Hypocrisy Of Upline Leaders?

 Now that the internet is so accessible, information flows freely and some of the dark secrets of the Lines Of Sponsorship (LOS) have been exposed. Also, as times passes, it is becoming clear that a bunch of upline leaders are major hypocrites, apparently motivated by greed and personal gain. I believe this trend will continue as well. It appears that these same leaders have managed to get around Amway's accreditation guidelines, which appears to be toothless.

Many upline leaders appeal to their audience by talking about how the Amway business can save marriages. I remember sitting in an audience when some diamonds spoke about how couples who build the business have a less than 2% divorce rate as compared to the national figure of 50% or so. One major reason cited was the financial stress that J-O-B people had (not enough cash). But now we see some upline diamond leaders getting divorced and in some cases, no explanation is offered, as if the missing spouse was beamed up by aliens. Many leaders simply revise history or deny that certain events happened. Some leaders just pretend nothing happened and it seems like IBOs are very forgiving, thus no real accountability has ever been applied to upline leaders.

People also found that some diamonds make a lot of money from tools. When I was an IBO, we were told very clearly, that nobody made profits from tools. That profits went back into the functions to make them better and cheaper. (Has any function gotten cheaper in the last 20+ years?) In fact, when I was an IBO, I was told that WWDB was a non-profit entity, which was a bold lie. I will admit that upline later changed their story to WWDB was a for profit company, but nobody kept profits, thus the channeling money to make events better and cheaper. Again, when have events ever been cheaper?  Now I don't think that events should be run pro bono, but the leaders should be transparent about it rather than the lies and shroud of secrecy that often accompanies talk about tools and tool income.

Some upline leaders also spoke of how utterly stupid it was to take out a loan as the banks make so much money off the interest. We now see some of these very leaders having their homes foreclosed! Some of these diamonds were the very ones who said they pay cash for everything, including their homes and cars. It is not in the hopes for these folks to suffer, but it is exposing the lies and deception that leaders used to entice IBOs to join and to purchase tools that were supposed to help IBOs to attain the same lifestyle as the diamonds. However, rather that more diamonds, I believe WWDB and some other LOSs, at least in the US, have fewer diamonds now than 15 years ago. Where's the evidence of success? 

What's even more amazing is how the hypocrisy of some of these leaders are exposed to downline and the downline simply ignores it and continues to follow blindly without an explanation or questioning the leaders after the incidents are exposed. 

IBOs should ask their leaders questions when these kinds of issues arise. And you should think twice if the answer you receive is silence or deflections.

The "Millionaire" Mentality?

 A comment left by an anonymous site visitor:

"I love Amway. I just don't understand why people have to be negative about it. I don't hurt or steal from anyone, yet I make money. I'm not a millionaire as of yet but working towards that goal. It's called "millionaire mentality". Joecool you will never succeed with penny mentality."

Joecool's commentary:

Most diamonds do not have a millionaire mentality based on the traits of actually wealthy people. If you see how they spend money and how they flaunt excessive wealth, I see people who could win the power ball lottery and wind up broke in a short period of time. They might earn a nice income (even if it may come by lying and deceiving their downline), but they spend it all, and possibly more by portraying the diamond lifestyle. In my opinion, the diamond lifestyle as portrayed in functions such as "dream night" are not sustainable long term.  For this reason, we are now seeing evidence of this such as a triple diamond who participated in chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, diamonds losing homes to foreclosures. We are seeing diamonds selling their mansions. Sure, they might be downsizing or liquidating their assets, but if these homes have been paid in cash as they claim, why sell them?   

In the past, I have posted some articles showing the traits and characteristics of millionaires. Many of these articles cite saving, investing, and living below your means. Many wealthy people drive regular everyday cars and live in the suburbs. They don't commonly have porsches, and jaguars. And for the record, the average diamond income, as reported by Amway, isn't all that much when you factor in business expenses and taxes. So why do diamonds try to show off wealth?

I believe diamonds show off wealth because it is a way to attract recruits. Because the Amway opportunity has a high turnover rate, nobody can reasonably "walk away" from their business and have cash rolling in for long. Attrition would eat away your business in a matter of days or weeks. It is why I believe diamonds do not walk away from their businesses, because they can't afford to. The business requires constant attention, or it will crumble faster than a sand castle on the beach.

Most IBOs are simply fooled into thinking they are developing into having a millionaire mentality. An honest question for IBOs. How do you even know if your upline diamond is a millionaire? Anyone, even a broke guy can wear a nice suit and show off pictures of mansions and sports cars. For that matter, how do you know if your upline diamond is currently qualified as a diamond? Amway doesn't release that information except for new pins.

In my opinion, diamond's displays of excessive wealth and luxury portrays something, but it's not the millionaire mentality.

The Indefensible?

 I've been blogging for many years now and one of the conclusions I have made is that there really is no defense for debating the merits of an Amway business when the IBO is participating in a system such as WWDB or Network 21. I have no issues with IBOs who sign up and sell actual products to non-IBO customers, but these sales oriented IBOs are very rare. Most IBOs who are entrenched in a system are often focused on sponsoring downline because that is the only way an IBO can achieve certain levels such as emerald or diamond. The emerald or diamond level is the goal of many because it is allegedly the level where an IBO can "walk away" and enjoy barrels of cash rolling in for the rest of their lives. I find it ironic that even crown ambassadors keep busy schedules and have not walked away into a quiet life of retirement and uncountable amounts of money. Instead we read about these crowns passing away while still on the (Amway) job.

In general, it would take about 100 IBOs or so to make up a platinum level business. That's 1% at best and even less when you factor in IBOs who do nothing or IBOs who start and quit. In my estimation, a very dedicated hard core IBO would only begin to break even or make a little bit of income at the 4000 PV or platinum level. Of course, your business structure would be a factor in determining how much you can earn. Sponsoring width gives you more profit and sponsoring depth allegedly gives you some stability. Thus you could reasonably argue that about a fraction of 1% of IBOs break even or make a little bit of income. What real businessman would even consider opening a business where your chance of making a profit is less than 1%? Yes, you can argue that Amway is a business and not a game of chance, but a prudent decision also factors in your realistic chances of success.

