Upline "Mentors"?

 I find it humorous that Amway IBOs refer to their diamonds as "mentors".  A mentor is someone who takes your personal well being and success as their personal mission to help you succeed.  I guess you could say that your diamond is your mentor but true mentors don't typically get paid for their advice and time spent.  When you think about it, a diamond is more like a paid consultant who gets paid with zero accountability.  The diamond cashes in even if you fail and go broke trying to build your Amway business.  

If you are considered a "serious" business owner, you are expected to purchase standing order, voicemail and to be in attendance at all meetings and functions.   And even if you do everything your diamond advises and still fail, you will be told you didn't do it just right or that you didn't try hard enough.  Amway IBOs who dedicate themselves to the system can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars a month on tools and functions.   In general, tools and functions are non income producing expenditures but your wise "mentors" expect you to spend most or all of your disposable income on these tools and functions regardless of whether you make a cent or not.  

Your diamond will make some excuse that you are investing in your business.  That's ironic because at the recruitment meetings, they'll tell you that Amway is low overhead and therefore, you should be able to profit very quickly.   That might be true if not for the endless supply or tools and functions that your diamond expects you to purchase, regardless of whether their advice is helping you to profit or not.  There is zero accountability on the diamond when faithful IBOs follow advice that only leads to net losses instead of profits.   The diamonds really must have an ability to have no conscience because there are countless stories of prospects and faithful IBOs going broke following upline diamond advice.

The sad sad thing is that if any asks the diamond to show evidence that they are as rich as they claim, they will be told it's none of your business or the subject will be changed without an answer being provided.  And that's because I strongly believe that diamonds (at least most diamonds) do not have the kind of income that they want you to believe they have.  They'll show you slideshows of Peter Island or other Amway paid trips and things but you'll rarely see a bunch of other trips or goodies that the diamond actually bought themselves with their excess income from Amway.  That's because it's all an illusion and a show they put on to entice prospects to join.  

There might be some uber rich diamonds but if there are. it's not because of the massive income from Amway.  It's very likely that the diamond augments their income from tools and functions or has other investments elsewhere.   Do the math and you'll easily see the truth.

Living The Good Life?

 I recall as a rank and file IBO (as a newbie), I thought how awesome it would be to have financial freedom, do what you want, when you want, and cost is no object.   That's certainly what was implied about the diamond lifestyle.  No worries, retired at age 29 and nothing to do but to figure out where you want to play each day right?   At least that's the illusion the diamonds want you to see.   It gives you something to hope for and hope is what the diamonds sell via audios/cds, functions and meetings.

I remember when I was out with my upline a number of times, we drove past our diamond while we were out showing the plan.   The diamond was dressed in a suit and I recall asking my sponsor why the diamond didn't simply walk away from Amway to enjoy a quiet life of wealth.  The answer was that the diamond cared about his downline thus he spent many evenings helping his downline show the plan and build the business.  While that might have been true, I later realized that the diamond was out conducting his Amway business, just like I was.   Because he probably had to.  

If you belong to a group in Amway or if you were around a group for a few months, you probably noticed that people doing little or nothing and quitting or people dropping out after a few months of trying was quite common.  And with that being a simple fact in Amway, you can easily see that there is no life long residual income and walking away from Amway to enjoy a quiet life of luxury.  when the majority of IBOs do little or nothing and quitting, it takes tremendous effort to maintain a viable group that produces enough PV to keep the diamond in qualification.  Also, if people drop out, them they are not paying for voicemail, meetings, audios/cds and functions.  The drop outs must be quickly replaced in order for a diamond to maintain their income plus the income augmentation from the tools and functions. 

Another little thing that might go unnoticed in the Amway common 6-4-2 or 9-4-2 plan is that a large portion of a diamond's income is received in the form of an annual bonus and not a large monthly bonus check.   During my blogging career, now spanning close to 20 years, I had befriended a former emerald who said her annual bonus had to be budgeted for the year because the monthly income was quite small.  I believe that to be true of most diamonds, save for the old and long tenured diamonds with large groups.  

So at least to me, it appears that a diamond is very much like a working stiff who works 9-5.  But the diamond works odd hours and often the night shift because most people have day jobs and can't do business during the day.  You can argue that the "work" that a diamond does isn't as difficult as a 40 hour per week job, but you could also argue that having a regular consistent paycheck along with medical insurance and benefits can bring you some peace of mind.  I'm sure there are many diamonds living on the edge, especially if they try to keep up with the Joneses and portray the diamond lifestyle.

If Amway Is So Great?

 This is a question that IBOs need to honestly ask themselves and be objective in their answers, not emotional.   If Amway is so great?     Why are the results similar to a lottery (a few winners and masses of losers) if Amway is so great?   If the system worked the way the diamonds advertised, wouldn't there be a constant churn of new platinums, diamonds and higher ups?  Right?   People would constantly be progressing and there would be countless numbers of diamonds.   Some years back I sent a question a friend who worked at a hotel where the diamonds held a diamond club convention and the answer was that approximately 160 families were in attendance.  Why is the count so low?  I suppose that many diamonds many have had better things to do but if the vacation is [aid for by Amway and these folks are "free", why wouldn't they attend?   You know the answer.

