Amway: The Untold Story

I was constantly appalled at the misrepresentation in your lawsuit. I have been a distributor since 1983, and I will state EMPHATICALLY that your allegations are diametrically opposed to my experience. I would hope that person's reading your page will have the business forsight to check out the opportunity for themselves and not make any judgement based upon your negative; incorrect view of the wonderful AMWAY opportunity.

All the Britt System is trying to do is to bring back the DECENT humans we once all were. We were all made with the potential to be great, but many people settle for the mediocre. How many Americans live decently? How many two-parent families are actually raising their children? Or are they leaving it up to strangers for $500.00/week? Amway is just trying to aid the family. How many families have both husband and wife working? Up around 80%. And is it because both want to? No, it is because of necessity. In the 60's families could live on one income. Today for the average family it is just not possible. Amway is a way for people to make money for their futures. How many Americans are relying on Social Security? I'm 30 years old and I'm not. Please wake up and get over the fact that your job is not going to fulfill even your current lifestyle not to mention your dreams. And don't tell me you don't have dreams any more. Have you just settled for the fact that you can't achieve them through your job so they don't exist anymore. I know a great deal of people that are fulfilling their dreams because of the Amway business. You know, we did $6.8 BILLION without you and we will do $10 BILLION without you too. It's your choice. You decide.

Enjoyed reading your experiences. Thought we were the only ones who "lost their dream". We thought we had really, really close friends as upline until we got out of it after 7 years. Now they won't even have dinner with us. The business made us so broke, it's funny when we look back now.

You have to know something: we are making more money now than we have ever made doing exactly what they told us not to do.You know, get a good education,a good job with a big company....... We have more time, money, paid vacations in places much nicer than Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, North Philadelphia, etc. I can spend time with my family, rather than just hear stories about what happened at home.

Need to ask you something, do you think Directs really make enough to live on? In six years, we got so close to direct, but never got the three months completed. Our entire group quit one day when someone in our downline "found a new business" and took everyone with them.

We were talked into quitting out jobs, and did it. We lost all of our friends and our families thought we had lost our minds. Boy, were we stupid.

Keep up the good work. It's nice to know there are other "broke, negative, dreamstealing losers" out there. Thanks for taking the effort to put your thoughts in words.

I have worked for a mutual funds company, a telecommunications company, a greeting card manufacturer, a grocery store distributor, a direct marketing company and many others. Do you know what my chance of making a 6 digit income with these companies were? Do you know how many lawsuits they had to sustain? Do you know what the hierarchial structure of the organizations were? You have not told any stories about Amway that were in any respect worse than all the horror stories I have seen and heard from people "making a living" in these fine, respectable companies. And, WOW a incredible business opportunity with an overhead of only $500 a month. We got a real winner here, for sure!!! I am glad you are spending so much money, for this web site, to show that Amway isn't really as bad as people would lead you to believe - at least compared to other occupations, companies and business opportunities. Wow, when I first saw this page you had me worried. Keep up the good work.

*, a reaffirmed Amway Fan, thanks to you.

I've built a couple of different businesses. I know that the average business doesn't make their first dollar in profit for SEVEN YEARS! (also according to the IRS) I can't believe people have such slave mentality that they can't understand investment returns don't come for several years after you have invested. After seeing how stupid all these people are, who whine and complain that somebody didn't just sign them up and make them rich overnight, I think I'll go out and find an Amway distributor and sign up.

If all you can see is paycheck to paycheck, week to week living then you're pretty much doomed anyway- Doomed to a life of mediocrity! - living a life of quiet desperation hoping you'll hit the jackpot or get the Publishers Clearinghouse guys knocking on your door! Get REAL folks

I'm impressed Sidney! The predominant view is that the chances of success in Amway are remote. Since you share this view, then it must be so. You and others have obviously worked out the solution to the following little problems:

Problem 1: How many people must I have as a personally sponsored group at any given time to have a 50% chance of a downline that will grow despite the following constraints:

1) 80% of the people I sponsor will not sponsor anybody else.

2) Each of the remaining 20% will sponsor anywhere from 1 person up to the number of people I sponsor, but no more than the number I sponsor because I set the example to be followed.

Problem 2: Same as Problem 1, but I want an 80% chance of success instead of a 50% chance of success.

