An eye-opener about MLM products (Advocare)
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My old high school friends tried to get me sucked into a MLM. I hadn't heard from them in over 5 years, and she reached out talking about "oh, I want you to meet my baby and I'm reaching out to old HS friends." Next thing I know, her and her husband (we all went to HS together) were pushing some MLM product on me. Trying to get me to be a seller. I forget what it was called, but it was selling something, and trying to be nice, I went to a meeting trying to be nice, and was like "yeah, no." And we haven't spoken since.0
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I don't know how people get so sucked into MLM crap. My last two jobs have been at relatively large firms and in both places, there were one or two overweight assistants peddling that crap. One of the assistants consistently refuses to believe me that I've lost weight without shakes or supplements or doing anything particularly difficult. We both decided to start losing weight in early December 2015. I've lost almost 25 lbs, and she's lost less than 10 lbs. She's several inches shorter than me and started at a much higher starting weight. I tell her it's all CICO, and she just won't believe me. She just keeps on with her supplements (not sure which ones she uses, but she also tries to sell them). On the one hand, she can't stop talking about how amazing these supplements are, while on the other hand complaining that she isn't losing weight as fast as I am. She blames it on her slow metabolism and genetics, not on the fact that she is constantly eating and is clearly eating more than she is burning.0
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I had a good friend who was into Amway for many years. She and her husband were recruited at church, where most of the attendees were a part of the Amway cult. It's interesting that the article delves into the religious part of it, because it's one of the least talked about parts of the recruitment process. Very very sneaky. Although they tried to sell us the product, the majority of their pitches were of trying to get us involved in the "business". Every time I would ask to see how much money they were actually making, they would reply with the fact that they themselves were only breaking even, but their higher-ups were making a great deal of money and could show us how. She finally saw the light but it took a huge toll on her friendships and her marriage. It saddens me every time I hear of a friend getting involved in an MLM. I have never known of anyone to get rich on one.0
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melonaulait wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »...She made a side by side before an after out of my pics. ( one pic at 202lbs and another at 129 with abs ) she then used my pictures as a testimonial to her mlm woo . my friends told me they saw my pictures being used to promote mlm junk and sent me the advertisements she made without my consent. After seeing them for myself, I quickly had her page shut down. I've never used a mlm product and never will. These people have to steal pictures of others to try to trick people into thinking their products work. She wrote in the caption " client lost weight and gained muscle by using xxxxx for 6 months " I was devastated to see my pictures being used by these people. I felt bad for anyone who believed it and bought the products thinking they would get those results. If their products really worked so well, why would they need to stoop to such low levels to sell them ? !
I've heard more than a few stories of people being taken advantage of like that with their before/after pics. That's just downright scummy.
To this day, I still see my pictures being used by these companies on various social media sites. What's funny is that now more then one company is using it but both claim the results In the photos are from their product. ( just to be very very very clear - I have never taken a mlm product ever and did not consent to my pictures being used )
So now I don't use any social media but mfp. And I don't post side by side type of shots here. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about the woo peddlers using my pictures to scam money from people.
For this exact reason I'm kind of scared to ever put my progress shots online... But I'm wondering if watermarking them before publishing would help. As in, if I plaster giant watermarks on there that go all over my body in the pics. I don't care to have my name/username associated with my progress pics, but I want to put something like "CICO - NO SUPPLEMENTS" and whatever
Genius, right?
The graphic artists I know could remove the watermarks but watermarks would deter lazier or less skilled thieves.1 -
I will never sell, but good grief I've bought a lot of stuff from friends selling... Tupperware, Southern Living, 31 bags, Mary Kay, Avon, Arbonne... lately, it's been a push to buy Rodan & Fields. I've held off because they don't actually have parties. I just get a lot of Facebook messages asking me to buy.
Surprisingly, I've never gotten hit up for diet/nutrition/weight loss stuff.0 -
I will never sell, but good grief I've bought a lot of stuff from friends selling... Tupperware, Southern Living, 31 bags, Mary Kay, Avon, Arbonne... lately, it's been a push to buy Rodan & Fields. I've held off because they don't actually have parties. I just get a lot of Facebook messages asking me to buy.
