I know Amway defenders will talk about some of the sales they make, and that's fine and good, but when I look at the kinds of sales they make, it is usually insignificant. I recently read some comments that sort of made me laugh. A prospect apparently was invited to an Amway recruitment meeting by a friend, and out of courtesy, sat through the presentation (which nobody else attended) and politely declined to register. The commenter went on to say that after the meeting, he felt sorry for his friend and purchased something off of his friend's IBO website, and it felt like making a charitable contribution. Makes me wonder since Amway's products are mostly consumed by IBOs themselves and I believe less than 5% of Amway good actually made it into the hands of a non IBO customer.
But now I wonder out of the tiny amount of IBO retail sales, how many of those sales are basically charitable contributions made to IBOs by family and friends who simply feel sorry for their acquainted IBO? When I first declined to join Amway under my eventual sponsor, they did ask me to buy some of their goods. But being a single male, my age group demographic didn't really match me with the products they were pushing. If I remember correctly, I ended up buying the liquid Amway car wax. While the car wax worked as well as the other leading brands, I recall that I paid about $12 for it back in 1995 or so. I can currently get a jumbo sized bottle od Nu-Finish or Astroshield liquid car wax for $7.99 at Target or other local retailers, and at times, the store puts them on special sales for $5.99. So basically, I am getting about twice as much car wax for the price if I purchase my car wax on a store special. I know Amway zealots will want to compare the price with an online sourcem but as I said, I make my purchase in person and wait for store soecials which occurs every couple of months.
I know at times, I have seen other family and friends involved in MLM. And while I was once there, I now see their attempts as somewhat pathetic, especially when they are basically walking the same path I did about 12 years ago as an IBO. I do not discourage them, but simply decline to see their plan or register as a downline. I have at times, also made charitable contributions to some friends who had become involved in MLM. If nothing else, just to be supportive of a friend. Ultimately, these MLM friends eventually figured things out on their own and quit as I did. Some of them follow my blog and some just quietly faded into the sunset. They do not run an informative blog as I do, but not everyone can or will. (Sound familar?)
However, after reading the comments about the polite friend who bought an Amway product from a friend, I have to wonder whether IBOs are making true retail sales or merely receiving charitable contributions from friends and family in the form of Amway product purchases?
I am not an AMWAY defender, but I can tell you for sure they are not a Pyramid Scheme or anything close to illegal. As always, the ignorant out there that don't bother to learn the truth about anything before opening their mouths would contradict whatever positive is said about this company. Look, distributors operate completely independent of the AMWAY company. They don't make much by selling AMWAY's products however, once they become successful by assembling a large group of people (other distributors) they have the opportunity to be part of a larger distributors group which conducts conventions all over the country. They also are able to conduct their own meetings in their area and charge for these and all the training materials they sell. The big money comes from all these conventions they get to be part of every year for as long as they keep their level of achievement. There are approx. 15 to 20 thousand people attending these conventions. They last 3 days. Usually, they are conducted in a city's convention center or a large auditorium. Just think for a minute, 15 thousand people times approx. 400 to 500 hundred dollars per person, that comes out to around 7 million dollars or so, right? That money, after paying for all expenses (hotels, meals and locale) is divided by the most successful distributors within the particular group putting up the occasion. There are 4 of these conventions going on every year in all parts of the country. So, how much money you think they make? Especially those who have a very large group of distributors? So, There is the scoop. That's the truth of why AMWAY distributors hustle so much to get people signed up into their group.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone said Amway is an illegal pyramid. But what you've basically said, is that you don't make much money on Amway products but by recruiting a lot of downline so you can hold your own conventions and sell them tickets.
DeleteSo in other words, you're confirming the Amway tools scam..