MLM for the gullible

[SpringIsComingAlways]

MLM everywhere on social media...living my own life selling tat @bossgirl

Apart from people at the very top is MLM just aimed at gullible people recruiting more gullible people?

YABU all type of people join MLM and make shedloads of money

YANBU it's just for gullible or vulnerable people

In case anyone doesn't know MLM is multi level marketing.... getting others to sell products you sell, like a pyramid with commission to those above you in the scheme...think YouNique, bodysuit, fake perfumes, smelly candles, make up that is ridiculously overpriced due to commission, etc etc..... they come and come and spread as much as covid

@Fagey

I of course wouldn't sign up. But being in a dire financial position would probably make me see it with a bit of hope like "maybe I could be one of the ones who make it big"

Before I'd come to my sense.

But if I didn't know about MLMs then nothing would be there to make me come to my senses - hope that makes sense. X

I don’t think you need to ‘know about mlms’ to know that someone slipping in your dms with some miracle cure for your eyelashes and your bank account is almost certainly talking shit.

If you want to trust the man who’s selling magic beans at the end of the alleyway... be my guest. You shall get what’s coming to you unfortunately.

There's tons of data and research out there that shows you only make money from recruiting other agents and that 90 percent lose money. It's gross and preys on the desperate.

I have a friend who is an Arbonne rep who is increasingly delusional and desperate. She's put at least 10 years into it and nearly lost her job and has lost a lot of friends because of it. Because she turns every conversation into a selling opportunity. I once bought done thing off her out of sympathy and came up with a huge rash all over my face and neck.

One lady I know is a recruiter, she really does make money. The friends she recruited lost a shed load. The is one that keeps popping up for slimming products. The lady one the picture has obviously lost weight, but these pictures are so badly photoshopped, you can tell by her hands and thighs.

The Scentsy one , is that the perfume one ? I can buy a bottle of something that smells similar to Coco Mademoiselle for £3.99 from Lidl, if I want a cheap perfume.

Some of our neighbours have recently fallen into this nonsense and keep posting about their crappy fake perfumes all over the Facebook page for our estate. I’m resisting the urge to comment.

Scentsy is wax melts etc

Anyone heard of Sisterhood Society? A friend is involved with them and has started sending vague posts about weightloss and a new healthier lifestyle. She's struggled with her MH and is having financial issues so I'm worried she's being sucked in

If you want to trust the man who’s selling magic beans at the end of the alleyway... be my guest. You shall get what’s coming to you unfortunately

You’re right, they will damaged if they fall for it. Trouble is it’s not always the stranger selling it and that’s part of the problem. And it’s as much about vulnerability to the message as about intelligence. I know quite a few women who have found themselves with a new baby and the prospect of returning to a poorly paid non flexible job. Suddenly it looks like a low barrier to entry solution. Then they meet a really nice woman at the baby group or whatever who seems really positive and gives them lots of positive affirmation and says she used to be the same but is now doing really well. They are presented with an idea that seems to tick all the boxes. No hard sell, no “get rich quick” rhetoric just a subtle placement of something that seems to offer flexible work and social and emotional support. Their own internal bias and being primed to expect negative comments from “the envious people” stops them listening to warnings. I’m often amazed at the intelligent people I’ve met who have fallen for it. Of course there’s a new crop of people who have lost their jobs during Covid who have never come across MLM before and are signing up

I have a fair bit of knowledge of the travel ones as I work in the industry. I'm a supplier to agents rather than an agent and my company isn't working with them, in fact hardly any are. They have very few commercial agreements with tour ops and have no ATOL license so can't package things themselves. We've been approached a few times and the feeling is that it would devalue our business and relationships with quality trade partners. The list of operators they advertise is nonsense - a lot of the time they are just using the customer card to book direct with the operator but through a cashback site! I was approached by one and asked if the customers could book direct with us and we would pay them a referral fee.
Its worrying as the potential for a customer losing a lot of money is high. Its selling a product which runs into thousands not small amounts. They have a couple of online courses and that's it, no knowledge of PTR regs, fate types etc. If you ever see a travel business with inteletravel in the title avoid like the plague and find your nearest Travel Counsellor or Independent agent who know their job.

I've just seen that one of my facebook friends now has #juststrongabbassador added to all her posts. I googled it and yes, it seems to be some kind of MLM scam. It's all about healthy eating and fitness wear and this person is er...rather large...

It's also an odd business model to repeatedly boast to your clients how you're "silver" or making so much money.
I don't see normal retailers do that 🤣

@EnglishGirlApproximately I guess the only saving grace is that very little travel gets sold (or missold) by Inteletravel people because Inteletravel isn’t a travel business it’s just a front for a recruitment device called PlanNet Marketing. It’s strange that people don’t see that a “travel” company doing fairly well during a no-travel pandemic can’t be relying on selling travel but rather the opportunity to be a travel agent! An opportunity they will happily sell to people who have never owned a passport and don’t know the first thing about travel.

I hate MLMs.
There comes a point quite early on where anyone involved either accepts they are getting a discount for products they like and maybe some friends buy an item or two (a friend takes this approach to Body Shop), or they become complicit in a very predatory world that targets vulnerable women and preys on their insecurities.

