Help: Amway Corporation

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Aug 09 - 04:44 PM

Gee, I haven't heard about Amway in years! I think they operate on the same principle as Boy Scout popcorn and Girl Scout cookies: sell an ordinary product at an inflated price, taking advantage of the buyers' friendship and sympathy - not a total ripoff, but definitely taking advantage of friendship and trust.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Aug 09 - 04:56 PM

FWIW, this thread isn't labeled BS because back in '01, there was no BS. (Yeah, right:)

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 Aug 09 - 04:59 PM

Stringsinger, We can discuss MLM's on Saturday. They are not ALL scum but Amway certainly has a high percentage of them.

I am involved with one of them. The good ones fill an important niche. They take on good products and recruit a sales force for products which are good but are not breaking through into the larger market.

The one I am with is good but is losing focus by bringing too many unrelated products into their line. All I do with them now is pass the products to my friends at my price and use them myself.

The owner of the company has told me that, to maintain the MLM structure he has to invest less than 5% of the retail price of the product in product.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 22 Apr 11 - 08:05 AM

A next door neighbor at our previous home dealt in Amway and was apparently quite successful with it. He quite obviously had been at it for some time, and had at least a half-vast tribe of sub-tier dealers who trooped in and out regularly to pick up products and deliver "his cut." So far as I know he did no direct selling on his own (but may have still been recruiting).

My observations are that the products are, in most cases, of "usable" quality, if you're not too fussy about the results. It is extremely unlikely that a person can make more than "occasional pin money" from selling them, and only those who recruite lower tier sellers are likely to make even moderate income from the deal.

IF YOU ARE RECRUITED by anyone below the highest level, your recruiter's cut of your sales must pay his recruiter's cut of your sales, who must pay ... on up the line. As with any Ponzi scheme, the only ones who can possibly profit are those who got there first.

Except under unusual and very fortuitous conditions, you are not first in line.

One "analysis" a few years back derived the postulate that to have a net positive cash flow over a sustained period, each tier of a branch in an Amway "nework" must be a minimum of 30 to 40 percent larger than the tier above it. If your "recruiter" has recruited 50 people to work for him/her, you (and each of his other 49) will need to recruit at least 65 to work successfully for you. And to be successful for more than a very short term each of your 65 "workers" must recruit an additional 85 people to sell the stuff for them.

One might get by with fewer active "workers" but the drop-out rate for your "less successful" business will demand that you continually recruit new replacements for the ones who give up.

At the time, it appeared that this analyst had obtained fairly specific information about the Amway program, and in particular about their "revenue sharing" cuts and distributions. His calculations did appear to be "real math" and not just guesswork. (The article appeared in a "newsletter" from an established investment firm as advice on career planning, sent to me because they hadn't yet figured out that I had nothing to invest that met their minimum account restrictions.)

A second observation, without intent to be disparaging, was that about half the "agents" who visited my neighbor on Amway business appeared (in casual conversation) to be "intelligence impaired," although none were obviously dysfunctional in non-challenging situations. (I don't think I would have cared to try to explain even a very simple tax return to any of them, as they appeared unable to grasp much past "change for a quarter.") One must suspect that his recruits came mostly from "populations" he had identified as most easily recruited(?).

Unless you are peculiarly adapted to accepting what appears to me to be a "cult mentality" and being a "true believer," I'd think you'd be at least as well off renting a booth at the local flea market and raiding trash bins for something to sell.

But I've never believed that I'd be much of a saleperson, so I may have an odd view of it all.

John

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: artbrooks
Date: 22 Apr 11 - 08:13 AM

Another reopening of a 10-year-old thread.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: GUEST,999
Date: 22 Apr 11 - 12:11 PM

Someone I worked with tried to get me into Amway years ago. I listened to the spheel: your dream circle, your fondest wishes, what you envision it would be like to be just ticketyboo.

