Friend trying to recruit me into her MLM scheme

[reasonwith]

posting for traffic

I have recently been made furloughed by the company I work in as the job role I work in is struggling to pick up work for employees. DH is working but has taken a 30% pay cut so finances aren't strong at the moment. I have a friend who has devoted her life to home working in the last year but quit her job in January to work as an MLM 'team member' whatever that is.

I am fairly active on social media, and so is she, on several local Facebook groups. I run one group where it is rather a safe space for members to post - excluding MLM schemes and any other schemes that exploit people. My friend is a part of the group and usually is a compliant poster. However recently she has been messaging me, asking me if I'd like to join her MLM team. She is a recruiter so makes money from recruiting other people and when they pay in, she gets a percentage. I have refused, and she has kept on insisting. Today I logged onto Facebook and saw that she has now tried to recruit my group members and I immediately deleted the post and got rid of her.

She sent a grovelling message saying it was 'totally unfair and rude as MLM offer good working incentives in this current situation'. I retorted back and told her that she is exploiting a lot of furloughed people and unemployed people to pay an absurd money so she gets money!! After that she stopped replying. However, another friend of mine sent me screenshots of my 'friend' ranting on multiple groups about me, and calling for people to troll me and send me death threats.

She's even sent me a bloody invoice of the monthly payments you have to pay in for the MLMs. I have now blocked her and anyone who is associated with her so she can't use them to get into my head. I am livid. Please share any stories you have of MLM recruitment, so I can feel better.

Surely she was BU about this as she is trying to force me to sign up?

Sounds grim OP. Agree contact the police.

I've lost 2 friends over arbonne. The relentless hard sell and pushiness to become a consultant and all the weirdness white Mercedes stuff when they get to be a vice president or something. I used to occasionally buy the odd over priced product to get one of them off my back... weren't even that good for a "luxury" skincare brand, the serum brought me out in a rash. It's very cultish and creepy.

doterra is even more morally problematic in the US than here, because the cost of healthcare over there can be a reason for people resorting to essential oils rather than seeking appropriate medical care

Oh God I remember that Susie from the Apprentice. It beggars belief that she went on to be so successful - what a wet weekend she was

The way she's behaving doesn't make her your friend. Friends - even ones deep in a MLM - don't troll you and wish violence on you!

MLMs are evil. They prey on the vulnerable and promise untold riches for a scheme in which over 99% LOSE money. There are lots of documentaries, podcasts and blogs about it all but you're right, people who are involved will just call you negative, or a hater.

Someone I know does Bodyshop At Home alongside her regular professional job, she posted last week about Covid19 and how work at home was so practical now, and how by "joining her team" you'd be supporting an ethical business and actually helping the fight against corona as you'd be at home.... Total bullshit.

When I am queen of the world I will ban MLM in all its shapes and forms. (After I've sorted corona, obvs).

I'm sorry your 'friend' has treated you this way. Definitely report her to the company and or her 'upline' this is totally unacceptable behaviour.

I've done Bodyshop at home and currently do FM world UK fragrances and products. I'm not an obsessed crazy lady 😂 I joined FM to have something for myself. A bit of a hobby and to build back up my confidence from having my youngest and getting alopecia. I don't actively recruit, I have no need to I get instant profit from selling.

lways banging on about how she's taken charge of her life and destiny, can't believe she didn't do it sooner

That alone is enough to tell you it's MLM. It sounds very much like Inteletravel which yes, is a MLM.

I also think we've all done the pity purchase, buying something from someone in a MLM to keep them quiet, or in the hope they'll go away and leave us alone.

But I'm not doing that any longer because it gives false hope and makes them think that they are in a viable business model. Which they're not.

My cousin is an Arbonne rep. It’s maddening. She is one of the vanishingly small number who actually make decent money (because she moves in very large, very affluent circles and her mates have the money to waste - not because it’s a universal opportunity for anyone who works hard to succeed, which is what she says). She will not stop banging on at me about it. I’ve told her I can’t afford their stuff and I’m not interested in becoming a rep. I would never get involved in a scheme that quite obviously involves hassling your family and friends (especially when mine cannot afford the products) to the point that they dread seeing you or having your name pop up on their phone. Besides, I’ve tried all the samples she sent me and it’s crap stuff anyway. She keeps telling me that it’s expensive because it’s all vegan and organic...well I already buy cruelty free and organic skincare/makeup etc and it costs a fraction of Arbonne prices for stuff that I actually like using.
Has anyone else noticed how they all use the exact same script as well? This is why “MLM bot” is such a good description. They all have the same little buzzwords.