Problem 3: Same as Problem 2, but 90% of the people I sponsor will not sponsor anybody else.

By the way, where do I send my bill if I rely to my detriment on the advice (express or implied) of naysayers and decide not to become actively involved as an Amway distributor. I know who I can sue if I get involved and fail, but I'm not sure who I can sue or how I can sue if I don't get involved and fail. How can I prove a hypothetical? I definitely don't want to be responsible for my own failure.

Mr. Schwartz,

Yes, I'm one of the 1000's of losers writing in, not to blame Amway directly, but to give info on on my tool NITEMARE ad the "system".When my wife and I signed up we also signed a "tool" contract stating that any tools we did not want we could return within 6 months if unused. Well to make a long, long story short, I mailed back over $400 worth of tapes, books and videos to the upline pearl direct in Dec 96, and as of today I haven't heard a word after NUMEROUS attemps to contact them. I called Amway to try and get a phone number to the HQ of the "system" and they didn't have one!!! Nither did the city or state operator!! So, the company didn't exsist! Anyway, Be careful people. Please research something before you get involved. Any MLM can work if you willing to do what it takes, even Amway and there's plently of proof. But don't be fooled by the saying that Amway is the biggest so there the best, Ah!! The system did teach me one thing, there are other options out there, I'm in another MLM and I'm very happy!! I'm alot better off. I make $$$, I don't sell a thing (retail) and tools count towards my bonus. It's so simple it's mindblowing!! Good Luck and shop around!!!

Dear Sidney,

I have been looking at your site every few months for about a year now, I really appreciate what you are doing, keep up the good work, I am sure you have helped many people avoid what is clearly organized fraud.

My Story:

My Ex-Fiancée was involved in a the I.N.A. incarnation of AMWAY. She got involved in it because her ex-boyfriend’s entire family was involved in it. I was always skeptical of the promises that the organization made, and the plethora of Anti-Amway site on the Internet has reinforced my opinion. I would always get into arguments with my ex over the Amway issue. When I would tell her of my skepticism and concerns about Amway, she would accuse of trying to steal her dream and would accuse me of thinking like a bigot. For the record I am not a bigot or a racist.

I honestly believe that AMWAY is one of the reasons we broke up, however there were other issues, so I am not going to blame AMWAY for the end of our relationship.

I am not going to restate information that is already posted here, I agree with all of the Anti-Amway statements I have read here. There is no question in my mind that AMWAY is a Cult. I am fascinated with the correlation between the Christian church and AMWAY. Many AMWAY types seem to call themselves Christians. My opinion is that for someone to believe in AMWAY requires the "same leap of faith" that most organized religions require, therefore it is likely that people who have already made the decision to accept and blindly abide by a "canned" religious philosophy without questioning it, are perfectly conditioned to be AMWAY people. I believe that there are many innocent victims involved in AMWAY, never questioning anything they are told by their wonderful, friendly, AMWAY friends. I also believe that the so called Diamonds and above know the truth about AMWAY. I believe they know full well they are taking advantage of the ignorant masses.

To illustrate that last point, I will describe the AMWAY distributors that got my ex-fiancée involved the Scam. The guy that got my ex involved in AMWAY grew up in a family where both his mother and father were involved in organized fraud. Both his mother and father went to prison for fraud, his father is still doing Federal Prison time. Now his mother, father, sister, are all deeply involved in I.N.A. Fraud is the family business, and since they don’t want to go to prison (again), AMWAY is the perfect way for them to pursue their family avocation, without the risk. Both my ex-fiancée and her ex-boyfriend work at local health club where they are in the perfect position to meet many new people and introduce them to a "Wonderful Business Opportunity"…

Yep, I know the majority of AMWAY types are good little Christians, not Ex-Cons, but the above story illustrates why I have concluded that AMWAY = ORGANIZED FRAUD.

Keep up the great work Sidney, it is appreciated, even though you no doubt get a lot of flame mail from the AMWAY believers.

Feel free to post this.

