BillsFan4 Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 I had a somewhat close friend (from my late teens and 20’s) that got into selling some type of health food supplements a few years back. They claim it a MLM sales model, but it seemed more like a pyramid scheme to me. It was crazy how much it changed him, though. I don’t see him that much anymore but anytime I talk to him It’s impossible to have any type of real conversation anymore. Within 5 minutes it ALWAYS turns into a sales pitch. He is constantly trying to sell you products and recruit you as a distributor, telling you how rich you can become selling this product. It’s like he is reading off a script all the time. Even when I try to change the subject he immediately finds ways to turn it back to a conversation about his new “business” or why I need to buy these products. He now seems to mainly associate with other members of this company. He is always going with them to these seminars or events the company gives (which usually cost money to attend) or gets together to talk “shop” with them. He has also spent $1000’s on product inventory. I will say that he does seem to live a very healthy lifestyle now. He works out all the time and eats healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 Back in the 80s, when Larry King was doing a late night radio talk show, I seem to recall Scamway buying advertising time, trying to get listeners to become dealers. A coworker was a dealer in this august organization, doing his best to sell us $15 tubes of toothpaste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not at the table Karlos Posted December 18, 2018 Author Share Posted December 18, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: I had a somewhat close friend (from my late teens and 20’s) that got into selling some type of health food supplements a few years back. They claim it a MLM sales model, but it seemed more like a pyramid scheme to me. It was crazy how much it changed him, though. I don’t see him that much anymore but anytime I talk to him It’s impossible to have any type of real conversation anymore. Within 5 minutes it ALWAYS turns into a sales pitch. He is constantly trying to sell you products and recruit you as a distributor, telling you how rich you can become selling this product. It’s like he is reading off a script all the time. Even when I try to change the subject he immediately finds ways to turn it back to a conversation about his new “business” or why I need to buy these products. He now seems to mainly associate with other members of this company. He is always going with them to these seminars or events the company gives (which usually cost money to attend) or gets together to talk “shop” with them. He has also spent $1000’s on product inventory. I will say that he does seem to live a very healthy lifestyle now. He works out all the time and eats healthy. Pretty much the same as this guy. He found out about the scheme a month ago and started the classes a little while after. He gave up his bills seasons to go to the brainwashing classes. He would never do something like that normally. Bills game days are for bills games. Been that way his entire life. His girlfriend is convinced they drugged him. He told his brother to get out of his life when he showed him reviews of the company that said it was a scam. I'm pretty sure something happened besides milk and cookies along with a sales pitch. He was pretty good with detecting scams. All this happened overnight. Edited December 18, 2018 by Not at the table Karlos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 11 hours ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said: Back in the 80s, when Larry King was doing a late night radio talk show, I seem to recall Scamway buying advertising time, trying to get listeners to become dealers. A coworker was a dealer in this august organization, doing his best to sell us $15 tubes of toothpaste. They have products to sell makes a huge difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Buffalo Joe Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 I had a friend at my old church. He was a cool guy. He was probably about 10-15 years older than me. He was a Packers fan, and a Red Wings fan. We got a long well because you don't meet too many hockey fans here in Texas, regardless of the team. We worked on a lot of projects together in the church, and became quite close. Unfortunately, he ended up being laid off from his job, and was desperate for work. He got signed on with an MLM called "Team National." Essentially a rebate club. He invited my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I to a meeting. Immediately, I could tell this was a scam. From the diagrams of how the money works, to the overall cult like atmosphere. My wife was much more naive at the time, and was not employed a the time. She was buying everything they told us about how we'll have financial freedom, and never have to find a job, not to mention the savings alone. They could tell I wasn't interested, so they immediately started pitting us against each other. When I asked to talk to her privately, we walked outside, and not two minutes later this "friend" of mine came out telling us about how we're "getting in on the ground level." I told him that I needed some time to think it over, pray about it. He said no, act now. Acting now meant spending either $800 or $2,000 right then and there. Some Christian right there. After we ultimately decided against it, he wasn't the same person. Every time I'd try to talk about sports with him, he'd tell me he has no interest in that stuff anymore. He was only interested in things that contributed to his personal success or some BS. He told me that we can work together on church projects, and that he "considers me a Brother in Christ, but I can't be friends with you anymore because you're a negative influence in my life." This whole time, he was basically living off of his lifetime savings account to provide for his wife and two kids. I asked him out of genuine concern about two months after this all went down how the business was going. "I've only made about $50 so far, but I have some promising leads." I asked him how much longer he could survive, and he said he had about six months left worth of savings. When I told him that I hope this works out, but wanted to know what his backup plan is, he responded, "I don't have a backup plan. I'll never go back to working a regular job again. I know if I keep working at this, I'm gonna be a millionaire in two years." It was really sad to see. He was at one point a wise, fun guy to hang around. But when he lost his job, the guy above him in the chain, who I don't trust one single bit, preyed on him and turned him into a mindless robot. I honestly miss my friend, and hope he sees his error and is humble enough to admit his mistakes and start providing for his family. