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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Forever living products...is it legit?

80 replies

LifeInJeneral · 13/06/2016 17:11

Hi, I know it's not really an AIBU thread but I'm posting here because there is lots of traffic and I am trying to decide if this is legit. A friend of a friend has approached me about become a member of a company called forever living. They sell various products based on aloe Vera. She has tried to get my to join as a "business owner". It's marketing / sales but you seem to only really make money by getting more people on board as sales reps. It's not a pyramid scheme, it is legit in that respect buy what I wanted to know is has anyone been involved in this in the past who can let me know there experience or what they thought of the products? To get started it costs about £200 for a starter box of products (but you do get a lot) plus a sales website. They insist I wpuld easily make it back in a month but I am not sure I am convinced. I guess it is AIBU to be dubious or can people give me any positive stories?

OP posts:

nobilityobliges · 13/06/2016 17:14

Nope - this show gives a good overview of an American version of this type of organisation www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/543/wake-up-now

Thattimeofyearagain · 13/06/2016 17:14

There is a long running thread on this. Its pyramid selling. Run !🏃

WellErrr · 13/06/2016 17:17

No.

There are no positive stories, because its all a scam.

UnderTheGreenwoodTree · 13/06/2016 17:19

No - run away. Fast.

branofthemist · 13/06/2016 17:20

I am honestly shocked there is anyone left on the planet that hasn't heard what a pile of shit this is.

Don't do it.

fastdaytears · 13/06/2016 17:21

So when you say it's not a pyramid scheme...

LindyHemming · 13/06/2016 17:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

branofthemist · 13/06/2016 17:22

Rule of thumb is - if someone has to explain why it's not a pyramid selling scheme......it is indeed a pyramid selling scheme.

katemiddletonsnudeheels · 13/06/2016 17:24

Please don't. I've lost friends to this crap

FlyingElbows · 13/06/2016 17:25

It absolutely is a pyramid scheme.

EveryoneElsie · 13/06/2016 17:26

Its more like joining a cult than running a business. Dont do it.

snorepatrol · 13/06/2016 17:26

I say no. The only person I've ever seen do well with it got into it before anyone had ever really heard about it in this country I didn't know what she was going on about when she first started selling it now it's everywhere.

Now to be honest she's just been on a two week paid trip to Las Vegas as a thank you for how much money she's made, she went to Mexico last year and she drives a pretty nice BMW which is a company car.

But she's been into it since before my little boy was born and he's 5 this year, so since it first starting creeping into social media, she's some sort of leader now though.

I've seen her recruit lots of our mutual friends but I've not seen any of them or anyone else come close to that level of success. I think if you were quick enough to jump on it at that start it would have been quite profitable but not now.

Merclady · 13/06/2016 17:27

Search mlm bot watch 23 then work backwards

snorepatrol · 13/06/2016 17:27

In saying that I'm basing her success on Facebook posts and she's not going to say she's doing crap on their while she's on the hunt for new recruits!!

Original poster

LifeInJeneral · 13/06/2016 17:29

Well I meant in the sense that pyramid schemes are illegal and this is an established company. Tbh I am usually a lot more savvy than this but I have had a bit of a shitty few months (had my baby in Feb but had a severe haemorrhage a few days later which nearly killed me. A week after I got out of hospital my partner went to prison which has left me alone with a newborn for the next 3 years). I'm really broke as I have lost his income and have only SMP coming in so I think I am much more vulnerable / suggestible than usual and even started to think it could be worth a go. Having no partner and living alone I don't have anyone to give me a shake and tell me to not be an idiot...thank goodness for mumsnet!

OP posts:

HelpwiththisFWP · 13/06/2016 17:30

The products are good quality but very expensive...because it is a pyramid scheme.

acatcalledjohn · 13/06/2016 17:30

There are >9000 reps in the UK.

64 million people. 15 million are under 18. That's almost 25%. Leaves you with 49 million people. Take off the over 75s as they are highly unlikely clients. That's another 5 million less, so we are down to 44 million. Assuming that all of those 44 million people are interested, you are left with 4888 potential clients and recruits.

But given the fact that a large number of people loathe MLM, I doubt that number is realistic. You can at the very least halve it. 2444. Still looking lucrative?

Given that you can buy equivalent products at a lower price from H&B, and they only have about 620 shops in the UK and Ireland, I think we can safely say that 9000 reps is too much. That equals 14 members of staff on the payroll at each shop, dedicated to selling Aloe.

So yes, it's a pyramid scheme because the only way to make money is by recruiting, given the fact the market is over-saturated.

acatcalledjohn · 13/06/2016 17:32

Just read your story. You friend approached you because she knows you are desperate for money, meaning you are a likely victim.

Your friend is not a friend. She is a self-serving cunt.

ClopySow · 13/06/2016 17:35

m.facebook.com/timelessvie/

Feast your eyes. Theres plenty of why not to do it in there.

Greyponcho · 13/06/2016 17:36

I lost a good friend to this company - got sick of the lies he was trying to spin because of his desperation to make a success of it. Fast car - paid for by redundancy package from previous job. Work from home & do as he pleases - yes, because it's his parents house and the mortgage has been paid already. Big 'bonus holidays' - yes, he had one (because his 'boss couldn't go') when he was new, but now seemingly doesn't have a high enough turnover to earn his own. Apparently this stuff can cure all your ills - any conversation with this friend was turned around to a recruitment attempt. Any conversation about my health was turned around to how FL products would benefit me their pockets.
Join by all means, but be prepared to make a living at the expense of your family and friends, that's if they're not alienated by it all.

karalime · 13/06/2016 17:38

It's not a pyramid scheme. It's an inverse funnel!

Seriously, if you want to actually make some money you would be better off buying something in bulk of eBay or Aliexpress and then reselling, just like every other retail business.

If forever living or Herbalife or melaleuca or any other crap were that great, why can't you just go out and buy them from a shop..? Why not sell thousands on Amazon, instead of a few dozen through thousands of 'reps'. Because it's bollocks and your friend is making her supposed money by signing you up.

Original poster

LifeInJeneral · 13/06/2016 17:42

Sorry if anyone was confused by my original story, it was a friend of a friend, I don't know her personally. I will put this down as a 'Hell no'.

OP posts:

buzzybeess · 13/06/2016 17:43

I am actually a FBO Signed up last year. I only concentrate on retail though, not recruiting. yes i have made my money back, but i will never be able to live off this alone.

NewLife4Me · 13/06/2016 17:43

pyramid selling can be quite lucrative, it certainly isn't a scam and there's nothing illegal about it.
The problem is though once everyone has heard of them, and so many people are doing it, it becomes a bit like Avon as in you don't make much money at all. Maybe enough to buy the odd product yourself.

I was involved with a perfume pyramid scheme, many years ago and made a decent wage because I got in near to the beginning.
Those who are at the real front can make loads of money.
So certainly not a scam at all, but you only make money if you are near top of pyramid and most people joining now are in the depths of the bottom.

fastdaytears · 13/06/2016 17:47

Pyramid selling is a scam and is not legal. Do you mean that direct selling isn't a scam? That would make more sense.

OP your story makes you the perfect victim. You're pretty vulnerable right now but things will get better. What is your RL support like?

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