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

[Do You Realize]

The best LLR story I read was at some local church/craft sale apparently like 6 LLR salespeople signed up to sell, and even better it was over a holiday weekend (because that’s your #1 agenda on a three-day weekend), so there were actual pictures of people sitting around with huge bins and racks of inventory selling to nobody.

Oh which reminds me! Your upline hags at LLR strongly encouraged you to get a mannequin and dress it like you had a ‘real store’ in your home, putting a dress, coat, scarf etc (all LLR of course) over it and “sell the look” if you could. You can imagine that 99% of these women had absolutely no even rudimentary fashion design/merchandising sense. The lulz were awesome and nobody could figure out why things weren’t selling. Some people were demanding that the whole look had to go at once (they were encouraged, again, to do this) and no sale. They VERY strongly encouraged you to buy your own EZ-up, display racks from U-Line I guess and tons of hangers. These women talked about how it took 90 minutes to set up just a sale booth for a sale that took in no comers. I really want DeAnna and her entire family to eat it.

Essential oils comment: HORRIFYING. Uncut peppermint oil is so highly toxic it is unbelievable, and DoTerra and Young Living both insist it’s safe for use on babies. BTW the DoTerra and Young Living bitchfight is a story amongst itself. The founder of YoungLiving died last year of some undisclosed internal problem and a stroke, which I find very interesting.

A lot of these companies break off fractiously from others and try to harvest top sellers from each other.

Fun stuff: BeautiControl (An MLM) was started in the 60s by a former Mary Kay representative. MK sued, they settled in 1969. BeautiControl remained in business under different ownerships until 2018 (interestingly the same year Jamberry abruptly folded).

An interesting rabbit hole to dive into for MK is the PinkTruth website which was originally started by a MK rep. While I do like some of MK’s products, their history of having discharged a high-producing “entrepreneur” because she couldn’t keep her numbers up because she had FUCKING BREAST CANCER AND WAS BUSY PRIORITIZING UNDERGOING TREATMENT OR SOMETHING isn’t really “empowering women.”

 

[MY 405]

For a while when Lularoe was something women near me were getting into. I remember them getting all frustrated because they got shipped sizes that didn't fit anyone and patterns nobody wanted to buy and they just didn't understand why they couldn't choose what they got and "oh I'll never sell these, doesn't Lularoe want to make money?"

Well of course they do. That's why they made $5000 off you.

Lularoe yard sales were a thing for a bit too. Selling it all off at a loss to either try and make back a bit and get out, or to afford another batch of the stuff, hopefully with something sellable this time.

This is just horrifying. Five grand for a "blind box" of crap clothing made of pre-damaged fabric. Every time we drive by that insipid warehouse I want to set it on fire. No one can afford this to happen to them, and yet, they did it to theirselves. I've been sewing for decades, leggings probably have two main seams, a waistband and then you hem the cuffs and I've seen brand new LLR clothing with huge gaps in the seam line where the stitcher missed joining the fabric. That's what we call a "factory second" and you can pick them up for $2 in the garment district and fix the hole by hand in ten minutes. Nope, LLR ships that shit out to some poor bitch and charges her $50 for it. I remember seeing ebay auctions for this crap and it looked like they were auctioning off Picassos. Women were fighting to the death for "flavor of the month in size that fits". Meanwhile, LLR is telling their reps, 'You're too fat, go get a gastric bypass" while they were selling leggings in sizes that would cover a Clydesdale's ass. They can't give this shit away now.

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

This is just horrifying. Five grand for a "blind box" of crap clothing made of pre-damaged fabric. Every time we drive by that insipid warehouse I want to set it on fire. No one can afford this to happen to them, and yet, they did it to theirselves. I've been sewing for decades, leggings probably have two main seams, a waistband and then you hem the cuffs and I've seen brand new LLR clothing with huge gaps in the seam line where the stitcher missed joining the fabric. That's what we call a "factory second" and you can pick them up for $2 in the garment district and fix the hole by hand in ten minutes. Nope, LLR ships that shit out to some poor bitch and charges her $50 for it. I remember seeing ebay auctions for this crap and it looked like they were auctioning off Picassos. Women were fighting to the death for "flavor of the month in size that fits". Meanwhile, LLR is telling their reps, 'You're too fat, go get a gastric bypass" while they were selling leggings in sizes that would cover a Clydesdale's ass. They can't give this shit away now.

