Your Amway Education?

 One of the really funny things I heard was how your Amway education is like going to college but better because Amway will make you rich but college will give you a job.  Now on the surface that might make sense but looking at it analytically, it is utter BS.  That’s the thing about Amway teaching, it can sound logical but in the end the teaching is just self serving advice to make more money for upline.  

First off, going to college might cost you money but it is a bonafide fact that college graduates earn more money than non college graduates.  So in the end, you may have college loans but over time, the investment will more than pay for itself.  In contrast, most IBOs make nothing or end up losing money.  In other words, the investment into an Amway education never pays off. 

Also, a college education may find you working out of your field of study but a degree shows an ability to learn and to have sone broad degree of learning because that’s how college works.  An Amway education teaches you what exactly?  How to trick people into attending meetings? To answer a question with a question?   What tangible skills does one actually learn in Amway?  

IMO, there are little to no measurable tangible skills learned in Amway except maybe to think positive.  They certainly don’t teach you to run a business or how to actually succeed in Amway.  The teachings are usually rah rah and motivational in nature rather than substantive.  But what most don’t see it because they are blinded with the ideas of trying to get rich in 2-5 years.  They want a shortcut to retirement.  Now I don’t know if such a shortcut exists but I know that for nearly 100% of those who try, Amway doesn’t deliver.  And truth be told, nowhere in Amway’s literature does it advertise any of this. This is upline propaganda.  

You might learn a few things from an Amway education but more than likely, you aren’t going to get anywhere near wealthy or early retirement by running an Amway business for 2-5 years.  

Upline BS?

 Looking back at my time in Amway, I can sift through all the BS that upline fed the group.  If IBOs would actually verify the crap that upline feeds them, so many more would likely quit.  I don’t believe there was a fact check website 25 years ago or so but upline just fed up whopper after whopper.  I’ll elaborate more in that but many IBOs blindly trust upline and for a while, that included me but I wised up quickly.  

We heard that Amway creates the most millionaires, save for Microsoft but that is an unverified dubious claim.  Now I don’t doubt that Amway allowed some people to get rich and attain millionaire status, but to claim that they created the most millionaires save for Microsoft is utter BS.  I’m sure Wall Street and many share holders in big name companies like Amazon or Apple have made Amway look like a joke in wealth creation.  I recall Amway revenues were in the 7 billion range in the 1990s and they are not significantly higher now. Where’s the wealth?  

I also heard that 95% of Americans are dead or broke by 65 which is another load of crap.  While it’s true that some Americans are dead or broke by age 65, there is nothing to suggest that 95% of Americans are dead or broke by age 65.  Most people know some retirees and while sone are poor, most seem to be comfortable financially and enjoy life.  

Another unverified piece of garbage is that diamonds pay cash for everything.  The average non q12 diamond earns around $150k annually.  Does that sound like income that buys mansions and sports cars in cash?  Some diamonds who had their financials revealed over the years showed home foreclosures, debt and a triple diamond filed chapter 7 bankruptcy about 10 years ago.  The truth is that nobody knows the exact finances of a diamond but I can say that they do not allow transparency about their finances so nobody knows for sure.  

In any case, I urge IBOs and prospects to fact check the claims made by upline and not blindly believe things that the diamonds just toss out as facts. You’ll be surprised at what you find.

Duplication?

 My upline diamond used to say that the key to success is Amway is duplication, or copying.  He would use an analogy of being in grade school and copying someone else’s answers and that if you can master that one skill, you will be successful in Amway.  Even things downline IBOs do should be duplicatable is what upline would day, meaning others need to be able to copy it. 

Doesn’t that sound sweet and simple.  Just copy as if you’re in school and looking over the shoulder of the class brainiac. Very easy and straightforward right?  But obviously that concept doesn’t work.  If it did, there would be a lot of success constantly churning from the rank and file IBOs.  But instead defat we see is a revolving door of people coming and going (quitting) without making a net profit or losing money, generally from business expenses such as tools and functions.  

And it’s no wonder that duplication doesn’t work in real life because the system is too severely flawed.  You are buying and/or selling products that are relatively unknown and generic in nature but being sold at premium prices.  Now that’s not to say all Amway products are bad or or bad value but overall, you can find better value if you shop at Costco or WalMart.   It’s pretty hard to dispute that unless you’re a fully dedicated and indoctrinated IBO.  

In general, most upline teaching has “core” steps for IBOs to follow and while they are not complicated, they are difficult to follow.  In particular, finding people agreeable to see the plan or to sell products to are difficult tasks and you can’t just duplicate yourself to success.  But what IBOs can do is listen to audios, read books, buy their defacto 100 PV quota, and attend all meetings and functions.  

Sadly, the steps that are easily copied or duplicated are the ones that cost IBOs money and the steps that are vital to growth such as selling products and showing the plan are the ones that are nearly impossible to duplicate. And that in a nutshell is why the vast majority of IBOs make nothing or lose money in the Amway business opportunity. And that is my well informed opinion.  

Amway Is Simple?

 Another one of the lines pitched by upline was how Amway is simple. Some upline used to say that Amway is so easy that a dog could become a direct distributor.  But most of the diamonds would proclaim that Amway is simple but not necessarily “easy”.  What does that mean?  

Simple means that anyone can do it. Like a child’s puzzle, it’s very basic and simple but for a child it may not be “easy”.  When you break down the Amway business, it’s buy some products, sell some products, and sponsor downline.  That’s really how “simple” Amway is.  Would you agree that buying, selling and sponsoring down line is simple?  I mean it’s not that complicated at least on the surface of things.  