Other factors that would make Amway unattractive is that the products are priced higher (in general) than comparable or the same products that are available at people's local retailers. Yes, Amway folks will argue quality and concentration factors but those arguments are simply justification for the higher prices. The vast majority of people are satisfied getting cheaper prices at Walmart. And seriously, WalMart products aren't of a lesser quality than most products you get from Amway in the first place. Also, IBOs are restricted from advertising their goods, thus are relegated to person to person advertising, which is probably the least effective method of getting the word out to the masses. Higher prices and unfamiliar products results in what many groups have - IBOs who "buy from themselves" in order to earn their bonuses. Also, any bonus that is earned by most IBOs is just a partial refund on having overpaid for a product. Not to mention unless you are at a higher level in the business, your upline(s) get most of the bonus, whether they helped you or not.

Yes, it is possible for some people to make some money in Amway. Yes, some people do make some good money from Amway. It is not possible for all IBOs to make money unless they are selling products to non IBOs and we know that most IBOs don't sell anything or sell just a few items to others. We also know that the tools systems generally eat away any small bonuses IBOs earn and leave them with a net loss. For the truly dedicated IBOs, the losses can mount into thousands of dollars and more, depending on you consumption and dedication level.

Can someone make a living with Amway? The answer is that it's possible but not likely. But as to whether the Amway business and associated use of tools is a good idea? For that there is no reasonable defense.

Do Nothing IBOs?

 I see and hear this quite frequently, that most IBOs do nothing and quit. Quite often, it's some Amway apologist using this as a defense as to why the average earnings of an IBO is so low. Even if many IBOs "do nothing", they are still registered Amway IBOs, and therefore count if you are measuring an "average". What Amway apologists like to do is exclude those who achieve nothing, but at the same time, count the high achievers in the average, thus giving a false impression of what the earnings are for a rank-and-file IBO. A better way in my opinion, would be to exclude the lowest and highest earners. That will give a more accurate idea of what someone can expect to earn in Amway.

But let's look at the term "do nothing". I cannot accept that most people do absolutely nothing. They were open enough to talk to someone about a business. They were motivated enough to be looking for something. They were motivated enough to (likely) attend a presentation and they were motivated enough to spend money on a starter kit. I would add that in many cases, groups such as BWW, WWDB or Network 21 for example, will add on some charges to that starter kit, which may include some tools or possibly a ticket to the next function. If you actually visit the Amway website, you will see that actual enrollment costs less than $100. With the motivational groups tacking on fees, startup kits might cost several hundreds of dollars. That being the case, I can't accept that people did all of the above, paid to join and then let the starter kit sit there collecting dust.

It would be my educated theory that many people "achieve nothing". but they don't "do nothing". A more likely scenario in my opinion, is that people sign up, and they do contact others, try to sell the business or some products, but because of past IBO behavior, they encounter the term scam or pyramid, and an extremely low rate of people open to joining or seeing the Amway plan. Knowing that you can't "go diamond" without sponsoring, many or possibly most IBOs try to get others to join. Because a lot of Amway products are not competitively priced and because of previous reputation issues, it is a very tough sell for new people. In my opinion, this is why Amway is growing faster in foreign countries, because IBOs have not yet damaged the name of Amway. Keeping this is mind, it is my guess that the real-life average income is about $100 a month, not the $200+ that Amway recently reported, as they conveniently excluded over 50% of the IBO sales force.

If people are saying that all these folks "did nothing", ask them how they could possibly know if someone "did nothing". The answer is that they don't know. In my time as an IBO, I saw people come and go, some doing little, some doing a lot, but I never saw a single person sign up and not even open the starter kit or at least try to prospect and/or sell. I believe the Amway system is simply flawed and the low achievement levels of IBOs in general is a product of that flawed system. You're welcome to try and prove me wrong (but you can't).

The Real Losers?

 One of the things I heard as an Amway IBO and still hear today, is that people who do not view Amway as favorable or decided to quit and walk away from the Amway opportunity are "broke" or "losers" or "broke losers". As an IBO I remember one of the upline saying that IBOs are winners, and therefore, if you are not an IBO, you must be a loser. I still see much of that today. I'm not sure why that kind of teaching still exists, especially when most people who work for minimum wage earn more than most IBOs.

I suppose it's a form of subtle pressure used by upline to prevent people from quitting, as nobody wants to be labeled a loser. It creates an "us" versus "them" attitude. One of Amway's co-founders, Rich DeVos, stated quite clearly in a speech that IBOs should not use the term loser just because someone doesn't agree that Amway is the greatest. And I agree.

Many people who are not IBOs are very successful, and many people are simply not suited for or want to run a "side" business. Some people are not in need of an extra income and some people do not want to sacrifice family time. IBOs should respect other people's wishes if they are turned down when offering the opportunity to others. Also, because of previous unethical behaviors of IBOs, many people simply do not wish to get involved in an opportunity where such behavior exists. Sure, not all IBOs act that way, but enough of them still exists. And what's more, it appears that not much, if anything has been done about it.

But here's the biggest reason, in my opinion, why IBOs should not be calling anyone derogatory names just because the prospect does not wish to join Amway or purchase goods. There's no reason to burn bridges with a potential customer or future IBO. Let's say I entered a store but for whatever reason, decided not to make a purchase that day. As I exit the store, the store owner calls me a loser or broke, or not having guts. What is the chance that I would want to do business with that store or store owner ever again? Furthermore, many or most Amway business owners conduct business person to person and face to face. If I insult people who don't initially do business with me, then I am doing a lousy job of PR and chances are by business will fail. Yet that is exactly what many IBOs do.

IBOs and upline leaders should read this and think twice before using the term loser or broke loser. You could be burning bridges with potential future customers or IBOs.

The (Am)Way To Retirement?

 One of the things Amway leaders 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 upline gets people to dislike to even despise their jobs. I remember an upline saying if you wouldn't do your job for free, then you don't like it that much. But to that, the same can be said about Amway right?

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 a pension or 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 to 300 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 (which is not that common IMO).

When an IBO finally agrees to register, it is then that the hidden costs are revealed. Many uplines will introduce voicemail, 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.

If you examine some version of the Amway recruitment plan, you will see that most active 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 a month not including 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.

There's no retirement in Amway. Over the years, not a single Amway defender could name and provide evidence of a single person who built Amway, and walked away to enjoy massive residual income. Diamonds are forever in that they work forever, never retiring because if they stopped working, their income would stop. And if I may add, portraying a diamond lifestyle is a very expensive endeavor. There is no Am-Way to retirement.

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. Be careful!

Diamonds Pay In Cash?

 When I was an Amway IBO, I was always taught that diamonds pay cash for everything. That one day, after following the foolproof WWDB system, that I too, would be strolling on the beaches of the world, with cash rolling into my bank account with no worries in the world. We were told that diamonds pay cash for all purchases, even homes and other large ticket items. As evidence, the diamonds would show slideshows of mansions and sports cars, golf club memberships and other lavish items. All paid for in cash we were told. I have reason to believe that WWDB still teaches this except that it is probably a bunch of lies. 

