Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Amway - Better Than a J-O-B?

One of the things upline leaders apparently do is to disparage people with jobs. Oh, they would say we needed people to wait on our tables and clean our toilets, but in general, jobs were put down and basically the group was told that Amway is their best chance at achieving financial freedom, giving them the ability to flush their jobs. Ironically, IBO's jobs are what funds their Amway businesses. Most IBOs would be out of business within weeks if not for their job income funding their Amway businesses.

The key selling point appears to be the 2-5 years of part time work rather than working a job for 30 - 40 years and then retiring on social security which may or may not be there when you retire. This plants a fear in people about the future and then the Amway opportunity is presented in a positive light because the Amway opportunity comes with a low start up cost. What uplines do not mention is how the opportunity can become a money pit as the monthly defacto 100 PV quota starts to add up. It is my guess that if people only bought items they truly needed, these IBOs would likely move 100 PV every three months, unless they are actively selling goods to non IBO customers.

When an IBO finally agrees to register, it is then that the hidden costs are revealed. Many uplines will introduce standing orders and functions and present these tools as vital to IBO success. Most new IBOs don't know better and feel subtle pressure to conform and give it a try. Some upline may loan some tools to downline in the beginning but evemtually, the IBO will be encouraged to be a "serious" business owner who should be purchasing their own tools to loan to their downline and the cycle goes on.

If you examine some version of the Amway recruitment plan, you will see that most IBOs are at the 100 PV level, which will reward you with a monthly bonus of about $10or so. If that same IBO subscribes to the tools system, than IBO will likely be losing over $100 a month not including the product purchases. And because many IBOs have been convinced that working a job is so horrible, that they can be convinced that this condition of losing money is temporary and that untold wealth is right around the corner. Sadly, for most, this condition is the norm and even the sponsorship of a few downline, the losses continue to mount. Yet many are convinced that this is better than a job.

Ironically, a job allows people to pay their monthly bills, feed their families and many people enjoy their work and co workers. While upline leaders may convince you otherwise, it is this very same excuse upline leaders use when asked why they are still working instead of walking the beaches of the world collecting massive amounts of residual income. I would encourage IBOs to truly analyze their efforts in Amway and determine if it is beneficial to your finances. In most cases, your Amway efforts ONLY benefits your upline's finances. For most who get involved, the Amway opportunity is not better than a job. Be careful!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Better than a job? From my OWN experience, a big YES!

Joecool said...

You talk the talk but did you walk the walk?

Anonymous said...

NOPE!

Anonymous said...

What?! There is no "quota"... my upline never calls and asks me to buy more... I'm simply transferring my purchasing from my local store to comparable items in my store. Why do you insist that this is sinister or bad? Yes, my upline makes money when I buy... but the Walton or Meijer families make money off of me when I buy from their stores. There is nothing wrong with owning your own business or desiring to have achieve financial rewards. Amway is the only business i found that had low/no barriers to starting and low/no liability.

Joecool said...

Let's review anon's comment. Sure your upline may not call, but part of the "plan" is to move 100 PV by buying or selling or both. Nothing wrong with that.

The problem is that the products on average cost much much more than a WalMart and your uplines get more bonus from your purchase than you do, even if you did the work. Also, purchasing from Amway instead of your local retailers takes money out of your local economy, and subsequently, your upline wants to sell you tools and training to teach you that paying more for products and taking money out of the local economy is a good idea!

Yes, Amway has no liability because you are "independent". You as an IBO have liability and you are still bound to Amway's rules even though you are independent.

What's good about it?

Anonymous said...

So what if that some products cost more than at WalMart? Toyota Camry 4-door sedan sells for $20,000 more than Toyota Yaris 4-door sedan even though the two differ slightly yet people still buy Toyota Camry 4-door sedans! Go figure!
So what if my uplines get more bonus from my purchase than I do, even if I did the work? I can do the same by doing the work they did! Go figure!
Purchasing from Amway instead of my local retailers takes money out of my local economy? Amway is already part of my local economy. What kind of drugs do you do man? Or are you some sort of dumb kid wearing daily pink underwear?

Anonymous said...

Not that anything I write will sway you from your negative Amway point of view...

Regardless, if you're used to buying quality name brand products, then Amway stuff is awesome. Plus, I have price comparisons against Walmart and Target for home care stuff. We beat both stores when compared with national brands. And Artistry and Nutrilite brands are world class based on rankings of external orgs like Euromonitor.

Taking money out of the local economy? ... come on! You think Walmart is keeping all their profits local? Some communities in Calif actually have rejected Walmart stores. They pay so low that employees end up using city welfare services to make ends meet. The local community actually PAYS to have a walmart store!! The money I earn in my business stays with me in MY community.

I don't get your stance regarding training and mentorship. If I bought a McDonalds for $1 million, they'd tell me where to build my restaurant... what to put on my menu and its pricing... make me buy uniforms, food, signs, training, etc from the corp at VERY high prices. Of course, since I've got $1 million on the line, I'm going to make darn sure I succeed.

So... for $165, I can start a business that has no quotas or minimums. I don't have to buy the training... don't even have to buy a product. But if I do learn and grow. Learn from people who obviously know how to build this business... and actually do the work... I can make hundreds or 1000s of dollars each month... and have the potential for millions in income.

I seriously don't understand how you can be SO one sided in your negative point of view!

Joecool said...