"The sword of the wicked will pierce their own heart" Psalms 37 Get a life! What you're doing is a waste of time. Focus your energy on something more productive and worthwhile. There is a reason that the Amway Corp. has increased $4 billion in the last 5 yrs to $6.8 billion, "IT WORKS" This year I'll net over $3 million form Amway. There are a number of people in my network that i've helped that make very strong 6 figure incomes and going on to 7 figure incomes next year. I go where I want , I do what I want and the dollar bill or a "job" doesn't limit me. I spent last winter in the Swiss Alps sking. Not just a week or two, the whole winter. The winter before that I spent the entire winter in the French Alps . I go to the store for milk in a Lambragini. I'M 30 YRS OLD AND I HAVENT HAD A JOB IN 8 YRS. What is your lifestyle like? Please answer.

You're wasting your time.

Fantastic web site! I especially love the your research citations. I was actually considering getting involved in Amway until I started doing a little research of my own - but you've absolutely convinced me never to get involved in any kind MLM business - ever.

THANKS!

Well, I finally decided to sit down and read all the misleading negative critiques about Amway. First of all, here are some of the reasons why I decided to build the business: Is anyone familiar with the financial planner/author John Sestina? He was the #1 financial planner in America, and one of the most respected in the WORLD. He has won every imaginable award related to financial planning. A client asked him to review the Amway business, to see if it was a good idea. Not only did Sestina say it was a good plan, but he was so impressed that after reviewing it a couple of times, he actually saw more potential in the Amway business than he had in his $1000+ an hour consulting job. He's now a diamond. But he didn't simply say, "this is the best business I have ever seen" He (on a very popular tape, "Planning a Successful Future") went through and analyzed the business using the Dow Theory Letters, which basically describe ten key elements of the IDEAL business. What impressed me is that Amway fits incredibly well into each of the 10 qualities. Also, compare the start-up cost of Amway ($160) to that of a big franchise like McDonald's ($1.2 million). All investments are 100% refundable, and there's a 100% satisfaction guarantee on the products. And the products are damn good; I don't understand how people can criticize them. NBA basketball players and other athletes use Amway vitamins. Amway makes some of the finest cosmetics in the world. In fact, Meg Ryan is an Amway distributor, because she was so impressed by the quality of the make-up products (and this woman can get cosmetics from ANYWHERE she wants). There's also the water treatment system, rated by the NSF to be the best carbon-based system available, and too many others to list. Another factor that impressed me is that so many respectable professional people are doing this business (thousands besides John Sestina) to diversify their insecure income and improve the thin chance for comfortable retirement. Another person who motivated me was Steve Ridley. This guy was a corporate attorney, on the Chamber of Commerce board for Louisiana, and Reagan's financial chairman for Louisiana. He was making well over $300,000 a year and had incredible status. Ridley turned his back on ALL of that in order to build Amway, and he succeeded. His success, and the success of all who go Direct and beyond, is based on belief in the system, and belief in one's self. Napolean Hill researched millionaires for 20 years, and wrote about success in a very famous book, Think and Grow Rich, which has concepts that you NEED to build Amway, mainly, belief and determination, and tuning out the word "impossible". Other than that, you need an "abundance mentality" (as opposed to a "scarcity mentality), and and entreprenuer mentality, as opposed to an employee mentality. I'm not accusing all critics of this, but it seems that some people don't want anyone else to succeed, just because THEY have failed. And it's so stupid to say "Don't get in Amway" because "look at these people who failed miserably". With that logic, we should never get into our cars, because people have DIED in cars. But why did they die? Because they didn't drive properly, something was wrong with their vehicle, or someone else screwed them up. That may sound cheesy, but it's a perfect analogy. I am determined to build this business, not just because I want to, but because I have no CHOICE. The other alternative is working long hours for dozens of years and having a ridiculously low fixed income as a possible retirement. Over 90% of Americans will be dead or broke by age 65. Amway gives people not only a hope to beat the traditional system, but through the Britt line of sponsorship for example, a systematic approach to achieving whatever financial "dream" one might have. And Amway has been successful for almost 40 years, in dozens of countries. In the United States they have helped more people set up six figure incomes than the top 19 fortune 500 companies. And most importantly, Amway gives you an opportunity to set up RESIDUAL income for life, as opposed to linear income (hours for $) in a job. Finally, it's not a CULT for God's sake!! I mean, just go to a big sports event or rock concert, and you could say the same thing. But when you come out of a "good" Amway meeting (focusing on techniques as WELL as motivation), people are educated and have at least a hope to change their lives. There are no guarantees in life obviously, but I find the five year Amway plan to be far superior to the 45 year work plan. That's just my opinion…

