[vnabhi]

Multi level Marketing? Not my cup of tea! My knowledge is restricted to Multi Level Parking.

[kb100]

I HATE MLM - I confess to having a HUGE metal block! Other than Amway I am yet to come across anything that did NOT remind me of a money chain/ponzi scheme!

Irony - wife is picking up a couple of Amway pillows at this very moment!

[greenhorn]

being an auto forum, I'm wondering why no one else has talked about amsoil yet!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

being an auto forum, I'm wondering why no one else has talked about amsoil yet!

May be because sounds like Amway and has similar model like Amway.

But, there are not the same.

Action News: And the challenges came early. Pennzoil for one, right?

Al Amatuzio: Pennzoil came at us hard, that's for sure. They objected to the Z we originally had in the name AMSOIL. We were tied up in court with them for a couple of years.

Action News: And ultimately you had to change the Z to an S.

Al Amatuzio: That's right. But what most people don't know is that after the decision was made, it was determined that we could have our Z back. We had already changed to the S at that point, so it just wasn't worth it.

Action News: Amway made life difficult for you too, didn't they?

Al Amatuzio: They sure did. They wanted us to take the AM out of AMSOIL. That went on for seven and a half years, before we beat them.

Source: Interview with Al Amatuzio, President and CEO of AMSOIL INC.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by ashthedivx

How much successful multilevel marketing is ?? It may be my first attempt when i am taking multi-level marketing so much seriously. Is the stuff digestible ??

I have been a victim not once, not twice, not thrice, but FOUR times !!!
First it was gold quest, my chain/line died in 6 months flat, even before I understood the scheme and offers !
Second was "ALU VERA" products, which was presented to me by my father-in-law in Mumbai ! I remember drinking some non-sense juice for over 6 months (which was bought as joining product set) ! My friends in Muscat rejected to drink the same and my chain faced an instant death !
Third was RMP forced to me by my bro-in-law ! He knew only about the income part, not the effort required. So my Rs.7000 was gone with the wind ! That too in Muscat.
Fourth was RMP again, presented to me as fresh MLM by my cousine sister's hubby, when I returned to Bangalore. This time I thought I should make something out of it and went ahead making myself, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-laws etc, almost 9 under me ! But some dirty games were played and the chain died within 1 year ! I lost 40k just like that. (Mods please allow me more icons of frustration !!) But the person who made me join this time (cousine's hubby) had joined in 2003, he owns a Skoda, BMW 7 series, half dozen plots in Bangalore and Mysore, a dozen flats in ongoing project stage etc !

Originally Posted by greenhorn

anybody who fell victim to gold quest ?

Yes that was the first MLM which was forced to me by my junior collegue in Muscat. I paid around Rs.10000, he himself told me to cancel it in 6 months and the company send me a wrist watch with a gold coin as dial. I took it to the jewellery, opened it up, they said they will give Rs.500 for the whole watch with the coin inside ! So, thats my return and of many others !!

Summary of my experience: If you join at the right time, work hardest to the limit, ignore family and all such commitments, target only money money money, its for you ! You can be successful even if you are a school dropout. If you have a decent earning job, not much spare time in life, happy with what you have right now, stay out of all these MLMs, it will give you hopes and dreams in the beginning which will turn into frustration, anger and loss of wealth eventually !

[ashthedivx]

Originally Posted by crn12

2 cents

Worthwhile cents

Originally Posted by shajufx

Third was RMP forced to me by my bro-in-law ! He knew only about the income part, not the effort required. So my Rs.7000 was gone with the wind ! That too in Muscat.
Fourth was RMP again, presented to me as fresh MLM by my cousine sister's hubby, when I returned to Bangalore. This time I thought I should make something out of it and went ahead making myself, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-laws etc, almost 9 under me ! But some dirty games were played and the chain died within 1 year ! I lost 40k just like that. (Mods please allow me more icons of frustration !!) But the person who made me join this time (cousine's hubby) had joined in 2003, he owns a Skoda, BMW 7 series, half dozen plots in Bangalore and Mysore, a dozen flats in ongoing project stage etc !

Care to explain points highlighted

But i am unable to understand how come you joined again when you were already a member, aren't you supposed to be a member only once.

[HellwratH]

MLM: Please stay away. I have a friend who has paid 60k for 2 products (coins) from goldquest, and now it "seems" they have run into legal problems and are shutting shop in India. And most MLM companies end up that way. The most common thing which has affected many students is e-biz.

Anyways, the plan is simple. Get a not-so-well doing guy/girl in life, make him rich (aka poster boy for the co.) and get him/her at every presentation. And all the other members will flock around him/her and ask "How much you gonna make this week?" and he/she would give a figure which would be unbelievable to your ears. And so the story continues. They call you "prospects" and even warn you that you would be losing an amazing opportunity in life and that you might never ever get such a chance and so on. I am not saying MLM doesnt work, but the question is, are u up for it? It takes a LOTTA effort to make these chains and they are very tricky. Like the binary ones need equal distribution below you for you to make money!