Anonymous, if you owned a McDonald's you would nearly be guaranteed a net profit. In Amway, you are nearly guaranteed a loss. That's how the comepsnation plan is set up. You may keep your bonus locally, but you send $300 a month or more to Amway for your goods and then another $250 or so to some tool company and the $10 you get back stays in the local economy. Even if you succeed, you will have downlines who spend hundreds outside of the local economy to get back $10. That's how it works.

Anonymous said...

Sorry man. That's not how it works. That's how it works with you! To give you an idea about 'guaranteed profit' as you put it with McDonald's, one of our friends was telling us about a relative of theirs who bought a Tim Horton's franchise and seven years have passed since the day they started to operate for them to make a profit that they can keep to themselves. So where are the profit guarantees that you are talking about? You're clueless and stupid. You would be better off getting a .357 Magnum, put it next to your head and blow off your non-existent brains. By the way, cute skull!

Joecool said...

Anon from Canada, why don't you prove you are profitable from Amway? I will make it a headline article on this blog? You are losing your arse like all the other IBOs.

Mcdonald's has a large start up cost, but it nearly guarantees success. With Amway, the only guarantee is that you will lose money buying tools. BTW, you can regain much of your start up cost is and when you sell your Mcdonald's business. You don't get suidly diddly selling your Amway business.

Anna said...

Anonymous, if you can buy a McDonald's for a million then depending on the location, you should snap it up. That is a great deal! Most McDonald's restaurants that have been operating at a decent profit for a few years sell for several million. I don't understand what you mean when you say you can pay a million for a McDonald's (fire sale?) and then their head office tells you where to put it? Are you suggesting McDonald's head office expects new restaurant owners to hire a company that moves the building and relocate it in a different part of town? I've never heard of that happening, not saying it couldn't, just saying that all the McDonald's in my town, including the ones that have changed ownership, have stayed in the same location they've been in for 20 or 30 years, same place as where they were built. Renovated, yes. Moved down the block or across town, no. I'd say if you can swing it and raise the capital that you should buy that McDonald's for a million. Obviously you are looking at different business opportunities or you wouldn't have brought up this excellent price for a McDonald's. You'd have a better profit than with Amway. Less than 1% of IBO's actually make a profit. I think McDonald's restaurants have a higher percentage of success than that! In fact many businesses have a better potential than 1% success rate. I didn't pull that less than 1% figure out of the air. Pick up your business overview and look at the small print of potential Amway earnings, the percentage quoted for any level is less than 1%. If you really believed in the Amway business you wouldn't be posting anonymously and letting us know you're actively investigating other business opportunites. And seeing as how you brought up Joecool's negative point of view - does your upline tell you to avoid all things negative? Ours did, but oddly enough all they spouted off at their meetings was all things negative, how this business and that business are closing down, real estate in the toilet, stock market crashing, etc. Do you have to post anonymously so your upline doesn't find out?

Anonymous said...

Joecool... If you're so certain about business and "That's the way it works," I would think you'd be enjoying your financial success in some 5 star resort rather than spending all this time and effort justifying your failure in Amway by maintaining this blog.

Anonymous said...

Nice Balanced Article
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/career-advice/blog/other-8-hours/why-you-should-join-amway/919/

... and while I'm thinking about it, Joecool. Don't you imagine there's some legitimacy to Amway given that 50 governments have allowed it into their countries and the lawyers from several hundred corporations have signed off on partner agreements with Amway. Hmmm. Good thing they didn't read your blog and find out the real truth!

Joecool said...

A 5 star resort? LOL, diamonds can't even afford that. It is why diamonds' always need a place to stay and free chauffeurs (star struck IBOs). Why do I maintain the blog? I do it as a public service.

Do you actually read my blog? My beef isn't so much with Amway but with leaders who scam their downline into buying useless tools. Just because Amway's all over the world doesn't mean it's a good business opportunity.

Ashley said...

I still think its quite funny that most amway supporters/IBO's that comment on this site choose to remain "anon." It's so in line with the business ethic I have seen of that group... they feed you tons of wishy washy biz talk but never can seem to give a straightforward answer. Got to love it! I mean, at least they're consistent...

Colin said...

I know one triple diamond who cant afford a 5 star resort cause he's bankrupted lol:P . Im sure he wishes he finished medical school right about now:)

Anonymous said...

If you talk about Gred Dunkin, then you have no idea what you talk about (you just making stuff up). I'm in business only a few months and already see profitability. By the way, every tool; functions, books, cds, etc are tax deductable. I dont know where you get your info, but this is pure lie.

Anonymous said...

ever hear of google? try googling GREG DUNCAN. then prove to us what colin said is "pure lie".

Anonymous said...

Lol this is hilarious. Joecool sure thinks he knows what hes talking about. Obviously he has never been around the system and association. But hes cool enough to sit behind a computer and write a blog. lol that takes a big man. Have fun at your job for the rest of your life. I'm enjoying retirement at age 27. Along with my team. Not to mention all the others we are HELPING to achieve what we have and are doing. As for Colin, you don't know a bankrupt triple diamond. Obviously you don't know anything about a triple diamond lifestyle lol... This is hilarious. You guys sure prove your knowledge on the topic... As for commenting Anonymous, why would I want my name to pop up on an uneducated blog?
You guys should try doing something real in your life for once maybe? Just saying...

Anonymous said...

thanks for the comic relief....douchebag.