One year ago, one of my dearest friends and her husband joined AMWAY. They had a baby and Jane decided to stay home with their son. Joe became disillusioned with the law profession and put his whole heart and soul(with Jane's full support) into building the businesss. They approached me and my husband. We were not interested but out of respect for our friendship went to a meeting. We listened openly and decided not to participate in the Amway business. Mainly because, my husband and I both have our own businesses and have been fortunate enough to obtain success. But also because we felt that the chavaunistic overtones were degrading to say the least. Although we chose not to be Amway distributors, we fully supported our friends by purchasing products from them.

Well, things slowly began to change. We began to notice that they didn't want to spend much time with us, and Joe always seemed to be preoccupied and looking at his watch. I could live with that…but then we began to notice alot of "Christian religious overtones" in every conversation. Now, my husband and I are not Christians, we are of another religion. We found these religious statements to be uncomfortable and at time judgemental.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing that happen was Jane missing my baby boys first birthday party. She had to go to a AMWAY meeting. She explained that she needed to set an example and that she wanted to go to the meeting and that a true friend would understand. I am beginning to understand. She in fact made an example of me to her downlines. Basically, she showed them that when it comes to building the business you have to put AMWAY in front of friends and family. Well, I can tell you one thing, that is a sad business and a sad way to live your life. I guess if your goal is to only have AMWAY friends then this makes sense. People that have only one thing in common with you, the pursuit of the dollar. On several occasions we've been told that "When you have goals then there are things you most sacrifice?" We felt that they were stating that we had no goals. I have been quick to point out that we have many goals, goals we have set long term and short terms. The difference is how we plan to reach our goals.

For all of the AMWAY supporters who may read this, please be assured that my husband and I are well on our way to our own "Freedom". We are fortunate enough to be amoungst the top 1% in income, but "Freedom" to us is much more than financial. Freedom is spending time with my family and friends that I have made over the years, sharing in lifes journey on a daily basis, appreciating what God has given us today, and thanking God for our health and happiness.

In closing, I will always be a friend to Jane. I will always support her. I wish her and Joe success and happiness, I just know now where her priorties are in life.

Thanks for the forum for my experience.

Anonymous

I have just signed up in Amway, couple months ago as a matter of fact. I'm not saying you are wrong here. But, what I've seen on most of the sights slamming Amway is about the rip-off from the sale of the tools. I agree with that, which is why I don't buy them. But, in fairness to Amway, its the crooked distributers, not Amway, who needs to have the horn blown on them. Just because our Senators and Congressmen are crooked doesn't make living in America any less apealing to imigrants. The crooked distributers should be targeted and people warned about those specific groups. Nobody likes to be pressured into anything and that does make staying in any business a chore, and me being in the military can tell you there are a lot of pressures and it is a chore. But, wanting to start my own business and the fact that Amway has been around for 35 years and I haven't seems a good place to start. Even if its just a supplemental income. Oh, well. I'm sure Tupperware has its share of disalusioned people too. Check ya later.

dear ss

i must have a logo on my forehead inviting all Amway reps to bombard me with their pitch.

some background, i live in NYC, college grad from baruch college (business school), and business opportunity seeker. i have started and maintained fax back services, 900#, web publishing, programming, computer sales, and the like. I trade for myself futures (currency, oil, grains, and live stock), muni bonds, treasuries, mortgage back securities (super io and the like) and domestic and foreign equities (made money on Comparator systems (IDID) .06 to 1.50 may 96). Have many overseas accounts.

5 poeple have approach me in the subway during rush hour over a two year time span. out of the blue! rush hour is like people pack tighter than a sardine can.

a car salesman have re-approach me 12 months later. i originally went to him for INFORMATION on a mini-van.

3 co-workers.

1 high school reunion. it was not even a classmate, but a spouse of a teacher who never even taught when i was there. try that one on for size.

(and a partridge in a pear tree!)

the all have the same pitch +- 1 std dev. no one could tell me exactly what was the "distribution" plan. only one co-worker was honest with me and said it was an Amway to do.

my new business card would read "pitch me if you are an Amway rep"

i am beginning to enjoy this, i should put Amway "kill" markings on my wallet for every approach i get. he.he.he.he…

see ya!!!

