Amway: The Untold Story

I had to drop a note, I don't surf the net often, but you Need to hear my thoughts

I have found my friends have something in common, softball, volleyball, computers, internet, motorcycles, etc.. I have been an Amway distributor for over 4 years. I also have a college education and own my own business. My income puts me in the top 5% of the US. I am not a stupid person. I want to help you with two topics: friends and Tools.

Friends: I was introduced to the Amway business after college and I was working 80 hours a week in the computer field. That could have cost me my marriage; however, I don't see any web pages slamming hard working computer people that devote their time to their job and lose the friends and family because they are reading garbage on the internet until 2AM or working late at the office. People lose friends when they move to a new neighborhood, don't see any web pages crying about U-Haul ruining America because they were involved in helping my friends move away. Get a Grip. People are constantly changing and should change, if you are not, you have problems. When I saw the Amway business it was a vehicle I could drive, it would help me get from point A to point B faster. I could make money and work smart not hard. People are all going to work for MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, of course they are they need it. I suppose someone should set up a web page for socialism and stop the US Free Enterprise system because we all think about money, Get a Grip!! You all make money, and people make money off of your efforts, the bank is making money off of your mortgage and building marble buildings, NSP is making money on the juice running my computer right now, etc.. When you buy a car, somebody is making money. With Amway, I simply make the profits Walmart, Target, Cub, Rainbow Foods, and Kmart would be taking to the bank. That is smart not cult. My friends were not smart enough to get paid to consume from themselves, therefore, we did not have a common bond or interest. I have friends with common interests, bringing their spouse home from work, raising their own kids, not puting an ear tag on them and hearding them through daycare like cattle and they come home telling pregnant nun jokes. Things in common, like reading books to improve themselves and their marriages. Not sucking their thumb surfing the Web or watching the 19" sewage pipe TV, pour trash into their homes. Life is not watching TV, Surfing the net, Pornography, etc. Life is dealing with people and helping them succeed.

Tools: When I went to college, I can't speak for you, I paid alot of money for books, and tuition. I studied hard for 4 years and graduated. I then qualified for a job after all the training I paid for to learn a trade in the computer field. Amway has tools that are just like the books I bought in college and the tapes I listen to are other successful Distributors. If I was a CPA and could pay $6.00 for a tape by a successful CPA that would help me build my business, I would be a fool not to purchase it, Or I could cry about the money he is making on the tape. I could have cried and set up a Web page when the college charged me $65 for a book and said, somebody is making money here. I could of quit and got dred locks and wandered the streets with a sign about unfair profits on colleges making money. Colleges are a business, they make profits and pay people, and when a student leaves they make money because of the experience. Sound familiar, alot like Amway, Colleges were around long before Amway, Businesses were around long before Amway, and people were making huge profits in steal, automobiles, railroad etc.. Amway has tools to help us build our business, If you had a clue with reality, you would pay $20 for a tape with a successful person telling you how he helped thousands of others succeed and then he succeeded. It is so simple, Amway is good and is helping so many people in a positive way, there are bad car sales people and bad distributors, don't judge Ford because a local dealer had a sales person that was pushy. You all need to read some books, shut of the TV and associate with others that are going where you want to go, not people that are negative, desparate, swinging in the dark because they are so miserable in their life, they must drag everyone down around them. I know the people crying they lost their friend are just upset their friend had the guts to get up and move on down the road of success and left them crying and holding a blanket wondering who they were going to play Doom with on Monday Nights. Get a grip and wake up to the real world. God bless you and I pray for you, you are not helping people, Amway is.

Hey Sidney,

I just noticed that Amway is advertising in the Yahoo category:

Business and Economy: Products and Services: Business Opportunities: Multi-Level Marketing: Amway: Consumer Opinion

Which is one of the categories you end up seeing when you do a search on 'Amway' using the Yahoo search engine.

I love it! I run a site, and Yahoo is responsible for most of my hits. If your experience is similar, that means that Amway is subsidizing the very organization (Yahoo) responsible for most of your hits! (hits on 'Amway: The Untold Story')

Amway is getting almost as good at shooting itself in the foot as Apple!

Keep up the good work Sidney!

allll righty then.

now i am not going to get all worked up and angry and pissed off at people, because i am not that sort of person.

just a few things i would like to point out.

firstly, those of you who have a problem with people dreaming, people setting goals, people wanting to be financially independant and have the TIME to spend the money, that's fine. bloody ludicrous but fine.

i am not even in the business yet, because i am too young, but i kinda like the idea of being retired by the time im 30.

second point, how has amway actually HARMED people. people say "ohh you're using your friends to make money" or "awww its a sham its not real" or "its a cult..get out before its too late". i believe that each an every one of these comments are done by people who have either failed, or arent willing to get in. keep that shit to yourself.

i personally cannot WAIT to get up there, on the stage, in front of hunderds of people and say " I DID IT!" i cannot wait for the day i walk in to buy a bmw and pay for it with CASH. i cannot WAIT to have a positive lifestyle, have time to go every where and not have to get up 4:30am to get ready to go to work as i do now.

as for people who splutter at the fact that we all think everyone in amway are friendly, i have to say that i am pretty damn angry at a helluva lot of people who have backstabbed my dad up until now. and the both times he was in the business he was surrounded by happy people, the only TRUE friends he has had, not one of them have come back to hurt him. i have to laugh at all you people with web pages such as this one, all you are doing is scoffing a tpositive people, positive lifestyles, which can only come from jealousy.

what is the harm in trying the business? if it DOES work, would you not rather that than being say a garbage collector or a store owner? i know, we used to own a shop. hell it is *so* much fun working 7 days a week without being paid.

i'd like to make one more point, to all those who think that people up top make money from people down the bottom. what where they always up there? do you think for one second that they never were down the bottom themselves? they worked hard to get where they are. what do you think of your boss? if you work for someone, dont you think they get money out of employing you? if they didnt, why would they have you there. and if you are a boss yourself, then you are exactly like all those people up at the top. except when they retire, they will still be earning an income. you won't.

to all you who think this is a scam, fine keep it to yourself, others dont want to be influenced by your negativty.

to all of you in the business, i aint even in yet, but all i can say to you is BELIEVE in yourselves. you CAN do it, and listen out for me speaking on a tape one day :o)

as for your charming counter, well done. smart bastard.