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 One of my staff members has a friend who is going to make $300k this year in a MLM company selling protein powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve O Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Some really depressing stuff on this thread. Guess cliche's get to be cliche's for a reason, most of them are true. There's a sucker born every minute, and two to take him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 I know a guy who got in on Beachbody and has carved himself a pretty good career.... but he is basically a glorified sales rep who needs to dedicate a social media presence blending his person with the products. On the other hand, I know dozens of people who have done that and have gotten nowhere fast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Everybody wants the be the leader, the boss, etc... I guess that's the allure? 10 signs it's an MLM scam: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/business-is-an-mlm-scam-1794756 1) No or low-quality product or service There are many red flags that should warn you away from a business or financial opportunity, but the biggest is a lack of a product. Programs that push recruiting over the sales of a product or service might be a pyramid scheme. If a company isn’t focused on acquiring more customers to buy its products, but rather it's interested in "building a team" or membership of sales reps, consider it a red flag. The foundation of any good MLM business is about getting products and service to end consumers. While building a team can be a part of that, income is based on goods sold by the team, not in the recruiting itself. 3 hours ago, May Day 10 said: I know a guy who got in on Beachbody and has carved himself a pretty good career.... but he is basically a glorified sales rep who needs to dedicate a social media presence blending his person with the products. On the other hand, I know dozens of people who have done that and have gotten nowhere fast. The many getting nowhere agument the successes of the few. The work, resources, contacts, leads of the dozens get gobbled up by the few winners. Seems, heck it is, predatory. Beauty of the scams is that failure can be pinned on the individual... While the whole scheme is set up to eat those "failures." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 4 hours ago, Chef Jim said: One of my staff members has a friend who is going to make $300k this year in a MLM company selling protein powder. I half expected you were going to tell us your staffer bought a boatload of protein powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Beard Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 It seems as though there are several women on my son’s Facebook feed who got sucked in. Arbonne, Rodan and Fields, other makeup or skin care companies. It’s scary and depressing to see it happen. I pretty much lose all respect for the ones who get involved. Amway was bad enough back in the day, but social media has caused many other companies to rise up and start to brainwash people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Gray Beard said: It seems as though there are several women on my son’s Facebook feed who got sucked in. Arbonne, Rodan and Fields, other makeup or skin care companies. It’s scary and depressing to see it happen. I pretty much lose all respect for the ones who get involved. Amway was bad enough back in the day, but social media has caused many other companies to rise up and start to brainwash people. You can add other known cosmetic entities through the years as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not at the table Karlos Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 Does anyone have a story of these people returning to normal? It seems once they end up like this they're always gonna be like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Buffalo Joe Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 13 hours ago, Not at the table Karlos said: Does anyone have a story of these people returning to normal? It seems once they end up like this they're always gonna be like this I mean, eventually they go broke. But a lot of them reinvest in other scams, over and over in an endless cycle. It's sad. They literally lose any sense of personality they ever had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 14 hours ago, Not at the table Karlos said: Does anyone have a story of these people returning to normal? It seems once they end up like this they're always gonna be like this you mean going back to their joe-job that they hated and tried to escape in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not at the table Karlos Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 20 minutes ago, row_33 said: you mean going back to their joe-job that they hated and tried to escape in the first place? No. Go back to normal as in not acting like they're in a cult. Constantly making everything about their business. Destroying relationships with people that point out they're in a scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 10 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said: No. Go back to normal as in not acting like they're in a cult. Constantly making everything about their business. Destroying relationships with people that point out they're in a scheme. all the folks i met who got out of a cult were completely rinsed of personality a few showed up at my church way back in the day, they were zombies, i didn't buy they were seeking a new path and thought they were just cloaking for their own purposes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not at the table Karlos Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 1 minute ago, row_33 said: all the folks i met who got out of a cult were completely rinsed of personality a few showed up at my church way back in the day, they were zombies, i didn't buy they were seeking a new path and thought they were just cloaking for their own purposes That sucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 17 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said: That sucks yup.... one friend played out a cult for a year and pretended he wanted to join and they gave him all their literature when he told them he wasn't interested any more they seriously wanted everything back, but he was using it for his dissertation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not at the table Karlos Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 Just now, row_33 said: yup.... one friend played out a cult for a year and pretended he wanted to join and they gave him all their literature when he told them he wasn't interested any more they seriously wanted everything back, but he was using it for his dissertation I've been looking into doing something like this. I need to understand what they did to him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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