JAWM I am so tired of MLMs

[Emba]

and being called/messaged out of the blue by homeschool moms pretending interest in my life so they they can shill  their latest product. 

A dear friend’s entire communications over the past few years have dwindled too nothing but invitations to her online “parties” for various products.

 Women I would have truly been interested in forming friendships with drop any further communication after I’m not interested. Which I won’t lie, the first time hurt my feelings, but I’m pretty cynical now about any contact.

i know MLMs are attractive to homeschooling moms because it is a form of income that can be worked around homeschooling. I’m lucky enough I haven’t had to worry about needing extra income that bad. I would be terrible at it. But aren’t there things that you can sell that don’t require you to be so pressure-y and fake with people?  If your product is so good, you could tell me right out in the initial message what you wanted, not be all mysterious about why I need to call you/meet you/whatever. It’sa dead giveaway to me now.

 I’m not opposed to, say, Avon because (at least when I bought it) the product quality/price/convenience aligned well enough for me to buy the product of my own free will and be happy to see the Avon lady. But that’s not what I’m seeing now.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Emba

[Catwoman]

I’m so sorry you’re stuck dealing with that! MLMs didn’t seem to be a big deal here when my ds22 was younger — I suspect they still aren’t very popular, but I could be wrong.

It makes me sick when people befriend others just so they can try to sell them something. And even if you truly believe in a product, go ahead and tell your friends that you’re selling it, but don’t pressure them to attend parties or host parties, and don’t insist on showing them every single new product, and don’t prattle on about every great sale and discount unless your friend specifically tells you she’s interested and asks for more information. 

The saddest thing about the whole thing is that most of these women won’t make any money in the end, anyway, and many of them might lose good friendships and relationships with family members, because people just don’t want to deal with friends and family who add a sales pitch to every conversation.

[Arcadia]

21 minutes ago, Emba said:

 

 I’m not opposed to, say, Avon because (at least when I bought it) the product quality/price/convenience aligned well enough for me to buy the product of my own free will and be happy to see the Avon lady. But that’s not what I’m seeing now.

My relatives and I are not opposed to Tupperware and would buy to help old friends out. My mom’s colleagues (nurses) sold Avon as a side hustle but they weren’t pushy. 

My husband’s brother is aggressively helping to promote his wife’s MLM products. They use MIL and their kids as “models” on Facebook video.  My husband is very disgusted with his brother because his brother with an obvious bald patch posed for a hair loss product with a photoshopped photo. That photo was up there on Facebook for a long time before being taken down. 

My husband’s brother, his wife and kids have health problems that has unknown origins and my husband is suspecting the MLM supplements are a contributing factor. 

12 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

The saddest thing about the whole thing is that most of these women won’t make any money in the end, anyway, and many of them might lose good friendships and relationships with family members, because people just don’t want to deal with friends and family who add a sales pitch to every conversation.

My BIL’s wife is making an enticing amount of money for years from MLM. Selling is her passion. I do wonder why she didn’t go into insurance or real estate like my cousin and some friends who love sales job did.

[pinball]

I enjoy a bunch of MLMs.
 

I say no if I’m not interested, otherwise I buy what I enjoy.

 

of course, I’d never *list* any here, bc that’d open a whole case of cans of worms.

[Catwoman]

1 minute ago, pinball said:

I enjoy a bunch of MLMs.
 

I say no if I’m not interested, otherwise I buy what I enjoy.

 

of course, I’d never *list* any here, bc that’d open a whole case of cans of worms.

Hey, long time no see! WELCOME BACK!

[Farrar]

I really think they're all evil. Even when the products are high quality (and some of them genuinely are), the damage they do to marriages, to women's lives, to friendships... No. I won't do it anymore on any level. 

How do we convince women to stop falling for these scams?

[pinball]

3 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

Hey, long time no see! WELCOME BACK!

Can you see me? 

all my posts need to be approved by a moderator bc of my past behavior

 

[Rosie_0801]

23 minutes ago, pinball said:

all my posts need to be approved by a moderator bc of my past behavior

The moderator happened to be online when you posted before, but will be going out of town in an hour or so, so if you wanna binge post, now's a good time. lol

[pinball]

3 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

The moderator happened to be online when you posted before, but will be going out of town in an hour or so, so if you wanna binge post, now's a good time. lol

Stretches fingers eagerly, rubs hands together with glee…

[Catwoman]

28 minutes ago, pinball said:

Can you see me? 

all my posts need to be approved by a moderator bc of my past behavior

 

I see your post.

