Multi Level Marketing schemes. Essentially most are pyramid schemes where only the tip of the pyramid or the originators make significant money because despite what new recruits to the scheme are told, money isn’t primarily made from end users buying the products they sell, but from the recruits own purchases of product packs to sell on along with training courses and conferences and resources that they are promised will take them to “the next level”.
Younique, Forever Living, Herbalife and Scentsy are examples of MLMs.
The sellers don’t have a business in a conventional sense, they are at best commission only salespeople. They can only sell the products belonging to the MLM and they have no intellectual property rights over the brand or products. They don’t own anything beyond any stock they have bought.
There is a handy list for deciding whether a “business” is an MLM somewhere. I’ll try to find it.
Many target women with young children, selling them the dream of a “boss babe” lifestyle that fits around family life. MLMs encourage and coach participants to post extensively on social media not just about their amaaazing products, but about how lucky they are with their new business lifestyle etc.
Some people earn a bit of extra money, some unlucky people end up putting in a lot of work and actually losing money.