Is Amway The Least Efficient Way To Move Product?
I remember seeing the plan as a prospect back over a dozen years ago. I remember the speaker talking about how you can capitalize on distribution efficiencies to make money. We as IBOs would simply cut out the middleman and that savings would be passed onto us as IBOs. In its simplest form, it made sense and the misconception passed onto the audience was that you will actually save money by purchasing Amway products. I even remember the speakers saying that even if the whole world signed up for Amway, even the last guy getting would would have the benefir of saving money. Looking back now, much of it was deception and lies. And to think, people now and back then paid good money for training on how to become, in my opinion, the least efficient manner in which to move products.
We recently enjoyed the Superbowl. And as you know, superbowl commercials can cost millions of dollars. But do you know why? It's because hundreds of millions of people across the world are tuned into the superbowl. Companies probably have their best staff working on developing these commercials because they want to leave a lasting impression on their viewers. And it apparently works because people today are still willing to shell out serious coin for these commercials.
Amway IBOs advertise person to person, one person at a time.
What are the chances of an IBO ever moving a significant amount of products or being able to reach out to potential new downline when they prospect person to person, face to face, one at a time? To me, that is the most inefficient manner of expanding business. And let's face it, Amway's rules don't help when you are not supposed to advertise online without special permissions and you are not supposed to sell product on Ebay or Craigslist. In today's technological society, it seems almost crippling to be so inefficient.
And even your beloved uplines, at your expense, run the most inefficient manner of doing business. Who needs voicemail when we have facebook, email, twitter or text messaging? Not to mention the added expense IBOs face by these outdated technologies. Also, with video conferencing, skype, or webcams, why do people need to travel long distances for meetings and functions? The answer is simple, your upline might not want your success, they simply might just want your money. All of the training and motivation is a profit center for upline and modernizing would simply reduce their tool profits.
Try asking that of your upline. Why do we keep using the most expensive and inefficient means of doing business and communicating? I'd be curious to hear that answer.
Joe, you are absolutely right.
ReplyDeleteThe reality is that Amway (like all MLM rackets) isn't really about selling anything at all. A few enraged Amway freaks have shown up here in the past, and have admitted that they don't sell a single damned thing. They proudly state that their business isn't about "products," but is "a business opportunity about business opportunity."
That's just a way of saying "We convince other people to convince other people to pretend that they are in business." The actual products are just a blind to cover up this scheme.
Since this is so, Amway freaks really don't give a shit if their sales techniques are inefficient or outdated. They really don't. The absurd restrictions on advertising, the insistence that you use a horse-and-buggy technology like CommuniKate, the emphasis on pointless meetings -- all of this is because Amway is about schmoozing and glad-handing recruits, and keeping suckers in your down-line for as long as possible. It isn't about selling anything, except tangentially.
Absolutely agree. Amway is about recruiting people to contribute to the diamond's bank accounts by purchasing products, which generates volume bonuses, and then even more profits when some of those recruites hang around and buy some tools.
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand how Amway gets away with preventing individuals from selling Amway products (ones that they legitimately own) on ebay or amazon or other on-line markets.
ReplyDeleteIf you have bought something, it's yours. You can use it, throw it away, give it to you brother-in-law, or sell it to anybody who'll pay your asking price.
How can Amway say that it's not yours to sell?
Anonymous --
ReplyDeleteI believe this falls under the pretense that an Amway distributor is an extension of Amway, therefore Amway has control over the way in which they sell or they risk termination.
I have been an avid fan of Magic The Gathering, owned by Wizards of The Coast, for a long time, and the way they sell their products is through major game distributors that go out and sell to individual game stores. The distributors have distinct rules on how they can sell the product, at what price point they can sell the product, and to whom they can sell the product. If they violate any of these terms, then they will be terminated from the Wizards program and no longer be able to sell their products.
There are two main differences to note about Magic The Gathering distribution and Amway distribution.
1. Magic distribution actually has value as the product is desirable. This encourages the major distributors of Magic to follow the rules, because their business will suffer if they lose their contract.
2. Magic distribution is in the hands of only a few major distributors across the country, and they don't go out looking for other distributors. They instead, sell to the local game stores that meet the criteria for being able to sell Magic professionally, and only generate new customers as new stores are built. There is not an overabundance of competition in relationship to demand.
Dr. Doe,
ReplyDeleteThere was a case where a man obtained Amway products and he sold the products on ebay. Amway sued him and he had to cease and desist, even though he was not an Amway distributor.
Amway and this man later came to some kind of settlement. Here's a link:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=265805
Dr. Doe --
ReplyDeleteIt's not a question of Amway or Wizards of the Coast regulating the sale of products by their licensed distributors. It's a question of whether a private person, not associated with the company, can sell products that happen to come into his legal possession.
If I have bought a painting at some shop, and then decide some years later to sell it on ebay, the artist would have no right to intervene and tell me that I am not allowed to sell his work. It's my painting, because I bought it.
Amway and Wizards of the Coast have the right to tell their distributors how they may sell their products. But neither company has to right to tell me that I can't sell an Amway cosmetic or a Magic: the Gathering game if I'm NOT their distributor, and I have one of these products in my possession.
That's the difference.
Anonymous and Joe,
ReplyDeleteI looked back at Joe's link and realized the craziness of the situation. It appeared the man found a nice form of arbitrage and was making a decent living through the secondary market involving Amway products (never would have thought that existed). Amway was completely wrong in this case, and decided to try and ruin a a small portion of this man's life for making a niche market in which Amway wasn't getting compensated.
The most bizarre thing is these products had already been sold by Amway and they had already received their profit. Yet, they still felt that they should get more profit if the products were then resold at a later time. This is the most illogical concept as the property had already been sold, and therefore did not belong to Amway any longer. The person also had no affiliation with Amway making the sales of these goods detached from the actual business itself. Amway would not be responsible for faulty or missing products at this point.
The fact that Amway chased after this guy and flushed tons of money for zero gain shows the inability to understand and function correctly in business. They lead by emotions and do not care about business laws. They want everyone to pay and are not afraid to flush their own capital to prove an asinine point.
Amway has deep pockets and will use that to squash what they want, apparently.. It's sad because this man obtained the products legally and sold them legally, Like you said, Amway already had their profits. That's like you buying a used car from FORD and FORD suing you for selling a used car on your own. Crazy.
ReplyDelete