I heard a great comment from someone on a related Amway blog. Basically, he said if IBOs were so successful, people would just naturally be attracted. And that's true! Where I live, the local electric company is an attractive place to work with a good salary and benefits package. When there's a handful of openings, you might get as many as 6,000 people applying for these positions. When the federal government hires for the post office, you get thousands of applicants for a handful of jobs as well.
But nearly all IBOs have no success and must justify their positions. The common ones are how Amway products are concentrated, or they have magical ingredients in their vitamins. It is my position that if these products were so good and the opportunity actually produced successful IBOs, there would be no need to be deceptive about the products or opportunity. The products could easily be marketed. In fact, customers would be seeking IBOs to find the products and there would be lines of people waiting to see the opportunity.
Instead, IBOs themselves are the primary consumers of Amway products. Many IBOs are deceptive when inviting people to see the Amway plan. Some prospects are outright lied to when recruited for the Amway opprtunity. The curiosity approach is still used by many, because mentioning "Amway" is more likely to get you funny looks than genuine interest. If what I am writing is not true, why do IBOs need to deceive people? Why don't some IBOs open their books and display the financial success they claim to have? Why so secretive? Why aren't there hoards of new diamonds and emeralds each month? Instead, you mainly hear of the Amway growth in foreign countries. Most likely because the Amway name and reputation has not yet been soiled as it has in the US and Canada.
In the US, I see primarily the same old diamonds who were in control of the functions and systems from more than 12 years ago. In fact, factoring in diamonds who quit or dropped out, I believe there are fewer diamonds now than when I was an IBO. Some of these diamonds also had some apparent financial difficulties. The opportunity is far from how it's promoted. Success speaks louder than words, and where North American Amway success is concerned, the silence is deafening!
That stupid f***ing tip test to sell $50 cases of water. Most ridiculous and embarrassing thing I've been involved in. XS was almost a decent product to sell until prices went up.
ReplyDeleteThat certainly was a scam.
DeleteHow the hell can Amway claim that its water is "concentrated"?
DeleteIndoctrinated people believe anything.
DeleteYou should look up the comparisons between their shampoo and pert plus. They have a bottle for $7.37 with 8.4 oz. vs. Pert Plus which is 15 oz for $3.01. Plus you don't have to wait for them to ship the stuff to your house. http://www.amquix.info/tosp/tosp39d.html. So many of these comparisons on this website, it should make everyone wonder why they are buying Amway.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's one example. Almost all Amway products are more expensive that other comparable ones at retailers.
DeleteI read at another website that the real reason Amway products are so overpriced is the following: Amway deliberately and consciously wants to DISCOURAGE retail selling to non-Amway buyers.
DeleteThis sounds crazy, doesn't it? But consider the following: if Amway products are kept "in-house" (i.e. mostly limited to IBO purchases) then the Amway Ponzi racket is self-contained and predictable in its income. Your buyers are controlled and regulated. They HAVE to purchase the stuff if they are to have any chance at all in the Amway scheme. They've been told it's essential to their success. They won't bitch about the price because they have been indoctrinated to believe that any purchase of Amway products by them is helping their business grow (that's the basis of the "pro-sumer" bullshit).
Will many drop out? Yes, of course, but as long as you keep on recruiting gullible people on a steady schedule, your income will remain regular and dependable -- not the way it might be if you had to compete with other brands via advertising, and perhaps price your products to be attractive.
In the past, one of the LOS networks asked Amway in Michigan to lower prices to a more reasonable level. Amway responded by firing those people on the spot.
This is interesting. It sounds crazy but at the same time it makes sense. IBOs are taught to be fiercely loyal to Amway products and to move their 100 PV. In return, the upline eaders are free to recruit and exploit their downline by selling them useless tools to make the "real" money.
DeleteYes, absolutely right. And if Amway did emphasize retail sales to the general public, it would be faced with the brute fact of real-world competition. The company doesn't want to face that, so it uses its line of products basically as a cover for the real business of Amway -- the recruitment of new IBOs.
DeleteThis is why when defenders of Amway show up here, they frequently blurt out the embarrassing truth. They say "This business isn't about selling products!" Or they say "I don't have to sell anything!" Or they say "This is a business opportunity that's all about business opportunity!"
All of which sounds strange and bizarre, but which, if analyzed, gives you the key to what's really going on. Amway is not about Amway products. Amway is about Amway! The whole thing is to keep the ball rolling, or (as someone said here a few days back) to keep the dishes spinning on the poles as the Sabre dance is played.
Very spot on comments!
DeleteThe way that Anonymous' story was taught to me is that there is a coal mine 50 miles outside of the major town and one general store for supplies by the coal mine that is run by the owners. The employees of the coal mine worked day and night, and instead of being paid in cash or gold, they were paid in tickets. This disillusioned the workers to how much they were actually making, because the only thing they can spend their tickets on are supplies at the general store. Also, the general store, being their only resource, could charge whatever they wanted for the products inside of the store. This is called a closed market economy (probably has a better proper term). This in turn is enslaving the workers to be dependent on their work, and results in them not having any real assets.
DeleteThis is essentially the same thing Amway does with IBO's as they have to buy bad Amway products to continue to receive their meager checks until they get enough people underneath them. It's a sick game that IBO's will never truly grasp, and they will ultimately fail because as soon as they walk away the assets will completely stop and they will be left with tickets (Amway Products) that are essentially worthless compared to the dollars they have put in.
I've never heard of Amway in that perspective but it des make sense and it does accurately portray the world that Amway IBOs live in. Thanks!
DeleteThe tools like communiKate, are meant to lock IBO users in the amway ecosystem.
ReplyDeleteYes, and they teach you to never quit, that if you quit, you are doomed for financial failure.
DeleteMike is right. Amway wants you to live in "a company town." The more they monopolize your time, energy, and expenditures, the more tightly they get their tentacles around you.
DeleteThe old company towns of the past really did prevent workers from going anywhere or buying competitively. You were essentially a serf, tied to the land and tied to your lord. That's what Amway wants for all of its IBOs.
And cutting you off from non-Amway friends and family members is the really evil thing that they do. They want you to be intellectually and emotionally resourceless, as well as financially enslaved.
I think rather than company town, some people simply consider Amway a form of a business cult.
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