Here come the MLM scams

[tstang]

Old Business Model.

How to SELL your products and LOGISTIC.




Manufacturer Produced a Product. (Profit Margin about 10% to 30%)

Manufacturer  to Distributors (Profit Margin about 5% to 20%)

Distributors to Resellers/Retails.(Profit Margin about 50% -200%)

Retailers to Customers.


Note: Manufacturer/Distributors must invest a lot in Marketing Fees/Advertising. High and fixed overhead cost.




NEW BUsiness Model :

Network Marketing/MLM

Manufacturer to MLM Agents (Profit Margins about 60% to 200%)

Agents to Customer .

Note: Agents get paid for marketing, logistic/delivery, time and networking but no salary. Performance base only.


It's no a SCAM, only the early adopter, makes easier money (like those Crypto Miners) and you need to keep BUYING/SELLING their products.

The ONLY good thing is almost very low cost of entry but potential returns if you work REALLY, REALLY Hard, hence all MLM sounds like your car's  Salesman.

[ElectricMucus]

I experience a decent amount of Schadenfreude that the Bitcoin Community finally is filled with the kind of people it deserves. The rhetoric is exactly the same as your typical Bitcoin Zealot uses. Waving hands, stating 20% true things in between 80% Bullshit. Less nerds more common joes with an affinity to "alternative incomes".
Certain things are meant for each other. Bitcoin, MLMs and HYIPs living together ever after.

I give you the Bitcoin Killer App!

First folks who sell Bitcoin ASIC miners with MLM get the cream!  GO and run with it!

[redbeans2012]

MLM is not a scam. It's just the people who exploited it.

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

Bitcoin is NOT like MLM.

 

Best idea in that you can get a lot of people pimping your products using their own time and money so you don't have to pay them an hourly wage or any guarantee they will profit, but I personally think that is kind of slimy.

IF there is a good product, there is nothing wrong with network marketing whatsoever.  Screw an hourly wage!  I am a member of Solavei and make pretty good residuals just by referring people to their Cell phone service.  No catch whatsoever.  MLM's aren't all bad.

[MPOE-PR]

I experience a decent amount of Schadenfreude that the Bitcoin Community finally is filled with the kind of people it deserves. The rhetoric is exactly the same as your typical Bitcoin Zealot uses. Waving hands, stating 20% true things in between 80% Bullshit. Less nerds more common joes with an affinity to "alternative incomes".
Certain things are meant for each other. Bitcoin, MLMs and HYIPs living together ever after.

I give you the Bitcoin Killer App!

First folks who sell Bitcoin ASIC miners with MLM get the cream!  GO and run with it!

You'd think so, but no. As long as MP's around I very much doubt that's gonna happen.

[ElectricMucus]

I experience a decent amount of Schadenfreude that the Bitcoin Community finally is filled with the kind of people it deserves. The rhetoric is exactly the same as your typical Bitcoin Zealot uses. Waving hands, stating 20% true things in between 80% Bullshit. Less nerds more common joes with an affinity to "alternative incomes".
Certain things are meant for each other. Bitcoin, MLMs and HYIPs living together ever after.

I give you the Bitcoin Killer App!

First folks who sell Bitcoin ASIC miners with MLM get the cream!  GO and run with it!

You'd think so, but no. As long as MP's around I very much doubt that's gonna happen.

How do you intent to stop them?

[Bungeebones]

Tell me where's the scam and I'll remove it from my program?

Bungeebones.com

1) Advertise for free on my site (every other participant chooses whether to advertise "freebies" or not)
2) Get a complete (with categories , links and management) web directory for your website - FREE. In other words, install it and forget about it.
3) Whether your web gets one visitor a month or a million, everyone gets the same opportunity to sell/market the product created by co-operation (i.e. web advertising)
4) A sale to a web advertiser nets you 50% sales commission EACH and every time the advertiser pays - month after month, year after year if that's the case


So far, no multi-level involved but here goes ...

5) Since every advertiser in BungeeBones.com owns a website, they are a prime candidate to add a directory to their site too, add traffic to the network, make sales etc.  If/when that happens the site it registered at becomes what is known as "the prime and procuring cause of the recruitment" and it earns a 50% commission of the remainder of the payment (month after month, year after year) as an over-ride commission for recruiting.  Note they don't get PAID FOR RECRUITING but only on the sales of the recruit.