First of all, in looking back, the group really had no way of knowing what was paid for (in cash) or not. We just assumed that diamond made so much money that everything the diamonds spoke of were true. However, there have been events, some recent, that exposed some of the apparent lies told by these diamonds. There were two (2) diamonds whose home foreclosures became public knowledge and a prominent triple diamond who was involved in bankruptcy proceedings. Now your home cannot be foreclosed if it's paid for in cash right? Technically, nobody would care whether a diamond's home was mortgaged or paid for, but when diamonds parade in front of a crowd bragging about wealth, and then telling the audience that they too will achieve the same success by following the system and upline advice, well that's a more than a bit misleading in my opinion. So many people in the audience are practically crying because they want what the diamonds are flaunting, except that possibly, many of these diamonds don't even have what they are selling.

A average diamond might make about $150,000 (according to Amway) and let's just say another $150,000 from selling support materials. When you factor in taxes and business expenses such as travel to and from functions, what's left over certainly is not going to allow you to purchase million dollar mansions and fancy sports cars. Some higher up pins might make a bit more, but still, purchasing mansions and other luxuries in cash is a stretch. It would be my guess that most diamonds indeed have a mortgage on their homes and may even have car payments. That's not necessarily a crime but it is unethical to lie about your income in order to recruit new downlines.

For IBOs and other newbies, if your uplines are bragging about paying for homes and other things in cash, ask them to show proof of these claims. I can show you pictures of multi million dollar mansions and sports cars, it doesn't mean that I paid for them in cash. But then again, admitting to having a mortgage or having monthly car payments are not quite as attractive or exciting as claiming to pay for these things in cash.

Amway - The Game You Can't Win?

 When people see the Amway plan, it sort of makes sense. You need to find six people to go direct, in 2-5 years and you have residual and willable income for life. You are then financially free and can spend your days walking on exotic beaches while checks keep coming in. This is what lures many prospects to take a better look and maybe even test the waters and give Amway a shot. After all, who wouldn't be interested in financial freedom and the ability to fulfill some of your ultimate dreams? Only a fool would turn down such an opportunity, right?

While Amway looks good on paper, too many things derail this plan for financial freedom and untold wealth. Over the years I've been blogging, I've challenged Amway supporters to name a couple of people who are financially free and walking the beaches while income rolls in. Very predictably, nobody has identified a single person who achieved some high level in Amway and is sitting back relaxing while money keeps coming. We even see crown ambassadors passing away while still working the business.

So why can't IBOs achieve what they aspire to? Because in my opinion, the odds are stacked against them. Sure, a rare individual might go diamond but the occurrence is very rare and almost as rare as winning the lottery, even though Amway is not a game of chance. I will go and list the reasons why IBOs are playing a game they can't win, even though they think they can. That is the sad part, that the upline is motivating downline to "never quit" even though they will "never succeed".

The system is set up for very few to succeed. Even in the common 6-4-2 plan where everyone did enough to earn a bonus, there is one person at the highest level with 78 downline who earn less. In real life, most IBOs do little or nothing. At Amway.com, you can see income disclosures that show how few people reach the higher levels. It's a tiny fraction of 1% that reach the higher levels. Even reaching platinum is a lofty achievement and platinums might not even see a net profit due to business expenses.

Business expenses such as product packs, catalogs, cds, books, voicemail and functions add up to significant expenses in the course of a month. If you're hoping to achieve financial freedom, you'll be expected to participate in the teaching system and more than likely, these expenses will be the reason for your business losses. Beware of upline who encourage you to go in debt to purchase training.

The products in general are not competitive. Sure, the Amway IBOs may give you some pitch about products being concentrated or of high quality but let's face it, consumers don't care about high quality soaps and household cleaners. There is nothing wrong with the similar products that you can purchase at Target or WalMart at a fraction of the cost. When your products can't compete on a level playing field, on what basis do you expect to sell these products? For that reason, many IBOs become "self consumers" and wind up with no actual customers.

Amway's reputation is soured. Most people know or know someone who had a bad experience with Amway. Due to past IBO behavior, people have developed a negative view of Amway. People being tricked or lied to in the past may have contributed to this issue. Add that to the fact that so few people actually make money turns this business into an almost insurmountable challenge. Even those who achieve often find themselves out of qualification shortly after.

For these reasons, my conclusion is that the Amway opportunity is a game that IBOs simply cannot win, even for those who learn from upline and put forth tremendous effort. And the longer you play. the bigger your losses become. Do your due diligence before undertaking any business opportunity.

Buying Your Way To Riches?

 I've been having an ongoing debate with a brainwashed WWDB IBO. He tells me and it's clear that he's convinced that buying from himself is a good business concept. WWDB leaders apparently like this buy from yourself concept because most people do not like to sell things. So it sounds fairly benign to just buy from yourself and get others to do the same, or to duplicate you. That way, an IBO can still reach their 100 PV defacto quota but not have to become uncomfortable in selling Amway stuff.  Just the idiocy that is being taught is mind boggling.  In what business do you prosper buy purchasing your own goods?  That isn't a business model, that's being a customer.

But how do you profit by purchasing your own stuff? The Amway IBO says it's easy. He buys wholesale from Amway, and charges himself retail and keeps the difference. Thus he considers it a nice profit. After picking up my jaw from the floor, I asked him why he doesn't just buy 200,000 PV or whatever it is to go platinum or diamond? Of course I'm speaking rhetorically but the Amway IBO doesn't answer and starts calling me a broke loser. Seems when Amway folks run out of material to debate with, the personal insults come out.

So let's take a real life example but for the sake of easy math, I'm going to use round numbers to make it clear and easy. Let's say an IBO has $10. He buys an energy drink from Amway (called XS) for the wholesale price of $2 a cam. He now has a can of XS to drink and $8 change. Still following me? So let's say an Amway IBO buys from Amway wholesale and charges himself retail. He starts with $10 and buys a can of XS for $2. But he charges himself full retail price of $4. So now this IBO has a can of XS and $6, plus a $2 profit which is taxable income. In which case are you better off? Easy, in the first scenario because you have a can of XS and $8. In my second scenario, you also have a can of XS, plus $8. But out of that $8, $2 is taxable.