Thanks.

Fuck U

From Indonesia Distributor
A.D.A 8621285

Sidney,

I am SOOOO glad I came across this site. I pray to God that nothing happens to this information before I get a chance to show it to a friend of mine that "lives" Amway to the fullest extent. I believe it is truly ruining his life, yet he clings on to the millionaire dream and continues to be impervious to all Amway attacks in hopes that someday he'll say "I told you so."

Hopefully, he will not get rid of me as a friend. I'm on the border with him because I am not in his Amway family. I've been looking for evidence to prove that he will never reach Diamond while still trying to not hurt his feelings or kill his motivation.

Thanks for a GREAT site. I'm going to create a link from my web page. (a small business…very modest, but proud of it)

this is only a personal opionion, your views may differ. spelling is not my strong point

here is the little white lie about amway. major misrepresentation by the amway rep who tried to sucker me.

first of all i like to thank one of my friends who is a amway rep, but is honest enough to answer my questions honestly!!! he still think amway has done nothing wrong but i differ in my opinion.

first and for most, amway is a distributorship. in the true traditional sense it is. but here is what stinks. you could make money "selling" the crap that they offer but that is "hard" work and not where the money is. where is the money, recruitment of people for your distributorship. unless amway is an employment agency. this type of stuff is a pyrmid scam. it is ILLEGAL amway folks out there that is truly brainwashed.

misrepresentation! my rep said that he is a distributorship for coca cola, general motors, general electric, maganovox, panasonic, gateway 2000, etc. i call several of these companies and they where shock and conferenced called me with legal department to discuss what was said about the representation of the their "major" company. the pitch was that you were a distributor for the said companies but in actually you only could distribute only certain very limited items. ie: coke, distributor of a certain type of VENDING machine, you CAN NOT distribute soda or any of their other products unless you buy from coca cola's AUTHORIZED distributors. namely your local supermarket. gateway 2000 said that you had to be licensed with your local state government to even offer their computer line. essentially, you are a gw2000k franchise and a value added reseller (VAR). so much for distributorship. you can not buy a gm car straight from an amway rep without getting ripped off. these AUTHORIZED business franchise for these major companies pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to bear the companies names only to be under cut of these *ssh%l@ sh#t for brains amway reps!!! i don't think so. now think long and hard, try to see what is wrong with that picture.

what a bunch of crooks.

the prymid reveal, thanks to an amway rep who still is a rep.

examples
i am a amway distib and sell one bar of soap, i get commission on the 1 bar of soap + profit (traditional distributorship, legal but make money rather slow)

so to be smart, i recruit "partners"

    mary
me  joe
    alice
    mark

mary, joe, alice, mark all sells on bar of soap. they all get commission and profit on the sale. great! here comes the prymid, i get commission on the 4 bars of soap that each sells.

          john
    mary  tom
          dick
          harry
    joe   larry
          stanley
me 
          liz
   alice  ann
          beth
          moe
    mark  curley
          harpo

john, tom, dick, harry, larry, stanley, liz, ann, beth, moe, curley, harpo all sell on bar of soap and makes commission + profit. mary, joe, alice, mark all each make commission on 3 bars of soap i, on the other hand, make commission on 12 bars of soap

who gets screwed. the one's stuck with the soap. the base layer of the pyrmid (side ways) hence the name the pyrmid scam. its great to be diamond but it sucks to be bull crap/whipping boy-girl. i did not even get started in telling you about buying the "required" stuff. the membership fee is just to keep your mind to believe that you are still part of the team, pea sh*t. but supplying all the new partnerships with all that crap. wow great money but wait until you are served with court papers. ouch!

i have notice all business cards of amway reps are such that it is either boxes, a rented answering machine, or no address at all. are they all ashame of the amway name! then why be a amway rep. hearing their pitch for the first time and to try to get them to say "amway" is like pulling teeth!

i even flat out said to that rep several times "is this amway" and he said no! talking about GROSS misrepresentation!!!! tip off. 12 hours a week, "meeting with" bill brit of pa, distributorship, 7+ billion dollar co. are you happy with your current situation?, coincedense, i think not.

happy trails to all you amway reps and btw, don't forget to launder money overseas in case you get sued or go to jail!!!

