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Who actually buys stuff from Amway?

D

desura

Diamond Member
and how have they avoided being tagged an illegal pyramid scheme?

Literally, they have *zero* market presence.
 
I've seen people going door to door selling all kinds of crap including cable, electricity, word of god, mary kay, cookies, coffee, magazines, etc.

Went down to a Amway orientation once long time ago, it seemed more like a cult, everyone was all upbeat and rooting how great that company is. Herablife is also being investigated.

Amway wants you to sell there crap to friends and family, most of these beauty, nutritional mlm's say make a list of 50 friends and family, then go piss them off and push our crap on them.

Herablife also offers similar so-called all-green natural products, the stuff is expensive and really not any better than what you can buy locally.

Been doing network marketing for over 20 years, have seen all the scams out there, almost daily i get an email with a link to a video promising fast cash, same crap mostly. If the business wants you to watch a video instead of telling you about it, it's junk/scam/crap.

What's funny is some of those marketing videos you see someone in a really nice house and a really nice car, both were rented just for the b.s. video.

These two websites are good for looking up scam mlm's:
http://www.ponzitracker.com/
http://mlmhelpdesk.com/
 
Meghan54 said:
Odd. Everything I've ever read and continue to read about pyramid schemes calls them illegal and fraudulent, incl. pubs from the FBI and FTC.

So what are legal pyramid schemes?
Click to expand...

The ones run by people who know how to take advantage of the legal loopholes which allow them to stay in business.

Which is good because we don't need the government telling businesses how to operate.
 
Cerb said:
Pyramid schemes aren't illegal.
Click to expand...

Many US states and countries have laws against pyramid schemes. You may be getting them confused with multi-level marketing schemes like Amway.

Some information here on the subject: https://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-164-17337_20942-208400--,00.html

"Multi-level" or "network" marketing is a form of business that uses independent representatives to sell products or services to family, friends, and acquaintances. A representative earns commissions from retail sales he or she makes, and also from retail sales made by other people that he or she recruits. Examples of well-known multi-level marketing companies include Amway and Mary Kay Cosmetics...

Pyramid schemes claim to be in the business of selling products to consumers in order to look like a multi-level marketing company. However, little or no effort is made to actually market the product. Instead, money is made in typical pyramid fashion...from recruiting other people to market the program. Sometimes, new "distributors" are persuaded to purchase inventory or overpriced products/services when they sign up.

Pyramid companies make virtually all their profits from signing up new recruits and often attempt to disguise entry fees as the price charged for mandatory purchases of training, computer services, or product inventory.

Pyramid schemes are not only illegal; they are a waste of money and time. Because pyramid schemes rely on recruitment of new members to bring in money, the schemes often collapse when the pool of potential recruits dries up (market saturation). When the plan collapses, most people, except the few at the top of the pyramid, lose their money.
Click to expand...

-KeithP
 
The independent resellers often have minimums that they must buy for a set time frame. Meaning the only people who buy the stuff are the resellers who are contracted to. You would think that eventually these businesses would go bankrupt as resellers give up; however as D Hannum (not PT Barnum) said: "There is a sucker born every minute".
 
KeithP said:
Many US states and countries have laws against pyramid schemes. You may be getting them confused with multi-level marketing schemes like Amway.
Click to expand...
I don't consider one being legal and one not an excuse for roughly the same ethical practices, sometimes the same law-breaking (Amyway has had to pay out due to laws against pyramid schemes at least twice, so far, in the U.S.).
 
I do!

I drink my Herbalife tea to get a buzz, then open the package with my Cutco knife. If the order is incorrect, I threaten to sue and show the salesperson my Prepaid Legal ProtectShield card. Works every time.
 
Printer Bandit said:
if you see an indian guy in best buy approach you, he's probably pushing quixtar / amway.
Click to expand...

yep. happened to me a couple times. Thought they were being friendly at first. But then they started pitching "business opportunities". Now whenever I see an unfamiliar Indian guy approaching me at a mall or store, i just yell "STRANGER DANGER" and run away.

<-- Indian
 
Cerb said:
I don't consider one being legal and one not an excuse for roughly the same ethical practices.
Click to expand...

Terrific. However I was addressing your blanket statement that "Pyramid schemes aren't illegal" which is incorrect.

-KeithP
 
OCGuy said:
I do!

I drink my Herbalife tea to get a buzz, then open the package with my Cutco knife. If the order is incorrect, I threaten to sue and show the salesperson my Prepaid Legal ProtectShield card. Works every time.
Click to expand...

You forgot to vacuum the packaging peanuts up with your Kirby.
 
OCGuy said:
I do!

I drink my Herbalife tea to get a buzz, then open the package with my Cutco knife. If the order is incorrect, I threaten to sue and show the salesperson my Prepaid Legal ProtectShield card. Works every time.
Click to expand...


Do you then go on your World Venture's vacation with the money you've won? Don't forget your "You Should Be Here" sign and to drink your Advocare so that you can look good on vacation!
 
I don't know how many of you guys are following the whole Herbalife thing, but ya know, Bill Ackman used to be invested in an MLM himself: Prepaid Legal.

Kinda makes you wonder. Is he a hypocrite for investing in one...or is it his experience in owning one lets him know how MLM's can stay legal and how to spot the bad (well, worse) ones?
 
Meghan54 said:
Odd. Everything I've ever read and continue to read about pyramid schemes calls them illegal and fraudulent, incl. pubs from the FBI and FTC.

So what are legal pyramid schemes?
Click to expand...

The US Government. It's health will be determined by how many more taxpayers we can add to the system over time; if all of a sudden people couldn't have babies anymore, the whole system would crash and burn (paying off pensions, etc). Stupid yes, but it fits.
 
KeithP said:
Terrific. However I was addressing your blanket statement that "Pyramid schemes aren't illegal" which is incorrect.

-KeithP
Click to expand...
If Amyway to only exist as a single business, rather than two, how it would not fall apart? Their success is based on having a MLM system, which itself is not going to be sustainable, combined with a business of selling themselves to new recruits, to keep churning the bottom, combined with enough money going into legislator pockets to not get any definitions of illegal schemes to include theirs, if possible.

They structure themselves to try to keep just on the legal side of things, with new sellers at the bottom that feed the machine, realize it's a lot of work for little/no gain for themselves, and then new suckers come in to do the same. Just in 2010, they paid out an estimated $150 million (over 50 million as payout). Surely, if they weren't such a thing they could defend themselves for under that amount, no?
 
Used to have a roommate who was hooked/lined/sinkered Amway. Nice enough guy but, wow.

The "inspirational" tapes (yes, I said tapes) he used to listen to every morning had all the feel of Moonies/Scientology/Jonestown cults.

To this day it gives me the heebie-jeebies to think about.
 
alzan said:
Used to have a roommate who was hooked/lined/sinkered Amway. Nice enough guy but, wow.

The "inspirational" tapes (yes, I said tapes) he used to listen to every morning had all the feel of Moonies/Scientology/Jonestown cults.

To this day it gives me the heebie-jeebies to think about.
Click to expand...

What creeps me out is the scintillating look of greed in their eyes.

Greed is good when you actually have the goods and all is sound. But the look of greed in these guys' eyes is just unreal.

Weirdly, when I toed in an MLM, there were a lot of erstwhile middle class people in it...
 
alzan said:
The "inspirational" tapes (yes, I said tapes) he used to listen to every morning had all the feel of Moonies/Scientology/Jonestown cults.
Click to expand...

A lot of my family members have those tapes. They taught me if you can tie your product to Jesus you can sell anything!
 
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