Amway/WWDB's Eagle Program?

 Eagle Parameters:

Signed Counsel Sheet to Upline Diamond
300 PV personal use/retail for couples, 200 PV personal use/retail for singles
6-5-3 (PB/SO/MF) - Explained below
6 legs at 100 PV or higher
5 legs on standing order
3 legs attending major functions

What is Eagle? Basically, Eagle is a made up goal. I believe it was originally made up by WWDB. In fact, I think Eagle was around when I was an IBO back about 12-13 years ago. The reason why I say it is a “made up goal” is because it is. It was not a part of the Amway sales and marketing plan. You receive ZERO additional compensation from Amway for achieving the designated level of Eagle, aside from your volume rebate. In a previous post (recently), I broke down the numbers, giving the IBOs the benefit of the doubt in sales, and the only conclusion I could arrive it was that most Eagles must be losing money.

The Amway sales and marketing plan, as shown in many groups, assume that an IBO will move 100 PV in volume, though a combination of personal use and selling of products to family, friends and customers. To be an Eagle, you are expected to move 300/200 PV (Couples/singles) in personal volume. In many, and probably most cases, an IBO typically will consume most of that 100 PV by him or herself. That means the Eagle program artificially inflates the need for Amway products. If you disagree, name one former Eagle (and I am one) who consumes Amway products to the tune of 300/200 PV per month. *crickets chirping*

I believe the Eagle program was simply the brainchild of some LOS leader who wanted to create some kind of incentive to prove an IBO’s loyalty to upline and to secure a certain level of tool purchases from downline. If you do the math, and consider that fact that IBOs on standing order and attending functions are somewhat serious business builders, then every individual in the Eagle program is likely to be losing money. The person designated as “Eagle” may be duped into thinking they have a net business profit, but when you factor in the extra 200/100 PV that you are expected to move, you are losing money, possibly lots of money, unless you are selling that extra 200 PV. If not, you are simply absorbing an extra $300 to $600 worth of products that you probably do not need, If Eagle was truly something worth attaining, wouldn’t it be promoted by Amway and given some kind of financial incentive?

As an IBO, you are MUCH better off simply by moving your 100 PV with a combination of personal use, and selling to friends, family, and most importantly, retail customers. In fact, someone simply selling 200/100 PV in products at full suggested retail price is likely to be better off than someone who is at 1000 PV with an Eagle structure, but self consuming the majority of the 300/200 PV personal circle that is in the Eagle parameters. I challenge anyone to show how a group can be better off financially by maintaining an Eagle structure. *crickets chirping*.

The Life Changing Business?

 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 hardworking 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?  On the surface, that makes perfect sense except that the Amway opportunity does not hold up it's end of the deal, at least in the way that many uplines present.

Yes, it sounds good on the surface, but how many people actually accomplish 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 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.

Buy Your Way To Prosperity?

 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's 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.  It makes the Amway business palatable to a lot of people, at least on paper.

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 nthe 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 ca. 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.

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.

The "Catch" In Amway?

 In the Amway business, most active IBOs are advised to trust upline. To think of upline as a coach or a mentor. These upline mentors or coaches are supposed to have your best interest at heart and they will guide you to success if only you will be open to learning. Many uplines, including my former uplines used to coin the term "copy" or duplicate. If you can do that you will be successful. Even the simplest of people can copy. The upline may crack a joke about getting thru school by copying. Thus, many IBOs follow exactly what their upline advises them to do.

But then uplines turn the responsibility away from themselves. Many Amway defenders will also claim that downline should not simply follow the advice of upline. They may make a ridiculous claim that standing orders and functions contain advice that must be discerned. That information is like a buffet. You pick and choose what you need and discard the rest. If you are a new IBO or prospect, let me tell you that is a load of guano (bird crap) that is being heaped on you. Your upline is touted as having experience and wisdom in the Amway business, which is why you are paying good money for voicemail, books, cds/audio files, and functions. So why would their advice be something you pick and choose? How would a new IBO know what to pick and choose?

Imagine hiring a guide for a trek in the wilderness. The guide is supposed to be an experienced outdoorsman, perhaps an expert. So if he recommends that you eat certain plants or fruits, you trust that he is going to guide you right. Imagine eating something that made you sick to your stomach, only to have the guide tell you that he just points out plants and fruits and you have to discern which is good for you and which is not. You would fire the guide and tell everyone you know not to use that guide anymore.

But here we have these "systems" such as Network 21, WWDB or BWW that have been "guiding" IBOs for up to 20 years or more in some cases, and the number of diamonds are negligible. Sure there might be new platinums, but many tool consuming platinums have been found to be losing money or making very little money for their efforts. What's more, it would appear that Amway is losing ground in sales. Amway's sales dropped from 11.8 billion in 2013 down to 8.6 billion in 2017. One can reasonably guess that any new platinums that break are simply replacing the volume for a platinum that no longer exists or a platinum that no longer qualifies. My former upline diamond appears to have all new qualifying platinums from the time I was in the business and here's the kicker. My former diamond had 6 downline rubies. As far as I know, none of these rubies are qualified as platinum anymore, much even in the business.

