MLM peeve - my public service announcement

I just talked to my Mom about a phone call she had last night with someone selling for a certain multi-level-marketing company (the nice way to say "pyramid scheme"). There are several things that really, really bug me about these companies. First of all, whatever their product is, they have a spiel about how it will, basically, revolutionize your existence. They tell you about a problem you didn't even know you had and their fantastic solution to the problem. Many of these companies probably do have exceptional, wonderful products. Just don't give me outlandish reasons why I need it or claims about how it will change my life. It is just a vitamin, or household cleaner, or cosmetic, or whatever, anyway.

Even if there is no outlandish marketing of the product, the other thing that bugs me is that the point isn't just to convince you to buy a little bit of the product to try, or even to become a regular customer. The ultimate point is to convince you to start selling it, too. If you don't want to sell it, then you are encouraged to at least purchase a wholesale membership or something of the sort, where you get a great discount, but are required to purchase a certain amount each month or year. If you already use the product and know you are going to purchase a certain amount in a certain time period, then you could easily figure if it would make sense to purchase the wholesale membership and get the discount. But since you are just now hearing about the product and trying it for the first time, there is no way to know, and I am guessing that more often than not people end up spending more when purchasing the wholesale membership. Why else would the company push it so much?

My final gripe with these companies is their claim to be "Christian companies." I understand that the founders may be Christians, and many of the salespeople/members may also be Christians. But I believe this label is used to inspire faith in the company that is unwarranted. The sales presentations these companies do are most often quite biased, and often entice people to spend money they don't have or to make commitments that they shouldn't make, and at the very least imply financial or health benefits that are rarely delivered.

I will give two examples from my own life. When we lived in another city, an elder from our church wanted to talk to us about his particular company. We decided to hear him out. If you listen carefully to these presentations, you will usually find a way that the logic doesn't really apply to you. This company sold a variety of household products, cosmetics, etc. The minimum "investment" you were required to make each month in the company was around $200 - i.e. you needed to purchase that much of the various products each month in order to start selling the program to others and making money off the $200 they purchased each month, and the $200 they convinced their friends to purchase each month, etc. etc. But, of course, they try not to emphasize that getting your friends to buy into the program is a major part of how it works. So instead, the logic is, "Well, you probably already spend this much each month on these sort of products; why not spend it with our company instead of at Walmart or wherever, and get better products at the same time. Oh, and when you just naturally introduce your friends to the new products you are so impressed with, and they decide to try it, too, you'll get a percent of what they spend."

The conversation pretty much ended for us there. We were poor college kids. No way did we spend $200/mo. on household products and cosmetics. In fact, I had a detailed spreadsheet of what we did spend on those products, and it was less than $25/mo. Generic everything. (Even now, we probably spend less than $35/mo. We make up for it by eating out way too much.)

Another time a friend tried to get me to buy into her makeup company. She loved the products and let me try them for a week before presenting the "opportunity" to me. They were great products; I'll give you that. But I don't spend $75/mo. on my face. I just don't. Maybe there will be a point in my life when that will seem necessary or reasonable, but at that point I probably wouldn't be buying from a MLM company, because I'd just go to the makeup counter of a department store or something since I wouldn't need the money from selling the product/program myself.

Both of the people who presented their programs were people I liked and respected and were also fellow believers. It didn't change my opinion of them that they were involved in these programs, apparently it worked out well for them and they were pleased with their involvement. But the fact that I didn't buy into the programs - financially or intellectually - put some strain in the relationships. Kind of limited the relationships, really. And that was too bad.

So, there it is. My public service announcement warning you about multi-level-marketing companies. Please don't let anyone pressure you into joining one of these organizations - give yourself time to think it through and research the claims and do the math to see if it really is something you want to be involved with.