I bought an Arbonne miniature set once, I didn't know at the time they were MLM and my SIL told me that it's really good for my son's eczema (turns out she was going to a party so obviously needed a sale on her behalf 🙄). It had little bottles of body cream and oil.

He had such a bad rash his skin was practically purple and I was at the doctors the next day trying to get it sorted. Poor little man, who was barely 1 at the tine, screamed blue murder

I love a good MLM discussion/argument with people. I hate MLMs but find them fascinating, how they work, why people believe it, they way they prey on women. Is the fb group now called MLM exposed?

babylonbee.com/news/new-mlm-business-literally-just-makes-you-sell-bags-of-garbage-to-your-friends?utm_content=buffer5248f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Thought you might appreciate this!

It's interesting to watch how it starts.
Someone on fb starts health kick. Pictures of going for runs for a few days.
Person does pictures holding a glass of something. Looks all.smiley.
Person starts talking about eating clean or whatever and feeling great.
First mention of a product.
Picture of interestingly looking boxes and posts about being excited.
Pictures of drinks and comments about detox etc. Name of product starts being dropped in more and more.
And ....we're off!

Every other year or so my mum considers becoming an Avon rep. I have to remind her that the rep for our area changes every three months and that wouldn't happen if there was actually any money in it.

I think CBD products in the US might be the next iteration of MLM. I have an extended family member into that there and I have wondered.

I had to beat off a poor Arbonne rep once. Terrifying, how persistent the messaging became. I was asking myself at the time if I gave off "gullible idiot" vibes and if so did that explain my slow path to promotion in the day job.

Call in the Fuzz if she did seriously suggest the trolling and death threats.

All of this said, I did spend nearly £100 on a Stella & Dot bracelet. Which I love although it has needed repairs.

Why hasn't anyone ever suggested a wine of gin MLM?

If you have evidence of her encouraging people to send you death threats, forward them to the police.

Other than that, just ignore her. She's a twat.

I think CBD products in the US might be the next iteration of MLM

I think you're probably right. The actual oil has some encouraging medical benefits but the various products that you can get with CBD in them have been shown to have no health benefits whatsoever. They're just a load of woo. And woo and MLM go hand in hand....

Kirby vacuums do something similar. When I was young I somehow got sucked into a part time job learning to sell Kirby vacuum cleaners. They suggested I do test sales pitches to friends and family whilst they waited outside. It turned out they expected me to secure sales of their £1400 vacuums (in 2001) and were annoyed when my family didn’t buy one.

Re. whether inciting others to make death threats is a crime, yes it is a criminal offence under the Malicious Communications Act as the reason for the communication is to cause distress or anxiety to another person.

Sorry, I should say, in the UK (but I'm guessing you're in the UK due to Avon references )

Scamming people when their employment is on shaky ground is the lowest of the low. What a twat.

Inciting death threats is illegal. Report and log with 101. That's awful behaviour on her part. When a friend of mine started one of these businesses, she started tagging me into loads of fat photos with the head blurred out?! I was really embarrassed because my friends thought that it was fucking me!! Blocked her and avoid.

My understanding is that Avon used to be direct sales, i.e. from the company to the rep to the customer. This worked well when shops didn’t have a large range except in the big cities and most people didn’t travel much.

Needless to say, the internet has pretty much destroyed that business model and that’s without the increase in choice in shops and willingness to drive miles to out of town shopping centres.

A lot of people have fond memories of Avon from 20 plus years ago (I’m one of them) and don’t realise they aren’t like that any more.

I'm reading all the comments, I signed up to one few months back, have to say I'm having more positive than negative, it's a health one, then again I'm very level headed, and products genuinely helped my energy, you can get as into anything as you want, same way here as there's a subscription fees to premium level. For what I paid to join the mlm I'd spend on a night out, have to say what I'm receiving back is great. It depends on the person, I see a couple who have done really well in it, but it resounded in me that each person they take on or joins they want to help them get to where they want. So in theory it's like a anything it does take some work and people doing well for themselves like this couple genuinely want to see the ones they take on reach as good that's why their doing good because ppl joined and they know it. Also in my traditional job at present theres the top earner, then my supervisor and then employees. So most ppl at the top earn more, put in extra effort, work hard same with everything. Great way for a single working mother like myself to take on something else from home. Your friend was way out of line, and my advice is report her to guards and/or company, or block her and have nothing got to do with her.

I just don't get MLMs. I see how they might have worked in the early 90s, but most people have access to the internet now... I would have expected that to kill off their 'trade'!