When you buy from yourself, any "profit" you made, is simply transferring money from one pocket to another. Without any real outside customers, you have in reality, no profits. Thus the buy from yourself theory is ridiculous. Can you imagine any situation where a store relies on its sales force primarily for its sales? Only in Amway, which is why the vast majority of Amway IBOs make nothing or lose money. Actual stores rely on customers. For Amway, it appears that their customers are the Amway IBOs themselves.

Another thought.  A McDonald's owner doesn't eat at his own restaurant exclusively.  And why would he?  This is another ridiculous comparison that uplines use to sell this buy from yourself mentality.   It's so crystal clear but IBOs who are indoctrinated don't seem to be able to grasp this.   Amway/WWDB leaders teach this nonsense but they are never held accountable by their downline.  Amazing. 

The bottom line is that no store or business can buy themselves to profitability and you are seriously fooling yourself if you think you can.

Getting Into Debt?

 One thing that many Amway/WWDB IBOs tout is how their upline teaches them to get out of debt. While on the surface that sounds like an awesome thing to do, it's not what WWDB mentors are actually doing. They want to give the appearance that they have your best interest in mind and that they want you to succeed. At least that's what they want you to think. Sadly, many IBOs get sucked into believing this. I will go on to explain why this is and to give prospects and information seekers some food for thought.  Sadly, the end result is IBOs just creating debt thru Amway instead of other ways.

If you have an open mind, you will see my point. Prior to someone joining Amway, they most likely didn't buy any Amway products and certainly didn't focus on spending about $200 to $300 monthly on buying household products, especially if they are single people. So how is buying more stuff than you used to, supposed to help you get out of debt? All you are really doing is sacrificing things you used to enjoy spending on Amway stuff. If you actually made a net profit from your Amway business, that might be okay. But most IBOs are making nothing or losing money while being taught to never quit or that success is right around the corner.

If your upline or mentor is teaching you to get out of debt, are they also advising you to invest any "extra" money into investments? Are they teaching you to plan for the future, in case the Amway business doesn't pan out? Are they advising you to save money? More than likely, the answer is "no".

Your upline will be advising you to use any money you have available to invest in tools and functions. WWDB premiere club, download audios (at a charge), standing orders book of the month and attend all functions. You will be advised to do this even if your business has not made a cent in profit. But you say your sponsor or upline loans you tools, and pays for your functions? That might be true, but guess what? Once you sponsor someone, you will be the one loaning tools (that you paid for) and/or paying for your downline's functions because with a downline, you are now a "real business owner". It's amazing how so many people get fools into believing that upline wants you out of debt for your own good. Upline wants to out of debt for upline's good. For that reason, you might be told to get to the next big function at any cost, no matter what. That your business will be set back months or years if you miss it. The reality is missing a big function might be your wisest financial decision.

Your upline may want you out of debt, but they more than likely have their own interest at heart and not yours. Look at it objectively and ask your trusted friends who are not in Amway what they believe. This is advice from someone who has no reason to lead anyone astray. I experienced this and fell for the trick as a young and hopeful dreamer. Now I am hopeful that my experience can prevent others from falling into the trap that I fell into.

The Residual Income Lie?

 One of the things that many Amway IBOs mistakenly believe is that they will build their Amway business and then they will have the ability to "walk away" from the business while the income continues to flow in. I believe if there was such an incredible benefit such as lifelong residual income that could be achieved from Amway, I'm fairly certain that Amway would advertise this as a benefit of being an IBO. But Amway does not. It is very likely that your LOS such as BWW, WWDB or one of the others will promote this benefit while telling you that your best chance to achieve it is by subscribing to their "system".

One thing that goes unnoticed all too often is that there seems to be nobody who is actually retired and living off the efforts of having built a big Amway business once upon a time. Seems that even the crown ambassadors still have busy lifestyles running from function to function and participating in other business-related activities. While many of these leaders may claim they love their downlines or some other bunk, it is my belief that these leaders keep working their Amway businesses for one reason only. That is they need to keep working in order to keep the income flowing in. If people are retired from Amway residual income, where are they?

The diamond lifestyle that is often portrayed may seem like a great goal or dream to achieve, but the fact of the matter is that a "diamond lifestyle" cannot be sustained on diamond income. The average diamond, according to Amway, earns about $150,000 a year. While that may seem like a great amount of income, it's not nearly enough to sustain the kind of lifestyle portrayed by diamonds. Even if that income is supplemented by income from the sale of tools, you can't fly your family around the country first class to do all kinds of functions and still end up with much leftover to own fancy homes and cars.

If I deposited $1000 in the bank and never touch the money, the bank would pay me a certain amount of interest each year, guaranteed. That is residual income. In Amway, you can basically earn income in two ways. You can sell products for a profit, but there are problems with this. First off, Amway products in general are more expensive than local retailers. It is why you hear so many justifications about quality and concentration, because you are hard pressed to argue cost. Secondly, you are severely restricted from advertising, thus selling can be difficult. The other way to generate more income is to build a downline in hopes that the downline will help you to leverage your volume. But then your downline will have the same problem that you had in moving products. That being said, even if you achieve some level such as emerald or diamond, your business will immediately begin to fall apart once you stop working because attrition will take its toll. It is why there are hoards of "former" platinums. If platinums are not sustainable, then neither is any other level, including emerald or diamond.

There are many many instances of diamonds quitting, resigning, or falling out of qualification. People come and go in this business every day. Do you really think you can bank on retirement and residual income under these circumstances? If you believe that, I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you.

Suckers Everywhere?

 I once wrote a post called the greatest showman. It was inspired after seeing the movie about PT Barnum called "The Greatest Showman". I was reading up about the term "There's a sucker born every minute". There is controversy about who actually coined that term, and it may not have been attributed to PT Barnum. But in either case, it appears to be true, and it is the only reason why Amway and MLMs are not saturated.  It's because new suckers become adults and thus, become eligible to join Amway each and every year.

Think about it. If Amway infiltrated an island with a finite number of people, eventually, the opportunity will have come and gone with a wake of failures in its path and everyone on the island would know about Amway. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who truly knew nothing about Amway. In the US, Amway has been around since 1959 and most adults in the US have heard about Amway and likely heard something negative. Because Amway is unable to control their distributor force effectively (IMO, this is why MLMs should be illegal), IBOs prospect others with all kinds of misinformation, deception and outright lies. I myself was lied to about Amway at one time.

