Amway: The Untold Story

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Dear Sir;

Your site intrigues me. I have worked for two Fortune 1000 manufacturing companies since graduating from college. Over these past 10 years, I have worked hard and have prospered. From rookie sales rep, to Director of National Accounts, I have earned an outstanding income while contributing to the profitability of my employer (s). Along the way I have also generated income for the management group above me.

Amway operates the same way.

I joined Amway 6 weeks ago. I carefully researched the organization and found it sound. No more lawsuits than the average organization of its size, and no debt. I guess I look at Amway as an advantage because of the quality of the people I've met, not in spite of the people who never have succeeded.

These people are not saints, yet they exhibit a single trait that I have yet to see reflected in either of the organizations I've worked for; these people all want to be there. During the last "open" meeting my wife and I attended, it was obvious there were believers and non-believers. Just as during my last sales meeting there were folks who sold quota and those who did not.

Losers focus on their losses, winners on the opposite.

Amway is the same. There are both winners and losers. You choose which line to stand in, Shwartz. If you don't like the opportunity, don't join; there will be just that many more of us who want to save you 30-45% on your household consumables. [The price comparisons done by myself and others--which comprise several hundred items--indicate that buying household consumables from Amway is about 50% MORE expensive than buying from local stores. I've yet to see similar, verifiable data from an Amway distributor that proves otherwise, despite having repeatedly challenged distributors to provide it. This person certainly didn't.]

What, no response on how bad it is for folks to save money on their purchases? Are you an advanceman for a well-known retail chain? Perhaps it's time for you to reveal your agenda....

I'm shocked, but not surprised by this page. I wasn't going to comment, to all this, but no there has to be people who don't sit by and do nothing. I have been an Amway distributor for 4+ years. It is the first business I have been involved with that keeps getting better with time. I have always been a critic and a skeptic and in the beginning I was sure it couldn't be as good as they said, as I have often found bad apples in many places I have looked. In the 4+ years I have been a distributor I have never encountered any wrong doing or been misrepresented in any way. As a matter of fact I have never met so many people with so much integrity, honesty and willingness to help the other guy than in this business. I am in the World Wide Group, and the only pressure I have felt was from myself to do more. No one has ever told me I had to do anything I didn't want to do. I have never had anyone (my upline) harass me or even call me unless I called them first asking for information or help to build my business. I use the tapes and books as tools to help build my business. I have taken many seminars in other business' I have been involved with ( retail seminars, restaurants and hotel business trade shows etc.) and found those to be far more expensive than the cost of the World Wide seminars and functions that I have attended in the past 4 years. I found the functions served as opportunities to actually meet the people who had become wealthy in the Amway business, to see that it is possible to reach your goals and dreams. The tapes keep you informed as to the new people growing to the Emerald and Diamond level on a weekly basis. The books on the book list were not what I had been used to reading before, a roommate once said; " I read to escape and your reading to get somewhere", books that have helped improve my relationships with people and my self confidence. I was not religious, but I found the referrences to a Christian based business gave it more credibility. I feel sorry for the many people who are reading all this and looking for the negative information and the excuses why not to use Amway rather than looking for all the good reasons to build their very own business. Because it is your business, not World Wide's or Amway's or your sponsor's, you get to say how much, how high or what level.

World Wide is the support and teaching only if you choose to use it, Amway is the vehicle and your sponsor only makes a little when you make a lot, unlike at your job where your boss makes a lot while you make a little. It is so sad to see the people who are new to the Amway business, or are being introduced to it for the first time being blown out of it by what they read here, before they've had a chance to experience the friendships, the profits and the support of this truly remarkable business.

Ask yourself, is it the person trying to sponsor me who's the culprit? Or is it Amway? And when you have become a distributor and you don't get your questions answered from the person who sponsored you do you go farther upline to your ACTIVE growing upline or to Amway, or do you base your opinions on someone who has just a bit more experience than yourself? There are so many distributors out there trying to do the best they can with what they brought in with them, and maybe the person you are speaking to hasn't reached a level where he is totally knowledgeable to answer your questions or concerns. Give them a break, if you want to know more about the success of Amway distributors don't look here, go where you can meet and see for yourself, investigate it for yourself. Do you believe everything you read in the tabloids? There is always another side, a $6.5 billion dollar company can't grow without doing something right, and they wouldn't have lasted since 1959 if they were doing anything wrong. I know you won't find anything out there to match this business, believe me I've looked and tried other business' and jobs.

I wish you all good luck in whatever you do. Just, please don't base your opinions on this page as there is far more good to find than bad.

Sidney,

My name is *. You probably won't remember me, but I posted once or twice in Compuserve where you were a section leader, and I praised you for giving perspective and balance to the otherwise mutual backslapping that exists in that forum. This is my first visit to your Web site and I am impressed with the content. I think you are providing a valuable service and wish everything here was required reading by anyone contemplating Amway. Good job.