So did something happen to LLR? I saw a BI article from the beginning of this year about them "rebooting" (whatever the fuck that means in MLM terms) but did something happen recently to tank the value of their junk?

The closest I've ever gotten to an MLM is stacking MonAvie (or however you capitalize that) boxes when I worked for UPS. I noticed them because they were all identical- same weight, size, labeling, everything, and they tended to come in bunches of 5 to a dozen or so. When I asked one of my co-workers what it was, the response I got was "some overpriced juice shit." One of the bottles broke once, and I remember noticing the texture- it was halfway between juice and juice concentrate, so it had a strong smell and was incredibly sticky.

 

[MY 405]

So did something happen to LLR? I saw a BI article from the beginning of this year about them "rebooting" (whatever the fuck that means in MLM terms) but did something happen recently to tank the value of their junk?

The closest I've ever gotten to an MLM is stacking MonAvie (or however you capitalize that) boxes when I worked for UPS. I noticed them because they were all identical- same weight, size, labeling, everything, and they tended to come in bunches of 5 to a dozen or so. When I asked one of my co-workers what it was, the response I got was "some overpriced juice shit." One of the bottles broke once, and I remember noticing the texture- it was halfway between juice and juice concentrate, so it had a strong smell and was incredibly sticky.

They have been indicted on a RICO violation, they are being sued by individual "representatives" (read: salespeople) who have never received refunds for their shoddy merch., they are being sued for over $33,000.000 by the manufacturing company for never paying them and various other employees ... and yet somehow they are STILL in business! Yesterday they introduced a new hoodie and also were introduced to a new lawsuit. (Following the downfall of LLR is sort of the household hobby here). Their clothing is "buttery soft" because the fabric (lycra-based) is repeatedly run throught high-heat rollers that break down the structure and elasticity of the fabric before it is even made into garments. (Think of your favorite old pair of jeans. You know the parts that about to tear because you've worn them to death the denim is super soft but also super fragile? THAT'S what LLR is doing to their bulk fabric even before it is cut and sewn). In addition, you are expected to "buy in" at a minimum of five grand, but if you want their leggins (their top seller) you have to add another 2 grand to your order to receive them. They encourage you to put this on your credit cards and take out home mortgages to "start your business". The catch? You know which styles you're getting but have no idea what colors, patterns, or sizes, many of which are so god-awful other LLR reps couldn't unload them on each other. These things are the Beanie Babies of leggings. Two years ago you couldn't get a hold of them, now you can't unload them. I have NO idea how they're still in business. They dismissed a top seller when she had to cut back because she developed breast cancer.

I don't know about the juice you had to deal with, but it sounds disgusting. I'm so sorry.

 

[drtoboggan]

I was on Facebook one day and a self-described MLM lawyer was pushing an article he wrote. Being the asshole I am, I said, "so he's a lawyer for pyramid schemes? Good to know."

It hasn't shown up in my Newsfeed since.

 

[snuffleupagus]

Just looked into this and apparently it is indeed an MLM. When I was a kid my grandma sold AIM (American Image Marketing) goods. Mostly heath food and vitamin products. I'm pretty sure I drank enough of this stuff as a kid to fill a swimming pool:
View attachment 892872
Haven't died yet though. It's some sort of seaweed powder you mix with whatever. For a while they changed the name to "BarleyLIFE" for some reason but now it looks like they changed it back. Looking into it, it's almost $50 a jar.

Holy shit that is a blast from my past, I had no clue that was an MLM product, though it explains a lot.

Spoiler: BG, church, and cancer

I went to this really insane church in my teens, kind of a precursor to mega churches before they really became a thing. Apostolic Pentecostal nutjobs all around to be honest, but the pastor really pushed this stuff as a life saving elixir. It got really fucking dark too, a young church member was going through treatment for leukemia and the first round failed. I’m not sure of the exact hows and whys of the situation, but she opted for that Barley Green shit and faith healing in lieu of a second round of chemo.

Every person in church was judged if they did not show up to their myriad of services with a mixing cup of Barley Green in hand. They’d set up a table outside of the sermon hall with plastic communion shot glasses of Barley Green for everyone to take before going in for service. It was just....nuts. Knowing that this is an MLM product suddenly clarifies so many of my nagging questions about why we were pushed so hard to buy the product. I bet the pastors wife was making money hand over fist.