My answer was Farrah Fawcett to all three and I left.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: ChrisJBrady
Date: 22 Apr 11 - 12:27 PM

Check out a fairly definitive expose of Amway / Scamway at:

http://www.rickross.com/groups/amway.html

http://forum.rickross.com

Take care.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: ChrisJBrady
Date: 22 Apr 11 - 12:29 PM

Sorry - blue clicky here:

http://www.rickross.com/groups/amway.html

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 01:45 AM

This thread was reopened by Spam, but the devil made me post a message. There seems to be a religious aspect to many of these multi-level marketing schemes. The sales meetings, particularly, have the feel of a religious revival. We used to rent our Catholic church hall out for Amway sales meetings, but we decided to drop them because their almost-religious materialism conflicted with our way of thinking. They seemed to be an aspect of born-again Prosperity theology (health and wealth gospel), a Christian religious belief whose proponents claim the Bible teaches that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians - that seems to me to be an aberration of Calvinism. All those people with their fancy clothes and fancy cars made us feel creepy. That stuff didn't seem to fit with our food locker, of which we were very proud. If you were to guess that I was one of the primary opponents of renting to Amway, you might be right.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Deckman
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 09:11 AM

Joe ... my respectfull admiration grows! bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: saulgoldie
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 10:15 AM

Pyramid...enriches those st the top...heavy evangelical component...

As SINSULL said earlier, "run fast and run far."

Saul

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 01:40 PM

There are many Amway songs, "I Am Amway" is a recitation classic.

"I Am Amway" by Paul Harvey is superb. Chases the moths out of my pocketbook !

Glorious Amway

May have been posted before, But some of the songs are gems.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 02:03 PM

I did the accounts of Amway UK Ltd back in the 1980s. It was run by an arrogant prat called Liam I remember. I'm glad they went bust.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 02:08 PM

Pat Boone did a couple of Amway parodies. They can be heard at the site I linked.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Stringsinger
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 01:12 PM

Now Amway is a real Ponzi scheme. Also very reactionary politically.
It's as American as the Third Reich.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: gnu
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 02:21 PM

One of the engineering students at uni was an Amway salesman. Good cover fer sellin dope. Maybe he was just a multi-tasker?

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 13 Sep 11 - 12:18 PM

I had a client who let a successful business slide down the drain with the hope of making a fortune with Amway. Income before 5K-6K/month, after £11/month that is £11, not £11,000.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: lefthanded guitar
Date: 13 Sep 11 - 02:47 PM

Interesting to hear this- years ago a cousin I barely knew contacted me with her Amway business, which I politely declined to be part of. I know of a friend's daughter who seems to be making some money selling Mary Kay, but only part time and you need a LOT of customers. I also have a musician friend( who I also hadn't heard from for months, is that a coincidence? lol ), who suddenly called me up and tried to enlist me in selling Fuller Brush products- also sounded like a pyramid scheme to me, tho I believe their products are decent enough.

I bless your Socialist dad for his principles -there are too few people out there who put principle before profit; and btw I am half tempted to buy a dulcimer from him myself . BUT I think he should raise the price a little above cost, why can't he make some money off his craft?? Maybe you can convince him to go 25% or 50% higher- they would still be reasonable and he would have a retirement business. Or may be he can even offer some kind of sliding scale, for those who can pay what they can afford, and those who can pay more. Good luck to dad, he sounds like a fine man.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Sep 11 - 07:01 PM

I put Amway in filter, looking for a thread on Amway songs, but that brings up Tramway threads. "Amway" in quotes brings up zilch.
Amway in Search yields mostly below the line threads, but no songs.

Is there a thread on Amway songs? I linked a source in this thread, but I was hoping someone had posted lyrics to Pat Boone's sendup.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: GUEST,999
Date: 13 Sep 11 - 07:17 PM

Google

Amway classic sound bytes

You'll find some there, Q.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Sep 11 - 07:38 PM

My link has the two Pat Boone songs, one may listen to them, but the lyrics are hard to catch. I was hoping someone had already posted them or for an online site with posted lyrics.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: GUEST,999
Date: 13 Sep 11 - 08:16 PM

Dang. That's the same site I said to Google to. Shoulda known you'd have that base covered.

I'll gi'e it a listen, too. Maybe . . .

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 05:19 AM

The powers that be in Amway were like some raving USAian religious sect.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 03:30 PM

Jes' good ole entrepreneurship. Not too original, some of the old sky pilots were pretty entrancing too.

Subject: RE: Help: Amway Corporation
From: Amos
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 04:51 PM

Their products are pretty good. Their corporate structure, not so much.


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