I heard a diamond say at one time, that Amway is not saturated because every single year, there are tens of thousands of high schools graduating millions of people who are turning 18 and seeking income opportunities. And likely, these young people are naive about money and finances and more likely to be open to hearing about Amway since it's often pitched as a shortcut to wealth. And thus, the term "there's a sucker born every minute" applies here, regardless of whether Phineas Taylor Barnum said it or not.

This is how Amway and other MLMs survive. They must continue to recruit new people because the attrition rate is staggering. Many people get wooed by the hype and the glitz of the big meetings. They join and get started (or they do nothing and quit) and they quickly see that there really isn't a viable opportunity to make money and they quit. And I might add that young people often do not have resources to build Amway for long if they aren't making money. So people come and go in droves. Without the ability to continuously recruit new people, Amway and other MLMs will simply wilt.  It is why upline may talk about selling some Amway stuff, but the emphasis of the meetings and training sessions is recruiting.

Yes, Amway and other MLMs count on the fact that a sucker is born every minute (to join), but with some knowledge and due diligence, you don't have to be one of the suckers.

The Pitch?

 Many people have experienced some kind of pitch by an Amway IBO. My first Amway pitch was an invitation to a beer bust while I was in college. I arrived at the meeting expecting beer and pizza only to see people in suits giving a presentation. They spoke about how you could generate income by eliminating the middleman from product distribution. Creating efficiencies was a way to generate money and Amway was it. On the surface, it can seem as if everything the speaker said made sense, although real life practice doesn't bear it out.

Sell and use consumables. Consumables need to be re-purchased so obviously it is a good way to run a small business. What wasn't discussed was the higher prices of the products. What many people do not see is that Amway's generous bonuses have to be built into the price of the products. For this reason, Amway cannot compete with big retailers who don't have to add salespeople bonuses into their prices.

But if you look beyond all of this and still think Amway is a good opportunity, then the real Amway pitch comes in. People get excited about working part time, 2-5 years to earn will able and residual income which will allow someone to retire early and leave a legacy to future generations. This is the point where the Amway presenter makes the pitch about people needing training.

You need tools. After all, a carpenter can't build a house without tools right? So many people who think Amway will make them rich, start to invest in their "tools". Sure, the Amway functions and some other materials can make you feel good or motivated, but in the end, the tools are supposed to help you generate sales and to increase your business revenue. What goes unnoticed in many cases is that the Amway tools are the reason for an IBO's net losses. The upline will justify this by telling stories about how success is right around the corner or that you should never quit and you will eventually make it.

All of this rhetoric from Upline is nice, but people who don't quit have no assurance of making it. Look at the fruit on the tree.
My former LOS, WWDB, has fewer diamonds now than when I was an IBO 20 years ago. My former sponsor is still active in Amway after 25 years and he's not even a platinum. You don't see many new diamonds except for in foreign countries. To me, this is evidence that Amway is saturated and there is little chance of future success. This is why there are mostly tired old diamonds working until they pass away. If the diamonds were so "awesome", why aren't all of their kids and close friends also in diamond club?

The answer is that the Amway pitch can sound good, but it doesn't work. From 2013 to now, Amway revenues are down about 25%. From a peak of 11.8 billion in 2013 to 8.6 billion in 2017. I believe Amway is a sinking ship. Beware of the Amway pitch,

Amway Is Life Changing?

 One of the things that was heavily promoted when I was an Amway IBO, and I believe is still promoted, is the control of time and money. I recall hearing that "broke" people often have lots of time, but can't do much because of a lack of money, or how a very hard-working man might have money but a lack of time as he is working 80 hours per week. So why not join Amway, work hard for 2-5 years and have all the time and money you need for life?

Well, it sounds good on the surface, but how many people actually do that? I don't know of any IBO who worked the business 2-5 years and walked away from their business to enjoy control of time and money forever. And there are reasons for that. Attrition. Most IBOs who join don't do much and more than half of all IBOs won't even be in business for more than a year. IBOs also need to be active and moving side volume in order to qualify for some of the bonuses. It is why I believe that there aren't any diamonds who left to enjoy their time and money because of passive ongoing Amway income. Diamonds and above must continually work the business or their businesses will fall apart like the waves would erode a sandcastle at the beach.

For many IBOs ironically, what they desire most, time and money, is what they have less of because of their involvement in the Amway opportunity. It is because of the way many IBOs are taught by the systems such as WWDB, BWW or N21. Many of these groups will teach a defacto PV requirement of 100 PV which costs about $300 monthly. In some cases, you are getting a small box of goods for the same amount of cash that would have gotten you a cartload of goods at WalMart or Costco. For system IBOs, you are also paying for instruction that basically tells you that this is a great idea and that you should never quit.

So now when your family and friends have backyard barbecues or birthday parties, you are absent because you are securing your financial future. Your kids surely won't mind you missing their baseball games or sending them to the sitters while you attend a function. Your family and friends will be wowed when you retire next year and throw them a party to end all parties. It all seems surreal, and for most, it truly is. There may be $10 or even $50 monthly checks rolling in from Amway but is never covers the cost of your expenses. You can't quit because success might be right around the corner.

Suddenly your sponsor or upline might tell you that the Amway business is not about money. You might be told that you are a nicer person or a better parent (even if you neglect your kids to attend functions), or that the business opportunity has saved your marriage. Which leads to my question. What have you achieved in the Amway business that has given you more control of time and money? Do you have less time and money as a result of your involvement with Amway?

During my involvement with Amway, my life was changed, but not for the better. And it wasn't necessarily because of Amway. It was self-serving teaching by WWDB leaders designed to suck the life out of IBOs. We were to attend all meetings. All means all. We were to submit to upline. Check your ego at the door. We were to buy extra tapes/cds because you can't listen to the same ones each day. Wives and husbands needed separate standing orders. If downline quit, you don't cancel standing order. It is why I saw crosslines go bankrupt, lose a home to foreclosure and many ended up quitting and with large financial loss.

I hope this message of personal experience helps information seekers.

Deceived At The Outset?

 I was thinking about how Amway prospects are invited to see the plan. In many cases, there will have been a bit of deception or half-truths told in order for an IBO to get a prospect in front of the plan. But then I thought about the plan and how much deception was used in the plan itself by the speaker.

Thus, IBOs and new prospects are deceived right from the beginning. The speaker might make some small talk, and get the prospect to agree on certain small issues, such as income tax and insurance eating away at your paycheck, etc. When a prospect hears this, it will make sense and they will tend to agree and trust the speaker somewhat. After all, the speaker has been built up to be a financial whiz and all.

Then the deception begins.............