Surprisingly, I've never gotten hit up for diet/nutrition/weight loss stuff.
Sure, certain products are fine, especially from Tupperware or Pampered Chef, like @earlnabby mentioned. However, I don't feel comfortable supporting the business model, so I never purchase the products and I let them down firmly when asked.
One of my coworkers sells 31 and brought several of us a lunchbox for free once, obviously hoping it would woo us into buying more of her crap. No joke, that is the worst lunchbox I've ever used - no insulation and my food is room temperature in no time, even with a cold pack in there.0 -
IMO-
Aside from a trainer the cost of food, a food scale, maybe a gym membership/workout equipment at home.... Losing weight should never cost anyone money and certainly not money they pay to another person.
An individual should never MAKE money off of YOU for YOU to lose weight.2 -
Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »I will never sell, but good grief I've bought a lot of stuff from friends selling... Tupperware, Southern Living, 31 bags, Mary Kay, Avon, Arbonne... lately, it's been a push to buy Rodan & Fields. I've held off because they don't actually have parties. I just get a lot of Facebook messages asking me to buy.
Surprisingly, I've never gotten hit up for diet/nutrition/weight loss stuff.
Sure, certain products are fine, especially from Tupperware or Pampered Chef, like @earlnabby mentioned. However, I don't feel comfortable supporting the business model, so I never purchase the products and I let them down firmly when asked.
One of my coworkers sells 31 and brought several of us a lunchbox for free once, obviously hoping it would woo us into buying more of her crap. No joke, that is the worst lunchbox I've ever used - no insulation and my food is room temperature in no time, even with a cold pack in there.
LOL - I forgot about Pampered Chef. Yep, I bought some of their stuff too - the worst apple corer ever.
I guess I'm a sucker for feeling bad for my friends. I'm pretty certain they will never be as successful as they are promised, but I try to be supportive of them by buying 1 or 2 things. You are right though - it's misguided support.
Although, I did buy a lot of Tupperware - I do like their products
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I will never sell, but good grief I've bought a lot of stuff from friends selling... Tupperware, Southern Living, 31 bags, Mary Kay, Avon, Arbonne... lately, it's been a push to buy Rodan & Fields. I've held off because they don't actually have parties. I just get a lot of Facebook messages asking me to buy.
Surprisingly, I've never gotten hit up for diet/nutrition/weight loss stuff.
I've purchased Avon, Mary Kay, and even Beachbody workouts. Those things I find definite use for. I love lipstick and mascara, so if I liked the color I would purchase. No big deal. Plus, I do like some of BB workouts, particularly Shaun T's more challenging programs. But as far as ingesting shakes or pills or anything like that, no, I refuse.
I was a part of a Facebook BB workout group, and I won some contest b/c I posted the most workout selfies, which was no real big deal, I was going to post them anyway, why not win a prize for it, and the page owner sent me that skincare line that BB sells and some packets of Shakeology. Everything collected dust, and eventually made its way to the trash. I don't put random things on my face and I already heard enough crap about Shakeology to never put that crap in my body, plus, even if I had liked the samples, I knew I was never spending that much money on a protein shake.0 -
Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »I will never sell, but good grief I've bought a lot of stuff from friends selling... Tupperware, Southern Living, 31 bags, Mary Kay, Avon, Arbonne... lately, it's been a push to buy Rodan & Fields. I've held off because they don't actually have parties. I just get a lot of Facebook messages asking me to buy.
Surprisingly, I've never gotten hit up for diet/nutrition/weight loss stuff.
Sure, certain products are fine, especially from Tupperware or Pampered Chef, like @earlnabby mentioned. However, I don't feel comfortable supporting the business model, so I never purchase the products and I let them down firmly when asked.
One of my coworkers sells 31 and brought several of us a lunchbox for free once, obviously hoping it would woo us into buying more of her crap. No joke, that is the worst lunchbox I've ever used - no insulation and my food is room temperature in no time, even with a cold pack in there.
