Multilevel Marketing

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Once again I had the *pleasure* to listen to another MLM *proposal*, promising the riches and free time of the world with a product that would make me healthier and handsome... er (and surely improve my sexual prowess or something of the sort, who knows, if it *kills* cancer according to them...) . 

Last night's winner: mona vie açai juice.

Is it the cult like zeal of the converts, the get-rich-quick talk or the inherent immoral business practice of screwing +99% suckers to allow the sleaziest members make a kill?

Anyhow, reading a bit I find that under the FTC any scheme in which less than 70% of income is NOT made through retail is considered an illegal pyramid but -oh surprise- few are ever prosecuted.

This guys make look casinos as charities!

[Sibling Chatty]

Ah, the 'replacement' for Noni juice??

And the one before that, and the one before that...all the way back to BEFORE Amway.

There's very little difference in MLM and Ponzi schemes, except that Ponzi schemes pay off better up front (and at first).

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

My wife does Mary Kay.  She treats it as a proper business (i.e. actually spending her time selling makeup to legitimate customers, and on the infrequent occasion when she suggests people join, she only does it if they seem genuinely interested and have the time and resources to do it properly).  There are aspects of the organization that I dislike, though.

I inherently distrust companies that would make anyone a dealer of their product without worrying about things like sales territories.  Also, the way Mary Kay emphasizes growth through recruitment is something I find worrying.

That being said, there are many other MLMs that I've seen that are much, much worse.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I'd always been distrustful of MLMs, burned (luckily) little money on one, and heard endless presentations, etc, etc, but this time is my wife's new boss pulling the strings so it makes things hard on my wife.

I've been doing some reading and confirmed what my gut told me: the system is based on oversupply and not in product sales (unless you count the supposed distributors).

For the interested here are two related links:

http://www.falseprofits.com/MLM%20Lies.html

http://www.vandruff.com/mlm.html

[Sibling Chatty]

Lambi,

Mary Kay does at least have a reputable product with recognizable value, as opposed to the various "health juices" around.

The recruitment was never Mary Kay's big deal anyway, that part was more of a business operations manager's addition. Much like Avon, there's an inherent problem in restricted territories due to the nature of the product. Small, easily sold to relatives, co-workers, friends of friends, etc. With restricted territories, if a friend from some social group wanted to buy from your wife, but lived in another territory, the work your wife put into the sale would be for the benefit of the rep for THAT area.

Because Mary Kay started strictly as 'party sales', only through group presentations, each rep built her 'territory' from her base of aquaintences. As the use of the products has grown, the party concept has fallen away. People want to buy more product without having to go sit through demonstrations. MY Mary Kay lady lives in New Mexico now. When I want product, I e-mail her. Otherwise, I would have to find the closest Mary Kay lady to me, either in Brenham (15 miles) or College Station (30 miles).

I do hate the 'downline' and distributor part of Mary Kay, but when my rep is not available, I can get what I need from her "next up the line" and she still gets credit for the sale. (My rep is trying to finish her PhD this summer, and won't be able to take time out, just like when she was getting both of her Masters degrees, and her EdD.)

The funny part about me and Mary Kay? I don't wear make-up.