One of the things I frequently heard as an IBO sitting in meetings and functions was a comparison between the Amway opportunity and Costco. The comparison made was that Amway was sort of like a buyer's club, similar to Amway, we were told. I guess to the uninformed, and to the Amway faithful, it probably made sense. The thought was that you pay for a membership and in return, you get to purchase goods and wholesale, which saves you money. Amway and Costco right? But when you look at it a bit closer, Amway is not described anywhere as a buyer's club, nor does Amway promote themselves as such, unless there's something I completely missed about Amway's disclosures.
Let's look at value since this is often brought up as well. The diamond or speaker would often joke about how you go to Costco, and bring home 5 gallon buckets of laundry detergent, or a gallon of peanut butter, or whatever else you were looking to purchase. The speaker used to joke about "stack em deep and sell em cheap". Then the speaker would go on to say something like Amway sells in large bulk, but in Amway, you can buy eaches, or single products such as a regular bottle of shampoo and not the 64 ounce bottles. Of course, the speaker never mentions that the 8 ounce bottle of shampoo from Amway costs nearly the same as the 64 ounce bottle from Costco. Then there's the concentration story they use. But seriously, how concentrated is their stuff that 8 ounces can outlast 64 ounces, even if everything else is equal?
I might add that if you give good reviews about Costco to friends, they typically agree, and most people are already members. In contrast, the same friends may not be so enthusiastic about Amway. They might tolerate it and might even buy stuff from you if they are your good friends, but in the end, most people do not see Amway and Costco in the same light. Also, I have never heard anyone even say that Costco was like a pyramid scheme or some kind of scam. And Costco doesn't sell you training in order for you to be able to learn how to shop and Costco. That alone makes Costco a better deal, IMO.
One big line that upline used, was how you got paid for shopping through your own Amway business. Of course, in order for you to get paid for shopping through your own business, you needed to reach a minimum of 100 PV, which is roughly equivalent to $300 (USD). If you reach that magical 100 PV, you get a 3% bonus, which is roughly and typically $10 or so. In contrast, I could use a cash back credit card and get a percentage back even if I spend only $10. Sure, if I spend $300 at Costco, my cash back reward might be only $3-6, but then again, I go to Costco when I want, if I need stuff. Amway's bonus structure requires that you achieve 100 in a calendar month or you go back to 0 and start over again next month.
Another facet which I enjoy myself, is investing in Costco. I own 50 shares (currently trading about $758 per share as of today, March 4, 2024). I bought those shares last year and because Costco had a great year and was flush with cash, they paid a special dividend of $15 per share. Also, Costco stock has been on a roll, producing more than a 49% gain in 2023 and is on pace to get there again this year. For these reasons and more, I find Costco to be a superior choice. While Costco is not a business opportunity in itself, you could probably buy and sell certain products for a profit. That's why so many small business owners shop at Costco to buy supplies for their stores and restaurants.
The other argument I've heard from Amway apologists in regards to Costco, is that Amway can make you a millionaire. But I've challenged this claim with a question to those making the claims. Show me with reasonable evidence, that someone in Amway has a net worth because of the Amway business and not from other sources of income or resources, not including the Amway owners. The apologists will come back naming all kinds of diamonds and higher up pins, but they have no idea of how much they made and how much of a net worth these folks have. Thus, it's an empty claim.
I'll end on a funny story. An Amway apologist told me that his upline makes more money taking a crap in the morning than I make in a full year. So I offered to wager him $1000. I did the math. I was generous and said let's assume the diamond earns $5,000,000 a year. And dividing 5 million by 2000, which is the number of hours most full time workers put in, in a year. That diamond would make $2500 an hour. 2500 x 2000 = 5,000,000. So let's assume that diamond spends a full hour taking a crap in the morning, he would make $2500. That person never bothered to post on the forum again after the math was shown to him.
Costco is superior to Amway in many many ways, in my opinion.
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