LOL - I forgot about Pampered Chef. Yep, I bought some of their stuff too - the worst apple corer ever.
I guess I'm a sucker for feeling bad for my friends. I'm pretty certain they will never be as successful as they are promised, but I try to be supportive of them by buying 1 or 2 things. You are right though - it's misguided support.
Although, I did buy a lot of Tupperware - I do like their products
I don't feel bad for them at all. They're adults and they know exactly what they're doing. They don't feel bad for me when they ask me how I'm doing as an opener for their sales pitch, which shows that they didn't really care how I was doing and just wanted to sell me their crap. They don't feel bad when they lie to me about their magical oils and supplements. They don't feel bad when they haven't given me the time of day for ages and then suddenly invite me to their Jamberry party.
So no, I don't feel a bit bad for telling them no.0 -
My aunt was into forment water, which came and went before the internet age. It may be Kangen water now.
http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/kangen-water-scam/
...here is what the FTC says about MLMs and pyramid schemes:
"Not all multilevel marketing plans are legitimate. If the money you make is based on your sales to the public, it may be a legitimate multilevel marketing plan. If the money you make is based on the number of people you recruit and your sales to them, it’s not. It’s a pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes are illegal, and the vast majority of participants lose money... Avoid any plan where the reward for recruiting new distributors is more than it is for selling products to the public. That’s a time-tested and traditional tip-off to a pyramid scheme."0 -
I love pampered chef's stone cook and bake ware. I use the pizza stone nearly every day, but I don't deal with sales pitches. When there are products I want to order, I go through the website. Pampered Chef lets you order directly on the site, or at least they used to. Sales people are the worst. I know they're just trying to make a buck or two, but I can't stand how they just interrupt you to sell you crap and don't care anything about who you are or what you need. Every time I go to Sam's Club, a DirectTV rep is in there right near the entrance and tries to stop me. I've stopped being polite and now I don't even acknowledge his existence and just keep walking.0
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I love Pampered Chef, Tupperware and Scentsy products. I will buy MLM products, but I will not get involved in the "business".0
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SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage wrote: »I love Pampered Chef, Tupperware and Scentsy products. I will buy MLM products, but I will not get involved in the "business".
I have had my PC chopper and tablespoon/teaspoon for over 10 years. Id definitely attend or throw a party come to think of it.0 -
MommyMeggo wrote: »SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage wrote: »I love Pampered Chef, Tupperware and Scentsy products. I will buy MLM products, but I will not get involved in the "business".
I have had my PC chopper and tablespoon/teaspoon for over 10 years. Id definitely attend or throw a party come to think of it.
I have a big Tupperware bowl from my Grandma that I absolutely love. It's got to be 30+ years old. The lid broke a couple of years ago and Tupperware honored their lifetime warranty and replaced the lid free of charge. I was impressed.0 -
vivmom2014 wrote: »Yuck - that stuff about calling family members who raise objections "dream killers" sounds like the Scientologists with their "suppressive persons"... RUN!
My favorite was - He had been reluctant to fly to Texas for the event, which cost $119, but he says his superiors pushed him to make the trek. "They told me, 'Put it on your credit card. If your family doesn't support you, go anyways,'" he says.
Way to promote a healthy balanced life by having someone piss their family off.0 -
MommyL2015 wrote: »I love pampered chef's stone cook and bake ware. I use the pizza stone nearly every day, but I don't deal with sales pitches. When there are products I want to order, I go through the website. Pampered Chef lets you order directly on the site, or at least they used to. Sales people are the worst. I know they're just trying to make a buck or two, but I can't stand how they just interrupt you to sell you crap and don't care anything about who you are or what you need. Every time I go to Sam's Club, a DirectTV rep is in there right near the entrance and tries to stop me. I've stopped being polite and now I don't even acknowledge his existence and just keep walking.
I love my Pampered Chef pizza stone! But I didn't get it at a Pampered Chef party...I won it in a tricky-tray a few years ago.
