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| 7/13 |
| 2005/1/21-22 [Politics/Domestic, Politics/Domestic/SocialSecurity] UID:35832 Activity:high |
1/21 Can you guys help me out? I'm trying to expose the Amway business
model and I'm doing research. What are some past companies that
operate like Amway? I remember there was one in the 70s and one in
the 80s but they're defunct because of lawsuits. I can't remember
their names. Any info you guys have, like the people behind it, and
how they got sued, etc would be great. Thanks.
\_ http://www.amquix.info/quixtar_los.html
I was approached by this guy from INA.
\_ Herbalife
\_ Market America
\_ http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/dsotour.html
\_ expose Amway? What part are you trying to expose? I don't get
it. They're obnoxious, but I don't think it's illegal.
\_ expose that while a very few percentage of people actually
do make money, more than 97% of them never made more than
$100 a year, and in fact, more than 50% of them lost money
because they were buying Amway products for themselves so
that they could meet the money quota for bonuses.
\_ Aren't you about 30 years late with this news?!
\_ try 50 years late. Well I'm just annoyed because I just
found out my sister and my aunt joined it. HOW STUPID!!!
I always thought only uneducated ppl joined these things,
but boy, was I wrong.
\_ According to the DSA, in 1996, 59.3% of American
distributors were female, 23.4% male,and 17.3% couples...
The restraints for women still in the regular workforce
in addition to the pressure to help the family have made
direct selling very attractive to women. Many DSO's
directly appeal to this need. -from the article above
\_ Cutco
\_ Do those encyclopedia or vacuum cleaner (Kirby) salepeople count?
Or those water filter people I saw once.
Man, the Kirby guy I saw years ago seemed sooo annoyed when we
didn't buy his fancy vacuum and he cleaned our large living room
carpet for free. |
| 7/13 |
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| www.amquix.info/quixtar_los.html Every Amway/Quixtar distributor (Independent Business Owner - IBO) is spo nsored into the business by another IBO. The progressive line of people is call a "line of sponsorship", or a "family". Below is a graphic namin g some of the larger Amway/Quixtar lines-of-sponsorship. These or ganizations are designed to support the distributors in their groups and also sell their distributors their "systems" consisting of books, tapes . The lines of sp onsorship are officially the progression of who sponsored whom in the bu siness. A team selling tools is also know as a "line of affiliation". Li nes of affiliation may not correspond with the actual lines of sponsorsh ip. lines-of- sponsorship - WWDB, Yager, Britt World Wide, Pronet, Team in Focus, INA, ILD, Network 21, Globalnet, Marker Man Productions, Team DCI etc. Make sure the busi ness practices taught by your line of sponsorship make practical busines s sense to you. If you want to start the business then pick a group, don 't let a group pick you. people in this business are a dime a dozen, good ones are hard to fi nd. But there is a secret, the secret is doing something when you get in and getting in with the right people." Diamond Bo Short -Tape "practice" PN1105 The problem for new recruits is knowing how to find the "right" people an d the right line-of-sponsorship, before investing a lot of time with the "wrong" people. Call Quixtar to get a list of any complaints against yo ur upline, before wasting time with a bad one. Even within the Quixtar business opportunity, there are major differences between Lines-of-Sponsorship. Some Quixtar groups, like much of WWDB, s till employ many of the time inefficient Amway business practices called "standard fulfillment". These groups must still pick up products from t heir upline and the performance bonus payments are still paid by the upl ine, not from the corporation. Upline payments creates a risk of nonpaym ent when they have cashflow problems or they decide to selectively enfor ce the code of conduct rules so they can keep your bonus money. In these groups you pay your upline for the products with a check or cash. Ken McDonald reports in March 2 002 that standard fulfillment groups, who still pick up their products, have much higher average sales than those who get home delivery. Be aware that in some groups your upline has access to your Quixtar accou nt and can add items to your order without your permission to make their own end of the month sales goals. Some groups stress retail sales, whil e others only stress recruiting. Some groups have set up profit sharing programs on Business Support Materials (BSM's,tools). In other groups on ly the platinums and above share in the BSM profits. Make sure you know the pros and cons of your group, its costs, as well as its relative succ ess (sales growth rate) to other groups. Some groups teach IBOs to accumulate the suggested retail markup on perso nal purchases as profit. These artificial retail profits are earmarked t o finance the purchase of business support materials (BSMs, tools) from their upline. With this trick, IBOs are taught to believe their business costs them nothing. Do a price study using Quixtar suggested retail pri cing to see if this logic makes sense to you. IBOs using this technique are charging themselves higher prices than Quixtar Members pay. A $20 Qu ixtar Membership qualifies anyone for the lower wholesale IBO pricing. E xtending this logic further, if IBOs just charged themselves twice the s uggested retail price, most IBOs could be reporting a profit on their ta xes. WWDB's Ron Puryear, discourage the Quixtar Membership option with their "Prosumer IBO" clas s In theory the Prosumer IBO is allowed to get bonuses on their persona l volume, and cannot sponsor others. "Prosumers" are allowed to sell pro ducts at retail, but not recruit new IBOs. There is nothing preventing a Member from reselling products. Members however, are credited "Q-credit s" which work like Green Stamps. It appears that WWDB has recognized the low profitability of the member option and is trying to dissuade