Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Amway Reality?

When I was an IBO, I saw the Amway presentation many times. The person showing the plan used the 6-4-2 plan at the time. While some other variations have been made since, the basic premise is to show off fancy cars, houses, a leisurely lifestyle and attribute it to the Amway business. Often, the presentation will show a best case scenario for IBOs and ignore the reality for most. Dreams and hopes may be talked about. Dreams of early retirement and residual income flowing for generations to come while you and your family wake up at noon everyday and decide what fun activities you'll partake in for the day. The presentation is certainly thought provoking and can get people's interest. Who wouldn't like to quit their job if they can be "retired" and have more income rolling in with minimal effort?

Sadly for most, the reality will set in soon enough and many will end up doing little or nothing. Some will give it an earnest try and end up seeing the reality of the business. The reality is that the business is nearly impossible to build and sustain. While a select few might succeed and make some money at it, the vast majority, even those who work hard and learn the skills of the trade will make nothing or lose money. Participation in the tool system which includes functions, nearly assures an IBO of a net loss. While this will be downplayed by upline leaders, it it absolutely the reality for most.

Why is the business so next to impossible to build? There are various reasons. In general, Amway's products are not priced competitively. You can find most(same) products or similar products at a big box retailer and get it cheaper. In many cases, the quality is better or equal. That is not to say there is nothing of value in Amway. Some of their products are fairly good and have value. But overall, you can get more bang for your buck at other retailers. For that reason, it is difficult for many IBOs to sell Amway products, save for some family and friends. What makes it even harder for IBOs is that they are primarily moving product by person to person interaction as advertising is limited or prohibited altogether by Amway's rules.

IBO retention also makes it nearly impossible to retain a group and makes the possibility of "residual" income next to impossible, save for some very tenured and old timers who have very deep legs (downlines). I don't personally know of anyone who's retired to walked away from the Amway business with income still coming in. While there might a few, you'd have to wonder why crown ambassadors and double diamonds continue to work the functions when they could be sitting on an exotic beach relaxing.

Also factor in some crazy IBO behavior and IBO's antics and you can see why the Amway business is next to impossible to build and retain. There are countless stories of people being tricked into attending Amway meetings, or people being lied to or deceived by an IBO. When you have this kind of reputation, you can easily see that building and retaining an Amway business is next to impossible. That is the reality. The reality is that most IBOs who give it an earnest try will lose money if they participate in the seminars and standing orders. The reality is that uplines might make most of their money from the sale of tools and not from Amway. The reality is that recruiting and maintaining a downline is nearly impossible.

While IBOs and Amway apologists may paint a different picture, it doesn't change the reality, which is clear to me.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

My wife had a meeting in my house last night with Amway reps and I listened in . Since I couldn't figure how product sales would go( I chase salesPeople away) I figured that registration must be key , so I thought it was a pyramid scheme.
I made a bit of money once on a short lived scheme so I was excited as the longer they last the more you make . I like pyramid schemes and would definitely invest in one so I'm disappointed in amway . Thanks for the info . You wouldn't know of any scheme running at the moment ?

Anonymous said...

If you are looking for a good pyramid scheme you wont find better than amway. And as soon as you get a few thousand in your group you can really push the tools.

Anonymous said...

All True.... Been there....... It's all true... Sad, but true.

Alessandrofelix said...

Not true...compare Amway to pyramid schemes and other MLM as Herbalife or Avon, You'll see the diference. Easy to talk when you don't understand your market.

Anonymous said...

it's the same. nobody will ever convince me any different.

Anonymous said...

If you look at amway wiki very few pins have deep legs and even fewer have wide legs. This is why the mlm earnibgs list have only a few amway people on it. And those on it started years ago.difficul to find anyone with with/depth in the last ten to 15 years. Easy to find high pins from earlier years who have no business left.

ExAmbot said...

I did compared scAmway to Herbalife and other MLM pyramids and guess what I found, the difference is the same. Let me break it down further - commissioned sales people working for a few people who own the pyramid and those at the top of the pyramid and paying for the privilege from their own pockets.

In other words if you get money without working for it, then someone else is going to work without getting any money for it. There is no free lunch!

ExAmbot said...

BTW that means if you are a bottom lemming you are getting screwed. If you somehow manage to make your way up the pyramid you are screwing those below you. There's nothing right about this scAmway pyramid and others like it.