Multi-level marketing/pyramid schemes and the people who fall for them

[hambeerlyingnreed]

A good thing about MLMs is that it's super easy to weed out the crazy MLM girls on dating apps though. Every single one has their career prominently listed as "entrepreneur", "business owner", "consultant", "independent distributor"

But it could also mean they are a Street Pharmacist...

 

[Nehelenia]

I’d rather just support an individual making their own scented candles or wax cubes instead of something like Scentsy, anyway. It’s almost like they’re trying to eat up as many small-time candle hobbyists as they can by letting women play “small business” without them having to do the actual work and while looking just like Karen’s very own big girl shop to anyone who doesn’t know better.

 

[Education Lottery]

I’d rather just support an individual making their own scented candles or wax cubes instead of something like Scentsy, anyway. It’s almost like they’re trying to eat up as many small-time candle hobbyists as they can by letting women play “small business” without them having to do the actual work and while looking just like Karen’s very own big girl shop to anyone who doesn’t know better.

Exactly. I've noticed some of these kits cost close to the same amount as, if not a bit higher than, what it would cost to set up a scent-related business. A lot of those places will sell you starter kits, and there's lots of tutorials. I think the people see this and, if they had a frustration point during their learning process, or get intimidated by the idea of selling their own product, dive right into this. The homemade stuff, when done right (and not hard to do) is usually on par or superior with most of this stuff, so it's pretty sad.

It's just like when I knew people who made their own jewelry (very nice looking, too), but went to sell MLM jewelries because they found it less time consuming. That in itself is understandable, but even wholesaling and reselling could be potentially much more profitable.

 

[snuffleupagus]

Exactly. I've noticed some of these kits cost close to the same amount as, if not a bit higher than, what it would cost to set up a scent-related business. A lot of those places will sell you starter kits, and there's lots of tutorials. I think the people see this and, if they had a frustration point during their learning process, or get intimidated by the idea of selling their own product, dive right into this. The homemade stuff, when done right (and not hard to do) is usually on par or superior with most of this stuff, so it's pretty sad.

It's just like when I knew people who made their own jewelry (very nice looking, too), but went to sell MLM jewelries because they found it less time consuming. That in itself is understandable, but even wholesaling and reselling could be potentially much more profitable.

I have a friend that makes and sells candles at craft expos and such. She’s been doing it for 6-7 years and at first was making pretty decent money, not enough to quit her day job but it was extra money to help pay off student loan debt.

Now, the cost of supplies has more than doubled. She had to up the price of her candles to compensate to $8 each or 4 for $25 but her sales have tanked. She barely covers her vendor fees and is talking about giving it up. It’s a bummer, they’re great candles.

 

[Cosmos]

 

[MenuSprite]

I was at a farmer's market today where a lady was trying to pass off doterra essential oils as a homemade artisan stand. All around her were people who actually made their own products. Her stand never failed to mention the doterra brand. Along with the oils, there were lotions and soaps all labeled something along the line of, "DOTERRA lavender". For artisan soaps, they were so much more expensive than usual. It made me so disappointed to see MLM at what was supposed to be a local event.

 

[toilet_rainbow]

I’d rather just support an individual making their own scented candles or wax cubes instead of something like Scentsy, anyway. It’s almost like they’re trying to eat up as many small-time candle hobbyists as they can by letting women play “small business” without them having to do the actual work and while looking just like Karen’s very own big girl shop to anyone who doesn’t know better.

There are so many excellent vendor wax companies around. A lot of them will dupe popular perfumes and other scents or combos that don't normally come in mainstream releases, which is a nice bonus.

I was at a farmer's market today where a lady was trying to pass off doterra essential oils as a homemade artisan stand. All around her were people who actually made their own products. Her stand never failed to mention the doterra brand. Along with the oils, there were lotions and soaps all labeled something along the line of, "DOTERRA lavender". For artisan soaps, they were so much more expensive than usual. It made me so disappointed to see MLM at what was supposed to be a local event.

I've seen MLM stands at craft fairs as well. The mind boggles. Is it justified as a "small business" or something?

When I was a kid there was a Mary Kay lady that was at every school event. She'd even have gift baskets for silent auctions.

 

[Coccxys]

I've seen MLM stands at craft fairs as well. The mind boggles. Is it justified as a "small business" or something?

In the mindes of the suckers who fall for it, yes. They fall for it because of the whole package/lifestyle these MLMs shill to them. It's not just the money it's being your own boss running an independent small business, it makes you an entrepreneur, someone who has worked hard to build what they have. It's all bullshit of course but to people who have achieved jack shit in life so far it's a good sales pitch.

 

[Nehelenia]

#thisisapyramidscheme

(Edit: Oh yeah, the full skit is also great (though I’m not familiar with the guy overall), too. It’s basically one big thrashing of MLMs.)