Also, why are IBOs told to purchase an endless supply of training materials is the system?   I was told as an IBO that Amway is "simple".  Simple doesn't mean easy but at the same time, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to build Amway is what I'm told.   But the pitch is that you can't miss any meetings or functions (or your business will backslide 6 months) because you need to be accountable.  But I've seen IBOs attend all meeting and functions for months and years and never sponsor a single downline and never progress beyond their personal PV.  It's a sad situation.

Even my personal sponsor went 7500 PV and was considered a "gold" direct (at the time) but never got beyond that and eventually started backsliding once I left.   He was in the business a few years ago but I'm not sure of the status now.   But I can say that I retired comfortably a few years ago while my sponsor is still working.  I'm financially free.  While I don't own any aircraft, I travel a lot and occasionally, will splurge for first class.   If Amway is so great, where are all the young retirees?   Instead I see diamonds quitting and/or dying on the job.  

During covid 19, businesses that are ecommerce like Amazon went thru the roof.  But Amway doesn't appear to have done so well.  I wonder why?  Is it because Amway is more about recruiting downline that actually selling a decent product at a competitive price?   If Amway was what the diamonds advertise it as, Amway would have gone thru the roof like Amazon and some other online retailers.  But they did not.   So my question worth repeating is;  what's so great about Amway?  

How IBOs Get Scammed?

 In my experience and opinion, Amway IBOs get scammed in the process of being recruited as IBOs because they mistakenly think they are going to become actual business owners.  The sad reality is that the prospects and IBOs themselves are simply being sold a system that's supposed to make them money.   Not much different than those late night informercials where the pitch man says he can make you rich if you buy his fool proof system of success.  Then they'll show testimonials of people who allegedly made money using the system.

In the meantime, nobody has ever verified that the guy making the pitch has actually made any real money following their own advice, nor do you ever see bonafide evidence that those giving the testimonials have ever made a cent from the system they are pitching.   It's really no different from the Amway diamonds who show you slide shows of mansions, fabulous vacations and sports cars.  Typically the diamonds will show you pictures of Amway sponsored trips and not necessarily trips that they paid for on their own.  

How do you know that your diamond is even currently qualified, much less "rich"?   The answer is you don't know.  You assume that they are because you're told so.  Oh, they might flash you copies of a large check they once received or something of the like but you'll be told "none of your business" if you ask for actual financial credentials.   But at the same time, these diamonds expect their faithful downline to blindly follow advice and invest their money following a system that may not have even worked for the diamond.

If you didn't know, a lot of money is made by selling get rich systems to people, which is why you see all those infomercials on TV or maybe heard them on radio.  The pitch is enticing and curiosity often makes people want to take a chance on seeing what is actually involved.  You know, like 2-5 years of hard work that is supposed to result in lifelong residual income that you can "walk away" from.   Even if it takes 10 years, that's better than working 40 years at 40 hours a week right?   That's the bait the Amway recruiters use on prospects and often, they use that curiosity approach.

But in the end, you are simply an unpaid commission only Amway sales person who gets no benefits and must even use your own money and time to promote and sell Amway products and hopefully the opportunity to others so that you can leverage downline volume with yours.  Most people do little and quit, or do nothing and quit.  You really cant build any kind of sustainable business where the participants are most likely to do little or nothing before quitting.  Your best chance of making money is to sell these teaching systems where you make nice profits regardless of the results of your customers.

The Big Secret?

One thing that I was unaware of as an Amway IBO was that our uplines were massively profiting from our tools purchases. I was in WWDB at the time and I was told very clearly that nobody made money from the tools and in fact, I was also told that WWDB was a non profit organization. Both of these statements were bold lies told by WWDB leaders and they have never been held accountable. We were told that upline cared about us and our success, thus they spent their own money to fly to functions to teach us how to succeed. Turns out they were all lies.

Eventually, the internet and other media made it impossible to cover up these lies and uplines finally admitted that they profited from tools. However, it looks like the upline downplayed the magnitude of the tools profits. I believe some upline may have made most of their income from tools, especially leaders who may have fallen out of qualification.  Amway doesn't publish currently qualified diamonds so nobody really knows who's a real diamond except Amway, and they don't tell. Now days, the upline admits they make some profits from tools, but there is still a great deal of secrecy in the tools business. Has anyone ever seen a written agreement on tools compensation? So say you qualify diamond and your crown ambassador decides you don't get tool money, what legal recourse do you have? 

