To message a friend who's just signed up to a MLM?

[GunpowderGelatine]

An old friend announced on FB today that shes "joining a fast growing marketing company" and "launching my own online business to help people get healthy and make money from home". The MLM alarm obviously went off in my head.

On further investigation - aka snooping on the profiles of the bots who've commented "welcome to the team Hun" - it's for Valentus coffee. Aka Goodbye solid food, hello diarrhoea.

I'm really surprised she's been sucked into this. She's a senior nurse and her husband runs an accountancy firm. You think one of them would see through the bullshit?

WIBU to message her and tell her to stay away and if she wants me make money try matched betting? I do it and make on average £150 a week - sometimes as much as £200, and rarely below £100. Also I don't have to sell anything, answer to an "upline", have to recruit people, send cringey messages to friends and family or post "inspiring messages" on Facebook, give some of what I make to someone else or spend my Sunday's trying to flog a load of crap at a craft fair.

Obviously I'd leave the list bit out, but I would send the Elle Beau blog about MLMs to her. Is it too patronising to message her??

No keep out of it. You will sound really patronising if you message her. And I wouldn't encourage anyone to take up betting either!

Just to add that I know about matched betting and the OP isn't advertising it. There's nothing and nobody to advertise.
In fact, she's being generous mentioning it, as the more who do it, may in turn cause bookies to tighten up and cut down on the bet incentives.

Matched betting isn't for everyone and it takes time out your day but I can't imagine any less than flogging coffee on social media  @Solihooley yes I had to really work to find the company name on one of the Huns profile pages (probably not a productive use of my time but I had a bee in my bonnet about who she was "working" for 🤣). I o my saw it by zooming in on a picture taken of the coffee sachets. Why do MLMs do that? Keep their name a secret?

Betting is a great way to lose money. It's a zero-sum game minus the charges.

Imagine four people round a table. They each start with £25. One of them leaves with £95, the others with nothing.

How many are losers?

Their money has gone forever.

@PigletJohn thanks ever so for that enlightening example of what betting is. But matched betting is not gambling. At least give me the courtesy of googling it first. HTH.

Matched betting isn't gambling. I don't do it but understand what it is and how it works. OP has no skin in the game, she is not trying to "build her team" so the whole oh it's an ad for matched betting - why would she do that? There's no benefit or advantage to her if other people start matched betting.

All you can do is warn your friend, but if she has been sucked in she won't listen. Send her a link to the Elle Beau blog and tell her to keep a proper account of how much she spends. If she listens that may pull her out with less damage.

"another Avon, is Avon MLM?"

Avon is a hybrid - yes it's an MLM where you can recruit your own network. But it's not weird and cultish, does not lead to the massed pissing off of everyone you know on social media, nor do they foster a belief that people who don't buy or even approve are haterz.

They are upfront about with a realistic prediction of how much you are likely to make if you just sell.

The products are most definitely not overpriced! You don't have to buy loads of stock which then appears at a tenth of price on eBay. The sales pitch is more 'here's some good, fun, cheap stuff, want to buy it' (not 'this will change you life and you too can make thousands and have that car and holiday')

Despite defending that one, I'd be very concerned about a friend doing something that never brings the big financial rewards and couid disrupt friendships badly.

But there's nothing you can do in the 'honeymoon' period. Other than try and stand clear. They have a script about those who try to dissuade - fall foul of that and you won't be there to help her later on.

In the short term, tell her you're not interested because:
a) you don't need laxatives
b) if you did, you'd go to Boots for an actual laxative, or Holland and Barrett for Slimatee (bet it's way cheaper that this stuff)

and if she won't take the hint

c) coffee makes you poo anyhow, and there's no way on God's earth that you are even trying a stronger one

A girl I used to work with has just been sucked into Valentus, fits the bill perfectly. Young mum who now can only work part time and self employed partner with an irregular income.

Matched betting isn’t gambling- with the amount of threads that appear in here I’m still surprised that people don’t know about it/aren’t doing it. I consistently make 2k + a month with little effort and certainly don’t risk my money.

@AuntieStella coffee actually does get my bowels going something chronic and for that reason I have one cup in a morning otherwise I'd have to find a job I can do on the toilet 🤣

use oddsmatchers to find the best odds (usually over 100% retention) to make sure I'm getting the best matched bets

You won't keep your accounts very long this way!

@PigletJohn you very clearly don't understand matched betting.

@GunpowderGelatine i wouldn't say sneering to your friend. People who have bought into MLM doctrine don't want to hear anything against it, all their uplines are pouring energy into "Dont listen to the haterz!!!". People in general are also hard to convince matched betting is anything different to mug betting, and I've got a couple of people who now occasionally try to enquire about my "gambling problem" ... 😂. I've stopped talking to anybody about it, and would definitely advise caution to you about the same.

Anything* and I definitely wouldn't say it sneeringly! Autocorrect fail

You won't keep your accounts very long this way!

I recently learned it's a tactic by bookies to catch and gub matches betters, is that why?? TBH I often find the odds change quickly anyway and when you go to place the bets they've changed. I'm lucky I've been doing it 4 months and only been gubbed 3 times, maybe it is just luck though.

@PigletJohn

In matched betting, you are guaranteed to make money. I've been dong it for a short while and have made around £300 so far this month, and that's only spending about an hour and evening on it.

I've got a couple of people who now occasionally try to enquire about my "gambling problem"

Lol I've only told my best friend who I've had to slowly convince I'm not addicted to gambling 😂

Coffee

Do please tell me where the extra money comes from to allow all the betters to win and none to lose.

Aah the money thousands of people have made from matched betting is obviously an optical illusion, along has come @PigletJohn to mansplain for us that it can't be possible 😂 google it and you'll see John

There is no point arguing with PigletJohn, the self appointed guru of everything telling us mere mortals how things work.

Although I'll give you a clue - free bets. That's where.
You're welcome

@PigletJohn "...all the betters to win ..."

MATCHED betters win, not all betters. Do you understand how matched betting works?

I understand it works as follows @PigletJohn but I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong....

If you bet on a tennis match there are two possible outcomes. Federer wins, or Nadal wins. So using the various "get £20 when you deposit £10" type deals from two separate bookies, you make two different bets with two companies. One for Federer to win, one for Nadal to win. So whatever the outcome, you'll get some money back.

The trick is doing the sums and looking at the odds to make sure you'll come out ahead.

@pigletjohn matched bettors ‘win’ normal punters don’t.

The money comes from offers and free bets that most of the bookies offer daily.

For example last night I placed a bet on a spanish football match. I backed Team A. I then placed a lay bet at a betting exchange for Team A not to win therefore covering all bases.

The bookies have an offer that if your team Team A go 2 goals up they pay out early. Team A went 2 goals up so they paid out. Team B then scored twice to draw the match so the bookies and the exchange bets won making a profit here of just over 100. Not bad for 2 mins ‘work’

Pretty sure nobody has said all betters win when people are doing matched betting. In fact, isn't that one of the major criticisms of it? That matched betting is exploiting the 'mug' punters?

Valentus is a shitty MLM already shut down by Trading Standards once. Avon is now MLM and consequently behaving badly and causing problems for people. There is no “good” or “better” MLM. Have a look at MLM truth.org. On the site is a master list of MLM companies which is added to/edited all the time. There was s long running thread about MLM the other day - lots of info on there.