Hello:

My name is * and both my husband and I joined Amway a year ago. We are both successful and as a result I have retired from my job and anticipate my husband retiring from his next year. We do not consider this business a cult, but an ethical and Christian based business opportunity that has helped us and many others financially. Our upline are Charlie and Dale Krazit (Diamond Directs from Ocala, Florida) and they have shown their love and support to us through our journey in becoming financially independent and are helping us become free from the everyday rat race of home to work, work to home. The Amway business is not a money sucking machine but a company that teaches how to be successful through books, tapes and functions. It produces a Diamond (six figure income) every other two days and it is the number one growing business in China. Yes we spend some money in the education of Amway but I also spend over $50,000.00 to get a college degree that has not made me financially independent but it sure has made me broke at a higher level. Education is not free and believe me I have learned more from my teachers in Amway (tapes and functions) than I learned in school. It is a shame that people are soo negative against Amway and have the misconception that it is a cult and a door to door retail (soap) business. We have over 20,000 products and services that no one can touch and according to Bill Yates (author of The Road Ahead) Amway is way ahead of its time. We only show people how to switch where they shop, we show them how to save money with their everyday mundane products (shampoo, toilet paper, body soap, toothpaste, etc.) because they are highly concentrated plus they have the convenience of getting it delivered to their home. You will see that in the years to come many stores will be going out of business (they ready are starting too, look at some of our malls) and catalog in home shopping is the wave of the future due to people's busy schedules.

"If you want a thing bad enough to go out and fight for it, to work day and night for it, to give up your time, your peace and your sleep for it… if all that you dream and scheme is about it, and life seems useless and worthless without it… if you gladly sweat for it and frey for it and plan for it and lose all your terror of the opposition for it… if you simply go after that thing you want with all your capacity, strength and sagacity, faith, hope and confidence and stern pertinacity… if neither cold, poverty, famine, nor gout, sickness nor pain, of body and brain, can keep you away from the thing that you want… if dogged and grim you bessech and beset it, with the help of God, you WILL get it"!!!

LES BROWN

Live your Dreams.

We are starting to live our dreams and we will let no one stop us from getting that dream. Others have done and so will we and for those who are skeptical and ignorant to what Amway can do to their lives I just have pity and feel sorry for them because they will leave this world without living their dreams and seeing the fruits of hard labor paying off (40 year working career). We refuse to retire and live with a third of what are salaries are, we refuse to work for 40 years and not live life to its fullest while we are young, we refuse to conform ourselves with leftovers and we refuse to not share our international network marketing plan with those who want to march forth and are willing to face the challenges this business presents. We relish every minute of our lives and we plan to take life on and march forth and live our dreams.

HI,

MY SECOND TIME HERE....MR SCHWARTZ, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF FROM ALL TRUTH AND HONESTY? CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND POST IT IN THIS WEB. WE'LL BE GLADLY HAPPY IF WE WILL KNOW YOU MORE.

CAN YOU ALSO TELL US WHAT IS YOUR FAMILY BACKGROUND? DID ANYONE HURT YOU SINCE YOUR CHILDHOOD? CAN YOU PUT ON YOUR PAGE WHAT IS THE MAIN REASON FOR DOING THIS THINGS? IS SOMEONE BOTHERING YOUR MINDS? IS SOMEONE BOTHERING YOUR HEART? SIR, WHY?

SIR, DO YOU HAVE A DREAM? DO YOU AGREE WITH ME THAT IF A PERSON LOST THERE DREAM OR NOT DREAMING AT ALL OF THEIR FUTURE IS LIKE A DEAD PERSON? WHAT IS YOUR DREAM? CAN YOU TELL US YOUR DREAM?

IF YOU CAN ANSWER ALL OF THIS THINGS AND PUT YOUR ANSWER BELOW THIS LETTER THEN I'LL WILL BELIEVE IN YOU. IF YOU WILL NOT INCLUDE THIS LETTER OF MINE AND NOT POST IT IN YOUR WEB SITE THEN I WILL NOT BELIEVE IN YOU. I ALSO HAVE ACCESS IN THE NET AND I ALSO HAVE A WEB SITE IF YOU WILL NOT ANSWER MY QUESTION THEN I'LL POST THIS ON MY SITE AND MAKE IT A PRO AMWAY SITE NEXT TO YOU.

AND TO ALL THE PERSON WHO WRITES ABOUT LOSING THEIR MARRIAGE, THIS IS MY ADVISE…YOU'VE LOST YOUR MARRIAGE BECAUSE IT'S YOUR FAULT ALONE NOT ANYONE ELSE. DON'T BLAME SOMEONE OF IT.

I AM ALSO A FATHER, I LOVE MY SON AND MY WIFE. LOVING THEM FOR ME IS THE FIRST THING AND THIS WORLD AND 2ND WILL BE ACHIEVING THEIR DREAM....

SO SIR, AND TO ALL… HAVE A DREAM AND WORK FOR IT.

REGARDS AND TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

HI,

3RD TIME HERE.

YOUR HEART IS FULL OF HATE! YOUR WORLD IS FULL OF HATE! SOMEDAY HATE WILL DESTROY YOU! MY ONLY QUESTION IS WHY?

THIS PAGE IS NOT AN INFORMATION PAGE BUT A HATE PAGE AND YOU USE BANNER LIKE THE POWER OF FIRST AMENDMENTS AND THE POWER OF INTERNET FOR WHAT?

WHAT TO GLORY OF A HATE PAGE? THERE'S NO GLORY HERE. ALL IS DESTRUCTION. YOUR TIME IS WASTED ON HATE!!! IF YOU CAN ONLY USE YOUR TIME AND KNOWLEDGE OF MAKING A WEB PAGE FOR GOOD AND YOUR TIME AND LOVE FOR YOUR FAMILY THEN ALL OF US WELL SURELY CLAP OUR HANDS IN YOU. I'M SURE JUST LIKE MY SECOND LETTER THIS WILL NOT BE PUBLISH IN YOUR COMMENTARIES.

MY ADVISE TO YOU IS LOVE YOUR FAMILY, IF YOU HAVE KIDS LOVE YOUR KIDS DON'T GAVE THEM HATE ADVISES. IF YOU ARE MARRIED LOVE YOUR WIFE WITH ALL YOUR HEART. THEN IF YOU'LL DO THIS YOU WILL OVERCOME ALL THINGS THAT ARE HINDERING YOUR LIFE. HATE WILL DISSAPEAR IN YOUR HEART BY PRACTICING LOVE.

STILL WAITING FOR YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND FAMILY BACKGROUND THAT YOU WILL PUT ON THIS PAGE.

