August 10, 2009 
Paul 
I was about 18 when my itch for making money started. So lets start how I got introduced to Amway.
I was fresh out of graduating high school and working for a Wachovia near my home. I had just finished school and was filling up at the local gas station on my way home. I was about to finish when a professionally dressed middle aged man walked up to me. He was asking me about my schooling and my job. He then asked if I would be interesting in making money part time. He presented the business as selling sports drinks and vitamins. I was interested as extra money never hurts and I was well naive.
He would not really answer any of the questions I had and kind of was avoiding them (should have been an immediate red flag). He encouraged me to get on a conference call later that night. I got on a conference call which gave the history of Amway, a small business model, and talked about some success stories. Well of course me being so young i got all excited about the money and wanted to get immediately involved. I did not think about how was going to get the money I was just thinking about the money.
So after the conference call I went to a meeting in this guys house that explains how people make their money. It basically a glorified reseller and referral program. You get people to buy your stuff at a certain price and get a percentage. If you refer other people who sell stuff you get a percentage of their sales and a smaller percentage of those peoples sales. Sounds surprisingly like a pyramid scheme.
Well with my group I had to spend 150 dollars on the equipment sales books, product info, and other things. I then had to go to training classes. I tried selling and referring people but it was not really going over well. After a few weeks of this I got tired of it and quit.
So either I was not persistent or patient enough or this program will not work a lot of people. I would say that if I was a great sales man and could convince people easily I could see the opportunity to make money.
So this was my take on Amway Global or Quixtar.
Total Loss 150 dollars. Not so bad but when I was 18 that was a lot of money.
Wikipedia view of Amway Amway Global / Quixtar
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I recently joined as an Amway Global IBO and things are quite difficult, yes. I find that I suffer from the masses believing that all multi-level marketing business tactics are equivalent to a “pyramid” type scam. The person who encouraged me to become an IBO was a young man, fresh out of college who told me he was making a bit of money on the side making sales for and referring customers to Amway Global.
I saw the business plan a short time afterward and was floored by the simplicity of the work, not the ease. I knowingly went into this business understanding that the work was simple but it would be hard because of three major things:
1. People are skeptical. Everyone who thinks they know anything will automatically be skeptical of new things. Even I am skeptical of things that sound too good to be true but if there are ways out or there is something validly in front of you, then is it still something to be skeptical of?
I’m not religious man and I don’t mean to offend anyone but if God were to appear on Earth tomorrow and tell everyone that he was so and demonstrated that he was so, how many people would be skeptical? Everyone! Almost. We live in that kind of society.
2. People’s logics are easily skewed and swayed. Just because one friend or family member tells him or her that Amway is a scam or some other, a person will easily be dissuaded to even hear about your products, let-alone your business and the way it is run. This just has to do with the acceptance that everything our friends and family tell you is never wrong.
This is far from true. Just like stated above, people are fallible, including our family and friends. What I have come to believe from hearing all the people in the business speak and talk about is that when you go to a poor person about how to become rich, you receive only the advice on how to become poor. Again, no offense to anyone.
3. People are easily discouraged. This is me. I’m weak and I know it. It’s only been two weeks of business and a lot of people have turned me down and said their piece. Some of my own family think that I’m dumb enough to become involved with a scam (which I’ve always considered myself to be rather intelligent). I have been considering quitting.
I will stay however. Hearing your story reinforces my belief that it really is about a lot of hard work and that it won’t be easy to convince people of something so simple (at least on the end of the IBO). I’m glad I came across your post and I will do my best to push forward.
I am curious as to why you lost out on $150. The ‘Terms of Agreement’ clearly states that you have 180 days (6 months) to quit the program and receive a 100% refund. Perhaps that is something that they recently started doing? In any case, I have an out. That’s more than enough to give something a try.
the franchising business is actually good specially if the product for franchise is well known.;”*
I bet Ray Kroch’s family is glad he didn’t give up or quit after a few weeks when starting McDonalds.
It takes work and time. But it does work. There are tons of people making serious money here in the midwest. But it took them more than a few weeks to get there.
