IBOs Must Believe?

 Happy New Year bloggers!    Based on some recent comments, I was inspired to write this post.  I’ve slowed down a bit due to the holidays but plan to pick it up a bit in 2021.   So you might wonder what my title is about?  Well, many prospects are younger or just entered the work force and face the idea of working 30-40 years while saving for retirement.  Seems daunting which is how the diamonds suck you in.  

They make it sound like working makes you a slave of the boss and that you must endure it for decades before you can retire and even that’s not secure.  They tell you that they as diamonds have it made and the only way to break the cycle is to join Amway and go diamond,  

Hey, 2-5 years of hard work and build it right and become financially free. That’s at better than working 30 to 40 years full time.  And the diamonds hold the secret to this financial nirvana.  All you need to do is sign up for their “system” and follow their advice and easy street awaits you.  Despite the fact that diamonds are not popping up like weeds, the IBOs hold onto the faith and belief that the diamonds will deliver them to the promised land. 

But you might ask why do IBOs believe so strongly despite the mountains of evidence that the system doesn’t work?  The IBOs believe because they must.  If they let go of their falsely elevated hopes and dreams, what do they fall back on?  They fall back on the reality of working 30 to 40 years until they can retire and then hope they have enough cash to retire on.  

But if IBOs would take a dose of reality that Amway will not deliver the lofty dreams that diamonds peddle to the down line, they would realize that there is no magic pixie dust to produce early retirement, short of winning the lottery.  Retirement takes planning and work.  Sometimes one might get lucky and have money dropped into their lap but in most cases, luck has little to do with early retirement.  

But IBOs believe the diamonds, because they have to.  Anything less would serve them a harsh dose of reality.  

Amway And The Holidays!

 I recall being an Amway IBO many years ago.  IBOs wind up being social paraiahs at times because they have ulterior motives at social events.  Or at least the ones that their Amway schedule allows them to attend.  I found it humorous that Amway diamonds would teach about vertical alignment which means God, Family and your job came first and Amway fell in line after that. But at the same time you were expected to never miss a meeting or function.  

It must be awkward at times to be at social gatherings knowing that some IBO might be eyeing you up as a potential Amway prospect.  IBOs are shameless at times when it comes to looking for potential recruits.  After all, you can’t go diamond without a group of IBOs down line.  I recall doing sone of these zany things myself as an IBO, but luckily I saw the light and snapped out of my Amway trance pretty quickly.  

So to that I say to Amway IBOs.  Have a merry Christmas and give up prospecting for two weeks.  Enjoy the holidays without having a motive.  Enjoy your friends and family and don’t worry about Amway for a few weeks.  The world won’t come to and end and more than likely. Your business won’t have been affected by stopping recruiting for a few weeks to enjoy the holidays. 

I don’t know what the new year will bring but you’ll survive and life will go on.  By now your upline diamonds are likely promoting a major function called Dream Night or something like it.  While it might be a virtual event, you will be sports cars and jet skis, and other luxurious goods.  All to get you “dreaming” so you’ll be motivated to keep building Amway. Of course to attend dream night you’ll have to fork out $75 or more but this year it likely won’t include a dinner.  In the end, you and thousands of other IBOs paying for these functions and other tools is how the diamonds pay for the stuff you might see at dream night.  

Don’t believe me?  Do the math.  

Selling?

 One thing I recall about my time in Amway was how difficult it could be to sell Amway stuff.   You rarely heard about anyone edified for selling a lot of stuff.   My own experience was primarily friends and family, likely sympathy purchases.   Help out the crazy friend who does Amway.  LOL. 

But seriously, has anyone gone on stage as a ruby because they sold 15,000 PV worth of Amway stuff?   The most extreme case I witnessed was a fellow IBO who bought 1000 PV worth of stuff in a month because the diamond had promoted a picnic that he would attend but only for those who were at 1000 PV or higher.  Of course that IBO later lost his home in foreclosure.  

That’s why diamonds advised us to ask if prospects enjoyed selling.  Regardless of a yes or no response, our answer would be “great, then this business is perfect for you”.  It gave you an out either way.  But it’s just another example of diamonds teaching questionable recruiting tactics.  I guess an honest straight up approach regarding Amway doesn’t work so there are strategies that need to be employed.  

To support my claim I simply point to the fact that diamonds teaching the buy from yourself mantra.  No selling needed. Just self consume your own defacto quota of PV and get others to do the same.  Of course I know of no business where you can consume yourself to success.  But it’s what many IBOs believe and what many diamonds teach.   And for this reason and others, I’ve been blogging about it for nearly two decades so these silly teachings can be exposed for the fraud that I believe it is.  

“Broke”?

 I recall my Amway upline saying how our group was “broke”.  He says we’re not bad people but being broke was the result of our mentality.  That we somehow think working 40 hours a week for 40 years is the answer to our long term finances. That we needed to shift our thinking away from the broke mentality.  So apparently anyone with a job was broke because working was not the answer.   Even though you're told that Amway is "hard work", somehow that doesn't count as work in relation to having a job.  

The diamonds thought they had it all figured out because they allegedly play all day and night without a worry in the world. They have the right mindset because they have a business that is earning for them while they do other things.  They are the greatest business minds because they have it all.  Or so it seems.  

There never was any explanation given when a WWDB triple diamond filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy some years ago.  Some IBOs flat out denied it despite there being publicly available records of it.   But this diamond was fiercely defended by the faithful, clamoring that they were lucky to be given advice from someone with his business acumen.  That despite his wise decisions resulted in credit card debt that he could not pay off, and loans that he defaulted on by declaring bankruptcy.  So much for that financial acumen and integrity that IBOs often speak of.  

That leads me to another point.  Nobody knows how well off or not the diamonds are.  They put on a good show but has anyone seen their tax returns or bank statements?  How do you know that the diamonds aren’t as broke as everyone else?  A luxurious lifestyle is not cheap and diamonds don’t make millions of dollars as they would have you believe.  It’s very likely that many of them are in debt just like many other Americans who live beyond their means.  Having a higher than average income doesn’t shield you from living beyond your means.   Go and look at Amway's disclosures.  A Q12 diamond (Q12 is the exception, not the norm) makes around $600k gross income.  A regular non Q12 diamond (the norm) makes a lot less.  Even with supplemental income from tools and functions, you aren't buying mansions and $100k sports cars in cash.  

If IBOs are broke, then it’s very likely that many diamonds are as well.  The only difference is that the diamonds don’t man up and admit it.  Instead they put on a show to rip off their down lines with rah rah tools and functions.   The diamonds are more like actors who put on a show for their downline.

Perpetuating The Scam?

 The diamonds have been laughing all the way to the bank for decades now.  Sone diamonds use this to justify their actions as levy because surely a scam would have been uncovered and shut down.  To that I say organized crime is older than Amway and alive and well.  So is the Nigerian scam and other similar variations.  The LOS such as WWDB or Network 21 continue to roll on using Amway as their vehicle.

The scheme is quite subtle and clever.  They often target younger folks who see their careers just starting thus they have a long journey towards retirement. The diamonds say you will work hard but Amway is a great shortcut to early retirement and possibly untold wealth.  At meetings and functions, they show things to entice recruits into joining and for IBOs to drool over as a reason to press forward. 

The diamonds say they basically hold the secrets to unlocking this secret to succeeding in Amway.  But to unlock that secret you will need to dedicate yourself to the tools and functions with undying loyalty.  They say if you never quit you will eventually cross that finish line sort of like running a marathon.  Sounds like something that most people can do if they just set their minds to it. 

What goes unnoticed is that the ultimate goal is like finding the end of a rainbow.  It will always be seemingly out of reach.  But upline says do not despair, just continue to immerse yourself in the tools and functions and you will make it.  As if consumption of tools and functions alone will make you a success.  Amway for sone, becomes an addiction, like a drug user or someone hooked on smoking.  It’s hard to quit plus you start to think you invested too much to just quit. 

And that’s how the diamonds continue to perpetuate a scam.  They instill a fear in you that quitting makes you a broke loser and that quitting means you have no hope for a good financial future.  That quitting can’t be an option.  But in business, sometimes quitting is the best decision.  Cut your losses.  It doesn’t mean you’ve quit trying to better yourself and your family.  But it might mean you just need a better way to achieve your goals and dreams. There are many better options besides Amway.  You just need to go get it.  

Living In Luxury?

 If you believe your upline diamonds, people join Amway and  in a few years, retire at an early age, live in luxury and live happily ever after.  But oddly, you never actually meet these folks and if they are simply an urban legend.  Sort of like big foot or UFOs.  Everyone’s heard about big foot and UFOs but there has never been bonafide evidence of their existence, much like diamonds who built their business and “walked away” from Amway to enjoy residual income for life. 

The diamonds typically speak about the luxurious lifestyle that they enjoy without any financial worries.  Just to make an analogy, a regular average diamond probably makes around (according to Amway) $150k annually.  With tools income to augment that they might make $200 to $250k annually.   A Q12 diamond (rare) earns around $600k.  A nice income?  For sure.  

To add scale, $600k is around the minimum wage of an NFL player. I actually think they make around $500k.  But the point is that about 2/3 of NFL players go broke shortly after they stop playing.  And that 2/3 includes those who make much more than the NFL minimum.  Excess living and luxury often contributes to the demise of many NFL players.  So what’s the point?  

