@JinglingHellsBells
I have seen programmes a long time ago about MLMs and was once targeted by someone wanting me to join her team.
It wasn't for me, but if Tropic gives 25% on all sales, what's not to like? I'm not being 'difficult' with this, I'm just genuinely puzzled why it's not a decent job for maybe a SAHM who can make as much doing it as they might working part time in a store or as a TA or whatever.
On the face of it it looks like the answer to all our flexible-working prayers doesn’t it? If you don’t need the money and just like the discounts it’s not harming you directly. But most people can’t make a consistent success of it over time by sales alone and they may be relying on it. MLMs want you to tap into your network, so you need a decent sized network of people willing to regularly purchase high price point items. In terms of marketing beyond your network, it’s tricky, you’re competing with other network marketers, not just Tropic but other MLMs of similar type operating on social media, not to mention the online retailing world. A lot of people get beginners luck; their family wants to support them and it’s a novelty but often those same people just don’t need or can’t afford to purchase as regularly as you need to sell it. Some people, ie beauticians, tack MLM onto the side of their businesses and get better reach that way and are not relying on it for income.
MLM is in decline, it’s had a bit of a boost during Covid as the companies have been recruiting hard among those who have lost their jobs, but if the economists who study this industry are to be believed the trend is downwards, that’s already burning new recruits within a year of signing up when they are relying upon it. This is coupled with an increasing irritation with MLM from members of the public who are being plagued by MLMers right now and growing awareness of the predatory nature of them and some of the behaviours; harnessing charity through product sponsorship to increase volumes for example.
If the way MLM is pitched at people wasn’t so misleading it would be better. It would really help if MLMs were forced in the U.K. to publish proper income disclosures, but they don’t have to. People drop out believing they’re at fault. Many have spent a lot of money and bought a lot of product along the way. Sure, you’re not encouraged in an overt way to buy product but the distributor is usually their own best customer. Often people need to do pretty long hours to produce even modest financial success and they have no protection, holiday pay etc. They have all the expenses of doing business too (but none of the control). In order to give the selling more traction networks are grown by building a team as this is the only way to make money by taking a cut from people beneath you. This encouragement to build a team may not be obvious but it’s there. The way people are compensated for teams is also not obvious or always the same in all the companies but it’s definitely there too.
As an industry it exploits mainly women by speaking the language of empowerment whilst simultaneously keeping them in very low earning ‘jobs’ (in real terms).