Here come the MLM scams

[AliceWonder]

btw, for those into MLM - the thing I hate most about it is it is hard to have a conversation with my mom without her bringing up Amway. Same with other friends into other MLMs.

It takes away from relationships and that is what I despise about them the most.

So if you are into it, try not to always be pushing them. People resent that.

[ElectricMucus]

I tried explaining that to mom too.

Amway isn't paying her to market their goods, she's paying them to market their goods. It's backwards.

So it's a scam.

No, not a scam. Nothing is being mis-represented.

paying them instead of paying her, you've said it.
How is that not mis-representing?

[EndTheFed321]

So, you say all MLMs are scams?

what if I say you can join one for FREE!
What if all you do is something you have been doing all your life, but by redirecting
your activity you can earn and you can use it world wide, would that be a SCAM?

what if I told you this MLM has been in business for over 10 years now and some in
the MLM industry see it as a threat,so it has been mis-representedthat, fake claims have been issued against it, but
no solid proof has ever been shown for this is 100% legit is this a SCAM?

sorry, but after being involved in this one for a year I see that NOT ALL MLM`s are scams 

[ElectricMucus]

sorry, but after being involved in this one for a year I see that NOT ALL MLM`s are scams  

It's called confirmation bias.

The pirate ponzi was "entirely not a scam" too until some time after it collapsed.

[EndTheFed321]

Quote from:ElectricMucus on Today at 05:03:08 PM

It's called confirmation bias.

what?

I don`t see this MLM ever collapsing

since people don`t or are not required to send any funds
directly to the MLM and we still earn by taking advantage of
the system that is in place.

[ElectricMucus]

Quote from:ElectricMucus on Today at 05:03:08 PM

It's called confirmation bias.

what?

I don`t see this MLM ever collapsing

since people don`t or are not required to send any funds
directly to the MLM and we still earn by taking advantage of
the system that is in place.

It doesn't have to be a pure ponzi scheme in order to be a scam, or you being subject to confirmation bias.

[EndTheFed321]

ok, explain to me how can something that is free to participate in be a scam?

[ElectricMucus]

ok, explain to me how can something that is free to participate in be a scam?

It's the deception that you think it's free.

[EndTheFed321]

Deception you say ElectricMucus, well the activity with this MLM I am talking about
has to do with what many if not all of us have to do during our lifetime. while the activity
is not free as you are correct nothing is free by redirecting such activity through this MLM
we actually receive some of what we spend back.

I just don`t see this one ever collapsing, but we can agree to disagree  

[ElectricMucus]

Deception you say ElectricMucus, well the activity with this MLM I am talking about
has to do with what many if not all of us have to do during our lifetime. while the activity
is not free as you are correct nothing is free by redirecting such activity through this MLM
we actually receive some of what we spend back.

I just don`t see this one ever collapsing, but we can agree to disagree 

You lost me there, that makes no sense.

[EndTheFed321]

Ok, the activity with the MLM I am referring too is shopping. this can be done world wide
and we earn back some of what we spend. We all have to shop at some point why not use this MLM to
our advantage.

Holliday, lol I don`t think I can sell anyone a used car. But, I can purchase a used car or a new car through this MLM and receive cash back.

[cbeast]

This is the MLM she was talking about www dot tigo dot com

[ElectricMucus]

This is the MLM she was talking about www dot tigo dot com

And why should I care?
You've seen it, I think MLM people are the only ones worse than Bitcoin Zealots in that regard.

[cbeast]

This is the MLM she was talking about www dot tigo dot com

And why should I care?
You've seen it, I think MLM people are the only ones worse than Bitcoin Zealots in that regard.

Like it or not, there are MLM people just like narcotics and walmart people. If you are related to anyone human, then you've probably been exposed to an MLM. Some of us "Bitcoin Zealots" are here not to make fast fiat money, but instead are hoping to promote progress through this technology.

[ElectricMucus]

This is the MLM she was talking about www dot tigo dot com

And why should I care?
You've seen it, I think MLM people are the only ones worse than Bitcoin Zealots in that regard.