What makes the whole thing with tools ironic is that the uplines are not supposed to entice Amway prospects into joining by using the tools money as a draw, but at the same time, they are told that tools are vital to their success. Uplines also show off trappings and lifestyles to attract recruits, but I believe that these trappings were likely obtained with supplemental tool income. I wonder if the diamonds actually owned the toys they showoff?   I suspect that some rent cars or houses to make the show attractive. And tool income has a higher profit margin than Amway products and fewer people participate in the pay plan so it makes perfect sense. Let's take Dream Night. It costs about $75 per person, but I can schedule a fancy dinner in a hotel for about $25 to $30 per head. The rest is profit. Same with FED, but FED probably costs less as there's no dinner and the fee is about $125. That's where the real money is made.  Just do the math and the answer is clear.  

I wonder how many prospects or IBOs would be fired up about buying tools if they knew that their uplines might not currently be qualified at the level they claim to be, and knowing that the uplines will make a ton of money whether or not you make a cent as an IBO? Also, some uplines are shameless in pushing the tools on downline. Sure they might cut the newest guy a break and loan them some cds, but once that IBO decides to start building downline, they are likely to be told that a real business owner buys their own tools, or that a business owner needs to be a leader and purchase extra tools for their downline.

How would you feel if your upline is touting themselves as a financial genius but in the background, their homes are foreclosed or they have financial difficulties? What if your upline touts their morals and you find out they are divorced or getting a divorce? What if your upline said Amway saves marriages? Your upline certainly won't say they are perfect, but conversely, they should be held to the highest standards if they are using their status to be able to sell tools and make large profits.  

These are some Amway secrets that your upline doesn't want you to know about.

The System Works?

One of the things I have heard over and over by Amway supporters is that their system works if you apply it. But is that really true or not? I contend that it is not true because many of the things recommended by the system comes with baggage that most IBOs cannot carry, or is not within the control of an IBO. For example, an IBO can be sure to listen to cds and read books every day, but being able to show a plan means you have to find someone who's willing to see it. Or selling a product means you need to find someone who's willing to buy it. While on the surface, that sounds reasonable, but in practice, many IBOs find it impossible.

There are reasons why the two biggest challenges facing most IBOs is finding prospects and being able to sell products. The challenge comes from the higher prices in general that Amway charges their IBOs. An IBO will often try to justify the price by citing quality, or concentration. But these factors are subjective and the vast majority of consumers will simply see a similar (or same) product at WalMart with a lower price tag and buy it there. For probably most consumers, the price tag is the bottom line and it is why the WalMarts of the world are wildly successful. Another hurdle many IBOs cannot overcome is the problem of finding people to show the plan to. Because of past IBO behavior such as tricking people into Amway meetings, or being deceptive about the purpose of the meeting, or outright lying, many people in the north American market think there is something shady about Amway IBOs. In some cases, it is unfounded, but still, the stigma follows because too many people have or know someone who had a bad experience in Amway, and many people in the past who did work the system, ended up losing money because of the system. These factors make business building in the US nearly impossible, and explains why Amway is stagnant in north America, and why groups are shrinking rather than growing. Amway recently did some PR things, including some commercials, but still I do not think it was done in time to fix the reputation issues. 

Aside from sponsoring/showing the plan, and selling products, nearly or all of the system activities are non income producing activities for downline and in fact, many activities such as voicemail or standing orders are major profit centers for certain upline. Thus it would make sense for upline to promote these activities to downline, because they profit from it. It may or may not help the IBOs. But there is no unbiased evidence that the system works if applied. Sure, Amway supporters will point out that all the new platinums and above were on the system, but don't mention that for every "success" story, there may be hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of failures. To call that a success would be a tough sell in my book. 

So does the system work if you apply it? Based on the evidence and my informed opinions, I would have to say "no". But IBOs must make their own decisions. Are you experiencing a net profit? If the answer is no, ask yourself why not? Is the system the reason you have a net loss? If the answer is yes, ask yourself if you should continue. If you are told that the system saves your marriage or makes you nicer, ask yourself if you own a business or are you participating in a self improvement class. Ask the tough questions. As a business owner, you owe it to yourself and your business.

Amway And Gambling?

Let me make a disclaimer right off the top so Amway defenders don't try to discredit the post without reading it. The Amway opportunity is not a game of chance. But I will go on to explain how and why the opportunity can be compared to gambling and why the diamonds can be seen as a casino or the "house". In either case, the fact that Amway is not gambling, but yields lower success rates than gambling speak volumes.

In the Amway opportunity, the odds against someone going diamond are astronomical. Literally millions of people have attempted to build an Amway business in North America over the years and diamond club for North Anerican diamonds a number of years back had 160 diamond-ships represented. Certainly some north american diamonds may have turned down a free trip to Hawaii but I'm guessing that's not a big number. 

The odds are also stacked in favor of the diamonds. Casinos are not built by winners, but by the hoards of losers. Just as a diamond business is not built by having a foundation of winners, but layers and layers of IBOs who are losing. The Amway opportunity is simply set up that way. Look at your common 6-4-2 plan or whatever version your group uses. The newest or biggest layer of IBOs make very little and when you factor in expenses such as functions or standing orders, the losses can be staggering. 

