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?

It depends on what MLM it is. I don't really count Avon and Body Shop in that (I know they technically are).

I have a friend who does Body Shop as a hobby and she enjoys it. Makes a little, spends most of it on products (not to make up an order but because she likes to shop) and is doing okay. There is no pressure to recruit (you make very little if you do unless you have a large team and even then it is not that much I believe). There is also not the same pressure, but then she has a group who like the products so sells okay.

I know people who have been involved in other MLM which are much more pressured, where you have to recruit to make any money and which will just take all your money and leave you worse off and they are definitely ones to avoid.

I see it is Scentsy.

The big problem she was have is a simple one - you have to put through a certain size order to stay 'active'. The products are nice, so I will give her that, but once everyone (if they want to that is) has a warmer, all they are going to want are bars to melt with, so it is difficult to keep it up even if you are good. That is if people even want to pay that much for a warmer in the first place (I didn't - yankee warmer with scentsy wax in it as I am not paying £50-odd for one).

The only way to get it to work long term is to recruit with Scentsy and she will have a lot of pressure to do that. The problem is there are lots selling it now.

Kedgeree, you can't leave us in suspense! Did she make it?
LOL - here's the punchline - NO

Scoobycan that is very worrying news. About 25 years ago there was a similar one called "Women Empowering Women" where you had to give £3,000 to join, and it was all lovely and about women supporting other women, and you had to trust, and no the tax man wouldn't be interested in you suddenly getting £21K (which was a lot of money back then).

Luckily my friend didn't join because the scheme fell apart about a week later after the national news featured it - but of course people losing their money was the fault of the news and the dissenters, not the fact that the scheme was useless.

Mlm is not a future @Geddes89

If my friend opened a shop, would I support her... it depends what she sells and the prices she's pushing.

High street shops are closing down because the rate of wage isn't rising to match the price inflations in shops. So, if people can't afford something in Boots they'll definitely struggle to buy £8 toothpastes.

Maybe the huns could understand this if they were washing the cult out of their hair with shampoo that didn't cost 4 times more than a normal bottle.

I'm a supportive friend because when it goes tits up for my mates conned into these schemes I'll be there without one single "I told you so"

I did one. Books. It was awful. No one would buy anything. My family refused to speak to me. I felt like I was begging people to buy overpriced, not very well written tat. The phonics scheme especially was not as good as some.

I made my outlay back and the min order with much difficulty and have a good few books left over that I am using for gifts. It was hell. Never again. Your friend will learn.

...hopefully this is some food for thought!!

Oh yes we are all now totally chastised and will forthwith ignore all evidence and factual analysis because @geddes89 says her mate is earning hundreds of thousands simply from selling mascara and definitely not from the exploitation and scamming of vulnerable women..

Oof, a thread bot! 🍿

Geddes posts uncannily like a poster who came onto a Younique on Facebook thread recently
What a coincidence eh she was called Babbs something or other
Funny how these bots all love !!!!!!

I have a friend who does another candle one. She's never tried to recruit me (thank god) but I sometimes do craft fairs with her. The candles reek. So so strong. I sometimes get a bad headache aft
er the fairs but I like chatting to people and o get a wee spot at her table selling my cards so I don't mind.

I can tell you that on the occasions I've been there with her, she doesnt make very much money, she's never actually given anyone the hard sell either. She does it for extra cash and I think makes only just enough to break even. I think the products are dear for what they are . I think its £20 or so for a big candle. Some people think she makes them herself and
she doesn't correct them.

She's happy and she gets out and about and meets people and she doesn't hard try to recruit. But from reading here, she might be in the minority.

Likely she’ll lose money, see Elle Beau blog and Bot Watch for real life stories. I have two old school friends; one does Bodyshop (still has f/t job) and one who does Younique. The Y one is ridiculous, I’ve stopped following her on FB, sick to death of her ‘inspiring’ quotes and videos of how amaaaaaazing the make up is. The Body Shop one has sent messaged me asking if I want to buy, I refused politely (there is a store in town that I did buy from if I used their stuff, which I haven’t as I’m very old school with them, preferred Fuzzy Peach & Dewberry)she is now starting to recruit.....

I know a couple of people who own a salon and use Younique and Tropic respectively. They can probably buy enough to use in their businesses to stay active and anything they sell to a customer is a bonus. I wouldn’t use them though as I’d rather go to a salon that didn’t use them.