people from becoming members. For those not wishing to sponsor others, the Mem ber option is clearly the better option. com Leader: Bill Britt Product Distribution: Direct fulfillment from Quixtar to IBO's home. Income: WWDB Founders Emeralds are said to earn $87,881/year, Diamonds $1 36,332. Group is run by a Board of Directors made up of WWDB diamonds Product Distribution: Most Platinums are still on the old Amway product p ick up system. A ll products except large ones are done through the line of sponsorship. This reduces the "store for more" shipping charge from 7% to 4%. All pro ducts carry a 4% shipping charge with no minimum order (ie. IBOs start ordering from the corporation , at the Platinum's discretion at 1000-1500pv. Tool $: The tools profits are claimed to be re-invested within the organi zation by supporting functions that are not yet profitable and funding p romotions. Every so often they add $3 o n per tape so that they can give that money to a charity of their choice . Seminar 8 times a year, if all 3-4 sessions are attended i t is $18-24 per Seminar. They encourage IBOs to pay themselves Quixtar retail prices for personal cons umption and count the markup as profit for their business. The artificia l mark up can then be used to pay for tools and functions. "Eagle and Double Eagle" program to reward people for sales and how many downline they get to buy the WWDB tapes and system. Besides Eagle and Double Eagle, WWDB also has the River Rendezvous. This is where they can go stay at Ron Puryear's huge river house for a weeke nd: Qualifications are one needs to sponsor 10 new legs in that 14 month period. For example, a Platinum currently has 12 legs, he needs to spon sor 10 new legs whereas 3 are at least at 1000PV, 7 at least at 100PV an d the total volume of the new group is 7500PV or greater. WWDB use to hold weekend Mini-Rallies, that is an Emerald who would show the plan, have a seminar and rally. This function seems to have been rep laced by product seminars. History: History: Here is the history of the qualified North American WWD B Diamonds. The sources of these numbers are from the WWDB Profiles of S uccess for each year. The numbers do not include Bill & Peggy Britt, Leo nard & Esther Kim (South Korea), Karl & Ruby Meyer (Philippines). The increase fro m 1998 to 1999 is partly because of two Diamonds returning to WWDB from ILD. A net loss of 10 since 1996 (not 11, because of Diamond Howie Danzik marr ying Diamond Theresa Tsuruda in 1997), while generating only 7 new Diamo nds since 1997 (14 year). Since Quixtar launched, WWDB has seen a net loss of 7, while generating o nly 2 new Diamonds (10 per year). First and foremost, you must remember that WWG is on the old call-in/pick -up system, which means folks in WW line-of-sponsorship cannot just go o nline and order anything they want, anytime they want. If we log onto Qu ixtar and want to order Nutrilite, for example, it comes back with an er ror message that we must order those products through our upline. So for the 'core' products ('Choices' catalog - all the main items), we must s till call our Platinum upline during their one-hour window on our specif ied order day. Prior to that, OUR downline have to call us within OUR on e-hour window (usually scheduled 11/2 hrs before we need to call - this gives us time to combine orders for OUR call-in to the Platinum). we pick up in a one-hour window from our P latinum, and then hold our own pick-up for our downlines. WW is the only one, as you note on your site, which still operates on this system. Man y people who are just 'Prosumers' (ie Members, people without a substa ntial downline, or people just ordering products for personal use), find call-in and pick-up inconvenient, or too far too drive, or you miss you r call-in time, and/or not in line with their personal schedules. They will set up a 'client' account on Quixtar, using a fictitious name with their own mailing address. And since clien ts are not IBOs, they are free to order anything anytime they wish throu gh the Qu... |
| religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/dsotour.html List of DSO links Introduction It may seem strange that a page on Direct Selling Organizations would appear among New Religious Movements. It is here because often scholars of religion have persuasively argued that DSO's have many features similar to religions. They are often referred to as "para-religious" which is defined by Arthur Greil as ""phenomena that clearly fall outside the American folk category of religion but which nonetheless seem to be "like" religion in certain notable ways." The emergence of the internet has provided a new opportunity for all businesses to promote their message, but particularly DSO's (Direct Selling Organizations) who use independent distributors to sell their products. The internet provides a great opportunity to not only promote their products and provide information to their distributors, but it is also a great place to recruit new distributors. This does not include the increasing presence of DSO's overseas. Although many books have been written about DSO's, the internet provides an opportunity to visually see how DSO's work. It also provides us an opportunity to look at many of the images DSO's provide and compare them with common features of religion. Most of this page is either based on Nicole Biggart's book called Charismatic Capitalism or comes from information directly from the web pages. Hopefully this will provide a great interactive tool to understanding the workings of DSO's. DSO products vary widely, but the great majority are home, family, and personal care products. Almost all of the products are sold with the belief that the product is doing good for the family or society, it has superior quality, or is a better value. The major difference between DSO's and traditional businesses is the DSO marketing plan. Instead of having traditional employees and stores, DSO's mostly rely on independent distributors to sell their products. The primary responsibility of these independent distributor's is not simply just to sell the products, but to also recruit new