@IScreamMonday I think they have been able to thrive due to a combination of the internet/social media and the ability to reach many more people, a lack of regulation and a lack of recognition that these companies are not “direct selling” and a lack of awareness generally about what MLMs are. MLM is also a real bargain for the companies themselves; no employment costs, little consumer protection for their customers (their distributors), no marketing costs, not a lot of compliance for many of the products etc, and if they want to pull the plug on it they just send an email to the distributors and leave them to carry the can. The lack of flexible working and affordable childcare has driven people (mainly women) towards MLM too. The industry has been able to position itself as a viable alternative and it has lied about what is on offer, it appears to be very enticing too.
They really aren’t thriving now however. Take Forever Living UK. Their accounts at Companies House tell a different story to the positive story they want recruits to believe. Their top uplines who were making a lot of money back in 2015 are, with a few exceptions, barely making the minimum wage annually these days and they represent a tiny percent, it’s far worse for those further down the food chain. The previous success of the top uplines was not because the business model was viable or because they were good sellers but simply a matter of lucky timing and often having downlines positioned for them. Many who made money a few years ago have quietly been appearing on the insolvency register. Others are running huge directors loans with no real way of paying them off. Lots of distributors have peeled off to try their hand at network marketing coaching/gaslighting. The company and the main UK uplines are lying through their teeth about how well it’s going. The same is true for other MLM in the UK. People are wising up, many people have been approached already (multiple times!), there is a cost of living crisis which is making people more risk averse and they are not prepared to spend money on the promise of earning later. There are also many more victims who have come out of the other side. What they have to say, if they are not intimidated into silence, is pretty shocking really. There is now a pretty vocal anti MLM movement.
You might find the Botwatch threads on MN interesting. Also Robert Fitzpatrick in the US has written extensively about pyramid schemes (he won’t call them MLMs!). You might also find a podcast called The Dream interesting - it talks about the history of direct selling through to their mutation into MLMs. The BBC still has a documentary called The Secrets of the Multilevel millionaires on iPlayer, which is less about how they have survived, and more about the outcomes for some of their victims.
There’s an expert on cults in the US called Steven Hassan, he calls MLMs “commercial cults” and it’s a very accurate description. Part of their success has been the secrecy and manipulation and intimidation of recruits which has allowed MLM to go under the radar and made them difficult to examine. I think that has helped to extend the industry’s life too, but I’m not sure it’s going to be enough for it to survive.