Someone Tried to Get Me into a Pyramid Scheme Today

This story is very much like mine. Advocare was the product. The push was coming from a family member. It's almost as if he didn't realize he was so pushy. Perhaps it was because I was trying to get out of it while being nice. In the end I had to be blunt and it didn't end well. I didn't understand why he didn't just let it go. Now I am sad.

A friend pestered me incessantly until I listened to his multilevel pitch about 10 years ago. At that point I was a doctor making more than $400,000/ year.

To answer all the questions here why someone making big money would get involved, the answer is simple- "residual income". As as doctor I made a lot of money, but I still had to work every week if I wanted to maintain that income. That is why I liked this idea.

Eight years later I had almost matched my income with my Amway business & completely quit practicing medicine. The residual income keeps coming in & grows larger almost every month, despite doing almost no work at all anymore. My wife & I spend most of our time entertaining, playing, running, cross training, travelling the world and basically living the dream. We could never have had this lifestyle if we had to work every week.

As a bonus, I was able to get serious about running and have shattered all my running PR's, even though I am now in my 40's.

Incidentally, there are different Amway groups, & success depends on getting with the right group. I make a ton more than my bud that got me in & I have gotten others in who make much more than me. I still laugh when I recall the majority of the first people I tried to get in told me it was "too late"!!

Umm, yeah... wrote:

He sounds like he really knows how to manage his money!

You should return the favor by explaining how you can hook him up with the exiled Minister of Defense from Nigeria who will pay him millions in exchange for wiring a handling fee to his bank in Lagos.

Yea, he did some really stupid stuff. Bought property in the middle-of-nowhere Arizona probably in anticipation of some real estate boom that a friend convinced him would occur. Bought a house without a down payment right out of college (of course, this was before the real estate crash). The not paying off student loans for the MBA when he had the chance was the dumbest by far.

I will admit, the shampoo and conditioner from the company are the best I've ever used. Some the products do work. But I still don't like them.

Just ask to see tax returns for them and their upline for the last couple years as part of your due diligence process. That will almost always shut them up.

I've been cornered by enough people that I can now smell that "vague enthusiasm" that can only mean MLM pitch.

I'd like for you to describe how you replaced your medical income, and do it without trying to sell me something.

Funny this should come up. Just yesterday at my amazing job at a running store i was givin a business card by a lady who was ceo and vice pres. She liked my communication skills and backround and wanted to set something up. I just checked tonight to see what the deal was and it was amway. ho-hum. guess i'll just keep selling shoes.

[quote]crazy person wrote:

I'd like for you to describe how you replaced your medical income, and do it without trying to sell me something.

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Not sure what kind of description you're looking for, but basically I introduced the program (buying your own household consumables) to a few dozen people over the first couple years, then helped them repeat the process.

Over 10 years this grew into thousands of people doing the same. The company pays bonuses for structuring your business the right way. It took over 3 years just to make $2500 a month, but then it caught fire & exponentiated, and surpassed my physician income after 9 years.

unexpected outcome wrote:

My wife & I spend most of our time entertaining, playing, running, cross training, travelling the world and basically living the dream. We could never have had this lifestyle if we had to work every week.

As a bonus, I was able to get serious about running and have shattered all my running PR's, even though I am now in my 40's.

You people are all the same. If this is all true, why do you spend weeknights and weekends in low-rent hotel conference rooms selling this crap to others?

Your story is almost word-for-word what I have heard from other MLM folks.

I've never actually sold any of the products, but I have sold others on the concept. It is certainly NOT for everyone. I soon discovered that people with "wage mentality" or instant gratification seekers were not good candidates. I looked for people who were like me- that understood delayed gratification (most of my friends were making good money for years while I was still a broke med student) and were highly motivated by residual income.

So the significant residual aspect makes the extra time on nights and weekends in the first few years more than worth it later on.

When you grasp that the work is temporary but the income is permanent, most people are willing to sacrifice a little now for a whole lot more later. Again, NOT for everyone.

Some tiny percent of Amway reps actually make any money, and even fewer make anything worthwhile. In reality, only a very few people make enough to live on, and these people are at the top of the pyramid. You will not get to the top of the pyramid in an established scheme like Amway.

Steps to finding if something is a scam: does it require you to buy the product? It's a scam. Salesmen do not have to buy their own products. Is its emphasis primarily on recruiting more people? It's a scam. Good companies focus on selling their products, not recruiting stooges into their scheme.

Primerica is the same way. Stay away from them.

I used to park cars in my dark days after college, in between jobs. The residents would always approach me with this stuff. Excel Long Distance, Amway, and some Direct shipping thingy.

Always got the "you seem like a self starter..." or some other glaringly-oblivious-to-my-situation comment. Then their pitch, followed by some type of, "but we only take motivated winners...."

Not parking cars anymore, but didn't take them up on any offers.

Best way to the top is to start your own MLM. Guaranteed to be at the top of the pyramid and if it's successful you'll rule.

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50 years is a long time to go undetected as an illegal scam! I buy toilet paper, food, cosmetics, personal hygiene products and cleaners at the store- why wouldn't I buy it from another source if it will pay me handsomely?

Yes there are many MLM companies that are a scam. But those with a legal track history and a vast array of consumables are almost no-brainers for making good money. And yes, it is much more difficult for those with a poor attitude or a thin skin. I heard all the criticism and ridicule early on. Guess who's laughing now!!

I had some friends join ACN and tried their best to talk me into it. It took awhile for me to join but I only joined because the friend I went under already had one person to go under me so in a month I only needed to find one other to go under me to get my quick start bonus. I only did it for a month mainly to help my friend out and was so annoyed by the head of our team sending out daily cheesy motivational texts I wanted to puke. There is a few of the guys making money but they work well over 40 plus hours a week just doing ACN and their regular jobs. I know some of their marriages have suffered because of how obsessed with getting to the top some of them are.

I made my quick start bonus so I ended up making 200 bucks on the deal and got some deals on cell phones. Since then I have talked many people out of the company.

That guy was just misunderstanding what word of mouth advertising is all about. He got some bad advice, and was following it.

Best way to do any MLM program is to share the concept with friends and let them decide for themselves if they want any follow-up information.

Bug them to death, and you lose a friend.

yeah, but didn't you have to pay $499 to join, plus fees each year to maintain your "business?" Also, good luck getting out. Go ahead and try to leave. You'll have to pay handsomely to leave ACN, even after your contract is up? Why is that, you ask? You mean you didn't know that they presumed by signing 2 year contract, you really meant 4 years and after 10 days it switched to 4 years.

Plus, once to you cancel your account, you'll still get charged and when you call, they'll blame it on you for not canceling correctly.

I was never in that company, but a guy I worked with joined just to shut his neighbor up and it was a mistake for which he paid dearly.

Hahahaha troll.

Yes, an MD quits being a doctor so he can attend quarterly "training events" and sell this shtick to people in hotel rooms. I bet you did this.

Obviously, thats a rough road with a singular type product- its hard to see where that would work long term. Also sounds like the group were tools.