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Original poster

Tropic is not a small business?

44 replies

WaxOnFeckOff · 08/12/2019 18:49

Friend on facebook is a Tropic seller. Has posted an image essentially promoting that people should buy from small local businesses - then put a spiel about when she is taking orders etc.

Tropic made over 20 million last year.

That's not really what the buy local/small business thing is about really is it?

At the end of the day it's up to people where they want to spend their money and I won't say anything, but just so tempted to say that a multi million pound MLM business is not the same as someone running their own local business.

OP posts:
Thehop · 08/12/2019 18:50

I would have to point that out

Bluerussian · 08/12/2019 18:52

I didn't realise Tropic was now such a huge business but am delighted; I bought some Tropic stuff two or three times a few years ago in support of Susan.

Presumably your friend who is now contracted to sell Tropic goods is self employed and would be classed as a small business.

AllergicToAMop · 08/12/2019 18:52

I can happily point it out to her for you if you let me know who she is.
Bossbabe my arse

AllergicToAMop · 08/12/2019 18:57

@Bluerussian with that philosophy Subway, Papa John's, Esquires coffee and any other franchise are small businesses too....

NegroniOnIce · 08/12/2019 19:00

Who is this Susan you were 'supporting' by buying MLM crud?

Unhappyvegan · 08/12/2019 19:02

Of course it isn't. It's an MLM which should be avoided at all costs.

Cordial11 · 08/12/2019 19:03

They are brainwashed to think they are running their own small business, not sending money up the pyramid

LivingDeadGirlUK · 08/12/2019 19:05

I didn't realise this was an mlm as see a lot of people with other businesses like salons selling it.

Original poster
WaxOnFeckOff · 08/12/2019 19:05

Thanks all, I'm glad it's not me. i generally ignore her posts and she has a separate page for her business which I haven't joined. She is otherwise a lovely person so I haven't deleted her.

OP posts:
BelleSausage · 08/12/2019 19:08

Another MLM!

If I had one wish for 2020 it would be for them all to go bust and shut down but for everyone to get a refund.

Bluerussian · 09/12/2019 04:22

egroniOnIce Sun 08-Dec-19 19:00:03
Who is this Susan you were 'supporting' by buying MLM crud?
.......
Susan Ma. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susie_Ma
I'm presuming the Tropic skincare range discussed here is this one that she started: tropicskincare.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI67vl_dqn5gIVxYTVCh0Q8wHqEAAYASAAEgI5V_D_BwE
I didn't know it was being sold by other people, when I bought some it was straight from Tropic website.

I don't know anything about MLM but is it not the same type of thing that Kleeneze and Bettaware did (before going bust)? You're either good at selling that sort of thing or not. Wouldn't interest me (in fact would scare me stiff), but if someone can do it and make money, good on them.

DimensionalShambler · 09/12/2019 06:53

@Bluerussian literally no one except for the very top .01% of any MLM makes money and those that DO make money do so off at the expense of the people they recruit who lose money hand over fist buying ‘stock’ to have on hand that they are then unable to sell. No one makes money off the product . It’s all built on delusion and shame- no one wants to admit they are a failure and a mug so they pretend that they are doing well.

This is all incredibly well documented and it applies to EVERY MLM. So it’s not ‘good on’ anyone.

Jencrewe28 · 09/12/2019 09:49

I have my own business as a beauty therapist, but I also sell tropic products and do the parties. And I would advertise as a small business because you are helping me provide for my family. Doesn't really matter how much money Tropic made last year, it's how much money you can help put in your friends business. It is like me selling any other beauty products in my salon, it's just giving the everyday person a way to earn extra money or make a career from it. It's like saying you won't shop at your local corner shop and buy branded products from there. All the brands are a bigger company and the shop is just the supplier, which in turn is like anyone who sells Tropic.

Bluerussian · 09/12/2019 13:10

Fair enough Dimensional, I am ignorant of such things and wouldn't even consider selling stuff. I can imagine how people can be out of their depth with such projects.

Anyway, the Tropic skincare range I linked to may not be the 'Tropic' which is the subject of the opening post.

GunpowderGelatine · 09/12/2019 13:12

With all due respect Jen you sound extremely brain washed. The definition of "small business" is not "it puts money in my family's pocket".

