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Original poster

What’s the R number of MLM schemes?

241 replies

ReeseWitherfork · 04/10/2020 20:13

Goodness me the MLMs are ramping up! Or is it just the people I associate with?!

So I don’t have a “am I being unreasonable” but rather “how do I reasonably tell people they’re being idiots?” Does no one do any research before joining one? Because I can’t imagine google is telling them it’s a good idea.

I’ve only ever replied to texts telling me people have joined with a “thanks! xx” Has anyone been braver?

OP posts:
Soubriquet · 05/10/2020 12:16

I did once have a younique bot who would rave about their days out because of their “purple card” and how selling younique allowed her to stay at home with her children and spoil them.

In reality she was working full time and had this on the side

One day, she just didn’t mention younique anymore so she obviously wised up

ChelseeDagger · 05/10/2020 12:28

Katie Price and her newest fella are now selling herbalife.

BrightYellowDaffodil · 05/10/2020 12:33

I replied, publicly, that Herbalife doesn't protect against dilapidations and damage in residential lettings!

Grin

(But I bet if you gave a MLM bot chance, they'd claim it does!)

terrywynne · 05/10/2020 12:38

@LonelyFromCorona Avon certainly is more affordable than most MLMs and it used to have allocated patches. It is possible that, if your mum's local rep has been doing Avon for 20 years, she has been able to keep a patch and also she will have a very well established customer base to draw on (so can work the old way). However feedback from people in Avon now is that the model is changing, new reps are being allowed to set up in each other patches and take customers from other reps, recruitment is becoming more of a thing.

Avon are no doubt relying on people remembering how it used to be and thus feeling more amenable to them as opposed to Younique etc

Okokokitsout · 05/10/2020 12:39

Love the question 😂

Hoppinggreen · 05/10/2020 12:48

When I was PTA chair at the dc school I managed to get all MLMs banned from our PTA school events ( which was all events really).
I hate them with a passion

myusernamewastakenbyme · 05/10/2020 12:48

Come on all you Presenters....Consultants...Ambassadors...Reps etc....let us know why you got involved with an mlm...and id like to know if you feel an ounce of shame that your family and friends are buying crap they dont want to 'support' you.

CaveMum · 05/10/2020 12:51

Honestly, all the people getting sucked into MLM would be better off starting up matched betting instead - far better financial returns and you don’t need to alienate yourself from friends/family or get off the sofa!

SqidgeBum · 05/10/2020 12:57

I have seen a huge rise in the number of mothers I know starting these pages up. I am nearly 30 with lots of friends who have young kids, their jobs are precarious or they dont work, and they are (IMO) being lured into the idea of making money from these things because they are feeling quite desperate. I have helped one friend out who has just started Avon because I know she is struggling with 2 under 2 and her job disappearing with Covid, but in the last 4 weeks I have been invited to Unique, Essen (perfumes apparently), FM fragrances, wax melts, neals yard, and body shop pages.

Proudboomer · 05/10/2020 13:04

My Facebook and even Nextdoor site are full of mlm’s at the moment. I have a friend who does body shop and she didn’t even cotton on when Last year her up line chunked it in and got a real job. I used to buy a few bits but have stopped buying body shop after their online bully tactics against JKR earlier this year but I have braced myself ready for the onslaught of raffles for the advent calendars.

RealBecca · 05/10/2020 13:39

A friend has just started one. She's a single mum and she has mental health issues and had just recovered enough to start working last year. When covid hit her it caused her mental health to deteriorate and she's scared of leaving the house, has quit work and is trying to provide for her family through the mlm.

It's so sad because the mlm is exploiting her vulnerability. I feel like shit because I know she's struggling and I'd happily chuck her £20 but i just cant bring myself to buy a product because she will get fuck all of the cash and it perpetuates the cycle and I don't want the mlm getting a penny.