The speaker might talk about IBOs saving 30% on products right from the start, which is false. Anyone who's seen an Amway catalog can easily see that you aren't saving 30%. Just walk the aisles of WalMart or Costco and you can easily compare prices. Amway products in general, cost more than comparable products at retailers or big box stores. Amway defenders claim that WalMart doesn't sell Amway products to defend their story, but WalMart sells shampoo and laundry detergent and cleaners which often cost a fraction of what Amway charges.

Then the speaker might talk about 98% of people being dead or broke by age 65, which is not true. The speaker might talk about 90% or more of small businesses failing in the first five years. These little factoids (which are untrue) are apparently used to make other opportunities seem flawed in comparison with the Amway opportunity. If anyone does their due diligence, you will see that many of these claims made by the Amway speaker (recruiter) are also false.

The speaker might then talk about how the Amway opportunity is cheap to get started, and has little or no overhead. But the problem is that many dedicated IBOs will get hosed as their upline will begin to teach them that they need to invest in their business in the form of voicemail, book of the month, standing order and attending all meetings and functions. These expenses nearly guarantee that an IBO will end up with a net loss of income. What's more, upline may teach that this is success! Appalling!

So a question for IBOs and prospects. Is it a good opportunity when you have been lied to or deceived right from the outset?

Amway versus 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 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 American diamonds some 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 inevitable and in some cases, 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 and shunned. 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 reality 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.

Money For Nothing And Your Chicks For free?

 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)

IBO Slaves?

 Some big companies and some private entrepreneurs have been accused of being "sweat shop owners". This is when they exploit their workers, often in foreign countries by having them work 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. There are some big American corporations that have been accused of this.

Some uplines operate just like sweat shop owners, but in many cases, they are worse than 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. Most downline IBOs would be far more profitable if they simply worked a part time minimum wage job instead of building an Amway Empire.

These same upline will also teach fierce 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. If only the IBOs and prospects could just step back and look at things objectively instead of blindly believing what their upline teaches them.

I know most Amway 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 small salary. Upline will teach you that it is an honor to drive them around, or to do tasks for them. I saw this firsthand and have no doubt that some or all of it exists today. Many platinums works as free doormen and ushers at meetings and functions, or as taxi drivers to take the diamond to their paid meetings. Upline benefits by maximizing profits from functions. It is pure downline exploitation and I hope eventually that more and more IBOs will recognize this. It is clear for those who are willing to look at it objectively.

For most, a part time minimum wage is a better proposition than Amway.

Walking Away?

 One of the things that many Amway IBOs mistakenly believe is that they will build their Amway business and then they will have the ability to "walk away" from the business while the income continues to flow in. I believe if there was such an incredible benefit such as lifelong residual income that could be achieved from Amway, I'm fairly certain that Amway would advertise this as a benefit of being an IBO. But Amway does not. It is very likely that your LOS such as WWDB or one of the others will promote this benefit while telling you that your next chance to achieve it is by subscribing to their "system".

One thing that goes unnoticed all too often is that there seems to be nobody who is actually retired and living off the efforts of having built a big Amway business once upon a time. Seems that even the crown ambassadors still have busy lifestyles running from function to function and participating in other business-related activities. While many of these leaders may claim they love their downlines or some other bunk, it is my belief that these leaders keep working their Amway businesses for one reason only. That is they need to keep working in order to keep the income flowing in.

The diamond lifestyle that is often portrayed may seem like a great goal or dream to achieve, but the fact of the matter is that a "diamond lifestyle" cannot be sustained on diamond income. The average diamond, according to Amway, earns about $150,000 a year. While that may seem like a great amount of income, it's not nearly enough to sustain the kind of lifestyle portrayed by diamonds. Even if that income is supplemented by income from the sale of tools, you can't fly your family around the country first class to do all kinds of functions and still end up with much leftover to own fancy homes and cars.

If I deposited $1000 in the bank and never touch the money, the bank would pay me a certain amount of interest each year, guaranteed. That is residual income. In Amway, you can basically earn income in two ways. You can sell products for a profit, but there are problems with this. First off, Amway products in general are more expensive than local retailers. It is why you hear so many justifications about quality and concentration, because you are hard pressed to argue cost. Secondly, you are severely restricted from advertising, thus selling can be difficult. The other way to generate more income is to build a downline in hopes that the downline will help you to leverage your volume. But then your downline will have the same problem that you had in moving products. That being said, even if you achieve some level such as emerald or diamond, your business will immediately begin to fall apart once you stop working because attrition will take its toll. It is why there are hoards of "former" platinums. If platinums are not sustainable, then neither is any other level.

There are many many instances of diamonds quitting, resigning, or falling out of qualification. People come and go in this business every day. Do you really think you can bank on retirement and residual income under these circumstances? If you believe that, I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you.

The Evolution Of Amway Teaching?

 One of the things that is clear, many Amway recruits are shown fancy cars and toys, along with luxurious vacations and trappings. This is a way to get prospects excited and interested in signing up for the Amway opportunity. Many sign up, and soon enough, the excitement eventually fades and they quit. Either that or the IBO sees monthly losses and no prospects of improvement and quits. Many do little or nothing. But what many people do not understand or realize is that there is a reason for this. Many do little or nothing, I suspect because the business is much harder to build than advertised.  Amway's name reputation is already a challenge and the uncompetitive pricing of products doesn't help.

Because Amway has a stigma in the US (and growing in other locations), finding prospects is a daunting task. Add in the high prices of Amway products and you have major challenges that IBOs simply cannot overcome. Most simply quit and fade away into society. Some, like myself were lied to and abused, with upline leaders (WWDB)who were never held accountable for their actions. Thus I blog so others may share my experiences and can decide if they wish to climb insurmountable challenges for a less than a fraction of a 1% chance of financial success.

What many leaders do is evolve their teachings. They start to teach their IBOs that the Amway opportunity may have made them nicer people, better fathers or husbands and other nice to hear stories because it covers up the fact that these IBOs are not making money. Sometimes I wonder how someone can be a better person by deceiving others about the business opportunity, or how you can be a better father or husband when Amway meetings become a priority over your family and friends. Or how you can be a nicer person and leave threatening messages on forums with those who disagree about Amway being a great business opportunity?

Rather than justifying your involvement or looking at side benefits, IBOs should be looking at their bottom line. If your Amway "Business" is not generating enough money to pay for your voicemail and other expenses and leaving you with a net profit, then what exactly is your upline teaching you that is worth the ongoing expense? If you are like most, you are told that Amway has little to no overhead and has little risk. Well, that becomes untrue after months pass by and you have spent hundreds if not thousands on support materials that do not deliver you a net profit. Additionally, your upline is making a nice income by selling you those support materials and advising you to buy more.