The point is that the Amway business is a fragile one where a group can quit and drop you out of qualification in a heartbeat.  In other words a diamond can fall out of qualification just as an NFL player can get injured or cut from the team.  In other words their income can shrink or stop at any time.   But we are to believe they live in excess luxury at all times?  

I believe it’s all a show and diamonds likely have to live on a budget and save for retirement like anyone else.  Maybe tenured diamonds might be secure but certainly not new ones whose groups can fall apart. Diamonds might give the impression that they live in luxury but I suspect that reality would paint a very different picture.  Do the math on a life of luxury and I can assure you that the cost exceeds the Amway reported diamond incomes.  

Build It Right, Build It Once?

 One of the things upline taught was how you could build your business right and build it once.  You would the. Have the option to “walk away” to enjoy residual income for life while the income keeps flowing forever and you can live happily ever after.   Sounds like a great deal right?

It would be a great deal if it were true but more likely it’s complete BS.  Build it right and build it once?  So whh kg at happens to the 50% or more who quit within the first year and the near 100% who don’t last five years in Amway?  How can income be sustained when so many IBOs never do a thing and about half quit without renewing their business?  

How does a business generate income when the IBOs cone and go as if there is a revolving door for entering and exiting the business?   If the diamond is gone, who will keep the business held together and who will assist the leaders who are left behind?   It’s like building a sand castle on the beach. The castle may stand for a while but once the tide comes up, the waves will quickly make the sand castle disappear.  Just as attrition will eat away at an Amway business when someone walks away.  

Even if this sill claim were true, why hasn’t anyone chosen this option?  Surely walking away to a quiet retirement in privacy and untold wealth, surely there would be a few good examples of this happening.  Instead we see the same old tired diamonds schlepping tools and functions to the down line ad nauseum.  IMO, it’s gotten to the point where these diamonds should be embarrassed pushing tools and functions on down line 

The diamonds never walk away because once they stop, the income stops.  Sure there might be sone income still coming in for a while but if a platinum or two down line fall out of qualification, the diamond will also fall out.  And that’s because the Amway business with high attrition is just not self sustainable.   You don’t have to believe me but instead, go find a few IBOs who built it once and built it right and who walked away to enjoy life long residual income. 

Feel free to return here and report your findings.   🤡

Diamonds Pay Cash?

 One of the things that diamonds taught the audience that diamonds pay cash for everything, including houses.  It sounds impressive but if you really look closely and examine how much a typical diamond earns, you will scratch your head.  According to Amway, a Q12 diamond earns around $600k annually which is awesome but a Q12 is a rare exception. An average diamond (non Q12) earns around $150k annually.  

How can a diamond with $150k gross income, before taxes and business expenses afford to even buy a top of the line Mercedes Benz in cash?   Even is a diamond augments that income with income from tools and functions, buying big ticket items like a house in cash seems far fetched and that teaching can have tragic results. I have a real life example of myself and my former sponsor as a contrast. 

I purchased home in Hawai’i a few years after quitting Amway.  I paid $300k for my house in the year 2000 and my home is currently valued at about one million dollars.  My mortgage is nearly paid off at this point. My sponsor was contacted by me real estate agent (the agent was a friend of mine and my sponsor).   My sponsor refused to consider buying a home because his upline said to pay cash.  My former sponsor, who is currently a doctor, still does not own a home last I heard.  

That is a perfect example of bad Amway advice that directly adversely affected someone’s life.  Now I’m not sure if my former sponsor is still heavily involved in Amway or not but looking back, he definitely lost out by not purchasing a home because he wanted to pay cash.  I guess diamonds don’t teach about financial leverage, especially with mortgage rates at record lows.  

If you ask me, diamonds buying everything in cash, including big ticket items is very likely complete BS.   A triple diamond bankruptcy about 10 years ago made his financials public record and this diamond had mortgages he couldn’t pay and credit card debt.  And this diamond was one who taught that loans are stupid because you have to pay the bank interest.  

Take diamond teaching and advice with a grain of salt.  Verify questionable claims and be skeptical.  Blind trust can get you in a lot of trouble.  Just look at my former sponsor.  It’s just sad and makes me shake my head.  

The Key To Success?

 Upline would tell the audience as nauseum that tools and functions are the key to success.  It’s kind of ironic as tools and functions are vital to success, but it’s vital only to the success of the diamonds and higher ups.  Think about it.  The diamonds pocket the profits and show you all the luxuries they enjoy but they don’t mention that much of their luxuries come from tools and functions profits.  

Diamonds used to lie and claim no profits were made from tools and functions but that lie is now impossible to defend do they might mention that profits are made but down play the amount of the profits.  One revealing piece of evidence came in 2009 when a triple diamond filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy and his income details became publicly available. It revealed that the triple diamond made about half a million annually from Amway, which is a good income but certainly not the Uber wealth you would have imagined.  This diamond also made about half a million annually from tools and functions.  

So even with a million dollar income this diamond had credit card debt, was unable to pay his bills and I didn’t see any charitable donations on his tax returns.  Now a million dollars annually is a great income but you aren’t buying mansions and a fleet of sports cars in cash.   Living the “diamond” lifestyle is expensive and I suspect that the average diamond likely can’t sustain that lifestyle.  It seems that the income from tools and functions are vital to sustain a diamonds finances.  

Think about this.  Income from tools and functions have a higher profit margin than Amway products and unlike the Amway compensation plan, rank and file IBOs do not get anything for the volume of tools they move.  Thus the diamonds will push the tools hard and take no prisoners.  It’s also why your lifelong Amway uplines don’t give a hoot about you once you stop attending functions or stop buying tools.  You become one of the bitter and broke losers who quit. 

Tools and functions are vital to Amway success; if you are a diamond. This does not apply to the rank and file.  

 

Be Accountable?

 One of the important aspects of being an Amway business owner, according to upline teaching, was to be accountable.  Be good for your word and don’t write bad checks.  When I was at 1000 PV, my upline wrote me a bonus check which bounced.  Imagine that?  My upline was so embarrassed and asked me to be discreet about it.   That credibility flew out the window and that’s when I started to upline and some of their teaching. 

I also recall my upline stating that time is money and that you should never be late or keep people waiting which is why I thought it was odd that the diamonds routinely showed up for meetings and functions late.  It’s a matter of rules for thee but not for me.  Sort of like how IBOs are supposed to wear catalog suits but diamonds can wear what they want because they can afford better.   So much for product loyalty? 

The diamonds employ this double standard because they want IBOs to keep their word to be CORE and to especially keep their commitment to tools and functions.  In my opinion, this the the main reason why this accountability teaching is so important to upline.   You’d think more IBOs would see through this but too many are indoctrinated and are loyal to the upline leaders.  

The really sad thing is if you are open minded or at least neutral, it’s not that hard to see through the self serving advice and teaching of the upline.  There are many instances of upline teaching utter nonsense.  One great example is to charge yourself full retail price and count that as profit so you can fund your tools and functions. It actually makes me sad when some new IBO comments and parrots the insane teaching of their upline.  I could go on about insane teaching but I’ll save that for another article. 

If you’re and IBO or a prospect, ask yourself this.  Are your upline leaders accountable?  If you think so, why?   Do they hold themselves responsible if you do as they say and you don’t make a net profit?  Are they responsible when you do as they advise and still wind up losing money?   If you can answer that honestly there’s still hope for you.  

In Defense Of Amway?

 Back sone years ago there was more debate about Amway from critics and defenders alike.  But the lengths that some defenders went to were outright BS to creepy at times. I recall some defenders trying to debate the quality of Amway toilet paper and at least one defender was called a cyber bully by an Amway corporate blogger.   I’ve even seen numerous personal attacks against critics which are uncalled for.  

It seems to me that the most simple defense of Amway would to show how people are making net profits.  Except perhaps that Amway defenders simply cannot do this in any meaningful way because Amway’s own disclosures debunk most claims about Amway success.  Less than half of all IBOs do anything.  Seems they sign up and are never seen again.  That in itself seems problematic.  

But what about the rest?  Well, the rest may attempt to make a sale or sponsor down line but many of these folks are following the teaching of a line of sponsorship which might include WWDB or Network 21 which are for profit companies that exist to make money for the diamonds and higher ups even if you lose your shirt in Amway.   Ironically it is the cost of the tools and functions that result in business losses for nearly all IBOs who participate. 

A common defense of Amway as presented by the most hard core defenders is that somewhere out there, there is a good Amway where IBOs sell products to regular customers which generates profits to cover the cost of tools and functions and eventually these IBOs move up the ranks until they are net profitable and duplicating these results with their down line.  But whenever pressed to show evidence of these groups, Amway defenders fell on their faces or started the personal attacks, name calling and even cyber bullying at one time. 

If a “good” Amway exists, I can say I’ve never seen or even heard of it.  Back in 2006 I had friended someone who had the equivalent of an emerald business but did not participate in the tools and functions.  They actually sold volume of products and had some down line.  She said the money was okay, not great but the business was basically a full time job.  She is no longer involved last I heard.  But this is the only instance I’ve ever heard of like this. 

Does anyone know where this good Amway can be found?   

Buy Your Way To Prosperity?

 One thing I can credit Amway diamonds with is coming up with the most bat sh@t crazy ideas that sound sensible to IBOs but utter madness to anyone else.  One that I heard about was how you can buy your way to prosperity.  Buy your own Amway products and get others to follow and you’ll soon be on the road to early retirement and residual income.  