A diamond, like a casino will attract many young dreamers who think they can conquer the world and will get rich. They use bright lights and profile former winners just as Diamonds show off fancy cars and testimonies to lure in recruits. The newness of the opportunity gets you excited, just as someone walking into a casino might feel the excitement with the sounds of the casino. All you need is some effort and little luck right? Sadly, that excitement is all too often replaced with the harsh reality that most must lose in order for there to be a few winners, both in casinos and the Amway business. 

Like casinos and diamond uplines, there is much caring for active IBOs and for players who are spending their money in casinos. But once you walk out of the casino, there is no special treatment, just as an IBO who stops building a business or stops being core quickly becomes forgotten. In Amway, people who said they were lifelong friends were never heard from again once an IBO missed a few meetings. If you re-emerge, you will find the love again, just as you will get free drinks when you start gambling again.

And yes, there are some exceptional people who can scratch out a nice living by gambling but they are few and far between, just as there are diamonds, but diamonds also have thousands of people who wanted diamond but could not achieve it. Those who can finally make it usually have an exceptional blend of skill and a bit of luck. Some even cheat/lie in order to gain a bigger edge, both in gambling and in Amway. 

Like a gambling "system", the Amway opportunity has "systems". In either opportunity, the system doesn't work for the masses. There are an exceptional few who can make it work. Except in gambling, most people understand that the odds are stacked against them. In Amway, many new IBOs are told that anyone and everyone can succeed when it simply is not true. 

Can you fulfill your dreams by gambling or with the Amway opportunity? The answer is yes, but the reailty is that few will ever do so. Like casinos and Amway diamond-ships, both are built on the backs of those who lose, not on those who win.

The Real Cost?

One of the common things Amway leaders apparently do is to disparage people with jobs. Oh, they would say we needed people to wait on our tables and clean our toilets, but in general, jobs were put down and basically the group was told that Amway is their best chance at achieving financial freedom, giving them the ability to flush their jobs. Ironically, IBO's jobs are what funds their Amway businesses. Most IBOs would be out of business within weeks if not for their job income funding their Amway businesses. 

The key selling point appears to be the 2-5 years of part time work rather than working a job for 30 - 40 years and then retiring on social security which may or may not be there when you retire. This plants a fear in people about the future and then the Amway opportunity is presented in a positive light because the Amway opportunity comes with a low start up cost. What uplines do not mention is how the opportunity can become a money pit as the monthly defacto 100 PV quota starts to add up. It is my guess that if people only bought items they truly needed, these IBOs would likely move 100 PV every three months, unless they are actively selling goods to non IBO customers. With Amway products being so concentrated and efficient as IBOs claim, why would you need to replenish these products so often?

When an IBO finally agrees to register, it is then that the true, but hidden costs are revealed. Many uplines will introduce standing orders and functions and present these tools as vital to IBO success. Most new IBOs don't know better and feel subtle pressure to conform and give it a try. Some upline may loan some tools to downline in the beginning but eventually, the IBO will be encouraged to be a "serious" business owner who should be purchasing their own tools to loan to their downline and the cycle goes on. There is also the cost of additional cds, books, voicemail and other business related costs that are not mentioned until later which the prospect doesn't necessarily know prior to start up.  

If you examine some version of the Amway recruitment plan, you will see that most IBOs are at the 100 PV level, which will reward you with a monthly bonus of about $10 or so. If that same IBO subscribes to the tools system, than IBO will likely be losing over $100 to $250 a month not including the cost of the product purchases. And because many IBOs have been convinced that working a job is so horrible, that they can be convinced that this condition of losing money is temporary and that untold wealth is right around the corner. Sadly, for most, this condition is the norm and even the sponsorship of a few downline, the losses continue to mount. Yet many are convinced that this is better than a job. And this is just the financial cost, not the time and effort spent pursuing a false hope and dream that Amway IBOs and recruiters promote.

Ironically, a job allows people to pay their monthly bills, feed their families and many people enjoy their work and co workers. While upline leaders may convince you otherwise, it is this very same excuse upline leaders use when asked why they are still working instead of walking the beaches of the world collecting massive amounts of residual income. I would encourage IBOs to truly analyze their efforts in Amway and determine if it is beneficial to your finances. In most cases, your Amway efforts ONLY benefits your upline's finances. For most who get involved, the Amway opportunity is not better than a job.

When You Have A Dream, The Facts Don't Matter?

One of the crazy things that our upline taught the group was that the facts don't matter when you have a dream. There is evidence that this is still taught today and in particular, I have heard that from Amway IBOs who claim to associate with WWDB.  Amway IBOs are taught to ignore facts because the facts make their Amway businesses look like a joke. Spend $300 a month on products to gain a $10 rebate when you could have bought the same or similar products at WalMart for a fraction of the cost. Then many IBOs spend another $200 or more on tools and functions so they can be taught to ignore facts of that all of this is somehow a great deal.   I really can't make this stuff up.  I've even heard IBOs mention how the facts don't matter when you have a dream.  