Franchising business is good but some franchise needs some cold hard capital to start with.”;*
I am actually going through the process right now and I was not introduced to the company in the same way you were. The person that has been helping me has been great and there has never been no pressure to sell or to stick with it. They now offer your money back if you are not happy with selling or you just simply change your mind And the products that me and my partner have been selling have gotten us repeat buyers. The way the meetings go have changed as well and they state during the meeting that there are risks but they explain everything in depth. At least this was how I was introduced to it. Sorry you didn’t have the experience that I and others have had.
My dad is actually involved in this company for 3 months we ordered stuff and earned 150 points and got $50-60 back then times got rough with the economy and for 2 months we didn’t order any products. but the 6th months we started ordering stuff and telling people about the products and how they can also become an IBO. My dad currectly has only 3 IBO’s and those 3 IBO’s each have one IBO then things started to get better now we’re in the comoany for 1 year. My dad gets $200-400 while spending only $200-300 and that’s excluding the money we make off of the products, thats the check we get from AMWAY. Things are getting better. We don’t buy any books, cds, or anything like that. They also have meetings or whatever but we don’t go to that. All we do is talk about the products to other people friends and family members. we dont go doo-to-door. we dont spend money in order to make money other than the products. SO im happy with this company. When i get out of HS im thinking of becoming an IBO myself under my dad’s name.
sorry im posting again but im trying to help my dad out he’s a farm worker and without a job at this moment
if you like artistry products, nutrilite products, or any one of the amway/ quixtar products and not an IBO but would like to buy amways products cheaper og up to 75% discount then all you have to do is go to http://www.amway.com/zeferino sign-up as a client e-mail me then i’ll give you the 75% discount on ALL of amway products. I promise i’m just a HS trying to sell some products abd help my dad out. I guarantee you i’ll give you 75% discount but dont forget to email me to get the discount and after i give you the 75% discount you can see on the prices that it will change.
Im sorry but Amway works i been in 6 months im in high school to but i don’t have to have a job anymore so if you didn’t succeed wither your upline sucked or you jus tdidn’t try because talking to people is pretty simple.
Yes, I went through all the pains of knowing that I had hold of a simple business, but, not an easy business. I, like this child just out of high school, got in and quit. Not because it was a scam, which it isn’t, but because it required me to work in my spare time and give up gaming on my computer LOL. I have rejoined and am very successful. My mentors in the business are awesome. One year in and will be at top of performance charts this year. I got back in because one of my friends told me I couldn’t make it work. Now he is in LOL. The people that say it doesn’t work are merely trying to project their lack of performance on those that have the guts to succeed. I’m receiving a steady income because I’ve met a few people that have the guts.
To McCoy & all the others on here. If you don’t think this is somewhat a scam then your a idiot. Think about it, if it takes you mo’s to make any money with this stuff, then your very stupid. Just because you think your making a little bit of money right now or maybe not, doesn’t mean it will be prosperous for you later. It won’t, It will take you yr’s to make any kind of money & build your business. by that time I hope you can pay off the loan you got to pay your bills. Admit it, you do not get a wkly & in some cases a monthly paycheck so you can eat. Quit being delusional.
1. You said -”You get people to buy your stuff at a certain price and get a percentage. If you refer other people who sell stuff you get a percentage of their sales and a smaller percentage of those people’s sales.”
My understanding of this process is like this: you sell products and the company makes money on the sales and you, the IBO, receive points for the sale. At the end of the month all your points are tallied, with there being different levels of points totals, each level = a different percentage level on the bonus plan, the more the points the higher the percentage, (which means the more you work the more u make, i.e. no work = no money, after all this is NOT a pyramid, its a business that, like any other, pays the people 4 the work they do) and you receive a check based on your total amount of sales .
2. You said, “Sounds surprisingly like a pyramid scheme.”
My answer – you really need to learn what a pyramid scheme is BEFORE referring to it. Wikipedia says” A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than from any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Pyramid schemes are a form of fraud.”
3. You said: “Total Loss 150 dollars”
My reply: A – as others have pointed out, you have a money back guarantee for 180 days and
B – your being an IBO is considered a home based business, which allows you to deduct fees, supplies, training materials, the cost of doing business, ect from your taxes.
