Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Amway Success?

Success is subjective. Someone making ten dollars might be considered successful, for others, nothing less than a barrel of cash will suffice. One other important point is that there are undoubtably some very successful people in Amway. I am sure that some Amway diamonds are quite well off and enjoy some of the finer things in life. But the reality is that these successes are very very rare and many of these success apparently are not sustainable as many people are led to believe.

But the bigger issue in the Amway opportunity is where the success comes from. Sure, many people want to "go diamond" and live in luxury while barrels of cash roll in. But what is unknown to many, is that the few who enjoy the lifestyle and trappings do so at the expense of their downline. The downline move the volume and the downline purchases the system materials, both of which is profitable for the upline. Because Amway products, admittedly are not commonly sold to people who are not IBOs, then anyone can conclude that upline success comes from the pockets of the downline. Most downline would be better off writing a check for $100 each month to their upline and not participating in the business or buying products at all.

This in itself would not be such an issue if the system actually churned out new successes frequently AND if the downline were not led to believe that the system is the key to their success. But less than one half of one percent of IBOs ever reach platinum and out of those who do, only a tiny fraction of one percent ever attain the diamond level. But the business has tens of millions of people who tried and could never achieve what was promoted. Lack of effort may be a factor, but when that many people try and fail, it's evident that the system is flawed as well.

To summarize, it is possible for someone to achieve a level of success in Amway, but it is so difficult and so rare that IBOs probably have a better chance of winning the lottery or being struck by lightning than they do of achieving a significant level in the Amway business. Some people are successful, but it is usually at the expense of their downline. The catch is that uplines will teach their faithful downline IBOs that attending a function or buying a standing order is success, regardless of whether an IBO is earning a profit. So many IBOs think they're successful but they are simply fooling themselves with the help of their upline.

Success is undeniable, but sadly for the vast majority of IBOs, it is also unattainable, at least in the Amway opportunity.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey there Joe. I was in Amway for almost 5 years and followed the system for "success" and then some. I was making anywhere from 21 to 14 "new friends" a week, and that resulted in 5 to 10 plans. I always had multiple guests at every open. So of course I never missed an open. So over the course of those years that is a butt load of prospects through the filter. The problem is none of them ever got in! And if they did, they turned around and quit within weeks. Needless to say, I worked my ass off for almost 5 years and never even hit the LT3 level. (that is 3 legs plugging in to all functions with at least 10 IBOships on CEP and doing their PV)

So the effort aspect didn't apply to me, so my upline would always tell me I wasn't working with the right people, or my faith wasn't right, or my attitude wasn't right, or I hadn't sown enough seed...bla bla bla.... They never told me I didn't read or listen enough because I was loading up on those drugs, I mean "tools". I freakin outworked everyone on the team, and I'm a chick! The "system" just flat DOESN'T WORK, because there is no "system for success" in a SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wish I would've known about your blog and Anna's 5 years ago! Sure would of saved me a lot of time and money. I'm thinking of starting a blog of my own to help me cope with my cult exodus and to help prevent others from entering into such a toxic waste of time...and money.

I love your blog!
- Former Ambot

Joecool said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and the kind comments. I hope you visit my archives and read other older articles. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

joe just wondering, I'm currently being persuaded to join by a guy i met while working. Hes put together an enticing pitch while still addressing all the questions I've asked about all the negatives that are brought up on blogs such as yours. Now obviously 6 figure payouts are hard to come by and he hasn't tried to hide that either but is it not still an alright plan if your just looking to make more money, even just a couple hundred a month?

Joecool said...

Hi Anonymous. What do you consider enticing? Someone making a six figure income with little effort sounds great. Can they prove that they make this kind of money? In business it is common to ask for verification of income claims.

Making a couple hundred extra sounds great but it is difficult to do and if your upline/sponsor wants to sell you tools and function tickets, you are more likely to lose a coupld of hundred each month.

You can email me or ask me more specific questions and I can try to help you.

Anonymous said...

Actually this guy has specifically stated I don't need the tools and that he will lend some to me if I feel the need for them. Being a business student for me enticing is any extra cash I can grab and the sales experience regardless of making the money or not. Sounds a bit cheesy but it is true. The 6 figures isn't them offering it too me. I got that from the research on the web I have been doing. My recruiter says he's a platinum. Whether that means he is above, below, or around the Amway stated average income I don't know and haven't asked. Too me it seems the key to Amway "success" is to have a personally invested upline. Whether it's greed or they are actually genuine people the Amway system makes it necessary for them to help you out... All in theory anyway. His offer is pretty much him and his sponsor will help me out creating a network by helping in my meetings with my recruits and joining me in sales pitches if/when I get them. And this is without me actually signing up. I told him of my skepticism and he said he himself was the same but he said they will help me out set up until im satisfied enough to start up. Is that part of the sales pitch or genuine?

Joecool said...

