Multilevel marketing is a nightmare

[MTM]

Interesting article about multilevel marketing businesses. As a Mary Kay husband, much of this rings true. That company isn't as bad as others because consultants aren't required to buy as much product, but it can dominate the household.

Curious what other MLM consultants and spouses think.

MLMs Are A Nightmare For Women And Everyone They Know

 

[Pony_Express]

There was a (very) attractive girl on a flight back from Vegas a few months ago sitting right in front of me. She spent the entire flight posting pictures of herself in various poses on Instagram and does MLM for a hair company called Monat. I have seen her numerous Instagram posts since then (I saw her name on her phone) and it’s amazing how many women/moms tout Monat as a life altering product and that they are all making six figures doing it. This is no doubt BS but I find the whole thing fascinating anyway.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Used to see female friends on my Facebook feed post about having parties for things such as this. Never seemed to last too long. Hope they didn't get suckered.

 

[Vombatus]

I have no direct knowledge of this, but I’m pretty sure there’s a toy MLM scheme or two out there.

 

[swingline]

Sex toys and Tupperware.

 

[playthrough]

Used to see female friends on my Facebook feed post about having parties for things such as this. Never seemed to last too long. Hope they didn't get suckered.

My wife got a ton of invitations from neighbors and friends for these parties -- Arbonne, Pampered Chef, cosmetics, jewelry, etc. -- and every time she felt guilted into buying something. Finally she just had to go cold-turkey and turn them all down, and thank God for that. We both knew she had reached the end when she brought home some dumb little knitted baby hat, and we had no babies.

 

[Moderator1]

I came up in the Amway generation - and I lost count of the number of times someone tried to get me to sell Amway. But no one ever offered me an opportunity to just buy the soap. I finally asked one guy, "Hey, all I want is some detergent. I don't want to sell it." He look at me like I was nuts.

A friend swore by their products but I have no idea where he got them. I've never ever seen an actual Amway product.

 

[tapintoamerica]

I came up in the Amway generation - and I lost count of the number of times someone tried to get me to sell Amway. But no one ever offered me an opportunity to just buy the soap. I finally asked one guy, "Hey, all I want is some detergent. I don't want to sell it." He look at me like I was nuts.

A friend swore by their products but I have no idea where he got them. I've never ever seen an actual Amway product.

The late , great George Miller, a frequent Letterman guest in the NBC days, told one of my favorite jokes. Said his neighborhood wasn’t the toughest. The go-to insult was, “Oh yeah? Well, your mother sells Amway products.”

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

The dream Drew Brees -- and AdvoCare -- is trying to sell

 

[sgreenwell]

They're pretty much all crooked. Oliver did a good piece on them in November 2016. It seems like they always rise and fall in cycles, which is understandable - that allure to just be your own boss, with a minimal amount of work and a good return on reward, is always strong. I don't think that 'drive' is dissimilar from the people who swear that they can "beat" the stock market via daytrading.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

My daughter runs in a group of about 6-7 friends, and the parents are friends-ish to varying degrees, some just Facebook friends, some closer than that.

About 2-3 years back, one of the mothers we are not particularly close with starts posting about Plexus, this miracle weight-loss drink/system. She had a typical mom body type, probably needing to lose about 30 pounds to get to her college level.

Anyway, about 2 weeks into this, she sends me a DM, about how she knows I desperately need to lose weight, get healthy and get in shape so my kids don't lose their father prematurely, and pitches Plexus to me. I took offense but fought the urge to respond.

Fast-forward to now - no mention of Plexus for years and she's probably about 40 pounds heavier now.

 

[ChrisLong]

I love MLM. When I was unemployed, I finally got a good job. The opening was created when one of their guys quit to sell Equinox, which deals in some sort of shampoo. Oddly, while I was unemployed, one of my friends took me to an Equinox presentation. I had formerly covered UCLA. The Bruins had this loud airhorn that blared whenever they scored. The guy doing the Equinox presentation was guy in charge of the airhorn. I got him aside afterward and asked him if Airhorn Monitor was a scholarship position in the UCLA athletic department.
On the other hand, my wife and a friend started up with Arbonne. They had a kickoff party at our house and one person showed up. The only good part was our realtor stopped by with two bottles of wine. We enjoyed the wine.