So if Amway is simple as upline and the diamonds say, why in the world do you need an endless supply of tools and functions?  I don’t believe that an IBO doesn’t need any training or coaching but for a business that’s supposed to be “simple”, why would you need all that training?  

I recall a conversation with my upline who at the time was pushing tapes ( I was an IBO in the 90’s) hard.  I asked what happens if you own all of the tapes on the listing?  He told me that you keep buying them because tapes sponsor people.  For me that was a WTF moment.  I have never have heard of anyone who heard a tape who decided to get sponsored.   IMO it was just a shameless ploy to sell more tools. 

I have heard that IBOs now give downline some audios/cds and even pay for some downline to attend functions but in the end, that just makes losses worse for dedicated IBOs.  They are squeezing more money from the faithful Amway believers until the upline can convince the prospects and down line to become “real business owners” who pay for their own expenses.  It’s no big deal for the diamonds who sluff off the expense on their downline who have downline. 

It’s sad that this practice continues to roll along.  Beware if you are a prospect or current IBO.  

The Partner Store Lies?

 Many Amway folks who recruit like to throw out big name companies that Amway allegedly “partners” with such as Disney, Nike and some others.  Now typically I see a partnership as a two way street, meaning you help each other. But in Amway’s case, the street seems to be one way.  

What I mean is that Amway IBOs sell stuff from partner stores such as Disney or Nike stuff but Nike or Disney doesn’t sell Amway stuff.  Basically the partnership is just Amway IBOs selling stuff for Nike or Disney and getting Amway PV/BV for it.  That’s pretty much the extent of it.  

But Amway IBOs like to toss around the big named companies as if it brings them some special credibility or something when the reality is that they are just sales people who have access to certain products that are listed in the catalogs.  It’s a no brained for companies like Disney or Nike because nothing is required of them but to pay commissions for sales and basically nothing else.  Since Amway has a large sales force, the “partner” companies have nothing to lose.  

What IBOs don’t mention in their partner store reputations us that Amway once partnered with MCI/Worldcom and Enron, which were of questionable reputations.  I’ve heard IBOs brag about how Amway carefully vets their partners, but well, there you have it.  

So if you get pitched by an Amway IBO trying to sell you on the partner stores, keep in mind what you’ve seen here.  That the partner stores are just hype and not a lot of substance.  Also keep in mind that the middleman commissions almost force the partner stores into charging more than buying direct from the source.  Good luck if you read this and decide to join Amway anyway.  

The Facts Don’t Matter?

 “The facts don’t matter if the dream is big enough”.  I once heard this taught at a function as IBO and a recent comment jarred my memory about it.  When you think about it, someone who invites you to join a business opportunity and says the facts don’t matter, red flags should be flying and you should put on running shoes and run in the opposite way. 

In what business do the facts not matter?  Apparently only in Amway because the fact is that the vast majority of Amway IBOs make nothing or lose money.   The fact is that most IBOs do little or nothing then quit.  The fact is that most IBOs never sponsor a single down line.  The fact is that the average IBO earns about $100 a month and that includes the diamonds.  

Any real business owner would want all the facts and nothing else in making decisions about joining a business opportunity that will use up a lot of time and money.  IBOs don’t know that they are likely to spend hundreds of dollars a month with very little return on investment.  

But the reason so many IBOs just become contributors to the diamonds lifestyle is because that is the real business.  The real business is selling tools and functions.  That’s why the teaching and advise almost always points to the system and dedication to education yourself about Amway.  In previous posts I’ve broken down the math behind this but in a nutshell, tools and functions have a much larger profit margin for diamonds than Amway products and unlike the Amway compensation plan, rank and file IBOs do not participate in the tool and function income.  

So look at the facts.  Do not blindly follow your upline without vetting actual facts.  If you do so, you do it with your own peril and it’s how upline empires are built.  Proceed with caution.  

The Math?

 One of the problems that IBO get into is they ignore, at upline advice, basic math and common sense.  Basically as an IBO, if you just carefully and objectively observe what’s actually going on around you, it’s hard to make a good case for joining or remaining in Amway.  The basic pitch is to come and make money or save money.  

How many IBOs are actually making money or saving money by being an Amway IBO?  Sure, you get the IBO price in Amway goods but those goods are not necessarily saving you any money.  Also, IBOs often try to sponsor their customers who would then receive the IBO price and become a competing IBO.  Yes, you get to leverage a downline’s volume but then you get the conundrum of most IBOs do little or nothing then quit.  Amway’s disclosures show that about half of all IBOs are not active and basically do nothing.  

Additionally, when pitched on Amway, you were likely told that you would make money.  But doing the math shows that the 100 PV that upline wants you to shoot for monthly costs about $300 unless you’re able to sell that volume which would be near impossible unless you have many sympathetic friends and family.  Then you have to cost of tools and functions which can run from $200 a month or more if you are committed to the system. 

All of that expense would generate you about $10 in Amway bonuses.  Only by sponsoring a large group of downline can you start to earn enough to offset some of your Amway related expenses. And here’s another kicker. Amway’s own disclosures show that most IBOs never sponsor a single downline, which makes sense when about half of IBOs don’t lift a finger after signing up.  

So if you just look at the whole picture objectively and assess the math and numbers, in my opinion I can’t understand how anyone can conclude that the Amway opportunity and the related tools and functions is worthy of your investment of time and money.   Good luck if you read this and try anyway.