How much do people make from the MLM schemes?

[StunnerNotReally]

My facebook suddenly has loads of women doing these.
Body shop and Tropic and the perfume one.

I'm due to fill in my self assessment, but it will still be 4 figures per month, yes, unless something happens going forward as obviously it isn't guaranteed.

I'll be honest, I can't answer you on that RE income disclosure. Could it be because they are a Polish company with a UK office?

@unoeufisunoeuf1 I wonder if we live in the same place. Our local ‘mums buy and sell’ group has just re-opened and one woman has posted about twenty times over the weekend to sell off Usborne stock.

There is a very funny episode of Schitt’s Creek featuring an MLM called Allez-Vous. David and Moira try to host a selling party but no-one signs up because the craze had already swept through the town two years before. “I'm an executive area manager... I'm a district manager ... I'm an executive district manager.”

Unless my downlines are lying to me & are ignoring every bit of advice I give them then no, they aren't losing money. Even when they tell me they'd like to buy a kit I advise them to sell X amount of product to pay for it so nothing comes out of their pocket which I guess you could count as them losing money from commission earned, but that is their choice.

You have a good point RE me not researching the company financially. When I joined I just wanted the business partner discount, I wasn't intending on selling or building a team, it all just happened so I didn't look i to anything.

I'll be honest, I can't answer you on that RE income disclosure. Could it be because they are a Polish company with a UK office?

Sorry don't think I explained it properly. What I meant was, regardless of regulation / obligation, any company in the world could share their financials.

Why would a massive company choose not to unless their financials would reveal something negative?

They would reveal that corporate makes multi millions while 99% of distributors and sellers (proven stats - that report is really interesting as I'm a geek!) do not make any profit.

Most or a large proportion of your downlines will be in the position you were in in Yoonique. That would just make me so sad.

I hate MLMs and I hate the pushy sales tactics they use. But.. I do love tropic skincare. I use their cleanser toner and moisturiser and my skin feels lovely. I keep an eye out but I havent found a nicer one yet! And I feel better as I buy it off the beautician who does my eyebrows not some randomer off Facebook.

When I joined I just wanted the business partner discount, I wasn't intending on selling or building a team, it all just happened so I didn't look i to anything.

This just seems so naive considering you have a team of 150 active sellers! Sorry I'm being challenging as I genuinely so appreciate you engaging with the discussion and being open to reading around it.

I just can't imagine having that big an effect on other people's lives, almost all women and almost all either mothers or students (statistically) and not researching the company's financials, at least once I realised my team was growing.

If you are making four figures profit per month at the end of a years tax return, you are one of the 1% which is super rare and (again sorry as I sound challenging) but a surprise as it is just so so so rare globally. Especially working evenings only after your regular work. Is that the case after costs and tax?

It really isn't as rare as you think, many of my team make 4 figures if not a good 3 figures, any of these people 'under me' can overtake me, I won't always gain from their gains if I don't put the work in myself.

I will probably get flamed for this, but it wasn't in my interest to research their financials as I was being paid. Now maybe if I was receiving peanuts for the work I was doing then I would of probably done the research.

I know a couple of people who have managed to get to very high up positions with Arbonne and are earning tens of thousands of pounds per month. Both are very confident people with hugs social circles so have become high earners mainly through recruiting teams.

Of course your are confused. Scams are as confusing as possible to try and disguise the scam.

It really isn't as rare as you think, many of my team make 4 figures if not a good 3 figures, any of these people 'under me' can overtake me, I won't always gain from their gains if I don't put the work in myself.

It statistically is as rare as I think though, based on solid and the FTC's data which investigated 350 MLM companies.

I just don't believe - based on thorough research - that your company, which is a self declared MLM model business, is that different from others with the same model that even within your team a massively greater amount than 99% are making profit after costs and tax.

Sorry forgot to tag you again @whatdoingmummy 😬

I will probably get flamed for this, but it wasn't in my interest to research their financials as I was being paid.

It's your prerogative of course but if I was getting so involved with a company and was promoting the opportunity to other people I would research the financial implications and likely results for the company in general.

It's a moral and also just sensible obligation IMO. But I think maybe that's the thing that means some people join an MLM and choose to promote the 'opportunity' and some don't.

I couldn't in good faith promote an opportunity to others if I didn't know the information I've shared on this thread which is freely available with a quick google.

I have a 'friend' who is an Arbot. She is a single Mum and entirely brain washed - believes it all. She's done it for years, posts motivational videos all the time, is always trying to recruit single Mums and people who have recently lost their jobs. She has never been able to give up her job and has been disciplined by her employer for trying to turn professional conversations into a selling opportunity and has had complaints in another organisation she's involved with. A close friend bought some stuff off her to be kind and she got a rash all over her face and neck. She's lost a lot of friends - every time she gets in touch it seems like she's then going to turn it into a chance to sell you something. New Year - hey are you thinking of going on a diet. Drops off a bottle of wine for your birthday - would you like to place an order from my friends company?

That’s the power of brainwashing for you.

Arbonne UK’s accounts are almost nine months overdue according to Companies House. There may be trouble ahead.

one woman has posted about twenty times over the weekend to sell off Usborne stock.

A woman on my local FB page sells cards via an MLM.
Every. Single. Day she pops up, appropriating some cause or other to promote her business.

Oh it's Father's Day soon, visit my website
Oh it's sunny today, visit my website
Oh it's BLM, visit my website
Oh it's Monday, visit my website

She does share some nice product pics, but I am never going to buy from her on principle now.

