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Ugh... MLMs....

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  • #1

    Ugh... MLMs....

    (mostly just a rant)
    I don't know how they keep cropping up in my life, but my wife has once again found yet another MLM that she wants to start buying from. How do I convince her to stop giving these things the time of day?!

    By principle, I avoid these MLM schemes like the plague, because I see them as unethical and manipulative. It's just frustrating! I wish I could convince my wife that these things shouldn't be supported ("Don't feed the trolls"), but she keeps running across them on social media or through her friends. She's inherently trusting of what she reads, and especially of people she has a relationship with, and critical thinking isn't really applied.

    So frustrating.... Yes, I'm venting.... This stuff drives me crazy, and I hate that my insistence to avoid them inevitably leads to me being the bad guy, not supporting what she wants to get into. Honestly, I think part of it is that she became an unwilling SAHM 2 years ago, and we're still working on getting her back into something she can be passionate about... she's working to get into a DPT program, hopefully starting this next fall after finishing some pre-requisites. Until then.... I've got to somehow figure out how to keep this crap at bay!
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  • #2
    Um - there is a ton of evidence that suggest MLMs don't really benefit anyone except for a very small percentage of people (usually very senior people running the MLM). Most women involved in them get stuck holding the proverbial bag when they've burned through their friendship networks.
    james.c.hendrickson@gmail.com
    202.468.6043

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    • #3
      Buying from them isn't all that bad. It's when they want to start selling the products that the problems arise. Buying is usually okay. In fact, some of the big MLMs make products that are actually of quite good quality, although perhaps overpriced. Tupperware, Pampered Chef, and others make products that will last for a long time. We have Tupperware that is 20+ years old and still looks and works great. Many of the others are more fad-based and die out quickly, but again, just buying the products isn't a huge deal if you can afford them.

      What you want to absolutely avoid is her becoming a dealer for any of these things and "investing" a bunch of money in stock and then harassing all of her friends and relatives to try to get them to buy from her.
      Steve

      * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
      * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
      * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by james.hendrickson View Post
        Um - there is a ton of evidence that suggest MLMs don't really benefit anyone except for a very small percentage of people (usually very senior people running the MLM). Most women involved in them get stuck holding the proverbial bag when they've burned through their friendship networks.
        Yep. That's my biggest issue with it. I have friends who have been sucked into them, and almost always ended up burned & spending more on the product themselves than they ever sold, and often damaged friendships by constantly trying to sell people on the latest MLM. Those kind of companies are so exploitative of their sales force that it just makes me sick...

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        • #5
          Originally posted by disneysteve View Post
          Buying from them isn't all that bad. It's when they want to start selling the products that the problems arise. Buying is usually okay. In fact, some of the big MLMs make products that are actually of quite good quality, although perhaps overpriced. Tupperware, Pampered Chef, and others make products that will last for a long time. We have Tupperware that is 20+ years old and still looks and works great. Many of the others are more fad-based and die out quickly, but again, just buying the products isn't a huge deal if you can afford them.

          What you want to absolutely avoid is her becoming a dealer for any of these things and "investing" a bunch of money in stock and then harassing all of her friends and relatives to try to get them to buy from her.
          Agreed... I've still got some of my family's Tupperware that I grew up with. It definitely lasts. Likewise, I've got a couple Pampered Chef items, and other random things. Within reason, it's fine. Problem is that most of the time they train their sales force to continually pursue recurring purchases, and they try to recruit you to sell under them, and share with all your friends, and on and on... So I just try to avoid it altogether.

          This most recent one even charges not only a "membership" fee to simply have access to buy stuff, but they enforce minimum required monthly purchase amounts!!! In the range of $60+ or more every month! I couldn't believe it. I think/hope I've convinced DW off the ledge again... But man, these things are always just so appealing for some folks, and I'll never understand why....

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          • #6
            I tell anyone I know who is involved in MLM to not come knocking on my door. They're predatory and ruin (mostly) women's lives. I don't even care if the product is good. If it's an MLM, I will not support it. So maybe you could appeal to your wife on the human level, that the people who sell this stuff to her are invariably going to be financially worse off for doing it.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by kork13 View Post
              This most recent one even charges not only a "membership" fee to simply have access to buy stuff, but they enforce minimum required monthly purchase amounts!!! In the range of $60+ or more every month! I couldn't believe it. I think/hope I've convinced DW off the ledge again... But man, these things are always just so appealing for some folks, and I'll never understand why....
              That sounds like the old Columbia House music memberships from back in the day.
              I don't know how a business model like that could possibly survive today.
              25 years ago you were gaining access to something exclusive that you couldn't easily find anywhere else.
              Today, there is the internet...



              Brian

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              • #8
                I have tupperware and pampered chef too! I like the items. but i never buy again.
                LivingAlmostLarge Blog

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by kork13 View Post
                  Yep. That's my biggest issue with it. I have friends who have been sucked into them, and almost always ended up burned & spending more on the product themselves than they ever sold, and often damaged friendships by constantly trying to sell people on the latest MLM. Those kind of companies are so exploitative of their sales force that it just makes me sick...
                  They do damage friendships. I drop friends who suddenly decide that I would make a great revenue stream.

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