Thursday, May 27, 2010

Amway - What's So Great About It?

Over the years I have been debating with Amway supporters, I cannot see what is so great about the Amway opportunity. Are some of these Amway defenders that stupid or dense that they truly believe that a business where one out of a few hundred people might make a profit and most of the remaining IBOs will lose money is a good opportunity? I'm not talking about people who sign up and "do nothing". Many IBOs sign up and put in a great deal of time, effort and money, only to find out that the system simply does not work (especially in the US) and they make a business decision to quit and/or to do something else.

Of course there are some people who make money in Amway. If nobody made money, then the opportunity would cease to exist. But it is basically exploitation of the downline that accounts for upline success. Amway's admission that sales to non IBOs are low, confirms this. Thus certain upline make their income from their downline's PV volume, and on tool purchases. I mean even a lottery has winners. Even ponzi schemes and other questionable opportunties have some winners. This is not to suggest that Amway in not legal. Amway is perfectly legal, but the way the opportunity is set up, those who profit, primarily do so at the expense of their trusted downline.

There are no groups that I know of where all the IBOs can win and earn a profit. I would guess that there might be a few rogue groups who only focus on retail sales, and while these groups can be profitable as a group, they are few and far between. This is because most IBOs fall under an LOS such as WWDB, BWW, LTD or N21, and these groups all seemingly focus on recruiting of new IBOs. Yes, they may sprinkle in some suggeestions about selling goods, but generally speaking, their "training" materials consist of motivation speeches, feel good stories (whether true or not), and the theme of never quitting while continuing to purchase more tools.

Some upline have the nerve to start teaching downline that their Amway business is not about making money, but to save your marriage, make you a nicer person, or some other diversion to make you forget that you are losing money month after month after month. Some groups even mix in religion and politics into their functions and meetings. As far as I can see, the typical business buildiing IBO signs up, gets some of the tools and attends a few functions, and finds that the products are hard to sell because they are not priced competetively with other retailers, and that a damaged reputation is nearly impossible to overcome. These IBOs realize they are not going anywhere, and they walk away, chalking up the losses as a life lesson. But apparently, many uplines who lied and deceived in the past are continuing to do so today, often just revising history for their benefit (i.e. lying about making any profit on tools).

Many IBOs, prospects, information seekers and critics read this blog. My question is very simple. What is so great about the Amway opportunity? For most, it is just a bad use of time and money. While some may exist, I don't know of a single person who "did the work once" and sat back collecting barrels of Amway money while sipping Mai Tais on the beaches of Jamaica. I see crown ambassadors working as hard today as they did many years ago. Diamonds losing homes to forclosures, a prominent diamond in bankruptcy proceedings, and a hoard of WWDB diamonds apparently selling off mansions that they allegedly paid for in cash. (It os quite possible that their lifestyles are simply not sustainable).

Where is the benefit in the business for the typical IBO? Just as there are some diamonds, there are lottery winners. Displaying a lottery winner doesn't make it prudent to spend your money on lottery tickets. Displaying a diamond's lifestyle doesn't make Amway a good opportunity. While Amway is a business and not a game of chance, the results of either, sadly are eerily similar - that is a few winners and millions of non winners.

What is so great about the Amway opportunity? I don't see it.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is so great about your blog JoeCool? All you do is piss on the dreams and ambitions of people. Why don't you spend your time doing something productive? Why are you bitter? Oh that's right your a quitter and a loser so because YOU couldn't make Amway work, you made it your personal vendetta to save the world from Amway. You better watch your step buddy.

Joecool said...

Hey, nobody forces you to come here and read my blog. People likely seek information, do a google search and find it. It is just a blog that people voluntarily read and they can take what they want from it, just like the diamond tell you about their tools. Take what you want from it.

I'm guessing the truth hurts so you take offense to it. I;'m not afraid to stand on the truth. Why are you?

Anonymous said...

anon, GET BACK TO WORK!!!

Anonymous said...

As you say Joecool Amway is a business and few millionaires are made. But then why should we should cry over the rest who aren't? So, I guess that's how it is in business. But your attitude says enough about you man. May God have mercy on you!

Joecool said...

What other business deceptively implies you can become a millionaire in 2-5 years? It's a big lie. And it's a lie that hurts many people financially and socially. That's why I blog.

Michael said...

I prospectively attended my first AMWAY fucntion this evening. I've spent the last several hours online; from what I've found Joecool's account is not the exception but the standard. I have a meeting with my sponser tommorow evening, where I'll be returning the information he gave me and politely decline.

Honestly, if I had only read Joecool's testament of failure; I may have given the sponsor an opportunity to ellaborate on whatever success he has had with this system, and further considered getting involved with this organization; however, the arrogance and malice expressed by the AMWAY supporters on this site, have undoubtedly convinced me that this is not something I want to be a part of.

The problem is- though I hardly know the guy- he seems nice: I sincere regret the disappointment he'll suffer tommorow. He said he had been with AMWAY for a little over a year. He approached me in the grocery store; and after a few minutes of akward conversation, I reluctantly gave the guy my phone number. Talking with him this evening his temperament seemed like a strange, disingeniuous confidence masking desperation. If anyone could make this work its guys like him. I for one am not the kind of person to approach perfect strangers with intent of peddeling dreams. I wish I could say that I hope this works out for him, and the other IBO's, but I honestly believe thier success will be at the expensive of other people's livelihood; this kind of financial burden has the potential to destroy families if a member is unseccessful.

If i had thousands of dollars and over a year tied up in this kind of investment; I would likely be one of the aggresive AMWAY defenders on this site. I can somewhat understand your predicament. I pray that if there is not a successful future in store for you, that God may open some other door and allow you refuge from what I perceive to be a stifleing dilema. I'm not posting to criticise your work, or dash your dreams; my heart is geniunely broken for those suffocating under thier own ambitions.

To the AMWAY advocates that have posted comments though civil discourse; Thank you!

Joecool; I'll never know how much heartache your website has spared my family and I; but, I believe it's considerable, and I am grateful.