Your loss of $150.00 was due to your own neglect, not somebody else’s.
As far as, does it work? I live on the water in Florida and I haven’t worked in 5 years.
You do the math.
antb…Show me a copy of a pay stub because I find it very difficult to believe that you haven’t worked in 5 years and if you really haven’t worked in 5 years than which swamp in Florida do you live on because I know the few hundred dollars a month you are making with Amway are not enough to live in Miami. Why don’t all of you try looking at this “money making opportunity” from an outside point of view and you will hopefully realize that this is nothing but a PYRAMID SCHEME. It just doesn’t make logical sense and I feel bad for individuals that get sucked into this SCAM!!
I became involved with Amway about 1977. At first I was very excited at the prospect of becoming a millionaire and never having to work again. I went to all the meetings were they kept drawing those circles. I bought many of the products and found them to be high quality.I went to shopping malls to try and recruit people.
To make a long story short,I faithfully worked at it for one full year.
One day while attending a very large meeting where thy were introducing some double or triple diamond producer who was the gloryfied King of my section of this organization, I was told to donate five dollars to help by this bum a new piece of furniture for the mansion he just built.
What,he builds a mansion and I am buying him a gift?
I started to look at the people around me in a different light. How did I become such an idiot? Look at all of these fools. They are all brainwashed by this organization.
To put it in a nutshell, this corporation sells there products at full retail value to its so-called distributors and then convinces them to re-sell the product at an outragiously high price to the public. (who is usually the distributors friends and family).
Dont get involved!
I think you didn’t stay in long enough. This company is in more than 80 different countries and there are many people who are in it, so obviously it works. I have to admit that when you start out it is difficult. When you first come in you are not really sure how the company works so it’s difficult to make money. But if you stay persistent and study about the company it will get easier and easier. Also you have to deal with rejection, which is another difficult thing to deal with. There are many people out there that are CONVINCED that Amway(or Quixstar) is a scam, a pyramid(which it is not by the way) and think you want to steal their money. They assume that they know more and make it harder for you, and often times discourage you. For this reason many people quit and then go around saying that Amway doesn’t work and is a scam, without ever really having given the company enough time or much of a chance so that they could really see the results or completely understand it. It’s a great company, you just need to have patience and faith, which is what many people fail to have when it comes to this. Also they find it hard to believe many of the promises Amway makes simply because they have never seen such an opportunity before, and unfortunantly other things that do end up being a lie. People don’t give it enough time or much of a chance. Which is understandable because so many other people have sadly been lied to with other things, so I guess they’re afraid to give Amway a REAL chance. With anything it requires you to work so that you can actually get the results. Which is another problem. Many people join and do a few things and expect to suddenly get the promised results without realizing that the results aren’t going to come automatically and you have to work for it. I congradulate you for at least trying it out, even if it was for a few weeks
Wow some people can be so stupid. It is because of idots like the some people here who give this awesome company a bad name. It is very simple. You SHOP, you buy whatever you were going to buy from somewhere else and you just recommend this idea to others. It doesn’t get any simiplier then that. The people who are saying that it doesn’t work, were probably looking for a get rich quick type of deal.
Read the fine print. .0064% make it to the diamond ($150,000 a year)level. Thats 64 out of every million, or 1 in about 16,000. Yea the odds of winning the lottery are a lot worse, but no sane logical person would bet on those odds. Or even invest any kind of money in program that has a extremely low success rate.
I was in Amway some time ago and left because I didn’t really understand that anything good is worth working for. I wish I had stayed; in fact I’m going to get back in as soon as possible. The fact of the matter is, your 9-5 is not going to make you as wealthy as the Amway possibilities. And you get to meet a whole lot of successful people. The tapes are like the most valuable tools you could have.
Someone got rich off of selling pencils, I’m sure they started one pencil at a time until it caught on. Amway has many more products than on pencil. What do you have inside you is the question.
In the bible 3 men were given talents, one produced nothing and the others made a profit. All had the same talents. Amway doesn’t cost thousands to join, its already established, you have a choice of what you want to do with it, you get free help because if you don’t make a thing then your up line won’t benefit either, you can sell at home or person to person, even sell to organizations.