Uplines also program their downline to take responsibility for the failure. Thus you have IBOs who did everything that was asked of them, only to fail. Yet these IBOs often blame themselves for their failure. It is my opinion that former IBOs who did everything asked of them only to fail should file a formal complaint against their LOS with the better business bureau. Amway defenders like to think that a lack of formal complaints means that the system works when clearly, there is no unbiased substantial evidence to suggest that the system works. It looks like some succeed in spite of the system, not because of.

The catch in all this is uplines skirting responsibility for the outcomes of those they "mentor" and profit from. IBOs should ask if upline really cared about their success, why do you have to pay for any help that you receive from your upline diamond?

Can You Make A Living?

 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, Crowns such as Ron Puryear, Bill Britt, and others unfortunately, died on the 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 lose money, or 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 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. Also, IBOs are restricted from advertising their goods, thus are relegated to person-to-person advertising, which is probably the least effective methos of getting the word out. 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. 

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 tools is a good idea? For that there is no defense.

Where's The Residual Income?

 Do the work once and reap the rewards for life. Lifelong willable passive/residual income. These are some of the things that attracted me to the Amway opportunity. That I could do the work, and have the option of sitting back, enjoying a fabulous lifestyle of riches and never have to work again. I could wake up at noon if I chose to, and/or I could stay out late hanging out with my "free" Amway buddies.

It sounds great on the surface, however, when you analyze an Amway diamond's income and look at things carefully, you can see where this lifestyle is just not possible. Even if a diamond earned $250,000 a year from Amway and the tools income, after considering taxes, business expenses and other necessities such as medical insurance and retirement savings, you don't have enough left to live what is often portrayed as a "diamond" lifestyle. Also, keep in mind that a lot of a diamond's income is received in the form of an annual bonus so a diamond's monthly income might be relatively small.

One could also wonder why there aren't any diamonds (that I know of) who have actually walked away from their businesses and continue to collect any significant income from Amway. With more than half of all IBOs not staying in business for a year and about 95% of the rest of the IBOs being gone several years later, it would be an insurmountable task to keep your income rolling in with that poor retention rate. As far as I know, an IBO also need to have a minimal amount of side volume in order to qualify for certain significant payments/bonuses. That is a lot of volume to move when IBOs are quitting the business daily, and these days, it seems as though there are fewer IBOs getting involved, at least in the US and Canada.

It is for that reason; I believe these crown ambassadors and higher-level pins are still working. Once you stop, it is very likely that there is no tool income, and once your downline starts to suffer attrition, then you Amway income and bonuses will eventually dry up as well. I believe there is no true residual income in Amway. Sure, build a big business and walk away. You may continue to receive some income for a while, but eventually, it will disappear. It is like building a sandcastle on the beach. The bigger you build it, the longer it will last, but it is for certain that the tide will eventually wash the sand away, just as time and attrition will eat away your Amway business. If you are popular and charismatic enough to attract a large downline, once you leave, so will your downline.

As far as I am concerned, I believe the residual income claims from Amway is just a long running myth used to attract recruits. I don't know of anyone who built a large Amway business and then walked away and is still collecting a significant income. Do you?

Business Or Hobby?

 Many Amway IBOs get into the business with high expectations. They get in with oftentimes, a dream of early retirement, living a fabulous lifestyle, vacations, mansions, sports cars and "walking the beaches. In order to do this, IBOs are taught that they need to "plug into the system". So IBOs get on standing order, they attend all the meetings and functions, they read books and show the plan. They think these activities will make them rich. The sad reality is that it lines their upline's pockets.  Also sad is that most of these activities cost you money while not helping you produce any income.

But because the Amway business has so many handicaps and shortfalls, the IBO soon falls into the trap of "playing Amway". The IBO will do their 100 PV, either by self-consumption or selling, or a combination of the two, and will continue to listen to the cds or tapes and will continue to attend every meeting faithfully. When I was an IBO, our group had many who did not sponsor a single person, yet they were at all of the meetings and functions. These folks, in my opinion, had Amway as a hobby.  They kep doing it but it only took away their resources and didn't generate any income.

A hobby is something you do in your spare time, usually something you enjoy. For many people, Amway meetings are a social event. It is evidenced when some people say they enjoy the meetings, being with "positive people", and they have become nicer as a result of their involvement. While this may or may not be a side benefit of the functions and meetings, it is not relative to the bottom line of a business. A business exists to make money. If a business is losing money, expenses are usually cut or a different business strategy is employed.

If you have been an IBO for more than a month or two, have you actually sponsored someone? If the excitement of being a new IBO has not resulted in acquiring new downline, it is unlikely that you will ever have a downline. If you have been in the system reading books, listening to standing order and attending functions and showing the plan, and you have no results, you have Amway as a hobby and not a business. Don't feel bad, sponsoring other IBOs is not a common or easy feat. But as a business owner, you should think about your involvement in the business and if you find you are participating in a hobby rather than running a profitable business, then you should decide whether or not you are accomplishing what you set out to do. 

Are you running a business (to make money) or are you playing Amway?