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Original poster

To think that people who fall for this 36 free books thing are daft

175 replies

scoobyloobyloo · 03/11/2015 22:27

36 books for buying one book. Why are women I otherwise like and think are intelligent falling for this? What's wrong with them? It's fricking pyramid buying and it's yer mates yer ripping off!

"I am participating in a book exchange for my children So, I need 6 mums, mums to be, grandmas, or anyone interested in the book exchange that will actually participate and follow through. Here is how we play: You must purchase and mail ONE book to a child and then your child receives up to 36 books in return (if all goes well and everyone follows through).You can do this in 10 minutes or less if you order the book through Amazon. Just think of how much fun checking the mail will be for your child with lots of books coming! Let me know if you are interested, and I'll pm you the instructions...it's super simple! First 6 to commit will be in."

OP posts:
SelfRaisingFlour · 04/11/2015 07:33

My SIL put up both the "secret sisters" one and the "book exchange" one. I had a bit of rant about pyramid schemes and that children shouldn't be encouraged to participate in them and they should be taught the maths instead. She said that she is completely aware that it's a pyramid, but thinks it's harmless. She has, however, deleted the "secret sister" one so I made some headway.

I think it's important to point it out when people post these things without thinking about it. Yes, they'll think you're a spoil sport, but who cares?

zad716 · 04/11/2015 07:33

I don't think the maths that was published elsewhere is actually correct as it shows a jump from 36 to 475, though the principle still stands.

It should be

1
6
36
216
1,296
7,776
46,656
279,936
1,679,616
10,077,696
60,466,176
362,797,056
2,176,782,336
13,060,694,016

BlinkAndMiss · 04/11/2015 07:33

I'm not sure what's wrong with it, I think the 36 is a bit over ambitious but you send a book to a child and hopefully you get a few in return? I think it's a nice idea, it doesn't have to be as serious as some people on here are making out.

merrymouse · 04/11/2015 07:34

You send a request to six friends asking them to send your request for a book to six friends.

each person sends one book up the pyramid to you but passes the request on and therefore receives 36 books from 36 people further down the pyramid.

Except pretty soon you run out of people.

SparklyTinselTits · 04/11/2015 07:35

Really requires a special kind of stoopid to fall for it.....apparently lots of my Facebook friends suffer from this affliction Hmm

AnnaMarlowe · 04/11/2015 07:35

weebarra the problem is not so much you sending a book to a friend if a friend. The problem is if you advertised the scheme (as you are meant to do) thus further recruiting others into a scheme which promises them something they won't get.

iwannadancewithsomebody · 04/11/2015 07:38

I was just coming on to start a thread about this...... As I keep telling DH if it's too good to be true, it is too good to be true!

Another thing that put me off was the fact that I could open a library with the amount of books we already have in our house. No idea what I would do with 72 potentially new books!

merrymouse · 04/11/2015 07:40

You can send a book to a child without joining a pyramid scheme. If you just want to pass books around, take them to a charity shop, give them to friends, join a book swap.

Notasinglefuckwasgiven · 04/11/2015 07:43

I'm avoiding this....already pissed off the Forever Living androids! Apparently you must not ask why they are recruiting competition for sales in their own area. They go mad and say you're crushing their dream. I'll fight with the book zombies once thus has died down Grin

weebarra · 04/11/2015 07:48

Merrymouse, yes, I already do all those things. Really the only reason I was doing it was to send a book my boys have loved to someone else. Of course, I never expected to receive 36 books back. That'll teach me to be smug at the FL-bots and similar!

avocadoghost · 04/11/2015 07:50

Do you think people maybe fall for it because chain letters etc aren't as common these days? Either way, it is quite obviously a pyramid scheme...

R0nJ0n · 04/11/2015 07:50

I said this on the other thread, scam aside I don't understand why people want 36 random children's books. All children's books aren't the same, they cater for different age ranges and tastes and there's bound to be some duplicates (and a lot of Rainbow Fairies and Beast Quest).

