A reader shares their story and some wise advice.
I was involved in Amway from May 2012 to March 2013. A friend invited me along
to a monthly seminar and while I was overwhelmed with the terrible pop music,
in-time clapping, positivity overload and promises of achieving my “dreams” and
“goals”. Naively, I assumed my friend invited me for my benefit so I signed up
that night.
I played ball for a few months (because I still had a shred of optimism),
attended most of the functions (including three weekend conventions), bought
stuff from the website, listened to the CDs and even hosted a house/launch
party. I got put into a good team of normal people who all seemed supportive.
While some of friends knew it was a scam, I ignored them. Heading towards
Christmas, reality finally hit. I lost my job momentarily in November and was
limping by on my now meagre savings (thanks to all the money I’d spent on
Amway). I was forced to look at the most important things to survive - pay rent
and buy food – rather than wasting my time with Amway. Because of this reality
check, I started to see through the feelgood bullshit of Amway. While they sell
you on reaching your “dreams” and “goals”, the harsh reality is most of the
money goes to the big guns: the Diamonds, the Oblongs, the Rectangles etc. Most
of those who make it already have oodles of money and saving and don’t need
Amway, they’re just being greedy.
Those who are students, low-income earners or who don’t have a secure income,
Amway can be potentially damaging, spending money you don’t have on something you
don’t need. In my time in Amway, I estimated I spent over $2,000 on various
stuff and made less than $100. While I found the online shopping part
convenient, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper to go down to your local supermarket
and buy what you need. While I got my job back in late November, I immediately
lost interest after the October conference (as I had to rebuild financially), I
took until March to fully quit, mainly because my friend – who was now my
“upline” – was away overseas and if I was going to quit, I wanted to do it
face-to-face. In the ensuing months, I completely stopped activity: no more
CDs, no more shopping, no more functions (I was always able to find a
convenient excuse). When the March convention came around, I was upfront with
my friend and he was fine with it. I left the convention on the Saturday
afternoon and didn’t look back. It was a relief.
Looking back, Amway has had a negative effect on me emotionally. All the
feelgood crap, false hope and focus on materialism made me cynical and bitter.
Anytime people mention their “dreams” and “goals”, I roll my eyes dramatically.
I’m nowhere near as optimistic about life as I was before I joined Amway. The
worst part was, had I not been involved with Amway, my brief time out of work
would have been more comfortable financially. Like most ‘get rich quick’
schemes, it relies on trickery and lots of materialistic, shallow rubbish. It’s
basically saying “money is the only thing that matters.” I call shenanigans.
Yes, money is great for peace of mind, but it doesn’t make you happy. If you
want financial security, work hard, invest wisely and spend sensibly.
This person's account is probably typical of the experience that most new Amway IBOs go through. There's the momentary enthusiasm, the fairly quick disillusionment, and then the somewhat delayed break with the company.
ReplyDeleteAbout ninety percent of new IBOs drop out of Amway in less than a year. They realize that the reality of the company doesn't match the bullshit and hype that you are forced to endure 24/7 when you're a member.
Anonymous - Most of Amwsy’s victims have very similar stories. As you said, in the beginning, there’s enthusiasm, enjoying all the love bombing, And the excitement of getting rich quick. Then after a couple of months the reality sets in. Scammed! And figuring out that the only way to make money in Amway Is by scamming others. Most people conscience won’t allow them to do that and they quit. Amway cult leaders know they have to work fast to steal as much money as possible in a short time frame from their victims before they leave the cult.
Delete