They will tell you that you don't need tools in the beginning. If you start to make money, they will tell you that a "business owner" needs to buy their own tools. They'll tell you what you want to hear until youactually sign up. A six figure income in Amway is possible, but less than one out of 20,000 IBOs ever get there. And even at that, the six figure income is gross, bot counting taxes and expenses.

Try asking an IBO for income verification. They may show you checks or picture of cars, they they won't show you actual business tax returns, which is normal in real business.

Ask the platinum to verify his income. I was one step below platinum at one time and I wasn't making any net profit. I'll bet your platinum and most if not all of his downline are losing money.

Read more of my posts. I think some of the posts cover this very issue.

Dividend Tech Warrior said...

My brother is determined to get into this Amway shenanigans despite my warning. Sighz......

Anonymous said...

Of course you don´t know what you are talking about.
I´m a Amway Diamond and of course you don´t know how to work in a Network Marketing.

Joecool said...

LOL, I call BS on your claim, anon @ 10/19/2011.

Are there Amway diamonds in Brazil?

Amota A Merang said...

im in a tiny country called Kiribati and thinking about joining AMWAY from here. I heard about it from Uni while studying in Australia last year. It is very easy to convince people here to joinI(cultural and lifestyle reasons) so I guess it might be a good idea to be the very first man on a country to join and everyone will follow. What you guys think?

My university friend in Africa now asked me to join so I just asked him now on facebook to sponsor me.

cheers

Amota A Merang said...

Im in Kiribati, a tiny island in the central pacific ocean and thinking of joining AMWAY soon. Heard about it from a friend at Australian University last year and I just decided to join as Im in my own country now. Because of a culture and lifestyle here on the island, it is very easy to convince everyone to join the business like this so I guess it might be a good idea if I'm the first person in the country to join and everyone follows. What you guys think?
My friend who told me about this is now in Africa so I can just asked him on facebook to sponsor me to join.

cheers

Joecool said...

If you don't mind profiting by exploiting your friends and family, then go for it. If you have any ethics, you might want to think about it.

Anonymous said...

Ambot

Joe is right on. Amway is nothing but a "pyramid" scheme covered up by product to make it legal. (ck. Amway Lawsuit of 1979). Simple multiplication tells you it is flawed by "marketing design". 5-5-5. Do the math, after the 3rd level no one makes any money. It's mathamatically impossible.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous

You know the odds of making Diamond level is less than 1%. You have a better chance of winning the lottery. And, why do people involved in Amway, or any other MLM company insist on calling it Network Marketing. You think maybe it has something to with when you mention MLM people run. I THINK SO. Did you ever hear the story of the jackass who wanted to be a horse, but every time it opened it's mouth the old "hee, haw" was still present. Don't try to cover up somethng, by calling it something else.

Anonymous said...

Amota

Amway will make you believe that you are at the top of your organization, but there could be thousands ahead of you in which your downline, and you are feeding money to by buying product and selling tools. Hope you understand. MLM in general is ONE BIG LIE! Please don't fall for this, there other ways to spend your hard earned money. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

you are a complete loser that is making the world hate on something you failed becuase you clearly weren't doing anything right. First of all, if you're working with amway and "pluging" into the system for 5 years and making a net loss, you're DEFINATELY not doing things right. I was getting $300 bonus cheques + $100-$150 retail profit within the first 5 months, and i only spent 250$ on products. and this was only at the 1000pv level.

Second of all, if you;re just below a platinum (i.e. 4000PV), you based on the payout, you're paycheque should be at MINIMUM: $2000, which means even if you spent $500 on products (which no one does) + $150 on events (which no one does), you're still profitable by $1000+!!!


so stop lying just cause you're pathetic self failed to succeed. This oportunity isn't for everyone, and if it didn't work for you, why cant you just keep it to yourself rather than taking away hope and opportunity for others? Maybe someone just wants an extra $500 - $1000/month... and not to mention all the tax benefits you get from being an IBO.

you're a hopeless pathetic loser - and i bet you $1000 you're going to be sitting in the same position in life 10 yrs from now.
Good to know that you have time to spend on creating blogs about your failures rather than you're successes or achivements (probably cause you dont have any).

And i gaurentee this post is gonna hurt your self esteem and you`ll probably delete it. But as long as you know that i know what a selfless, hopeless amature you are, that is fine with me.

Have a great life.
AMWAY 4 LIFE.

Anonymous said...

rot...in....hell.

**proud Amway hater**

Anonymous said...

+1

Jonathan said...

But as long as you know that i know what a selfless, hopeless amature you are, that is fine with me.

Its amateur...get it right.

Why do people from Amway insist on hating on anyone who slightly disagrees with them? Joe is just telling everyone what he's been through. You can disagree and talk about how much success you had, but why do you have to directly attack him? Is that the business etiquette your upline taught you?

Unknown said...

yeah screw amway and quixtar. I make an extra 5,000 a month on amazon and ebay. and plus i have great job. Your not going to make any money on Amway