The people I know who I think have genuinely made money (based on their super sparkle moonshine Lotusflower level updates) seem to join an MLM when it first launches in the UK and then have their hunbots making money for them, usually whilst all their bots lose money.

@YouokHun absolutely, they are selling tiny amounts and mostly UK breaks where the potential for disaster is less. I know a few who joined genuinely wanting to work in travel and left pretty quickly when they realised its a scam. A few have gone on to join quality businesses and start from the bottom as it becomes clear very quickly that it takes more than a FB page to make money as an agent. People are savvy to DIY so to make a living you need to be an expert, something intele don't advertise of course! I'm baffled that so many people are still getting sucked in tbh. The travel industry has been far from fun and glamorous in the last 12 months (I think I've aged about 20 years) and the boom they're talking about is a complete myth!

Absolutely @EnglishGirlApproximately. I have it on good authority that some senior ABTA people were bribed by IT and they got their membership by distinctly below board means. It’s a shame because it does give them the appearance of being legitimate. They’ve been banging on about imminently being awarded ATOL status for many years now. I’m sorry the genuine travel industry has been so difficult

@YouokHun well I still have a job so doing better than most! ABTA have lost a lot of support letting MLM in and members are increasingly looking at other options. It doesn't have the reputation for trust it once had.

I loathe MLMs.

I know 3 people personally who have done well from them.

One woman was the first UK representative of a US company. She basically got commission on every sale made in the UK. She is on 6 figures. The company uses a picture of her with an enormous lottery-style cheque on their recruitment ads.

Another woman was an early recruit of a MLM. She was an area manager and was on 50k ish for about 10 years. When it went down, she got herself a job because “she fancied a challenge”. Absolutely nothing to do with supporting herself.

Another woman is literally in EVERY MLM there is out there. She used to host MLM parties at her house where you feel obliged to buy something. She did OK from it, had team members etc.

Then again, a woman asked me to help her sort out her financial mess. She literally kept buying her own products to win “promotions” or freebies. It was VERY sad as she is a professional nutritionist! I have no idea why she got into it.

There is also a woman who keeps coming on my fb. She “hey hun” ‘ed me at the end of her maternity leave. She wanted to stay at home and take care of her kid. Her posts were really sad, she kept on begging people to buy something from her to she could reach whatever made up level she wanted to get to. Several times, she posted how well she was doing and urging people to join her team. The last I heard she went back to work as they were “desperate for her help” and she agreed to go back and help them for a while.

It’s really sad. These companies target women, often young mothers, vulnerable people really.

I refuse to support ANY business.

Gah they get everywhere. My local village Facebook group is permanently being used by MLMs selling (mostly Usborne). Not a huge problem with that, but then they start a raffle to raise money to buy the local children's hospice some books, which presumably they will make commission from. Last time I looked lots of people had trustingly bought tickets

YANBU

I’ve got a Forever Living Bot on my Facebook...she never seems to sell anything other than to her own Nan....wondering how much stock she’s wasted her own cash on and when she’ll give up.

Theres a thread in style abd beauty about Tropic now

@allAimee1987, re: Usborne, you would get 10% of free books plus a free host book from a choice of - usually - three. And I'm not sure why you would be doing all the work, the Usborne organiser should be doing that.

@MintyMabel, why pick out Usborne for preying on kids at school bookfairs? Don't Scholastic? My kids' primaries had Scholastic fairs, and there was more tat than books, and the choice of books was pretty limited, although they did have some Usborne books. And the teachers have to do the work for the Scholastic fairs, the Usborne rep should be doing all the work for theirs.

@doadeer

It's also an odd business model to repeatedly boast to your clients how you're "silver" or making so much money. I don't see normal retailers do that 🤣

I find this really funny. I work in actual sales and am responsible for bringing in millions of pounds of business each year for my company. My job title is as far away from sales as possible and I definitely don’t go into deals telling the prospective client what a brilliant salesperson I am and how much I’m being paid 😂

@BloodyDarrener

I remember when my mum sold Amway products. It must have been a good 30 years ago. She initially made a killing selling to our family and her friends but honestly, as the products were actually quite good, (and sold as concentrates) she could only sell them once. There were no repeat customers as everyone was all set for the next few years. The people who recruited her got crazy rich off that pyramid scheme though and retired abroad. I'm glad pyramid schemes are illegal but MLMs are just the same schemes, tweaked just enough to get around it. Time for legislation to deal with them now.

If anyone on my friends list calls themselves an Ambassador and it's not because they're "spoiling us" with a Ferrero Rocher, then they're getting their arses hidden, unfollowed, unfriended or maybe blocked.

Haha same here but i would also add 'presenter' and 'consultant' to your list

[quote MuddlingMackem]@allAimee1987, re: Usborne, you would get 10% of free books plus a free host book from a choice of - usually - three. And I'm not sure why you would be doing all the work, the Usborne organiser should be doing that.

@MintyMabel, why pick out Usborne for preying on kids at school bookfairs? Don't Scholastic? My kids' primaries had Scholastic fairs, and there was more tat than books, and the choice of books was pretty limited, although they did have some Usborne books. And the teachers have to do the work for the Scholastic fairs, the Usborne rep should be doing all the work for theirs.[/quote]
Are you an Usborne rep by any chance