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Original poster

To wonder whether/how anyone ever truly makes lots of money from MLM businesses?

32 replies

KissHerYouBrilliantFool · 17/02/2019 15:35

An acquaintance of mine and her husband have been consultants for an MLM for about 3 years now (the one with the white Mercedes as an incentive) and both seem to be doing really well from it; they've got a company car each and neither do any other jobs or work apart from this.

She keeps trying to get me to join her team but tbh I'm totally baffled as to how they've making so much money from it! They travel round the country to various events at weekends, and have team members but It baffles me as to how they sustain their lifestyle from it all. I buy products from her and although the products are very nice I can't imagine that she's selling a vast quantity each month.

I also know someone who is the friend of a friend and who is a highly successful consultant for another MLM company and she claims to be a millionaire from it all! Her lifestyle and posting on social media would back up this claim! She seems to have pots of money!

I'm actually wondering if they all have rich families that are supporting them whilst they make out their venture is making them rich?

OP posts:
SileneOliveira · 17/02/2019 15:41

and both seem to be doing really well from it; they've got a company car each and neither do any other jobs or work apart from this

SEEM. Smoke and mirrors. Fake it till you make it.

The car is not a company car. It will in all likelihood be leased. The lease payments are dependent on them carrying on selling lots of stuff and conning others into doing likewise. Stop hitting your targets, bye bye car.

It is almost impossible to make money from these things. Proper money, to equate to a salary from a proper job. Problem is, these MLM schemes are notorious for being very secretive about how much people earn. Or they downright lie. They confuse sales with profit. They don't declare that of the £1000 in sales they've put through that month, £800 of that is from their own bank account for "stock".

People do make money. The people in the inner circle at the top of the pyramid, who are mainly based in Utah. Or the very first person to sign up for a scheme in the UK, who has thousands of minions operating under them.

The whole thing is a scandal and should be banned. It's preying on the vulnerable, especially parents with young kids. Telling them they can earn a fortune for sitting on the sofa doing fuck all. Those of us who are properly self-employed know life doesn't work like that.

Guineapiglet345 · 17/02/2019 15:43

The people at the top make money, unfortunately the only people they make money from are the people below them.

GunpowderGelatine · 17/02/2019 15:44

Short answer: they don't. It's all bullshit. They may make money from recruiting but that's it. Think about it - if their products net so much money, why would they jeopardise that by trying to recruit more people to effectively nick their customers?

alwaysreadthelabel · 17/02/2019 15:59

I have a family member who I am NC with who does a MLM. She got in very early on when the company set up in the UK. She makes a lot of money from the people she has recruited as was one of the first in the country to sign up. I think it's a grubby, disgusting way to make money and it sometimes preys on very vulnerable people. She seems to sell the odd lipstick every now and again but it's all money made from her downliners.

PentreBachCymraeg · 17/02/2019 15:59

It's all brain washed bollocks. They don't like it when we say that Wink

Elphame · 17/02/2019 16:10

Probably using the "fake it til you make it" mantra.

ellebeaublog.com/poonique/

Auntiepatricia · 17/02/2019 16:13

The people at the top make shed loads. I know of many millionaires in this position. They got in very early.

cabbage78 · 17/02/2019 16:15

Can someone look up Lindsay matway on FB and tell me if that is real? I have wondered for yrs...

SileneOliveira · 17/02/2019 16:26

99.6% of people don't make any money in MLMs.

Still think they should be illegal. As should posting anything with the hashtag #mompreneur or #bossbabe.

Ainba · 17/02/2019 16:32

Very few people do, but the ones that do, do it by screwing over people. "Look at my amazziiiiiiing lifestyle #blessed come join me" and recruiting people who will never ever make money from the scheme and will lose money from the initial buy in that they will never make back.

nevernotstruggling · 17/02/2019 17:15

@SileneOliveira I agree about the hashtags bleugh.

I've seen rational friends go insane doing this mlm rubbish

SilverySurfer · 17/02/2019 17:28

They don't, apart from those at the top of the pyramid. Read the long-running MLM threads on Money Matters if you want to learn more - it was up to thread 45 the last time I looked. Fascinating reading.

gluteustothemaximus · 17/02/2019 17:30

Only the ones at the very top make the money, and no one else.

Lunde · 17/02/2019 17:41

Few people make money and very little money comes from selling products. The money made by those at the top mainly comes from recruiting other mugs people to sign up so that they get a cut of their earnings.

PlatypusPie · 17/02/2019 17:56

I do know someone who has made a modest living from it - but she has done it for years and years so has lots of 'downline' people, is as pushy and thick skinned as it is possible to be, was in the commission funded end of retail sales before that and and also works very hard at keeping it going in terms of constant social media gushing etc.

