Anyone else get annoyed when your "friends" get into pyramid schemes?

A lady I know tried to sell some weight loss supplement. She tried to sell to me, a runner with a BMI of 19. I guess she thought I was fat?

She would post on Facebook that she "owned her own business". Once she posted, "I'm hiring! Contact me for details!". By "hiring", she meant trying to rope more suckers into the pyramid.

She quit after a few months and got a retail job.

Al Bundy 4 touchdowns 1 game wrote:

A lady I know tried to sell some weight loss supplement. She tried to sell to me, a runner with a BMI of 19. I guess she thought I was fat?

She would post on Facebook that she "owned her own business". Once she posted, "I'm hiring! Contact me for details!". By "hiring", she meant trying to rope more suckers into the pyramid.

She quit after a few months and got a retail job.

Sounds about right. I'm sure one person on here made it to the top of the pyramid though and will spout off about all you have to do is work hard and never give up on your dreams. And that anybody who fails is just lazy.

One dude spent like 8 months trying to get me to join an MLM scheme. I genuinely liked the guy but I wasn't going to spend my money on inspirational CDs.

all government managed retirement is a scheme

annoyed as pi wrote:

I've had three recently. One was Amway, one a skin moisturizer, one a weight loss supplement. All three hit me up to buy from them. Do they enjoy alienating everyone they know?

or the vacation scam that promises 'income for life' and people are claiming 'retirement' at like 23 years old. It's called World Ventures.

Social media has made them much worse. Now they can spam you even when you're lucky enough to avoid them in person. The block/unfriend function becomes necessary at times.

I'm not sure how you live with yourself when every person you encounter is nothing but a "prospect".

John Oliver did a great expose on these recently, focussing a lot of attention on Herbalife. I've lost a couple of friends over their efforts to pull me into MLM scams.

Noticed a lot of acquaintances who graduated the same time I did from college probably couldn't find a job right away, and resorted to this. Most of them beginning to sell Herbalife products. Is Herbalife some kind of pyramid scheme?

It's the dishonesty that drives me nuts. The "I'm hiring for my expanding business" stuff is so disingenuous. It's pretty insulting when they try to pass this stuff off on people they consider friends.

Agreed. Worst thing ever.

My sisterinlaw is in PureHavenEssentials (previously Ava Anderson)

gross.

BlackOps69Slayer wrote:

Noticed a lot of acquaintances who graduated the same time I did from college probably couldn't find a job right away, and resorted to this. Most of them beginning to sell Herbalife products. Is Herbalife some kind of pyramid scheme?

Yes. Technicality it's mlm (multi level marketing). They sell crap and the people going into it almost always lose more money than they make

John's Oliver's take on these.

BlackOps69Slayer wrote:

Noticed a lot of acquaintances who graduated the same time I did from college probably couldn't find a job right away, and resorted to this. Most of them beginning to sell Herbalife products. Is Herbalife some kind of pyramid scheme?

Yes, they seem to target vocationally directionless young adults, aka liberal arts majors.

More sad than annoying. It's usually people who feel unfulfilled who get sucked into these things. The companies obviously offer more than they can deliver financially, but mostly they are preying on people's desire to feel like they are doing something valuable and important with their time. Kind of sad to see an acquaintance sink to hawking trinkets or "health" product on Facebook to give their lives meaning.

I really don't understand how people permit themselves to be duped so easily. MLM schemes are bad. Yes. But there are all types of other "get rich programs" being pedaled where you go to some seminar and learn how to be rich like the presenters if you give them money to teach you. At some point it should kick in that if there really was an easy way, these peddlers would not be trying to sell it to others. They would be basking in the free riches themselves.

Then again. Ask yourself why people are poverty stricken yet buy a hundred dollars of lottery tickets each week.

It is noted that Betsy DeVos, wife of the founder of Amway's son, is the current nominee for Secretary of Education.

Jason Chaffetz, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, previously was employed at NuSkin in PR prior to running for Congress.

John Oliver fan wrote:

John Oliver did a great expose on these recently, focussing a lot of attention on Herbalife. I've lost a couple of friends over their efforts to pull me into MLM scams.

There was a poster on here some time back who used to advertise Herbalife and defend the company as a great business.

This stuff can spread like a virus too. Just in the course of one indoor track season the less intelligent half of my college team all got into, went bust on, and got out of Amway/Quickstar, Mona Vie, Herbalife, and other nonsense like that. For a while it was all these dudes and chicks could talk about on team trips, in the caf, etc. - it was the hot trend all of a sudden. I showed one guy the math about how after just a few levels you need millions upon millions of people to keep it going, and he seemed to understand it, and the implication that he wouldn't make money off it. Then he turned to the person next to me and asked him if he'd like to join instead.

just sad wrote:

More sad than annoying. It's usually people who feel unfulfilled who get sucked into these things. The companies obviously offer more than they can deliver financially, but mostly they are preying on people's desire to feel like they are doing something valuable and important with their time. Kind of sad to see an acquaintance sink to hawking trinkets or "health" product on Facebook to give their lives meaning.

I agree it's sad, but it seems more to be the financially vulnerable than the ones lacking meaning in their lives that get suckered into these schemes. At least that's the case on my Facebook newsfeed.

How can one Thrive if you can rope your friends in on a little money making scheme plus you get to feel 20 years younger at the same time.