MLM Bot Watch 18- chat about Utah based tragicomic cultastic racketeering scamalangadingdongs like Forever Living, Ariix, Herbalife, Younique, Juiceplus etc etc etc

[chuckingstones]

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Melaw

That PBP thing was superb.

Also and not saying for a minute it is going on here, but food crime is a really really big thing. Lots of big criminals involved in moving foodstuffs etc around.

Big case I know of (widely reported on) where condemned meat was being rinsed and repackaged on a large scale ....

If it sounds too good to be true and all that

What damage though?

MLM is not to everyone's taste (clearly, judging by this thread ) but it IS a legitimate and legal business model, within acceptable parameters - such as having genuine products to sell, which generate genuine profits for the company, like any other business. Which LTW does.

Out of any doubts I may have had, the ethics of LTW is not one of them tbh.

Thanks cozie !! 😂😂😂 That one is a keeper I feel!

What damage??? People redirecting their spending to purchase gallons of yazoo???

I look forward with some interest to seeing year-end financial statements from that company.

As, I'm sure, do HMRC and the big supermarket chain lawyers.

Throwing, I think you might be clutching at straws tbh. Of course other types of fraud are possible, within any company. I've not personally seen any completely false statements made by LTW.

Also, regarding food fraud in general - always a possibility with any food retailer. But LTW deal solely in branded goods bought from manufacturers.

I suppose they could be counterfeiting brands, technically - but it would be a bit pointless and stupid considering the legitimate profit they can make is outstanding anyway.

Not suggesting counterfeiting

Anyway, I am off to bed. Have a real job to head to, that doesn't require me to fill my garage with stuff I never really wanted in order to "make money"

How do you mean Cozie? Maybe i'm being dense but can you expand?

The morality and ethics of MLMs are actually one of the things that concern me most. I've never doubted that it's possible for a few people to do OK from them - very well indeed in some cases - but at what cost to others?

but they're not just selling a genuine product. they're requiring people to redirect their grocery spending to LTW on teh expectation of future rewards via all the people recruited beneath them also redirecting their spending to LTW. They require people to RECRUIT. RECRUITING is one the classic signs of an MLM pyramid with products scheme.

it's so bloody obvious.

And fwiw we don't think MLMs should be legal, because of all the people hurt by them. But if you're okay with that, rock on with your bad self, hun x

After all, Bernie Madoff was pretty successful in many ways. Until he was caught.

Oh - and I'm aware that that was not an MLM.

www.lazymanandmoney.com/is-every-mlm-a-scam/

Miney how long will you give it?
It does come across as very attractive and too good to be true doesn't it. Welcome to the thread, I think you've been very honest and don't seem too invested in it, yet

Can you give us some prices of things so we can work out the numbers? I'm thinking that if you buy products that you know are overpriced but give you a high pv? Value, then the money you get back won't equal what you could have saved by buying elsewhere. But I'd need a price list to work that out

MM you've already admitted that they make a huge profit on their items and that's how they fund their "bonuses". The thing is alot of this profit will go to the directors, a small amount with go to the buyers and the rest keeps the business running. You've said they sell stuff around the RRP, this means that people are buying at or around the RRP, thus spending maybe 10-50% more on their shopping than usual (and what a mixed bag of shopping they get!). So people are essentially funding those bonus cheques by being talked into buying expensive items, many of which they don't really need (sound familiar?).

Have you actually added up how much you could've bought a typical LTW shop at another supermarket for? Include all the perks those supermarkets have too. Now realise how much out of pocket you're going to be. But wait! If you can get other people to be out of pocket (friends and family) then you start to be a bit less out of pocket with the chance to get a reasonable sized cheque (which after spending stupid amounts on stuff you could probably do with!).

That's where my morals kick in, knowing I'll make money because somewhere lots of others stand to lose it just doesn't sit well with me. Bit if that's how you choose to make your money well...

Hi Dolly

I'm 10 days in so far. I'm hoping to get my £200 bonus this month (positive mental attitude)...but it's not then a given every month. If my team shops this month but not next month - it can go back and forth.

But absolute worst case scenario (as I see it). I've paid £35 to join. I will buy a hamper for £165 (because I want to hit my PV) that I could probably buy for £140 elsewhere. So if it all goes to shit then i'm about 60 quid down. Based on the success of others I know, it was a risk I was willing to take. I'll do it for at least 2 months and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, it doesn't...but at this point I feel positive.

I'll see if I can post a picture - which is a price comparison that someone has done recently (on a select number of products that I suspect has been chosen deliberately) - but all the same, it shows that not all LTW products are more expensive.