I don’t remember what happened or even when you left, but I know it has been a while. Hopefully everything is ok now.

[HS Mom in NC]

35 minutes ago, Farrar said:

I really think they're all evil. Even when the products are high quality (and some of them genuinely are), the damage they do to marriages, to women's lives, to friendships... No. I won't do it anymore on any level. 

How do we convince women to stop falling for these scams?

Agreed! It's tragic so many women fall for the con and end up sacrificing relationships for some money or the hope of earning some money. 

[kbutton]

I know a few people who have done them well, and some people for whom it's like all conversations lead to their MLM. I have a SIL that sells with one, and she isn't even bothered at all that I don't and can't use her products. It's a total non-issue. 

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, Catwoman said:

I see your post.

I don’t remember what happened or even when you left, but I know it has been a while. Hopefully everything is ok now.

I am the WORST at remembering bad behavior.  I honestly can’t remember names of people who treat me horribly.  I do better at remembering kind people.  

[Scarlett]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

I really think they're all evil. Even when the products are high quality (and some of them genuinely are), the damage they do to marriages, to women's lives, to friendships... No. I won't do it anymore on any level. 

How do we convince women to stop falling for these scams?

 

1 hour ago, HS Mom in NC said:

Agreed! It's tragic so many women fall for the con and end up sacrificing relationships for some money or the hope of earning some money. 

Agree.  I feel so bad for women who fall for this nonsense.  I mean, I don’t mind going to a Pampered Chef party and I only buy what I want….but I think some of these MLM have women INVESTING in stock.  Ugh.  

[SKL]

Sad and disappointing when a friend / "friend" / respected followee does this.

Of course many of us do things for money ... because it's nice to be able to eat ... but let's separate friendship and business.  If that means losing money, I'd rather lose money than lose friends.

[Farrar]

I've also known women who did it a little on the side, ran an occasional party, made a small amount of money, and didn't let it overtake their lives. Things like Pampered Chef, which are mostly fine as products. Not like some of these essential oils, diet supplements nonsense that are both terrible as products and terrible as business practices.

I think what disgusts me about it the most is that they take vulnerable women who are already undersupported in society and are typically feeling alone and unsure about what to do and absolutely decimate their network of friendships as well as their spousal partnerships. And the network of support they promise in return dries up when the woman has no one left to tap for money. It's seriously messed up.

[BusyMom5]

Pampered Chef, Tupperware,  and Usborne books all have good products.   

Unfortunately most of the ones I see are drink the magic pink drink and get fit, with extra energy!  See how this person lost 50lbs from drinking this shake everyday!   Wearing this tummy patch to tighten your abs!  Do you need to detox, come use our foot spa.... complete with nasty looking orangy-brown water that apparently came out of clients feet.  I am curious how the foot soak detox works- why does it turn so nasty????

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

 

How do we convince women to stop falling for these scams?

It is a lot easier for those at the bottom rungs of the hierarchy to quit. Once they climb the ranks, temptation is higher as they get a cut of the sales those below them make. My BIL’s wife has reached “team leader” position and has gone on two rewards trips to overseas vacations so far. It is unlikely for her to quit because the commission and perks are too attractive. The more people she can convince to join her team, the more extra commission she earns from their sales volume. I don’t know any who report their MLM income though so that makes it even more lucrative for them. 

[Catwoman]

10 hours ago, Farrar said:

I've also known women who did it a little on the side, ran an occasional party, made a small amount of money, and didn't let it overtake their lives. Things like Pampered Chef, which are mostly fine as products. Not like some of these essential oils, diet supplements nonsense that are both terrible as products and terrible as business practices.

I think what disgusts me about it the most is that they take vulnerable women who are already undersupported in society and are typically feeling alone and unsure about what to do and absolutely decimate their network of friendships as well as their spousal partnerships. And the network of support they promise in return dries up when the woman has no one left to tap for money. It's seriously messed up.

I agree completely!

