There are a lot of MLM and network companies out there trying to steal your money. Many of them operate as pyramid schemes but hide behind products or services for sale.
How to pick up on a pyramid scheme? If you're looking at a multi level marketing MLM "opportunity" go to some meetings and figure out if the speaker is talking about all the money that can be made and recruitment or if the talk is about actual product sales.
That pretty much covers it. Money and recruitment = pyramid scheme.
If there is a product or service for sale that makes it a legal pyramid scheme. But the waters are pretty muddy.
MLM companies have been around for a long time. Many started off legitimately and then headed into the pyramid scheme muddy waters.
I think the first MLM I was aware of was the Fuller Brush company. And the old Fuller Brush salesman who came door to door with a suitcase full of products.
And then I became aware of Avon and those commercials on TV. Ding dong it's the Avon lady calling.
So these two companies had sales reps who made commission by going door to door selling products or holding home parties and selling their wares.
They both sold reasonably priced products and consumers purchased them. And I don't think the sales reps outlaid any cash to the company to be a sales rep.
So what happened? Fuller Brush went out of business. Amway bought some or all inventory because I remember buying brushes from Amway and they were nice brushes. I'm talking hand and nail brushes. Probably the best product I ever bought from Amway. And the brushes said Fuller on them. LOL!
And Avon evolved away from the women selling products to people they know to be more about recruitment.
These days network marketing is done more through social media. Or random text messages. Who else get these? Some weirdo sends a text saying hello do you have a few minutes. And then I send a text back saying where the fuck have you been hiding and do you have the $5000 you owe me? Oddly no one ever texts me back LOL!
What you get on social media are people flaunting their products and how they've changed their life by using it to generate interest in their friends or followers. And maybe that hot prospect tries the product and likes it and decides they'll get into selling it too.
So here's something that Amway Ambots never do and that's conducting market research before "buying their own business". And if they happened to sell any products but don't get repeat business do they go back to the customer and ask why. Nope. That would be because Amway losers know nothing about running a real business and all the components and customer satisfaction.
Sneering at someone who won't buy your shit or won't buy it again is not usually an effective sales technique.
But that's how Amway losers operate.
And what do customers want when they buy a product. They want value. They want a good product and they want to buy it at a good price.
Customers don't want to buy shitty overpriced products. Customers don't want to spend $30 on shampoo from an MLM sales rep when they can buy a better quality shampoo for under $10 at the drug store.
Let's get back to why Amway is a pay to play scam.
To start off Amway participants have to pay an annual fee to buy Amway products and they also are pressurized from the fucking assholes in the Amway upline to buy the starter kit. I'm not sure what it costs these days but let's say it costs $200 now to buy an Amway membership to their expensive buying club plus a starter kit of some of their shitty products.
But nobody told the new Ambot they'd have to buy at least 100PV worth of products every month in order to stay active and get a commission check from ScAmway. That's at least $300 a month the Ambot spends in overpriced shitty products.
Then there's the Amway tool scam that nobody in the upline told the recruit about prior to signing up. Because that's the biggest part of ScAmway and how the top Amway cult leaders make the bulk of their income.
The first thing the Ambot must do is spend $50 (maybe more now) a month for membership to their Amway cult sect. That fee also gives them a web page. The web page link is given out to potential clients who enter the Amway web page and if they make a purchase the referral will earn a few pennies commission.
The new Ambot will be expected to buy a weekly order of a book and a CD or tape recording of some Amway cult leader spouting off lies and bullshit. The standing order bullshit. Let's call it around $100 a month.
And we can't forget Communikate. This bullshit messaging system. It was $35 a month years ago. Not sure how much they charge now. Amway's owners have a share in this company or loaned money to the Communikate people to start up so they have a huge interest in making sure this company is successful even though with the invention of smart phones Communikate's features are obsolete.
Then there are Amway cult meetings to attend. Usually the living room meetings are free and happen several times a week. About once a week the Ambot is required to attend an Amway cult meeting in a school auditorium or hotel meeting room and that will cost money. These meetings are probably held by some fucked up Amway Emerald. Maybe $20 these days. And at least once a month a Diamond hosts a meeting probably about the same amount.
The Ambot is also required to attend Amway's major functions 4 times a year - Spring Leadership, Dream Night, Family Reunion and FED Free Enterprise Days. That means more than just buying tickets because these events are usually held not in the Ambot's home town. So add on transportation costs, hotel, food and $1,000 just got charged to the Ambot's credit card.
To be a good little Amway Ambot it costs around $1,000 a month or more!!!!!
Pay to play scam!
Really. Who else pays their boss money in order to work there?
SCAM!!!!
And what do you get after paying those Amway scammers about $1,000 a month in order to play at being a "business owner". Maybe a $10 commission check from Amway each month based on the products the Ambot purchased to self consume in order to be a participant in this scam.
If you get prospected by a network marketer, independent distributor or whatever name they use - try to find out all your costs before signing up. Amway liars will never disclose how much money you'll really get scammed out of every month in their little pay to play scheme.
And the likelihood of selling the products. Remember what do customers want? They want a good product at a good price.
Amway Ambots claim Amway products are so high priced because of their high quality LOL but the real reason they're so high priced is because when the lowly Ambot at the bottom of the pyramid makes a sale everyone upline will also earn a little commission.
It's got nothing to do with Amway's fucking (perceived) high quality! Amway losers will sneer at people who go to Walmart to buy laundry soap instead of spending 4 times as much money to buy Amway's shitty overpriced SA8 laundry soap.
It's like people who go to McDonald's and buy a $2 cup of coffee think they're getting a great deal instead of going to Starbucks and paying $8 for a coffee. Do the customers at Starbucks sneer at the McDonald's customers for being cheap or buying a lower quality product? Or do they not give a fuck where people choose to buy their coffee?
Is it a pyramid scheme or MLM scam? Is the focus all about making money and recruiting others?
When it comes to Amway the answer is yes. Amway is a pay to play scam where participants lose a huge amount of money every month.
If you want to be a commissioned sales rep - look for a legitimate company where the boss pays you instead of you paying the boss.
Fuck Amway and their pay to play scam!
Fuller Brush Company didn't become an MLM until 1991, when door-to-door sales were in a period of decline because of demographic changes -- there weren't as many stay-at-home women to answer the doorbell any more. This change also hit Avon badly, and that's why it became an MLM.
ReplyDeleteBoth of these companies had done very well in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. The other famous company was Tupperware, which did well with the "Tupperware parties" held at home, until a great many women entered the work force and there was nobody left to to organize those largely female parties.
The thing to remember is this -- if a company becomes an MLM after having had a successful run in the past, it means the company is failing. Turning it into an MLM means that the higher-ups are just trying to squeeze cash out of the sales force, as a replacement for earning cash through sales to the public.
Anonymous - yes Tupperware also famous for its reps holding parties in their homes or someone else's house to sell their goods. And that's an excellent observation if a previously successful company suddenly turns to MLM that's a sign the company is failing.
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