In our ongoing, open discussion of Amway / Quixtar and other Multilevel marketing (MLM, Direct sales) businesses, FranchisePick.com commenter Sister Sam offers this warning:
Something that has been overlooked in most of the criticisms of Amway/Quixtar is the Registration Contract itself. Unless you are an attorney, you have no idea just how restrictive, one-sided, and dangerous it is to sign an Amway Independent Distributor Registration Agreement.
First, if you never achieve any success with Amway, you don’t risk much by signing the contract. But if you reach a level that the corporation considers successful and then try to leave, watch out!!
On the …read more

(FranchisePick.Com) Have you ever had a good friend or close relative join AMWAY (Mary Kay, Herbalife, Quixtar, Meleleuca, Shaklee, USANA, nuskin, or other mlm, multilevel or network marketing scheme) and suddenly become… ANNOYING?
Our post IS AMWAY A GREAT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY? prompted thirstyfox to share what happened when her sister joined AMWAY/QUIXTAR:
My sis was in it once, wasted all her time and in the end made little or nothing.
She got back into it recently against everyones advice.  It’s like a cult that turns you against your family so you don’t listen to them. Now she has no time for family, just …read more

According to a story on Unhappy Franchisee, the Toronto based direct sales apparel company Weekenders closed shop abruptly, abandoning its distributors with little regard for orders that had been placed or commissions and payments due.

According to the Unhappy Franchisee story:  “The company, its direct marketing association, the blogosphere and especially the major media have been oddly and curiously mum on the event. In fact, direct sales clothing company Weekenders, which had been in business since 1984, thanked its many loyal distributors by letting them know they were getting screwed over by a form letter after the fact.”
The article quotes …read more

(FranchisePick.Com) This is the latest in a series of guest posts on the Mary Kay cosmetics business opportunity.
This post is from SCAM, who blogs at Scam Types.
Are you a Mary Kay consultant? Ex-consultant? Customer? Ex-customer?
Please share you experience and opinion with a comment at the bottom of this post.
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Is Mary Kay Cosmetics a Scam Club for Girls? by Scam
‘You may think I’m foolish
For the foolish things I do..’
“Pink Cadillac” – Bruce Springsteen
Was the Boss singing about Mary Kay, a multi level marketing cosmetics organisation?
Of course not, but his lyrics may have …read more

(Top New Franchises) Have you ever been involved with “direct sales” aka multi-level marketing (MLM)? Which one?
Amway? Avon? Cutco Knives (Vector Marketing) Equinox? Forever Living? Goji Juice? Herbalife? Juice Plus? Longaberger Baskets? Mannatech? Mary Kay? Meleleuca? National Safety Associates (NSA)? Nu Skin? Primerica? Quixtar? Shaklee? Tahitian Noni? Tupperware? USANA Health Sciences? VitaMark? Watkins Incorporated? World Financial Group?
What was your experience like? Did you make money? What was your most unforgettable experience?
Do you still sell via multilevel marketing?
Is multilevel marketing …read more

(Top New Franchises) AMWAY or SCAMWAY?
With a brutally tough economy, record high foreclosures and widespread personal financial woes, many are looking for additional ways to earn some cash or start a new business. That means it’s boom time for those who are hawking business opportunities and multilevel marketing schemes. But what is MLM fact and what is MLM fiction?
AMWAY is arguably the most successful (or at least best known) “direct sales” organization in history. Yet there is so much negativity around the AMWAY name that much of the AMWAY website is dedicated to dispelling “What you …read more