I do remember getting invited to a lot of Pampered Chef parties...and there was another one that sold candles (I think it was Party-Lite, but I can't remember) back in the late 90's. It was a huge thing. I never bought anything at these parties...I just went for the free wine and cheese
A company I used to work for back in 1996/97 tried to get me involved in Amway (they were also trying to get me to join their LDS church). I ended up quitting.
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vivmom2014 wrote: »Yuck - that stuff about calling family members who raise objections "dream killers" sounds like the Scientologists with their "suppressive persons"... RUN!
My favorite was - He had been reluctant to fly to Texas for the event, which cost $119, but he says his superiors pushed him to make the trek. "They told me, 'Put it on your credit card. If your family doesn't support you, go anyways,'" he says.
Way to promote a healthy balanced life by having someone piss their family off.
I think this is what provokes some of the comments of "I feel bad for them..." because you do see people getting all mixed up in the hopes of cashing in.
The one I see everywhere on Instagram is Younique. Their big thing is they...wait for it..."empower women!" Riiiiight. Exactly what are they empowering women to do? Wreak havoc on all their relationships and go broke in the process?? Plus it's all this malarkey about how horrible women look without make-up until the vaunted Younique products swooped in to save the day. Great message...
Ick. Again: run!!!
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Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »I will never sell, but good grief I've bought a lot of stuff from friends selling... Tupperware, Southern Living, 31 bags, Mary Kay, Avon, Arbonne... lately, it's been a push to buy Rodan & Fields. I've held off because they don't actually have parties. I just get a lot of Facebook messages asking me to buy.
Surprisingly, I've never gotten hit up for diet/nutrition/weight loss stuff.
Sure, certain products are fine, especially from Tupperware or Pampered Chef, like @earlnabby mentioned. However, I don't feel comfortable supporting the business model, so I never purchase the products and I let them down firmly when asked.
One of my coworkers sells 31 and brought several of us a lunchbox for free once, obviously hoping it would woo us into buying more of her crap. No joke, that is the worst lunchbox I've ever used - no insulation and my food is room temperature in no time, even with a cold pack in there.
LOL - I forgot about Pampered Chef. Yep, I bought some of their stuff too - the worst apple corer ever.
I guess I'm a sucker for feeling bad for my friends. I'm pretty certain they will never be as successful as they are promised, but I try to be supportive of them by buying 1 or 2 things. You are right though - it's misguided support.
Although, I did buy a lot of Tupperware - I do like their products
I don't feel bad for them at all. They're adults and they know exactly what they're doing. They don't feel bad for me when they ask me how I'm doing as an opener for their sales pitch, which shows that they didn't really care how I was doing and just wanted to sell me their crap. They don't feel bad when they lie to me about their magical oils and supplements. They don't feel bad when they haven't given me the time of day for ages and then suddenly invite me to their Jamberry party.
So no, I don't feel a bit bad for telling them no.
lol - I forgot about Jamberry. I refused to buy those because I have a ton of nail polish I already don't use anymore. After having kids I just don't have the time time paint my nails anymore! It's so much easier to not buy anything when you are only invited to a "facebook party". I also have bought PartyLite candles years and years ago - I'm not sure those are around anymore. Scentsy has probably taken over - haven't bought any scentsy, but then I haven't been invited to a party yet - lol.
I've got friends selling lularoe now - apparently, it's very expensive leggings.
Also, Ava Anderson products and Posh products.
I was also invited to a facebook party for fake eyelashes.0 -
Well, yea. They're all pyramid schemes aka scams - I knew that right off the bat.0
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mommarnurse wrote: »Well, yea. They're all pyramid schemes aka scams - I knew that right off the bat.
But it's confusing. Pyramid schemes are shut down because they're illegal. So how do these other ones slip through and keep their legal status??
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I will never buy anything from the, "fitness," mlm cults, but I do enjoy those Jamberry nail things, and when ever any of my friends have a party I always buy from the party.
ETA: I do not sell Jamberry, nor do I want to. Do not contact me about buying Jamberry from you, I only buy it from my friends when they have Facebook parties.0 -
vivmom2014 wrote: »mommarnurse wrote: »Well, yea. They're all pyramid schemes aka scams - I knew that right off the bat.