I can't stand the MLMs that make magical medical claims, and think they should all be out of business, but some of the MLMs are reputable and have nice products. But that said, I think MLMs are mainly good for people who want to do it as more of a social thing or as a hobby, or just because they like getting discounts on products they and their friends already use, but they are terrible for people who need to earn a regular income to support themselves.

While a very tiny percentage of people manage to make a living from their MLM income, the vast majority just don't, and so many end up losing money they absolutely can't afford to lose, on worthless inventory they were talked into buying, but will never be able to unload at even a fraction of what they paid for it.

It's so sad that people get sucked into the "make big, easy money working from home while you raise your kids" schtick, because it isn't true.  

Edited July 29, 2022 by Catwoman
Because separate paragraphs are a thing!

[Ellie]

3 hours ago, Farrar said:

How do we convince women to stop falling for these scams?

Well, not all direct-sales businesses are "scams," so there's that.

[Farrar]

16 minutes ago, Ellie said:

Well, not all direct-sales businesses are "scams," so there's that.

I disagree. Some of them sell scam products, which is also terrible. But all of them are built on a setup where you have to bring in more people in order to make money and where you have to purchase relatively large amounts of products in order to sell. And in order to convince people to do this, they all mask how hard it is to actually make much money doing it and most of them outright lie to hook new buyers... ahem, saleswomen. They're all pyramid schemes at heart. Just because some people in the pyramid make money and just because there's a physical product attached doesn't mean it's not a scam.

[Carrie12345]

I am *so* grateful that I did my time with Avon pre-social media. There are no records of obnoxious behavior! Not that there was as much, since I hate face to face “networking”.

There are some great MLM products, but their company success depends on many people working for less than minimum wage, if not at a loss. And the behavior that’s encouraged is really nauseating. 

I tried for a very long time to refrain from being Judgy McJudgerson when I’d see posts, get tagged or, worse, get a direct message because, hey, someone’s trying out a new thing. Let them be.
But now I can’t help but feel pity when a 40-something woman sends me, another 40-something woman, saying “Hey, girlie! I’m a Boss Babe, and I’m super invested in your potential to be, too, more than 30 years after we sort of saw each other at high school graduation!”  I don’t know how to see that as anything other than sad.

[Eos]

Related but slightly sideways: I never get any true MLM pitches except a very dear friend who really is a naturopathic doctor has me on her workshop list.  She sells workshops (and essential oils) with these very specific-sounding emails: New age humble-brag? not quite.  Self-deprecating but actually knows it all? sort of.  It's a very particular voice and tone that drives me nuts.  We've been dear friends for longer than anyone else in my life and I have to just pretend it isn't happening to remain her friend.  Not a true MLM because she isn't recruiting others under her.

[Emba]

2 hours ago, Eos said:

Related but slightly sideways: I never get any true MLM pitches except a very dear friend who really is a naturopathic doctor has me on her workshop list.  She sells workshops (and essential oils) with these very specific-sounding emails: New age humble-brag? not quite.  Self-deprecating but actually knows it all? sort of.  It's a very particular voice and tone that drives me nuts.  We've been dear friends for longer than anyone else in my life and I have to just pretend it isn't happening to remain her friend.  Not a true MLM because she isn't recruiting others under her.

Will it hurt her feelings if you ask to be taken off the workshop list? If you never go anyway seems like asked at least understand and then you wouldn’t have to “hear” that particular tone.

[Emba]

8 hours ago, BusyMom5 said:

Pampered Chef, Tupperware,  and Usborne books all have good products.   

Unfortunately most of the ones I see are drink the magic pink drink and get fit, with extra energy!  See how this person lost 50lbs from drinking this shake everyday!   Wearing this tummy patch to tighten your abs!  Do you need to detox, come use our foot spa.... complete with nasty looking orangy-brown water that apparently came out of clients feet.  I am curious how the foot soak detox works- why does it turn so nasty????

Yeah, there are some Pampered Chef things that are good products. 

but I am very tired of the pink drink people. Luckily they (the ones I know) seem to confine  themselves to Facebook and I’ve mostly stopped looking at Facebook for other reasons.  And it’s very noticeable when you have several of these people on your feed that the company sends out suggestions of what to say/post for the latest push because you get a bunch of similar but slightly different posts around the same time.

