Have you ever been involved with Amway?

[Caveman]

If so, what did you think? Obviously, some folks have made good money at this, but...

Discuss.

 

[Pardus]

Amway is a pyramid scam. Only the top leaders make money. Everyone else loses. Avoid it.

 

[JMapleton]

Start a legitimate business like insurance or real estate, stay away from flaky MLMs.

 

[pcgeek11]

Never involved, but I had several friends that were... None of them made anything. They just pissed all their friends off trying to sell shit to them.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Have known a few people who got into this, and have never seen an actual success. MLM is bullshit and works for maybe 1% of people, if that. Not for lack of trying though....

 

[Soundmanred]

MLM is bullshit :thumbsup:

 

[BoomerD]

Amway is a pyramid scam. Only the top leaders make money. Everyone else loses. Avoid it.

Not totally accurate. Yes, it's MLM, but avoids the legal tangles of pyramid schemes. MANY people can make money in Amway...but most won't put in the work that it takes to be successful. We dabbled with Amway in the early 80s. Made some decent money at it, but never enough to quit my "day job." Finally, my "day job" started taking too much of my time...and had me on the road too much to "sell the plan," so we got out...and pissed off a lot of the people above us who were making pretty decent money on our sales. <shrug>

The business has changed a lot since then. I'm sure SOME people still get in and make money...but as always, most people just won't do what it takes to be successful with it.

 

[Destiny]

To keep it short and simple... it gives you and everyone else a chance to be a Bernie Madoff... A pyramid scheme is basically multiple levels of each individual being able to be on top of their own Ponzi scheme trying to sell the dream of "financial freedom." Each person in their own MLM levels and get new people to join and sell products - with the money trickling up to the upline to the top of the pyramid....Only reason why it is not illegal because there are actual over priced products to sell - and who better than to sell it to than your own family and friends who would want to support your new venture.

I was in one over 10 years ago - they called me the 18 year old wiz kid making $20k a month... they were using me saying if an 18 year old can do it anyone can... Yep - I was 18 years old and had over 100 reps in my downline... they mainly target young people wanting to get rich quick and older people looking to improve or supplement on their retirement or fixed income...

I was doing it for about a year till I finally realized what it was and quit... the system is designed for only at most 5&#37; to be successful = 95% gets screwed despite what they pitch that they want your downline to be successful... Anymore than that the MLM/Pyramid collapses because it can't afford to pay too much "successful" independent reps! That is why your upline reps secretly don't want too much of their downline or group get promoted because their residual income gets reduced to pay you (when you move up/promoted) and other new people that got promoted their new high commissions. They have to keep getting new fresh blood to keep the money flowing because if they don't it would collapse just like a Ponzi Scheme...

The owner of Amyway owns the Orlando Magic by the way...

Basically you can make money... the concept is simple but you actually have to work your butt off... depends just how hungry you are for money... and be prepared to screw a lot of people out of their "invesments" - because it is their own fault for not "trying hard" enough anyway...

The bright side was that I became an awesome sales person, business communications, and manager/leader that got me better "real jobs" afterwards...

This is based off my own research, opinions and conclusions... I apologize if I offended anyone...

 

[DirkGently1]

Pyramid schemes. My own mother was always being pulled into these, desperate for a way to make ends meet. Another one is Herbalife. They all sell products which are next to useless and horribly overpriced. The only people making $$ are the scum floating on top.

 

[Born2bwire]

Ain't gonna work in de field no more.
Gonna be Amway distributor.

 

[Caveman]

Thanks for the replies folks...

I'd agree with everything said thusfar - it was very interesting to hear those who had tried it amd actually done reasonably well and got out.

As a subquestion of the discussion: How is Amway any different than any other "legitimate" business. In theory, lets say you work as a bag boy at a grocery store. You move up to cashier to make a buck more an hr. By "moving up" you open a slot for another person. Your success is contributing to the success of your imediate supervisor whose success bodes well for his/her manager, etc... In the end, the CEO of the supermarket is raking in a ton of money each year based on all the "underlings" in his/her downline. CEOs make ridiculous amounts of money for what they do. Why is the standard business model different from the Amway model? In theory, they appear to be the same thing just marketed in a different way.

 

[SearchMaster]

Thanks for the replies folks...

I'd agree with everything said thusfar - it was very interesting to hear those who had tried it amd actually done reasonably well and got out.

As a subquestion of the discussion: How is Amway any different than any other "legitimate" business. In theory, lets say you work as a bag boy at a grocery store. You move up to cashier to make a buck more an hr. By "moving up" you open a slot for another person. Your success is contributing to the success of your imediate supervisor whose success bodes well for his/her manager, etc... In the end, the CEO of the supermarket is raking in a ton of money each year based on all the "underlings" in his/her downline. CEOs make ridiculous amounts of money for what they do. Why is the standard business model different from the Amway model? In theory, they appear to be the same thing just marketed in a different way.