 

[tapintoamerica]

The dream Drew Brees -- and AdvoCare -- is trying to sell

Helluva story.
Update from a couple of months back:
https://www.lazymanandmoney.com/advocare-forced-by-ftc-to-end-its-scam/

The whole (pseudo) Christian/Prosperity Gospel aspect of this is fascinating.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

I think the Egyptians had a name for these types of schemes. Hmmmm, some sort of structure .....

 

[Scout]

I will say that Pampered Chef products are the **** and my wife loves Norwex.

But I also see people selling off their bags of ****, like makeup, online saying their done selling the stuff and are just giving up.

It’s a pyramid/ponzi scheme.

I do think Pampered Chef is more legit since you don’t need to buy the product to sell it. They give you a big discount for your own stash if you sell.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

Helluva story.
Update from a couple of months back:
https://www.lazymanandmoney.com/advocare-forced-by-ftc-to-end-its-scam/

The whole (pseudo) Christian/Prosperity Gospel aspect of this is fascinating.

Follow the profit: How Mormon culture made Utah a hotbed for Multi-level marketers

it's almost as if there's a need for someone to believe something fantastical in the present for the promise of future reward

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

I will say that Pampered Chef products are the **** and my wife loves Norwex.

But I also see people selling off their bags of ****, like makeup, online saying their done selling the stuff and are just giving up.

It’s a pyramid/ponzi scheme.

I do think Pampered Chef is more legit since you don’t need to buy the product to sell it. They give you a big discount for your own stash if you sell.

Definitely more legit, IMO. My wife has "hosted parties" through a friend who does it, just to get the discounts. We're still regularly using stuff we bought 15 or 20 years ago, and the replacement guarantee is legit. We (I) dropped a stone baking thing a while back and it broke off a small piece on the corner. The friend told us (my wife) to send the small piece back and they replaced the whole thing, no questions asked.

 

[Flip Wilson]

My daughter runs in a group of about 6-7 friends, and the parents are friends-ish to varying degrees, some just Facebook friends, some closer than that.

About 2-3 years back, one of the mothers we are not particularly close with starts posting about Plexus, this miracle weight-loss drink/system. She had a typical mom body type, probably needing to lose about 30 pounds to get to her college level.

Anyway, about 2 weeks into this, she sends me a DM, about how she knows I desperately need to lose weight, get healthy and get in shape so my kids don't lose their father prematurely, and pitches Plexus to me. I took offense but fought the urge to respond.

Fast-forward to now - no mention of Plexus for years and she's probably about 40 pounds heavier now.

My wife’s niece sells Plexus. She’s always posting on Facebook about how great she feels and how healthy she is just by drinking this pink gunk.

I got tired of her posts and unfriended her. Wife suggested I needed to re-friend her since she’s family and has kids we need to watch grow up. Blah blah.

 

[Spartan Squad]

I have a buddy of mine I finally had to unfollow on Facebook because everything was this stupid travel deal thing that I'm too lazy to look up its name. They have those dumb blue retractable signs. Everything was this business. He'd call me to catch up and it be half hour about the travel that he's selling but some how buying for his own trips. I ran into his sister recently and she said she's basically lost touch with him. But a pyramid scheme might be good for him. He's washed out of a few jobs because he put himself in preventable positions that got him fired. Can't get fired from a job that is designed to rip off its employees.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

My wife’s niece sells Plexus. She’s always posting on Facebook about how great she feels and how healthy she is just by drinking this pink gunk.

I got tired of her posts and unfriended her. Wife suggested I needed to re-friend her since she’s family and has kids we need to watch grow up. Blah blah.

**** that. Why do you "need" to watch those kids grow up, and why does it need to be on Facebook?