The energy that people use to complaint can be used to find solutions. I had a friend that asked me to join with her; we worked on the same job as a nurse’s aide. She left many years ago because at the time her Amway income reached 60,000 a year, it was more than we were making on the job. This income came without her basically doing anything. She did a little selling, bought products from herself, and taught her group how to buy products from themselves, that alone produced an income. And then she did a little selling.
One Christmas she bought every staff member on my job a gift. This is only one of the stories never published.
People that tell me something can’t work when it can, scare me. Because the reality is… you can’t trust others to give you the answers you need to make it in life.
I had one of the best up lines I want to start over with another good up line. If you are in the Bronx NY 10453, and you know for sure your team is good. Email me and put Amway as subject and I will join. Then I will write you guys back and give you the progress. You can wait in the rain waiting for the right cab and keep getting wet or you can grab a cab, get out of the rain and go where you have to go. Afriend137@yahoo.com Thanks for your time
I understand that amway is not technically a pyramid scheme. However the way in which I was approached was incredibly deceitful. I received a txt message from s girl I did not know claiming she got my number from my cousin and went ti college with him. The problem is thus cousin she named, I have maybe spoken to him twice in my life. When I contacted my cousin on Facebook he did not know the girl but that amway had contacted him a few months ago. She got my # from my Facebook and claimed she was college buddies with my cousin. I will not join amway no matter how legit they are bc of the way in which they got my information.
I find it hard to believe that that anyone on this posting negative things about Amway has been properly educated in business or has something they are doing that is better. Please show me something that is better than Amway and I will do it. A lot of people don’t have the will power to take a business like this seriously and that is why they fail. It isn’t easy, and you won’t be a millionaire over night. Good things do not come easy, and if you expect something to be given to you for nothing then I don’t want to associate with you, and neither will most serious entrepreneurs. You won’t find any negative postings from people who have seriously committed to Amway because they have more than likely been coached into creating a good second income for their household and they know it works.
Alright everybody, I was in the business for 8 & 1/2 years, showed more than 1200 plans. We had business in 15 states, and put over 1500 people in our group during that time period. We were Platinum Producers and got flown to the Corporation for an excellent weekend at the Grand Plaza Hotel. Yes, it was all paid for. As Platinums, we spoke in Hawaii (the trip was paid for), we went on a free cruise, and we spoke at several functions.
I will tell you that today, I am no longer in the business. But, it was a good training ground for what I do today. I know what my upline diamond made in the height of his business, and he had 5 diamonds below him. In fact, he is no longer in the business, today, and neither are any of his Diamonds or his Emeralds. Remember, the majority of the money made by the higher pins comes from the tools business, NOT from the products. Any of you who have made it to the Platinum level know this.
I will say that I am thankful for the exerience, and I probably stayed in 3 years too long, but the training was invaluable. The training is when you do the work – showing the plan at least 4 times/wk, minimum. You have to talk to everybody who you meet. The training is NOT just listening to CD’s or conference calls, reading books, and going to functions – the training comes from doing the work.
Not one of my downline EVER outworked me – I set the precedent. Every car I owned while I was in the business had several hundred thousand miles on it. I didn’t get a lot of sleep, and worked the business 30-40 hours a week on top of my job as a school teacher.
You have to live and breathe this business to make it work. Trust me, I did it.
I now run my own company (not Amway/Quixtar), and have for the past 8 years. My first month of working for myself, I made nearly 3 times my best month ever as a Platinum, but remember, it was the business that taught me the principles.
Today, I still get approached for the opportunity, and I tell the person – “If you do the work, it will be good training ground for what you do next” But, Amway is not a long term deal. Don’t be naive and think it only takes 8 – 15 hours a week to go Platinum.
Sorry it didnt work out for you. Maybe your just a quitter who has no real motivation? But the reason your upline promotes the conferences and meetings is to get around the team and get around people who want you to see you succeed just as much as you do. I currently dont have a job and have been in for 6 months and im doin very well in Amway. Next time have more determination. Hope your doin well.
