Should I be worried about a friend joining an MLM if...

[Summerbreezes]

She says it's just a hobby or side project because she's always loved the products. She said she's keeping her day job.

Is it going to stay that way or should I be worried?

'good luck to the girl'

She's not a girl she's a grown woman.

And no, MOMs are not the future. They're an ugly hangover from the past. Your examples of completely odfferent commissions n based activities simply not valid comparisons.

If she was opening a her own new business (whether online or in physical form) then yes of course there wouid be a different reaction. Because that's a totally different proposition to signing up as an unpaid sales rep for companies where most reps make next to nothing or worse.

When people break away from the cult-like aspects of some MLMs, they can see and identify all the false comparisons very, very clearly

Do the six figures look like this.. S O D A L L?

The Guardian had a good feature on MLMs at the weekend, focusing particularly on how they suck women in with the promise of friendship and support groups (and then take all their money): www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/jun/01/online-beauty-schemes-selling-social-media-younique-arbonne

I was offered a spot in a "women's circle" by my then BF who's own sister had recruited her.

I was to "gift" (!!!!) £3000 to the chief honcho sitting at the top of the pyramid (it was sold as a support network for entrepreneurial women who want to start their own business), and when she had recruited us all (14 in total) the "lotus" blossomed and started at the bottom of a new pyramid, and we all moved up in the scam. I mean, scheme. Oh and I was offered a weekly conference call with all these people (based in locations around the world) - what a wonderful support network.

Firstly, I wasn't prepared to find £3000, and if I had had that kind of money I would have saved some, spent some on getting new shoes for the DC, and perhaps gone on a low budget family holiday. Secondly, when I then saw pictures on FB of the lotus on a huge wonderful three month long trip of a lifetime travelling South Africa, I realised where the £42K had been spent and it wasn't entrepreneurial.

I am no longer BF with the original person who tried to recruit me - I asked her how it would affect our friendship that I had declined such a wonderful offer, and she said that she had been "counselled" by the rest of the group on how to cope with my rejection. Utter utter hillocks. Women's Circle my backside.

www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/02/27/1743697/0/en/Consumer-alert-regarding-gifting-circles.html

*hillocks??? BOLLOCKS!!

Is the six figure income £000,000?

If my friend opened a store selling expensive shite that I didn't want then.tried to guilt trip me into buying it and working there for nothing, no I wouldn't support them.

And six figure.income? No, they are not.

How odd that someone like Geddes89 would join MN just to make that comment.

I mean, no one would name change just for that, would they?

Dear oh dear, must try harder.

“Six figure salary” 😂😂😂

Yeah. Sure.

Go away.

Acquaintance of mine actually gave up a six figure salary to get involved in the aloe vera thing. She reckoned that having been successful in her real career, she would soon be top of the aloe vera tree and making even more. Guess what?

I'll happily support someone selling Avon or Bodyshop by buying the products because I actually do use them and there's no Bodyshop in town any more, but supporting a MLM bot by "investing" in the business myself? No. The pyramid stops here. I don't want to "reach my potential" or "Work from home earning a imaginary 6 figure salary" and whatever other bullshit people like Geddes peddle.

Kedgeree, you can't leave us in suspense! Did she make it?

It depends on the company - sone like Avon are fine but others are an elaborate con. But as a hobby/second job/sahm job they sometimes are ok

And is Wow a new Bot word. There waa a Bot on mn a few weeks back who used it a lot.

Urgh I have a friend who does several different ones.

She slags people off who don’t want to join her groups or at least share it to their friends not realising people don’t want their their friends sucked into MLM.
She was singing the praises of her newest venture saying how amazing the products are, she loves them, sharing videos of them etc but then a few days later said her first order had now arrived and she couldn’t wait to try the products. So clearly she had never used them before and the videos she had shared weren’t hers. It’s all so fake.

Geddes I’m a watcher and commentator on the industry and I can tell you that product and service based pyramid schemes (MLM) are exploitative. It’s clear from research that over 99% of participants lose money - that isn’t a viable opportunity, that’s a scam.

The reason it’s a pyramid scheme is because it’s an internal market, very little product is sold to the outside world. If your friend is making money she’s doing it the only way it’s remotely possible, by recruiting a huge downline, the majority of whom will lose money. However, most of the high earners are in fact nothing of the sort, a quick glance at the Insolvency Register or Companies House is telling. Often the illusion of success (pictures of cars, holidays etc) is paid for by a partner.

I suggest people watch BBC iplayer ‘Ellie Investigates the Multilevel Millionaires’ and also try and get hold of an Income Disclosure statement to see the PROPORTION of high earners. Those that actually publish an ID all show that it’s almost impossible to earn as much as the UK minimum wage.

Also take a look at the Anti MLM Coalition and Botwatch.blog, at parody site Timeless Vie, MLM Lies Exposed on FB and follow #antimlmmovement on Twitter.

Oh and Avon is MLM and Avon and Body Shop at Home are using the same exploitative business model. There is no good MLM

It depends what it is. I do a bit of Avon on the side and find that it works well around childcare now I'm part time and it gave me something productive to do on mat leave. I wouldn't recommend younique, fm word, any of the weird weight loss ones, or bodyshop. All pressure you to add people you dont to your personal social media or get involved a ludicrous amount of Skype meetings. One lady joined Avon and told me when she was fm world they basically told her to be more motivated (she has 4 kids and works) because she was meeting ridiculous targets. MLM can work well if shes doing it for the right reasons but if she needs to see it as building a little side gig not a quick win. I would leave her to it.

MLM stands for multilevel marketing btw.

Don’t you love it when there’s an outbreak of botulism on a thread about MLMs?!

How often do we hear about friends of friends who allegedly make six figure salaries out of flogging aloe vera and mascara which makes your eyelashes look like pubes? It’s easy to spout such BS when a search on Companies House or the Individual Insolvency Register tells a different story. Very few people make real money out of MLMs as the numbers in the BBC documentary points out. Those who do are conning their downlines, many of whom are getting into debt to line someone else’s pockets. It’s about time these schemes were banned.

Here’s a link to a documentary on LuLaRoe - another culty MLM which is on the skids:

I hope my friend doesn't start coming out with nonsense on the same level as @Geddes89 😂

For everyone asking, the company is Scentsy.

Funny how it's always vague anecdotal evidence that's provided when it comes to the six figure earners in MLM's. The recent BBC documentary showed that only around 36 people in Nu Skin made the big bucks in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East & Africa)that's out of 90,000 plus people.
As someone else mentioned earlier, Companies House is the place to go if you know someone claiming to be a six figure earner.

The 'shop' analogy would only work if the shop owner sold 5% of their stock externally and bought the other 95% back themselves and kept it in a garage.

she hasn't mentioned anything about recruiting yet
Realllly? at yet

MLM = Pyramid Scheme = SCAM