I don't believe in you anymore. you don't publish my letter to you. maybe you ignore it.anyway i'll tell all my friends about it and my countrymen regarding the mail that i sent to you before.

Now i got you,.you only served your self alone not to help people who are starving to death everyday. about the lawsuit in proctor in gamble. to hell with them. from the beginning i don't use a proctor and gamble products anyway. and your pyramid scheme i tell you who is the reachest person in the proctor in gamble it is the owner who got richer and richer and the simple employee like a janitor do you think they get richer. nope. now who's the pyramid. Amway gives us a dream to help people reach their dream.

anyway may you find peace in your heart your mind and in your soul. It's full of hatred and garbage.

[At least he eventually figured out how to work his "caps lock" key…]

Dear Mr. Schwartz,

Several of your respondents have complained that Amway has ruined their marriages. I've also heard people claim that Amway saved their marriages, by giving them a common enterprise and/or relieving financial strains. Personally I don't believe either one. I think that if two people are fundamentally compatible, they will respond harmoniously (both positively or both negatively) to Amway, to a particular religion, political party, or any organization with a unique ideological slant. If they are not compatible, then sooner or later their divergent responses will expose and widen the underlying cracks in the foundation of their relationship, and they will end up parting company. Better sooner than later, and they should be grateful to Amway if it happens to be the catalyst that spares them and their progeny additional unnecessary years of discord.

As you know, I appreciate your site. I believe that you may have saved more families from divorce and insolvency than any other site on the web.

I want to give you a chronology of a trip to Dream Night weekend, which was put on by the Yager organization in Louisville, Kentucky.

This was a fairly inexpensive function which cost $400 to go without my wife.

I flew into Louisville from Oklahoma City with some of my uplines. I shared a room on Friday and Saturday with my immediate upline as well as a couple from a different group. The hotel room was the highlight of the trip as the woman portion of the couple liked to sleep nude.

Dream Night took place Friday night and all Saturday at the Commonwealth Convention Center.

Friday Night (7 p.m. to 1 a.m.):

David King: He is a motivational speaker with cerebral palsy. He said, "Don't whine but shine." He said his life changed when he loved himself. He said, "Loving is giving; giving is loving." He got a standing ovation.

-- Criticism: It should be obvious that there is nothing original in these comments.

Christian singer: Interestingly enough, this singer said she likes Disney songs. So, she said she wrote a Disneyesque song. It sounded nothing like any Disney song. She sang an anti-abortion song. She told a story about Chuck Colson - apparently they are friends.

-- Criticism: At any Dexter Yager function, you will be bombarded with two thoughts - anti-abortion and pro-Republican.

Jerry and Penny Sutton: They are in the business. They said, "Obstacles are those things that you see when you take your eyes off your goal." They stressed teaching "the why." Set goals.

-- Criticism: Set goals? And, these people claim to make the big bucks? You are led to believe that you will get special knowledge by going to a big function that you cannot get anywhere else. Surprise. There is none. Downlines in Amway are kind of like the Alchemists who desperately sought the philosopher's stone that turned ordinary metals into gold. Downlines know better at some level of their intellect but they will keep coming back and pushing their money into Dexter Yager's hands because they are desperate. The desperation might arise from the embarrassment of possibly failing in the Amway business, from financial desperation or from another source.

Randy and Valirie Haugen: They said, "This business will make you more money than you are smart enough to make." Valerie said, "Stay focused… If you are not sold out to the dream, then the dream stealers will take your dream." Randy said, "Love, think and dream… If you seek acceptance from normal people, then something is wrong with you… Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile dream."

-- Criticism: I paid $400 for this crap? Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does."

C.L. Foster: C.L. announces a promotion for leased Cadillacs.

-- Criticism: Want to get in on the drawings. You got to get depth and width to one of the next big functions.

Saturday (10 a.m. to 3 a.m.):

Randy and Valerie Haugen: Valerie said, "You must visualize Diamond before you can achieve it." Randy said, "Establish a work ethic… Do you want to be rich or do you want to be right?… With mental constipation, there is very little movement."

-- Criticism: With mental constipation, there is very little movement? Give the man a cigar.

Motivational speaker from Dale Carnegie: He said, "You've got to do the right things the right way."

-- Criticism: Duh? And, this guy is a professional at motivating people?

Billy and Peggy Florence: They introduced a new product from Dexter Yager to help you build your business.

-- Criticism: This is one of the big bait and switch maneuvers that goes on at Dexter Yager events. First, they bombard you with little pearls of wisdom that you've surely heard some place else many times in the past. Then, they say we've got this new motivational product. Remember, you are yearning for some special knowledge you can take back home to help you build this busines. You aren't getting it from the speakers. So, guess what? Dexter Yager has a new product for sale that we'll tease you about so you'll be led to believe is something that you can actually take home with you so your trip and $400 won't be a total waste. In essence, you rush to buy the new motivational product.

Roland and Molly Hughes: "A promotion is a trick to make you be doing what you ought to be doing anyway." Roland said, "This is a business of life speeded up."

-- Criticism: I don't like promotions. My life flies by fast enough without Amway speeding it up.

At this point, you can see that there is nothing great happening here. Speakers such as Jeff Yager, Tom Payne, Ron Ball, Dominic and Pat Congilero, the Florences and Birdie Yager followed.

The evening ended with:

Dexter Yager: Dexter comes out and gives his talk where he explains that if your not successful in Amway you need to look into your soul. Are you pro-choice? Well, you must be pro-life or else you are against God. Are you a Democrat? Well, you must change to being a Republican or you are against God. You cannot be successful unless you are with Dexter on abortion and partisan politics.

-- Criticism: Dexter started speaking after midnight. This day started at 10 a.m. with a short break in the afternoon then started up again at 7 p.m. You are tired. Dexter knows this. Your mind is susceptible to manipulation. Dexter knows this. There is a big reason that Dexter does not come on at 10 a.m. in the morning when you are fresh. He does not want to inform; he wants to manipulate.

-- Summary of criticism: If you want to get motivated, then read your Bible. If you are a Christian, then the Pauline letters can be incredibly inspirational. Read a biography. They can be inspirational. Take your children to the park. Take your wife to dinner and a movie. Go to church and drop $400 in the offering plate. If you do these things, you will be in a much better spiritual, emotional and financial state than if you go to one function put on by an Amway motivational organization.