While you're floating along out here in cyberspace nit-picking and passing out half-truths and ancient history about Amway, there are many more of us out here who are making it work and have gained astronomically from it. It's a shame that every loser has to find a winner to blame for their own plight. It's a shame you're not feeling well…I'll pray for you.

Hi

I am a distributer from the UK, most of the people I have read about on the pages of AMWAY on the WWW are American and I have only heard of their names on the tapes or in the books.

Well to my point - I am a teacher in a rapidly failing educational system in the UK with either none or little chance of promotion ( not that I would want it now anyway ), I see my colleagues everyday off sick with stress and heart problems worrying about their families security - i no longer have to worry!

We all have to train at something in life - a carpenter, a teacher, a chef, a footballer - to be a success at anything we need to train correctly, this in many cases involves buying tools to do the job. I trained as a chef and needed in total #500 of knifes, uniforms and books for one years training. Which when qualified would let me stand up for 15 hours a day and get #150.00 a week!

I have read so many people moaning about having to buy tapes and books - I feel you are scaremongering - #3.70 for a tape and approx #6.00 for a book all add up to approximately the same #500 but will eventually let me retire from work 30 years earlier than any of my friends. FINACIALLY FREE !!!!!!!

If we all had one single dream in this life everyone would work together better, there are so many people who are so ready to remove dreams and place despair in peoples hearts. I feel honnored and privalaged to be part of AMWAY.

I could go on for ever but I am not one who preaches my beliefs trying to change other people. As free individuals we all have the choice to do what we have to in liffe, we change the circumstances so that the circumstances don't change us.

Thankyou for listening to me.

Sidney,

It's been a while since I wrote but I thought I'd share a fond memory of a seminar/rally I went to a few months ago… the speaker asked, "Tell me, do you think it'd be HARDER or EASIER to build your business if you had a hundred more Diamonds in the Akron area?" His answer was that it would be easier.

So I "did the math," as they encourage us to do (I guess it's a little exercise that helps weed out the negative folks by making them realize just how badly they've been taken). As I figure it, the 6/4/2 scheme means you need roughly 78 people in your downline to become a Direct. To become a Diamond, you need 6 Directs in your downline, for a total of 468 distributors per Diamond. So the question really is: would it be harder or easier to build your business if there were 46,800 more distributors in the Akron area, all competing for recruits?

Needless to say, I reached a different conclusion than the speaker.

This is the second time I've visited your page. Both times were after someone tried to pitch the "Amway plan" at me. The first time my husband and I were right on the verge of getting into the organization. Today, my young neighbor was talking about how he's "going to make $4000 a month by September, and pay cash for his house," and part of me really wants to believe that he can do it. There's something so insidious about what these people say and the way they say it. You really want to believe it's all true; their conviction and confidence is extremely alluring. Referring to them as cultists is very appropriate, and it is easy to see why so many people are hooked into the "Amway way of life". While I've never waivered in my opinion about what Amway really is, or in my decision to never have anything to do with it, it's nice to have your site for a little moral support. Thanks for the info and (despite what most of the grammatically-challenged people who flame your site say) for the relatively balanced presentation. You have permission to print this response with my name and e-mail address omitted.

I had a brush with this "Cult" back in 1991.

Although being a Christian myself Seeing on the outside how "nice" everyone was, this did not convince me.

After listening to countless tapes reading motivational books & learning the "Plan" I started feeling & sounding like a Robot.

I've always grown up with being honest, believing in what you talk about or try to sell. Meeting people became an obsession! Who would be the 2 persons that would launch me to "Diamond" .

You can say that I was becoming Brainwashed, I kept feeling uncomfortable though, to the point of quiting. After getting enough nerve I quit!

Luckily I only lost about $300 .

And one positive thing : My Mom didn't have to buy cleaning products for 6 months!

I was considering joining Amway. Thanks to your wonderful web-site I've decided against it. You have probably saved my marriage, my savings, and most importantly my ability to think independently of others.

Your web-site provided a MUCH NEEDED reality check against the tapes, books, and meetings I have been subjected to for the last 2 weeks in evaluating the Amway plan.

You have a friend in Virginia!

Dear Most Intelligent person,

I come seeking your advice. I have been an Amway distributor for the past 3 months. I was sponsored by a couple (correct amway syntex?) right after he (they?) himself was "sponsored". I worked the same job with my sponsor two years ago, and during that time I had loaned him a great deal of money (which I have never seen a penny of.)

I've been through my "list" of about 30 names and have yet to sponsor someone. A couple of the "functions" have fallen on days where I have had to work my regular job (which I very much enjoy).

During a 2:00AM breakfast at Big Boy with my upline "diamond" a couple of nights ago, my sponsor sat down beside me and stated that I need to change my lifestyle in a way so that I can attend these functions and spend more time with "amyway distributors" and less time with non-amway distributors.

