To just not get it?

[MovedByFanciesThatAreCurled]

Apologies - I know there have been threads about this before but I am still concerned. I have recently made friends with a few of the Mums from school and a few of them seem to be doing very well with what appears to be 'Forever Living'. In the past I have simply dismissed posts on FB about FL as being a kind of pyramid scheme and too good to be true. But, after reading a couple of these Mum's FB business pages it appears as though they seem to be doing quite well from this? Dropping down days at their 'regular' jobs and paying for their family holidays actually. So, I suppose my question is this - what exactly is Forever Living and AIBU to still be so skeptical about it?!

[StealthPolarBear]

Yanbu. Do they actually go on holiday?

[cardibach]

It's all bollocks. Look how MLM works.

[DailyFaily]

It's a pyramid scheme and its sellers are encouraged to 'big up' their profits because the only real way they can make money from it is if they recruit someone to sell underneath them (I.e. They move up the pyramid). Don't believe the hype.

[Mummyme1987]

Very few actually make money, most end up worse off. MLM is only good for the top of the pyramid.

[Mummyme1987]

They are made to lie and big it all up.

[Laiste]

As far as i see it it's selling. And then getting other people to do the selling for you.

If you're good at being pushy, don't mind a fair few relatives, friends and aquaintences starting to see you as pushy pain in the arse, don't mind spending your evenings 'networking' (ie:being said pushy PITA) then i guess it could work for you?

Having a thick skin, good business sense AND a really dogged determination to make money are traits that only a few people have. And the likely hood is that they would have done well at what ever they tried to be honest.

[Reindeerlily]

They are all Brainwashed.

[gunting]

It's a load of shite and FL are cowboys. The things they sell are just bizarre.

[MovedByFanciesThatAreCurled]

But - (and sorry for sounding thick) what do they actually do?!??? What do they sell? -Lord I am thick-

[gunting]

Mostly aloe Vera based products

[Laiste]

Have a look OP. Here's a link to their site.

foreverliving.com/?clearDisclaimer=true

They seem to sell all sorts of stuff. 99.9% of which would probably be cheaper and easier to get down your local high st.

[Imnotaslimjim]

Be very sceptical about it!! They won't have dropped anything at work or if they have they'll take a hit financially. FL is not a sustainable income.

[arethereanyleftatall]

It's in their interest to make it look profitable, isn't it? They recruit someone, they get more. So, they're hardly gonna say 'this is utter shit.'
Bit naughty though, duping your friends.

[honeyroar]

Everyone I know that was "making a fortune" from it and on the verge of retiring from their regular jobs has now (one year on) dropped it and make no mention of it (thank the Lord!).

[TheCompanyOfCats]

I wonder about this...where does the money come from for all the stuff they show off about?

[FinderofNeedles]

They have to buy a "starter pack" of products, which costs them a packet. That's why they are so keen to make it sound attractive - they need to get their own money back!

[KayVerinder]

Look at the 'Timeless Vie' page on Facebook if you have it.

All you need to know, right there.

[FinderofNeedles]

I should admit that a friend of a friend swears by the products, claiming they improved her health. I don't suffer from any of the ailments she or her extended family suffered from, so I don't buy anything. She got my sceptical friend roped in. Friend found that one FL product is the only effective treatment for her DH's eczema. That apart, she's not shifted much (and has no expectation of giving up her day job!).

[MissKittyCat]

The only way to make money is to recruit people. The only way to recruit enough people is to make it look like you will make a lot of money. So they will pay for the holiday on a credit card, lease a nice car and even rent a bigger house. Then hope they will recruit enough people to pay for it all.

[228agreenend]

You make money by either selling the products, or by recruiting people to become sellers, and then you earn a percentage of their earnings. Sounds good? However, if there are two or three FL mum's in you school, they will have already captured the market for people,to sell to, plus recruited any willing people (victims) in their team. Ie. The school market has already been saturated.

If you know loads of people who have never come across FL before, you may make some money, but probably not a fortune.

[throwingpebbles]

It's all smoke and mirrors; the cars are rented/borrowed, the glamourous lifestyle is photoshopped /bought on a credit card

Timeless Vie was started by mumsnetters: m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1647635148840840

Or here timelessvie.wordpress.com/

it's so frustrating seeing so many people get sucked in... My aunt-in-law was badly sucked in, from the look of her Facebook she was living the highlife but her only customers were her parents and they/the credit card paid for all her fancy trips that she plastered all over Facebook. She was actually terrifyingly broke, but you would never guess from her posts!

[MakingMyWayThroughTown]

Definitely be sceptical!! They give it billy big balls about how much they're making simply to recruit you. Then when you sign up you realise that you spend more than you actually make and you have to bully your friends and family or lie about making a fortune so people will come work 'under you' so you move up a level on the pyramid and make a little bit of money. The money is at the top, and that's where it stays.

[throwingpebbles]

They have to recruit to make money, and in order to recruit they have to pretend they have already made a lot of money ....

[HazelnutCoffeeandMincePies]

I have a friend who does seem to do well with it and hasn't had a job for a year and a half now. Pretty sure she's recruited loads of people but does seem to have stopped private messaging everyone she's ever met and banging on about it in person every time you see her, now.

[Pettywoman]

John Oliver on MLMs. Worth a watch.