Have you ever seen a store or business prosper when the major of sales are simply to the business owner and employees?   The answer is no because such a business does not exist.  It’s amazing that people actually believe that you can get rich buying from yourself.  But it works on the downline so the diamonds perpetuate the storyline.  

One thing I saw at a live function was the diamond telling IBOs to ask prospects if they like selling stuff and whether the answer was yes or no, your response would be “great, then this business is perfect for you”.  Of course, actual stories of significant retail sales were rare and my own experience suggested that sympathetic family and friends comprised most of whatever sales took place and I found myself at times selling items at my cost just so the expenses of moving 100 PV wasn’t all on me.  

The strategy of buying your own stuff seems to work because most people do not like selling stuff and especially not to friends.  But many will give it a run because they are hopeful that Amway will deliver the wealth that upline seemingly promises.  The sad thing about a that dreams of wealth is all you get and there’s very little success to speak of.  From function to function it’s the same old diamonds time and again.  

The diamonds might say they want downline success but they don’t.  They just want to keep replacing quitters with new members as long as they can churn in new tools and functions subscribers.  That’s the real game of diamonds and that’s why the emphasis of the tools and functions is recruiting new people into the game. It’s an elaborate scheme that prospects and new IBOs don’t see because they have Amway dreams clouding their thoughts.   

Recruiting?

 One of the most important elements of being an Amway IBO if you have dreams of going diamond , is to recruit anyone and everyone into your Amway business.  It’s because without down line you just can’t generate enough volume to make the higher bonuses, plus the level of diamond requires that you develop at least 6 groups that are a platinum or higher.  There are other requirements but I’m speaking in general.  

In reality a new IBO would very likely be better served learning how the business actually works, selling some products and trying to scratch out a net profit   I believe this wouldn’t be easy but it would be possible.   But because upline is selling hope and dreams, mainly hopes and dreams that can only happen by rabid recruiting, that’s where the focus is  

And recruiting isn’t easy because Amway has a reputation among the general public and a lot of it isn’t so good.  The behaviors of previous IBOs are still around which includes lying or tricking people into attending meetings, or deception, the horror stories are still out there.  My blog contains my own personal experience and sone testimony from others who walked down the Amway path.  That path is littered with the figurative dead bodies of those who tried. 

A long time ago, Amway escaped charges of being an illegal scheme because they did not compensate people for recruiting and because actual products are a part of the business.   Now I’m speaking in very general terms so there’s more to it but let’s face it, if there is no compensation for recruiting, why is it seemingly the focus of so many newbies and recruits?  

Most new IBOs don’t know much but they know that you aren’t going anywhere without a sizable group of down line  you certainly aren’t going diamond without down line.  But sadly going diamond is about as likely as winning a significant prize is a lottery.  Except that a lottery doesn’t take any work save for buying a ticket.   Good luck if you’ve read this and decide to sign up and recruit your own downline  

What’s Next For Amway?

 It’s been clear to me that Amway and the related systems such as worldwide group or network 21 only exist to extract money from the rank and file IBOs.  The very limited amounts of success make it clear that your chance of winning the powerball lottery is better than building and maintaining a profitable Amway business. 

If you just look at an Amway function where you may have tens of thousands in the audience and a few diamonds speaking is about the right ratio.  And that doesn’t include the ones who sign up and quit without doing much of anything.  Even that makes you wonder.  Why would you sign up for a business opportunity and do nothing?  Maybe it wasn’t what you thought or it was promoted as easy?  

I heard news today that a covid vaccine holds promise and that it might be available very soon.  That means society can get back to normal once the vaccine can be distributed for use in the United States.  While that’s great news, it also means that upline will want to make double time in getting tools and functions sold to the masses so their diamond lifestyle can continue.  

I really just hope that the easily available information will allow prospects to learn everything they can about Amway so even if they are hell bent on joining, they can do so knowing the perils that Amway and the systems can prevent.   When I joined there wasn’t much information around but now it’s at everyone’s fingertips.   It is for that reason that upline discourages people from checking the internet and talking to people who joined but quit.  That’s because you’re likely to fall for reasoning and not join.  

It is for that reason I’ve continued to blog and keep this website relevant so information seekers can get needed information and read about my own personal experience.  I do it as a hobby and I’ve been a bit slow on new articles as I’ve spent much time following the election and the stock market.   Good luck to those who visit Joecools blog and still join anyway!   🤡🤡

The Problem?

 Amway diamonds like to paint rosy pictures of what your life can be like for you will join Amway and do as they advise.  Basically if you just follow their advice and do as they say, they claim you will have what they have.   Nothing could be further from the truth. While there are occasional diamond who overcomes odds to qualify but in the meantime, the masses are failing and quitting while losing money in the process.  

The problem is too many people develop a trust in the upline diamond to a point where it’s dangerous.  Sort of like getting sucked into a cult and suffering the outcomes of dangerous advice and behaviors.  The upline diamond only cares about you as long as you are a consumer of tools and functions.  Walk away and you become a bitter gutless broke loser and quitter.  How’s that for the magic friendship that upline pitches? 

The problem for many rank and file IBOs is they believe that upline truly cares about them when they only care about the money you spend on tools and functions to augment their over the top lifestyle.  But if they don’t push the tools hard. I believe that the diamonds would not be able to find the magical diamond lifestyle that they portray. 

A Q 12 diamond, which is very rare, supposedly earns about $600k according to Amway disclosures.  That that a great income and similar to an NFL football player who’s earning the league minimum wage. But do you think that’s enough to pay off mansions and Ferraris in cash?  That what diamonds claim, that they live a cash lifestyle.  Oh and by the way, an average non Q12 diamond earns less than $200k.  Is this the kind of income that results in a first class lifestyle?  

After taxes and business expenses, I believe most diamonds live a mundane middle class lifestyle although you could argue that they get to do so without a job.  But they also do so without the security of income from a regular job.  But that lack of job security by diamonds is why they put the squeeze on the rank and file downline to make as much income as possible.  If the diamonds didn’t do this, I believe many of them would be either in debt or living check to check like the rest of the US, save for sone very fiscally responsible diamonds.  But how do you accomplish that and live a diamond lifestyle and therein lies the problem.  

What Is The Truth About Amway?

 There’s a website called “The Truth About Amway”, which I find ironic as it’s run by an Amway apologist who uses a lot of misinformation and obfuscation to prop up Amway as a business opportunity.  The theme of that website is that there’s a good Amway out there where IBOs actually sell products and make a net profit, but where is this good Amway?  

Amway’s own disclosures show that about half of IBOs do nothing and approximately 90+ % of IBOs do not last for more than a few years. Thus diamonds make their money by selling tools and functions to IBOs before they snap out of their Amway trance and quit. Thus is called the churn and I write about it in yesterday’s article.  

The churn is the reason why diamonds basically don’t give a crap about your success nor do they care if you make a red cent in Amway.  All they want is for you to adore them and blindly continue to buy tools and functions because that’s what funds the diamond lifestyle.  

So what is the truth about Amway?  The truth is that Amway revenues have been down or flat for many years and now with covid, I can’t imagine there was a sudden surge in demand for overpriced generic products.  The truth is that diamonds make significant income from tools and functions and push these on down line with no consideration as to whether an IBOs business justifies the expense.  The truth is that diamonds at times have broken away from their beloved uplines to start their own tool groups.  

Basically the Amway business is two businesses.  One is Amway which is the front for the tools and function businesses.  Sort of like how the crime mob would use a restaurant as a front for their criminal activities.  But it’s a symbiotic relationship because Amway benefits from diamonds teaching 100 PV minimum and product loyalty in addition to the massive recruiting done by the rank and file and in return, the diamonds soak their downline selling useless tools and functions right under Amway’s nose and Amway allows it. 

That’s basically the truth about Amway.  Believe it or proceed at your own risk.  

The Churn?

 What goes completely unnoticed by many Amway folks and prospects is how the upline diamonds actually make their money.  They are told that you make money by purchasing your own Amway products and getting others to copy or do the same thing that you do.  While the diamonds might keep their qualifications by doing this, the real money is in selling tools and functions.  

Tools and functions have larger profit margins than Amway products and the rank and file IBOs do not participate in the compensation plan thus the profits exclusively belong to the diamonds and higher ups.  For example, a function can likely be run for a few dollars per head but the diamonds charge more than a hundred bucks for these functions.  I even hear that virtual functions are still being run at full price.  This is more evidence of the upline greed. 

It’s no secret that most IBOs don’t even last a year in Amway, most likely because of the futility of building an Amway business, along with financial losses associated with the business.  Thus the diamonds need to capitalize on what’s called “the churn”.  That simply means that you get people into Amway and get them plugged into the system of tools and functions. Thus the diamonds profit until these newbies quit.  In the meantime the focus is to keep bringing in people to replace the ones who quit.

Think about this.  If diamonds kept emerging from the system, they would be one share holders in the tool and function profits but if a diamond can just keep replacing quitters, the profits from tools and functions remains in their pockets exclusively and nobody is the wiser.  Sure you need a new diamond here and there so they can proclaim that the system works but overall, the success rate in Amway is miserable at best. 