She networks like crazy and has alienated lots of friends over the years by trying to recruit them. I stopped her in her tracks when she was trying to recruit me years ago and said our friendship can only continue if she did not try it again ( it was such a hard sell but I am verrry resistant) . I mute her on social media except for a private group, where she has agreed not to mention after everyone got hacked off with her.

The holidays and the cars - smoke and mirrors.

Vivienharmon · 17/02/2019 17:59

The Elle beau blog is such an interesting read, read it years ago and it reveals all the lies behind
mlm!

LoobyLou1976 · 17/02/2019 18:25

I had a friend at work who also joined the 'White Mercedes' cult.
It was very surprising as otherwise she was a very level headed. clever lady.
She spent an ungodly amount to join and get her starter pack, and alienated loads of people at work by trying to get them to not only buy stuff, but join her 'team'. Everyone ended up taking the p* out of her and I felt so bad for her that I agreed to accompany her to a cult meeting (only a partial joke). It really was like a religious revival meeting. The audience were so hyped up and everything was met with cheers and whoops etc. At the end, I was approached by so many people who obviously smelled out fresh meat, and told about twenty times, "it's not a pyramid scheme" etc. Okay. I never had any intention of signing up, I was there to have a nosey and to support someone I liked. I read somewhere that one of the signs of a pyramid scheme is that the product they are selling is almost always arbitrary, that is, it could be anything, but the common theme is that it is usually crazily overpriced, and that much more emphasis is placed on you joining the 'team' and getting others to sign up At the meeting I attended, about 10 seconds was spent talking about the product line, and the rest about how to get people to sign up, as well as tales of those who were now living multi millionaire lifestyles and driving their white Mercedes (which are on loan if you meet targets). They definitely outright lie about how much they are making in order to seduce vulnerable or gullible people into joining.NO-ONE except the top tier of the pyramid makes money. The girl I know never made her initial investment back, lost friends and credibility.

Sorry to anyone I may have offended, but this is just my opinion.

Sparklesocks · 17/02/2019 18:51

Generally the people who do well have managed to rope in a lot of people beneath them for their down line, so they take a cut. Personally I wouldn’t feel comfortable if my income came from friends and family I’d pushed into joining a pyramid scheme to benefit me but a lot of MLM bosses are fine with it.

ResistanceIsNecessary · 17/02/2019 19:11

It's all fake. There are only a very few people who actually make anything like real money from it. The rest are all told that they need to present an aspirational image so as to attract people to join their team.

You get presentations going into 'cosmic ordering' and 'fake it til you make it'. The careful selfies of shopping bags - mostly recycled and they'll have fuck-all in them, or a tiny purchase. Luxury holidays that they've been given as a reward - usually they have to pay to get to and from them and cover their own spending money. The constant training days around the country all come out of their own pocket - they aren't free to attend.

In the worst cases people have faked photos, by taking stock shots online and claiming their on holiday paid for by their 'network marketing dream business'. People have sold their houses and rented large ones to give the impression of success, things put on credit cards, posh cars which are only leased or borrowed.

If nothing else, think about the fact that every time they post a shot of themselves holding up a bonus cheque, why is the amount always blocked out? If they were making 'life changing sums of money' then why wouldn't they be open about the amounts?

Patchworksack · 17/02/2019 19:18

I have a friend who joined Isagenix recently and her FB feed is full of motivational shite. I find it oddly fascinating but I am worried she will lose money and friends - I know you have to use their products at £200-300/month to stay 'active' there is no way she will make enough commission not to lose out.

Danascully2 · 17/02/2019 19:43

That's very interesting about the product being arbitrary. A work colleague tried to recruit me to a well known one a few years ago. I had no intention of joining but watched the video she sent me out of curiosity. It was all about the lifestyle, how much I could earn for very few hours work. There was nothing in it about the product or exactly what the 'job' required. Why are they mostly based in Utah?

Danascully2 · 17/02/2019 19:51

Is an actual pyramid scheme the same but without bothering with a random product?

slcol · 17/02/2019 20:02

A friend sells Tropic, which does some nice products. She's a lot friend and I'm very fond of her, but I don't get how she can make the money she says she does. Paying for family holidays abroad, being taken on exotic trips by the company etc. I just gone get how the numbers stack up. You would have to shift a lot of body lotion etc to make that sort of money with the cut they get.

GunpowderGelatine · 17/02/2019 20:15

@slcol yes same here a friend reckons she gets £1200 a month selling Tropic (which does do very good but expensive products). I asked how much commission she gets and she said 25%. How on earth does she shift £5k worth of products a month?! I'd say people only spend £30 a time or so