Most IBOs fail. That is not a wild guess. That is a fact. Failure would mean doing nothing or trying hard and not making a net profit equal to minimum wage for the hours expended. Amway supporters will argue that many IBOs do little or nothing, and while that might be true, even the remaining IBOs who work hard, still find little or no success. The system is set up that way. If you see a diamond "walking the beaches" as the cash rolls in, that means someone is putting forth the effort to make that happen. It is the downline IBOs who purchase Amway products and tools that allow these diamonds to enjoy what they portray as success. By the way, does anyone actually know one of these diamonds who are retired and doing nothing while cash rolls in?
We also know that some diamonds overhype their success. There has been evidence that the diamond lifestyle is often not what people think it is. If you could truly earn residual income by the bucketload, why do diamonds quit, resign, lose homes in foreclosure proceedings, and even wind up in bankruptcy court? One could argue that some diamonds are failures. The diamond lifestyle is an illusion created by upline leaders as a means to entice recruits. I would venture a guess that many diamonds are living in debt or struggling to make ends meet.
Many Amway zealots and apologists try to make ridiculous claims comparing a company owner to a diamond. The big difference is that a company owner has employees who get a regular paycheck. These employees generally wanted the job and probably applied for the work. And if and when an employee leaves, there are other applicants who are willing to step in and do the work. Thus the business continues to meet their demands and continues to profit.
In the Amway opportunity, the IBOs spend money purchasing products, and then upline leaders expect these same folks to spend even more money to learn how to be motivated to do the Amway business. But in reality, if IBOs made profits, that would likely be sufficient motivation to run their businesses. Because it is hard to find enough (suckers) prospects to join the business and fork out cash while they lose money, other IBOs have resorted to trickery, deception and outright lying at times, in order to attract potential downlines. This has damaged Amway's reputation.
The 6-4-2 system ensures that the majority of business builders must "do the work" to uphold their platinum, who (probably) barely earns a net profit. And then you need 3 or 6 groups of IBOs losing money in order to maintain an emerald or diamond. Amway has revealed that less than 4% of product moves to non IBOs. The absence of non IBO customers nearly guarantees that most IBO groups will lose money or make very little. Most IBOs are destined to fail. And it is not necessarily the IBO's fault. The system itself comes with many flaws which most IBOs cannot overcome, even for those who put forth much effort. It is why most IBOs fail. It is why I hope prospects will find and read this information before making a final decision to sign up or not.
Can you imagine a major company like IBM or Coca-Cola announcing that only 4% of its products were sold to the general public, while 96% was sold in-house, to employees?
ReplyDeleteThat's not just bad business. It's insane!
Amway (and all other MLMs) will be destroyed when it finally sinks into the mind of the general public that a company that cannot sell its products in a competitive open market is A FAKE BUSINESS. If it can only sell its products to its own salesmen and distributors, then its only real source of income is perpetual recruitment of personnel.
Just a note, that 4% admission was some years ago, and I cannot confirm that figure now, although I highly doubt that it's changed significantly. The groups such as WWDB or BWW, teal, teach "buy from yourself". I recall being taught that whether someone likes to sell product or not, The Amway business is "perfect" for them. Even the "customers" that IBOs have are often sympathetic friends and family.
ReplyDeleteAnd while my assessment is my informed opinion, if you think about it, who will IBOs sell to? Will they actually find buyers for highly overpriced goods by cold contact? Unlikely.
It is an interesting question and it is almost like Amway has lived under a rock for the last 30-40 years.
ReplyDeleteIf there wasn't all of the attached ponzi schemes like N21, WWDB and so on, if Amway were to just sell direct to the public via the internet and deliver to the home without the extra 30%+ of comms going to the pyramid, would people buy their stuff? Would it be economic?
Maybe not, else you would think it would be done since it is an online ordering process anyway. Completely weird, the whole thing really. Amway and its related ponzi schemes/cults should be in a 'strange but true' museum perhaps.