My step 5 is what creates the multilevel situation. If step 5 and multilevel are a scam then morally I should remove it and keep the recruiter's portion for myself (like Google does). So what I'm hearing the opponents of MLM say is that the way to appease the accusers is  by keeping the proceeds that would have gone to the recruiter for myself and not making it multilevel. And then the accusers would agree I'm not scamming them. But if I instead continue to pay the recruiter then its a scam?

Paying = scam
Not paying = no scam?

Seems the naysayers have it backwards, at least in my case.

[ElectricMucus]

They're coming.

Bungeebones, you brought your friends?

[Kluge]

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.

There are some really nasty ones in the US. (not arguing all MLM schemes are scams, or even scammy -- I even pitched a business idea which used MLM just a few months ago)

Not too long ago, I almost interviewed for a scammy charity fundraising MLM (cold calls to raise funds for unknowns [likely people involved] and promising a salary but really giving commission) after sending out a resume to just about everyone I could find. I initially agreed without looking into it much, then was hesitant about driving 40 minutes out, so read up on them. My second response was "Sorry to have taken your time up, but I no longer have interest in an interview after reading more about the company." She didn't even bother trying to defend against it. Thinking about it more, I should probably file a formal report if they're still operating.

I'm not sure why peddling is still considered legitimate, anyway. I don't think I've ever had a peddler come to my door and talk honestly. The whole time, I'm trying to get them out and fighting the urge to point out inconsistencies in their story. For example, just a couple weeks ago, a young woman walked in our garage and closed the garage door (thinking it was a doorbell). It turned out she was selling textbooks for children (yes, in 2013). She initially started by saying she was majoring in education and decided to start her own business (going door-to-door out-of-state selling textbooks for a company established over a century ago -- lie #1). I incidentally started preparing lesson plans for our daughter a month ago partly using the new Common Core Standards (set of guidelines and expectations for K-12 students) documentation, so I asked her about it and noted how relatively rigorous the new standards are. She hesitated and made up a story about the books being "compliant" with Common Core standards (lie #2), and how kids are expected to do advanced algebra in 2nd grade (lie #3 & 4 [she obviously isn't majoring in education]). She prattled on a long list of people in the neighborhood who purchased books from her, and happened to note one of our neighbor's kids (who's also a mother, and who we've never spoken to -- we generally don't speak to any of them, and not about anything personal) said we were very active in our daughter's upbringing (lie #5 [don't take that the wrong way]). She had a 6-minute timer she reset at least three times, and kept giving us a bunch of books to thumb through. We're both too polite/cowardly to simply say "we're not interested and get out, lying scum," so we kept half-heartedly going along with this until we ordered $400 in textbooks after seeing they had a return policy.

The closest experience I've had to a legitimate peddler was once when a guy replaced our fence and, after finishing, decided to shout, while outside, at my wife about Jesus. He gave her a horribly-written book he himself'd written trying to discredit carbon dating with hilariously stereotypical (and irrelevant) arguments like "scientists want you to think we came from monkeys but that doesnt [sic] sound right to me. Does it sound right to you?!" At least he wasn't trying to sell the book. 

[EndTheFed321]

for all who say MLM is a scam
some info:

http://youtu.be/YqAfhmxs_Dw

[RChevalier]

Saying all MLM is a scam is kind of like saying all blondes love farmed trout but not corn fed chicken.  In other words utter nonsense.

It's only a scam if you have to sign up and pay a fee, and the person you are getting interested also has to sign up and pay a fee, etc.

Otherwise it's just a referral really.

[ElectricMucus]

Saying all MLMs are a scam is like saying all ponzis are a scam. They are.

[marcotheminer]

Sorry im a bit late but who is pirateat40?
Im guessing he stole BTC.

[TitanBTC]

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.

There are some really nasty ones in the US. (not arguing all MLM schemes are scams, or even scammy -- I even pitched a business idea which used MLM just a few months ago)

Not too long ago, I almost interviewed for a scammy charity fundraising MLM (cold calls to raise funds for unknowns [likely people involved] and promising a salary but really giving commission) after sending out a resume to just about everyone I could find. I initially agreed without looking into it much, then was hesitant about driving 40 minutes out, so read up on them. My second response was "Sorry to have taken your time up, but I no longer have interest in an interview after reading more about the company." She didn't even bother trying to defend against it. Thinking about it more, I should probably file a formal report if they're still operating.