[Farrar]

2 hours ago, Eos said:

Related but slightly sideways: I never get any true MLM pitches except a very dear friend who really is a naturopathic doctor has me on her workshop list.  She sells workshops (and essential oils) with these very specific-sounding emails: New age humble-brag? not quite.  Self-deprecating but actually knows it all? sort of.  It's a very particular voice and tone that drives me nuts.  We've been dear friends for longer than anyone else in my life and I have to just pretend it isn't happening to remain her friend.  Not a true MLM because she isn't recruiting others under her.

Do we have the same friends!

Honestly, this stuff used to make me nuts. I know a bunch of women who have their own wellness related businesses. And some of that stuff can get really pseudoscientific and dopey for me. At some point, I just decided to turn off my annoyance. Not saying you have to (or can) do that, just that it worked for me to just cut it off and decide I was going to let it go. It helps that all of them are real people who don't flood my social media with obnoxiousness or spam me daily or anything. So if they post about their special crystal healing retreat a few times, I can deal. And while some of it heads into bunk, I do think yoga, meditation, many naturopath practices, etc. have some proven benefits. So there's that.

Along this sideways path though, I think all of it is so tough for all women who are entrepreneurs or have businesses of any kind. Lots of women are second part time incomes for their family as independent yoga teachers, personal trainers, therapists, accountants, pet sitters, consultants, etc. I'm working as an educational consultant now. I feel super weird about sharing that stuff on social media. But also, things like that are often word of mouth. It's a weird balance. 

[Catwoman]

9 hours ago, Ellie said:

Well, not all direct-sales businesses are "scams," so there's that.

If I’m remembering correctly, you’ve been with Amway for years, and it has been a very positive thing for you, right?

 I think we have to be careful not to paint all MLM companies and representatives with the same broad brush. Some people really enjoy them. Assuming the company is reputable, I think the individual representative’s personality plays a big part in how they do in that type of business. I’ll bet a lot of those super-pushy salespeople who harass their friends and relatives to buy things from them, would be just as obnoxious if they were in a different business or promoting a different product. 

[Ellie]

9 hours ago, Farrar said:

I disagree. Some of them sell scam products, which is also terrible. But all of them are built on a setup where you have to bring in more people in order to make money and where you have to purchase relatively large amounts of products in order to sell. And in order to convince people to do this, they all mask how hard it is to actually make much money doing it and most of them outright lie to hook new buyers... ahem, saleswomen. They're all pyramid schemes at heart. Just because some people in the pyramid make money and just because there's a physical product attached doesn't mean it's not a scam.

Although it is true that in order to be more profitable you have to recruit/sponsor others, to say that "all of them" require you to purchase "large amounts of products in order to sell" is just downright incorrect. I could see where it would be useful in some cases to have product on hand, but nevertheless, it is just not true that "all of them" require it.

[Soror]

I don't care to use a broad brush on MLM's. They are designed that the vast majority will lose money and the teeny tiny amount that don't are making that money off all the ones losing their ass. The only ones that don't suck are the ones that have small start up costs and don't make you perpetually buy their crap. I don't follow anyone so dont' see MLM ads. If you need money get a job that doesn't require you selling to your friends. I'm not financing your life by buying overpriced items I don't want. If I happen to want something I will buy it but not out of guilt.

[KungFuPanda]

They make me nuts. The products are there to make it  (just barely) legal to exploit their employee/customers. I feel strongly that buying these products would make me complicit in victimizing that lower rung of people who don’t know better yet. It’s not okay even if “they’re really great products.” I think it’s worse when they don’t get out, but find their own group of underlings to exploit. 
 

Yes, I have absolutely been guilty of buying some MLM stuff before I fully understood the structure.  I’m older and wiser now and just don’t do that anymore. 

[AmandaVT]

I listened to The Dream - a podcast about MLMs. They had some really interesting episodes, including one about some of the earliest MLMs, called The Airplane Game. Here's another article about it: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/09/the-dream-podcast-preview

It kept me company on my commute to school a couple of years ago and did a nice job giving an inside look at various MLMs. 

[Scarlett]

2 minutes ago, AmandaVT said:

I listened to The Dream - a podcast about MLMs. They had some really interesting episodes, including one about some of the earliest MLMs, called The Airplane Game. Here's another article about it: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/09/the-dream-podcast-preview

It kept me company on my commute to school a couple of years ago and did a nice job giving an inside look at various MLMs. 