Is money what you want? Get a good education in a career field for which demand exists. Get a good job with good benefits that includes pension benefits. Seek the counsel of persons who are self-made millionares. Pick any area of business but network marketing. Network marketing, according to one study I've read, produces less millionaires per capita than any other area of business.

Of course, money does not necessarily equate with wealth. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus was the most content being ever on Earth. Please remember, Jesus was a carpenter. I think it interesting that God did not make him a rich royal but a lowly carpenter. Clearly, in the eyes of God, the accumulation of money does not indicate anything positive about a person's spiritual life.

(Mr. Schwartz, I apologize for the length, but I think this may shed some light on big functions. Thank you again for your efforts.)

Subject: Amway Anonymous

Any idea why such an org hasn't been formed yet? Seems like high time one was.

Mr. Schwartz:

My wife and I were actively involved in Amway for six years, during one of the really big "boom times" in the early eighties (1980 - 1986), reaching a level of Silver Producer in 1983. It's amazing to me that the problems we at last realized were intrinsic to Amway are still there. (Except Standing Order Tape was a LOT cheaper in 1986, only $3.95 per tape, if I recall.)

We got involved at the height of some of the worst economic times in recent history, the early 80's recession under Carter/Reagan. We truly believed that our only ticket out of our "dead-end jobs" was the business. We bought this hook, line, and sinker. We showed at least one hundred people the marketing plan, and actually had a pretty decent retail business going.

On paper, our best year was the last one, when we were in the process of leaving the business and buying our first home from our upline Emeralds. (Funny - they left for Arizona under rather mysterious circumstances. I understand they've returned to Illinois. I hope I never see them again in this lifetime.) We made about $200.00 that last year, mainly through retail sales. It was the ONLY year we ever made a profit. The other five years, we lost several thousand dollars.

We were faithful followers of the Worldwide Diamond Association (WDA). We attended innumerable functions from Missouri to Florida, bought thousands of dollars in tapes and books, and supported the organization line as well as we could. But the fact that we were not avid Christians made us somewhat uncomfortable, especially as we had sponsored several Jewish downlines who were even more uncomfortable at weekend "non-denominational" devotionals. (Both of us are now agnostic, not indirectly from seeing how easy it is to brainwash people into accepting Jesus as their personal saviour at these functions.)

We were also really bad at sponsoring. Try as we might, we could never completely remove that little particle of doubt from our brains and hearts that the business was truly worthwhile, and that probably leaked thru to our prospects. That could have stemmed from our experience with some truly inconsistent and unethical behavior:

- An upline direct (a policeman) who was out doing meetings, etc. during the day and evening when he was supposed to be home recuperating from an injury he received in the line of duty. This same gentleman once exhorted me to "hit 4000 PV" by attempting to lift me from my feet by grabbing my ears and pulling hard -- in full view of my wife and several other distributors. I was later encouraged to "make up" with him for the sake of my business.

- An even further upline direct (another policeman) who regularly put on lavish breakfast meetings for $25 and $30 per plate for Sunday guest speakers (his cost: $4.50 per head). This same direct used PV transfers to "make" several Pearls in his organization. (Is this scam still being used?)

- Yet another direct admonish all of us who had just spent $85 per head at a professional leadership gathering to "forget all that garbage" and just keep showing everyone the plan -- after the conference revealed that our upline and sideline diamonds regularly excluded people from consideration for the franchise because they simply didn't have the basic skills to run a sales organization or a business.

When we finally figured out we were never going to make it, we quit. And, gosh, we are such pitiful, dream-busted, broke, pathetic losers now. We own two homes (one a vacation home on a lake in Wisconsin, even nicer than my upline Diamond's). We drive two nice cars (not brand new, but who needs all that depreciation? Cf. "The Millionare Next Door.") We each have excellent careers in the software industry, with more work than we can possibly hope to do in the next few years, and excellent prospects for the next ten years at least. And our net worth is rapidly approaching millionaire status. We are not bragging. These are absolute, provable facts.

We have to say categorically that leaving the business was the absolute best business decision we ever made. I will go head-to-head with anyone who claims that Amway is "the only game in town." Anyone who wants more details, feel free to e-mail me at *. For you who are anticipating leaving the business, we can talk over what's bothering you about the current trends in Amway. I have some historical perspective. FYI, it hasn't changed at all! Just keep repeating: "The money is in books, tapes, and functions. The money is in books, tapes, and functions." Make that your mantra, and you too can be cured. ;-)

Special note to all you Amdroids out there who think I'm "negative": C'mon, here's your chance to tell me what a pathetic, broke, dream-stealing, stinkin'-thinkin' loser I am! We can even compare balance sheets! Just be sure to include ALL your income, including any or all tax-free cash you've received. Warning: threats, poor grammar, or even one misspelled word is grounds for immediate deletion of your e-mail. (To paraphrase one of my favorite films, "The Shawshank Redemption": "You can SPELL, can't you -- you ignorant <expletive>?" But you probably haven't seen the movie because you've been out doing meetings again. You might want to check it out -- it's about personal freedom while being imprisoned.) :->

Sidney:

I cannot specifically remember whether a direct connection was discussed. However, we were told Dexter and the Florences were among the top contributors to Gospel Films.

Just yesterday, we received a letter and receipt for our contribution from Gospel Films. The letter basically thanks us for our contribution and asks for more. Billy Zeoli, the president, signed the letter. Billy Zeoli is the person who spoke regarding Gospel Films at the "Reunion".

Listed at bottom of letter is the Board of Directors. Chairman is Richard DeVos, Vice-Chairman - Doug DeVos, Members - Bill Britt, Dexter Yager and others. I will be glad to fax you a copy of this letter if you E-Mail me your fax #.

Please keep me informed (if not personally, though the web page) of your findings on Gospel Films. It really messes up my mind that these people could use the name of Jesus Christ to further their own "dreams" and greediness. I sincerely hope you prove this is not the case.

Again, thanks.

steve hassan's site has moved to: http://www.shassan.com/

I dig your site. I've been watching friends and family fall for all that transparent Amway crap for years.

A suggestion that you apparently have heard before: Why don't you include a bit of personal info? I only read most of one page of letters, but I saw quite a few similar requests. Do you belive that posting personal info might sully your message in some way?

Thanks for the laughs.

Hello, a friend of your referred me to your site * (I cc'ed his website email info address. My wife and I were just presented one of the latest methods scamway is selling itself. As ILD International Leadership Development, I personally got sucked into Amway back in 1983 and dropped out a few months later when I could see no advantage in prices - so I have no intention of ever becoming involved again, compliments to your website as well as my experience. We are looking for tools to help my part time business in computer repair and had no idea we were inviting an Amway rep. into our home.

