Is herbalife a sicko scam?
- Thread starter petal
- Start date
Lurker5
Gold Meritorious Patron
Probably. If you are required to buy a bunch of stuff and sell it, yes, it is probably a pyramid scheme. Google it. Pass on it. Now if you just want to buy, say from a friend/family (who has/have been scammed), for personal use, that is another story. Google it and you decide. I'd pass. On both.
Dean Blair
Silver Meritorious Patron
I am attaching a link so that you can view what others have said about Herbalife. Google is your friend when it comes to research. There are many dissatisfied clients kinda like when you Google Scientology.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/nutrition/herbalife.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/nutrition/herbalife.html
suspiciousperson
Patron with Honors
Depends what you mean by a scam.
Or in other words, to a non pedantic person: yes, absolutely
A lot like Scientology in that respect
Or in other words, to a non pedantic person: yes, absolutely
A lot like Scientology in that respect
Smurf
Gold Meritorious SP
Herbalife like Amway & Pre-Paid Legal are multi-level marketing (pyramid) schemes that proliferate around the world. You can find them everywhere & there alot of gullible people out there that fall victim to them. The sales & marketing tactics are questionable & often outright deceptive, but not, technically, unlawful, which is why Amway thrives in this country.
Their group meetings are alot like the over-the-top glitz you find in IAS events.
[video=youtube;EqOMHOgt3JQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqOMHOgt3JQ[/video]
There is an ongoing federal investigation:
[video=youtube;UHOtU3SGLvg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHOtU3SGLvg[/video]
Their group meetings are alot like the over-the-top glitz you find in IAS events.
[video=youtube;EqOMHOgt3JQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqOMHOgt3JQ[/video]
There is an ongoing federal investigation:
[video=youtube;UHOtU3SGLvg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHOtU3SGLvg[/video]
Claire Swazey
Spokeshole, fence sitter
Yah. I've gone to Amway and Shaklee pitches. I really dislike MLM schemes.
Reasonable
Silver Meritorious Patron
Herbalife has some good products. There are a lot of good products out there. It is an MLM. But that does not make it a scheme. An MLM is simply a business model. The large majority of people who do MLMs make no money and a small percentage make a lot.
The problem is that the ones who make no money usually think that MLMs are easy and you can do them in your spare time,. They are not, they take a lot of work. And just like in any other business there are good MLMs and bad ones, and more importantly some are the right fit for you and some are not.
At least companies like Herbalife and Shackley sell health products. I respect an herbal life salesman a lot more than someone who works for Cokca cola, people who peddle sugar and chemicals to kids.
I know a person who does very well in Herbal life, she supports her 2 kids , the products work for her. She did lose a lot of weight on the products.
I know a few people who made good to great money in MLMs (myself included), they are not all scams, just like any other business. But MLMing is not easy and is certainly not for everyone.
I think the best way to determine if an MLM is legitamite or not is this:
Would you buy the product if you were only going to be customer and if you had no intention of being a saleman?
IF you could answer yes, then in my opinion it is good, but if the only reason you would get the product is because you think you can get others to buy it then it is probably not a good product for you.
If you are selling an MLM product do you really have the qualifications and knowlege to talk about the product or are you just repeating what you up line told you.
Is the product unique? Are there other products of the same quality for a lesser price that are as good that are not MLM? I have seen some MLM products that are truly unique.
The problem is that the ones who make no money usually think that MLMs are easy and you can do them in your spare time,. They are not, they take a lot of work. And just like in any other business there are good MLMs and bad ones, and more importantly some are the right fit for you and some are not.
At least companies like Herbalife and Shackley sell health products. I respect an herbal life salesman a lot more than someone who works for Cokca cola, people who peddle sugar and chemicals to kids.
I know a person who does very well in Herbal life, she supports her 2 kids , the products work for her. She did lose a lot of weight on the products.
I know a few people who made good to great money in MLMs (myself included), they are not all scams, just like any other business. But MLMing is not easy and is certainly not for everyone.
I think the best way to determine if an MLM is legitamite or not is this:
Would you buy the product if you were only going to be customer and if you had no intention of being a saleman?
IF you could answer yes, then in my opinion it is good, but if the only reason you would get the product is because you think you can get others to buy it then it is probably not a good product for you.
If you are selling an MLM product do you really have the qualifications and knowlege to talk about the product or are you just repeating what you up line told you.
Is the product unique? Are there other products of the same quality for a lesser price that are as good that are not MLM? I have seen some MLM products that are truly unique.
Lulu Belle
Moonbat
Funny you should say that.
I have five dogs. Often there would be times where one would just not eat.
There was this stuff that came in a tube called Fastrack. Stuff was amazing. AMAZING. You'd squirt some down the throat of a dog that wouldn't eat and within 30 second he was eating. It never failed.