I'm not sure why peddling is still considered legitimate, anyway. I don't think I've ever had a peddler come to my door and talk honestly. The whole time, I'm trying to get them out and fighting the urge to point out inconsistencies in their story. For example, just a couple weeks ago, a young woman walked in our garage and closed the garage door (thinking it was a doorbell). It turned out she was selling textbooks for children (yes, in 2013). She initially started by saying she was majoring in education and decided to start her own business (going door-to-door out-of-state selling textbooks for a company established over a century ago -- lie #1). I incidentally started preparing lesson plans for our daughter a month ago partly using the new Common Core Standards (set of guidelines and expectations for K-12 students) documentation, so I asked her about it and noted how relatively rigorous the new standards are. She hesitated and made up a story about the books being "compliant" with Common Core standards (lie #2), and how kids are expected to do advanced algebra in 2nd grade (lie #3 & 4 [she obviously isn't majoring in education]). She prattled on a long list of people in the neighborhood who purchased books from her, and happened to note one of our neighbor's kids (who's also a mother, and who we've never spoken to -- we generally don't speak to any of them, and not about anything personal) said we were very active in our daughter's upbringing (lie #5 [don't take that the wrong way]). She had a 6-minute timer she reset at least three times, and kept giving us a bunch of books to thumb through. We're both too polite/cowardly to simply say "we're not interested and get out, lying scum," so we kept half-heartedly going along with this until we ordered $400 in textbooks after seeing they had a return policy.

The closest experience I've had to a legitimate peddler was once when a guy replaced our fence and, after finishing, decided to shout, while outside, at my wife about Jesus. He gave her a horribly-written book he himself'd written trying to discredit carbon dating with hilariously stereotypical (and irrelevant) arguments like "scientists want you to think we came from monkeys but that doesnt [sic] sound right to me. Does it sound right to you?!" At least he wasn't trying to sell the book. 

YOU BOUGHT THE BOOKS FROM THE GARAGE DOOR CLOSER!

Were they any good?  Did you return them?

MLM fills a void by enabling people to sell who would otherwise not have the initiative to come up with a sales strategy.  I have dissuaded many a friend from joining an MLM, but for people that are natural networkers, the model makes a lot of sense.

There's unlimited profit to be made by just making "things" a little bit easier for people.  MLMs spoon feed the principles of "entrepreneurship" to people.  Sometimes it works.

[Kluge]

YOU BOUGHT THE BOOKS FROM THE GARAGE DOOR CLOSER!

Were they any good?  Did you return them?

MLM fills a void by enabling people to sell who would otherwise not have the initiative to come up with a sales strategy.  I have dissuaded many a friend from joining an MLM, but for people that are natural networkers, the model makes a lot of sense.

There's unlimited profit to be made by just making "things" a little bit easier for people.  MLMs spoon feed the principles of "entrepreneurship" to people.  Sometimes it works.

Huh. I ramble a lot sometimes. The return policy only gave a few days, so the return was requested online before books were delivered or even sent out. Check was sent via mail. We really screwed up by not just having a "no trespassing" sign up.

The books were actually pretty well-constructed as educational tools for toddlers and young children - probably the most comprehensive set I've ever seen. But... no sane person would pay $400+ for text on paper (unless they have an asshole professor, or overwhelmed by having too much money, or they buy the "I'm an entrepreneur trying to pay for college" heart-tugging... rambling, again).

[TitanBTC]

YOU BOUGHT THE BOOKS FROM THE GARAGE DOOR CLOSER!

... no sane person would pay $400+ for text on paper...

I have good friends that have paid $10,000+ for binders of business advice from info-marketers like Dan Kennedy.  The funny thing about spending a lot for text on paper is that you tend to value the information...a LOT. 

They would tell you that it was worth it.

[MAbtc]

Yeah Bitcoin is a sort for MLM too, so MLMs can't be a scam, rite?

[cbeast]

MLM is merely a free market distribution method a business chooses. As such, it is no more (or less) a scam than the one that Walmart uses.

[crazy_rabbit]

Did his MLM scam sounds a little like this:

1: invent cryptcurrency
2: let people make some themselves
3: get people to buy it
4: profit!

[ElectricMucus]

MLM is merely a free market distribution method a business chooses. As such, it is no more (or less) a scam than the one that Walmart uses.

I'm pretty sure complete lack of transparency regarding the consumer prices of their products qualifies. And they all do that.