Thanks.

You need to get a life, obviously you are someone who finds it easier to sit back and critize rather than get off of your lazy butt and become a success in your own right, the way God intended.

As far as why Amway promotes sponsoring as opposed to retailing is because any half witted person knows that with retailing there is no security-once you stop selling the $$ stops. But with an Amway network you've built a network business that at a point becomes royalty.

I strongly suggest that you pray about this and ask the Lord to help you see the light!

Featured Comment:
"I stumbled across your site while surfing the net it's wose than all the pojurno sites. I'm a college student and a strong believer in the Amway buisness."

That is truly classic, if this person is in college, I'm giving my degree back.

I am very sorry to read this articles from you.
This company made more millioners then any other around.
I belive in the Amerivan Dream!! You do not.
I am sorry for you.

I've had the misfortune of having two promising female friends get hooked by Amway and I was forced to drop them because they wouldn't get off the subject and quit PROSELYTIZING!! I am a laid-back ex-hippie, pro-union type and hate being hassled. I looked up your site today so I could give my daughter something to respond to HER best friend who is now pushing this "cult". So thanks a million to you and the Web!!

Hello, and thank you.

We have close friends who have been absorbed by that great hype driven magnet called Amway. There dedication is incredible. They spend over $600.00 a month on Gas alone, driving to this function or that meeting. They are debt ridden and a long way from the promised riches. The whole born-again atmosphere (both spiritually and economically) has a seriously superficial(sp.) feel to it. It is at least comforting to know that I am not alone. This entity called Amway takes new victims every day.

The information you provide here should be read by all before they make the blind leap of faith. Once they are falling, it is too humiliating for many to accept the truth.

Once again - Thank you

People like you motivate me to build an even bigger business. Ask yourself this one question: How can a corporation that is 6.8 Billion dollars be doing something wrong? While you keep writing this "garbage" people all over the world will be joing the Amway business, what do you think about that? LOL.

It amazes me how far people will go to steal others dreams! I think you have every right to publish this page but facts are facts Amway is a corporation that provides products at wholesale and people who want to own their own business get a chance to do just that. If all of you that think this is nothing but a scam would wake up and realize that the two co-founders of the Amway corp. were just two high school kids with a dream. Instead of finding fault you should be thanking them for taking FREE ENTERPRISE to where it is today. All you distributors that are complaining about the tools scam need to go back and read the tool agreement you signed it states that the use of tools is voluntary. Now lets talk about the cult issue yeah this is a cult a good cult I have seen people come off from drugs, drinking and some marriges are a lot beeter off also so if I was going to blong to a cult I'd rather it be a positive one! One of the respones i read on your page talked about a couple that was tricked in to going to an Amway meeting and they came to their senses and onthe way home got a six pack and a good buzz thanks Amway! This goes to show they were not meant to see this business we want people who are not afraid to get off there rears and share a dream with those who are LOOKING to own their own business. This is no get rich quick scheme it is a get free once you have done the work. Before Amway my wife and I bought into a auto/marine detailing business I won't mention the name of the corp but I'll tell you this we get virtually ZERO support and we paid over $6000.00 to get started our Amway business cost us $160.00 to get started and we have received so much help and offers for help we have had to say slow down we don't need THAT much help! I could go on and on about the miles that our upline has driven for us. We joined in the late 70's and got out we got back in in 1995 and we aren't quitting as we know this is the right vehicle for us those of you who think its a scam, fine no problem but facts are facts why is over 1000 corporations teaming up with the Amway corp? For one reason they are making money! over 65% of profits are returned to the distributors. You beleive what you want to beleive but I beleive that if all of you put as much effort into YOUR business and let Amway supply your products as you have expended into finding faults with the greatest company that has and will ever exist then you could be a Diamond also!