Sad note, Barley green and prayer/faith does not cure cancer, the young woman died after a grueling battle and it was heartbreaking to watch.

Spoiler: “Tupperware Craziness”

As for Tupperware, my crazy MIL that hoarded Avon glass for her kids (still love that shit) has four huge cabinets of actual Tupperware in her kitchen. I’m talking full product line from the 60s to the 90s. She even has their all white set, which I think she got from her mother who purchased it when Tupperware was a fledgling outfit. On one of my rare visits, I pulled out some of her Tupperware to put away leftovers, because you know, it’s fucking Tupperware. She came unglued on me. She never used it because she doesn’t want to lose pieces or have them stained (admittedly it was a tomato based food). She gave me OLD MARGARINE TUBS to put away the leftovers. She has thousands of dollars in hoarded Tupperware and uses washed out food containers for leftover storage. I just....hoarders are fucking crazy. I told Mr Snuffleupagus that I call dibs on a set when she kicks the barrel and I’m going to store tomato based foods in it with abandon.

 

[MY 405]

Holy shit that is a blast from my past, I had no clue that was an MLM product, though it explains a lot.

Spoiler: BG, church, and cancer

I went to this really insane church in my teens, kind of a precursor to mega churches before they really became a thing. Apostolic Pentecostal nutjobs all around to be honest, but the pastor really pushed this stuff as a life saving elixir. It got really fucking dark too, a young church member was going through treatment for leukemia and the first round failed. I’m not sure of the exact hows and whys of the situation, but she opted for that Barley Green shit and faith healing in lieu of a second round of chemo.

Every person in church was judged if they did not show up to their myriad of services with a mixing cup of Barley Green in hand. They’d set up a table outside of the sermon hall with plastic communion shot glasses of Barley Green for everyone to take before going in for service. It was just....nuts. Knowing that this is an MLM product suddenly clarifies so many of my nagging questions about why we were pushed so hard to buy the product. I bet the pastors wife was making money hand over fist.

Sad note, Barley green and prayer/faith does not cure cancer, the young woman died after a grueling battle and it was heartbreaking to watch.

Spoiler: “Tupperware Craziness”

As for Tupperware, my crazy MIL that hoarded Avon glass for her kids (still love that shit) has four huge cabinets of actual Tupperware in her kitchen. I’m talking full product line from the 60s to the 90s. She even has their all white set, which I think she got from her mother who purchased it when Tupperware was a fledgling outfit. On one of my rare visits, I pulled out some of her Tupperware to put away leftovers, because you know, it’s fucking Tupperware. She came unglued on me. She never used it because she doesn’t want to lose pieces or have them stained (admittedly it was a tomato based food). She gave me OLD MARGARINE TUBS to put away the leftovers. She has thousands of dollars in hoarded Tupperware and uses washed out food containers for leftover storage. I just....hoarders are fucking crazy. I told Mr Snuffleupagus that I call dibs on a set when she kicks the barrel and I’m going to store tomato based foods in it with abandon.

Da-Ta-DAAAAAA Here comes Boomer Board Mom with some answers. First: I am, this year, a 16-year cancer survivor, I did this by going to doctors and having surgery and not drinking any damn green algae juice. In the early 90s a friend of mine got semi-sucked in to the 'barley.seaweed juice' brigade, when she wasn't geting hosed on that sort of shit, she had been a county sheriff and so had her husband. He and I were the ones who said "fuck this shit" when she tried to foist it on us and we went out to the local steakhouse. They weren't trying to get her to sell it, but boy did that jerkoff show up all the time to up sell her. Husband may have probably, finally run him off the property or had some "friends" drop by to investigate him. Either way he simply vanished from our lives one day.

I have the answer to MIL weird Tupperware weirdness. If she is even remotely the age of my parents (I lost my mom in January at the age of 91) ... it's this: They were children during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. They were Teenagers during WW II -- my mom was an enemy aircraft spotter when she was 15. Can you fucking image asking anyone who's currently 15 to play "Call of Duty" for real?! They had NO childhoods, they were taught to conserve everything. Plastic was the late 40s Wonder Material and they LOVED it. They also saved left overs until they literally died (my mom) because they were taught to, and oh lord yes, I cleared out 8 million Country Crock margarine tubs, plastic take home containers, ad infintum tiny containers because "you can use that again". Look, I don't get it either, and yet, I do. Tupperware was the king of "food storage" plastic bullshit and therefore, for some damn reason and I do and don't understand, you have to "keep it nice" because "people" might drop by. Yeah, it's fucking nuts, but I do understand it, but it's still fucking nuts. That having been said, if MIL has that 70s drink pitcher with the push button lock lid and those accompanying "office looking" molded coffee cups in ANY of those "harvest gold", "burnt burgandy" etc. colors, I want that shit like fury. It's like it's made out of plastic and wood or something. Believe me, you haven't lived until you've visited the Tupperware World HQ "Confidence Center" in Orlando, that place is like a horror/nostalgia dark ride of my childhood.