We used to be able to buy it from some company online, but at some point it wound up with a company that was a MLM. I tried to buy it but they wouldn't let me buy it unless I became a distributor. I didn't want to be a distributor. I just wanted to buy the stuff.
But I loved it. It worked great. There wasn't anything else out there like it. And if I agreed to become a distributor I probably could have become pretty successful, because I really was "behind" the product. Just like you said above.
I gave up trying to buy it and I haven't used it in a long time. Looks like you can buy it again. Maybe it's not part of an MLM any more.
http://www.revivalanimal.com/Fastrack-Canine-Gel-and-Powder.html
Mick Wenlock
Admin Emeritus (retired)
someone just had to poke the bee's nest eh?
I absolutely despise MLMs. Period.
I have been on a yahoo mailing list for years called MLM Survivors - it is all but dead now, but if you wish to get an idea of the harm they do you should go check out the message archives.
They split up families, they drive people into bankruptcy and they employ pretty much the same tactics that the cofs does - and they ALL do it.
If you can find the PDF Book Merchants of deception it is well worth the read - and you can also probably find the PR hit jobs done on the author by Amway.
The financial systems or "plans" employed by MLMs do not actually make sense. It can certainly sound good but one for one they all depend on new people "buying in" as a way for people already in to make money.
I could see being a "distributor" for a an awesome product of some kind could be good - but if it were that good people would be buying up the franchises. The second point is - in an era of Amazon and fast delivery - who the hell needs someone distributing stuff out of their garage? It does not make any sense at all as a distribution system
I absolutely despise MLMs. Period.
I have been on a yahoo mailing list for years called MLM Survivors - it is all but dead now, but if you wish to get an idea of the harm they do you should go check out the message archives.
They split up families, they drive people into bankruptcy and they employ pretty much the same tactics that the cofs does - and they ALL do it.
If you can find the PDF Book Merchants of deception it is well worth the read - and you can also probably find the PR hit jobs done on the author by Amway.
The financial systems or "plans" employed by MLMs do not actually make sense. It can certainly sound good but one for one they all depend on new people "buying in" as a way for people already in to make money.
I could see being a "distributor" for a an awesome product of some kind could be good - but if it were that good people would be buying up the franchises. The second point is - in an era of Amazon and fast delivery - who the hell needs someone distributing stuff out of their garage? It does not make any sense at all as a distribution system
strativarius
Inveterate gnashnab & snoutband
Mick Wenlock
Admin Emeritus (retired)
now you have done it - Herbalife will be publicizing that Becks endorses them...
Reasonable
Silver Meritorious Patron
Most MLM's do not have you buying a bunch of product and have you sell it out of your garage. Usually you sign up and get it from the company.
There are certainly bad MLMs (NSA water filters and Equniox come to mind). But I am in 2 right now that really work for me. Which means I make money both retailing and getting people in.
When ever someone approaches me about a company I try not to get in but sometimes with certain products it is a good idea.
I tried some that didn't work out but I never lost any money.
I was even in a company called Mellaluca and I was on auto ship for several months and I didn't ever open the package, I had boxes of the stuff, then when I quit I sent it all back and they gave me a full refund.
I don't see the scam there.
Gib
Crusader
I myself was involved in several MLM's. And I thought great products and pay plan.
Have you asked yourself this question, which you have not revealed here:
How much time, effort and money vs what money you get back?
In other words, what hourly wage are you making doing your MLM?
And do you really think by continuing you will make more money, get the downline?
If you only continue and make it go right?
Claire Swazey
Spokeshole, fence sitter
One of the things mentioned here that I, too, noticed, is the MLM's reluctance to sell their own products. They seem mainly interested in selling the distributorships. Very skewed.
phenomanon
Canyon
Sure looks like he does....
Beam-Me-Up-Scotty
Patron
I sold Herbalife products for a very short time. However I only made two fairly good sized sales ... but they were both refunds. When I sent the product back to Herbalife, they would not give me back a cash refund, but gave me the replacement product.
So I ended up with my original bottles of product, then two other large orders. It took me many months to finish all the bottles. I did lose some weight, but I was exercising heaps too, during the same period.
It reminded me somewhat of our beloved cult. Extremely out-exchange.
So I ended up with my original bottles of product, then two other large orders. It took me many months to finish all the bottles. I did lose some weight, but I was exercising heaps too, during the same period.
It reminded me somewhat of our beloved cult. Extremely out-exchange.
Udarnik
Gold Meritorious Patron
The pdf for Merchants of Deception can be found here.
Jump
Operating teatime
I read it years ago. It's an engrossing easy read from the point of view of Eric, a guy selling Amway and his wife who are gradually exposed to the cognitive dissonance of reality behind the facade.