Any real business owner would never ignore facts. A real business owner makes decisions based on facts. IBOs are being duped into making business decisions on emotions and hype. The Amway opportunity is already saturated with handicaps and challenges, particularly in the US and Canada, where the reputations and previous antics of fellow IBOs have so stained Amway's name that it appears to be negatively affecting sales and preventing any meaningful growth. Despite what Amway apologists claim, Amway is very likely shrinking in the US, and will continue to do so unless improvements and corrections are made, in my opinion. It's also possible that it is too late to right the ship at this point.   Where are all the new diamonds and higher ups?   Amazon, with online sales, went thru the roof because COVID 19 made online shopping lucrative.   But why not for Amway?  Shouldn't their sales have gone thru the roof like Amazon?  

It is also why many IBOs talk about how Amway saves marriages, or Amway made them nicer people. Uplines will teach this because it takes a business owner's focus away from their bottom line, the profit or loss. Or IBOs are taught that a loss just means they are investing in their business, despite being told upfront that there is little or no investment needed and that a profit can be turned quickly in Amway. These uplines have gone on for years with no accountability placed upon them by either Amway or their downlines. Any "incidents" are simply ignored or history revised by uplines.

There is one blog on the internet, where a WWDB IBO is writing about buying homes in cash, and Amway IBOs having a 2% divorce rate compared to more than 50% in the rest of the world, yet you have Amway defenders claiming this isn't being taught, when clearly it is. Cover it up all you want, the evidence is right there but these folks aren't interested in the facts.  Sadly, that blog owner has now quit Amway and deleted his blog.  Any old time readers remember Shaun, the zealous WWDB IBO.  His blog was called "Expeditions Of Truth".  

Why are Amway IBOs ignoring facts? A better question is why Amway IBOs would listen to a "mentor" who teaches them to ignore facts?

Getting Something For Nothing?

In my opinion, Amway is a pyramid. They have not been found illegal, but still operate a product pyramid. The reason why they remain legal, apparently is because they do not pay anyone for directly recruiting downline and they claim to sell products to actual customers. But most everyone has been, or knows someone who was recruited by a zealous Amway IBO. The emphasis of most active IBOs is on recruiting and much of the teaching by upline is on techniques to recruit and/or how to talk to people without tipping their hat to reveal the Amway name. Most IBOs are not very good at this and they stick out like sore thumbs in many cases. It's also comical when uplines teach crazy antics, like how some IBOs use to deny that Amway and Quixtar were even remotely connected, or if anyone remembers the "perfect water" fiasco a number of years back. 

One of the reasons IBOs use to justify their involvement in the pyramid is that they can earn more than their sponsor. While that is true, it is only because everyone below the emerald or diamond level is basically expendable, or a slave in the pyramid. There are many many IBOs who achieve fairly high levels who quit, or had upline wreck their businesses. Thus even platinums are expendable to upline. In fact an upline might make more money by removing the platinum. For new IBOs or recruits, do you really believe that you are going to ever surpass your current upline diamond or higher? If you believe that, you are sadly mistaken.

And for those who dream of achieving diamond and walking the beaches of the world. How do you think you can ever achieve that? You don't get something for nothing unless someone gets nothing for something. In order for you to receive income for little or no efforts, your downline IBOs must keep purchasing products and replacing IBOs who quit. If your downlines cannot keep up with the attrition rate, your business will collapse in a hurry. Come to think of it, if a diamond can walk away and collect a large income forever, why hasn't anyone done it? I mean we still see crown ambassadors still busy working functions or dying on the job and I don't know of any who walked away to spend their lives jet setting on the beaches of the world.

The sad reality is that you see new faces at meetings and functions, just as often as you see familiar faces disappear. With that kind of attrition rate, you may have to work even harder at the higher levels just to keep your business status quo. In Egypt, the slaves built the pyramids. Do you have enough slaves? What many Egyptologists find amazing is how the Egyptians were able to motivate the slaves to keep on going, doing backbreaking work all of their lives. The same can be said of a diamond level business (or higher).  

Charitable Donations To Amwayers?

I know Amway defenders will talk about some of the sales they make, and that's fine and good, but when I look at the kinds of sales they make, it is usually insignificant. I recently read some comments that sort of made me laugh. A prospect apparently was invited to an Amway recruitment meeting by a friend, and out of courtesy, sat through the presentation (which nobody else attended) and politely declined to register. The commenter went on to say that after the meeting, he felt sorry for his friend and purchased something off of his friend's IBO website, and it felt like making a charitable contribution. Makes me wonder since Amway's products are mostly consumed by IBOs themselves and I believe less than 5% of Amway good actually made it into the hands of a non IBO customer. Even those who subscribe to Amway teaching may have heard how you should find yourself 10 customers. Now ask yourself what store can survive having only 10 customers?