But it's confusing. Pyramid schemes are shut down because they're illegal. So how do these other ones slip through and keep their legal status??
Semantics.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-10/business/ct-biz-0210-herbalife-20130210_1_pyramid-schemes-mlm-companies-multilevel-marketerThe difference between a legitimate business and pyramid scheme comes down to products.
If the company and its distributors make money primarily from the sale of products to end-users (and not boxes of product accumulating in a distributor's garage), it's OK.
By contrast, a pyramid scheme compensates those at the top of the pyramid with participation fees paid by those recruited at the bottom. It eventually collapses when the scheme can't recruit more people.
But identifying a pyramid scheme can be difficult because MLMs typically have product sales, along with recruitment fees and recruitment incentives.
"It gets cloudy when you have a situation where you have fees being paid for both," said Monica Vaca, assistant director of the FTC's division of marketing practices. "It's very nuanced."
So basically, as long as the company is selling a tangible product, even if it doesn't work and the claims are complete lies, it's okay to operate.
It's sneaky and unethical.
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Another thing a distributer/my friend told me was there was no fake sweetners in advocare stuff. Got a free sample from her took a sip and was like DAMN IT there is sucrolose aka:fake sweetner. Now i check everything before i try it. I may not be the healthiest person but i refuse to put that fake *kitten* in my body!!!!0
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holly23cali wrote: »Another thing a distributer/my friend told me was there was no fake sweetners in advocare stuff. Got a free sample from her took a sip and was like DAMN IT there is sucrolose aka:fake sweetner. Now i check everything before i try it. I may not be the healthiest person but i refuse to put that fake *kitten* in my body!!!!
Great job on not falling for MLM scams.
Bad job on falling for the fear-mongering surrounding artificial sweeteners. They are a life-saver for many diabetics. None of them have been proven harmful in normal quantities.1 -
I used to be a hair stylist, and all my friends suddenly started approaching me to sell the it works wraps under them to my clients. I feel like this is something they tell them in training, "try to recruit people in the beauty/salon industry," because they all would message me the same thing. Yeah, because that's what people want when they are going to the salon to spend money to feel pampered and get pretty, someone trying to push MLM products on them. smh0
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I have a not so close friend who is an ItWorks distributor, and she posts anywhere from 6-10 times per day about why you should try "those crazy wrap things" (that phrase makes me want to barf). I don't think she realizes that she is being taken advantage of, but is a grown woman and can make her own choices. I don't understand why anyone would buy into this. The pictures that posts are mostly not even people she sells to but probably ones she gets sent and told to post. There are glaringly obvious "cheats" in pictures (bad posture in the before picture, standing straight in the after picture, wearing totally different clothing, different lighting). I don't really know why I started to post this but it feels really good to rant.0
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ChristinaOrr65 wrote: »I used to be a hair stylist, and all my friends suddenly started approaching me to sell the it works wraps under them to my clients. I feel like this is something they tell them in training, "try to recruit people in the beauty/salon industry," because they all would message me the same thing. Yeah, because that's what people want when they are going to the salon to spend money to feel pampered and get pretty, someone trying to push MLM products on them. smh
Someone would get their hair pulled out if they bothered me at the salon!0 -
Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »holly23cali wrote: »Another thing a distributer/my friend told me was there was no fake sweetners in advocare stuff. Got a free sample from her took a sip and was like DAMN IT there is sucrolose aka:fake sweetner. Now i check everything before i try it. I may not be the healthiest person but i refuse to put that fake *kitten* in my body!!!!
Great job on not falling for MLM scams.
Bad job on falling for the fear-mongering surrounding artificial sweeteners. They are a life-saver for many diabetics. None of them have been proven harmful in normal quantities.
There is way more research about artificial sweetners, than in the past. It's a personal choice. I get they help diabetics and that is great. For me and my family we choose not too. Really if its not one thing it's another right?! Also what i didnt appreciate was her lack of knowledge about the product.0
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