So if you’re being prospects into Amway or are already an IBO, read this post again and really try to think about this with an open mind. Then you can see through the smoke and mirrors that the upline diamonds are using. 

p.s.  it’s almost Election Day.  Please go out and vote!  

Upline Control?

 One of the reasons I left Amway was because my sponsor started to get weird where he basically told me I needed to submit and to listen to counsel.  I thought it weird that the qualification for someone to counsel me was to Jon Amway before me and really no other reason. 

I recall attending a function where they say you need to be teachable or coachable but in reality what they want us for you to give up control of your life.  They actually advised IBOs to check upline for things like getting married, having kids, buying a car or buying a house.  It was allegedly because they wanted to help you in important life decisions but the reality is a stark difference. 

The reason upline is so concerned about your important life decisions is not because they actually care about you and your Amway business.  What they want is to make sure that you don’t spend your discretionary monies on non Amway things.   Put off that new car, buy more tools and functions. Put off having kids or or buying a house and buy more tools and functions.  

The main theme will always be to save your discretionary money for tools and functions.  In the end I never saw anyone put off any major purchase and got rewarded because of the money rolling in from Amway.  Upline advice always steers the rank and file into spending more and more on tools and functions. 

I even sat in a function where the diamond taught the audience how long you could put off paying your mortgage before foreclosure would take place.  They even taught how long you could put off paying your bills before the water or electric would get cut off because they literally want the shirt off your back.  

But upline wanting control of my life to the point where it got weird, it finally led me to quit my 4000 PV business.  I told all my downline what was going on and they all quit with me except 1or 2 very indoctrinated folks who believed the upline over me.  

In closing, an interesting but true story.  I bought my home in the year 2001.   I bought my house in Hawaii for $305,000.  The real estate agent who served me also knew my sponsor.  She advised my sponsor to buy a home as well.  My former sponsor said he won’t buy a home unless he can pay cash.  Well, my $305,000 home is now worth a million dollars and my former sponsor is still renting trying to save a million dollars to buy a home.  This is the kind of damage that upline can cause to their faithful down line.  Be careful with upline advice.  

The Diamond Lifestyle?

 Many Amway IBOs and prospects see the diamonds and think they are rock stars.  You are given the impression that these folks literally have money to burn and they just live in excessive luxury and have no worries in the world.  Life is just one long and luxurious vacation.  It makes sense because telling you a diamond really just lives a middle class lifestyle wouldn’t be very attractive.  

But some of you out there know the diamonds a bit. Even I got to go to the diamonds house as an IBO because I was an up and coming IBO.  Our diamond had a decent house but it wasn’t a mansion and it wasn’t anything extraordinary. The line they fed us was that the house was paid off and eventually, the diamond would move to a gated community. 

Well, fast forward 20+ years and my former diamond never winded up moving to a gated community and in fact, had at one time fallen out of diamond qualification and was an emerald.  I did hear that he re-qualified as diamond but instead of the gated community in Hawaii, I had heard that the diamond moved to Washington state. Interesting as he used to proclaim that he absolutely loved the ocean. 

So do diamonds live happily ever after with unlimited cash?  It is my informed opinion that diamonds (not all) live in debt like much of the rest of the US.  Diamond income is limited and living a life of excess luxury is very expensive.  Amway reports that  Q12 diamond makes around $600k but a Q12 diamond is very rare.  The average non Q12 diamond last reported by Amway earns about $150k plus sone income from tools and functions.  

A nice income but paying off mansions and Sports cars in cash is a stretch.  I’m not even sure diamonds and their families can afford to fly first class everywhere they go unless they are very tenured and established diamonds.   What many people don’t know is that a diamonds monthly income can be quite small as a significant portion of a diamonds income is made in the form of an annual bonus. 

Just doing the math and using common sense about lifestyles easily shows that a diamond can’t live the diamond lifestyle they often portray unless they are living in debt.  It just makes mathematical sense. 

Your Amway Education?

 One of the really funny things I heard was how your Amway education is like going to college but better because Amway will make you rich but college will give you a job.  Now on the surface that might make sense but looking at it analytically, it is utter BS.  That’s the thing about Amway teaching, it can sound logical but in the end the teaching is just self serving advice to make more money for upline.  

First off, going to college might cost you money but it is a bonafide fact that college graduates earn more money than non college graduates.  So in the end, you may have college loans but over time, the investment will more than pay for itself.  In contrast, most IBOs make nothing or end up losing money.  In other words, the investment into an Amway education never pays off. 

Also, a college education may find you working out of your field of study but a degree shows an ability to learn and to have sone broad degree of learning because that’s how college works.  An Amway education teaches you what exactly?  How to trick people into attending meetings? To answer a question with a question?   What tangible skills does one actually learn in Amway?  

IMO, there are little to no measurable tangible skills learned in Amway except maybe to think positive.  They certainly don’t teach you to run a business or how to actually succeed in Amway.  The teachings are usually rah rah and motivational in nature rather than substantive.  But what most don’t see it because they are blinded with the ideas of trying to get rich in 2-5 years.  They want a shortcut to retirement.  Now I don’t know if such a shortcut exists but I know that for nearly 100% of those who try, Amway doesn’t deliver.  And truth be told, nowhere in Amway’s literature does it advertise any of this. This is upline propaganda.  

You might learn a few things from an Amway education but more than likely, you aren’t going to get anywhere near wealthy or early retirement by running an Amway business for 2-5 years.  

Duplication?

 My upline diamond used to say that the key to success is Amway is duplication, or copying.  He would use an analogy of being in grade school and copying someone else’s answers and that if you can master that one skill, you will be successful in Amway.  Even things downline IBOs do should be duplicatable is what upline would day, meaning others need to be able to copy it. 

Doesn’t that sound sweet and simple.  Just copy as if you’re in school and looking over the shoulder of the class brainiac. Very easy and straightforward right?  But obviously that concept doesn’t work.  If it did, there would be a lot of success constantly churning from the rank and file IBOs.  But instead defat we see is a revolving door of people coming and going (quitting) without making a net profit or losing money, generally from business expenses such as tools and functions.  

And it’s no wonder that duplication doesn’t work in real life because the system is too severely flawed.  You are buying and/or selling products that are relatively unknown and generic in nature but being sold at premium prices.  Now that’s not to say all Amway products are bad or or bad value but overall, you can find better value if you shop at Costco or WalMart.   It’s pretty hard to dispute that unless you’re a fully dedicated and indoctrinated IBO.  

In general, most upline teaching has “core” steps for IBOs to follow and while they are not complicated, they are difficult to follow.  In particular, finding people agreeable to see the plan or to sell products to are difficult tasks and you can’t just duplicate yourself to success.  But what IBOs can do is listen to audios, read books, buy their defacto 100 PV quota, and attend all meetings and functions.  

Sadly, the steps that are easily copied or duplicated are the ones that cost IBOs money and the steps that are vital to growth such as selling products and showing the plan are the ones that are nearly impossible to duplicate. And that in a nutshell is why the vast majority of IBOs make nothing or lose money in the Amway business opportunity. And that is my well informed opinion.  

Amway Is Simple?

 Another one of the lines pitched by upline was how Amway is simple. Some upline used to say that Amway is so easy that a dog could become a direct distributor.  But most of the diamonds would proclaim that Amway is simple but not necessarily “easy”.  What does that mean?  

Simple means that anyone can do it. Like a child’s puzzle, it’s very basic and simple but for a child it may not be “easy”.  When you break down the Amway business, it’s buy some products, sell some products, and sponsor downline.  That’s really how “simple” Amway is.  Would you agree that buying, selling and sponsoring down line is simple?  I mean it’s not that complicated at least on the surface of things.  

So if Amway is simple as upline and the diamonds say, why in the world do you need an endless supply of tools and functions?  I don’t believe that an IBO doesn’t need any training or coaching but for a business that’s supposed to be “simple”, why would you need all that training?  

I recall a conversation with my upline who at the time was pushing tapes ( I was an IBO in the 90’s) hard.  I asked what happens if you own all of the tapes on the listing?  He told me that you keep buying them because tapes sponsor people.  For me that was a WTF moment.  I have never have heard of anyone who heard a tape who decided to get sponsored.   IMO it was just a shameless ploy to sell more tools. 

I have heard that IBOs now give downline some audios/cds and even pay for some downline to attend functions but in the end, that just makes losses worse for dedicated IBOs.  They are squeezing more money from the faithful Amway believers until the upline can convince the prospects and down line to become “real business owners” who pay for their own expenses.  It’s no big deal for the diamonds who sluff off the expense on their downline who have downline. 

It’s sad that this practice continues to roll along.  Beware if you are a prospect or current IBO.  

The Partner Store Lies?

 Many Amway folks who recruit like to throw out big name companies that Amway allegedly “partners” with such as Disney, Nike and some others.  Now typically I see a partnership as a two way street, meaning you help each other. But in Amway’s case, the street seems to be one way.  

What I mean is that Amway IBOs sell stuff from partner stores such as Disney or Nike stuff but Nike or Disney doesn’t sell Amway stuff.  Basically the partnership is just Amway IBOs selling stuff for Nike or Disney and getting Amway PV/BV for it.  That’s pretty much the extent of it.  

But Amway IBOs like to toss around the big named companies as if it brings them some special credibility or something when the reality is that they are just sales people who have access to certain products that are listed in the catalogs.  It’s a no brained for companies like Disney or Nike because nothing is required of them but to pay commissions for sales and basically nothing else.  Since Amway has a large sales force, the “partner” companies have nothing to lose.  