After seeing the latest presentation I had a nagging question, which I do not plan to ask the Amway rep. - Would not the supposed savings diminish as time passes? In other words, as more people join in on buying products even if the number of people is infinite, would not the costs of paying the up-line remove the profit, especially since the $$$ keeps coming even after let's say a diamond dies? They advertise they are getting rid of the jobber and wholesaler but won't this eventually be more expensive since a jobber and wholesaler get paid a single rate? Or have I totally missed something? There seems to be a great disparity with Amway's or any MLM when you look at it this way.

If you don't object I may post a link to your site on mine, you spell out very well why no one should get into an MLM. My site is a Christian site dedicated to exposing the truth. The horrible damage Amway and other MLMs have done in churches even, are deserving some exposing…keep up the good work.

Thanks for any assistance.

Mr.Schwartz,

I was just wondering if anyone brought to your attention the contents of the last two AMAGRAMS. The June'97 issue features the Yager's on the front cover as well as the lead article describing them and their recieving of the 'Founders Distinguished Service Award'. The July'97 issue has a SIXTEEN page insert from Britt Worldwide, describing, among other things, Seminar and Rally locations.

This to me is fairly bizzare. Amway doesn't seem to be distancing itself from these 'blackhats' whatsoever. Indeed, the last two Amagrams seem to be praising the Yager's and endorsing Bill Britt.

footnote: I have been a distributor since 1987, A.D.A. #*, and in the Britt line of sponsership. As a result of studying your site, as well as others, I am OUT. I will not be renewing in '98. I don't even want to buy their products anymore. I am officially declaring myself to be 'negative' on Amway. It feels like the fog has lifted. And that's a good thing. Thanks Sidney.

P.S. Here's a real deal for you: (from the back of the July '97 issue)

Cleansing Gel, 'Grooming Gear' shave creme and Alpha Hydroxy Serum (whatever the h*** that means). First you cleanse with the gel, then you shave, then you moisturize with the Alpha stuff. Suggested retail: ONLY $67.45cnd!!! Plus GST, PST and 4% shipping comes to a mere $79.59.

Can you imagine trying to sell that to anyone other than an Amway distributor?!

But as the incredibly fortunate Amway distributors that we are, Amway in it's infinite generosity, makes available to us the:

Artistry Straight Talk Video: Alpha Hydroxy Serum/Men's Skin Care Which they are practically giving away at $18.50. I am assuming that it will help us to sell lots and lots of the Gel/Creme/Serum package's providing we can find enough cognitively impaired customers to sell to.

Am I starting to sound bitter? Please stop me if I am.

I was approached as a prospect for the first time by an Amway distributer last week. This is kind of long, but I am amazed at the level of programming that my friend has been through. I was immediatly skeptical when meeting my "friend", but I decided to play along with his presentation due to personal curiousity about pyramid and mlm's. When meeting with him and his girlfriend, i noticed that he seemed much different than a year ago when i last saw him. anyway, I did what they weren't expecting and did my own research after their first presentation, leading me to your site and others like it. We met again last night, and I knew what questions to ask.

1. What can possibly be so valuable on those tapes that i would need two per week at $7 each [knowing that their upline makes $ on it…]?

Answer: You can't do business without them. Without the tapes, you won't know how to show the plan, how to contact the upline, [ever heard of a phone???], etc. The tapes are a great pick-me-up, they said, and they are great to just listen to the diamonds.

My mental response: I am a motivated person already. Why do I need to listen to some rich guy for an hour a week telling me to smile and be a "go-getter". And do you think that I am stupid enough to need a tape to run a business?? And why exacly is everyone in your upline so great? The information on this web site about how they edify their upline is so true. My friend said it was teh most asweome thing in his life to be able to sit in the fifth row at a rally, and actually see the face of the diamond speaking. Wait a second.. aren't these supposed to be about exchanging business techniques and learning how to improve business??

2. Come on, is it really going to be 10 hours a week?

Answer: 10 hours max!

My mental response: During the meeting, they tried to get me to go to two meetings next week (1.5 hour drive each way, totaling 6 hours driving + meeting time) plus told me about a conference type thing. That leaves about 2 hours for actual work.. yeah right.

I hadn't listened to an Amway (internet, i guess) tape until after meeting 2. but during meeting #2, all i could think about was how much they sounded like the people on the web sites. They had the perfect answers to everything, although most of their answers were no answers at all… They had the perfect terms and phrases, such as "be a go-getter," etc. As an intelligent person, I decided that the only way they could have the perfect answers and rebuttles was if they had listened to tapes and been programed by their upline. And not only listen to the tapes, but do it repeatedly until the Amway philosophy was engrained in their head. It is sad.

Finally, I would like to give you som of my reasons for not wanting to become a part of Amway. The people are superficial - they seem kind on the surface but are sleezeballs underneath. They expoit relationships and are materialistic, and expect me to do the same. My friendships are worth a lot to me. Amway is assuming that my goal in life is to get rich quick (my friend said 100,000 in 6 months!) and to retire early. The Amway approach has insulted my intelligence, my judgement, and my moral beliefs. I have noticed large activity between the religious right and Amway - these people seem to contradict everything christianity stands for. I think they become involved in church for two reasons: to network (hey, everyone is a prospect!), and more importantly, to convince themselves that because they are churchgoers, they are moral and good. That couldn't be further from the truth. Amway disgusts me. If i want my own business, as they say i will have, i will do so to have complete independance and control of my business. Almost every aspect of Amway is flawed, and I have no intention of becoming a part of it.

Thanks for maintaining this site. Although i was naturally skeptical before seeing it, the information here gave me support and taught me a lot about what is going on behind the scenes. I hope more Amway prospects ahve Web access and are fortunate enough to run into your site.

Dear Mr. Schwartz,

I wanted to thank you for the obvious time and effort you have put into your web-site. I was a relatively in-active Amway distributor about 12 years ago and have recently been approached again to rejoin.

I think there are two metrics in which Amway can be measured. One is their MLM system, the other is the quality of the products.

I've always found Amway products to be solid. As an example, in July '97, Consumer Reports just rated the Amway Water Treatment System as the best in its category. Also, I'm happy to say, my parents are still using the water treatment system I sold them in the mid 80's.