SEEMS LIKE THE PEOPLE IN ANY ORGANIZATION HAVE TO FIND SOME WAY TO JUSTIFY IN THEIR OWN MINDS AND TO OTHERS THE FACT THAT THEY JUST WERE NOT CUT OUT TO DO SOMETHING. THE BEST WAY TO NOT LOOK LIKE A LOSER IS TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT THE SYSTEM FAILED OR WAS FLAWED AND YOU AND A FEW OTHER PEOPLE WERE THE ONLY ONES IN THE WORLD WHO NOTICED, SO YOU HUNG AROUND FOR A COUPLE YEARS, AND PUT YOUR SELF IN DEBT TO PROVE HOW SMART YOU ARE AND HOW DUMB WE ARE. THANK YOU. I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WOULD GO TO THIS OBVIOUS LENGTH AND EXPENCE TO CALL MORE ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT YOU COULDNT CUT IT AND QUIT. I THINK THAT IF I WERE THAT MUCH OF A LOSER, I WOULD TRY TO KEEP IT FROM AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, NOT PUT MY FAILURE ON DISPLAY FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE. WHAT YOU DO OR DONT DO IS YOUR BUSINESS. WHY TRY TO TEAR DOWN SOMEONE ELSES ENTERPRIZE JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVENT GOT WHAT IT TAKES.? BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME, WE WILL PRAY FOR YOU. GROW UP AND GET A DREAM!!!!!

hello,

Amway is already here in the Philippines. They launched last April 5 and on April 10, I decided to join. Because i saw their great plan and i dream big. But now, i am confused because i read some of the content of your site. What a day for me.Today i'll be attending the open plan and will bring along my wife with our friends.

Because also today i found your site, Now i don't know what to do. You know i'm only earning a little income on my job. I have a 7 months old son and i dream of my future with my family. Now i'm totally confused.

I have a direct contact to my upline and they also made me a leader. Can't tell you from where my upline is but they are all foreigners.

I'll visit again this site to learn more. for now, i'll do a lot of thinking.

Hi Sidney,

I am currently living in wonderful Italy, but I have a very close friend in the New Yrok City Area, whose's marriagge is being destroyed by Amway. Her husband has brought in, do you know anyone my friend can contact. Please don't post my message on your web site, unless you delete my e-mail address.

I have always found this group to be very strange! Their network marketing is just another scheme while the owner ripped so many people. This religion bit is fo the birds!

Hey buddy,

This website is very impressive and looks like it is well researched but it has a fatal flaw. Read up on the most successful businessmen in this country and I think you will find that their beginnings were very meager. I also believe that you will find that there business was their life blood in the developmental years. So it is with the Amway Oppurtunity. No one can honestly expect to reach the highest levels of anything including the Amway business without persistent and consistent effort. Since the overriding idea that success in this country now is winning the lottery or suing someone for all he's worth, most people in this country don't believe that an honest oppurtunity to succeed actually exists. I really think it is a shame that many people have and will in the future make their decision using only the negative images of the oppurtunity and the corporation that you have represented on this page. Please consider the power of this vehicle that you are using and reconsider your stance. The futures of many will be influenced by you and I hope that you don't steal from tehm the hope that their future might be made a little brighter by a little soap business that anyone can do.

Wish we could find some common ground.

Sidney, How's it going? Haven't talked to you in a while but wanted to let you know I think your website is continuing to provide people with great information. As more and more people keep writing to you about their experiences, it should 1) provide more data points to what the scam is all about and 2) help those looking at the business to get a real perspective as to what they will be expected to do if they are to "succeed" in the business. Maybe SOT should really stand for "Suckers on Tape"!!!

I was thinking about some of the information I have been reading about a person's real ability to be financially free from this business. According to some info in other links to your website, a person's chance of just going direct was like 1%? I think Diamond was around .004% or something like that!

I thought about this statistic in terms most of us can relate to - a coach. Since all of the functions are centered around this "financially free" concept, I thought it would be interesting to compare the statistics of "financially free" to that of "winning" in sports. If a major league baseball coach (manager) only won 1% of his games, and taking in to account that each team plays 162 games each year, he would win 1.62 games in a season. How long would he be the coach? How long do you think the fans would come to the games?

In effect, isn't this what people are doing when they support all of these functions and spend all this money and hardly ever win? If people fanatically supported a team that only won one game a year, wouldn't most of their friends and relatives think they were nuts? Especially if they blew off all family functions, all vacations and holidays and traveled all over the country to see them play? If you look at the diamond statistic, it would literally be years before the team ever won a game!

Maybe this is to simplistic, but it terms of supporting something that doesn't work (for the majority) I think it applies.

Have a good one!

