Friend and FRICKING MLM!

[thatselementary]

Hope to keep this as anon as possible.

Have a friend (close one) join a cosmetics MLM (you know the one). Every day, she's badgering me to buy things and tickets to play her games and I politely bought stuff to begin with but now I'm fed up, I don't want it but I don't want to hurt her feelings. She's a single mum just trying to get some money for her kids but used this to guilt me. What do I do, AIBU to be firm even though it will cause a rift?

Who’s buying if everyone’s ignoring them? I know I do too 🤪 There was a woman on my FB who used to get loads of likes every time she posted a pic of her dog/kids yet it was complete tumbleweed when she posted about Younique. She didn’t take the hint though 🤷‍♀️

EmbarrassedUser They are their own best customer. They have to buy a certain amount of products each month to stay 'live' and buying products to test is the best way (they think) to get others to follow suit.

So if they buy, for example, one C9 pack (Forever Living) every month, that's over a hundred quid towards their minimum spend (say, £150 a month).

It puts the fear of god into me, that's for sure. Who'd want to be forced to pay out that much a month?!

Readers might be interesred to know that Younique funds a controversial organisation that claims to support survivors of sexual violence, the Younique Foundation

There has been a fair amount of critical coverage of this organisation, for example

<a class="break-all" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rYlE-Y2iEHcJ:ellebeaublog.com/2017/08/25/the-younique-foundation-charity-or-travesty-lets-look-at-the-facts/+&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz&client=safari" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rYlE-Y2iEHcJ:ellebeaublog.com/2017/08/25/the-younique-foundation-charity-or-travesty-lets-look-at-the-facts/+&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz&client=safari

I spent a few days researching it some time ago and found many curious things. No time to report them all now but, just for example, an archive of one of their leaflets that promotes the extremely controversial new age guru Byron Katie (about whom readers can find out more via the Cult Education Institute)

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200609080941/youniquefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/3PowerThroughSurrenderOnePager.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20200609080941/youniquefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/3PowerThroughSurrenderOnePager.pdf

I think as a good friend you have to be honest with her and follow through.

You bought to support her but have no need, want nor cash for more and you are worried about MLM effect on her finances. Maybe link her to Elle Beau's Story. [[https://ellebeaublog.com/poonique/]]

Sorry, I am crap at links

Elle Beau Poonique Story

@hoodathunkit yes, the Foundation; dodgy AF. At best it’s just a massive tax avoidance set up. If anyone approaches them for psychological help those people better make sure they are below clinical on any of the measures of psychological problems, that they are not prescribed any medication (for example an anti depressant) and have no indicators of trauma. All of which would be completely understandably present if you had suffered childhood sexual abuse. So what does the YF do exactly if at initial assessment it turns away the very people it claims to help?

It all looks very tempting when the MLM / NM 'business owners' buy brand new Range Rovers, go on regular exotic holidays and have seemingly perfect, if a bit smug, lives. It has to be too good to bw true

My bot keeps posting inviting people to join her team...surprise surprise not one like or comment....can they not see how embarrassing it is and that people are laughing behind their backs.

@Lemonmaid it is almost entirely all lies, the cars are leased by the person and (sometimes) they get refunded by the mlm... although it's very easy to drop sales and end up with a car lease they can't afford. The holidays are again generally paid for in the most part by the hunbot.

I'm surprised body shop is a MLM as it has actual stores?

The thing I really dont like about the MLM people is that in most cases they could get an honest job, they just see this as easy money because they've been sold the idea Even as a single mum I've always been able to work jobs, supermarkets are almost always recruiting, you can get school hours/weekends/nights.

Why try to make money from friends? It is naive at best and greedy and selfish at worst.

It is so grabby and greedy...do these 'huns' really think their friends and family want to waste their money on this shit....especially at this time when a lot of us are facing redundancy.

My 22 year old son has a Valentus hunbot on his Instagram...he's in hysterics at the shit she's posting....if nothing else i have taught my kids never to get involved in any mlm scams.

Is the 1:1 diet a MLM?

@Whoknows11 yes it is. Cambridge Diet has been MLM a long time. It wasn’t always pushy but I gather it’s picked up it’s pace lately and there are more and more consultants all pitching for the same clients.

I've had so many people send me links to their scentsy shop. No thanks!

It's always the same people time and time again, hopping from MLM to MLM. Thankfully none of them have messaged me directly so it doesn't feel quite so intrusive - or beggy.

@youokhun thanks! My neighbour has recently become a consultant bin this and when I asked her she said it wasn't. All this online training and building up a team got me thinking maybe it was!

Why can't people just get normal jobs?!

Keep a firm line! "Let's not mix business and pleasure." Rinse and repeat. It's worth ending a friendship for. Your time and your boundaries are worth something. You can warn her, "Nobody likes being treated like this. You're making me feel as if you don't value our friendship, and you only care if I give you money." Because that's what she's doing.

I had someone friend me on FB a few months ago, someone from my childhood. Pretty much as soon as we were connected, the posts were all clearly about some MLM or other, I didn't bother to find out which.

I quietly adjusted my settings so that while I've not yet unfriended her, she doesn't get to see my posts pop up on her feed. Not that I post much, anyway. So far, it seems to have worked, I don't think she's noticed I've dropped off her radar yet. If she comes back and starts a more aggressive messaging style, I'll unfriend her. I've done it to other MLMbots.

It's really frustrating.
My facebook is littered with body shop and tropic. With sellers saying that it's their "hobby" and using their children to get more likes.

I did forever living years ago and gave it up because I had spent a lot of money on it and didn't. Are enough to warrant the stress of doing the self assessment I wouldn't go bear one again. There are people who do make a lot of money through it but they are few and far between.

I have someone on Facebook who did juice plus for a while then never mentioned it again but have joined something else and another one who did a travel agent one, that fell apart during the lockdpwn so now she sells expensive handbags but that doesn't appear to be working wither. Just be polite and honest with her. She's only harassing you because she's desperate for the money to achieve the dreams they've sold her and her upline will be telling her to do it. She will realise the truth eventually. If she's a good friend, then its really not worth loosing a friendship over