Thank you all for letting me vent. Being a 70s kid was weird-o-rama. (the part where we went to the Moon a lot was awesome though)

 

[Dr. Dingo DVM]

I work at a small retail chain across the street from a big box store. Naturally MLMers lurk around the big box store waiting to pitch their bullshit to anyone who would listen. When they inevitably get kicked out for soliciting they come across the street to my store and bug people there. I've kicked out the same Makeover Essentials guy twice, one Amway guy, and another lady I didn't catch what she was selling.

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

They have been indicted on a RICO violation, they are being sued by individual "representatives" (read: salespeople) who have never received refunds for their shoddy merch., they are being sued for over $33,000.000 by the manufacturing company for never paying them and various other employees ... and yet somehow they are STILL in business! Yesterday they introduced a new hoodie and also were introduced to a new lawsuit. (Following the downfall of LLR is sort of the household hobby here). Their clothing is "buttery soft" because the fabric (lycra-based) is repeatedly run throught high-heat rollers that break down the structure and elasticity of the fabric before it is even made into garments. (Think of your favorite old pair of jeans. You know the parts that about to tear because you've worn them to death the denim is super soft but also super fragile? THAT'S what LLR is doing to their bulk fabric even before it is cut and sewn). In addition, you are expected to "buy in" at a minimum of five grand, but if you want their leggins (their top seller) you have to add another 2 grand to your order to receive them. They encourage you to put this on your credit cards and take out home mortgages to "start your business". The catch? You know which styles you're getting but have no idea what colors, patterns, or sizes, many of which are so god-awful other LLR reps couldn't unload them on each other. These things are the Beanie Babies of leggings. Two years ago you couldn't get a hold of them, now you can't unload them. I have NO idea how they're still in business. They dismissed a top seller when she had to cut back because she developed breast cancer.

$33m isn't a hell of a lot of money for a business that must attract whales like an all-you-can-eat plankton buffet. In terms of gross, that's 6,600 starter kits without the upgrade, and that's assuming LLR hasn't been spending the years leveraging what I can only assume are pretty impressive margins into investments, mutual funds, or other using-money-to-make-money instruments. And typically losses from lawsuits don't go on the books until the litigation is finalized (there's a write-down for projected losses, but I don't remember what it's called.) I assume they're not publicly traded so there's no 10K for me to look at, which gives me a sad; I'd like to see how they report this stuff.

E: I did a little checking, and there doesn't appear to be anything in the way of an annual report for LLR. The only figure I could find was "sales in excess of $1b in 2016" as one of the details released as the result of a lawsuit.

I don't know about the juice you had to deal with, but it sounds disgusting. I'm so sorry.

Actually, the boxes themselves were fine. Too small to build walls out of, but they made great gap-fillers and could close the space between the top of the wall and the roof. And because they were so uniform, you could plan around them- 9/10, would load again. I just thought they were weird because that brand only ever shipped the one type of package.

 

[MY 405]

$33m isn't a hell of a lot of money for a business that must attract whales like an all-you-can-eat plankton buffet. In terms of gross, that's 6,600 starter kits without the upgrade, and that's assuming LLR hasn't been spending the years leveraging what I can only assume are pretty impressive margins into investments, mutual funds, or other using-money-to-make-money instruments. And typically losses from lawsuits don't go on the books until the litigation is finalized (there's a write-down for projected losses, but I don't remember what it's called.) I assume they're not publicly traded so there's no 10K for me to look at, which gives me a sad; I'd like to see how they report this stuff.

E: I did a little checking, and there doesn't appear to be anything in the way of an annual report for LLR. The only figure I could find was "sales in excess of $1b in 2016" as one of the details released as the result of a lawsuit.