Ilikedmyoldusernamebetter · 04/11/2015 07:53

Even if it did work, the books would be so random there'd be unlikely to be many that weren't either duplicates of each other or of books you already have, or the wrong age for your child, or just not the type of book they enjoy (36 copies of Guess How Much I love you for a 10 year old, 36 Harry Potter books for a baby... for example)

RJnomaaaaaargh · 04/11/2015 07:53

I'd quite happily send anyone a book if they asked but I couldn't be arsed asking 6 folk to buy me books. I'd just ask for recommendations myself and get them on here.

Ilikedmyoldusernamebetter · 04/11/2015 07:55

Sorry, duplicate of your post R0n - ironic :o

That's actually why I don't get why so many parents insist books are a fantastic present - except for a bookless pfb baby how can you know you aren't buying a duplicate or something not to the child's taste, unless you know the child and their bookshelf very, very well indeed?

var123 · 04/11/2015 08:03

Isn't there an optimal point to go in on these pyramid schemes? I think someone told me it was round 6?? i.e. after the scheme is established but before the (gullible) population has been exhausted.

HeadDreamer · 04/11/2015 08:03

Mathematically challenged is what I call them. One of the mums posted this is a very intelligent professional with a job that requires education. There is no way she is stupid. But the job isn't in science so I assume she doesn't know her maths.

And the pyramid on the first page is wrong. You multiply by 6 on each level. That's the number of people needed each level needs to recruit. But if you want the total number of people involved you need to add up all the levels before.

Like

1
6
36
216

And
1
7
43
259

Ilikedmyoldusernamebetter · 04/11/2015 08:09

There are an awful lot of very well educated people who absolutely refuse to engage brain and properly think things through, because they don't want to see the glaring problem/ logical or mathematical inconsistency in something they are instinctively or emotionally drawn to Head drives me insane with a few people I know, including family members!

merrymouse · 04/11/2015 08:20

The thing is, this fails on both levels - both the mathematical level and the "I'd like a random stranger to send me a book - any book, doesn't matter what it is" level.

Dumdedumdedum · 04/11/2015 08:32

I'm rubbish at maths and love reading so would probably fall for this had I not been warned. Confused I am very old and grey underneath the blonde highlights and have never comprehended the pyramid scheme thing in any context.Blush

trixymalixy · 04/11/2015 08:36

You can explain this to people over and over again and they still don't see the issue with it as they are blinded by the warm and fuzzy part of buying a book for a child.

var123 · 04/11/2015 09:07

I just read the text of secret sister one. It also suggests using Amazon as an easy way to just send the book/ gift, before waiting for the investment to start paying off with a 3600% return.

So the real winners here is the company, Amazon. Maybe the police should take a look at who started this scheme? Maybe its less naive, and more exploitative than it first appears.

kelper · 04/11/2015 09:13

My yooneek bot has posted the book share thing, someone else pointed out it was a pyramid and she said no of course it's not, it's just books for children!
My sil posted a cartoon explaining how it's a pyramid scheme so I've shared that.....
My brain won't do the maths for some reason, but I can see it won't end how they think it will!
I'm keeping quiet though as I've pissed off a Samaritans purse person and a company rep this month......

senua · 04/11/2015 09:30

I've never understood this 'add your name to the bottom of the list' thing. Surely, anyone with nous would insert their name at the top of the list and send it to 6 randoms, with some pseudonym at the bottom.
I have never done this, I hasten to add!

var123 · 04/11/2015 09:48

The logic goes:-

Person 1 sends it to 6 people she knows. She says to each of them, "I am asking you to send your money/ goods to someone else (Person 0) . I am not asking you to send it to me. My role is purely to give you a chance to join this great scheme".

Then person 2, receives it from person 1 and asks 6 new people to send a gift to person 1.

Not asking your friends to send you anything but directing them to send a simple gift to someone else is key to persuading people to do it. As is telling them that they'll get back their original investment in full and make 3500% profit.

If someone asks me to join a pyramid scheme, I'd respond with the same outrage I'd feel if someone came to the door, pretending they were from the bank and asking me to give them my bank cards and pin numbers.

I wouldn't feel bad at all about doing my bit to stop the scam dead in its tracks.