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MLMs/ Network Marketing: Thread 45

999 replies

Spongebobette · 05/12/2018 12:24

This is the 45th thread in a long series about the dangers of network marketing/ MLMs such as Forever Living, Ariix, NuSkin, Arbonne, Younique, Valentus, TS Life, Monat, Stella and Dot, Tropic, various slimroast/weight loss coffee MLMs and MANY MANY more!
Posts here will give examples of the lies told by 'top bots' who portray luxury lifestyles in order to lure in new victims and of the other techniques and brainwashing used by MLMs.
The reality is that 97% of people who join an MLM end up LOSING money. Always bear that in mind when considering paying money to join!

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Thread gallery
21
Hunbot · 07/12/2018 12:19

It's all kicking off in Lularoe land. The stidhams are in court to have their assetts seized for 34 million as he threatened to go to the bahamas, the lowly bots are leaving in droves and the established bots are going la la la we can't hear you. Fascinating stuff

9dartfinish2nd · 07/12/2018 12:48

It's disturbing to say the least, they have drank the kool aid so much they refuse to see the implosion happening right in front of thier very eyes.

A lot of people now left with serious tax implications with the IRS over in the States. The IRS make HMRC look like choirboys.

Whiterangey · 07/12/2018 12:59

I've been following lularoe since the beginning after a friend became a bot. Friend left ages ago and is now very anti-llr. The devastation that company has caused is on a scale I've not seen before. Women losing their homes because of it, I believe there may have even been a suicide due to financial ruin.

I hope the owners of LLR go down in flames.

Norma27 · 07/12/2018 14:41

What is really supposed to be the main focus of that picture yawn? You made sure you got the whole handbag in and that we could see what make it was.
Such vile product placement really gets on my tits!

ArbunneHun · 07/12/2018 16:12

Anyone worked out where Wig’s latest motivational post (‘love yourself’) was copied from?

It’s definitely a copy & paste job because it’s comprehensible and literate.

cozietoesie · 07/12/2018 16:28

Lots of candidates. 🙂

BSintolerant · 07/12/2018 17:37

Naked, Arbunne and Banging 😂🤣😂

My little business? My arse! Or should that be "my little arse" ... maybe not.

fitgirl26 · 07/12/2018 20:53

daringtolivefully.com/fall-in-love-with-yourself

Wig's latest copy'n'paste source. It makes me laugh that her acolytes believe she writes this stuff when they can also see her usual barely literate posts...

Whiterangey · 07/12/2018 21:31

Bitcoin is continuing it's fall. It will be interesting to see if it causes a drop in the amount of Crypto Ponzi's.

SSDGM · 07/12/2018 22:15

Well, even the Admin of the MLM Lies Page who allows one cryptoscam post to sneak through for the lulz every week has said he hasn’t had one this week, probably because it’s on it’s arsebones!

worcestersauce29 · 07/12/2018 22:55

This bothers me, apologies for the source

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6470639/Cash-strapped-mum-turns-10-investment-1m-company.html

SSDGM · 07/12/2018 23:15

She’s full of shit. It’s “on track” for £1m. And it’s £1m turnover between a team of 400. Not profit. £2500 each. Of which they will earn a maximum of 30%.

The “luxury holiday” was 3 years ago. Plus her set up in a church hall doesn’t look like a £1m business.

Also: Daily Fail.

Spongebobette · 08/12/2018 08:27

Also: hoping to get on the property ladder

This is a puff piece, surely Bodyshop paid for this??

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Norma27 · 08/12/2018 08:38

I thought that about hoping to get on property later. If I was raking in £1m per year there would be no hope about it!

ClosdesMouches · 08/12/2018 08:45

Update on my former friends who are bots.

Original FL bot who had been a very good friend for 20 years before she signed up has quit. I posted my concerns at least two years ago on one of the very early MLM threads under my old account, when she left a secure, well paid job to become a bot.

Tropic is currently the latest thing in my area - two friends have signed up. I now know four people in our small village who are Tropic bots - market here is completely saturated. I don't know much about Tropic but assume it's simlar to the others given the posts I'm seeing from them all on FB.
JP. One friend is following a hun who has been in Vegas this week, I think she's close to joining.

ClosdesMouches · 08/12/2018 09:01

Just read that DM article. Blatant advertising, shameful.

ClosdesMouches · 08/12/2018 11:50

I've been down a huge rabbit hole this morning!