So what was your take away? 

[kbutton]

I could never hear about the pink drink again and be very happy about it.

[AmandaVT]

7 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

So what was your take away? 

That MLMs prey on the vulnerable and keep them hooked and believing their "big breakthrough" is right around the corner. Often, people have to go into debt to start up as a seller, and they stay in to make their money back. But they end up spending more and more and get stuck. Then they move on to the next thing, hoping they will finally turn things around. It was a great listen but sad. 

I have social media friends who seem to turn to a new "BEST PRODUCT EVER" to sell every few months. And they spend all of their time on social media talking about it, having parties, promoting, etc. Then the cycle restarts with a new product within months, the last best one totally forgotten about. It's hard to watch. 

[Arcadia]

11 minutes ago, AmandaVT said:

 

I have social media friends who seem to turn to a new "BEST PRODUCT EVER" to sell every few months. And they spend all of their time on social media talking about it, having parties, promoting, etc. Then the cycle restarts with a new product within months, the last best one totally forgotten about. It's hard to watch. 

The one BIL’s wife work for has a wide range of products so there is always a new fantastic product being launched and the products range from anti aging and acne massages to lotions to supplements. At first it seems like she carries a lot of different products but they are under the same company umbrella. 

[Arcadia]

I have a friend who is a Thermomix promoter as her side hustle. She loves to cook and she would do demos on Facebook about how great the product is. None of us mind because she doesn’t harass people to buy and watching her demo is fun, similar to watching a promoter demo at Costco or anywhere else.

[heartlikealion]

I don't usually accept friend requests from people I don't know, even mutual friends, and sometimes I think they are only sending the request to try to sell me something after I add them! 

A friend posted a contest on her timeline and it said a winner would be drawn (she was just following instructions she got). I thought I entered the contest and that was it, but there was more to it. This lady then commented that I needed to share the post on my own wall and invite friends to play etc. I said nevermind and bowed out of the contest. I hate crap like that. I'm not going to help you peddle your product. 

I used to be in a facebook group for fitness. But then quickly realized the page was just an avenue to promote shakes/supplements or such. 

I'm pretty cynical about it all, too. 

I have a friend that posted a before/after video of her fake tanning product. I thought to myself, "but you still don't look tan???" LOL I didn't say anything. 

[kristin0713]

I can’t stand MLMs. But I do really love my Pampered Chef can opener. 

[Arcadia]

Pampered chef has a very similar structure to the one my BIL’s wife belong to.

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/pampered-chef-party/amp

”Now she does parties a few times a month and is an “advanced director,” which is very impressive but also less than halfway up the nine-step ladder of this multi-level marketing company, past “consultant,” “future director” and “director,” but still quite far from “national executive director.” Being a director means having a team of consultants, people you’ve personally recruited. Every month, Caryn and her team have to meet certain sales goals, and Caryn can only move up the ladder by selling more products, recruiting more consultants, and helping them sell more products. A PC publicist tells me later that Caryn has 150 consultants and 9 directors on her “team”—which means she has brought a lot of people into the Pampered Chef universe.”

[Ann.without.an.e]

I haven't read other replies but when I was young, my parents got tied into this MLM company called Amway? Not sure if it is a thing anymore? We were very poor and they promised my parents a way to dig out of that. They went to conferences and whoever recruited them was pushing them really hard to buy a lot of their products and try to make connections and sell them, recruit others, etc. It definitely seemed to be more about recruitment than products. The resource was so obviously people - the most devoted purchasers are the one recruited to sell the items. It was such a loss for them and because we didn't have a lot of money it was hard to recover from.

I have had several MLM people friend me on social because we have mutual friends. It is just hard when people want to connect to you just to sell something. It is so fake.

Also, I know a young lady who is pushing hard for an MLM that is like nutritional shakes, supplements, and CBD. Every time I see her pop up on live, she looks worse. Her face is more and more broken out, she looks puffier and puffier, from my outside perspective she looked fairly healthy when she started and the more she meddles in these things, the worse her health looks. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Ann.without.an.e

[Sunshine State Sue]

I bought a Pampered Chef food chopper at a thrift shop for $1 recently.  I used to have an OXO mini food chopper that I loved but it was old and broke and they don't make the mini anymore. I just looked it up and the one I bought cost $43 new.  It's not as nice as my OXO one and their similar size one is half the cost.  I was not impressed.