distributors. The recruitment of distributors can make DSO's very profitable. Each distributor is on their own as to how much they choose to sell, recruit, and make. Although each DSO varies, there are three basic ways a distributor can make money. One way is to receive discounts due to the volume of merchandise ordered. The distributor also receives a percentage markup on the merchandise. Finally, the distributor receives a percentage of everything sold in his "downline." The "downline" is anybody the distributor recruited in addition to anybody that distributor may have recruited. This creates an exponential effect of potential revenue sources. Many DSO's also provide bonuses in the forms of cash, vacations, cars, or other gifts. Usana The Appeal of DSO's and Value Rationality 1 The Appeal through Quizzes In a capitalist society, individuals often dream of financial success and security. But within this search, there are many individuals who get lost in the search. DSO's appeal especially to people who see only poor alternatives compared to direct sales. DSO's can give a sense of control over work, a feeling of being rewarded for performance rather than social characteristics, and a work place that provides a friendly, family environment (Biggart 49-50). Many companies provide quizzes to appeal to potential distributors. Mary Kay : Mary Kay really emphasizes the needs of women. Notice how one question asks, "Would you like being associated with a company that's environmentally concerned and committed to helping women be their best? Not only is it appealing to financial needs, but also the need to do something greater for society. Since an increase in consumption in America around mid-century, one income in households has become limited. At the same time, women began to enjoy the independence of money as it set them aside from their domestic roles (Biggart 55). Women, however, have not enjoyed a fully integrated work force. Also, women have not fully shed their role as principle caretaker of the household (Biggart 58). The restraints for women still in the regular workforce in addition to the pressure to help the family have made direct selling very attractive to women. Notice the use of American flags with houses and a mission of family intertwined with a product appealing to women. Max Weber, however, proposed another idea of "value rationality" in which "duty, honor, the pursuit of beauty, a religious call, personal loyalty, or the importance of some 'cause' no matter in what it consists" (Biggart 101). In his landmark book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirtit of Capitalism , Weber showed how "ideas and economic activity intersect in an entrepreneurial morality"(103). This can be shown in the Calvinist movement in which earthly prosperity was take to represent God's favor. This "justified entrepreneurial activity as morally correct"(104). DSO's capitalize on this "value rationality" by promoting an "American Ethic" in which individual accomplishment determines success and there is a greater meaning than simply money. In many cases, the DSO belief system is almost a religion of the "American Dream." Premier Designs : (go down to their philosophy and the Hornier-Premier foundation) This is a jewelry company but notice how God and the Free-enterprise system are intertwined very similar to Weber's thoughts. Their charity foundation also helps to support Bible based missionary efforts around the world. Symmetry : These rhetorical questions all tend to deal with some aspect of the American Dream. Incentives, Symbols, and Rituals What clearly makes DSO's successful, however, are the rituals and symbol s they use to reaffirm their beliefs. Here are some examples: 1 Founders/Leaders In most DSO's, the founders or leaders of the organization are brought almost to a sacred status. Members will travel hundreds of miles to see or meet them. Tupperware Tour :The Tupperware headquarters is often called a "campus." Many DSO's have this to recognize their top sellers and is also often considered a sacred thing to strive for. These conventions are more like a revival, than a business affair. They usually involve clapping, singing, and a motivational singer. Many companies will pay for their top distributors to attend as an incentive. Shaklee : Shaklee offers their supervisors free trips to the conventions. For example, you get "an unbeatable combination of informative workshops, entertainment, business sessions and recognition-and everything wonderful that San Francisco has to offer." Bodywise : Many conventions have special awards presentations at their conventions. Also notice how many of the participants are celebrating there health product company by doing aerobics together. Premier Designs : The pictures of Premier Design's convention tells a lot. First of all, the theme is "Rainbow of Hope" suggesting the convention and Premier Design's is a bridge to your desires. One picture shows people clapping and singing , very similar to any type of revival. Nuskin : Nuskin really promotes how big its conventions are. Many of these symbols are simply images promoting the ideals of the company. The most common use of symbols, however, are given to distributors to show their statuses in the organization. These could be pins, cars, or some type of name recognition in the company's headquarters. These symbols often become sacred reminders of their commitment to the company. Market America : In order to enter the Market America site, you must click on a picture of a Bald Eagle. This is also an important American symbol and an image of freedom. Avon : When you reach the President's club level at Avon you receive a "Mrs Albee hand- painted porcelain award which is a symbol of excellence and was inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of Mrs PFE Albee, Avon's first Representative." Conclusion Although DSO's are not a religion in the traditional sense, their techniq ues for attracting and retaining new members are very similar. First of all, they design their message to appeal to the needs and values of the potential distributors. Then, through a series of ritua... |