My life is my universe, And I am the merciless God of my universe, and I will crush beneath my almighty foot any man, woman, or child who makes the futile attempt at telling me how I am to live my life and who I am to be friends with.

I will not lie to my superiors to get time off work (jeopardizing my job) to build this business. How can you build a reputable business if you have to lie, cheat, or steal to do it?

The advice I ask of you is, How do you explain to your upline that you are no longer going to participate in cult-like activities to build a business based soley on luck?

I now quote the immortal words of one of the best movies of all time: "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." - The Princess Bride, said by the Dread Pirate Roberts Wesley

Subject: Your insistant homosexuality

Hey gay! Just wanted to say you really must be a broke loser if you wasted all your time creating this webpage to slander the rich creamy goodness of Amway. Amway is a business that can make you money if you aren't a general asshole and do it the right way. These "cult victims" are merely people who see the dream Amway can and will in time provide them; whereas you, my sexually deprived friend, cannot see in all your ignorance how Amway truly does change peoples' lives for the better. I don't know about you, but Amway sure has enriched my life, both mentally and finacially. Sincerely, Dexter Yaeger

Well, I just got done looking through your page. It is, at least, interesting. I am very happy for you that you have found a "calling" in life. A purpose, so-to-speek. I am a distributor and while my spelling may not be all that great I too have found a "calling". I have help several people "re-evaluate" their lives. They have grown stronger in their respective religions. I don't push Christianity (although I am a Christian).

One of my distributers has found a greater strength in his religion, many people I know are now better parents and I myself have quit drinking. To say I never joined Amway for the money would be a lie, however, the charecter and integrity of the people associated with my group are astounding. There are two burger joints in my town(we will call them mac Donnies) One gives poor service and poor products. The other has excilent food and friendlly employees. I stopped going to the fist resturaunt but continue to go the second one. Why? It is not the corperation that stinks just that one business. I would like to to print on your page that Amway donated 2.6 million dollars to the Easter Seal Campaign. Thank you for your time and God bless you in all that you do!

I have been and continue to be a devout christian of the Baptist faith for over thirty years. In my faith I follow the teachings of my master JESUS Christ. I have only one master and it is not the church or any religion. I am a Christian who very quickly and proudly professes to be a Baptist. I am not ashamed of it nor will I ever be quite about it. JESUS rules every aspect of my life. It is he which has taught me that we can only reap what we sow. He gave me knowledge as well as life so that I may do his will to the very best of my ability for his name sake.

I am also an Amway Distributor who takes great offense to blind ignorant statements of others about my Lords and my business. Amway IS NOT A CULT !!!!!!! It is rather a group of people most of which are Christians of some kind of religious faith. The vast majority of us believe that without the help of THE MASTER "JESUS Christ" we could not have a successful business. We are strong supporters of worth while Christian causes. We believe in good family morals and helping our brothers and sisters in need as best we can at the time giving that with time our best improves with the divine aid of Christ JESUS.

I am tired of being persecuted simple because I am a successful business man. Usually the persecution comes from those who have NO knowledge of business much less Amway and sometimes from those who have started an Amway business but were too LAZY to work it. The only thing in this world which comes free is the love of our Heavenly Father. For a business to grow you must work it !!

Despite all the persecution I keep on going for I know that what I am doing is right with the MASTER. The only time it hurts and then only because I am human is when the persecution comes from within my on family of believer in JESUS.

Time and time again throughout history, so called Christians have sought to cast stones. My MASTER taught us "Judge not lest ye be judged" and "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". Are we as Christians and Baptist so quick to discard these teachings ?

We are ALL brothers and sisters, descended from ONE and only one family. Can we not ......live ......as a family caring for one another. Can we not rejoice in a brother or sisters accomplishments ? I am saddened and heart broken, but I will not abandon my family.

My our Lord and Savior watch over and protect you all the days of your lives and may only good and happy things pass your way.

(Heart Broken)

Mr. Schwartz,

I think I've figured it out, and here it is…

To solve this Pro-Amway vs. Anti-Amway debate once and for all, I recommend the following:

If you believe Amway to be a scam and you're being recruited by some family member or friend who won't leave you alone, simply tape them saying that they "will retire in 2-5 years and walk the beaches of the world." Now, what you do (I know this sounds harsh) is hold on to that tape, and when the 2-5 year period comes and goes and they're still struggling to pay bills, play it back to them. Over and over and over. Leave it on their answering machines. Do it until they wake up from their haze and realize that continued rationalizing is getting them nowhere.

Amway people are vindictive, defensive, pseudo-Christians. They are easily angered because they are insecure and make NO money.

MLMs (Equinox, Nu-Skin, etc. included) do nothing but hurt families and friendships. Who is more of a friend, Ambots - a friend who liked you for who you really were or an upline sponsor who likes you because he benefits financially from you?

