AIBU ir are these network marketers crazy?

[Mel0Drama]

Just seen this post by someone I don't know and would like to share it with everyone
If your friend sells something on facebook - you should read this, it's so true -
So before we start I dont sell products on facebook. Im a neutral party.
Im not saying this to make a sale. Im saying it to make a point 👌🏼
Please dont pull anyone down for trying to make a better life for themselves.
We dont pull people down who have two jobs working 18 hour days. We applaud them - and rightly so 💪🏼💪🏼
Yet people are VERY quick to pull down their friend who sells skincare, make up, shakes, whatever on facebook 😕 😕 why?
The friend you know who posts about her products has got a dream they want to provide for their family, to go on holiday, to even just to buy food or gas or electric.
Who is anyone to bash someone elses dreams? Stop doing it!
If your idea of business isnt the same as theirs? Move along. Nothing to see there.
If its not for you an you would rather go to shops? Thats ok too.
BUT DONT BASH SOMEONE FOR TRYING TO MAKE SOMETHING OF THEIR LIFE!!
Do you know how many people give up because someone made fun of them, or was nasty?
TOO MANY!!
Dont be a dream killer.
You dont have to support them - just stop trashing them

Sorry, this was posted by a friend who has gone network marketing mad..i questioned it and all her buddies have laid into me calling me stupid. is it me?

No its them. They are mindless sheep unfortunately

No. these schemes usually require you to persuade friends to buy stuff they neither want nor need.

It's so sad how people get drawn into these schemes. It seems almost cult like. I could write a massive rant about this but I'd be here all day. It's terrible. They've been brainwashed.

I wouldn't have felt the need to question it. Why did you?

If I'd ever seen these schemes make a real positive difference then I'd back them all the way. What bothers me isn't so much that they encourage people to exploit their friends and family, that's tacky but not the worst thing. It's that what they really sell is false hope. For the majority of people, this is not a way to make a living wage. It attracts people who are on low incomes, carers, all sorts of groups who can't afford to lose money and it sells them a dream which will never come true.

No mention is made of the numbers of enthusiastic beginners who are chasing the same limited number of sales. In my area, one (hideously pushy) woman made a decent amount of undeclared income from Avon, but she recruited quite heavily and now it seems like every second person you meet is a bloody Avon rep. They are all chasing the same sales in the same area and the only person benefiting is probably the original pushy cow who recruited them. They all thought they would do at least as well as Hideous Pushy Woman, but most of them have failed to make a profit at all once they have paid for their starter kit, catalogues, samples and travel expenses.

So yes, I think I'd have said something too.

"I'll stop bashing those companies when they will stop brainwashing people to part with their money, family & friends in the hopeless search for easy riches."

Repeat as appropriate.

Yanbu. It's like a fucking cult.

So when she says she doesn't sell products on FB is that actually true?

Network Marketing, aka MLM, aka pyramid scheme with product. They're a serious problem. They target women mainly, pressing all the right buttons (work from home, part time, flexible, time with kids, big earnings), it's all lies; over 90% of people signing up make a few hundred pounds a year or end up in debt. Have a google of Timeless Vie (a pyramid parody) and Botwatch - shocking what goes on.

They don't make money, they pretend to. They are being exploited by the companies they are working for. They are selling poor quality, overpriced shit. They are being asked to exploit their friends and families.

It is often the most vulnerable who fall for these MLMs which are glorified pyramid schemes.

Have a look at The BotWatch Blog and their facebook page, and also look at TimelessVie and their facebook page. Both set up by mumsnetters as a direct result of a long-standing thread here.

They tell you how MLM companies use dubious techniques (similar to those used in cults ) to persuade (usually) women to live the dream of becoming their own "Independent Business Owner" (IBO). It is all a big fat lie though because the products are mostly purchased by the IBO's themselves ergo THEY are the customer.

If you have a look at the above links you will find dreadful stories from women who have lost thousands of pounds, their friends and families and their health in the continued chase of the 'dream' that they are continually fed in the form of weekly meetings, monthly training, online training, daily 'positive thinking affirmations' . Shocking stuff.

Anyone embarking on a normal business venture or job doesn't ever behave in the manic, desperate way that MLM bots do. That's the difference.

I wouldn't say crazy. I'd say deluded, and desperately trying to turn any sort of profit out of their "products". Of course as we all know, the main aim of all of these sorts of schemes is building your "team" and suckering in more people.

I've been blocked, after I was told about them picking up their new Mercedes..and a particularly nasty personal attack.

And the month they fail to meet their insanely high target they will be quietly handing back this leased Mercedes.

Yuk- sentimental guff. I can't abide this type of drivel.

And the schemes are crap too. They are pure exploitation as explained by pps.

I don't necessarily mind the attempts to flog stuff (don't get me wrong, it still pisses me off). But most of the time they seem more interested in signing people up to their 'team' than actually selling any products.

Oh god, all the pictures of groups of 3 to 5 women in Costa "business planning" with their notepads when they all share the same friends anyway so there's only 1 mutual friend in their group left to sell to. It makes me want to weep for them and they money they'll lose.

Challenging it doesn't work though. I have defriended all the old school friends that added me about a week before they started pushing aloe vera.

In defense of facebook selling (not MLM) though there are lots of (mainly) ladies selling genuine handmade crafts which by selling on fbook they avoid ebay and etsy fees and are often excellent quality.

They are the ones we should be buying from!

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm all for actual business owners/craft sellers etc.
It's these networking bots I can't abide. And I'm seeing nice people turn nasty through it.