To ask you how you handled MLM requests from friends?

[MLMLM]

A good friend of mine (considered one of my best friends, at least until recently for reasons below) recently joined an MLM, albeit one of the more "respected" ones.

I'm happy for her as it seems to be working well and she loves it, I think she's made some good money from it. In fact it was me who suggested she try it as she was looking for a new job.

I'm a bit hurt because she hasn't asked me how I am or been in touch really for months except to ask about if I'd be a host (to be fair she has been busy with lots of other stuff and I've not exactly been hounding her). The problem is I do not want to host a product demo myself, so I want to make it clear, face to face so she can't take it wrongly, it's a no (again) without it affecting the friendship. AIBU to ask how you handled it?

You have to be blunt. No. No. NO. Not interested. No.

Wasn't a friend in my case, was a co-worker, I found it easy to say no since we were on an equal footing as supervisors and in different departments so she couldn't bully/intimidate me and I did tell her it wasn't appropriate to be conducting her outside 'business' in the work place or during work hours. She was given a warning by HR in the end for pushing products on her team all the while bragging she was doing so well just putting in a few hours a week she'd soon be in a position to give up her job. Most of her team had felt compelled to buy a token something (despite the things being bloody expensive and very poor quality compared to high street equivalents) in the hopes that would satisfy her and make her go away but she kept hassling them to buy more/host parties/become recruits. In the end one of them complained and HR acted.

I suggested it because someone I know asked if I knew anybody who wanted to do it, i thought this friend would be excellent at it and she is and seems to like the products. I did a sort of mini hosting thing when she first started but not many people showed up. My local friends are generally not particularly into the style of things on offer and the products are expensive for what they are IMO, and lots of them are skint, on benefits etc. I do feel bad saying no given I got her into it hence asking how to handle it. I think i was a bit naive about the company tbh, I googled them and all the reviews I saw were quite positive.

I've just read all of Elle's blog , I knew MLMs were dodgy , but bloody hell , Poonique is brutal !!

Op read the blog that's linked upthread, its a shocking eye opener .

Stella & Dot? That’s the MLM of choice for the gullible with a bit more money. The other is Arbonne. OP, all MLM are fuckers because they all use the same pyramid shaped business model, which, just like the illegal pyramid scheme is all about recruiting. 99.7% of participants fail to make money in MLM, some lose considerable sums. But what often happens is they have beginner’s luck - their friends and family make loyalty/sympathy purchases but these never last and only serve to give a false sense of optimism. You’ve got your friend hooked into the worst decision of her life. Take a look at MLMbotwatch blog or the anti MLM coalition for the true horror these companies cause.

What is Stella and Dot? Dare I ask, it sounds so twee!

Ooooooooooooh! That stuff. That mass produced stuff, that is custom made.. you know, as in someone designed it and a machine turns out squillions of them.

I think would turn them down too... am I bad?

I once belonged to pampered chef. Worse mistake of my life. As other people have said lots “loads” of money. Luckily I did realise I wasn’t so much into it and how hard was it to make money without begging others so decided to give up.

A seller for one of these told me she had to put all her buyers’ contact details into her particular pyramid selling company’s central system every time she sold something. So those companies are gathering up our data as well as selling crap at stupid prices.

Oh Stella and Dot! Argh. I make jewellery. I hand make it. The amount of people that go "oh! Is it Stella and Dot?"...

Just say, I'm really glad it's going well for you but the product is really not for me.

Lady That must hurt!

I have just had a lady ask how I programme my machine to do all the fancy stitching - I free machine embroider pictures. She didn't believe it was all just straight stitch, wandered off muttering to her mate that I must think she was born yesterday!

It's the Primark Generation (whatever age they actually are). They know the value of absolutely bugger all!

Curious - tell me about it! I had a wedding enquiry where a lady asked for three tiaras, a bridal tiara and matching necklaces. She wanted Swarovski crystals and pearls. She had a budget of £30 and needed them within days... I sent her to Claire's Accessories!

I'd love to be able to sew, it's like beautiful magic to me!

Thanks for replies. I think I need to have a proper chat with my friend to see if she's still happy doing it. The fact she's asking rmake me think she's either being pressured into it by the person I mentioned upthread or things aren't going well any more.

A single unemployed mum friend who is apparently skint has just bought the starter kit, I've asked her if it's too late to get a refund but she seems confident she can turn a profit.

I once worked for virgin vie and it was awful

Scooby yes Beach Body are an MLM, follow Tired Dave on FB, his wife belongs to this. It sounds awful.

Thanks for posting that blog link...read it all and it’s fascinating, I was hooked!