What IBOs don’t mention in their partner store reputations us that Amway once partnered with MCI/Worldcom and Enron, which were of questionable reputations.  I’ve heard IBOs brag about how Amway carefully vets their partners, but well, there you have it.  

So if you get pitched by an Amway IBO trying to sell you on the partner stores, keep in mind what you’ve seen here.  That the partner stores are just hype and not a lot of substance.  Also keep in mind that the middleman commissions almost force the partner stores into charging more than buying direct from the source.  Good luck if you read this and decide to join Amway anyway.  

The Facts Don’t Matter?

 “The facts don’t matter if the dream is big enough”.  I once heard this taught at a function as IBO and a recent comment jarred my memory about it.  When you think about it, someone who invites you to join a business opportunity and says the facts don’t matter, red flags should be flying and you should put on running shoes and run in the opposite way. 

In what business do the facts not matter?  Apparently only in Amway because the fact is that the vast majority of Amway IBOs make nothing or lose money.   The fact is that most IBOs do little or nothing then quit.  The fact is that most IBOs never sponsor a single down line.  The fact is that the average IBO earns about $100 a month and that includes the diamonds.  

Any real business owner would want all the facts and nothing else in making decisions about joining a business opportunity that will use up a lot of time and money.  IBOs don’t know that they are likely to spend hundreds of dollars a month with very little return on investment.  

But the reason so many IBOs just become contributors to the diamonds lifestyle is because that is the real business.  The real business is selling tools and functions.  That’s why the teaching and advise almost always points to the system and dedication to education yourself about Amway.  In previous posts I’ve broken down the math behind this but in a nutshell, tools and functions have a much larger profit margin for diamonds than Amway products and unlike the Amway compensation plan, rank and file IBOs do not participate in the tool and function income.  

So look at the facts.  Do not blindly follow your upline without vetting actual facts.  If you do so, you do it with your own peril and it’s how upline empires are built.  Proceed with caution.  

The Math?

 One of the problems that IBO get into is they ignore, at upline advice, basic math and common sense.  Basically as an IBO, if you just carefully and objectively observe what’s actually going on around you, it’s hard to make a good case for joining or remaining in Amway.  The basic pitch is to come and make money or save money.  

How many IBOs are actually making money or saving money by being an Amway IBO?  Sure, you get the IBO price in Amway goods but those goods are not necessarily saving you any money.  Also, IBOs often try to sponsor their customers who would then receive the IBO price and become a competing IBO.  Yes, you get to leverage a downline’s volume but then you get the conundrum of most IBOs do little or nothing then quit.  Amway’s disclosures show that about half of all IBOs are not active and basically do nothing.  

Additionally, when pitched on Amway, you were likely told that you would make money.  But doing the math shows that the 100 PV that upline wants you to shoot for monthly costs about $300 unless you’re able to sell that volume which would be near impossible unless you have many sympathetic friends and family.  Then you have to cost of tools and functions which can run from $200 a month or more if you are committed to the system. 

All of that expense would generate you about $10 in Amway bonuses.  Only by sponsoring a large group of downline can you start to earn enough to offset some of your Amway related expenses. And here’s another kicker. Amway’s own disclosures show that most IBOs never sponsor a single downline, which makes sense when about half of IBOs don’t lift a finger after signing up.  

So if you just look at the whole picture objectively and assess the math and numbers, in my opinion I can’t understand how anyone can conclude that the Amway opportunity and the related tools and functions is worthy of your investment of time and money.   Good luck if you read this and try anyway. 

Submit To Upline?

 Another cultish teaching that comes from upline diamonds is to submit to upline.  Sometimes it’s called being teachable but as you get more immersed in the system, you are expected to consult with upline did everything, including important life decisions such as getting married or buying a new car.  In retrospect, I believe it’s done because upline doesn’t want you making decisions that could hinder your ability to purchase tools.  

But they make it sound harmless, that checking upline can help you because upline has experience in the business and can tell you how some decisions can impact your business.  Sounds harmless but the upline teaches this more likely for their own benefit than for your benefit.  If you can recognize the game, you can see thru the idiocy of upline teaching.  

Sone upline even “counsels” their downline.  Can you imagine submitting to someone for such important decisions that can affect your life and your uplines qualification to do this is they joined Amway before you.  You could actually be a counselor but you would be counseled by someone upline with less qualifications simply on the basis that they joined Amway before you. 

When I was a IBO back in the 1990s, I was engaged to be married and my upline advised to to dump my fiancée because I could build the business faster and if I achieved diamond, women would line up to court a single diamond.  By then I had already smelled a rat with regards to Amway teaching so that was the last straw for me. 

I was a 4000 PV IBO at the time so I told my group what happened and that because of what happened, I had decided to walk away from Amway.  All of my group except 1 or 2 IBOs downline from me walked away when I did.  So my upline and sponsor went from direct distributor to less than 4000 PV and I do not believe he ever requalified at that level again.  

I do know that my sponsor was still active as recently as 2016 but I’m not sure if he’s still chasing Amway.  Being that he was a physician, I see it as a life wasted on Amway.   Submit to your upline is total BS.  

No Crosslining?

 One of the really stupid and hypocritical things that upline taught the group was no crosslining. In other words, if you had a different sponsor or upline diamond, you were not to talk about business with other business owners.  This is stupid because an effective way to learn techniques and to get tips is to talk to other rank and file business owners. 

If not, why are IBOs expected to attend (and pay for) meetings where a cross line diamond is speaking?  Why would IBOs pay for audios to hear cross line speakers tell them about the business?   The premise is that cross line don’t have a direct interest in your Amway business but it seems that cross lining is ok if your upline can profit from it. 

The real reason the diamonds don’t want you talking to others is because the absolute truth might come out.  That you may have been highly dedicated to Amway and the systems for years and did everything that was asked of you only to suffer a net loss of income.  Or that you did everything that upline taught you but you were still unable to sponsor a single down line.  

Another thing is that the rank and file might compare what they’ve been taught and begin to realize that they’re being scammed.  I once spoke to a cross line IBO and that’s when I started to realize how stupid some of our practices were.  I was an IBO in the old call in your orders and pick up the products.  Our group’s practice took hours and hours because you had to go to your sponsor‘s house And read off your list as they filled your order.  My cross line friend said their upline just put all your stuff in a box and noted anything that was not yet fulfilled. You paid and left in minutes. 

So this is just another example of stupid business practices taught and perpetuated by upline.  But the main reason is they just don’t want the rank and file to speak the truth about what’s really going on in the business.  When you have this kind of teaching, you’re better off running as fast as you can in the other direction. 

Amway Has Low Overhead?

 One if the selling points for the Amway business was low overhead (basically business expenses) and the ability to make quick profits.  But is this true or just another list of lies told by the diamonds?   Basically when you’re being pitched on Amway, your told that you can sell stuff to make money, and that you can save money by purchasing from yourself.  

Then because you gave low or no overhead expenses, Amway just makes sense.  But it’s all just a selling point because the upline diamond will then sell you overhead.  In other words, they will sell you on the vital necessity to purchase tools and functions.  I questioned this as a prospect and was told that so and so diamond was a multi millionaire and feels that tools are as vital as breathing air but I was welcome to go it alone and succeed where nobody else has (without tools).  

This is an outright lie because in the Amway business, the tools are your primary business expenses, or overhead.  Even if you manage to sell a few products to actual customers for a profit, more than likely you will still wind up with a net loss because the ongoing use of tools and functions can become expensive over time.  Many former IBOs have indicated that you can pile up thousands of dollars in losses over a few months and much more if you remain dedicated to the system and the teaching.  

Now the cost of tools and functions would be worth it if the system was churning out success stories on a regular basis. To try and up sell this, diamonds will show you examples of a new platinum or other pin, but won’t mention that a bunch of other big pins may have failed to requalify for their current t levels.  If you go and look up Amway revenues for the last handful of years, you will see that revenues were flat or in decline, which means business was not growing.  

So what does this all mean   Simple, it means joining Amway makes it highly likely, nearly assured that you will have a net loss of income if you join Amway and participate in the system of tools and functions.  Also now with covid 19, I can only imagine that the ability to recruit down line or approach others to sell products is greatly hampered by state or local restrictions.  Good luck to you if you read this and join anyway.  

Charge Yourself Full Retail Price?

 One of the most stupid teachings I heard as an IBO was that IBOs should buy their own products from their Amway business and charge them selves full retail.  Thus the difference between IBO price and full retail would be your profit which you can then bank and use that money to buy tools and function tickets.  For me, that was a WTF moment.  

Some IBOs fall for this garbage and actually have repeated that teaching.  If you buy your own stuff, you’re using your own money, thus your money went from one account to another.  That’s not profit.   Well, I guess an IBO can be fooled into thinking that moving money from your savings to checking is profit.   

Say you purchase double x for the IBO price of $50 but the full retail is $85.  In theory you have now made $35 profit.  You’re supposed to use that profit for tools and functions but if the profit just can out of your pocket, what difference does it make?   You could just as easily pay for double x then pay for your functions and tools. By claiming retail profit, now moving money from one account to another becomes taxable income (profits are taxable).  

