In my opinion, Amway diamonds are nothing more than actors. They portray a role and while they might be envied by their downline, when the lights are turned off, what remains? I believe most diamonds are simply middle-class people portraying lifestyles of the rich and famous. We could debate whether or not a diamond has an easy job. Heck, I could concede that speaking at functions can be better than a 9-5 job, but the volatility of an Amway business can make a diamond live under greater stress than someone with a regular and predictable job.
My former diamond used to live in a middle-class neighborhood, and he told the group that he was buying a property in an exclusive gated community and was going to build himself a nice home. He said his home would be on a hill right above a nice beach where he could enjoy his hobby of spearfishing and the ocean. I don't know if he ever built that home but last I heard, he is living in the State of Washington. Makes me wonder why he would move there when he was allegedly building his dream home in Hawaii near one of his favorite beaches. (Maybe the cost of living is cheaper there?)Think of the diamond this way. It is a fact that most diamonds are not Q12 (which means they have diamond qualifications for all 12 months of Amway's fiscal year). A Q12 diamond averages about $600,000 from Amway (source: Amway.com) but only a small percentage of diamonds are Q12. The other average non Q12 diamonds average about $150,000 a year and they augment that income with tools scam income. So, an average diamond might make in the range of $250,000. You may thing they are "rich" but after business expenses are considered, plus taxes and family medical and dental insurance, and other miscellaneous business expenses, a diamond is not financially capable of buying homes in cash, having exclusive golf club memberships and buying Ferraris in cash. What is likely is that a diamond lives a middle-class lifestyle while acting like they are rich. I had a conversation with a former emerald who told me that most of her emerald income (or diamond for that matter) comes in the form of an annual bonus so her monthly income was relatively small.
There might be diamonds who are wealthy. But if they truly are, it is because they are at a level higher than diamond and they are also very likely to have income from sources other than Amway. We know that back in 2009, Greg Duncan a WWDB triple diamond filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in Montana and it is public record. He had homes foreclosed. This man stood on stage when I was an IBO and told the audience that anyone who makes a loan is "stupid". I wonder how Mr. Duncan felt when he reneged on his multiple home loans, despite having a triple diamond income from Amway of about $40,000 a month?
For these reasons, I say Amway diamonds are just actors. Some better than others, but in the end, when the lights and shut off, they are not much better off financially than someone with a good paying job. In fact, I have read in several places that truly rich people don't show off their wealth. That is food for thought isn't it?
Whenever facts are embarrassing or discreditable, the normal human impulse is to cover them up with fake decor. That could be bragging, false advertising, lying, or acting.
ReplyDeleteAmway's business structure (where 99% of IBOs make no profit at all) encourages this sort of thing. The whole point of being a Diamond in Amway is to serve as a magnet and a model for those down-line types who are being drained of cash on a monthly basis. As long as a Diamond can project the image of being a jet-set millionaire, he will be able to convince many small-time losers in his down-line to stay loyal to "the Plan."
This is how all MLMs work. The point is not to sell products, but to generate enthusiasm and hoopla. The money in any MLM is in recruitment of down-line, retaining of down-line, and draining down-line of endless fees and tool expenses.
It is certainly true that many Diamonds are not especially wealthy, and just live ordinary middle-class lives. But that fact can't be revealed, lest down-line losers begin to ask this question: "What am I doing in this Amway racket, if even my Diamond is just scraping by?"
I wonder if the dollar or two Greg most likely gets each time a low-level crossline IBO in URA / URAssociation has to buy his "Financial Stability in the 21st Century" talk helps him with his day-to-day expenses.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in URA / URAssociation, we had to buy this audio to send to new prospects once we ran out of freebies to send each month (usually one freebie monthly on the mid-tier package they push IBOs to buy). This was still going on in early-2018 when I left.
I still think back to how insane that was since our Upline was so anti-crossline when it came to getting financial advice as "they don't have direct interest in your success". I guess they failed to mention the part that Greg had gone bankrupt before they started shilling the audio. I supposed they saw an opportunity to bring in money for the AMO and the EDC's longtime crossline buddy.
This is the irony I used to wonder about. If no cross lining was allowed, why would we buy audios or other materials that came from cross line diamonds. This also happened at functions. Of course, the BS they fed us was that our upline had reviewed the material and saw it as useful.
ReplyDeleteThey don't want you to talk to cross-line because they don't want you to compare notes and experiences. The quickest way to discover that you are being scammed is to talk to someone else who is being scammed in the same manner.
ReplyDelete