The rallies and trainings are a waste of money. The motivational speakers are materialistic goons who you will someday (when you quit) mock.

Do you realize, Amway dreamers of the world, that people run from you and pity you behind your back? I do believe Amway exists to make people appreciate their jobs and income more.

Well, that's it. Remember to tape whomever is driving you crazy with Amababble. It'll protect you later when their pompous mouths start touting more cheesy crap.

Why is it that most of the Amway distributors call those who disagree with the Amway philosophy dream-stealers, losers or quitters. These phrases seem to contradict Amway's "Positive Attitude" way of life.

I chose not to do "Amway" because I disagree with their fundemental principal of "The almighty dollar". It seems all Amway distributors have to talk about is HOW many millionaires they have met? Is someones self worth or friendship only based upon the size of their bank account?

are you paid for this?

J&J, procter & Gamble, Dow brands, any others

you do it FREE?

i' m curious

have you ever met or spoken with Dexter? (Yager, of course)

I used to work with a person who got caught up in Amway. Her son brought up an intersting point. I am sorry that I don't remember the numbers but if Amway does a certain amount of sales in a given period, how are all those people suppose to make the money that they are lead to believe they are going to make? No reply is needed. I just thought that her son did bring up an interesting point.

Dear Sir,

It was a year ago when I mailed you a comment/question about the "tools scam". You asked me what my Amway pin level was and how long I had been a Distributor for them. Sorry I haven't replied sooner. [Notice that he still doesn't say how long he's been a distributor and what his pin level is.]

It appears that you have been dilligently (spelling ?) at work since that time, you have certainly compiled a lot more information. I'm only writing you now because I have spent the last hour wading through this data maze we call the "web".

Sorry to see that your communication has aroused some legal issues. I'm not sure what will become of the battles but I'm convinced that there are too many attorneys. I hope you begin to see the Amway opportunity for the educational system it really is and not the greedy, control, soliciting bunch that some of your readers describe.

The benefits that I can personally report can be described as "growth", as a father, husband, neighbor, friend, relative and co-worker. In reading some of the correspondence you receive, it's easy to see the anger and frustration people cause each other. Our organization of Amway Distributors is one of the few places I can turn for true friendship and encouragement.

This is not because Amway taught them, as you know, Amway does not teach people, they research, develop and distribute the best products in the world. It is up to us as Independent Contractors to teach ourselves through books, tapes and seminars how to be better people. If we help enough people get what they want, we will have everything we need. That is a principle that was taught long before we paid people to analyze other peoples code of ethics.

Take some time for yourself soon - I suggest a balloon or helicopter ride over the Ngorongoro crater in Kenya. I'm going there with my son someday, if you go first let me know. I'll write you in the summer of '98

Few days ago a friend of mine called me to ask me if I was an open mainded person about starting my own business. I told her that i would have her over to explain this business to me. She did not mention the business on the phone. This afternoon she came with her husband and another man. They show me a video tape and there also the name of the business was not mentioned. The man started to explain everything and becouse I not originnally from the US I was not familiar with Amway. After i finished his presentation he gave me some reading matirial and some tapes. He invited me to a meeting on friday . I told him that i woul think about it . He left and i was interested in the opportunity that he presented me. Bur right away i search the web for more information on Amway. Thank's to your web site I know who they are, a coult and I have to thank to prevent me to get involve with them . THANK'S AGAIN.

Hi there,

It's very nice of you to generally describe Amway and its general ridiculousnesses, but I think it might be worthwhile to also discuss how Messrs. De Vos and Van Andel also function as members of their communities. As a former (thank Heaven!) resident of Ada, Michigan (I used to live roughly 2 miles from the main mile-long Amway factory), I can address that topic. But I think it really might be a worthwhile topic to address in more detail on your extremely interesting site.

Jay Van Andel and Dick De Vos are, it's true, very active philanthropic members of the Grand Rapids area. To be honest, one would hope that they would be; to the best of my knowledge, both of them are billionaires. Naturally, they're also the richest people in the area; the owners of some local privately-held office furniture companies like Steelcase, and the owner of the Meijer chain of grocery/department stores, are also quite rich.

The Van Andels have given the city of Grand Rapids millions of dollars for renovations on their Public Museum. Dick De Vos donated money for the town's major arts arena, while Jay gave money for a large stadium to be built downtown. All fairly unobjectionable. Moreover, they're both very active in keeping some of the more rural areas around Grand Rapids, for example the area around Ada, less developed than you might expect. After all, the school district which includes Ada and Amway, from which I graduated in 1991, is extremely high-rated statewide, and the land which Amway's founders own there would be worth an amazing amount to develop. So it's fair to say that they've given lots to their communities in these ways.

Conversely, their work is always incredibly showy. It's no longer the Grand Rapids Public Museum, it's the Van Andel Public Museum. Performances are held at De Vos Hall. My mother comments that the town is little-by-little turning into Vanandelville. It seems that they can't be content with just giving money, they have to be the creators of their new nation of sycophants.