Thus teaching is actually dangerous because it just adds to an IBOs already negative cash flow.  And to think I actually paid to attend a function where they taught this crap.  The good side is that this was where I started to smell a rat with regards to upline teaching.  This and the submit to upline garbage.  

Since I’m certain that diamonds are still pushing tools and functions, I’m sure they must be teaching down line to raise capital in some way.  It’s possible that this paying yourself lies are still ongoing.  It’s my hope that this blog post can help unsuspecting IBOs and prospects to see through the silly upline teaching. 

Amway Saves Marriages?

 Looking back, one of the really sill things taught by diamonds was that Amway saves marriages.  Of course I’m sure they didn’t poll the rank and file IBOs who may have gotten divorced, some possibly because of Amway.  One major stressor in a marriage is a lack of finances, thus the monthly negative cashflow for most “serious” IBOs can greatly contribute towards the health of a marriage.  

The diamonds would say that working together in the business actually helps strengthen a marriage and that could be true to some degree, but overall I believe the business and related activities actually become detrimental to marriages.  You also have to factor in social events that are missed due to dedication to the Amway business such as birthday parties, BBQs with friends, etc. 

I even heard a diamond say that Amway IBOs have a 2% divorce rate while everyone else has a divorce rate of more than 50%.  Of course that’s total BS.  I can name some diamonds from our own LOS - line of sponsorship, that divorced.  Wolgamott, Danzik, Kosage, Brooks.  Since there aren’t 200 US WWDB diamonds that I know of, the divorce rate can’t be 2%, but has to be much higher, plus there are likely other pins who have divorced.  

Now I normally wouldn’t care because people get divorced in this day and age but since the diamonds make a thing out of it, I may as well point out the hypocrisy.  And this doesn’t include WWDB rank and file divorces.  I know a handful as well but won’t mention names here.  

No, Amway doesn’t save marriages and don’t buy the BS if your upline tries to sell you on it.  

Working The Business?

 If you’ve ever been an IBO, you probably heard from upline that a “serious” business owner has their mind on business and they are working it 24/7.  You needed that laser focus in order to succeed and to grow your business.  And that even applies to an IBO that has no downline. You’re supposed to sacrifice things like a bowling or softball league in the name of business.  Delayed gratification is what upline called our sacrifices.  

But keeping this in mind, it made me wonder where the diamond freedom is?  If an IBO with no down line is supposed to take the business so seriously that it consumes most of his/her time, where does the diamond have the time to go on never ending fabulous vacations or to do what they want, when they want?  

The more likely scenario is that a diamond is so busy trying maintain their business that they are probably extremely busy.  A diamond has at least 6 platinum down line legs that need help to maintain the diamond qualification and in addition to that, the diamond has their own personally sponsored down line that they are also trying to grow into platinums its above. 

While the diamonds want you to believe that they live a life of leisure and fun, they are more likely busier than if they just had a 9-5 job.  If you’ve been an IBO, you know how busy your schedule can be just to maintain your tiny Amway business.  What do you think it takes for a diamond who might have more than a thousand down line.  And in addition to the busy schedule, they also speak at meetings and functions.  

I highly doubt that there is much leisure and free time as a diamond.  They have simply traded a regular job for one with odd hours,  you can argue that the diamond doesn’t have to answer to a boss but imagine being a manager whose workforce mostly does little or nothing and you have no leverage to fire them, discipline them or require them to lift a finger.  

The diamond freedom is just an illusion.  There is no walking away to collect residual income for life.  If you stop, the income will shrivel up and eventually stop.  You’re constantly working for everything you have.  Is that what you really want from the Amway business?  

Avoid Negative?

 One of the reasons why Amway IBOs begin to shun their friends and family if they’re actively in the business is because they are told to avoid negative.  They’ll say that your family and friends just don’t understand Amway so eventually they’ll wear you down with negative comments or attitudes.  

I recall my sponsor once telling me he had a “ warm”, meaning he actually caught a cold but saying it was negative so he called it the opposite. Now of course you don’t want to be inundated by negative attitudes but to avoid your family and friends is why some people compare Amway to a cult.  

You might even be told to avoid watching the news or reading a newspaper because the news can be seen as negative and you need to fill your brain with only positive news.  That’s why you’re to forgo the news and only listen to Amway audios and associate with Amway people. Who are supposed to help uplift you rather than drag you down with negatives.  

In other words, the upline wants to do all of the thinking for you.  As if you’re not capable of discerning what you need to know.  Also, it’s not good for anyone to only be fed positive and nothing else.  For example, never feeling pain might seem like a good thing but it can wind up killing you since you may get injuries or illnesses that would go undetected since you couldn’t feel pain or discomfort. 

In the end and ironically. IBOs will all feel a lot of financial pain if and when they ever track their business expenses and analyze a profit loss statement. It is primarily the diamonds who sell tools and functions that actually make money with the Amway opportunity and not many others. This is just another silly and useless bit of teaching by upline diamonds.  It is my hope that pointing these out will help someone recognize the scam.  

Never Quit!

 One of the realist stupid things taught by upline is to never quit.  They’ll tell you inspiring stories of exceptional people who may have persevered and had a favorable outcome eventually.  They may tell you that former basketball star Michael Jordan would never ever quit.  

But at a second glance, a basketball game and a business are two completely different things.  In basketball, Michael Jordan might never have quit but eventually the game ends and you regroup and go onto a new game.  The teams will make adjustments to their strategy so they can perform better in the next game.  

But in Amway, upline will blindly tell you to never quit without analyzing your individual business. If you are losing money month after month, what is going to change that is going to make you profitable?  Are you cutting expenses or finding ways to generate more revenue?  If not, you will run negative cashflow forever.  

Upline doesn’t want you to quit, not because they want you to succeed, but because a dedicated IBO moves PV volume and is a regular customer of the tools and functions that upline sells and profits from.  It is to uplines advantage to keep you in the system. It is why they’ll often advise you to ignore facts or to overlook problems because your absence affects their cash flow. 

At the end of the day, ask yourself honestly.  If you aren’t making a net profit, what changes will you make to change that?  Upline typically will tell you to buy more tools but that just makes your losses worse.  

Think of it this way, quitting Amway doesn’t mean you have quit on trying to improve your financial situation, you would just be seeking a more efficient way of making more money. If Amway isn’t betting you a profit, try something else. Your future depends on it. 

Amway And Your Cashflow?

 If you’ve ever heard the Amway pitch, they use buzzwords like simple.  Simple doesn’t necessarily mean you can do it or that it’s easy.  Lifting 500 pounds is simple but most people are not capable of doing it.  The same goes for being able to show the plan, sponsor down line and sell Amway products.  So to say Amway is simple might be true but that’s not to say that success is likely, or anymore likely than being able to lift 500 pounds.  

The pitch from the diamond sound good.  They’ll say save money and make money.  Taken at face value, who doesn’t want to make more money or save money?  It sounds good except that it’s not true.  For example I can buy a 8 ounce bottle of Amway shampoo for around $8.00 but I can buy a quart of shampoo at Walmart for a similar price. That’s not to say there are no Amway products if value but overall you will not save by shopping with Amway.  

What you are most likely not told is that joining Amway will probably cause you serious cash flow issues if you join Amway.  In order to move 100 PV or more will cost you about $300 or more and if you are participating in tools and functions, you will likely spend $200 or more to do what upline advises.   That’s $500 a month or more.  

So you need to spend $500 a month or more to participate in Amway in business building mode.  Tell me again how you’re saving or making money?  Moving 100 pv will generally earn you a 3% bonus or about $10.  How are you saving or making money?

Upline will say that’s $10 more than you would have doing nothing.   But that’s not true.  You don’t need tools and functions to buy stuff at retailers.  Since Amway products are not cheap, are you really saving money?   The reality is you are our $500 a month less the products if you join Amway?  We’re you told upfront that yours likely to have serious negative cash flow unless you sponsor an army of down line or unless you’re able to sell a ton of overpriced products?  

I fail to see how upline can stand behind the myth or making or saving money.   Food for thought:  I can earn 1 or 2 percent as a rebate shopping elsewhere with a cash back credit card without a minimum purchase and without needing tools and functions.  I hope this post helps someone.  

Where’s The Wealth?

 One thing that Amway diamonds like to do is to show off the diamond lifestyle.  But what is the diamond lifestyle?  Basically, it’s a show of excessive wealth.  Allegedly they fly first class everywhere and stay in five star hotels.  They wear designer clothes and supposedly buy expensive cars and homes all in cash. They come and go as they please and they only work out of love for their down line.  

At least that’s the story they want you to buy when you are at meetings or at functions.  There are poor saps in the audience who want that so badly that they have tears in their eyes because they want it so badly.  It certainly inspires you to try harder and to get your business booming with growth and excitement. 

I hate to break this news to IBOs and prospects but I highly doubt that any diamond lives like that unless they are up to their ears in debt.  But then again showing you a middle class lifestyle wouldn’t quite be as exciting.  How do I know this? Simple, just do the math. 

Amway used to report that an average diamond earns about $150k annually but now Amway days a Q12 diamond earns $600k annually.  However, a Q12 diamond is rare, just a small fraction of the diamonds.  Thus the average diamond likely earns around $150k annually along with income from tools and functions.  Even if they earn another $100k from tools and functions, that an income of about $250k.  