The MLM system operates on up-line making money off of downline. This seems consistent with every other business I've seen. As an employee of a large defense corporation, recently, our CEO was just given a bonus of $1,000,000. It doesn't seem possible that he would manage that without the help of the 70,000 employees of the company.

In just about all cases, the higher-ups in main-stream corporations make more than the lower-downs. In theory, the higher-ups should be helping the lower-downs become successful. Amway is better set-up to work that way because for a distributor to make really good money, he has to help his downline become successful. It just doesn't make good business sense to send one's down-line into debt so that they quit and that more down-line has to be recruited. (Recruiting is the most un-appealing part of this business!)

I am truly sorry to read about all the people who have had bad experiences in Amway. My conclusion is that the Amway system is a good one, but there are some bad people involved. As a minor example, I can tell you that when approached by an Amway distributor this last time, I was told that the Amway Water Treatment System was rated #1 by Consumer Reports. Upon investigation, however, I can tell you that the system was rated the best in its category, and in fact, Consumers rated another product as the best-buy.

Perhaps people like yourself would like to see Amway come to an end. As I title this e-mail, "In search of the truth", I question whether Amway is good, but spoiled by some bad apples. Would we trash our constitution because of the corruption of Richard Nixon or Warren Harding? Of course not. Our system of gov't is good and it has survived. These people were not and are remembered in disgrace.

I always remember my experience in Amway as a positive one. Good products, people with integrity, and functions that helped me in my own career and have made me a more upbeat person.

There was some pressure to become more active and do more. I guess I remembered what Amway taught me… I'm involved in this because this is my business and I am my own boss. I would remind any current distributors feeling pressured by their up-line to remember that.

Thank you…

Why do you ONLY speak negative of AmWay ?
What is YOUR experience with it ?
Did all the positivenes in you leave ?
Did you look at the REAL facts and present them how they where really ment/said ? This since some statements can be taken extreemly positive.

In how many countries in the world does AmWay do business ?
And actually how many people are in AmWay ?

I guess you have a standard answer to this, so why don't you put it on your site ?

PS: Did you read * ISBN 0-9616416-0-6

* The Magic of Thinking BIG (David J. Schwartz, Ph.D.)

I attended the Crow Organization 'Dream Weekend' or 'Winter Conference" as it is called, the weekend of Dec 17, 95. Yes, Rich Devos was touted as the CEO and Bill and Dex were reported to be on the board of directors. I heard this at more than one 'major function' during 1995, though I would be hard pressed to tell you which ones. More than likely I heard it at FED Sep 2 95 in Richmond, VA also. Hope this helps.

P.S. What are your comments on the fact that in 94 Rich and Jay were listed with a combined worth of ~$9 billion dollars by Forbes. This year Jay was listed at $2.5 billion, and Rich didn't make the list. Hmmmm.

Hi Sid,

We found your add on the Cult Awareness and Info Center. We tried your homepage also referenced at the site, but it wasn't found. Our bro and sis-in-law are so heavy into Amway that its become more than a small annoyance. Their entire personalities have changed. They are no longer the spiritual persons they once were. They are hateful and ugly to their own family. They've been in it for 4-5 years now. What can you tell us about this cult other than it's a prymid and they promote cleaning (etc) products?

I just want to know what is your experience in Amway..
I have a great one so far..
I was suprised to read some negative comments..
did you ever join and actually take part in AMWAY ?

Mr.Schwartz,

Are you, or have you ever been an Amway distributor??? If you have or haven't been, you are obviously misinformed. See Amway is a corporation that manufactors products. The staticics, and hear say you are writing about, are about different support groups within Amway. I happen to be apart of I.N.A., and if you knew anything of the truth about Amway you would, have different views!!! It's just to bad that you cannot be apart of an exceptional program. By the way, have you made your million this year???

Sidney, found your site very interesting…About the tape scam (and that's what it is, a scam!), I think there are about 500,000 distributors in the US…conservatively assuming that 1/5 or 100,000 get involved in the tape of the week program at $6 each, that is $600,000 a week or $31.2 million a year!!! That is assuming one tape a week and not doubles!!! Anyone with any business sense knows that it costs them MUCH less than $31.2 million to make those tapes!! No wonder the tapes are pushed and pushed heavily!!

The above was assuming only 100,000 distributors are on the tape of the week program and that they are single tapes…Imagine how much money is involved if more distributors are on the program…

My problem is not with the concept per se…If you really save 30% from the retail outlets as they claim and as long as everyone in your network understands up front that to make money they have to expand and that if they do not, they only save 30% and help you get a bigger bonus, that's OK…But I did a price comparison on the basic Amway products like detergent, bleach, cleaners, etc at a grocery store…Each one of them was more costly at distributor cost than at outside retail!! That's why I no longer do Amway…It makes no business sense for me to do so…Also, if I present the plan, I would have to lie and tell prospects that they are saving 30% off retail…I am not a liar and don't intend to become one either…

P.S. Were you ever an Amway distributor?? I'm just curious, what made you decide to develop and maintain this website?? I would appreciate a reply…

I entered Amway back in 1994, paid the 140, and so on. In my case, it did not take me long to figure things out. I was a partner in a business at the time, and I was more aware than the layperson of a lot of business things. I mean, unless you've run a business, and I mean a real business, you just don't know these things. There are a lot of things that struck me as funny when I joined Amway, among them:

* The fact that suddenly all these people were running their own business. Some even had their own business cards, and almost always said something like "Such-n-such Enterprises," or similar. Pardon me, but running your own business takes a lot more than most people are aware of. The only thing that appears realistic far as Amway is the time and effort involved.

* Wholesale, to me, means pennies on the Retail dollar. If someone calls a 30% discount "Wholesale," well, they don't know what they're talking about. And it didn't take me long to figure out that Amway's prices aren't the best. And the pluses of mail-ordering do not outweigh the minuses any worse than going to the store, especially not when I have to drive somewhere, anyway, to pick up my order. In my world, when I mail-order something, it comes to my house (Either by Postal, UPS, Delta, Car, or something!) When I was in business, if it didn't offer an 80% discount over Retail, we wouldn't touch it. After all, anybody can get something at 30% off…Most of us buy items on sale all the time, don't we?

* I never bought tapes, attended seminars, or any of those other cost-consumers. Even though I only later became aware of the profits that come out of that, it immediately struck me as odd. I have never, not once, driven 400-some miles to some seminar for a world-wide company for information that I could not do without. After learning more about Amway, I'm glad I didn't.