Moreover, they do have all of the lack of panache that you'd associate with "new money," despite being rich for quite some time; you hear all the time about what Dick did this time when someone wasn't sufficiently obsequious.

With Amway Corporate so nearby, much of the local citizenry is connected to the company, though office furniture is a much larger local industry. They do tend to be amazingly tedious and sort of fanatic about how valuable their Amway experience has been. Also, since it's mostly around Corporate that the people who "open" new countries come from, there's always a flood of people who are trying to convince anyone even vaguely bright and young that they want to spend their summers spreading the gospel of capitalism (admittedly, a much-like-Walmart variety where the people getting rich off the system live thousands of miles away.) One of my friends was involved in "opening" Haiti, while another was, last I heard, going to be involved in Hungary. It honestly begins to feel somewhat like a Mormon or Jehovah's Witnesses style of conversion technique.

The Amway people have an enormous influence on the local political scene. Especially since De Vos and Van Andel (as well as many of the high-ranking distributors, it seems from your site) are active in conservative Christian circles, the local political scene tends to be bankrolled by them and is overwhelmingly white and conservative as well. (This is not, incidentally, entirely their fault; there were lots of Dutch Calvinists like the De Vos's and the Van Andels there long before Amway. What is their fault is the degree to which they and their agents bankroll right-wing politicians and thus stifle debate.) Moreover, topics like the environmental effect of having a literally one-mile-long soap factory right on a river that's already intensely polluted, but which still serves as a water supply, never seem to get discussed in the local media, which instead is obsessed with the evils of vegetarianism and homosexuality.

I guess I didn't learn about things like the tools empires until I went to college and my best friend's brother joined up; prior to that I had thought they were just a bizarre, transnational capitalist conspiracy that was trying to exploit Third World nations and spread conservative Christian values.

So I guess they're mostly harmless. At the same time, they tend to be extremely showy, very hostile to opposing viewpoints, and always trying to sell you onto either the plan, the products, or the opportunity to work in Corporate, while they make the town more obviously Amwayville, more boring, more conservative, and more a cult of personality.

Good luck on spreading the word. I only wish everyone realized just how much of the growth in Amway over the last 5 years has been overseas, and how completely irrelevant that is to the prospects of an average Joe here in the U.S. if he starts a new Amway business. Ah well.

The internet is great - what a tool to bring out the truth!

Last night, after making a purchase at an outdoors store, the cashier/salesperson asked me if I would like to make more money than I am now. He talked about making "$2000, $3000/month" with "little time commitment!" I tilted my brow and put on my unconvinced face and he started ranting about FTC this, and it's legal, ethical and moral that. He gave me a business card of his "sponsor" who I could call and he would give me some tape to listen to. Surprising, he told me he was a part of Amway (usually they don't reveal it in the beginning, I found out today). The funny thing was that I had no idea who Amway was. "Don't they sell cattle feed or pesticides?" No, that's AGway.

Anyway, I decided to look up Amway on the Internet. Bullseye! A section on Yahoo called "Consumer Opinion"…lots of anti-Amway sites such as yours. My skepticism was confirmed. There is no free lunch in this world. Amway or "the business" is nothing more than a few rich deceivers exploiting the brainwashed downlines. I feel like reporting the cashier to his store so he can't recruit people who may fall for the scheme. Actually, the kid probably doesn't even know he's part of a pyramid scheme (Oops, "we're not a pyramid scheme!"). So, I guess he NEEDS his job to buy all those overpriced products!

Keep up the good work. You provide a great service to the Netizen community.

Greetings:

Ever since my manic-depressive sister, a new recruit to Amway, responded to my "no-thank-you-I'll-make-my-millions-doing-something-else-besides-selling-soap" declination of her offer to make me a gazillionaire, by chanting, "We don't sell soap! We sell HOPE!!," I had a deep suspicion that Amway preyed on the same kind of people as does the radical religious right. I think that, by and large, these rank-and-filer Amway folks are not too bright, not too sophisticated business-wise, are easily motivated by demagoguery, and are susceptible to cult indoctrination. Sometimes, as in the case of my bipolar sister, I do believe they will take advantage of somebody who is obviously not mentally quite with it.

And then---rooked into attending an Amway convention by someone who should have known better-- I was further disgusted by an Amway audience of about 10,000 jumping up and down on one leg like Rumplestilsken and shouting, "am-WAY! am-WAY! am-WAY!" I fled the convention hall, spent the rest of the day in a local cheap bar/pool-hall, and vowed to wear a string of garlic the next time I knew I would be near any Awayers.

So I was tres pleased to find your site. Thank you for doing such a great job, and amassing so much well-researched information in such easily understandible form.