Hi guys i been in the business for 7 months now and i love the team work my mentors and its hard work but not nearly as hard as a 9 to 5 job and i have challenges we all do im missing my left leg i take a lot of peoples excuses away and if you quit then your simply not a winner in life remember its a numbers game, and a 2 to 5 year plan not get rich over night it requires effort maybe you didnt have the mentorship i have with my team since im on the fastest growing team in north America.
when you engage in a multi-level marketing, you can actually become a millionaire in such a short time “
Does anyone else notice that the majority of people leaving “positive” comments about this comapny can not even type in a proper english? “I been in the company for 7 months”… That’s incredible. Maybe $200 a month is good money to you then. Sorry.
I attended two information meetings recently and I noticed the attendees consisted primarily of minorities who are unemployed or who have not even earned a degree. It seems the business is targeted to those types of people (at least in my area). My point is that I think Amway subtly wants to take advantage of the desperate and uneducated like any other multi-national corporation, as paranoid as it sounds. They don’t care as long as they bring in profits. Yes, I acknowledge there are people that genuinely want to participate in this business, and that’s good for them. However, as a word of advice to those deciding on joining this business, if you genuinely wanted your own business, I suggest engaging in REAL entrepreneurship, not just one that simply identifies you as an IBO. In other words, develop a unique product or service yourself/with a well-educated or organized team of like-minded individuals (ex: Twitter, Google, BOSE, Dyson, etc.) market it, and sell it. It obviously takes more time and skill, but I personally believe it’s more fun and rewarding, especially if you’re not just in it for the money, which is way overrated these days. It encourages you to be creative for the betterment of everyone! Not to mention what you create may even be more environmentally friendly than the solutions that Amway or some other multi-national might come up with.
I think you people should not talk if you do not know enough about Amway Global and the way it works. All I really have to say is have fun working your whole life until you get old. You guys will be tired when you get home from work and I’ll be in Miami Or wherever I want to be at for a vacation whenever I want. Have nice lives.
Amway Global has an A+ rating with the BBB, who also happens to have an office at the Amway world wIDE headquarters in Ada, Mi.
Im looking into the business and I have to say that it sounds a lot like Mary Kay. (Which I have sold.) I know how much you have to work at something like this to make the big money. I like having family time and being able to leave my work at the office and not have it take over my home life. All of the driving, taking people to the information meetings, the supplies and tools. Sure it is all tax deducutable but you have to pay for it first. If you think it is an amazing chance and you’re excited to be doing it then I am happy for you. It sounds like the the person who wrote the above article was stating that Amway Global wont work for every one who tries it, and he’s right. There isn’t anything out there that works for 100% of the people who try it.
In my opinion, Amway is not fit for everyone. I myself join Amway and never had a chance to succeed. Though my friend keep telling me how much he already get. Maybe Amway fit for him, but not for me.
Amway is where its at man, im going to be the next john collins. wait no im going to be better then john collins and brad duncan together. you guys just wait. when you guys hear coleby frank just remember that i fortold what is going to happen in the future. IM FIRED UP!!!!
Well everyone, you can believe that Amway can’t help everyone but you are very wrong this is an amazing opportunity and it is for anybody everyone can succeed in this business its not the business that is so difficult to succeed in its the people that are to lazy to try, all you people that are complaining about how its a pyramid or how its to much work or that it just doesn’t work because you say you tried it….you didn’t try anything, you know how I know that? Because you haven’t made it! your not rich,your not out of debt what you make in this business depends on the effort you put into it you all have a good night and maybe all you negative people should take all this extra time you have to complain about this amazing opportunity and go put all of it into a business you might actually get somewhere
Your writing is going to up…
Amway global public share the same philosophies and effectiveness of family values that I apply as far as my professional and personal, “said Warner“
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well ewveryone is talking about if the company works or not but ilwould like to know about the products are they good?
You guys can hardly even write! Let me tell you something. I’ve lived in four countries and had friends and family involved with Amway in each of them. In all cases nobody has made a dime. All have lost money hand over fist. Most have broken marriages and relationships and few friends. Dream on, this company is nothing but a scam. Go get a job at Macdonalds, it isn’t exciting but you will at least get a steady income and you will be able to sleep at night.
