Pyramid Schemes

[summer_gphib]

My first experience with a pyramid or MLM as they like to call them was Primerica. Wow, what a joke. I spent a LOT of money trying to make it work, then I realized it was just sucking out of me.

Then for two years I did Mary Kay, just to get a discount on the make-up. I never spent a lot, so it wasn't a big deal.

The lastest "scam" to hit my friends is Monavie. They are WAY into it. It's a juice that comes from the acai berry, and while I admit it's healthful stuff, it comes packaged in a wine bottle, and goes for a little over $40 a bottle.

Everything they do now involves Monavie. It's really sad. Everything has become a "tasting event." Their motto is, drink it, feel it, share it.

They make pretty good income from it (for doing it for two years) but they spend a lot too.

[pirate00]

one word: Cutco.

[xoheatherxo]

i worked for a pyramid scheme scam in elmsford ny last year. its called child safety innovations inc. its parent company is innovage. they have you go in and learn all this stuff (same stuff every day a lil different so you get brainwashed into beleiving what they say is right) and then go out on the field to sell stuff. your job is to convince people youre selling this stuff for charity and that money actually goes to charities like DARE or toys for tots. when in reality only stuff with the logo of DARE goes to DARE and thats still only 2%. the idiot standing out at a table for hours on end only gets 30% commission of what they sell minus the gas it takes to get there and back. plus you have to get to the office at 7 in the morning and some nights you cant come back til 630 at night and dont end up leaving til about 8 or 9. you make crap and stand in freezing or really hot weather (even rain) to make larry zeiss money. if you work in that office. but this company is everywhere. thank goodness i got out when i did but i know people who are totally brainwashed and still working there a year later.

[skylark]

I'm so glad that someone started this thread on GC because the majority of times I have been forced to go to at-home parties were from sorority sisters where I buy things I don't need from sisters who use the connection to guilt me into the buy. It has gotten out of control and with two sisters who "work" for the same company and when I go to one's party the other tries to use that to make me go to another.

As an active, though, I am actually sad to say that several of my sisters that were put in charge of organizing COB events decided to use the opportunity to turn it into "parties" for their "business." To me, this totally crosses the line. As an active (younger than one of the offending sisters), I honestly didn't think I could say anything without completely insulting their intelligence. I mean, how do you tell someone that their "part-time job" as they call it, is a big scam and they're using it to push away PNMs who might actually be interested in a sisterhood that doesn't guilt others into spending their money for another sister's benefit. Now as an adviser I am committed to making sure that crap doesn't happen. Period.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by skylark

As an active, though, I am actually sad to say that several of my sisters that were put in charge of organizing COB events decided to use the opportunity to turn it into "parties" for their "business." To me, this totally crosses the line.

I don't *think* Mary Kay and Avon qualify as pyramid schemes, but when I was active, I had sisters who sold that stuff. They'd suggest to the COB chair that we do a MK or Avon "spa day" as an event. Girls came and they had fun, but I didn't like the idea of selling stuff while promoting the sorority. So when my Big became Recruitment Director, she put a stop to it.

When I became sisterhood chair, the same girls wanted to do parties for their produscts as "sisterhood events." I always said no. It didn't make them very happy, but again, I didn't like the sorority being associated with coming Avon/MK parties and feeling obligated to spend money that you might not have.

[skylark]

While "scam" might be a harsh word in comparison to some of the other companies in this thread, I still don't think they are very legitimate. I've watched as several naive friends got caught up into the possibility of making some extra money "while having fun" and ended up spending their savings trying to build up enough inventory to get up and running. Then, after all of their friends had attended an awkward party and bought something, their friends weren't anxious to buy more only 2-3 months later. Then they had to sell everything for whatever they could just to break even.

While the compensation itself might not be a classic pyramid scheme, the fact that friends are encouraged to make their own friends into saleswomen for incentives makes it seem pyramid-like and just a little shady to me.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by skylark

I've watched as several naive friends got caught up into the possibility of making some extra money "while having fun" and ended up spending their savings trying to build up enough inventory to get up and running. Then, after all of their friends had attended an awkward party and bought something, their friends weren't anxious to buy more only 2-3 months later. Then they had to sell everything for whatever they could just to break even.
.

Yeah, companies like MK aren't schemes, they just take ALOT of time and effort in order to make money. They make you think that you can make money by selling when you want, for fun. In reality, unless you have tons of friends who love MK AND have a ton of time to schedule parties to sell the stuff, you are barely going to break even. The only people I know who make any real money selling it are people who have unlimited time to devote to booking parties and have access to people who are wiling to spend money on it.

For example, I have a sorority sister who sells MK. She was the top saleswoman in her region last year. Why? She is a housewife so she is always avaliable to book parties. The women who attendd her parties are also housewives with alot of disposable income.

In contrast, I know another girl who sells MK and she is struggling to break even. It has alot to do with the fact that she is a college student. She has classes and work. She's not available all the time and can only hold parties a few times a month. In addition, she only sells to college students, who don't usually have alot to spend.

So it all depends.