If you are related to anyone human, then you've probably been exposed to an MLM. Some of us "Bitcoin Zealots" are here not to make fast fiat money, but instead are hoping to promote progress through this technology.

No you just think you'd come up on top in the feudalism you call a libertarian society. Making money out of Bitcoin is fine, your scheming is not.

Like it or not, there are MLM people just like narcotics and walmart people.

Your comparison is like Scientology vs your local Yoga class.

[sunnankar]

MLM or aka Network Marketing is one of the BEST Marketing Idea ever created.

For those who have not seen the video Brilliant Compensation [no affiliation and just found it on a Google search] then they likely do not really understand the business model and are just ignorant. It was made by a top MLM guy and a University of Chicago business professor and explains how the business model works which is used by many top companies to distribute some of all of their products and include Berkshire Hathaway (which wholly owns Pampered Chef), Microsoft, AT&T, Gillette, Colgate, Citibank, IBM, Oracle, AOL, General Electric and many others.

Sure, there can be scams in the industry just like any other industry (MF Global, mortgage lending, etc.). But it is not a categorically scammy industry like Ponzi scams.

[cbeast]

This is the MLM she was talking about www dot tigo dot com

And why should I care?
You've seen it, I think MLM people are the only ones worse than Bitcoin Zealots in that regard.

If you are related to anyone human, then you've probably been exposed to an MLM. Some of us "Bitcoin Zealots" are here not to make fast fiat money, but instead are hoping to promote progress through this technology.

No you just think you'd come up on top in the feudalism you call a libertarian society. Making money out of Bitcoin is fine, your scheming is not.

Like it or not, there are MLM people just like narcotics and walmart people.

Your comparison is like Scientology vs your local Yoga class.

Best idea yet, a Yogatology MLM!

[alp]

I tried explaining that to mom too.

Amway isn't paying her to market their goods, she's paying them to market their goods. It's backwards.

So it's a scam.

No, not a scam. Nothing is being mis-represented.

What is typically represented is how much you make out of it out of how much effort.  I doubt your mom would have signed up if she knew how little she was making.  I'm sure some recruiter told her about all these huge success stories where people made a ton.

These companies are basically scummy (not really scammy, although some make you pay up front a lot, which are more pure scams), where they basically rely on sellers to work for near free by putting social pressure on friends to buy from them.  Very few people have the proper connections to actually make anything out of them (which basically relies on having wide networks to recruit others), and it basically scams people to be employees for free.

It's a pretty successful model because there are lots of suckers out there (both those trying to get rich quick selling, and those who buy into the pressure to buy from friends).  My wife has had a huge part of her social network get involved in these, and there is a lot of pressure to buy from friends, even when the product is junk or overpriced.  The friends get a tiny cut, maybe enough to recoup costs plus a few bucks an hour, and the company gets rich.  At the very least scummy, with many that are pure scams.  It's probably more exploitative than scam, though.

[Lethn]

Are these MLM things you guys are talking about the kind of thing I experienced when I tried job hunting the typical way? If I'm right they're essentially these weird and phony looking marketing companies that aren't necessarily outright scams but certainly they don't operate legitimately. One of them called me back after I applied randomly so I decided to do a background check on them and discovered all kind of shit and more recently I heard a news item on the radio about how they were taking advantage of people like me basically and trying to convince them they were doing legitimate work and were going to get paid.

I guess if I had to describe them properly it wouldn't be a scam I guess you could say the real way it works is like affiliate marketing, the problem is this is clearly that unpopular and everything they're forced to lie about it in order to sucker people in so they claim you can earn cash etc. etc. and in reality what you're doing is door to door sales etc. and trying to convince people to buy whatever product the marketing company has been assigned to sell. The difference between these guys and affiliate marketing is that they're running around outright lying to people about who they are and I'm not entirely sure why they do it really lol, probably because more honest affiliate marketing is all over the place right now.

[MPOE-PR]

Well if you didnt stand up and warn everyone then fuck you too! Just kidding, thats what sucks is there no money to be had in teaching and warning...

Don't worry, there's plenty of ire and butthurt to be collected from all the scammers whose scams you ruin.