OK, I can't get the picture to work. So I've copied and pasted the comparison - it looks a bit shit sorry, but the info is there:

Product Description LTW Tesco % Saving
85 scoop Daz £12.00 £13.00 -7.7
300ml Fabreze £1.99 £2.00 -0.5
Airwick 240ml £1.00 £1.20 -16.7
Mr Sheene 300ml £1.00 £1.30 -23.1
Harpic 750ml £1.00 £1.75 -42.9
Cling Film 25m £1.00 £1.40 -28.6
Vanish 450ml £3.50 £4.00 -12.5
Weetabix 24 £2.39 £1.99 20.1
Carnation Evaporated Milk £0.99 £1.20 -17.5
Basmati Rice 2kg £3.49 £8.45 -58.7
Pudding Rice 500g £0.89 £0.99 -10.1
Dove Cream Beauty 4 pack £2.20 £2.40 -8.3
Palmolive 4 Pack £1.20 £1.25 -4.0
Palmolive Hand Wash £0.90 £1.80 -50.0
Heinz Beans 4 Pack £2.00 £2.00 0.0
Heinz Single £0.70 £0.75 -6.7
Branded Kidney Beans 400g £0.59 £0.85 -30.6
Heinz Spaghetti 400g £0.70 £0.75 -6.7
Heinz Tomato Ketchup 700g £2.15 £2.19 -1.8
Branded Plum Tomatoes £0.39 £0.95 -58.9
Coco Pops 350g £2.19 £2.19 0.0
Amoy Soy Sauce 250ml £1.50 £1.95 -23.1
Rowse Honey £2.00 £2.59 -22.8
Hartleys Best Jam £1.49 £1.49 0.0
VegetableOil 5l £4.50 £5.00 -10.0
Sunflower Oil 2l £4.00 £2.19 82.6
Semolina 1.5kg £0.99 £2.97 -66.7
Cumin 100g £0.69 £1.70 -59.4
Garlic Powder 100g £0.69 £1.40 -50.7
Sarsons Vinegar £0.99 £1.40 -29.3
Oxo Chicken Cube 71g £1.00 £1.25 -20.0
Pot Noodles £0.99 £1.00 -1.0
Colgate 100ml £0.99 £1.00 -1.0
Sensodyne Daily Care 75ml £2.99 £3.50 -14.6
Listerine Total Care 250ml £1.79 £2.50 -28.4
Head and Shoulders Classic £2.49 £2.99 -16.7
Lynx Africa 150ml £2.79 £3.00 -7.0
Bloo Cistern Blocks x 2 £1.00 £1.80 -44.4
Robinson No Add Sugar Orange £1.20 £1.49 -19.5
Yazzoo Milk £0.95 £1.00 -5.0
Pringles £1.79 £2.48 -27.8
Nutella 200g £1.35 £1.50 -10.0
Fairy Original 500ml £1.10 £1.50 -26.7
Kitchen Roll x 4 £1.49 £2.60 -42.7
Marigold Gloves Medium £0.89 £2.60 -65.8
Sandwich Bags 50 £1.09 £1.30 -16.2
L'Oreal Magic Blur Cream £9.99 £12.99 -23.1

Tesco £117.50, LTW £93.01

MM you've already admitted that they make a huge profit on their items and that's how they fund their "bonuses"
What companies do you know whose main aim isn't to make a profit? Of course they're aiming to make profit, just like every other business. Have you looked at supermarket mark ups on the stuff they sell? Tesco and Asda aren't in the game for the warm fuzzy feeling it gives them!

The thing is alot of this profit will go to the directors, a small amount with go to the buyers and the rest keeps the business running - yes, as per 99% of all companies

You've said they sell stuff around the RRP, this means that people are buying at or around the RRP, thus spending maybe 10-50% more on their shopping than usual - I don't understand. The RRP is the recommended retail price - what products are 'supposed' to be sold for. Not many supermarkets offer 50% off the RRP of branded goods so i'm not sure how you can say that by buying at the RRP you'll be spending up to 50% more.

Thanks for that Miney
What's the pv for each of those does it say?

That's a good question! But it wasn't included in the comparison so I don't have it sorry (I briefly debated going through the list but it would take me hours to search for all of the PV for that list...a job for another day maybe).

I'm trying with a screen shot again, to give an indication of how it looks with the PV/£ price set out...

Ha that's really tiny on my phone so can't read the figures

Maybe we can do 10 items that everyone buys. I think you're as interested to see as well! I might see if I can find the wholesale prices, just for added excitement

Throwing, you asked who we would report suspected pyramid schemes to. I spent a few hours the other day reading about this. Following different acts and which office oversees what and what they changed into over the years. It got a bit complicated. I finally found a form to fill in to report these things to. I'm going to check with Eyes before I say what it is in case I'm barking up the wrong tree.

Yes good plan to check with eyes

I'm just wondering, call me stupid, but aren't you better off using clubcards etc and topcashback to do the same then you can shop around stores and get your loyalty points and cash Back?

We do all the above and it seems to work quite well.