[skylark]

Maybe my negative attitude comes from some of my acquaintances' perception that I probably have a lot of disposable income and therefore should be coming to every party and able to buy beauty products every other month. While it is probably true for most of my friends that I have slightly more than most (Good job, married to someone with good job, no kids), it doesn't mean that my husband and I don't have our own financial goals (living somewhat frugally to achieve them), in addition to having more student loans (from getting a law degree) than my friends.

I always get asked to these parties... and the most awkward part of the situation isn't actually buying something now that I really think about it. It is the constant reminders that they'd love to host parties at my own home so I can invite other attorney friends from work to come. All of my "attorney friends" happen to be male, but even if they weren't, I still don't think I'd feel comfortable inviting professional friends to my home so that an old college friend can try to squeeze money out of them and pitch them to host their own party (which I would inevitably be first on the invite list for).

I'm saying all this because I'm sure there are women out there reading this who will find themselves wondering whether to start one of these at-home party "businesses." And most I don't think fit into the housewife pitching other housewives to spend their disposable income scenario that KSUViolet just talked about. I think people should think seriously about how these parties will change the dynamics of their friendships and ask yourself how much that is worth before convincing themselves that starting an at-home party business is a source of extra income by providing a needed service for their friends.

In this day and age when most things (including Mary Kay, Avon and Body Shop products) can easily be purchased over the internet, I don't see how people justify starting these "businesses."

[33girl]

Originally Posted by skylark

In this day and age when most things (including Mary Kay, Avon and Body Shop products) can easily be purchased over the internet, I don't see how people justify starting these "businesses."

If I still lived in my hometown, I wouldn't hesitate to start a Body Shop at Home business. The nearest BS is 70 miles away and I think the products are different enough that it's an option women would like. And I know I personally don't like to buy any type of cosmetic without seeing/smelling/testing it first. I'm guessing other women are the same.

We still have LOTS of rural areas of the country where there isn't a lot of choice and if you want something fancier than Revlon, you're SOL unless you want to drive an hour or plop down lots of $$ on something you've never tried. So I can understand why women still want to do this.

However - you have to proceed cautiously and not allow yourself to get in over your head.

[skylark]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If I still lived in my hometown, I wouldn't hesitate to start a Body Shop at Home business. The nearest BS is 70 miles away and I think the products are different enough that it's an option women would like. And I know I personally don't like to buy any type of cosmetic without seeing/smelling/testing it first. I'm guessing other women are the same.

This is a really good point. One I hadn't thought of because my nearest body shop store is less than 5 miles from my home (and the home of a "body shop at-home consultant" friend) . But you're right about wanting to test products out before buying and so for rural areas, this probably is a good thing to try in comparison to some other at-home party businesses.

ETA: Something else problematic about body shop at-home if you're not in a rural area: Body Shop stores themselves often have 20% off days if you sign up for their email list. Couple that with the shipping costs that at-home consultants have to charge, you end up paying about 30% more for products from the at-home parties.

I'm going to strangle the next friend/acquaintance/co-worker who tries to sell me Monavie.

SERIOUSLY.

I can't believe anyone I'd know would be so stupid as to fall for a scam like that!

[tld221]

i got caught up in Cutco my freshman year. a floormate of mine swore she make serious money ("fat checks" as she called them) and i went to one of their "presentations." Which was in a random walk-up apartment in midtown. the "CEO" was some dude with a brow ring, wore white socks with his suit and his "office" was--no joke--a walk-in closet.

Vector Marketing, they called it. My roommate pretty much laughed in my face after i told her about my "new job."

and THEN years later (last year actually) my line sister caught me up in Amway/Quixtar. She and her bf (now husband) sell as a team. I dont know if they make serious money off it, but really her schpiels start off the same way: she'll engage in some random conversation, then pull out a generic bag of lemon cookies and offer you some. then talk up about how good they taste and BAM! comes the sell.

and would you believe after i went to the presentation, their up-line was all like "hey you need to go meet the (whatever they call the head honcho) because if she knows who you are then shell tell people about your business. and be sure to mention my name, that will help too."

whatEVER man. she roped another friend in and she was quicker on the scam than i was. she pretty much regurgitated what they told her and she said "that sound like bullisht, because i worked for Ameriprise and its the same concept."

that was totally awkward. would you believe she (and the husband) call me, a year later, asking for the "promotional literature" back? please, like im really gonna go around exposing you guys and your BS business.

[ThetaDancer]

Originally Posted by tld221

i got caught up in Cutco my freshman year. a floormate of mine swore she make serious money ("fat checks" as she called them) and i went to one of their "presentations." Which was in a random walk-up apartment in midtown. the "CEO" was some dude with a brow ring, wore white socks with his suit and his "office" was--no joke--a walk-in closet.

Vector Marketing, they called it. My roommate pretty much laughed in my face after i told her about my "new job."

My brother's high school just sold the names and contact information of its students to Cutco, and he has been receiving calls, mail, and emails from them almost daily trying to get him to sell their products. On top of that, a couple of my brothers friends actually got roped into it, so my parents have been getting sales pitches from them weekly.

[SoCalGirl]

Amway/Quixtar has been running commercials around here. It's baffles me.

[APhi Sailorgirl]

I've seen the Quixstar commericials, they look alike like the AMEX ones in the beginning.

I had a coworker who thought Quixstar was the way to get ahead-I told her, look it up online with the words 60 minutes, that was enough to steer her clearn.