My friend who left FL at some point unknown during this year, her upline's company is in liquidation.
I can't get much information as I can't see any recent posts on either her personal FB page or her 'business' page. But it's on Companies House website and the business appears to have been in trouble for almost two years.
I've just been reading the previous thread and I don't think it's the same person who is being discussed on there.
I feel sorry for her.

Spongebobette · 08/12/2018 12:16

It's awful when you see that, @ClosdesMouches.

When you are aware of all the fakery and 'attraction marketing' that goes on, and you know someone involved in Forever Living, it's like watching a car crash in slow motion.

I came across these threads a couple of years ago when a friend signed up to Forever Living . She changed overnight, her FB was full of her 'business in a box', her 'amazing, inspirational upline', lots of posts about how she was going to 'sack the boss' have 'residual income' and earn 'incentives'. Weird posts of her in Costa with her laptop saying 'and they call this work!' Hashtags aplenty.

I was so taken aback by all this, I had no idea about network marketing at all at that point, so I googled Forever Living and came across these threads. I was horrified when I found out that she was unlikely to be earning any money - she's a mum with 2 small kids and was on mat leave. I know she'd have struggled to get the £200 to buy the start up kit.

Then she began to host 'business presentations' at friends' houses (there were usually about 3 people there) and she had all these products lines up which I knew she'd have had to buy herself. Plus leaflets, a Forever Living branded tablecloth, business cards etc etc

Then she posted photos of 'Success Days' (this was in 2015 when the venues were full of cheering bots). They were quite a distance from where she lives so I knew it would have cost her quite a lot to attend, apart from the actual ticket price.

Eventually I messaged her and asked, very gently, how her business was doing and if she was keeping track of expenses etc. I didn't even mention what I'd found out on here or on other sites. She blocked me, instantly!! I was stunned. Then I realised she's been brainwashed by her upline to cut contact with anyone 'negative' or 'unsupportive'.

It was very sad, because the person I knew before she became botted would happily have had a conversation on any topic.

Anyway, a few months ago she deleted her FB. I assume she's no longer in the cult. I have no idea if she went on plunging money into her 'business' and if she was left with debt.

The frustrating thing is, there was absolutely nothing I could do to help her. She shut me down at the first enquiry about income/ profit.

Now I am watching a young mum, a new recruit of Yawn's, go through the same thing; lots of 'positive mindset' 'lose the negative people in your life' posts.... it won't end well for her I'm afraid, it's just a question of how long it will take her to realise she's been conned.

OP posts:
Spongebobette · 08/12/2018 12:39

Here's a bit of interesting info (can you tell I am waiting in for a delivery?)

Last year Forever Living made money from business owners in the following ways:

330k profit from 'events'
550k profit from 'literature'
46k from 'drinks machines/ room hire'

so when you see bots crowing about what a wonderful, generous company they 'work alongside', bear in mind that they are paying their own money to attend events and buy magazines etc which boosts FL profits.

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OhMyGodTheyKilledKenny · 08/12/2018 13:15

Wow those figures are Shock

How on earth can bots think it's OK to pay their company for training rather than be paid to attend training?
How can they think it's OK to not only give up their time for free but to actually pay their company to attend an event that is little more than whooping at "colleagues"?

ClosdesMouches · 08/12/2018 13:17

It is awful, sponge.
I've just checked my friend's FB and she appears to have left at the end of last year. I had known nothing about MLM until she started to pressure me into buying aloe and telling me that she had a business opportunity that would 'be great for me'.
I was somewhat suspicious right from the start and did some research (thank goodness for the internet huh? 15 years ago I wouldn't have been able to research it as I have done!).
Told her I wasn't interested and stopped seeing her.
We're still FB friends but haven't had any direct contact for a couple of years now. I'd like to be friends with her again but I fear that she may be selling Tropic now .
As for her upline, I don't know if she is still with FL. I wonder how much personal debt she has, in addition to the ltd company debt.
It's awful - they both had good, secure, well paying jobs previously.

ClosdesMouches · 08/12/2018 13:17

well paid, not well paying!

ClosdesMouches · 08/12/2018 13:18

Those figures!

BellsAreRinging1 · 08/12/2018 13:19

What about from product sales?? These are huge figures which every bit needs to be aware of!

FranceTeam · 08/12/2018 13:59

with regards to the forever living “residual income” claims, does anyone know how they claim it actually works? Surely once the person dies, their downlines migrate over to someone else ?