There are a lot of other things, but a lot of it has been covered. I will say that it took me about a month, when I called my sponsor and told him that I wanted my 140 back. He basically acted as if I was talking Japanese (Yet another thing that I found odd about these supposed business owners, and that was the basic lack of knowledge that should be common in any business.) After we wound up in court, and the judge ruled in my favor, he still didn't pay. The last time I went by the courthouse (this time to take out a garnishment), I was informed that this case had been closed to any further action. Now that, I must admit, has me puzzled to this day…I'd sure like to know what was done, and mostly how! Unfortunately, of course, I was not fully able to keep up with my sponsor, but I can tell you one thing: He still works at the same place he worked 3 years ago…In other words, that income is still very much needed. Also, the obvious loss of common sense astonished me immensely. I never thought people could be so driven by a force as to lose all instincts and gut-feelings about what they were doing. And although I can not claim to be mistake-free (some of my mistakes outweigh the Amway bit ten-fold), far as business is concerned, it's like this: I work very hard for my money, and I'll be damned if I'm letting anyone just take it. Among some honest "wrongs" about MLM: * If someone has a great plan to make money, and all I have to do is work with them, and the reason they are presenting this to me is because they want to help other people make riches…Then that person is willing to do so free of charge.

* When someone is about to charge me money in order to make me an employee so that I can begin working to earn money, something is wrong there.

* I don't care what anyone calls it, but the outline of *all* MLM companies (the how-it-works thing) strongly resembles a pyramid, and that is what they are. Anyone that has a plan like that is going to have some good argument about why it is NOT a pyramid. Heck, I've even heard of a plan that was shaped like a Trapezoid, and therefore was not illegal, would work where a pyramid would not, and so on. How about the new "Binary Marketing" concept…Anyone hear of that one yet? Yes, that is where you can only have two legs, and each one of your legs can only have two each, and because you can not recruit an infinite number of people (as opposed to Amway), it works better than Amway. After all, even the worst con-man that is about to sucker someone into a pyramid scheme (and take the money and run) is not about to admit that it is a pyramid scheme.

If anyone is still interested in Multi-Level Marketing, E-mail me. I get 3-4 faxes daily from MLM companies, I'd be glad to send you a whole stack of the silly things. Far as I'm concerned, you can order these by the sheet, the dozen, or the ream (500 of them). One day maybe I can offer MLM-plans by the box (10 reams).

By the way, anyone who sends me an MLM-fax has been getting a 23-page fax-back on "What is MLM." Hope they got a new roll of paper in their fax machine!

Sorry you don't have something better to do with your time! I found that it is 100% of the ones who want to be successful do it!
How many people loose weight who start a diet?
How many finish college who start?
How many people stay married ?
100% of the ones who want to!
Don't tell someone they can't do it!
Books and tapes are better than news and papers!
Don't you think that the newspaper makes a profit?

NSF ( National Sanitation Foundation) rated the Amway Water Filter the best carbon filter in the market. The filter is Certified for Standard 42 and Standard 53.

It is also the only carbon filter in the market that is capable of filtering particles in .2 microns in size.

You only mentioned that negative things. How about the positive things? Please do some research from NSF, www.nsf.org.

You said CR didn't tell us this and that. CR also didn't tell us that NSF highly rated the Amway filter. I suggest you get a report from NSF for $6.00.

No. I am not an Amway distributor. I don't disagree with you comments about the Amway products except the Water Filter.

I am a Water Filter business person.

HIS NAME WAS PEPE
HE WORKED FOR AMWAY
HE SHOWED THE PLAN
CUZ HES THE MAN
HE BOUGHT THE BOOKS AND TAPES
AND WAS NO FAKE
HE WENT TO THE FUNCTIONS
AND LIKED TO EAT PUMPKINS
EVEN THOUGH HE WAS GAY
AND FROM THE BAY
HIS UPLINE WAS ALL FAT
AND SMELLED OF PUSSY CAT
HE WAS A MESCAN
THEY DIDNT CARE NONE
UNTIL HIS WIFE DIED WITH A BANG
HE DID THE AMWAY THANG
NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT
AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT

I've read and re-read your pages about Amway this spring and summer to get support and to get information. My close friend has been sucked in by Amway and I see less and less of her. Your information confirmed suspicions I was having. I suspected that she was spending more and more time with Amway people and had no time for me. Your pages told me that often happened. It seemed like she had quit using normal English and began using trite phrases and odd jargon. Your pages told me about Amway -speak and I hear Amway phrases in every conversation we now have.

I guess I've gotten used to the idea that our friendship has weakened. My attempts to question her Amway stuff has made her defensive and wary of me. Its sad, but I've learned from your pages that my experiences are common amoung friends of Amway people.

Thank you for creating this page and adding to it. I imagine that I'll continue to re-read this information in an attempt to understand.

My husband and I did get sucked into the Amway vacuum of Tapes and stuff. I attended about two months of meetings and luckily no rallies. Only joined as a distributor and then realized the products suck and the prices were nto commercially competitive.

In all, we lost two summer months of Thrusday night meetings and the "fee". Approx. $350.00 for joinging. And of course we had to buy the "Diamonds" tapes.

In all I don't believe the Amway experience to be a loss but rather a gain.

I think I developed some more Professional interpersonal skills and a more positive attitude when all around me is crumbling.

My career benefitted soemwhat and I am more empathetic to the Amway culture.

It is a cult, and they are selling that "lemon" car to those poor folks who don't have the "look" and "smarts" to sell lemonade or the $$ to buy in.

Thank you so much for saving me. I've attended 2 meetings thus far and I was tempted at the prospect of becoming part of Amway.I had searched the WEB and came upon Amway's home page (w/all the success stories) so I went with an open mind & big dreams, I wish I found your page first. Thanks again.

Dear Sir

I happen to be in Amway and makeing a pretty good liveing at it. Have you ever tried the Amway corrperation? If not then write me back and I will tell you what it is all really about.

I didn't know a thing about Amway up until a couple of weeks ago… I got a phone call from an old pool cronie of mine who had moved to Virginia a few months ago. She makes the idle chit chat, then starts going into this schpiel. I wasn't even expecting it. "What the HELL are you talking about AJ???" I asked. She puts this other dude on the line who starts trying to get me to go the Amway web site…the only time "Amway" was mentioned at all was in the URL. I told him, "look man, I thought this was a social call - I'm not interested in this stuff". Then my friend gets back on, and I'm completely freaking out - it doesn't even sound like her at all. Totally brainwashed. The thing is, I've always thought that she had a good head on her shoulders and would see right through something like this. Now I'm really bummed that I have no way of getting back in touch with her now that I know more about what I'm dealing with so that I can try to get her to come to her senses. Arrrgh!!! Thanks for the site.