Yours for better living sans Amway,

If Ambots were making as much as they claim to be making or had a REAL hope in someday making big bucks, they wouldn't be so defensive in their replys to you.

And if the tapes, books and personal relationships built in Amway was having a real positive and life-changing influence in their lives, they wouldn't write such vile obsenities to you either.

Why is it that all you future millionaires along with your big and mighty $7 billion company get so uptight over this website? Stop whining at Sid and go sell some soap!

I have allways run into people like you all my life. Loosers that blame others for their lack of vision. Since the first month in Amway I have never lost any money. I achieved 1000 PV. in my first month and have grown to approx. 4000 in 5 months. The cost of start up is a tax right off the tapes and seminars become a business expense, and the products I purchase I would purchase regardless if I was in Amway or not. I am a refrigeration mechanic by trade and it cost me over $30,000 in capital costs to start my business and that was just for the right to look for work. Amway is a great business and if people don't make it in the business its due to a lack of drive and dedication. For gods sake they are showing you how after years of effort you can earn over 77,000 a year, do you think that it is going to happen over night or that it is going to be handed to you on a silver platter? Wake up. If you fail in this busines look in the mirror and blame the person who caused this failure. I will agree the business is not for everyone, people who do not have any dicipline will not make it, than again the people who write and wine about failing generaly wouldn't make it in the regular business world ( self employment ). Hay think about this, if you are beat when you get up in the morning and dread going into work, and you are 30 congrats!!! only 35 more years to go. Your web site does not inform people about the business it steals people's dreams and is little more than hate mail it is in the same class as the KKK, And Hate Mail I hope you sleep well knowing that a person who was looking for a great oppertunity unfortunately came upon your Hate filled site and you just stole their dream. Your site should be called I HATE FREEDOM I HATE USA /CANADA I HATE HAVING A DREAM I HATE AMWAY Go Diamond if you don,t know what that means contact your local amway rep.

According to Procter & Gamble's Audited Annual Report dated June 30, 1996, they had over $35 billion in sales and $4.8 billion in operating income. That's more than five times the size of Amway.

I don't think P&G shareholders' are losing any sleep over Amway, let alone those piles of soap & crap in your garage on product pick-up night.

Maybe P&G ought to get into the business of pressuring its consumers to purchase tapes, books and seminar tickets. After all, that's where the real money is!

Quick background: I am 33 years old, married for ten years, five kids, engineering degree, almost done with a MBA.

I am an Amway distributor currently at the Silver Direct level. [There is no such level as "Silver Direct" in Amway; a "Silver Producer" is one who has met Direct Distributor qualifications for 1 month rather than for the 6 months required to be a "real" direct. Referring to Silver Producers as Direct distributors is deceptive.] There are some aspects of the Amway business that bother me. However, every business enterprise I have been involved with have aspects that bother me. I am of the opinion that Amway is a business, nothing more, nothing less.

As I own hair salon franchises, as well as being a well paid sales executive for a corporation, I have observed through experience that all successful companies/franchise systems utilize a strategey or system. For the most part the "system" as developed by Bill Britt and his contemporaries falls in line with this observation.

Unquestionably, there are some aspects of the "system" that could be construed as brainwashing. However, if you watch television or go to the movie theater on a regular basis, you are quite naive if you don't believe a similar "brainwashing" is going on. The advertising agencies do an excellent job of influncing our collective behavior through repitition and creative manipulation.

My point here is that too much of anything is probably not a good thing. If you wanted to logically pursue the brainwashing, cult arguement your web page preposes a step farther, then many people I know are in golf cults, hockey cults, stock market cults, etc… [Right. There's no difference between people who play golf or follow the stock market and groups like the People's Temple who kill their children and themselves because their leader told them to, and we're all idiots for believing there was.]

In other words, there are many unbalanced indivduals in the world of Amway, just as there are many unbalanced individuals not in Amway. All I can tell you is that, for my family, the Amway business provides us with another income stream. Any benefits the business provides beyond income is gravy. The percentages of people who reach high income levels in the Amway business pretty much reflects that of corporate America. The problem is that people develop a hope that Amway will work for them without making the committment necessary to be successful in any business.

Thank you for the opportunity to voice my opinion. Although I don't agree with the tone and one sidedness of your web page, as an American I certainly respect it!

Dear Sir,

I just wanted to put in my two cents worth on this issue. I have been an Amway distributor for five months and am about to go to Family Reunion in Ohio. I have previously had a successful business for eight years, and am currently a highly paid executive. What I have found in this business are: friendly folks who will go out of their way to help me with anything (including non-Amway issues), motivated people who have set goals (unlike the majority of Americans) and an extremely patriotic bunch who seem to value and understand the concepts of free enterprise better than most in this country. I have met successful folks who used to be janitors, teachers, surgeons, and every other occupation under the sun, and they all have a dream to be better parents, citizens, business people and spend more time with their families. In that sense, Amway is probably the most egalitarian business opportunity in this country.