But I wonder out of the tiny amount of IBO retail sales, how many of those sales are basically charitable contributions made to IBOs by family and friends who simply feel sorry for their acquainted IBO? When I first declined to join Amway under my eventual sponsor, they did ask me to buy some of their goods. But being a single male, my age group demographic didn't really match me with the products they were pushing. If I remember correctly, I ended up buying the liquid Amway car wax. While the car wax worked as well as the other leading brands, I recall that I paid about $12 for it back in 1995 or so. I can currently get a jumbo sized bottle od Nu-Finish or Astroshield liquid car wax for $8.99 at Target or other local retailers, and at times, the store puts them on special sales for $5.99. So basically, I am getting about twice as much car wax for the price if I purchase my car wax on a store special. I know Amway zealots will want to compare the price with an online source but as I said, I make my purchase in person and wait for store soecials which occurs every couple of months.

I know at times, I have seen other family and friends involved in MLM. And while I was once there, I now see their attempts as somewhat pathetic, especially when they are basically walking the same path I did about 12 years ago as an IBO. I do not discourage them, but simply decline to see their plan or register as a downline. I have at times, also made charitable contributions to some friends who had become involved in MLM. If nothing else, just to be supportive of a friend. Ultimately, these MLM friends eventually figured things out on their own and quit as I did. Some of them follow my blog and some just quietly faded into the sunset. They do not run an informative blog as I do, but not everyone can or will. (Sound familar?)

However, after reading the comments about the polite friend who bought an Amway product from a friend, I have to wonder whether IBOs are making true retail sales or merely receiving charitable contributions from friends and family in the form of Amway product purchases?

A Business Or A Joke?

I hear many Amway supporters mention that you will have a real business if you treat it like one. It is my observation that most IBOs do not treat their businesses like a real one. It is also my opinion that the Amway business itself is flawed and many IBOs, in their zeal to sponsor downline, do crazy things at times, such as tricking people into meetings, or being deceptive and misleading. Some IBOs are taught "fake it till you make it". Many IBOs never sell a product and never sponsor anyone. How can anyone build a business under those conditions. Yet that is the most common experience for newbies. Many IBOs do nothing and quit. Knowing these factors, how can anyone expect to build a business when most can't sell products or sponsor people, and when people get sponsored, most "do nothing and quit"?

Many IBOs do not bother to qualify their prospects. They will sponsor anyone who is breathing. It could be due to uplines making the business seem easy. For example, I have heard that going platinum is so easy that someone's dog can go platinum. Another mistake IBOs make is they do not look at the likelihood of an IBO succeeding. They will sponsor anyone, anywhere. Like real stores, opening a new one creates competition and I don't know of any IBOs who take this into consideration before recruiting a new prospect. The solution to a faltering business is apparently to attempt to open more "Amway stores" despite a lack of sales.

New recruits are also encouraged to partake in the teaching system, regardless of their expectations and business goals. This participation in the system is what often leads to IBO failure (business losses). They spend more on tools than what they generate in income. This heavily contributes to the poor retention rate among IBOs. Even IBOs who can progress and make some money will be simply channeling their profits to upline by their tools consumption. It is my informed guess that an IBO must reach the 4000 to platinum level before they start to break even. However, with that said, a hard core dedication to the system can render a 4000 or platinum into a lose money business. And If I might add, only about 1 in 400 IBOs reach the Gold level (source Amway.com) so you are already facing overwhelming odds just to reach the alleged break even point in Amway. 

Here's the real test for an IBO. Walk into a bank. Speak to a loan officer and show the loan officer the 6-4-2 or 9-4-2 plan, whichever plan your group uses. And see if the loan officer will grant you a loan based on that plan. It is more likely that you be laughed out of the bank. Seriously, the plan only makes sense, apparently to people who are unable to properly evaluate a business plan. That's because the presentation is more about selling dreams and hopes than about running a profitable business. 

"Sharp" Prospects?

One of the things taught to our group by upline was to recruit "sharp" people. And in general, I agree that many/most IBOs were sharp people. Most of them nice, motivated and wanting more in life. Certain Amway defenders wrongly claim that I am against Amway and IBOs to a degree where I am maniacal against them. I am not. I recall that most of my group and my crossline were mostly educated and had decent jobs. We all hoped to achieve the dream of walking away from our jobs and living in luxury. We got the idea that is was very reasonable and achievable if only we did as upline advised and immersed ourselves in the "system", which in my case, was WWDB. We were told that WWDB had much fruit on its tree and at the time I was an IBO, that appeared to be true. 

However, we did not know that some WWDB leaders made significant income from selling us tools. You see, we were lied to and speakers at major functions told the audience that nobody made a cent from tools and that upline makes pennies only after you earn dollars. We know know that this is not true and that these speakers were lying. What's more, these leaders were never made accountable for their lies. They just revised history and acted like nothing happened. Sadly, many downline IBOs simply accepted the explanation and continued to buy tools. Currently, the WWDB tree is getting barren, with little "fruit". There are very few new diamonds from WWDB in the US, and some of their more apparently dynamic leaders have left WWDB to start their own systems. Thus it looks like WWDB is left with the same old tired speakers today, as the ones who were around prior to my involvement with Amway. 