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

When I had a memory today that referred to someone who unfriended me some time ago, I clicked on the person's profile to see what they were up to these days. In doing so, I found a new (to me) MLM: Epicure aka Epicure Selections. This one appears to be strictly based in Canada.

At first glance, it seemed like a food-related MLM, but this company apparently has body and home care aspects, too. (I guess barbecue sauce could be used as cheap makeup or house paint in a pinch )

This page (archive) highlights some of the essential information about the company and the pros and cons for those interested in being part of it.

Once again, a mom who feels the need to help support the family and supplement the household income turns to a MLM to do so.

 

[Cosmos]

Couldn't agree more. Preying on vulnerable people so you can hawk your shitty overpriced products is disgusting. Also, I really hope that nobody has stopped taking the prescribed psychiatric medications that actually help them in favor of essential oils...

 

[Troutsmacked]

I used to work at the headquarters of Pre-Paid Legal (now known as LegalShield) that was a shameless pyramid scheme where people bought in to market the service, and marketed their "service" to other people, as well as marketing the ability to buy in and market themselves. It was your stereotypical ponzi scheme through and through, where you were shown testimonial videos of some rich guy driving a $100,000 sports car with a mansion on an island somewhere and talking about how it was all thanks to PPL.

The thing was...PPL didn't actually do anything for you. Their whole selling point was that they were there for the "middle class American", the people who aren't poor enough to qualify for legal aid when they get into legal trouble but not wealthy enough to feasibly afford their own attorney. They would also tell you how, through their service, you could get FREE CONSULTATIONS! That was a big thing they repeated over and over again. In reality, most, if not all of the legal firms they deal with give free consultations to anyone who makes an appointment with them, and you still had to pay a retainer and pay out of pocket for virtually everything, just like you would if you just called the firm directly. Essentially, your $26 was paying for the convenience of someone at our office selecting a lawyer for you at random from a pool who agreed to participate in the PPL scam, rather than you having to look through google yourself and find a lawyer.

It was just a brazen shameless scam I'm amazed they're still in business after 4.5 decades. I was always amazed at the sheer number of people who got suckered into it too. The saddest cases were the people who had been paying their $26 a month since the 70s when PPL began, they paid in for decades and now they finally needed legal help and would call in and get their lawyer assigned only to find out that they would have to pay a $2000 retainer anyway and that all that monthly money they'd paid for the last 30 years was just money for Harland Stonecipher's new speedboat.

 

[AlmightyMagichan]

This topic reminded me of a co-worker I had about 6 months ago. He was a nice guy and he was getting involved with Amway. He took me to one of their meetings, and long story short I said I wasn't interested. Got a big box of free samples though which was neat.

The other day I texted him to see how he was doing and if he's still involved with Amway. He definitely is because as soon as I asked about it, it was like I was talking to some kind of computer program. It was kind of creepy, suddenly his grammar, vocabulary and even punctuation changed completely. Gave me somewhat vague answers and ended the whole conversation, probably because he knows I'm not a potential recruit.

I feel kind of bad for the guy, he must be in pretty deep by now.

 

[Haltmann]

I don't know anyone who sells LuLaRoe (thankfully) but I found this subreddit and I never knew the clothes they sell are so ugly. It seems like a joke to try to get women to dress as stupidly as possible and still claim they are being fashionable.

Spoiler: Examples

A lot of them are obsessed with "pattern mixing" which makes the outfit not only way too busy but they never match either.

Supposed to be leggings and not PJs...

Imagine trying to sell this shit at your wedding. "Best day of my life!" That's gonna age well.

And finally, a lot of the dresses/tops they are trying to sell have a defect in the sleeves where they are asymmetrical/ill-fitting, but they try to sell them anyway.

It's hard to tell from the pictures sometimes but there's more photos in there.

 

[Caralho]

A friend of mine that I know from college got into MLM at some point and eventually tried to drag me in as well.
The company was called Amway, I remember it pretty well as the experience I got from it was sort of uncomfortable.

At some point this friend of mine called me and asked me if I wanted to earn some extra cash and start a small business.
I said yes and he asked me to come over the next Thursday evening for a presentation at his place from someone who runs a successful business himself.
Keep in mind, the whole concept of an MLM was completely unknown to me so I didn't even know what to expect.
I don't think those things are as big here as in the US.

Fast-forward, I arrive at his house around 19:30 as the presentations were going to start in about half an hour.
The (self-)proclaimed successful businessman arrived in his cheap suit and rather mediocre car at best and soon after that started his presentation.
He first started talking about how working for someone else is a bad thing because you are working for someone else's dreams and how nothing is certain.


After talking for 15 minutes straight about the evil boogeyman called ''work'' he started to talk about this business called Amway (mind you, this name was never dropped prior to that) and how great it really is.
Then he finally represented this whole MLM concept to the group about recruiting and all that.
Half of the presentation was basically talking about the pros of being financially independent, being able to work at home and the evils of working for someone's dreams.

