Amway Global - WalMart Doesn't Pay Me To Shop?

One of the silly arguments some Amway enthusiasts will use is the line that WalMart doesn't pay them to shop and Amway does. It's a silly comparison in that Amway is a business opportunity and WalMart is a discount retailer. It is also silly because WaMart could raise their prices 30% and give you a 3% rebate amd WalMart profits would go through the roof. Let's give a couple of examples.

Satinique shampoo costs around $8.00 for a 10 ounce bottle.
Suave shampoo costs $1.99 at WalMart for a 20 ounce bottle.

Even when you factor in a 30% rebate ($2.40), you still come out several dollars ahead of the satinique. Granted, not every single product at WalMart will be cheaper than Amway's, but generally, overall, you will save a lot more shopping at WalMart than you could "earn" by shopping via Amway. Also, unless you are at the 25%level, you will get a much smaller rebate. Most IBO, is they qualify, will only receive a 3% rebate.

For those IBOs who subscribe to "buy from yourself", you could simply purchase $70 worth of goods and hand the WalMart cashier $100 and receive $30 change. You can call that you rebate and be better off! LOL

In my opinion, you can get much better value by shopping at WalMart and using a cash back credit card. Do the math.

Amway Global - How Many Millionaires Has Amway Created?

I don't know how many millionaires Amway has created. I honestly don't think Amway knows either, except for the owners of Amway who are reported as billionaires. But still there is a myth that Amway has created the most millionaires in the US, save for Microsoft corporation. To be perfectly honest, I am fairly sure that there are some millionaires who can attribute their wealth accumulation to the Amway business. But I suspect that there are far fewer millionaires created by the Amway opporunity in North America than your upline would have you believe.

I googled WikiAnswers to see how many people in the US are millionaires. The answer was 1 out of every 125 Americans are millionaires. It did not specify how much income these folks had, nor did it say what kinds of businesses or occupations were likely to make you a millionaire.

But then again, we can make some comparisons of how many millionaires versus various pin levels. 1 out of about 240 IBOs reach the platinum level where depending on your structure, you might earn $30,000 to $50,000 annually. These figures are approximate. 1 out of about 15,000 IBOs reach the level of diamond where you earn about $147,000 annually.

But 1 out of 125 people in the US are millionaires.

Amway Global - Ridiculous Comparisons To The Gym?

One of the defenses I have heard from Amway apologists is a comparison of the Amway opportunity to a gym membership. The defense is that you have to do something to get results. On that point, I agree. Except the comparison is ridiculous as a gym is not a business opportunity. A gym membership is a product/service that one can purchase. It seems that many Amway defenders so deperately want to justify their positions that they come up with silly comparisons.

If the Amway oportunity was compared to a gym owner, wouldn't that be a better comparion? On that point, if you were recruited to be a gym owner, wouldn't you demand to know how other gyms are doing financially? Wouldn't you want to know the likelihood of success if you were to open a gym? Wouldn't you need to know about operating expenses and potential income before you even thinking about buying a gym?

What if you were told that maybe only 9 or 10 out of 10,000 gym owners make enough income to live on? If more than half of the gyms went out of business in their first year, would you still be interested? If the greater majority of gym owners lost money, would you still be interested? If the majority of gym owners lost money, and many lost lots of money, would that interest you?

Wouldn't any investor with an ounce of business savvy look at this gym opportunity and run in the opposite direction?

Amway Global - Businesses Recruit!

A commentor on this blog recebtly left a comment saying businesses recruit. Businesses all need people and therefore, someone basically needs to recruit them. I agree with that. But my entire point is that Amway doesn't pay you to recruit. It is why they were found to be legal on that point.

But oddly, the emphasis of many IBOs is to recruit others. Why is that? Why is it important to recruit downline? Don't you have to make the first circle work first?

My anonymous commentor said I should show me a business that doesn't have people working for them. I have a different take on it. Show me a business where people pay to do the work or work for free.

In Amway, most of the IBOs who are dedicated to the teaching system end up with losses. Their upline gets a cut from their purchases and sales, and someone upline makes a nice profit from selling them teaching materials. Therefore these IBOs are taking a loss month after month. Bascially they are paying their upline to be in the Amway business. It is only when the said IBO "recruits" enough downline to absorb his losses does he start to break even or make a profit.

Do the math. 100 PV gets you a $10 bonus. Monthly tools cost can range from $100 to $500 or more, depending on your upline and level of commitment. 300 PV gets you about a $40 bonus. 1000 PV may net you a $250 bonus. If most IBOs are unable to sponsor a single downline, you can see how difficult it will be to progress.

Maybe you need to start recruiting? LOL :D

Amway Global - It's All About Recruiting?

One of the reasons Amway Global is considered legal is because agents are not paid directly for recruiting others. Some other MLM opportunities were shut down in the past for this very reason. That being said, just because an opportunity is legal doesn't mean that it is profitable for those involved and it doesn't mean that it is a long term sustainable source of income and many would lead you to believe.

What's interesting is that despite the fact that Amway doesn't pay you for recruiting, it is the emphasis of many IBOs, and the emphasis of much of the teaching in some AMOs. This is because coveted levels such as "emereald" or "diamond" cannot be achieved without recruiting downline. These coveted levels are often promoted with displays of lavish lifestyles, thus the desire of many IBOs is to recruit everyone they know in the hopes of achieving these lifestyles. Sadly, very very few will ever attain those lifestyles, and some of the people who do attain them are not able to sustain them.

Unfortunately, much of Amway's spotty reputation is directly due to some questionable recruitment tactics. People are often tricked into attending meetings, or lured into a meeting without being told what the oportunity actually is. In my first brush with Amway, I was invited to a beer bust as a college student and when I arrived, I was greeted by my friend wearing a suit and the white board set up in the living room. Needless to say, I was not impressed and formed a poor opinion about Amway.

So IBOs and information seekers, if you are recruiting others, I would be of the opinion that honesty and openness about the opportunity is the best way to operate. You will still have people turn you down, but at least they won't form negative opinions about Amway and the way you operate.

Amway Global - Prospecting?

Network marketing, own your own business, ecommerce, private franchises. These are some of the common buzzwords that many IBOs have used in the past as a way to get someone curious enough to see the Amway marketing plan. Our group was told not to disclose the Amway name unless directly asked.

I believe this method is still used today, except that I haven't seen any single particular approach recently. I know of one particular blogger has been very active in informing IBOs that they should not be advertising their business on Craigslist. I do see some IBOs still trying to gain prospects on myspace and facebook. Some of these IBOs really need to keep their stories consistent though. LOL One dude on facebook prospected my and said he made $5000 a month in Amway. A month later, he forgot who I was and tried to prospect me again and this time he said he made $80,000a year. When I asked him about the discrepancy, he decided to put me on ignore. LOL

So IBOs, are you honest about what you are trying to sell? Do you hide the Amway name? Are you still trying the curiosity approach? Do you outright lie about the Amway opportunity? Are you prospecting people online? Are you hanging out at Starbucks and at malls looking for "sharp" people?

I find the whole thing funny. And what's also funny is that I did this once upon a time. LOL :D