More power to you. Thank you for the information, and please keep up the good work.

Hi

Apparently AMWAY is launching in South Africa on 19 August - SO A friend and myself were invited to a friend of ours this evening to sign up. I decided to join, but then also did some research on the net.

PHEW!!!!!!!!! Am I glad I found your page.....my eyes have opened - I can't believe all I read....it's just tooooo much. My fiends are respected members of the community - an attorney and his wife is a lecturer at College - What a brainwash - I couldn't believe the change in them!!!!

Thanks once again for your wonderful site - You won't find megoing the AMWAY way!

Mr. Schwartz,

Thanks for your quick reply regarding my "Ruby" sister. It's amazing that you've never met my sister, and yet you seem to know her personality pretty well. She's very bright (a Vanderbilt grad), but sadly, she's been cultified.

To answer your question, she doesn't work anymore (she used to be a *), but her husband (who's a surgeon with a private partnership) still works VERY long hours AND works Amway like a dog. They both feed off each other - they're always "Fired Up!" and think that working people are fools. They have one 2 year old son, who I already feel sorry for. Can you imagine having a sister that every time you talked to her, she would repeat, "You wish you had my life, you wish you had my life." When I

asked her why her husband hadn't retired from medicine yet (like they promised he would do 2 yrs. ago), her reply is, "We'd starve on $120,000 a year (her claimed Ruby income)…but he'll be retired in the next 2 years." Of course, this is just another back-handed slap since I'd just finished telling her that my wife and I make around $110,000. They live in a big house in some suburb of * & always talk about "putting in a pool" or a tennis court, etc. In other words, the husband makes a lot of money as a surgeon, and they pass it off like Amway is responsible for the lifestyle.

My poor sister has forgotten how to THINK. All she does is talk baby-talk with her son, and even worse, Amababble with her husband and downline. My parents and I are so bummed out with the whole thing.

Last question for you: From your experience, what's the best way to handle this? Throw my own personal successes in her face? Send constant printouts of truth (like your site) about Amway to her? Cease contact with her? All of these options make me sad, but her condescending, Amway attitude is going to make me explode.

Thanks again, Mr. Schwartz.

I just wanted to say a big thank you for the important information you provide on your web site. Please keep up the great work.

I recently received a telephone call from a woman named * who said that a professional colleague of mine had mentioned my name as someone who might be interested in a "business opportunity" (red flag for Amway). I was about to hang up on her when she said that her business was called "INA". I told her I'd think about it and call her back the next day. The friend who gave her my name is someone I greatly admire and thought surely she'd never get involved in any stupid pyramid scheme like Amway.

As soon as I hung up the phone with *, I sat down at my computer and did an Internet search for INA. Your web site came up, and boy am I glad! *'s "business opportunity" was yet another Amway cover-up! When I called her back and confronted her about not mentioning Amway, she was dumfounded.

My husband and I have been approached by cloaked Amway losers six times. Each time we've been approached for a "business opportunity" as recommended by a friend. Each of those "friends" (except the one in this situation) have been written off our "A" lists (or B or C lists, for that matter) permanently!

P.T. Barnum would have loved Amway ("There's a sucker born every minute!"). Anyone who has had even a week of business school would recognize the Amway "opportunity" as a joke.

Hi. I just wanted to drop you a quick message telling you how much I am enjoying your site! I have been following it for the past 2-3 years (I think) and I must say that it is getting better every day! I use it on a regular basis to "vent" my true negative feelings about amway… (since my parents don't listen to me "talk negative".)

btw- I LOVED that poem on response page 37… that was terrific!

Congratulations on the back page article in this month's Amagram warning about disinformation about Amway (i.e. the truth about Amway) on the Internet.

It is quite clear that you are the market leader in spreading the word about the impotence of the pyramid (i.e. Amway) in creating wealth for its distributors.

Keep up the good work.

Hi, I'm from Greece in which Amway opened in March 1996. I've been in the business for 5 months now and I am already making some money. I felt that I should say a few things about your comments. Amway is not a cult or a tapes and books selling company. It's a manufacturing company that sells its products via Network Marketing which is a revolutionary idea in selling. People have finally the opportunity to start their own business just by using, selling to their friends and relatives and showing the marketing plan so they can find other people to do the same and make money. And that's it!!! Whoever wants joins. It's not mandatory. Nothing is. We are free business people. You don't HAVE to join! If you join you don't HAVE to buy any products or build any network! But if you don't you won't make any money! As simple as that!!! I've heard of people who joined and didn't make any money. So what??? Not everyone succeeds in any business. Why should everyone succeed in this one?? But they have to understand that it's a business. You HAVE to work for it!!! It's not easy money.

I do only what I want to do. My upline is there to help me because he gets money out of me only if I get money first. So he WANTS to help me. The tapes, books and functions are NOT of the Amway corporation. There are different support organizations that their goal is to help us build a positive attitude in life by talking to us and suggesting books that can be found in any bookstore. Is that bad??? I don't think so. My support organization is NETWORK21 (check its web page www.network21.com). This organization helped a lot of people make A LOT of money and reach their dreams. The money we make are not tax free. We pay taxes in Greece. I don't know how it is in your Country but I think that any job or business is legitimate if you earn money and pay taxes. We don't make profit out of the tapes, books and function tickets. We just pass them down to our network to whoever is interested at the same price we bought them. We need tapes, books and functions because they help us maintain our positive attitude after talking to negative people like you. You are free to be negative as much as you like, but I don't want to be. At least that's how Network 21 is working. I don't know about the other support organizations so I won't express an opinion. You shouldn't be so negative towards a business opportunity that has helped a lot of people reach their dreams in life. In Greece even after this short time we have many Direct Distributors. My sponsor's sponsor IS a Direct Distributor.

IT HAPPENS FOLKS!!! We dont' ask anything else from the people we see and talk to but just to try it. They have nothing to loose because if they don't like the business or the products they can get the Amway Starter Kit back to Amway and get their money back. It HAS happened. One of my distributors returned his kit because he was misinformed by people like you that this is a fraud. He got his money back to the last penny.

Please, people try something before rejecting it!!! You don't know if you like beans before eating some. How can you reject something before you try it???

GO DIAMOND !!!