The funny thing is, he almost got me convinced since it sure seemed plausible to work.
But upon hearing that the starter kit would cost me a 100 bucks (c'mon, I was a student) I backed off right instantly. Later on I found out that this whole thing is called MLM and is pretty much a scam.

That friend of mine quit his MLM career a few months after that, saying that it wasn't for him. Which is good to hear, as he got more moody with every rejection he got.

 

[Pina Colada]

I narrowly avoided a summer "job" at Cutco while I was taking summer courses last May. The e-mail offer was a red flag at the get-go, providing me with only a street address and no company name. Had I not remembered Chris's stint (upon seeing Vector Marketing on the glass door) and noped out of the interview, I would have had about a few hundred less for textbooks or a fun night out in town.

Thankfully, I got a better job at an on-campus restaurant.

 

[neverendingmidi]

A friend of mine that I know from college got into MLM at some point and eventually tried to drag me in as well.
The company was called Amway, I remember it pretty well as the experience I got from it was sort of uncomfortable.

At some point this friend of mine called me and asked me if I wanted to earn some extra cash and start a small business.
I said yes and he asked me to come over the next Thursday evening for a presentation at his place from someone who runs a successful business himself.
Keep in mind, the whole concept of an MLM was completely unknown to me so I didn't even know what to expect.
I don't think those things are as big here as in the US.

Fast-forward, I arrive at his house around 19:30 as the presentations were going to start in about half an hour.
The (self-)proclaimed successful businessman arrived in his cheap suit and rather mediocre car at best and soon after that started his presentation.
He first started talking about how working for someone else is a bad thing because you are working for someone else's dreams and how nothing is certain.


After talking for 15 minutes straight about the evil boogeyman called ''work'' he started to talk about this business called Amway (mind you, this name was never dropped prior to that) and how great it really is.
Then he finally represented this whole MLM concept to the group about recruiting and all that.
Half of the presentation was basically talking about the pros of being financially independent, being able to work at home and the evils of working for someone's dreams.

The funny thing is, he almost got me convinced since it sure seemed plausible to work.
But upon hearing that the starter kit would cost me a 100 bucks (c'mon, I was a student) I backed off right instantly. Later on I found out that this whole thing is called MLM and is pretty much a scam.

That friend of mine quit his MLM career a few months after that, saying that it wasn't for him. Which is good to hear, as he got more moody with every rejection he got.

Amway is one of the old ones. It isn’t seen much in the US anymore after they lost a class-action that labelled them an illegal pyramid scheme. Which meant they packed up and started the same shit in other countries.

 

[Maxliam]

Several years back my sister was selling these finger nail shrink wrap sticker things that smacked of a mlm.

View attachment 477630 The house across the street from us is a rental and we get new neighbors every few years (it sucks). It recently became rented again and the person who lives there has a van with LuLaRoe stickers all over it and "Ask me about my fantastic deals" on the side. I told my wife "I don't know those people, but if they introduce themselves to you and invite you to a clothes party or ask you to look at their selection, say no". She didn't understand the shadiness of the MLM scumbags all around us, but since I've told her about it, she enjoys searching /r/antiMLM.

It's crazy to see the reach of these scams. Several people on my friends list on Facebook (a pharmacist, a paralegal, ect) have tupperware and makuep parties at their houses trying to sell this shit. How can you be so smart and still fall for this garbage?

Smart people can believe in dumb things because they can rationalize it.

Does anyone know what the obsession with "toxins" in the woo crowd is? I remember being half-drunk and watching infomercials at 2AM (I have one of those schedules) and hearing some guy talk about an enemic that purges (what else) "toxins" from the body. Every time I run into the essential oils/organic food/natural living/woo crowd, that word always crops up.

It's a boogeyman in the antithetical way "all natural" is used to make something sound good.

People want to believe there is one simple cause of their health problems and if you remove it you'll be healthy and all your troubles will go away.

Also this. People want a quick solution to their problems.

 

[Muttnik]

Sorry to be that guy that posts anime shit but this actually sums up the whole process pretty nicely.

 

[Double Dee]

I'm gonna add Success by Health as a (possible) MLM, which is based around health/wellness stuff, and coffee/tea.

Spoiler: Possible Powerlevels

I know a girl who dropped out of college (and a college basketball career) to sell SBH crap, and her FB is a mix of inspirational quotes, her working out (which is still pretty cool), and peddling her stuff with how well it 'works' for her. And her mom does this shit too, apparently.

I may bless the thread with some of her hawking later, too lazy to get caps now.

Also had 2 other girls who were selling ItWorks! and Perfectly Posh, respectively, but they're sparse about it- the latter only puts up a post on her stuff once every few weeks tops.