Actually, the boxes themselves were fine. Too small to build walls out of, but they made great gap-fillers and could close the space between the top of the wall and the roof. And because they were so uniform, you could plan around them- 9/10, would load again. I just thought they were weird because that brand only ever shipped the one type of package.

yeah, the $33m is from the manufacturers (stitchers) who have never been paid. Maybe it's just me, but common sense says it might be a good idea to pay your suppliers and garment workers. LLR's owners have made over 2 billion and god only knows who they have and haven't paid. They encourage you to take out second mortgages, obtain new credit cards, probably moonlight as truck stop lot lizards to blow drivers for extra cash in order to live the posh life of LLR. Corona, California is considered "The horse capital of California", the crosswalks AND the local drive thrus ALL have a "boot level" button so you can kick it to cross or order, it's not even weird, we do it all the time. This is the "ultra posh" location of LLR HQ (it's sort of shoved under a freeway overpass). I don't know a single person who wears their shit other than the pieces we bought just to say, "Can you actually believe this exists?!" Their "stylists" charge $65 for dresses that I can punch a hole into simply by pushing the fabric with a single finger (no fingernails involved).

And if you're a UPS guy, you're my unsung heroes! Everywhere I've worked, including as a writer, you guys never fail to be on time, deliver like lightning and just drop by to say hi. You guys are champs!

 

[The Un-Clit]

I find mlm tales akin to a train wreck and i cannot turn away. I find it fascinating how people get roped into these and lose all traces of dignity and ethics once in them. I dont know if anyone posted a link to this anti-mlm blogger but she did a fanfuckingtastic job of chronicling the storyof her time in younique ( shitty makeup mlm).

She breaks it down by chapters , 16 , i think. Each short chapter tells as she gets farther and farther down the rabbit hole and the fuckery she got wrapped in. https://ellebeaublog.com/2017/02/01/chapter-1-getting-reeled-in/ Very eye opening. I have read and watched a lot of exposes on mlms but this one is the best ever. Its an easy and fun read, and each chapter brings a new disaster. She also kept running record of what she put out and what she made.

Chapter 1 – Getting Reeled In

Elle begins her tale of how she was reeled in by a Younique rep.

ellebeaublog.com

Just wanted to say that I am totally hooked on this Poonique blog, what a perfect breakdown of the cult-like experience these shifty MLMs use these days, and she tells the story in a way that leaves you with a perfect blend of pity, laughter and horror on every page. Thanks for postin, fam. Highly recommended to all viewers.

 

[MY 405]

Just wanted to say that I am totally hooked on this Poonique blog, what a perfect breakdown of the cult-like experience these shifty MLMs use these days, and she tells the story in a way that leaves you with a perfect blend of pity, laughter and horror on every page. Thanks for postin, fam. Highly recommended to all viewers.

You said it. It was a riot and an eye-opener. Plus she's one of the greatest writer's I've read. Over-looking completely that most make-up is produced in the same lab in Germany and they just slap different labels on it. Your 99 cent batch of Wet and Wild becomes $32 YSL once the Wet and Wild tubes finish their run thru and the YSL tubes get loaded, same exact shade. Oh, here's another fun marketing scam "it's 'hand flamed'" -- yeah, it is. EVERY single lipstick is 'hand flamed' it's what evens the pour of the product and polishes the angle point on your product -- despite the brand name.

 

[Bepis]

Scentsy has gotten pretty popular around here with women. I keep getting little samples and catalogs left in my mailbox and sales pitches from women I know. They smell nice, but it's not enough to justify the prices. I can get a perfectly good large scented candle for under $5 at the store.

 

[Sperghetti]

Just wanted to say that I am totally hooked on this Poonique blog, what a perfect breakdown of the cult-like experience these shifty MLMs use these days, and she tells the story in a way that leaves you with a perfect blend of pity, laughter and horror on every page. Thanks for postin, fam. Highly recommended to all viewers.

I really enjoyed reading that saga, too!

I think it’s interesting that if you read between the lines, you can tell that the business model is actually based around shilling makeup to other representatives, not outside customers. I’m pretty sure that if you played the game right, you could consistently achieve a high ranking without actually selling a single item.

 

[MY 405]

I really enjoyed reading that saga, too!

I think it’s interesting that if you read between the lines, you can tell that the business model is actually based around shilling makeup to other representatives, not outside customers. I’m pretty sure that if you played the game right, you could consistently achieve a high ranking without actually selling a single item.