Idiots.
martha,
The products are sometimes reasonably OK but vastly overpriced (and I mean VASTLY) on the whole. However, many are a complete rip off and so crap you wouldn’t believe it – the washing powder that leaves your clothes just as dirty as before you washed them, the “dishdrops” liquid that leaves everything coated with a sticky film of grease, the LOC cleaner that doesn’t clean anything, the cheap deodorant that itches and causes rashes, the cosmetics that have my friends faces covered with red blisters and rashes, the toothpaste that makes you vomit, the ridiculous “pseudo-medical” claims made for many of the products, the disgusting tasting food “supplements”, the ridiculously priced “protein” drinks and the like. You can even pay a fortune for a simple water filter that costs a fortune to run and to buy spares fo (I can buy 6 comparable products here for the same price and spares are a tenth of the cost).
Of course, if you attend a meeting and chant and scream “fired up” all night to yourselves, then you’ll probably eat skunk droppings without complaint. There’s nothing like Amway brainwashing, as anyone who has ever been to their stupid meetings will know only too well.
Hi Guys,
Eric the ex Platinum, u put a nice story but its not convincing. A basic diamond’s bonus check alone is about a min of 150,000$ apart from all the other monthly bonus. So a person with commmon sense would not stop doing what they are doing when they make this money. Ok coming to you. If you really where a Platinum you would have been making close to 3000$. i doubt if you where making this money if you where working. when ur getting 3000$ every month and if you had commonsense you would not have quit. Thats the reason they say though its called commonsense its not common. I think u joined this business and did not do a thing, got frustrated and quit.
I am a platinum going saphire in 2 months and i make very good money. So stopping giving BS, and learn to give hope to others. For people who take financial advice from things written on the internet, am sorry even God can’t help you. Internet is like a public bathroom.
I urge people to take intelligent decisions when its related to finances.
Thanks
Dear moriarty,
I would like to know if you do all your shopping from Dollar Stores. If you then i dont wanna waste my time talking to such unproductive people
Thanks
thx for all the useful info, will be happy to read more about this soon !
Good morning.
First off, I am not bias in any way towards these comments for I myself have been contacted by someone from Amway who is trying to persuade me to attend one of their meetings. I decided, like everyone should, to do my reasearch on the company and what its about. Normally, all the information I found on their websites or co-websites said the same thing: history of Amway, promotion of their products, stories of successfull Amway employees, etc. Thats all great, but I was tired of reading all the positives. Just as all of you above me, I was and am still skeptical about the company, so I decided to look for actual feedback from actual people who were/are involved.
After reading numerous comments, I came across this site, which seemed to have the highest quantity of comments I had yet to see. After reading every single one, I have came to a few conclusions:
1) Someone posted that most of the positive comments were written poorly, filled with grammatical errors. Now, I feel that if you really are an aficianado of this company want to boast on their glorious success rate, you would atleast do so with proper grammer.
2) As far as this being a “pyramid scheme”, I am still not sure on that since I personally haven’t been apart of the company. Although, after learning about its structure and how it works, it is very hard to point out the difference between the to. I am not saying it is a pyramid scheme and I am not saying that it isn’t as well. All Im saying is that the two are highly similar.
3) If the company isn’t a scheme after all, from everyone’s testimonies, it seems that it can be very time consuming. I strongly beleive in the motto “time equals money”, but I don’t see the point in going into this business if you already are preoccupied with other priorites. I do however, as stated earlier, believe that you have to work to make this work for you. It doesn’t seem like a “get rich quick” scheme, but rather a “get rich slow scheme”. From the testimonies, it seems like people who actually begin…and I emphasize the word “begin”, to become successfull have put countless years of effort into the job. Others who don’t, conversly are not successful.
I’m not one to fall into traps from my experience over the years. I’m a senior in college and have my own plans to pursue. After reading all these testimonies and doing research for about 2 hrs, I don’t think I will attend any of their meetings.
Now, I’m not bashing the company as some of you have done in your comments above. I’m simply stating that it isn’t for me. I hae enough on my plate to deal with right now. I appreciate all the comments that you all have given in order to help me out in my decison. Even tho this business isn’t for me, maybe it will be for the next person.