My nephew got involved with Amway years ago. My sister says they make most money by selling motivational material to their own consultants. My boss pitched Amway to me once.  Awkward.

I dislike MLMs. I remember a mom at a park striking up a great conversation with me only to figure out after a while that she wanted to recruit me.  Ugh. It felt dirty. I stopped going to parties bc I felt obligated to buy something I did not want.

At the same time, I am fascinated by MLMs. I watched Lu Lu Rich. It was fascinating. There was a part about how they were taught a 3 step process to engage potential buyers/underlings. Ask them about their family. Ask them about their hobbies. Ask them about their hopes and dreams. Very calculated.

[cintinative]

21 minutes ago, Sunshine State Sue said:

 

I dislike MLMs. I remember a mom at a park striking up a great conversation with me only to figure out after a while that she wanted to recruit me.  Ugh. It felt dirty. I stopped going to parties bc I felt obligated to buy something I did not want.

At the same time, I am fascinated by MLMs. I watched Lu Lu Rich. It was fascinating. There was a part about how they were taught a 3 step process to engage potential buyers/underlings. Ask them about their family. Ask them about their hobbies. Ask them about their hopes and dreams. Very calculated.

This is me. I thought Lu Lu Rich was fascinating too. I had a friend that sold LuLaRoe and fortunately got out without a huge loss, but so many really lost a lot of money in that.  It really is eye opening to watch that series--so much of the curb appeal of "work from home, set your own hours, work only a few hours a week" is just plain untrue.  There's a blog somewhere about a woman's experience in one of the makeup MLMs that is quite shocking.  I can't remember the name of the company.  

I have people that I know very little that contact me and say--hey, can we talk on the phone? When I ask if it is about x & y MLM product, they say yes, and I say, no thank you.  I finally had to tell someone I am never going to be interested, please stop asking me. 

A friend did a sale for an MLM that supposedly benefited women somewhere (Africa??)--I can't remember the name of it. Anyway, very, very little of the company's income actually went to the charity.  I told her I would rather donate directly to the cause (which I did) than buy something where only 1% of it was actually going to the charity. 

I honestly am to the point where I have no interest in it at all, even if the products might be good. I just feel like the business model lends itself to exploiting women, and I don't have the time to tease out who is above board versus not. 

 

[HS Mom in NC]

3 hours ago, Soror said:

 If you need money get a job that doesn't require you selling to your friends.

Exactly this.  If you're target market is friends and family at first or at all, you're a victim of a scam and you're participating in a scam.  Legitimate business owners don't have friends and family as their target markets at any point. Not only do MLM sales people exploit family and friend relationships for their own personal financial gain, they insult legitimate business owners by trying to label themselves as such.  

And the vast majority of sales pitches from MLM dupes come from fellow church goers in my world. They've exploited spiritual church family relationships for personal financial gain.  We have too many spinless and or clueless pastors in evangelicalism (where I've experienced this regularly) who can't stand up to this corrupting influence in The Church.

So get a real job, "Boss Babe." That's what everyone else does.

As soon as any friend on social media tries to sell me something, I unfriend them; no more weighing the pros and cons and no more unfollowing. I no longer tolerate it after years of messing with it. 

[QueenCat]

1 hour ago, Ann.without.an.e said:

I haven't read other replies but when I was young, my parents got tied into this MLM company called Amway? Not sure if it is a thing anymore? We were very poor and they promised my parents a way to dig out of that. They went to conferences and whoever recruited them was pushing them really hard to buy a lot of their products and try to make connections and sell them, recruit others, etc. It definitely seemed to be more about recruitment than products. The resource was so obviously people - the most devoted purchasers are the one recruited to sell the items. It was such a loss for them and because we didn't have a lot of money it was hard to recover from.

I have had several MLM people friend me on social because we have mutual friends. It is just hard when people want to connect to you just to sell something. It is so fake.

