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.