What happened to MLM's?

I had something similar with betterwear (no idea if I've spelt that right)

I had a rep give me a catalogue and I ordered some window cleaning stuff

It was amazing stuff so ordered some more

Nobody came round to drop it off so I spent the money and forgot all about it

About 18 months later,I had a couple (they claimed to be husband and wife) on my doorstep demanding money

They claimed the old rep and quit and that they'd taken their round-and i owed money (which I didnt have) for the window cleaning stuff id ordered (they did have my order with them so I dont think it was a scam but they where intimidating)

I had to ring the police to get rid of them in the end as they where so aggressive (I was a single parent at the time and the kids where with me)

It was bloody scary at the time

It’s literally just this.

I think they join up, and they get access to booking travel at a small discount. They go on a family holiday and post about it. They don’t actually sell many holidays to other people, they make money by signing others up to their “lifestyle”. Or probably don’t make very much money, in reality.

Am I right? I’d love to hear from someone who’s actually in this game 😂

I sometimes see posts from a local influencer who is a 'travel consultant'. She just shares holiday pics of her kids (think sunsets, matching clothes, waves) and says dm me if you want to be a travel consultant too....

I don't get how booking and going on your own family holidays makes you a travel consultant?

Any business that you have to do almost secretly - it is always about the dms for more info - and it is not transparent as to your role or who and how money is made - is dodgy.

There's a mum near us who is a full on Tropic bot. It is both weird, and tiresome and slightly concerning.

I know, I thought the same. She must make her money for the cosmetic work and gym membership somewhere. Not teaching as she's at gym every day I think. I sound like a stalker now, but it does amuse me

They're still about. My MIL is in a kitchen ware MLM and gets huffy, if I ever buy something for my kitchen that's not from her "business".

I don't want your expensive, ugly pots and pans though! I want to choose my own things.

Interesting, what does she think about the main scheme that has been mentioned upthread here? Does it affect her business or reputation if people assume that she’s in the same field?

With regards to the travel one- of if I can just say they are not all MLMs -there are some decent ones that are simply franchises - I have a friend who does this - she gets great rates, lots of options I’ve never seen before and lots of discount offers and there’s no recruitment element to it or making off other people’s sales.

I don’t understand this one either. 🤷‍♀️

Yes. Shame that Elle seems to have been permanently blocked on FB. I enjoyed her blog and posts. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen anyone shilling Younique for years. Had one acquaintance who did but she move to another brand (Farmasi I think). I muted her on socials as it was all bollocks about these amaaaaaazing companies. 🙄

I went somewhere last week and they had Utility Warehouse leaflets on the counters as the owners SIL does this. I think that’s a bit inappropriate, but at least there was no pressure or sales pitch.

Thing is- all these people sound the same on their social media. It's a total script they spout. That's what alerted me first to my friend who does the travel one. She started posting like a Tropics 'ambassador' and I thought 'Hmm....... let's look into this.'.

Buried amongst all that nonsense is her MA Ed!! The mind boggles. She could be making a real difference in the world!

How does it work? Do they go on line and book you a holiday?
Most people can go on line and book direct with eg. Easy jet or tui etc etc or go in a travel agency 🤔 can't see a market for it myself unless iam missing something

Crypto. It’s the new MLM and they’re all evangelizing for it. Just like MLM, most of them will lose their shirts.

I’ve got someone on SM who’s been a SAHM for 10 years and is now a coach “to help women get back into work”. You couldn’t make it up. Why would I pay you to help me get back into work when you haven’t worked outside the home for a decade? She actually posts old photos of herself post partum, breast feeding etc on linked in!

What is a travel consultant?
If I want to travel, I either get in my car, catch a bus or train or go online to get flights, hotels etc. I speak several languages and can read enough of a couple of others to get the gist of hotel offerings.
What value-added could a trout-pouting, laminated-brow, false eye-lashed "consultant provide" (and that is only talking about the men)?
I am assuming that the Dubai market has taken a bit of a downturn recently.

This is intended to be very tongue in cheek,

The travel ones are a joke. It’s a recruitment job not a travel job and most people know that now, but just leave them to it. To do well you have to work 24-7 not 9-5 so the giving up 9-5 thing is so a joke.

This is on the profile of the one I know locally She wouldn't have a clue who I am, but I know her whole life relationship woes, and pretty much everything about her. This is because she goes to my gym and has a big gob. Let's hope she's not on here 😅

I had a tropic Hun in my fb messages the other day. Old school friend. I was probably a bit less than polite but I did advise her to keep a spreadsheet of all her income and expenditure.

Thank the lord they seem to have mostly died the death here, but yes, it could just be I’ve aged out of being asked…I had one ‘friend’ who went totally bonkers for a few years, posting manic stuff to her 800 followers about how she was going to ‘turn her life around’ in 6 months, and how ‘you’re not tired, you’re uninspired…’ It was a constant stream of ‘I was able to pay for this holiday cause of my side hustle…’ very tone deaf. Her mantra was ‘Happy with what I have, but Unapologetically wanting more…’ She had it as a FB banner. 🙄🙄 These people are real and walk among us…

One of my neighbours who has been a SAHM for many years just invited me to like her new travel consultancy page. Nope.

Travel consultant. Someone I vaguely know is one and posts incessantly on Insta ‘hiiiiii guys, sorry I haven’t been on here…. I am sooooo incredibly blessed to do this life changing work… take a chance, if you’re curious let me know’ etc etc etc

Someone I work with loves an MLM, years back she started on a make-up one and I told her at the time it was MLM but she carried on. Funnily enough never made any real money from it. Now she’s started tropics all of a sudden and started doing Facebook videos about that. When will people learn!

I house sat for someone with one of those machines it's called Canogen or Cangen water, they told me it cured his cancer!

Ouch

Yes I'd love to know how the 'travel consultancies' make money now.

As someone else said the other popular mlm seems to be trading and signing people up to use a particular trading platform where they earn a commission for each trade and each sign up. They then offer you 'tips'.

My dss got suckered in and lost £13k