The returns sound great, but you might as well put that effort in working on a genuine idea of yours and you will make far more money than this MLM thing.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by ashthedivx

Care to explain points highlighted
But i am unable to understand how come you joined again when you were already a member, aren't you supposed to be a member only once.

But some dirty games were played and the chain died within 1 year !............. he owns a Skoda, BMW 7 series, half dozen plots in Bangalore and Mysore, a dozen flats in ongoing project stage etc !

There are many dirty games in an MLM which happens below your chain, that may not come to your notice unless you are 100% into this work or keep in touch with everyone coming under you. In my case, the 5th downline (people coming under you) was brainwashed by someone above me and changed him to a new ID which doesnt help my chain by any means. In other words, he and 3 others whom he brought were moved to a different chain with new IDs and they developed around 40 to 50 people under them which would have been a great income for me. I came to know about this as it leaked from my downline members and I stoped taking any efforts to do it anymore, specially when it happend with my in-law's knowledge. I was upset but didnt want to hurt family relationships.

About the assets, there is no exaggeration. There are many senior members who drive around Beemers and S-classes right here in Bangalore itself. They all work full-time in it, classes, meetings, travels 7 days a week ! If I give more details, I would cause a family relation to die, since its a public forum and many here would be members of these MLMs and might even personally know him ! All the income is legal, after TDS, and all of them file returns too !

About joining second time on the same MLM, anyone can take any number of IDs in most of these. You might join under your aunt and develop your downline, same time or later you can also join under your friends and do the same. There is no restriction about the number of IDs. My in-law has around 35 IDs at different chains, thats how he makes the big money. Even if just 20 IDs do well, income will rock every week. According to what I have seen through cheque leaves and TDS papers, he makes around 8 to 12 laks in a week ! Thats one of the reasons I got carried away, but realised soon, a new comer will slog for years together to reach that stage. Things are not easy as it was in 2003.

[manveet]

This is slightly OT but incidentally Amway is doing really well in India and is having almost a 50% growth YOY. Last year itself their T/O grew from 800 cr to 1300 cr, and target is 3000 cr by 2011 I think - all this in spite of the recession.

Unfortunately, MLM has earned a bad reputation due to certain companies that follow unethical practices. But overall, as a concept it is quite successful in many countries.

[Proxima]

Quite some time back, my dad and his very good friend had a cold war because of MLM. It took about 2 years for them to get back to normal. A good learning for me and a mistake which I will never commit.

[NetfreakBombay]

One thing that is Even worse them MLM is MLM disguised as "Work from Home" ads.

Lots of such posters are found on every local train in Mumbai. "Work form home and Earn 15,000 Per month. Cal XXXXXXXX NOW" is usually the tagline.

Actually if someone calls that number they would ask you to pay 2- 3k to "join" the Job. And if you can manage getting 5 - 10 people every month then you get something back.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by manveet

This is slightly OT but incidentally Amway is doing really well in India and is having almost a 50% growth YOY. Last year itself their T/O grew from 800 cr to 1300 cr, and target is 3000 cr by 2011 I think - all this in spite of the recession.

Amway is the only exception I think. Although they started off in India as a 100% MLM company, now the strategy has been hugely changed, could be as the demand of time. Which other MLM have you seen promoted on TV through commercial ads ? I cant recall any. MLMs usually dont depend on any other publicity than word of mouth. I heard even Amway products are of good quality, but priced high (because the income gets shared among the distributors/members/chain).

[kphilip]

You are right amway rules still now..Lot of people know the strategy how to work with MLMs.Ppl quit MLMs easily when they dont generate money out of it..But work on it and you might be a millionaire one day.. This is only for those who work..

[Roy.S]

Unfortunately MLMs follow the 'hardsell to your friends' principle so sometimes people who are into these schemes tend to become pariahs in their own circles. I stopped going to my regular chemist because he would always try to get me to go to one of his MLM meetings.
However, Amway seems to be a good solid company. Even went to one of their seminars once. Entertaining but vaguely reminiscent of those American evangelists you see on tv.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

One thing that is Even worse them MLM is MLM disguised as "Work from Home" ads.

Lots of such posters are found on every local train in Mumbai. "Work form home and Earn 15,000 Per month. Cal XXXXXXXX NOW" is usually the tagline.

Actually if someone calls that number they would ask you to pay 2- 3k to "join" the Job. And if you can manage getting 5 - 10 people every month then you get something back.

Glad to report that one of these hideous schemes have been shut down.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/M...ow/4356998.cms