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Phaze, your definition would categorize many MLM companies here as Pyramid schemes, and many of them are actually members of DSAS. eg, in WBG, members were made to purchase a years supply of nutrition. Bel-Air encouraged their new potential members to spend $21000 on their aromatic oils. Even US companies like Nu Skin, did not escape, some of their local leaders manipulated the business and introduced a system where new members were required to purchase $10,000 worth of products that ultimately went under the bed. The list goes on and on.
I would hesitate calling them Pyramid schemes because they do move products and commissions are paid to the uplines on the volume of products sold, not based on recruitment. However, in my opinion, the practice of 'Front-end loading' or 'Upfront loading' is unethical and has brought financial ruins to many MLMers here. It has tarnished the image of the entire MLM industry.
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I have noticed that many MLMs here lure or even require their members to buy large amount of products when they sign up as a distributor. Beware of such practice as it contravenes a very basic MLM principle that one is not required to invest a large sum of money to start an MLM business and that there should be minimal risk in MLM.
MLM members generally purchase products for their own consumption and if they like, they can retail some. But when they are required to purchase stocks that can fill up their HDB store room, something is not right. Most new distributors are not trained in sales and unable to move these stocks and suffer losses as a consequence.
I have just returned from a trip to Malaysia where one company even collaborates with a local bank to provide RM20,000 loans payable in 10 years for new distributors! They have been very successful in their cunning device, the company sold millions of products, top leaders earn insane bonuses and the bank have found thousands of new borrowers. Unfortunately, those same thousands are now in debt, with their monthly salary deducted to pay for the loan to pay for the products that the majority of them couldnt move.
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aiki, I am currently reading The Science of getting Rich, not an MLM book but an old classic by Wallace Wattle. The first MLM book I read was My First year in Network Marketing by Mark Yarnell. I remember regretting that I had not read the book before jumping into MLM and making mistakes re-inventing the wheel.
My sister read about 50 books before deciding to do MLM and quitting her thriving real estate business. She went straight into 5th gear and became the top distributor in asia for the company.
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For newbies in MLM, I encourage you to read as many books you can grab on the business. As in other professions, knowledge is key. Reading is especially crucial in Singapore because MLM is fairly new here and we do not have enough mentors who can guide us, especially the ethics of mlm.
MLM do change people, in many ways, positive and negatively. I have seen many changes in myself, in aspects of personal improvement. eg, I am now able to address a crowd of a few thousand people, with confidence. A couple of years in MLM has seen myself capable of doing what years of professional schooling and employment could not.
There are many reasons why so many Singaporeans reject MLM. I rejected MLM for years simply because I did not bother to read more on the subject and let myself be influenced by othes who themselves had very little knowledge. There are also many who have been hurt by so called MLM schemes which are really money games disguised as MLMs.
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Like many pple on this forum, I avoided MLMs for many years.
But after 2 years of unemployment and heavily in debt, I got my life back again thru doing MLM. Together with my elder sister and brother, our business have expanded to Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines and our monthly sales volume is over $500,000.
Never did I imagine that MLM would be my financial saviour.
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