Bluerussian · 09/12/2019 13:13

PS: Googled and found this, looks as though it is the same 'Tropic':
divinemakeup.co.uk/what-is-a-tropic-ambassador/

Clymene · 09/12/2019 13:21

MLMs are MLMs. There aren't good and bad ones

"Let’s see if we can work out the average income. We can assume that a few people started in 2011 and the numbers grew year on year. We can also assume that a lot of people joined and then left. Let’s try and cancel these facts out and assume there were, on average, 8000 people from the beginning and no one left the scheme. In reality, the number of total reps, past and present, would be more so we are being generous.

If there were 8000 reps and they earned £13 million between them, each one will have earned £1,625 in total. If you break this down to a yearly amount, it is £232.

Roughly then, each rep will have earned on average £232 a year, less expenses. Even if these figures are wrong by a factor of 4, this would still be a very poor earning potential."

From botwatch.blog/tag/tropic-skincare/

Susie Ma on the other hand is doing very well out of it, as is Alan Sugar

Bluerussian · 09/12/2019 13:33

I suppose it's OK if you have other things to make money - like a regular job - so doing a bit of selling is just a bit extra. I know a couple who sold Kleeneze products for a few years but they were retired, had decent pensions, so it wasn't their main income and they did very well, enjoyed it too. Kleeneze is now defunct and they're doing something else. Some people don't do badly selling Avon.

Jencrewe sells Tropic products but she has a business as a beauty therapist and Tropic is just part of it, it gives her customers more choice so it works in that sort of setting. I'm sure if a product didn't sell, she'd stop stocking it. Whenever I've been to a hair salon there are particular products on sale.

I've no objection at all to Susan Ma making a fortune out of her business, she put in the leg work, did her research, took risks, etc, and at a very young age. Good for her! I imagine most people who start up a business hope to make money out of it.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 09/12/2019 13:46

@Jencrewe28 If you dont mind me asking have you ever tried selling another brand that you order wholesale, rather than an mlm product, before? I would have assumed a better return from a non mlm?

mindutopia · 09/12/2019 13:55

I have a friend like this, who is always going on and on about being a 'small business owner' with another MLM and the freedoms of working for yourself (while also working another full-time job on top of it because he barely makes any money at the MLM). He said it once to my dh's face in a sort of, 'it's it tough being a small business owner!' way. Dh is a small business owner, who started a business from nothing from our garage, working evenings and weekends the first few months to get it going, and now it's a very successful limited company with high end/celebrity clients. Dh wanted to strangle him.

dickiedavisthunderthighs · 09/12/2019 13:57

Tropic products, like all MLM products, have a ridiculous mark-up to pay everyone in the seller chain before you even get to corporate level profit.
Putting aside the (horrible) ethics with MLM, there are similar products out there for a fraction of the cost.

Wannabegreenfingers · 09/12/2019 14:01

Its really expensive - £10 for a shower gel, that would bankrupt me the amount my family get through it.!!

It has caused a few friendships at my children''s school (parent's) to fall apart due the hard sell and constant in your face selling techniques used on face book. Its an MLM short and simple, lots know what they are getting into, but lots don't and lose money from it.

Jencrewe28 · 09/12/2019 14:04

@Livingdeadgirl no I haven't thought of stocking another brand.
I order the stock when someone wants to order something so I don't keep it in stock therefore not paying for stock that doesn't sell, which works well for me. I also earn a good commission for what I sell and I love and use the products so that's why I sell Tropic.

Hollachica · 09/12/2019 14:04

I like Tropic products and what they stand for.
I do not see it as MLM and the lady who I buy from makes a reasonable living and it certainly allows them to have a good life style.

Tropic also does a lot for charity. I really like their ethos.
But PP/OP you are right is s a very successful business, using self-employed people to earn some money with little outlay. They have the brand, all the brand marketing and the support available.

I like the product, all vegan ethically sourced.
Its a great success story.

MulticolourTinselOnTheTree · 09/12/2019 14:08

I avoid MMs, hate the exploitative nature of it.

But the definition of a small business is that it employs less than 50 people. A micro business employs less than 10 people, and a medium business less than 250 people. Standard govt definitions. Not connected to turnover, so a small company could well have a multi million pound turnover.

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