@beenandgoneandbackagain - thing is my BF gave up her very good salaried job (because "they" told her to), came off FB (because "they" told her to), so isolated her from her actual real life friends, she got into massive debt and then returned to the job market and has had an awful time. Yet as far as I can work out, is STILL relying on support from this "cult". They prey on vulnerable and damaged women - another MLM scam already mentioned on here is being shoved on my FB feed at the moment by another 'mate' of mine who knows I'm going through a tough time, and this person is constantly sending me PM's asking how I am and how are the DC, and am I coping and would I like to jack in my day job and become part of their wonderful new world full of glitz and glamour (think white Mercedes....) because it is oh so wholesome and could change my life.

I'm not convinced they're actually invested in our friendship any longer - they just want to recruit me by saying all these lovely things to me to hook me in. I'm no longer sway-able, my journey has been too rough and I don't believe a word they say. It's awful when you think your friends can use you like that.

If she's not that close a friend I'd stay out of it.

Although if she tried to sell me products I'd politely decline and say that I never buy from MLMs. That opens the door to a conversation about it if she's interested in hearing your perspective.

watched that documentary....you would have to be incredibly thick to think selling a lipstick by advertising on facebook is going to give you a kim kardashian lifestyle.....hard work makes you well off or like most rich people you are born into wealth.....failing that you have a talent that is profitable, but even then it can fail and you end up being 'normal' ie...in a 9 to 5 job that pays the bills!

Is it body shop ? If so then she will be fine .. they make money ..

I am not a fan of MLM but it isn’t always a disaster. Close friends of ours were Forever Living reps for years. Like the OPs friend it was never a main source of income, but they genuinely loved the products. They’ve never been pushy or a nuisance. They gave me a very generous box of free samples at the start and I also loved some of the products and would reorder in bulk every year or so.

They have pretty much retired now and so I have to buy my beloved deodorant and lip salve elsewhere without the discount they gave me. ☹️

whyohwhy
Your friends may have just accepted that they'd make a bit of pin money retailing and may have been allowed to do that by their upline. The reality is that most reps are put under a huge amount of pressure to recruit, because that's the real money to the upline.
The products are horrendously overpriced for what they are, to take into account the many layers in the pyramid who take a cut, as well as the company itself. If you got a decent enough discount then fine, but personally I think it's nuts spending over £3 on a lipbalm that has almost identical ingredients to a Chapstick that costs £1 for three, no matter how 'beloved.

gubbsywubbsy no, Body Shop Huns do no better than anyone else. Breaking even is the best outcome I’ve seen (from studying many BS@H in their first year). There is no good MLM and the personal good conduct or pin money earnings of an individual does not make the whole industry or the business model used any more ethical. There is a tiny percentage (c.0.3%) who do well in network marketing by building a huge downline but it’s at the financial and social expense of those at the bottom. I just find it incredible that this fraud is allowed to continue to damage people.

I agree with the majority of posters on this thread. However, I do have a friend who has been doing Temple Spa parties for quite a few years now. Like your friend op, she does it because she loves the products. She’s not daft enough to think she will make a mint from it - it’s just a little sideline which makes enough to keep her in the products.

It’s nice stuff, so she gets repeat trade. It’s an affluent area so plenty of people are more than happy for an excuse to get a few friends round for wine and facials. No hard sell to become a rep; sure she hands out flyers about it at her parties but I’m not aware of anyone else actually taking it on. Each party does seem to generate at least one or more future parties though, so it chugs along.

Which reminds me, I’ve run out of my favourite face cream...

What’s with the all weight loss coffee ads on Facebook at the moment 🙄 Is it the new Aloewotsit/younique bollocks for stupid people? The pitch is so recognisable

@YouokHun ... loads of people I know are doing body shop and making loads .. I hate MLM 's so would never join but some do make money .. and quote a lot 🤷‍♀️... it's the only one I've ever known to actually work though ( probably because it had a heritage on the high street )

How do you know they’re making loads?

They are taught to project an image of wealth to attract recruits - even if they're not making money. It's called "fake it till you make it".

Most people are trusting so when their friends say they're making bank they believe them.

I'm ex FLP and I do buy the lip balm if I see a bot with a stall somewhere. I'll spend £4 on a nice burts bees one, so £3 for a nice aloe vera one that does actually moisturise my lips not ultimately make them worse like the cheap chapstick ones is a no brainer.

I'm the first to warn people off mlm and flp "bizniss". A lot of their products are not very good, but I do objectively like the lipsalve and deodorant.

As for the threadbot saying it's the future.... have they seen the huge drops in the UK bots' cheques at the flp conference this year?! "Legally different" pyramid schemes are ultimately unsustainable, and the uk market for flp is real live proof.

You warn people off them but you still prop them up by buying from them?