It's all network marketing bull designed to make people poor and the person/people who started it richer. They make it SO obvious too when they approach people trying to suck them in.

I like Avon products.
I have been unable to get a reliable Avon lady, either here or in TN.
I contacted Avon to see about becoming a rep simply so I could count on being able to get the products. Weeks went by, and I heard nothing.
Now it's just too late. Sheesh.
I guess I could order on-line, but I hate paying shipping.

There's a lady about a block from my house who has a storefront to sell Avon (albeit with limited business hours). I've also seen it in kiosks at malls. I think they're really trying to get away from their old business model of Avon ladies, at least I get that impression.

There are at least 4 women in my building who sell Avon.. of the people that I know. I'm sure there are more.

So how crazy is it that I can't get an Avon rep. who will deliver my order in a timely fashion, and follow up with the next catalog???

I don't usually go to the mall, but will try that.

I'd guess the common pathway is that people put an amount of time/effort into the Quixtar business, and never recoup enough to cover their monthly nut, thus dipping into/exhausting savings and general liquidity. Combine this with easy equity refinancing, and there's a definite opportunity for a problem.

Sure, some of this is probably the fault of the person taking on the 'job' - but the entire premise of the MLM is that the person at the bottom of the pyramid takes it in the ass for the people at the top. These people aren't really being compensated for their work. It's not a direct-line work/reward ratio, which is basically the definition of a 'scam' and the people running it are douche bags for it.

Again - because of the structure, the people at the bottom need more than 'hard work' to succeed . . . generally, they need to recruit more and more people. This is an untenable system - the later you get into the 'chain' the worse off you'll be.

My friend who sold it was highly pressured to keep a stock of some of the more popular products - her focus was on the energy drinks and energy bar- type things. She spent a fortune on that stuff, and bought everything that they sold she could possibly use from them. Their products are no deal - she spent way more than she would in a normal store on those items.

And it's not just the products - she paid an enormous amount of money for various seminars to listen to higher ups. Not just locally, but taking road trips to places to hear these people speak. And there were always fees.

And she lost money in other ways- see my posts earlier in this thread where she decided to back out on a cruise with me and several other of my friends two weeks before - losing ALL that she paid for it- flight and entire cost of the cruise. Her higher ups told her that she MUST go to this "meeting" - which incidentally cost quite a bit.

That sort of pressure to alienate your friends and family who won't join your business is exactly why people think so poorly of these types of "businesses".

Companies like this prey on people who are in need of the self esteem boost, and that are natural people pleasers - they more easily fall into the guilt.

Wow that sucks for your friend. I'm sorry that happened to her. It's people like your friend's "higher ups" that give the business a bad name. You don't HAVE to do any of those things. You don't have to keep stock of a product (which btw I will admit are overpriced). You don't have to go to those business meetings (although i've never paid any money to attend a meeting) or the conventions (which cost about $100).

But don't blame the entire business because of a few douchebags.

I went to high school with a dude who sells PPL and keeps sending me Facebook messages about it. I'm an attorney dating another attorney, I am quite confident I have no need for Prepaid Legal!

Maybe he wants you to work for them?? :)

Anyone else extremely annoyed with friends pushing Advocare, Plexus, etc? I feel like that is my ENTIRE FB feed sometimes. I have unfollowed them all. Just go away.

They tout the magic of their stuff, but don't you also have to go on a strict diet while taking it? Someone asked on facebook if Advocare was worth it or just a gimmick. The vultures came out- at least 10 different sellers (note.. no customers!) all saying its the greatest thing ever and wanting to hook her up with a sale.

In addition to product sales, there are several on my FB who are trying to lure all the rest of us into selling also. So I am guessing these are pyramid type schemes too?

I too am tired of all the people pimping Advocare and Plexus. Yeah, I get that they're stay-at-home moms who need some income. Still--maybe 80% of their posts are about that.

Me three! It has calmed down a little bit in my news feed, as some of the folks who tried hustling Advocare don't post about it anymore. I guess they aren't selling it anymore. But there is another friend I went to college with. It's all she posts about! Really? You have nothing more going on in your life? If you were so "blessed", I'm sure you'd have more interesting stuff to post about!!

I do and sell Advocare, but I don't promote it on Facebook. I sell it to friends that want stuff, but I don't actively promote it. It's not really a supplemental source of income for me. I became a distributor only for the discount on products, not to earn a living. To me personally it has been worth it, because I lost 26 pounds on it and have kept the weight off. BUT, I was truly ready to make a lifestyle change when I started it in 2011 and have kept up with that change. I tell people that ask me about it, if they aren't serious about making permanent lifestyle choices, then I would not spend the money.

What I get tired of is Thirty-One and Stella & Dot posts/promotions all over Facebook. I don't see anyone on my FB selling Advocare, but I see constant posts on those two. I used to see Zija quite a bit, but not so much anymore.

What people will do if they're considerate is create a second fb account for their business. One of my sisters has been VERY successful with Undercover Wear, but she created a second account (one has her maiden name and one doesn't) so if you don't want to read about it all day on fb you don't have to. This way I can friend her business and show my support, but I can also hide it from my feed and still hear about the other stuff in her life.

This is what all sellers should do....

A lot of people with whom I went to high school are now selling Visalus. I see Body By Vi posts all over my Facebook - though it is dying down a bit.

What is see all over my FB is LIMU. Oh, if it could cure .1% of what it claims to cure, what a wonder drug it would be!

Has anyone heard of businesses like vector, herbal life or verma? I remember being a senior in high school and my parents wanting me to get a job to make cash for my freshman year and I got mail from vector. They were like it's a multi-marking scheme that you make your own hours, etc. Me being the person that likes to do their research learned that it was just as similar to all these programs that you're talking about.

They were all about selling knives... I was like really? -_-, plus you'd pay for these knives of course which were between 500-1000.

A lot of the herbal life and verma are what I'm seeing on my page, mainly college seniors or post senior members. I'm also hearing about wake up now too.

I've heard of Vector. A friend of my was doing that for a while. The knives are excellent but very expensive. I don't think she's with them anymore. Herbalife has been around for a long time. Herbalife sells nutritional supplements to help you lose weight or maintain it plus other stuff too. I was a distributor for it for like 2 years just because I wanted the discount on the products. Never did much with it and stopped using the products. My hometown is full of the Herbalife nutrition clubs and I have some family members that are doing ok with it as a business. Never heard of Verma.

I can share a funny story about these types of sales and parties. I once got an invitation from a sorority sister for a wine gathering. So, of course my hubby and I show up because we love wine and who wouldn't want to drink wine with friends and meet new people? :)

That lasted for about 30 minutes and then we were asked to sit and listen to this presentation on Meleluca (or whatever). It is a tea tree oil product based company. We left half way through that because we had to pick up the son from soccer practice, but we were also ticked because if we had known it was a sales pitch or whatever, we would not have come. I got online afterwards and researched that and apparently the wine party thing is pretty common for that company. Beware if you get a random invite for a wine party and make sure it is a legit party/gathering not a sales opportunity before you go!