Also, I know a young lady who is pushing hard for an MLM that is like nutritional shakes, supplements, and CBD. Every time I see her pop up on live, she looks worse. Her face is more and more broken out, she looks puffier and puffier, from my outside perspective she looked fairly healthy when she started and the more she meddles in these things, the worse her health looks. 

WE got tied up in Amway about 25 years ago. Very intense pressure to recruit your family and friends. Dh wanted out before I did because I kept listening to their stupid dream tapes. Definitely caused some marital stress until I saw the light. 

[Shoeless]

MLM Boss Babes have run wild through the local homeschool groups. I didn't realize the CBD stuff was an MLM, but that explains why suddenly everyone was talking it up. A lot of the moms were giving it to their kids which made me angry. 

Make up, essential oils, those ugly LuLaRoe clothes (there are tons of them, new with tags, at the local thrifts), the pink drink people (who kept insisting I should stop taking my thyroid meds and drink their stupid drink instead. NO. I will die without my meds), the weight loss pills, shakes, patches, CBD oil...

Gosh, it makes you long for the days of Avon and Tupperware. It feels like these MLM schemes get shadier with each new product launch. 

[HS Mom in NC]

And let's talk about the amazingly damaging comments to seriously ill people by some MLMers. My SIL had cancer for 11 years before she died.  Unfortunately she worked for an evangelical mega church which has hoards of MLM dupes in attendance.  If she made a prayer request related to her cancer she'd get some bubble headed MLMer saying things like, "I heard about your cancer and I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't tell you about (fill in name of MLM snake oil product here)." No, hon, your product can't do anything at all for her cancer.  If it did the maker of that product would be selling it worldwide raking in billions of dollars and getting credit for being the one to cure freaking cancer. 

And then there are true cultist MLMers (usually online) who present that nonsensical idea with the phrase, "What doctors don't want you to know about (fill in name of MLM snake oil product here)." There is NOT a conspiracy among doctors to keep patients sick when the could be cured for financial gain.  That's malicious slander and bearing false witness against people and it's evil. Stop doing it. I hope they're sued and punitive damages orders put them out of business. 

[Anne]

I have a friend who has Crohn’s.  She has been continually accosted by pink drink salespeople “friends” who are sure that taking the pink drink will cure her disease.  No.  Just No.

 

[pinball]

4 hours ago, Ann.without.an.e said:

I haven't read other replies but when I was young, my parents got tied into this MLM company called Amway? Not sure if it is a thing anymore? We were very poor and they promised my parents a way to dig out of that. They went to conferences and whoever recruited them was pushing them really hard to buy a lot of their products and try to make connections and sell them, recruit others, etc. It definitely seemed to be more about recruitment than products. The resource was so obviously people - the most devoted purchasers are the one recruited to sell the items. It was such a loss for them and because we didn't have a lot of money it was hard to recover from.

I have had several MLM people friend me on social because we have mutual friends. It is just hard when people want to connect to you just to sell something. It is so fake.

Also, I know a young lady who is pushing hard for an MLM that is like nutritional shakes, supplements, and CBD. Every time I see her pop up on live, she looks worse. Her face is more and more broken out, she looks puffier and puffier, from my outside perspective she looked fairly healthy when she started and the more she meddles in these things, the worse her health looks. 

That’s very sad about your parents. I’m sorry they went through that.

It’s sad about the young lady, too. I wonder, though, if it could be a chicken and the egg situation? Could she be dealing with a health issue that she cannot resolve and is trying these products? And they aren’t working but nothing else she has tried worked either so she is getting sicker and sicker? It’s really heartbreaking

 

[athena1277]

Can we talk for a minute about how overpriced many of the things MLM’s are selling are?  There have been times where so many homeschool moms were buying and selling various things.  I wish I had the guts to say it to them, but if you would quit buying the overpriced bags, cleaning products, etc. to “support you friend,” you wouldn’t have to sell something else to pay for it.

[Ann.without.an.e]

55 minutes ago, Anne said:

I have a friend who has Crohn’s.  She has been continually accosted by pink drink salespeople “friends” who are sure that taking the pink drink will cure her disease.  No.  Just No.

 

I was just gonna say that when ds was diagnosed with crohns, I was overloaded. This drink or that shake or Some liquid vitamin supplement that cured it all. So many things that people wanted us to try that conveniently was an MLM.