But what's puzzling, or maybe not, is why aren't there more successes if many, possibly most IBOs are "sharp" people? Surely large groups of smart and motivated people can accomplish much, but for whatever reason, they are unable to accomplish much in Amway and WWDB. In fact, many of these shapr people cannot sponsor a single downline and have difficulty in selling Amway products. After many years of blogging and analyzing the Amway opportunity, my conclusion is that Amway products are priced too highly and cannot compete with similar products on the open market. Sure, Amway defenders will cite quality or concentration as reasons why Amway is competitive, and in some cases, Amway is competitive, but the general public doesn't care, they just want cheap stuff and Walmart fulfills that need better than Amway. It leaves the majority of Amway sales being made to active business building IBOs. Apparently the artificial need to buy Amway goods disappears when the diamond dream disappears. 

Also, the zany and sometimes deceptive behavior of past and some present IBOs gives the Amway name a bad reputation, making it difficult to get anyone to see the plan, and sponsoring becomes nearly impossible. It is for this reason, I believe Amway is growing in foreign countries and not in North America, where saturation has occured. When you factor in all of these variables, it is easy to conclude that large groups of sharp people fai is not because they are not capable, it is because the Amway opportunity comes with so many handicaps that even sharp people cannot overcome them. It is why so many former IBOs, including myself, ahve done quite well for themselves after leaving Amway. Did I learn some things about business while in Amway? yes, I did learn some things of value, but I also learned that I was lied to and deceived by WWDB leaders and for that reason, my blog continues......

Dreams Fulfilled Without Amway?

One of the things that many Amway IBOs are badly misguided on is the concept of dreams and fighting for dreams. A dream is basically a long term goal. Someone might dream about playing in the National Football League. To accomplish that dream, one might play high school and/or college level football. For most, the dream will end unsuccessfully. No matter how much someone wants to play in the NFL, only so many people are proficient enough to be able to make the team. Even fewer are elite players that become stars. So while you might fight for your dreams, there is also an alternate reality.  I too, wanted to play in the NFL but after high school football, it was apparent that I was not big enough, or fast enough to seriously compete at the D1 college level.  So I had to move on rather than clinging to the dream.  

In the Amway business, via the "systems" such as WWDB or Network 21, the leaders will often sell hopes and dreams to the downline. That the downline can be retired at the age of 29, walking the beaches of the world while the (huge) income just rolls in forever and ever. These kinds of "dreams" would be the same as hoping to win the powerball lottery. You may have seen a few who did it but the chance of you duplicating it is very unlikely. Slim to none is your chance in reality. 

Another things uplines will often do is tell anecdotal stories about crabs keeping each other in a bucket when one tries to escape, or about monkeys preventing each other from grabbing bananas at the top of the pole. While the stories may be interesting and even true, it doesn't necessarily apply to the Amway business. While it is true that an IBO may have friends and family who are skeptical about Amway, it is with good reason. Many people have gone through the Amway business with no success. Many people have lost money doing everyting they were advised to do by upline. There is a track record of financial disasters associated with Amway and the attached "systems". It's not like there's a long list of people who have walked away from Amway with the cash rolling in and not a care in the world. Ever wonder why none of the crown ambassadors have exercised the option to "walk away"? 

I think people should have dreams. I think people should pursue their dreams. I also think people need to know that certain dreams can come true. There also needs to be a degree of reality in their dreams. There will always be some inspirational person such as a "Rudy" who overcame great odds to accomplish a dream, but the untold reality is that there were probably many many young men who dreamed of playing for Notre Dame that year. Likely, no one else accomplished the unlikely dream like a Rudy. What I am saying is that earning a nice income and having the option of early retirement can be acomplished in many ways. You might be choosing to use Amway to accomplish your financial dreams and that is your right. But the reality is that very few people have made all their financial dreams come true due to the Amway opportunity, as compared to the tens of millions who have tried. 

I would opine that saving money and investing it while you are young is a great way to get started in life. Luckily for me, I was given that advice when I just got out of college and I started a 401K at the age of 22 when I started working full time. I had a second job at the time so that second income went into my 401K and now many years later, I have a small fortune saved up and along with some other sources of income that I developed, I was able to retire early at the age of 55 and being able to enjoy a nice retirement. And guess what? These dreams were accomplished without Amway, although the Amway opportunity wasted some of my time and money along the way (I was an IBO in the late 1990's).  

Keep fighting for your dreams, but keep in mind that you might need a plan B and a dose of reality.

Random Observations About Amway?