LonelyFromCorona · 05/10/2020 13:52

[quote terrywynne]@LonelyFromCorona Avon certainly is more affordable than most MLMs and it used to have allocated patches. It is possible that, if your mum's local rep has been doing Avon for 20 years, she has been able to keep a patch and also she will have a very well established customer base to draw on (so can work the old way). However feedback from people in Avon now is that the model is changing, new reps are being allowed to set up in each other patches and take customers from other reps, recruitment is becoming more of a thing.

Avon are no doubt relying on people remembering how it used to be and thus feeling more amenable to them as opposed to Younique etc[/quote]
@terrywynne I see, thanks for the response. Didn't realise it had changed and yes no doubt relying on their previous good reputation if its now more about getting other people to sign up as a rep and buy in a couple hundred quids worth of stock, competing with other reps in the same area.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 05/10/2020 15:04

I don't think there is any market for Avon how it used to be anymore, I used to love looking through the catalogue as a teen and was allowed to get a few bits so its not that I hate the products when I say I wouldn't buy from them. But in this day a age where you can get makeup at the supermarket, off amazon, boots online etc there is absolutely no market for catalogue selling anymore, as can be seen from most of the catalogue companies closing down and going online.

So now Avon have gone full MLM ie making the reps the customers and relying on a steady influx of recruiting. Its really annoying as they also have a website where you can buy direct from them anyway! They know they could just sell their products but they are greedy and want to keep the pyramid scheme.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 05/10/2020 15:10

@CaveMum that was exactly my thought when the pp mentioned her friend making £50 a month.

Asterion · 05/10/2020 15:24

I have a feeling there'll be a wave of CBD products via MLM next.

Asterion · 05/10/2020 15:29

A similar one is Utility Warehouse. They're very insistent. Also Bounce.

loobyloo1234 · 05/10/2020 15:31

Is 'Scentsy' MLM? A woman I used to be really good friends with has just started inboxing me about it and so far i've avoided anything to do with buying something from her? I couldnt work out why she was all of a sudden DM'ing me out of the blue

UsernameNotValid · 05/10/2020 15:42

It was me with the friend making £50 a month @LivingDeadGirlUK and would agree that MB is far more lucrative but she's just not into it. Tbh I think she likes the FM discounts she gets as she doesn't generally buy much for herself so it seems justified IYKWIM.

My Mum is an avid MB and has made a fair bit on it and despite many attempts I can't get my head into or around it unfortunately 😂

LivingDeadGirlUK · 05/10/2020 15:51

@UsernameNotValid this conversation has prompted me to look into it again now the fog of baby brain has lifted.

Jakobabear · 05/10/2020 15:54

Don't get me started on MLMs. I can't cope with the "fake it til you make it" mantra and the #bossbabe rubbish.

MLMs should be banned or come with a disclaimer because they prey upon people and give them false hopes. I've yet to see anyone make money from one and the way they drop their earnings on social media posts is tacky and cheap.

They really are their own best customers although they'll never admit it and most jump from one failure to another. They annoy me when they say they own their own businesses as well, they actually believe their own lies it's pathetic. It amazes me how people can be so brainwashed by them and get totally sucked in.

Nicketynac · 05/10/2020 17:26

@Asterion I got invited to a CBD one just last night. Oddly the woman posted in the morning about her mums business and how we should buy something from her and by the evening she herself was now selling it.

BrazenlyDefying · 05/10/2020 17:44

@loobyloo1234

Is 'Scentsy' MLM? A woman I used to be really good friends with has just started inboxing me about it and so far i've avoided anything to do with buying something from her? I couldnt work out why she was all of a sudden DM'ing me out of the blue
Yes it is.
CaveMum · 05/10/2020 18:03

[quote LivingDeadGirlUK]@UsernameNotValid this conversation has prompted me to look into it again now the fog of baby brain has lifted.[/quote]
You definitely should. Take a look at Team Profit - there’s a website and a Facebook page to ask lots of questions on.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 05/10/2020 18:04

For anyone asking "Is x MLM".
Is your mate annoying you to buy and/or join?
Are they saying how great it is to be at home and you could too?
Is it someone else's product?if the answer to all three is yes, you got yourself an mom hun.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 05/10/2020 18:04

Mlm not mom!

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