To ask for MLM success stories?

[TheLoudGobbyOne]

This is not a TAAT so please don’t report this for that. But its inspired by the ongoing MLM thread where a friend of the OP who is/was a teacher has/is giving it up to work for an MLM scheme.

And I was just wondering: does anyone know anyone who has had success from this? There are countless horror stories and warnings to make it obvious MLMs are more scams than successes but surely they are benefitting some people out there otherwise they would not exist?

I am not asking this because I am questioning joining one or remotely tempted or intrigued by it before anyone asks! Just purely wondered if there is anyone who knows someone who has been successful in these and how much work they put into it

@kathrynjanewaykicksass

Unfortunately the only people who make money are the people at the top of the pyramid To me mlm seems like a series of cults

It really really really (ha!) is cult like.

Person I knew selling Arbonne I browsed her open FB page the other day, cue page on page on page of her bigging up her latest recruit - they're all her besties, a hell of a lot of inspirational stuff and then the worst of all - banging on about their juices and saying 'she saw a lot of women who didn't drink the juices and their figures etc were awful' - of course if you drink juice all day you'll be skinny you dopey wotsit - even I know that?! In fact any respect I might've had for her went off a cliff after that statement about the juice.

Trouble is - lots of women want to be forever slim, young etc and to live the dream these days - so her method of MLM appeals to some.

Sad.

I’d forgotten about the Arbonne juices. My friend sells it and she did the 30 day plan four or five times over maybe six months, almost but nothing quite back to back. It must have costs her loads of money, never mind that she had to go gluten free, soya free, sugar free, dairy free and alcohol free at the same time, so had to spend extra on her normal food too.
I can’t discuss it with her - thankfully she only once briefly asked if I was interested and she accepted no straight away.
We did have a discussion about the diet (“healthy living plan”) where she insisted it was all backed up by science but she hadn’t read it yet.
Am really looking forward to it being over.

[quote closetalker]@jagoda

She's a customer. She's buying stuff at discount so while she isn't losing money, she isn't making it either. She's literally just doing what someone would do when they walk into a shop and buy stuff in a sale. She therefore isn't an example of someone who has done well from an MLM. Making £0 isn't a marker of success in a business. I know you probably know this and meant this anyway but just to be clear - she isn't making anything. She's just paying slightly less mark up than people who didn't also buy the starter kit. [/quote]
Also, I’d add, I don’t know anything about Tropic but FL and Younique expect you to use the starter pack as samples, which is obviously shit because they only contain a tiny percentage of the overall number of products available. So if you want more samples - which of course you do, because who would spend £30 on an eye cream without ever having seen or smelled it - you have to buy more products yourself.

I absolutely hate MLMs and I’d have them banned tomorrow, but I’m always impressed by how clever they are. It’s a genius, albeit completely immoral, business model. Or pyramid.

@Nicketynac

I’d forgotten about the Arbonne juices. My friend sells it and she did the 30 day plan four or five times over maybe six months, almost but nothing quite back to back. It must have costs her loads of money, never mind that she had to go gluten free, soya free, sugar free, dairy free and alcohol free at the same time, so had to spend extra on her normal food too. I can’t discuss it with her - thankfully she only once briefly asked if I was interested and she accepted no straight away. We did have a discussion about the diet (“healthy living plan”) where she insisted it was all backed up by science but she hadn’t read it yet. Am really looking forward to it being over.

My relative does a juice selling business - Juice Plus - the pics are great and look impressive but I'd look great if I drank juice all day long and cut out everything else you say!

Like I mentioned - I was kind of on the fence re the Arbonne 'friend' until she was quite unkind about people in the street looking awful (overweight) and only the Juices could fix this. The Arbonne 'friend' is a dancer etc and yoga buff so spends hours in the gym every day - it's worrying that some silly people (her followers) think a slim figure is down to juices alone and not much else. Bad diet too.

but I'd look great if I drank juice all day long and cut out everything else you say!