Are you new or a tenured IBO? Has your teaching from upline evolved away from making money as the bottom line? If so, what do you do next? I would run in the opposite direction.

How Diamonds Get Wealthy?

 One of the things that many Amway IBOs do not fully understand is where the upline diamond profits actually come from. They think they will obtain passive residual income, but most do not understand how it works or where the money comes from. What most people see instead, is a photocopy of an upline's check, or they may see upline driving a nice car or something like that. They do not understand how the business works and the fact is, that there are two businesses at work. The Amway opportunity and the tools (business support materials) business. Frankly, most IBOs would be much better off giving their upline a check for $50 each month and never getting involved in the Amway opportunity to begin with.

Upline diamonds (or higher ups) earn some income from the movement of products. Amway returns about 33+% of their gross in the form of bonuses. Most (active business building) IBOs earn 3% while uplines split up the remaining 30% of the bonus. Not such a great deal when you think about it. Also, most IBOs overspend on Amway products. They are not simply replacing what they normally buy. If they did, then there would be tons of former IBOs continuing to move 100 PV or more. Instead, when an IBO quits, they either buy nothing from Amway anymore, or they may use a few products here and there. The opportunity and the way it is promoted simply creates an artificial demand for Amway products. If the products were so great, why then after 50 years of business, why the Amway sales aren't going through the roof if former Amway IBOs get hooked on the products and keep buying them because they really like them? The answer is that they typically stop buying once the "dream" of residual income ends.

Then you have the tools business where IBOs don't even get a measly 3% of the profits. Uplines keep all of the tool profits. Also, the tools have a higher profit margin than Amway products. While this may seem acceptable on the surface, keep in mind that the tools are inefficient. There is no unbiased evidence that I know of that suggests that the tools create a natural progression of IBOs from 0 PV to diamond. I cannot name more than a few new diamonds in the US since I left the business in 1997 or 1998. And even if there were some new diamonds, I believe there were even more who quit or left Amway for other reasons. One might wonder why a diamond would quit in the first place if there really was residual passive income involved.

So where does upline profits come from? Simple, it comes directly out of the pockets of downline. If IBOs actually sold products, then some profits would come from sales and customers. Instead, most Amway sales are simply made from upline to downline. And virtually ALL sales in the tools business comes from upline to downline. Thus many IBOs spend $250 to $300 a month on products and get back $10 if they reach 100 PV. Then you factor in the $100 to $250 monthly that IBOs typically spend on tools. Suddenly that cheap or no risk opportunity doesn't sound so cheap. And try working it for several years and IBOs can easily rack up tens of thousands of dollars of expenses or more.

That's where upline profits come from folks. Do the math, most IBOs truly would be better off giving upline a check for $50 a month and doing nothing else.

Making More Excuses Than Money?

 I've been a Amway related blogger now for a number of years. I've debated with Amway apologists and they ultimately resort to excuses and/or personal attacks when they run out of defenses for Amway. Food for thought, when you have to make excuses about why your opportunity isn't a scam or a pyramid scheme, that should already make you stop and think for a minute. The easy excuse is to say that "my group isn't like that". Yet I see testimonies and statements that indicate to me that things have not changed, and have never changed. even in all the years since I left the Amway business myself.

Even the product's prices need to be justified. That there is concentration or other factors that really make Amway stuff a better value. Strange how that better value doesn't seem to translate further once an IBO realizes that there is no residual income at the end of the rainbow. Many IBOs don't seem to mind paying more for Amway stuff when they believe that they will one day walk the beaches of the world while more money than they can count will keep rolling in. When the dream fades, so does the desire to purchase these awesome products. If not, with tens of millions of former IBOs, Amway sales should be through the roof after all these years. But it hasn't. Amway recently reported a huge decrease in sales and Amway's sales have decreased about 25% in the last 3 years. Amway apologists were bragging about Amway's 11.8 billion in sales about 3 years ago but they are dead silent now that they decreased to 8.8 billion in Amway's last fiscal year. Maybe market saturation is finally catching up?

Amway also reported recently, that they have updated their average IBO income and it is still miserable. A clear explanation as to how and why they calculated the "average income" was not given. So the debate continues. Critics analyzing and predicting how and why, and Amway apologists making excuses and justifying their position. Why not just be transparent and end the debate once and for all? I think most people know the answer. The bottom line for most is whether or not they make a net profit. For the vast majority of IBOs, especially the ones on the system, the answer is a net loss. It is predictable and easy to conclude. The 6-4-2 or any other version of the compensation plan clearly shows that very few people can make any decent money. If a platinum IBO typically has 100 or more IBOs, that is your answer there. It should be noted that a platinum might not even be very profitable if they are sold out on buying system tools.

So IBOs and Amway defenders, are you making money (net profit)? Or are you just making excuses?

Upline Wants My Success?

 One of the things my upline Amway leaders used to always talk (and emphasize) about was how they wanted everyone to succeed. Looking back, I honestly believe they were lying and simply wanted the faithful downline to keep spending money on tools whether they succeeded or not. Now I am not claiming that every single upline leader does this, but primarily the ones who run "systems", such as WWDB, N21, BWW, LTD and some others.  It seems that all of the lines of sponsorship pretty much operate the same way.

When I stopped and really thought about it, pretty much every piece of advice I received, I had to pay for. Voicemails, standing orders, functions, open meetings. I know these are supposedly optional, but in reality, they are a defacto requirement. Anyone with a "dream" is going to buy the tools because the leaders will tell you that you cannot succeed without tools. Ironically, the same leaders will blame individuals and cite personal responsibility for the failure of downline IBOs, even the ones who did everything they were told.

The leaders are edified and touted as having great business and financial acumen, thus not following their advice would seem foolish. Yet Amway defenders will try to claim that IBOs should discern the good and the bad and operate independently. It's a redundancy that many people do not see. Sure, a downline should not jump off a cliff because upline said they would pad their fall with a pile of cash, but many IBOs put in an earnest effort in Amway, only to fail because of the handicaps and reputation issues that Amway has. These IBOs are told they were lazy or quit too soon or did not try hard enough. Yet the very few who manage to break thru are edified along with the system while ignoring the multitudes who do not make it.