Now that’s a nice income for sure, provided the diamond is currently qualified although Amway doesn’t say who is and who is no longer qualified. Assuming they are qualified, their taxes, medical insurance and other expenses and business expenses likely claims more than half of that income. 

Let’s say a diamond clears $10k per month after all if the expenses I mentioned and believe me I’m being very generous here.  Well, you can’t buy a home in cash on that income so you likely have a mortgage.  If a diamond pays $3000 a month for a mortgage, they have $7000 remaining.  You aren’t buying a sports car in cash.  

If the kids go to a private school, more income is gone.  How much if left for first class travel and five star hotels did fabulous vacations.  I’d say a diamond lives a middle class lifestyle.  I believe some of the higher up pins such as crowns might live better but the rest of the diamonds lifestyle probably would impress you if you saw the truth. 

So where is the Uber diamond wealth?  I don’t know, you tell me. 

What Is An Ambot?

 I’ve heard of a humorous term “ambot” which refers to an Amway IBO, often new but has learned enough to parrot the lines that the upline diamonds feed them. If you’ve ever been prospected for Amway, you probably know what I mean.  The teaching evolves a bit but for the most part, the message remains the same.  Got a while they tried to compare the Amway opportunity to a buyers club but later it evolved into e-commerce.  

The diamonds will teach you to consume tools and functions like your life depended on it.  What happens is the teaching and “fake” relationships you form almost become like a drug that you feel the need to maintain.  Nothing is better than a pat on the back from the upline diamond right?  IBOs develop a desire to get recognition from the diamond.  

In the meantime, the group of IBOs are taught to show adulation towards the higher ups, almost as if the diamond is a cult leader to be worshipped. The IBOs all dress alike, often buying things from the Amway catalog.  It really is as if the diamonds are just making clones out of the faithful down line.  If you step back and view it from a neutral perspective, it’s actually quite funny.   Another aspect can be an irrational zeal for products such as toilet paper or cleaning products  

But the reality is the Amway sales force is often an army of mind numbed robots all acting, dressing and parroting lines taught at functions, meetings and on recorded audios.  They are often sleep deprived because uplines love to hold late night meetings as a way to test your loyalty.  They say you can sleep when you go diamond.  

So there you have it.  A brief but fairly concise definition of an Ambot.   The sad thing is once someone gets indoctrinated, you really can’t help them and they’ll have to see the light and snap out of it on their own.  Debating with them only makes them dig in harder because by now they will also have developed an irrational loyalty to the upline over long time friends and family 

This would be funnier if it weren’t so sad and so true. 

Get Rich Slow?

 One of the lies told by upline diamonds is how Amway is not a get rich quick scheme. That more likely you’ll get rich slow in Amway.  They likely say that because to come out and say Amway is get rich quick would raise skepticism from many people.  Amway already raises skepticism from some of the teaching of upline diamonds but they are careful about this issue.  

But what do you call it when the opportunity is sold as 2-5 years, build it right and you can be financially free for life living on residual income and being able to retire at a very young age.  2-5 years sounds like a get rich quick pitch to me.  No other business opportunities other than other MLMs make this kinds of projections.  

But the fact of the matter is that it is highly unlikely that you will even make a net profit in Amway, let alone build a business that generates wealth.  Most IBOs do little or nothing and wind up quitting. How do you build a business that generates residual income under these conditions?  The answer is you don’t.  

Think of Amway IBOs as customers at an amusement park.  They buy a ticket and get on a ride.  Some are satisfied and get off the ride and go elsewhere.  Some get hooked and continue to buy more tickets to ride again.  In the end the riders may have had some fun, some may get motion sickness but in the end, the diamonds are like the ride operators who make money off the rides but Amway is like the owner of the amusement park who owns the rides.  

In the end the upline diamonds don’t really care who comes and goes as long as there are new people flowing into the business.  The diamonds know that most won’t do much but they hope they will buy sone products and audios and attend a few functions.  The upline will also praise their core die hard IBOs who supply them with a regular income.  

But in my opinion, other than the folks who own Amway, few are truly rich and that includes the diamonds.  They might earn some nice incomes but showing off a diamond lifestyle can be very expensive and spending what you make doesn’t make anyone rich.  Do the math and it will be crystal clear.  

Amway Recruiting?

 If you’ve ever been in Amway or have been associated with Amway folks, you probably know that it’s primarily about recruiting down line. I believe a lot of people get prospected and think you can make money by selling products which is true, but because your upline makes more money by recruiting down line, that becomes the emphasis.  

Amway products are for the most part generic in nature but premium in in price, making it difficult to sell anything other than to sympathetic friends and families.  This is why it is common for IBOs to be taught the common “buy from yourself” concept where you primarily consume products from your own business and get others to do the same. Some upline cleverly called this a buyers club like Costco but that’s a faulty comparison.  

As a Costco member I am not out recruiting other members for Costco.  Neither Costco or Amway compensates you to recruit members so why does it happen in Amway?  It’s because IBOs understand that to attain levels such as platinum or diamond, you need to have downline and plenty of them because you are credited for their volume as well as yours so it’s possible to parlay that into larger bonuses.  

Where this plan fails us that Amway has a spotty reputation which makes recruiting and retaining downline a big challenge in itself. Another failure is Amway’s own disclosures admit that about half of registered IBOs do absolutely nothing.  And then out of those who have some activity, they are likely to quit in less than a year anyway.  

Even if you could manage to sponsor a new downline each month the likelihood of you making a net profit is highly unlikely if you participate in the tools and functions.  The diamonds who claim they are free and live in leisure with loads of money are actually quite busy running around replacing IBOs who quit so they can maintain their levels. If not they might miss out on bonuses and for sure the income from tools and functions would disappear without new people coming into the system. 

Behind the Amway curtain, it’s all about recruiting and little else.  Once you understand the concept it’s all very clear.   

Diamonds Rolling In Dough?

 Most rank and file IBOs and prospects assume that the diamonds are Uber wealthy and they roll in dough and the cash is endless.  I believe they are badly mistaken. Amway reports that a Q 12 diamond earns around $600k from Amway.  But a Q12 diamond means they qualified at the level for all 12 months in Amway’s fiscal year.  Q12 diamonds make up only a small fraction of Amway diamonds 

Most Amway diamonds do not qualify Q 12.  Amway used to report that an average diamond earns about $150k annually in earnings and bonus say that diamond also earns a respectable $100k from tools and functions.  Now $250k is a great income but after taxes, medical insurance and other normal monthly expenses, let’s say a diamond clears $10,000 a month.  Now that’s still a nice income.  

But $10,000 a month does not allow someone with a family to purchase a house in cash, or even a top of the line Mercedes Benz for that matter.  Even traveling first class every time you travel might put a strain on the budget.  It would not allow you to enjoy a jet set lifestyle that diamonds commonly portray at meetings and functions.  

The picture is see more realistically is diamonds living a middle to upper middle class lifestyle with running functions and building the Amway business as their main occupation. Now that may not sound as glamorous as the diamond lifestyle that is displayed at functions s but it looks more realistic than what you see at functions.  In fact, diamonds who try to constantly show off wealth and luxury could easily wind up in debt despite having what looks like a nice income 

Many Americans live in debt.  Having a large income doesn’t prevent that.  Sone diamonds who had their incomes revealed in the past have shown to be living in debt including a triple diamond who filed chapter 7 bankruptcy about 10 years ago.  But on the other hand, promoting Amway as a way to earn a middle class lifestyle probably won’t be as effective as the illusion of a diamond lifestyle.  

Fake It Till You Make It?

 One of the really funny things I heard as an IBO was to fake it till you make it.  The upline meant we were to appear successful because eventually we would someday be successful as long as we don’t quit.  What it really meant was to lie and misrepresent the Amway business in order to give the appearance of being successful even if you’re not.  

Thus you might see an Amway meeting or function where everyone is dressed up in business attire which gives the appearance of success but if you attend the event early, you’ll see IBOs driving up in old clunkers, sone look like their cars are on their last legs.  But it’s amazing that the dreams that they were sold is enough to fuel their desire to build Amway. 

Rank and file IBOs really have little to no credibility thus the upline will commonly issue a photo copy of some large bonus check that someone may have received.  The check is no indication of success and the person receiving the check may not have even made a net profit but it all fits into the fake it till you make it narrative.  

The sad part fir nearly all IBOs is they will fake it but never make it.  The math behind Amway success is dismal at best.  The common 6-4-2 plan shows a group of 79 IBOs, all of who moved 100 PV (which is impossible) and one guy is at 7500 PV and the rest are at various other lower levels. Amway’s own disclosures, last I saw indicates that .26% of IBOs go platinum or about 1 in 400.  

At the end of the day. You can fake it but you won’t make it.  A few people do break through nearly impossible odds to achieve diamond here and there but the numbers of diamond achievers are statistically insignificant.  Good luck to you if you’ve read this and still sign up for Amway. 

Building Your Business?

 I had a recent comment that Amway IBOs might not even know what building a business is all about.  I would say based on personal experience and observations, I would have to agree.  IBOs mistakenly believe that building a business is simply recruiting down line because the emphasis on teaching from upline is recruiting. You can’t achieve higher levels in Amway without downline.  

What many IBOs are unaware of is that upline diamonds want and need you to recruit an army for them because it means more potential customers to purchase voicemail, standing orders, books and function tickets.  The more the merrier as far as your diamond is concerned   They get to parade around at functions, get treated like rock stars all while making piles of cash for selling false hopes and dreams to all the Amway hopefuls.  I was in WWDB and an important part of the business teaching was about how many tools and function tickets were flowing through your business and not at all about product sales.  

