, so I can't vouch for Artistry. However, I have studied Double X and found it has significant advantages over isolated vitamins. The water filter is endorsed by more than one independent water industry laboratory.
You need to get some rest colin, then a clue! LOL
Speaking of rest I hope Tex has gone to bed.
ReplyDeleteI won't rest until the Amway Tool Scam is history.
ReplyDeleteDoes Homeland Security know about this? Ha ha!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't know, but this judge does, and he's going to know a lot more very soon: http://texsquixtarblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/amway-pokorny-settlement-rejection.html
ReplyDeleteTex some sense from time to time. He is correct that vitamins vary greatly with the compound and how they are absorbed by the body. The only kind of vitamins that are urinated out are the water soluble vitamins (B,C). Vitamins A,D,E, and K are fat soluble and thus intake must be closely monitored or issues of toxicity can arise.
ReplyDeleteSo, if you look at Double X, you get 200% of the RDA for Vitamin A, 500% of Vitamin E, along with the higher levels of Vitamin C and various B's. So, why is it that Double X gives you multiple times the RDA of fat soluble vitamins when used correctly? Kind of reminds me of tobacco companies whose products are unhealthy for you when used correctly.
And Tex, you most definitely overpay for water unless you're getting your replacement filters for less than $50. And an endorsement from a water testing lab doesn't mean jack squat.
And not everyone lives in the Grand ol' USA, so they couldn't join your lawsuit anyway, so you don't need to pound people over the head about it. There are other lawsuits in process in other countries too that are specifically targetting the fact that Amway corporate knew about the tool abuses and did nothing about it for decades.
Let's see if I understand the Amway 'business' proposition correctly. I have an MBA so hopefully I should be able to 'get it" without being called an Idiot by Tex, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteGo broke saving money while neglecting everything else in my life including my family, friends and health chasing a dream built on outright lies and fraud?
Sign me up!
Connie - it sounds like you got it!
ReplyDeleteThere are several sites which offer free people search. You can use the help of any such site to find a friend with whom you have lost contact. Many people have used the assistance of these background checks to find their old friends.
ReplyDeleteGee thanks for clearing that up for us People Search!
ReplyDelete