@whatdoingmummy you’re either lying (statistically, this is most likely) or you’re preying on those 150 who are actively losing money to fill your pockets

Or as many bots do, failing to understand the difference between SALES and PROFIT. You may well sell £7500 of stuff each month. But if the costs of buying the stuff, petrol for making deliveries in the car, stuff you've bought for personal use and all the other costs come to £7499, that's another matter, isn't it?

The other problem with the claim that @Whatdoingmummy earns 4 figures and she has team members also earning 4 or 3 figures is that it misses out the most important information.

How much exactly are they earning (there is a BIG difference between £1001 and £9999) and how many hours are they working? We have a minimum wage in this country so much as earning an extra £200 a month sounds nice once you go over about 6 hours a week work then it would be below minimum wage - which no “real” company is allowed to pay.

(I can’t imagine you will answer that but just in case you do - in the interest of parity - I earn c£4K per month before tax, pension etc. I officially work 21 hours a week but in reality it is more like 25 or 26. People who are below me in the team earn between £2k and £5k for a (officially 35 but in reality probably about) 40 hour week.)

I know 4 people who made a sucess of their MLM

BUT

One of them is a beautician and sells/uses the products as part of her business

Two no longer do it because it took up a lot of their evenings and although they made money it wasn’t enough to recompense them for the times...no prizes etc

One was one of the first people to do her MLM in the country, many years ago and was already ‘known’ for the crafting activity she sells. She wins masses and masses of holidays

But i think most MLM schemes are a bit vampirish

@Bouledeneige wrote "I have a 'friend' who is an Arbot. She is a single Mum and entirely brain washed - believes it all. She's done it for years, posts motivational videos all the time, is always trying to recruit single Mums and people who have recently lost their jobs. She has never been able to give up her job and has been disciplined by her employer for trying to turn professional conversations into a selling opportunity and has had complaints in another organisation she's involved with. A close friend bought some stuff off her to be kind and she got a rash all over her face and neck. She's lost a lot of friends - every time she gets in touch it seems like she's then going to turn it into a chance to sell you something. New Year - hey are you thinking of going on a diet. Drops off a bottle of wine for your birthday - would you like to place an order from my friends company?"

Great post which sums up the true mindblowing awfulness of MLM. There are so many examples like this miserable example littering social media.

To anyone who still thinks MLM is a legitimate business model, ask yourself why the companies fiercely resist publishing income statements. They go some way to telling the truth about just now many reps make a living. Clue: hardly any at all.

BuzzShitbagBobbly my mum used to be a thermomix demonstrator. She earnt her thermomix then made a commission on sales to whom she demonstrated to. She was a SAHM so it was just a bit of extra income that she could spend on non essential stuff like a piano and plane tickets to see the family etc. I dont think there was the same risk involved as everybody bought direct from thermomix rather than the demonstrator buying stock and trying to flog it. If she didnt sell anything that month she wouldnt get any commission but she wouldnt "owe" the company any commission like so many other MLMs do.
Obviously she paid for fuel. Demonstrations were held at a prospective clients house and the client would usually buy the ingredients for the demo.
I think they've changed their structure recently to become more MLM ish with teams and tiers but I know a lot of people join it to earn their own previously unattainable thermomix then sack it.
FWIW I have got a thermomix and love it. But no I'm not a demonstrator.

@Whatdoingmummy when you say you work really hard at it can you say what you are actually doing? I can never work out from success stories what the 'work' actually involves. Apologies if it wasn't you who said this.

Blatant MLM bots advertise all the time on our local fb page
"Want to earn up to £500/month to help with university fees?
Flexible hours to suit you
Work round family and home commitments
PM me for details."

It always screams mlm to me, of course the person never mentions what kind of work, who the company is etc but I'm always amazed how many people say they are interested.
Quite a few of my friends have started doing mlm stuff and they all have well paid "normal" jobs. (Jamberry, tropics, and some weight loss shit that the friend cant disclose til you pm her )

Another lady put a blatant mlm post on the local fb page a few years ago. And it was obviously scripted, or cut and paste "I lost weight, and my hair and nails have never been better etc". She isnt a friend but I did know her through our DC, and I knew she didnt wax lyrical like that IRL. It was probably for Herbalife or juice plus (of course you had to pm to find out) . Fast forward a couple of years and shes on the local fb page asking if anyone could recommend anything to help with weight loss /lack of energy etc (all the things she claimed her product could do a few years before!) And then a lot of the responses were other people selling mlm products....

My fb feed is clogged up with mlm shit at the moment....my yooooooonique bot has got people posting on her behalf as an affiliate...does anyone know what that is all about?
Same yooooooooooonique bot is now posting trying to persuade other gullible fools to join her team....after only a few weeks she is pushing recruitment rather than selling the product...i wonder why !!!

on a different thread, a poster mentioned that the job centre encouraged people on UC to do MLMs as a job which I find really awful, as its so not helpful to comeone already on a low income, not to have a regular income, let alone the high probability of losing money!

Someone on my FB is quite high up in Arbonne - has team members who are VRPs. She’s been doing it for years, but was quite a successful athlete before, so has good networks. I have never seen her push the products on FB. However, Arbonne are quite open about the earning potential, which starts out shockingly low: embed.widencdn.net/pdf/plus/arbonne/nctuaskatk/80000331R02_UK_ICCS_Fly_final.pdf