In a real business, building a bigger customer or client base is important because that’s how profits are generated, by sales of products or services.  If Amway IBOs were honest with themselves, they would realize that they typically sell very few products and instead are just self consuming products in order to comply with upline teaching to be “duplicatable”, or in other words, a good example to others including any downline.  

But self consumption is not a business model or plan.  It’s a cleverly veiled product pyramid, in my opinion.  Can you imagine any successful store where the majority of goods and services are purchased by the store owner and/or the employees?   The fact is that there is no such thing as a successful self consumption business but somehow, IBOs and prospects are tricked by upline into believing that self consumption can be successful in the Amway model.  Sorry, it doesn’t work there either.  

In the end, a dedicated IBO who is following upline teaching in general will spend about $300 a month on Amway products and then additionally another $200 to $400 a month on average for tools and functions.  It could be a little more or less depending on your level of dedication and whether you are a single person or a couple. 

How many IBOs would actually sign up with full disclosure that Amway would cost you an additional $500 or more each month instead of the pitch that you will make money or at worst save money by participating in Amway?   I bet there would be very few takers, which is why I am still blogging after all these years.  To provide information and insight to this mess of a business opportunity. 

Watching The Simpsons?

 One of the funny things taught by our upline was that broke losers would be at home watching episodes of the Simpsons while the rest of us were building our business and securing our futures.  He would laugh that people’s homes would have a blue glow coming from their homes, meaning they watching television.  

Now that would be fine and dandy if Amway IBOs were actually making money but the fact of the matter is that nearly all rank and file IBOs were losing money because of the Amway business expenses such as standing orders, books and functions.  Here the IBOs were losing money plus spending their spare time to boot.  But they thought they were doing something good and worthwhile. 

The true irony in all this is that people sitting at home watching “The Simpsons” were better off because they were being entertained and they were not losing money in a fake business designed to extract money from rank and file distributors for the benefit of the diamonds.  It sounds nice that you’re working to secure your financial future bit losing money doesn’t secure much does it?  

That’s the really insidious part of Amway. The diamonds feed you lies that anyone and everyone can get in and go diamond when it’s just not true. The common 6-4/2 plan or similar versions show a large group of IBOs with a platinum or direct distributor.  And that’s how it will always be.  1 guy on top and a lot of rank and file downline.  

The reality sucks which is why the diamonds sell you on hopes, wishes and dreams.  The bad part is an IBOs participation only delivers dreams to the diamonds who profit handsomely from your participation in the tools and functions.  

My Upline Is A Mentor?

 One of the humorous things that Amway IBOs talk about us how their upline is some kind of mentor.  I find it humorous because someone standing on a stage makes a no mentor. A mentor has a personal relationship how the person they are helping and they likely spend a great deal of time with the person the are mentoring.  

Another aspect that IBOs overlook is that mentors don’t charge their pupils money for their help.  This is just another BS line that the upline diamonds have dropped one the die line that makes them feel good.  My time spent at functions or large meetings are hardly anything close to resembling mentor ship.  Even if you got to spend some time with your upline diamond, you are still spending money on tools and functions.  A diamond would never give time to an IBO who was not serious enough to invest in tools and functions.  

I’m curious as to what specifics a diamond would teach a die line because the things that IBOs parrot seem to be ridiculous and out in left field, so to speak.  I engaged in a conversation where an IBO told me the facts don’t matter because he has a big dream.  Another IBO told me that even if he’s buying from himself he still made profits because he charged himself full retail price for products, therefore he was profiting.  I mentioned that moving cash from your savings account to your business account is not true profit.  Not to mention that the amount of cash you moved from one account to another is now subject to taxation.  

The diamond’s main theme will always be to get you to participate in the tools and functions because they can profit from you and then because of the sunken cost fallacy, sone IBOs don’t want to quit despite losing money month after month because you’re already invested in the business.  

The fact remains that the relationship between a diamond and IBO is not  mentor ship and student.  The upline is more like a paid consultant that unfortunately has miserable results.  That’s a fact.  

Amway Team Meetings?

 One of the lame things during my time in Amway was what upline called “team” meetings.  I mean we are all individual businesses so it seems weird to be referred to as a team,  based on my own experience, many IBOs seemed to be their only customer, simply buying 100 PV and having no due line but hanging in there hoping to finally strike it big down the road.  While these IBOs have no chance of going diamond or even platinum, they are valuable to the diamond because of the income from tools and functions.  

Our team meetings often took place at midnight on evenings when we had to work the next day.  Our upline told us that our willingness to do what most won’t do will result in rewards that most won’t see.  In the end, nothing useful was ever learned in these meetings and it just made it difficult to work the next day.  Imagine that, our jobs that supported ourselves and the Amway business were supposed to be of secondary importance.  

Most of the discussion at team meetings were just platitudes about success that our upline wanted to drill into our brains.  It was primarily to never quit and to invest more of our money into tools because we were told that standing orders, functions and books were vital to our success.  After a while I thought it was odd because so many people were absolutely dedicated to the system but had not made a dime in profit or sponsored a single down line.  

There’s a saying that a good tree gives good fruit and a bad tree gives bad fruit.  The diamonds used to say this but most people simply had no fruit from their efforts.  This  is because most people just don’t realize that the Amway system is severely flawed and only exists to provide income to the diamonds and higher ups.  There is no documented and unbiased evidence to suggest that the system works. 

Sure, occasionally someone can overcome power ball lottery types of odds to go diamond but they are often unable to remain qualified and often disappear from relevance.  But these Amway rising stars are the poster children for why the system works. That’s despite the fact that tens of millions or more have failed over the years despite assurances from upline that everyone can be successful. 

For information seekers and any IBOs who see this, look at facts and analyze your income and expenditures.  Look at your actual prospects of improvement.  If your upline tells you that more tools and functions are the answer, get in wringing that these expenditures are refundable in cash if business doesn’t improve, of course you’ll never get it.  

But good luck if you read this and still decided to try.  😃

Amway Numbers?

 The Amway opportunity is often sold to prospects with false hopes and dreams. The diamonds, some who may actually be in debt, are telling you that you can achieve financial freedom via Amway, along with untold wealth if you will do as they advise.  Of course they never prove that they are wealthy. You might see photo copies of checks or slide shows of wealth. 

But what is the reality?  What are the numbers?  It seems that Amway obfuscates their numbers do you don’t really get a straight answer. You have to extrapolate in order to make some conclusions.  

First off, Amway sales have been fairly stagnant and that’s prior to covid. Covid will likely make it worse. But here are some numbers.  The average IBO earns around $200 a month, but that’s if you don’t count the IBOs who don’t do anything, thus the real average is about $100 a month and that includes diamonds and other big shots, although it does not factor in annual bonuses.  But then again rank and file IBOs do not get large annual bonuses.  

Some figures may have changed but approximately 1 in 400 IBOs attain the level of gold which is where you allegedly break even if you are also involved in tools and functions. About 1 in 20,000 or so go diamond and maintaining the level is another story, 

But the important numbers are this; if you are a CORE IBO and buy your 100 PV and attend all functions, you likely spend $500 or more (and even more for couples) each month fir your products and your “training”.  In return you earn an Amway check of about $10 which is a huge net loss each month unless you have down line to absorb the losses for you.  

Amway might seem like you financial solution until to really look at the numbers.  

Success Is Around The Corner?

 I recall being taught to never give up and never quit in Amway.  They would tell stories of perseverance and feel good stories about people who would hang in there and eventually succeed like the story of Rudy, which was portrayed in a movie.   Or they would talk about a fierce competitor like a Michael Jordan who would never quit. They would keep fighting,   You are to never quit because success might be right around the corner and you might quit just a little bit too soon, so keep going!  

But Sports is not the same as a business.  Rudy was on the Notre Dane football yeah but he never got much playing time even if the ending of the movie might have been inspiring.  Michael Jordan would never quit but he was still in teams that lost games.  But the Amway business isn’t a sport and having the never quit attitude is nice but if you aren’t making a profit and the prospects of improving is not good, the. It’s just a bad business decision to never quit.  

Like Michael Jordan might have been on teams that lost games, his team could regroup and win the next game. The same can be said if a business.  If you’re not profiting and cash flow negative, sometimes the best thing to do is to close up and do something else.  After all, the objective is to make money.  It doesn’t have to be exclusively from Amway.  There are many other opportunities that you can explore and experiment with, even if that might be a job.  

The diamonds try to imbed in your mind that only they Amway can you build wealth and riches.  That’s incredibly false.  You don’t even know if your upline diamond is wealthy.  You assume they are wealthy because you’ve been told they are but they don’t disclose any information that would demonstrate that they are wealthy.  They could be up to their ears in debt.  Many Americans are in debt.  Why would diamonds who flaunt a lavish lifestyle be any different?  It’s not secret that many wealthy people don’t act it and the opposite is also true, that broke people can try to act wealthy. 

And why not?  You could be a broke rank and file IBO but you are to wear a suit to meetings to portray an image of success.  Who’s to say the diamonds don’t do the same thing but with a few more expensive props?   Showing photo copies of big checks are not a reliable indicator of success but your upline wants you to believe it is.