Someone might be super skinny if they drank nothing but juice but I can imagine their skin would be terrible and they wouldn’t look healthy and slim. Like that programme years ago - Supersized vs Super skinny. The skinny person never had a healthy glow.

I know of one person

Generally you only do well in it if you are happy to knowingly push other people to sign up to sell when the reality is they will most likely be wasting their £250 starter fees.

That is where the money comes from, not the actual selling of stock. But the fact that you have to buy stock to start up (as opposed to just handing over £250) is the only thing which makes it legal.

The ones who say they are raking it in. Check companies house website for accounts and land registry re properties.
Ask if they are registered with the LA/HMRC and have the relevant insurances to run a business.

I note that a lot on fb marketplace many are members of UC/ Bargain hunters groups.

@Getthekettleon2020

The ones who say they are raking it in. Check companies house website for accounts and land registry re properties. Ask if they are registered with the LA/HMRC and have the relevant insurances to run a business.

I note that a lot on fb marketplace many are members of UC/ Bargain hunters groups.

This.

With this person I know it's all about nice holidays - (Arbonne jaunts) - holding a cardboard box outside 'her house'.

I know at one point she was renting what was literally a studio shed at the bottom of someone's garden as she told me this.

PumpertheThumper

That's what I didn't like about the Arbonne woman's sale stuff - these frosted dated bottles with lotion she shoved in them... didn't look that clean either.

I was quite transparent with her - asked her loads of questions - what does it do etc - I really couldn't see much proof.

Interesting when she showed me the whole organogram (again I asked for this) to do with Arbonne - and though it showed people higher up you could see quite easily the big guys who really made the money.

@Getthekettleon2020

The ones who say they are raking it in. Check companies house website for accounts and land registry re properties. Ask if they are registered with the LA/HMRC and have the relevant insurances to run a business.

I note that a lot on fb marketplace many are members of UC/ Bargain hunters groups.

You will only find people on there if they are a director of a Ltd Company.

Self-employed people aren't on there at all - you just file a self-assessment tax return.

Nurse seems to use four FL products on her face every morning and evening

You’re your own best customer, hun 🙄

The Juice plus huns are hilarious. They seem to think that a snapchat filter is the way to show off the incredible remarkable unbelievable astounding dramatic effects of drinking those shakes and swallowing those capsules of veggie vitamin things they’re always shaking and boosting with.

Living their best lives in denial...

Desperate fools.

You will only find people on [Companies House] if they are a director of a Ltd Company.

Yes, the clue’s in the name. CH is useful as you can see the extent of MLM bots’ eye-watering Directors’ loans, details of other creditors, and whether their company is, in fact, insolvent - despite being held up as a shining example of a successful business owner at the brainwashing rallies they’re ordered to attend and telling the world that their “business” has enabled them to become debt-free. (I’m looking at you, Forever Fibbing bots.)

Self-employed people aren't on there at all - you just file a self-assessment tax return.

Self-employed people, who are bankrupt, are listed on the Individual Insolvency Register. You can search for them by name, or the trading name of their business if they’re a sole trader.

I wonder how many MLM huns are registered with the Revenue as self-employed?

Agh! Where to start. I had the opportunity to join an mlm in May, same time as a friend. I've done it before so refused yet my friend went for it and is doing well. She regularly gets 'recognition' sent from her many 'up lines' where they rank you, she's always number one out of hundreds of consultants or in the top 10 out of thousands. Her down lines are always take the top ten spots out of the hundreds. Last time we talked figures she was making £900 a month so I guess it might be more now. She wants to do it full time, but I think she was earning around this in her main job. Another (closer) friend is also doing well but I can see the other side of this. A good month will see her making around £600 but the amount of stuff she buys is insane. She tells me it's all 'free products' but I suspect what she means is she buys it out of her commission. She does well, is always top ten but I suspect she and her mum are her biggest customers. She has now also started to keep 'stock' as things are always sold out and she has to say no to a lot of people, if a popular product comes back into stock, she will buy 3 or 4 in the hope that she will sell them and avoid having to turn people away. There's a lot of in fighting about the consultants doing this. They are in the same team and have bothered told me that the director, their uplines 'up line' makes about 2k.