With MLMs, your success depends on recruiting new people to pay into the system - not the same as being promoted.

 

[SunnyD]

Start a legitimate business like insurance or real estate, stay away from flaky MLMs.

Speaking of MLMs...

 

[Born2bwire]

Thanks for the replies folks...

I'd agree with everything said thusfar - it was very interesting to hear those who had tried it amd actually done reasonably well and got out.

As a subquestion of the discussion: How is Amway any different than any other "legitimate" business. In theory, lets say you work as a bag boy at a grocery store. You move up to cashier to make a buck more an hr. By "moving up" you open a slot for another person. Your success is contributing to the success of your imediate supervisor whose success bodes well for his/her manager, etc... In the end, the CEO of the supermarket is raking in a ton of money each year based on all the "underlings" in his/her downline. CEOs make ridiculous amounts of money for what they do. Why is the standard business model different from the Amway model? In theory, they appear to be the same thing just marketed in a different way.

The biggest difference is that the bag boy can still count on a steady paycheck. If he performs better or worse, he still gets paid the same but he doesn't have to worry about working harder meaning that the guy above him gets a bigger cut.

With an MLM scheme, the people at the bottom lose a cut of their sales to the guys above them. The cuts are large enough that you have to really work your ass off to make a decent amount of bread. Some of the shadier ones require you to pay for series of required classes and seminars. Those are the worst because the average bottom level worker will never make enough money to pay off the investment. Only the few people that are in the upper levels are able to make a decent amount of money but it's by skimming off of all the profits of those below them.

The other problem is that this model makes it predatory. For you to get by you need to recruit people underneath you. Not to mention that the main avenue of customers is through your social connections.

 

[Turin39789]

Growing up I somehow got it into my head that Amway and Amtrak were somehow related. I've never quite been able to get that out of my head.

 

[NuclearNed]

When I was in college, I sold electronics at Sears on commission. The following conversation happened regularly while I was trying to work:

<random guy I don't know blowing sunshine up my ass>: You're really a great salesman! You sure do know a lot about your products, and you represent Sears really well! They are really lucky to have a sales...

<me>: Hold on just a second... I'm not interested in either selling or buying Amway, and our store has a strict no-solicitation policy.

<random guy>: ...but you can make tons of money...

<me>: No, and that's final. If you aren't interested in buying a TV, then this conversation is over.

<random guy>: ...but...

<me>: OVER. I'm going to have to call security.

At this point, Random Guy walks away looking dejected. I got really good at spotting them from a mile away. The new guys in the department would get roped into an hour-long conversation with them before they would realize that 1) Random Guy isn't interested in buying anything, and 2) Amway is total BS.

 

[JMapleton]

Speaking of MLMs...

Yeah I was waiting for it. I know a guy who has 3 Hummers, a Viper, and a Lambo who sells insurance. At least with that industry you actually can be successful by selling something people need, unlike most MLMs.

 

[Rage187]

They earned the name Scamway for a reason.

 

[blinblue]

Never involved, but I had several friends that were... None of them made anything. They just pissed all their friends off trying to sell shit to them.

Pretty much this. From a consumer point of view, I'd never ever want to buy a product from Amway. It is, in my opinion, a crappy way of doing business and out of principle I don't want to support it.
The real product you are selling isn't the stuff in the catalog, its getting people under you. If you are good at that, you might be able to make money.

 

[BoberFett]

I've worked on the corporate side of an MLM. Let's just say I never want to do that again, much less be involved on the pyramid side of things.

 

[JimW1949]

I have never been involved with Amway, but I knew a guy who was. He sold Amway stuff, never made much money doing it, but he made a few bucks. Their products seem to be pretty decent. I bought Amway laundry detergent from him and the wife and I liked it. It worked quite well, the clothes got clean and they smelled nice. He never really went out and tried to push the stuff and he never tried to get more people to sell the products either. People knew he sold the stuff and when they wanted something they went to his house and he would sell it to them. He moved a few years ago, to the Southwest, Arizona I think.

Anyway, my whole point is, selling Amway products isn't all bad as long as you don't have high expectations. As long as your expectations are really low, you won't be disappointed. If your goal is to make a few extra dollars each week, you may find selling Amway products will let you do that. If you expect to make a ton of money, then forget it. It isn't going to happen.

 

[DarkWarrior2]

I have once. Never made any money with it. Not for lack of effort though.

 

[SandEagle]

80&#37; of mway solicitors are indians. u can find them at walmart all the time