I must say, I looked at this business 8 times before I decided to join, because I didn't understand the BIG PICTURE. And if I had read your Web page during those years I would have agreed with many of your statements. But when I realized that the only thing these folks wanted was more financial security, opportunity, and self-respect it made perfect sense to me. I will go over 2500 in a month, and I'm having the time of my life. I don't cheat or deceive anyone; if I did I would feel that I've let my fellow distributors down, because that's not what this business is about.

The personal and business benefits of the motivational materials are great; I have always read and listened to educational materials, and they have made me a better person. Amway has simply opened up another vault in that area, and I'm grateful. If I don't make another penny in Amway, it will have been worth it. I've met some wonderful friends in this business, and I wish everyone in this country had the opportunity to attend one of the major functions. Most folks in this country just get beat up all the time, with no goals and noone helping them along. In this business we help eachother, and I'm sorry if people have a problem with that.

Lastly, I've never been forced to do anything I didn't want in Amway. It DOES cost money to run the business at first, and if you're not committed you WILL fall out. But that's the case in any business. At least in this business, you have the opportunity to be as big as you want; you can earn far more than your uplines, if you work hard. How many employees can say that about THEIR jobs?

Sir, I would love to have you in my group. Your energy, when faced with a task, seems boundless. It just disappoints me that it is spent bashing a great opportunity, instead of working at becoming a success. I wish nothing but the best for you, and best of luck to all present and future distributors. You ARE winners, and you CAN do it!

First off, to speak from MY perspective. I personally am not in amway, my friend however is. Not only is he in amway but he just went direct. This of course means that he is making a decent amount of money for doing quite little.

>From what ive seen, Id say that the amway project DOES work. After all they set out to be a business that makes the best cleaning products, and IMO See-Spray is unparalleled for cleaning just about anything.

Therefore, Id say that your efforts that you've put into this page are generally wasted. (whats more you need to learn HTML ;} your pages suck =P)

Now, for my friend Georges opinion.

>From experience I must say that Amway works. The people who complain are the ones with no insight in the corporation. People who do not understand should keep their mouths shut. Discouragement is not necessary, my experience (both in the field of business and Amway) is that people who get discouraged by other people who don't know generally endup missing out on a good thing.

(Back to me)

You can reply if you want to but chances are that your reply will go to /dev/null with the other junk from my mailbox (incase you arent aware /dev/null is a null device under unix.)

Thank you for your efforts and courage in maintaining the "Amway: The Untold Story" website.

As an ex-Amway distributor, with my marriage and family life intact, I consider myself to be a "winner", not a "loser". I applaud those ex-distributors who decided that a stable marriage and family life is more important that seeking Amway riches.

I was actively involved in Amway for a little less than two years. I read the books, listened to the tapes, purchased the Amway products, attended the seminars and rallies, went to the major functions, and generally tried to build a thriving Amway business. In exchange for my hard work, I:

1. Alienated my wife, family, and friends;

2. Disrupted my family life;

3. Spent little time with my children;

4. Became addicted to motivational tapes;

5. Bought inferior Amway products against the wishes of my wife; and

6. Became a different person.

I did take a sabattical from the business for about four months in 1996 but immediately returned to building the business. My wife, who intially tolerated my Amway business, eventually grew to hate every aspect of the business and in turn hate me.

From a kind, involved husband, father, and friend, I mutated into an Amway monster, only concerned with dreams of material wealth (cars and vacations) and getting my next fix of standing order tapes. My wife tried to reason with me without success. The only real emotional contact we had were frequent, emotionally charged arguments.

Instead of turning to me for emotional support, my wife relied on her parents and friends. We tried counseling, but I was not willing to compromise on Amway nor acknowledge its harmful influence on my life.

To proect herself form my Amway madness, my wife turned away from me and prepared for a life after divorce. In February, 1996, our lives were only connected by our children. Just before my wife was going to ask me to move out, she gave a book on Amway entitled "Amway, The Cult Of Free Enterprise", by Steven Butterfield. That book, along with some information on the "real" money in Amway (sale of tapes and books) convinced me that the Amway business and way of life was not for me. I gave up my Amway business that day without any regrets.

I thank my wife for standing up to me and taking drastic action to save our marriage.

Now that I have been away from the Amway business for over a year, I can offer the following suggestions on anyone interested or currently involved in Amway:

1. Read the pro-Amway and anti-Amway sites on the Internet;

2. Talk to current and ex-Amway distributors about their experiences;

3. Do price comparisons on the Amway products;

4. Listen to several motivational tapes to see if you like the emphasis on religion and material wealth;

5. Ask your potential sponsor or current upline how much "net income" they made in 1996 and the first six months of 1997 (if they refuse, wonder why), how much money they spend per month on tools, how much time they spend per week on the business, and for a written list of pros and cons on operating an Amway business; and

6. Listen to the concerns and comments of your spouse, family and friends.

Sydney, I will be sending you additional comments in the future. Thanks again for your informative website.