To be honest, both of them are annoying the hell out of me, 6 other friends have been drawn in by their constant 'living the dream' posts and my fb feed is just awash with people trying to sell me the same things and getting offended if I buy from another. I'm tempted to block the whole bloody lot of them.

I actually like the products but actually already had a rep who I buy from, (who originally asked me to join) who always offers much better deals. Now I have to hide anything I buy from her in case it's spotted 😂

Haven't RTFT but isn't Alan Sugar involved with Tropic??

Haven't RTFT but isn't Alan Sugar involved with Tropic??

It is always worth at least skimming through a thread

Alan Sugar is involved because the founder is Susan Ma, who was on the Apprentice. He was an investor in 2011 when it began, and it becaome an MLM in 2013 (not sure if he was still investing then, or how far involved in company decision making)

I worked with someone whose wife did an MLM and was doing very well out of it. She got into it super early and has been doing it for years. I imagine she’s making her money exploiting others though.

The problem is anyone can become a “business owner” overnight with no marketing or sales experience. The bar to entry is very low...it’s actually non existent. The clue is in the name...Network MARKETING. Multi Level MARKETING. Yet nobody markets. Instead their first port of call is to sell to/recruit family and friends and everyone with a pulse on their friends list because they have no idea how to actually get new business; neither do their uplines and neither do their uplines’ uplines. After that dries up what happens?

If you know how to be a marketer, you’ll be successful. It’s like starting any business.

If anyone is considering it I say go for it - just learn marketing first.

I know people who have done Younique, Arbonne, Forever Living and Body Shop. All of them have full time, regular jobs.

The person I know who does Arbonne has lost a LOT of friends from badgering them. She has spent thousands on trips to Las Vegas for conferences - which she makes out on social media are paid for by Arbonne but they're not.

After reading Elle-Beau Blog about Younique, I read so much about them online. The brother and sister who own that company are truly disgusting predators.

@VapeVamp12

I know people who have done Younique, Arbonne, Forever Living and Body Shop. All of them have full time, regular jobs.

The person I know who does Arbonne has lost a LOT of friends from badgering them. She has spent thousands on trips to Las Vegas for conferences - which she makes out on social media are paid for by Arbonne but they're not.

After reading Elle-Beau Blog about Younique, I read so much about them online. The brother and sister who own that company are truly disgusting predators.

VapeVamp12

The person you know who does the Arbonne I think has the same experience as the person I know.

I am 99.9% sure she is a yoga teacher and dancer/performer as well as Arbonne saleswoman - what's interesting is she moved after a few years from London to another big city to be with her then boyfrined but I'm guessing that could be because she alienated the ones in London.

She's not a bad person per se but she believes her own BS. The only way I got to know her was through a friendly pub with a singer there - she latched onto me very quickly.

Someone on my local Facebook selling page is flogging her BSAH stock. She literally has a garage full of it. She's selling most of it for a couple of quid so she must be making an enormous loss.

@AlexCabot

Someone on my local Facebook selling page is flogging her BSAH stock. She literally has a garage full of it. She's selling most of it for a couple of quid so she must be making an enormous loss.

I’ve seen a few of these and weirdly they tend to be bought by other MLM sellers for stock. Or maybe samples? When my friend left FL she sold it all on a forum to other sellers and made a huge loss.

The 'success' stories are normally a façade. The only genuine ones are at the very very top. I'd be surprised if there any even in the UK

Come on...where are all the 'independent consultants' lol....i thought they'd be tripping over themselves to come on here and tell us how they are rocking their 'bisnizz'.

myusernamewastakenbyme I think they've realised how outnumbered they'd be. There were some attempts upthread!

I was browsing a virtual Christmas fayre page on Facebook. On the post for people selling perfume there were
18 FM
6 Avon
5 BSAH
2 Neals Yard
None that weren't MLM. There's no way in hell anyone is making anything over a tenner with FM, the market is probably the most saturated of any MLM.