The bottom line for IBOs and prospects to know, is that I believe most IBO leaders do not know you or care about you and your success. They are more interested in selling you websites, voicemail, standing orders and functions. They know that people will come and go, and they are perfectly happy replacing quitters with new people, as long as the system tools keep flowing. I believe some of the US diamonds are now hurting as Amway is apparently shrinking in the US. I read recently of Amway downsizing some of their operations, seemingly confirming that US sales are down. Also to note, Upline leaders would have to share tool profits with new emeralds and diamonds, which is why I believe they do not want new success.

I believe that Amway, other MLM businesses, Kiyosaki, or real estate gurus all have very limited or rare success with their financial systems. Infomercials usually have a disclaimer that success is a "UNIQUE" experience. Amway is no different. But I believe in all of these cases, more money is generated in selling the system than by actually running the system. If not, success stories would be rampant and people would line up to sign up instead of having to be deceived into even hearing the pitch.

IBO Charity?

 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 commentator 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 likely consumed by IBOs themselves and I believe very few of Amway goods actually made it into the hands of a non-IBO customer.

But now I wonder out of the tiny amount of IBO retail sales, how many of those sales are basically charitable contributions made to IBOs by family and friends who simply feel sorry for their acquainted IBO? When I first declined to join Amway under my eventual sponsor, they did ask me to buy some of their goods. But being a single male, my age group demographic didn't really match me with the products they were pushing. If I remember correctly, I ended up buying the liquid Amway car wax. While the car wax worked as well as the other leading brands, I recall that I paid about $12 for it back in 1995 or so. I can currently get a jumbo sized bottle of Nu-Finish or Astroshield liquid car wax for $7.99 at Target or other local retailers, and at times, the store puts them on special sales for $5.99. So basically, I am getting about twice as much car wax for the price if I purchase my car wax on a store special. I know Amway zealots will want to compare the price with an online source, but as I said, I make my purchase in person and wait for store specials 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 familiar?)

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?

The Haves And Have Nots?

 Anyone who's been prospected or had an experience with Amway most likely attended a recruitment meeting at a hotel or convention center, or maybe attended a function in a large venue. There might be several hundred to several thousands and if it's a big functions, you may have been sitting with tens of thousands of other Amway hopefuls. My former sponsor told me about a function back in the early 1990's when he attended a function in the (then) Seattle King Dome, which had maybe 40,000 IBOs in attendance. I mean, it must be somewhat exciting to be sitting in a venue with that many people, especially when they all seem fired up about the function. After all, everyone there is going to "go diamond" right?

What unsuspecting prospects and Amway IBOs do not see is that the people on stage are the haves and the people in the audience are the have nots. It's like attending a Bruno Mars concert except that Bruno doesn't lie to the audience that you will someday be with him on the stage making a financial fortune by doing what he does. Very few people are deluded enough to think they will someday be the next Bruno Mars and be on stage in front of thousands of people performing. They pay their entrance fee and enjoy the show. Basically, the same thins is true of an Amway function, except that the diamonds lie and proclaim that "anyone can do it", and that people in the audience will join them on stage.

Sure, once in a while, somebody might break the overwhelming odds and challenges to go diamond, but since I left Amway and WWDB, more diamonds have left ot died than the number of new diamonds (in North America). Seems the same old diamonds are still there, and apparently teaching the same old tired principles of never quit and dedication to the tool system. And why not? The haves make profits from the tools and the have nots pay for the tools. In a way, Amway is like the real world of haves and have nots, but on Amway and other MLM, the have nots are lied to as if anybody can join the elite and join them on stage at the functions. In case you are an information seeker here, the bottom line is that people who sell function tickets make nice profits and people who buy function tickets will make no money, or lose money, most likely because of the expense of tools and function tickets.

In debating a pro Amway/WWDB dude recently, he claims that his expenses are low, which is entirely incongruent with WWDB teaching. He also claims that his upline Diamond can afford to rent a place for $20,000 a month while he remodels his multi million dollar mansion. Is it true? I doubt it, but even if it were true, I doubt that anyone is generating $20k per month selling LOC or vitamins. But selling function tickets or cd or voicemail subscriptions could generate tens of thousands of dollars per month income. For this reason, upline will show you copies of their bonus checks, but will never show anyone their financials. IBOs and prospects who saw that upline rakes in their fortune from tools, might be hesitant to enthusiastically purchase those tools.

Bottom line is if you sell the tools, you are likely successful and are with the "haves". If you buy the tools, you are likely unsuccessful in Amway. You are a have not. The two rarely mingle and you're fooling yourself if you think they do.

The System Is "Proven"?

 Many uplines and IBOs will talk about their system. More often than not, the various systems such as WWDB or Network 21 will tout themselves as the best, fastest growing, proven, and most profitable. I know that was promoted when I was an IBO and I believe it is still promoted this way. There are many comments on the internet from IBOs and recently former IBOs that indicate that this is true. But let's take a look at these claims.

How does one determine the best? You really can't. The best is an opinion unless there are established criteria on what constitutes the best. Of course, every upline will think their group is the best, but what can factually be derived from that claim? If you are an IBO or prospect of Amway, try asking that question. Based on what do you make the claim of being the "best" group or system?

Fastest growing can be proven or disproved. But for the most part, we know that Amway isn't growing by leaps and bounds in North America. During the Quixtar tenure, it appeared that Amway sales in NA either stagnated or even shrank. Amway supporters cite overall Amway sales going up, but it's reasonable to conclude that the increase in sales is primarily in foreign countries. For some odd reason, Amway no longer reports North American sales, but simply lumps everything into a global sales figure.

As for any system to be making claims of proven, all these systems have basically done is proven that they are dismal failures. Based on Amway's own figures, we can deduce that less than half of one percent of IBOs ever reach the platinum level. The platinum level is approximately where you might see a small profit if that platinum is CORE. There is some documentation indicating that platinums might lose money at that level. While the study is dated, the expenses associated with being a platinum have gone up significantly since that study (Wisconsin Attorney General) so it can be very possible that platinums continue to see a net loss these days. It's also very visible that there are fewer diamonds in north America today than a dozen years ago. Diamonds have quit and some were terminated. It appears that most new diamonds come from foreign countries where Amway has not ye suffered reputation issues.

Making claims of fastest growing is also one that can be proven. However, try asking your sponsor or upline for evidence of this claim. Also, is the growth occurring in your area? Are you from the US or Canada? Citing growth in Korea for example, is unlikely to mean anything for the vast majority of IBOs. And even if there is some growth, how does that translate as leverage or an advantage for you? Aks these questions and see what answer you receive, if any.

The system is proven for sure. But it's proven to be a failure. The numbers supplied by Amway clearly back up this claim.