Observation #1: In general, Amway IBOs are less successful in life than others. That is why they are more open to the business and why they can be convinced that there is a shortcut to retirement and perpetual wealth. When I was an IBO, I was not where I wanted to be financially, as I was younger and at the earlier stages (entry level) of my career. I would not be open to “options” right now, however, many people looking for more in life or a shortcut to retirement may be more susceptible to looking at options. It's just that the Amway opportunity, in my opinion, ir a poor option. 

Observation #2: The biggest zealots/supporters appear to have the smallest businesses. They talk the talk - but no evidence of walking the walk. Also, any discussion about their personal success with the business is limited and shrouded in secrecy or they will make vague references about their level of success. They will say that their incomes are not relevant to the discussion or will point out a copy of someone's check or show a picture of a diamond's mansion, but will never disclose real financials like a REAL business owner would.

Observation #3: The business has a bad reputation and cannot be marketed to the general public without some degree of deception. It’s why there are so many testimonials of people tricked into attending meetings (including myself). Being straight forward with information will likely get you a resounding “No thanks”.

Observation #4: It would appear that much upline teaching is not focused on actually running a profitable business, but dedication to the system. It’s why so many IBOs don’t seem to know what a profit loss statement is, and don’t bother keeping one themselves. It’s also why the content of many BSMs is to purchase more BSMs. At functions, they will tell you to attend more functions and buy more standing orders, and on standing orders, they will tell you to never quit and to attend more functions.

Observation #5: IBOs in general don’t seem to have planned out their retirement. They are convinced that the Amway opportunity will provide for them when they reach their retirement years. They put down people who are working jobs and investing for their futures. They feel that purchasing function tickets is their investment for retirement. While a fraction of 1% might make some significant money in Quixtar, the vast majority do not. The fact that the majority may not have put forth a Herculean effort is irrelevant in my opinion. The bottom line is that the vast majority will not make an income from this opportunity. To ignore this fact is burying your head in the sand.

The Sweat Shop?

To my loyal readers, I apologize for a lack of articles lately but I had some computer issues and writing new arctic;es off my iPhone is a challenge.  I should be more active going forward.

Re:  Sweat Shops;  Some big companies and some private entrepreneurs have been accused of being "sweat shop owners". This is when they exploit workers, often in foreign countries by having them work under harsh conditions and often for a very small wage. For example, a foreign operation may have a warehouse full of women and children working all day under poor conditions for a few bucks a day. The owners of these operations can rake in the dough as they save a ton of money in labor costs.

Some uplines operate just like sweat shop owners, but in many cases, they are worse then sweat shop owners because even exploited workers earn something. At the end of the month, they have a net gain, even if it might be small. In the case of many Amway IBOs, they spend money on Amway products, and uplines take the lion's share of the rebate/bonus that is generated by those sales, and then in turn, these same uplines try to get many of their downline to also become customers of their system of cds, books, voicemail and seminars or functions. In many, probably most cases, uplines will make just as much if not more income from the system, than from Amway.

These same upline will also teach firece loyalty to the system. Never miss a function. Make sacrifices to buy more books or cds, and make sure you are always looking for people to sponsor to add to the system. Joining the system almost guarantees that you will suffer a net loss in the Amway business. It is why I continue to write about what IBOs and prospects should look for when they are being recruited or indoctrinated into these systems. It is why there are so many defenders of Amway, most of whom are losing money, but think they are still successful because it is what upline teaches. 

I know most IBOs won't believe this, but I will say it anyway. IBOs on the system are probably worse off than sweat shop employees because they are paying their upline to do their work. At least sweat shop employees get a salary. Upline will teach you that it is an honor to drive them around, or to do tasks for them. Many platinums works are free doormen and ushers at meetings and functions. Upline benefits by maximizing profits from functions. It is pure downline exploitation and I hope eventually that more and more IBOs will recognize this.

What Do You Own?

 When someone buys a conventional business, they usually have a building or place of operations, inventory and equipment that’s needed to run their business.  Thus if your business doesn’t make it, you have tangible assets that can be liquidated if necessary.   Amway promoters lie and say that these businesses often my no profit for 5 years or more.  The fact is that their first sale likely makes a profit, although the initial investment might not be recovered right away.  

Conversely, Amway promoters like to claim that you can make money right away in Amway with the low overhead expenses.   So why don’t Amway business owners typically profit right away.  It’s because the diamonds fail to mention that they create overhead expenses in the form of standing orders and functions as well as other training materials.  These materials are the most common reason why businesses in Amway operate at a net loss.  

But unlike a conventional business, what do Amway business owners actually own?   They likely don’t carry any significant amounts of inventory, they likely don’t have a building or place if business nor do they typically have employees.   So what does an Amway business owner own?   All they have is a place on the pyramid with rights to a percentage of their downline volume which is useless when so many IBOs do nothing and quit.  

If an Amway business actually had equity and value, a diamond could easily sell a diamond business, make a fortune then go build another diamond business since they claim that anyone can do it.  The fact that this never happens should speak volumes about a diamond business but the diamonds are good at covering up the warts and shortcomings of Amway.   This is great food for thought.