It is funny and so true. I know people involved in Amyway and I am researching cults. This is so interesting. My mom used to say it was cult, but I thought she was just making a comparison, but now I see she wasn't. The products are really over- priced and no so good. I am glad someone said what others are probably thinking. It is great!

Dear Mr. Schwartz,

I run a small bookkeeping/accounting business here in Hawaii, and was fortunately born with a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to these kind of schemes. Last year, I prepared tax returns for three individuals in these network marketing systems (1 Amway, 2 whom I won't name), and they were astounded when I showed them how much they had lost. "Boy, you can do wonders with a return", they said, upon realizing that sole proprietorship losses translate into bigger refund checks.

But then I would show them, no, this is not an accounting trick; these are REAL losses. Between your seminars, books and promotional materials, travel, eating out, it adds up to real big money. One guy who thought he had "made" about $3500, actually had lost over $3000.

Though I don't really know, I suspect that Amway served a good purpose some thirty or forty years ago, before WalMart and Sam's Club brought near-wholesale prices to the whole world.

The marvel of capitalism is this: if you provide a product or service that the public likes, can use, and is affordable, you can get rich. If you fail to do this, you will go broke. Maybe slowly, over time, maybe all at once. The poor performance of 99% of Amway distributors underscores this fact, as does the explosive success of WalMart & Cosco.

By documenting this, you have provided a valuable service to many people, me included. I can use these data to dissuade others, and encourage them to seek income through other means. There are so many sound, profitable investments in time and money that merit strong consideration, which don't purport to be more successful than they are.

Thanks again for your contribution.

I was in Amway for a short time and, even worse, I worked the MLM game with Equinox for almost 2 years. In short, have you ever noticed that these network marketers, who love to bash the whole 9-5 thing, are always talking about retirement, but are never quite there? Retirement is always just around the corner. In Equinox, everyone is always "going Exec. next month," but for now, they'll just continue selling their possessions, borrowing from relatives, or running up huge debt. It's sad. I know from first hand experience that normally intelligent, independent thinking people have had their eyes glazed over when talk of early retirement and wealth comes up. The essence of MLMs like Amway and Equinox and HerbalLife and NuSkin and Excel is this: People are basically lazy, so it's always going to be easier to bash folks who work for a living, and preach from a pulpit of early retirement, mansions, and limousines. I just hope that these same people are willing to step back in time, whether it's one year or five years, and admit to themselves honestly that retirement IS NOT waiting just around the corner. Hope and dreams are great, but only if they are combined with, at least, a hint of reality. Take a look at these "leaders": Bill Gouldd, Rich Von, Marc Accetta, Sherri Sharman, Bill Britt, Dexter Yeager, and ask yourselves, "Are these the kind of people I really want to trust with my one AND ONLY future?" I hope not.

Hi,

I have taken a brief look at the information contained in your web page (which by the way, is very well presented). I am in a group based in the U.K. whic sound nothing like some of the groups talked about in your mail pages. It is quite clear there are good and bad groups around the world, I think it's also fair to say that some of the questions raised throughout the pages are cause for concern. I have not been in the business long however I have always kept a very open mind whilst operating the business.

I find it worrying that people are so taken in by what they are told. What I mean to say is that anything that offers you huge financial rewards requires investigation. I think there are many people who have left postings on your pages (the negative and dissapointed people) that may have missed their chance of financial freedom. The trend that sticks out in any such system is that the 'clever' people are the rich people, this may mean that the clever people in Amway have already made the money although I doubt that very much. You may be starting to see my point (you may not agree I should add) which is that there IS a way of becoming rich in Amway you just have to devise the correct plan to become rich. Develop a plan that will work for you, I am sure Amway make more money from the retailing side of things therefore it is fair to assume that you wont make serious money that way (because they already are!). That's not to say dont build up your own customer base, far from it, you simply need to have a much bigger view of the business.

I firmly believe I am going to become wealthy in this business not because someone has told me this is possible. I think you have to positive about anything you take seriously, and make only informed decisions. These people who felt 'preasured' had completely the wrong idea and almost certainly the wrong advice/upline.

I appreciate and admire your efforts to produce such a well balanced forum for this debate. I also think you do well to include some of the brainless EMail's you obviously receive.

Please reply if you think I have a valid point (or otherwise) as I would be most interested.