MLM - anyone doing Multi Level Marketing??

[RUBBERDUCKY]

does anyone do anything of the sorts, any information or stories?? Looking at this and wondering if it is for me.

[flyguyd]

The guy at the top makes most of the money:thinking-006:

[dcutter]

Multi-Level marketing is exactly what it looks like...a pyramid scheme. They dress it up to fit just inside the laws, but as flyguyd pointed out, the guy at the top is the one who gets the $$$.

There are thousands of these scams operating right now (Amway, Princess House etc) and although some of them may not burn you as badly as others, bottom line is they are all scams in my humble opinion.

If you are able, look up "Penn and Teller - Bull***** - Easy Money". Lost of NSFW language and images, so viewer beware, but they lay it out better than anone else.

[huntinstuff]

We have a few members who do this

Havent seen anyone quit to do it full time yet

Saw lots quit selling though

Unless you are at the top, I do not believe it is something I would waste time on

[Twisted Canuck]

You would probably feel better, and make more money, collecting bottles for refund out on the highway. I know people who got into it big time (marketing long distance telephone plans of all things....) rooked his family and extended family into it, and now they don't talk to each other. Everyone put in tons of hours, alienated all their friends and family (your first victims you try and sell too), and made zilch. Might as well join a religious cult, at least then you have God as an excuse for your behaviour, as opposed to wanting to get rich quick.

[sprinklerdog]

Some are good, some not so much. We have been involved in 4 different MLM's. Yes they are pyramids, but so is the bank. You have a president who sits at the top and makes more money than all the distributors that work the front lines. Same as the gov't. Same as oil companies.....see where I'm going. Any spin doctor can phrase anything to sound good or bad depending what their angle is. If the product is a good product, and it's easy to distribute and you don't need to stockpile it, it's okay. If you look how Cutco, Princess House, Party Lite candles operate, you need to hustle and make sales. They're not really MLM's. Revenue comes from sales. You need to know if there is a need or market for the product you're dealing with. We got into a vitamin and nutrient program that was very succesful and had a good demand for the product.
In many (most?) MLM's you get get a cut of the the sales that the people below you make. A lot of those "sales" are simply the entry fee or buy in of the new team player or "distributor".
Research it and get informed before getting involved. Knowledge is power.

PM me if you want and I can share more info with you if you would like. I can tell you what we were in and maybe explain a couple more things.

Geo

[winged1]

I know of two families destroyed by the Quickstar cult. If it is based at all on you personally consuming the product or services, run. If you can sell, profit on that, without bringing the 'religion' into it.

[gunmum]

I've done 2 and been very successful at one (the funny thing is that that's the one I did more for fun as it's very well known, but really believed in the other one and found it a more difficult sell) Bottom line, know what you're getting into and expect to put more time and money in then you'll get out. Make sure that you believe in your product 110%! Especially because if you're like most people, you'll be your own best customer ;)
I also find that alot of people are really into these at first and peter out fast. If it's something you really want, there's no reason why you can't be successful at it. You almost always have to go to support/training meetings to stay motivated though (more of your time).
People are skeptics and if you're product isn't well known, even if it's top of the line, its hard to convince others that they need it even if they actually do.
Good luck!

[foxrider]

Pyramid scheme, you make money by recruiting poor saps not by selling products. YouTube penn and teller bulls*** and theres pyramid scheme parts.

[foxrider]

You would probably feel better, and make more money, collecting bottles for refund out on the highway. I know people who got into it big time (marketing long distance telephone plans of all things....) rooked his family and extended family into it, and now they don't talk to each other. Everyone put in tons of hours, alienated all their friends and family (your first victims you try and sell too), and made zilch. Might as well join a religious cult, at least then you have God as an excuse for your behaviour, as opposed to wanting to get rich quick.

Depends on the highway. I have a 14 mile stretch of highway that i walk bi-monthly when there no snow. Extra 100$ every month.

[Grizzly Adams]

I know of two families destroyed by the Quickstar cult. If it is based at all on you personally consuming the product or services, run. If you can sell, profit on that, without bringing the 'religion' into it.

We have a friend into Melaleuca and religion is the word that comes to mind. Very nice lady, but it's to the point that people avoid her, because she's constantly trying to get them involved.

Grizz

[Sushi]

Depends on the highway. I have a 14 mile stretch of highway that i walk bi-monthly when there no snow. Extra 100$ every month.

You make more doing that than most MLM recruits. In fact, I would imagine a lot of them make a less than zero....negative $ and lots of brainwashing that you need more recruits. if you're having doubts already, run!

[BlackHeart]

Check the math....amway or what ever they are calling themselves nowadays is full of BS. My brother-inlaw was getting drawn in and asked me to come with him to a meeting. Did the math and you would need 4billion people signed up to match what they were pitching. Utter crap. As most are.

Then checked prices...actually brought a sears catalogue(not that sears is the lowest priced) and their prices were usually 50% higher....again so much lies.

If it was so good it would fly off the warehouse shelves and not need MLM salesmen and payment of large % commissions to each level.

You will never get to the third level....that for the owners of this crap business

[Toirtis]

Over the years, I have watched many people pour tens of thousands of dollars and tens of thousands of hours into Amway, Quixtar, and Team/Mona Vie. Besides the money and time lost, these cults (and they do fit almost all of the cult danger evaluator checklist requirements) cost these people a lot of friendships and family relationships, and only a tiny handful ever broke even monetarily. The people that run these rank amongst the most charismatic and inspirational speakers, and in the end, they are the only ones getting rich.

[denpacc]

People at the top make the money, all the rest are going through a mid-life crisis.

[Hunter65]

So everyone more or less agrees that the people at the top make all the money. So how do you get to the top?

[Twisted Canuck]

So everyone more or less agrees that the people at the top make all the money. So how do you get to the top?

You start the cult, or you are a close friend of the cult leader....at worst his second cousin. And the cult leader has to have a good schpiel.

[bowhunter9841]

My wife sold princess house for a while, but she's not a good crowd person. So she really didn't enjoy it! We got some nice cookware and dishes out of it though! We were also involved in another mlm for a year, great potential to earn, but the products they were promoting really sucked, so I couldn't get into it! Besides, I didn't want to lose all my friends! They get annoyed when you ask them to come check it out! And so do I, now when people ask me! I'm not a salesmen! Not my thing at all!

[DarkAisling]

I sold Mary Kay cosmetics back in the '90s. I did okay at it, but when Amway came out with their brand of cosmetics I switched to that as I preferred it. Should have stuck to Mary Kay: I might have earned the pink Cadillac by now (a woman who was on the same tier as me just got hers).