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Original poster

Herbalife - is it a pyramid scheme?

29 replies

HopefulRose · 03/01/2023 20:13

I keep seeing posts from people about Herbalife and it looks very much like a MLM scheme to me, how do they actually earn money?

OP posts:
nomorecheeseforme · 03/01/2023 20:13

It is a pyramid scheme, yes.

UnaVaca · 03/01/2023 20:13

Yes it is

SomeChickensAreJustTooBig · 03/01/2023 20:14

It has been around for YEARS so on some level must be working.

AllyPallyWally · 03/01/2023 20:16

Yup, they earn money by exploiting (mainly) vulnerable people.

Kazzyhoward · 03/01/2023 20:23

Yep, a con-job pyramid scheme. I've had a couple of clients who've lost huge sums of money doing it. They suck you in and force you to buy more and more of their stock (which you can't sell), attend more and more expensive seminars (which they profit from), etc. Both of my clients ended up tens of thousands out of pocket by being conned into chasing the impossible dream.

ThePoshUns · 03/01/2023 20:24

I thought that scam had died off years ago. Yes it is a pyramid scheme

Breakfastinbedonhols · 03/01/2023 20:25

Yes it is. I watched a documentary a few years ago about exploitative it is to poor communities.
I also had a family member try to push it and they were very enthusiastic about it for a year or so and then went very quiet about it.

There are MLM threads on here that are very informative if you want to know more about pyramid schemes.

Neodymium · 03/01/2023 20:27

There was a great podcast on pyramid schemes including Herbalife and how they can be legal. All to do with amway and the powerful people at the top of the tree. That’s why mlms are legal when they probably shouldn’t be

Breakfastinbedonhols · 03/01/2023 20:31

OP, people who push Herbalife don’t make money. If they do, it’s because they have persuaded other people to join and try to sell.

Original poster
HopefulRose · 03/01/2023 20:36

Ooh interesting @Neodymium what’s the name of the podcast?

OP posts:
bellac11 · 03/01/2023 20:36

Whats MLM?

Original poster
HopefulRose · 03/01/2023 20:37

Thanks everyone. Someone I know of has recently started selling stuff for them, she seems really sweet and just a bit worried she’s fallen into a bit of a trap. Some of the language around it all sounds a bit cult like too.

OP posts:
sorrynotathome · 03/01/2023 20:37

Yes. I first met a Herbalifer in 1986.

MarmiteCoriander · 03/01/2023 20:38

Of course it is!

RainBow725 · 03/01/2023 20:39

Watch the film Betting on Zero. Coincidentally, I watched it again last week with my teen DS. A good business studies lesson. Absolutely a pyramid scheme and will collapse eventually.

butterfliedtwo · 03/01/2023 20:39

Yes. It has been around forever, but it is an MLM.

Tinkerbyebye · 03/01/2023 21:03

bellac11 · 03/01/2023 20:36

Whats MLM?

Multi level marketing, or a pyramid scheme

Neodymium · 03/01/2023 21:09

HopefulRose · 03/01/2023 20:36

Ooh interesting @Neodymium what’s the name of the podcast?

its called the dream.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dream/id1435743296

I actually just saw there is a season 2 that I haven’t listened to as well.

Neodymium · 03/01/2023 21:13

I knew someone selling juice plus once. They had a q&a post on their page. One of the questions was ‘is juice plus a pyramid scheme?’ And they had an answer like no of course not it’s a small business. Thanks for thinking so little of me that you think I would be involved in something like that.

then after a few months of constant posting about juice plus and all it’s amazing benefits and being a ‘boss babe’ they quietly stopped posting and never said another word. It’s quite predatory behaviour from the companies. They hook in vulnerable people.

LoveBluey · 03/01/2023 21:22

One of the school mums sells this and is always posting photos of her attending extravagant conference events and also family holidays she claims are all expenses paid. Is there any chance she really does get her trips paid for or is she faking it?

MrsSkylerWhite · 03/01/2023 21:24

Is that still going?

yes, it is. Lost a pretty good friend over it quite some time ago because she became an obsessed PITA about it.

if someone’s asked you to get involved, I’d steer clear.

Augend23 · 03/01/2023 21:27

LoveBluey · 03/01/2023 21:22

One of the school mums sells this and is always posting photos of her attending extravagant conference events and also family holidays she claims are all expenses paid. Is there any chance she really does get her trips paid for or is she faking it?

Some people make money out of MLMs - generally those at the top. It's just a very very small % of those who take part.

Without knowing your acquaintance, we can't know if she's one of the few people who has many many downlines (i.e. a big chunk of the pyramid) underneath her making money for her, or if she's lying on social media under the requirement to "fake it til you make it".

NotSummerYet · 03/01/2023 21:42

Ex TOWIE Z Listers Danielle Armstrong and Ferne McCann seem to have made millions from selling it

Kanaloa · 03/01/2023 21:48

Yep, pyramid scheme. I don’t know if anyone watches This Country, but they did an episode where a character gets sucked into a pyramid scheme, except the lady advertising it goes to great pains to explain how it isn’t a pyramid scheme… except that it obviously is!

They’re awful, and I don’t take any part in them, even if friends or colleagues are selling. I don’t want to encourage them.

Original poster
HopefulRose · 04/01/2023 11:11

@LoveBluey that sounds exactly like the person who appears to have hooked this person in. Her life looks very glamorous and her boyfriend is also a Herbalife person. Strange but I guess people must be buying their wares!

OP posts:
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