JB
This goes to all the negative people who talked crap about Amway,have fun working for the next 50 to 60 years with people you don’t like and kissing up to the boss who is eventually going to fire you. If you were ever introduced to this business and quit I feel sorry for you. Especially with the way the economy is going right now.The only people who fail at this business are the only one’s that quit.People do harder things at their job for less money.I’ve seeing people work for 50 plus years and all their retirement go to waste because of our economy.This business is simple but not easy, that’s true but i’d rather work consistently at this business for a couple years and have a bright future ahead of me. I’ve seen people between the ages of 20 to 30 retire from their jobs because of this opportunity. But like another person said on here, this is like a public restroom, they write what they want..
The Amway Corporation is a legitimate business, not a scam. They manufacture and/or sell goods that people buy.
What people view as a scam (and rightfully so) is the independent distributor organizations that generate the sales. This may not apply to all IBOs, but a good many actually do make money on the tools of the business buy selling to downline. That is not the scam in and of itself. The scam is that they assure you time and time again that they are NOT making any money on the tools (books, tapes, etc.), and also the intimidation tactics used to coerce you into buying them – not just every now and then, but standing order (a steady stream of income). The caveat is that if you don’t purchase tools from the upline and get on standing order, then “you are not committed enough, and don’t expect any help with your business from the upline”. I remember my Pearl direct chewing me out one time for buying a motivational book from a discount book store at half the cost he was selling it. He said I was not edifying my upline and setting a bad example for my group.
I was in a group that had an Emerald with 3 strong direct legs, and 3 promising fledgling Silver legs qualifying at the same time. I found out later (after his distributorship was stripped) that the 3 silvers were instructed to tell their people to buy up enough security systems needed for the qual period because “He needs to go Diamond!” well these silvers weren’t too happy going into debt for these and not being able to move them, so one of them with a little sense blew the whistle on him.
Whenever I am about to get into business with anyone. I do the following:
1) Listen to their plan/opportunity
2) Shedule a 2nd mtg and ask them to provide last two years of taxes(certified of course), and a copy of credit report by all 3 major credit reporting agencies when you meet.
3) run a background check with full name, ss#, Birthdate,
4) Call to confirm meeting and that copies of taxes will be provided.
Usually at this point the meeting gets cancelled
5) Have an attorney look at the taxes
6) Have an attorney write up business contract. Go over the contract With YOUR attorney, not the other partners attorney.
7) complete contract if you are satisfied.
Anyone who is serious will provide info without hesitation. It’s the basics of doing business honestly. If the person is hesitant walk away and he/she will find another sucker.
I am a newbie that just started my business in October of 2011. In looking at the comments here I think there is some validity in all of the posts as well as valid concerns and honest appraisals on both sides of the argument.
Given a reasonable amount of dedication, time and effort (and a fair amount of patience) I believe this business, like any other business can be profitable, however I think one has to be realistic when it comes to expectations of profitability based on those above factors.
Certainly in the short few months I’ve been involved I’ve actively engaged family and friends and like most IBO’s discover, usually these sources are your biggest detractors.
Some yes, will give you the time of day to explain your business and talk up your products, out of courtesy, and that is the extent of commitment you’ll get from them for the most part – so if you are looking to be very profitable from these sources, you had better consider another line of work.
Your next targets are people you know, or talk to that aren’t in your regular social circuit and it’s here where you can probably reasonably expect to generate some interest in either a business opp or consumer sales.
But even here there are challenges – first you need to know how to talk to people and you need a solid sales pitch, a convincing saleman mentality. And most importantly you need to know your products.For some, that takes time to develop, for others like myself it’s not something that comes naturally.
But the biggest challenge I think overall is a matter of having time to make an effort. For me it’s been extremely difficult between working full time and trying to figure out how to approach people I know with some degree of effectiveness.
My upline, well, while I believe he means well, has this hair brain idea about cold calling people I know on my behalf. All well and good but what happens if that generates no interest and worse yet how will they feel about me the next time I see them.
Worse still his idea of coming up with a strategy is talking on the phone with me for 45 minutes to an hour, or coming to my house for several hours intertwining ideas and stories – not something I want to deal with after a 12 hour day. Anybody here of email?