I'm with you. When I got to "save the empty boxes so it looks like you got a huge order for your customers" I laughed like hell. It took me three pages to realize the shit was pronounced 'YOU-neek" instead of "YAWN-eek". I still want to know what happened to poor Kerri's track suit.

 

[beansontoast]

so far I've only had one encounter with MLM I think

I was still pretty young and we were visiting my aunt and uncle, they live quite far away so we stayed at their place for a few days. One day they asked my parents if it was ok if a friend of theirs came over in the evening my parents said "of course!", they like to socialize and make new friends. But that "friend" who came over didn't come to socialize but to sell my parents shit and to make them join his company. I remember my aunt and uncle being very quiet but it was obvious that they were members too. Thankfully my parents weren't stupid enough to buy anything or join this scam and they were pretty angry with my aunt and uncle and they got into a heated argument with them after the guy was gone.
As said I was still a kid back then but i found this entire situation so extremely weird that it stayed in my memory.

and I don't get how people can do these huge scale scams with essential oils??? it's just a scent what the fuck. kinda makes me ashamed I use them tho not because I think they have healing powers or some bullshit but because they smell nice and I only buy the normal ones at the drug store... makes it even more weird to know that there are basically cults centered around this stuff, that's like having a cult for febreeze

 

[Caesare]

Very fun thread, some really good stories here.

I have a few as well. Although my knowledge of MLM type scams is limited, their ubiquitous nature means that I've had a few experiences in my lifetime.

My first actual experience is kinda depressing. When I was around 10-11 years old, my little friend in the neighborhood had a father that sold Amway. I asked my mother what it was and she told me the basics: pyramid scheme where nobody but the person on the very top makes any money and everyone below them is conned into selling crap products. I remember telling my friend what my mother told me and even though he was as young as I, he kinda had that impression as well considering his family would end up using these products and they were all pretty bad, and his knew his dad wasn't really raking in the big bucks.

He particularly hated the food that they got from Amway, his mom would cook with the stuff sometimes and he said it was terrible. His dad sold it for a couple years IIRC and got out. It wasn't until much later, when we were teenagers that we found out the real reason why his dad bothered with Amway in the first place, he was an intelligent guy, maybe kinda lazy but smart, so why bother with it? It turned out, he was using the late night, weekly meetings to cheat on his wife. This came to light when his parents were having a rough time in their marriage and were talking about separating. They did eventually divorce and she ended up remarrying and is much happier now. She was a very sweet woman, way too good for what happened to her.

Fast forward a few years, I'm 18 years old, looking for work. I see signs around saying $15.00/hr. with a phone number, and as you can probably guess, no mention of what type of work was involved. I call the number, schedule an "interview" and show up for it. First red flag, their office was in a strip mall in a pretty awful part of the city. Nothing permanent or official looking about the office, just a temporary looking sign on the window. I walk in and there's an attractive young woman at a desk answering the phones. I recognized her voice as the person who I spoke to when setting up the interview. There were wall dividers blocking the front of the office where the woman was at the desk and the back where we sat down to be interviewed. There were some chairs and a table with another chair behind it with another woman giving the interview. Around 7 other people were there being interviewed besides me, and I was the only white person there (like I said, not a nice part of town).

She gives us her pitch, and what do you know, it's Vector. They want to build an elite sales force of knife sellers in the ghetto. I didn't walk out though I should have, and afterwards the woman called us one by one into the very back where a separate, tiny room was. When it was my turn, she said I was great, just what they were looking for because I smiled and made eye contact. She scheduled a training seminar to get me started with the knife selling. Afterwards, I walked outside and lit a cigarette, thinking about how this was a waste of time. I talked to the other attendees and they all were hired too, all except one girl. There was a question the interviewer asked everyone when we went to the back to speak privately with her: do you have your own transportation? That was literally the only qualifier to get the job. The one chick didn't have a car, so she wasn't hired. I didn't go to the training seminar and kept on looking for work until I found a real job.

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

And if you're a UPS guy, you're my unsung heroes! Everywhere I've worked, including as a writer, you guys never fail to be on time, deliver like lightning and just drop by to say hi. You guys are champs!

I've never been a driver, I've just done hub work. It's my "welp, my life choices have caught up with me again, time to look for a new job" employment of choice. (Also the only job I consistently give notice at when I quit.)