Hello Sydney,

I got a real kick out of reading your latest responses, particularly brainless "John" in section 34 and your "argumentative" friend in section 35. Talk about missing the point entirely (at least they provided me with the inspiration for my e-mail "subject" entry).

It seems that the Amborg are getting desperate from the increased animosity in their replies- maybe your webpage is having an impact in their efforts to "assimilate" into their constipated collective.

BTW, I recently had another encounter with a "Going Diamond Soon". Well, GDS approached me in a bookstore near my work and proceeded to give me the spiel. He actually seemed like a nice person (besides the ambabble), so I agreed to meet with him later in the week to hear him out. Little did he know that I was well armed with the facts, and feeling the desire to play a little "lone ranger" a la Russel Glasser, I wanted to try and help GDS recover from his debilitating affliction. A few days later we met at a coffee shop and after quite a bit of verbal dodging on his part, he finally gave me the real numbers - what his actual expenses are (apparently they are not supposed to EVER talk about this, but I was persistent). I then helped him to do a profit and loss statement for last month (May) and then extrapolated what this business has really cost him. We estimated that after the bonus check (or his portion thereof) subtracted from the tapes, books, videos, gas, phone bill, functions, etc. he has sustained an average net loss of over $300.00 per month during past 3 years he has been "core" for a grand total of almost $11,000! And this doesn't even take into account the "savings" of his personal use purchases. I then asked him if he were to sell this business, how much did he think he would get for it (if anyone were foolish enough to buy a business with this kind of financial record). I guess you can answer that one for yourself.

Saved another one.

P.S. Just wanted to let you know that someone does appreciate the trouble you took to create this site - keep up the good work!

Hi! Just a short note to state that the Amway business to me makes very much sense. It is a very logical approach to business using nothing more than an alternative form of distribution. All I do is redirect the way I spend my money on consummables and services by using the Amway Corporation's network not only on the 400+ Amway manufactured products, but on many of the other 6,500 products through the other 1,000 companies that do business with Amway. I save lots of time in shopping, and in most instances I save some money. Since I am a professional business person, my time is very valuable, and the time I save in shopping is worth much more than a few dollars on the pricing, plus most products carry a 100% guarantee. I would hope that everyone feels their own time is valuable. I develop my network by doing nothing more than sharing the same logical and common sense approach to buying your products. The tax advantages of owning your own business in a "home based" environment are also very positive. Since it is a business of people, you can't control what people do and say. Just talk to someone in the "used car dealer profession" or the "attorney field". Thank you.

hi

you need help

first, thank you very much for your www page. secondly, could you please fill me in on what INA is and their relationship to scAmway? we were recently approached by a couple who sold scAmway, but they claim they really work for INA and downplayed the whole scAmway thing. i'm not having much success finding INA info on the www. thanks!

My name is *, and I would be very interested in what you experienced in Amway, and why you came to the conclusion that it was a cult. I have a cousin involved, and I am very concerned for her....

I am a Christian, and would like to know of a good way to approach the problem.Thank you very much,

Dear Mr. Schwartz,

My name is *, and I felt compelled to email you after spending considerable time perusing your web site. I attended an informal meeting at the home of an acquaintance from school tonight about an "exciting business opportunity" and found out they were talking about Amway. There was the guy from school, and two friends (who upon reflection turned out to be his "uplines") They talked to me for about an hour and a half about "Britt Worldwide" and didnt mention Amway until the last ten minutes or so. I listened to their spiel, and even borrowed one of their "kits" because I was genuinely interested in learning about Amway, not so much because I wanted to be involved with it, but more because I had only heard vague stories and rumours about it and I wanted to see inside the thing for myself. I listened to part of one of the tapes on the ride home, and on it was a couple who were going on and on about how they had made sacrifices investing in this business, and endured hardships for a little while, and now were living in the lap of luxury. Anyway, when I got home I started surfing the web for Amway and Britt Worldwide. Thats when I found your site. After looking at the links for about three hours, I decided that maybe I should check some other spots out because even though the evidence was compelling, you could always be some disgrunted psycho, right?! At any rate, all of the other (non-Amway produced) sites both here and abroad tended to reflect what you had to one degree or another. The bottom line is that I think you have done a fantastic job providing factual, concise, and insightful information about what is really going on concerning Amway. I immediately recognized "Britt Worldwide" as being an entity of William Britt, one of the big-boys of Amway, and also remembered many of the things which had been said to me at the meeting and related them to what was on your website. I wanted you to know that I used your site and found it to be extremely informative, and I feel that you are doing a public service and deserve to be commended. I hope my testimonial helps to bolster you in your convictions, and in some small way provides you with a sense of reward for your obvious hard work and expertise in creating the site. Thanks again!