Then he wants me to attend meetings every two weeks, buy cd’s go to conferences and I am left with the thought, where’s the ROI in this?
I don’t want to belabor this but I think at the end of the day to truely be successful you need to find the time, make the effort and find your own way, otherwise you can sit, sulk and or quit and find something else, possibly a franchise of some kind with good name recognition. Certainly that will require time, hard work and dedication.
For me, I will stick around a while, and keep trying but I am finding that the resources you are provided really aren’t effective as they could be in getting you off on the right foot, giving you a little push that can lead to a more profitable business more quickly.
I have been approached several times to join AmWay. I am 18 years old ad have had two very successful grandparents who were both approached to join AmWay.
They both declined those offers way back in the day and have been retired since I was born.
Now I am faced with the challenge of seeing who my real friends are. Almost all of them have chosen to join AmWay convinced it will make them 6 figures in by the time the are 20.
There are two main problems I saw with AmWay. 1) The success rate of six figures is very tempting but if you do not recruit 5 people a week you will not make it to the 6 figures. 2) AmWay does not provide a stable salary. It fluctuates each month based on your own spending and your teams spending.
It will be interesting to see where my friends end up in a few years or even six months. It seems as though many of them will no longer be friends because there are only so many people to recruit in a small school and town.
It is interesting to me when one person comments on another person’s bad grammar with more BAD GRAMMAR! I have been approached by an acquaintance to join Amway. Seems cultish to me. We’ve met a couple of times and still I have no details. I don’t need to see pictures of some rich guy’s house. I want to see cold hard numbers and what I can expect to make for this performance versus that performance. I do not like being talked down to. We’ll have to see how the next meeting goes. Any more pictures of fancy houses or Hawaii and I’m out!
Here is the problem. All of you involved see yourselves as business men and women. The problem is, you work for a jewel who works for some other rock who has five other precious stones under them who work for, and so on and so on. You are glorified sales people who are merely advertising through word of mouth and exposure to your social base.
Everyone is constantly bombarded with ads and influenced to by things from mass media marketing, and now I have to worry about friends and family trying to sell me things? Why so I can be a consumer that supports their income. That sounds like a one way friend ship that I don’t want to be a part of.
So let’s take a look at the big business model behind this company. Sell products to people who will by them, and sell them for you (so this company doesn’t have to spend the huge monies involved in mainstream marketing) to other people who will buy them, and sell them for you, to other people who will…and so on.
So what if everyone’s Amway dreams came true? Everyone would be buying and selling Amway products to each other? The model has the potential (if attrition rates were down) to collapse just like any other bubble.
Why aren’t some of these products sold in normal retail outlets? Probably because they are not good enough to be carried in them.
Why would a company like target pay for a pallet of this stuff to sit around as the better products in competition sell. It would end up being short sold as discount – not profitable.
Amway does have a competitive edge in that they do not have to worry about much over head. They have no stores, meaning they have no employees to man the stores. And this raises the question.
If Amway sells competitively priced and sometimes above CPI priced quality products without the use of standard advertising, and without the use of infrastructure a standard business would have, how come it’s employees don’t make more money?
I have run a business for the past 7 months and have made more net gain than most of you beginner IBO’s in your time combined. It is a non profit organization, but I count my black figures as profit for the organization. I run it like a true business. However, since it is non profit, I don’t have over head, and I don’t have to advertise, and I don’t have to pay taxes. The people I make money from are co workers, and the people who work for the organization don’t get paid anything. Sounds similar to the perks of the model I described earlier.
Until our recent and usual summer time lag, our ROI was 84% with a GPM of 45%. Even with our lull, our business dropped to an ROI of 65% and a GPM of 39%. These numbers reflect what running a true business is all about.
And what is our product? 80 percent of our cash flow comes from low cost, high volume retail sale of…can soda’s – the good kinds from companies like Coke and Pepsi. I make money off of them, not for them. That’s what retail is all about.
Finding or creating a good quality product and bringing it to an untouched or under developed market, while using competitive pricing, to drive your sales while setting smart margins to build your profit.
Most of my money is made in coins – people don’t care about giving those out.