Oh, here's another fun marketing scam "it's 'hand flamed'" -- yeah, it is. EVERY single lipstick is 'hand flamed' it's what evens the pour of the product and polishes the angle point on your product -- despite the brand name.

Oh, I love BS marketing like that. My favorite has to be my local grocery store, where they sell bacon that's advertised as "gluen-free."

I really enjoyed reading that saga, too!

I think it’s interesting that if you read between the lines, you can tell that the business model is actually based around shilling makeup to other representatives, not outside customers. I’m pretty sure that if you played the game right, you could consistently achieve a high ranking without actually selling a single item.

It was an excellent story, though the image macros throughout gave me cancer and diabetes.

Could that work? Some variation of two reps passing the same $100 bill back and forth an arbitrarily large number of times? The system seems gameable if you work together, though the way it's set up seems to set these women at each others' throats, trying to use each other as Trojan horses for more sales.

 

[Monika H.]

SHUT UP MY HATERS, BE MY PERSONAL ARMY AND BUY MY CRAP

'Ain’t nobody gonna take your crap:' LuLaRoe founder calls critics 'trolls' and orders her followers to 'snip' them out and 'protect' her

LuLaRoe founder DeAnne Stidham has repeatedly lashed out at critics as the company faces mounting pressure from a $49 million supplier lawsuit.

www.businessinsider.com

• LuLaRoe founder DeAnne Stidham has lashed out at critics, calling them "trolls" and "haters" in Instagram live videos, while urging her 98,000 followers to block and delete them.
• "If you are negative, you guys get to leave. I don't care about you," Stidham said during a live Instagram video on December 9. "We're going to snip those people out and let them know that this is a place of positivity."
• Some of the people Stidham refers to as "trolls" appear to be current and former LuLaRoe consultants who have been reaching out directly to her about various problems with the business. This is according to hundreds of comments reviewed by Business Insider on Stidham's Instagram feed.
• After the company's chief supplier, Providence Industries, filed a $49 million lawsuit against the company, she told her followers not to "look at the Internet" to "see what's happening" because they might get "sidetracked."
• LuLaRoe did not respond to a request for comment.

LuLaRoe founder DeAnne Stidham has repeatedly lashed out at critics, calling them "trolls" and "haters" in Instagram live videos, while urging her followers to "snip" them out, as the company faces mounting pressure from a $49 million supplier lawsuit and growing frustration among its own consultants.
"If you're negative, you guys get to leave. I don't care about you," Stidham said during a live Instagram video on December 9. "We're going to snip those people out and let them know that this is a place of positivity. …We have to zap those people."
Several days later, she ordered her followers to "delete" the "trolls" while critical comments trickled into a live video she was filming at a LuLaRoe Christmas party.

Instagram/@deannelularoe
"We don't care, sorry. Go be snarky with someone else," Stidham said on December 13, as she responded in real time to viewers' comments. "Ain't nobody gonna take your crap. Sorry! Don't want ya! ... Ain't nobody like you, nobody wants to be your friends."
"If you see anybody that's a troll, you guys: delete 'em, delete 'em, delete 'em!"
Stidham's "trolls" appear to primarily consist of current and former LuLaRoe consultants who have been reaching out directly to her about problems, such as overdue refunds and the company's inability to fulfill clothing orders. This is according to hundreds of comments reviewed by Business Insider on Stidham's Instagram feed.

 

[Sperghetti]

Could that work? Some variation of two reps passing the same $100 bill back and forth an arbitrarily large number of times? The system seems gameable if you work together, though the way it's set up seems to set these women at each others' throats, trying to use each other as Trojan horses for more sales.

I think the Trojan horse thing is actually how you could game it.

People with downlines earn commission on all of their downlines’ sales, but Younique doesn’t differentiate between sales to actual customers and things purchased for stock or personal use. It’s all the same to them, as long as the items are getting ordered. That’s probably why the uplines kept pushing everyone to buy those “limited bundles”: They get the commission regardless of what the downline actually does with it. (And of course, they’re always priced just a bit short of getting free shipping...)

It seems that winning strategy is not to get a following of outside customers, it’s to recruit more Younique reps and sell them “stock”.

On top of that, it’s also been established that you can pretty much buy your way into the next rank (even if you’re not trying), and there were secret groups where reps sold stuff to each other. If you had some capital to start with and were manipulative enough, you could easily spend your time just selling Younique entirely to other Younique reps and earning commission for it.