Monday 28 July 2008

The deceptive Amway business model

Nobody can say honest business earning is wrong. When the business model itself is wrong you cannot help but say it is a deceptive model. A business is onething through which one earns money by selling products earning some profit. It may vary from five per cent to ten per cent. But in the case of Amway, one person enrolls two more persons and in turn they have to enroll two more members each. The first person have a little role or no role in the enrolling of downline members. Of course, he may organise meetings and 'motivation' classes to encourage the downline members to enroll more members. If that is working hard, I can't help it.
To earn money one has to work hard. In the case of Amway business, what hard work other than enrolling members and coaxing the downline members to get more members enrolled is involved. And moreover, from where he is getting money. Is that by way of directly selling products to the customers or commission through enrollments? This is a very important question. Money should be generated from somewhere. By selling products at exorbitant price, the extra money apart from production cost, is going to the company and the upline members. This is how the booty is shared. And the Amway calls it hard-earned money.
The claim that Raja Naren is getting only 4 per cent commission is a hoax. From what kind of sales he is getting that commission. Is that from his personal sales or from the sales of the downline members. It is certainly from the sales of downline members and, that is called commission and that would be naturally huge. To earn that substantial amount, how much volume of the products he must have sold personally. That is why it is called easy and quick money. Here 'quick' is a relative term. Generally, it is takes decades to earn millions in any legitimate business. If it is done in less than half a decade, it is called quick and easy money.
The claim that members need not buy products compulsorily is again false. If the member did not purchase products, he has to enroll afresh by paying the fee and otherwise he is not entitled to draw commission.
In the Nutilite case, if it is manufactured locally everywhere and standards are not maintained, how can anybody say that it is wonderful product. By merely saying that quality was not maintained due to the local government requirements is the biggest hoax. No government ever says tht low quality products should be manufactured.
And finally, if it is direct sales as the Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) for which the Amway is the founding member, claims what is the necessity of enrolling and entrance fee and renewal fee. Let us not skip this major aspect.
That people already realised the hoax of the direct sales by the Amway is evident in the dwindling of its business in India. According to the Amway India CEO, in a recent report published in the New Indian Express, the sales have come down to Rs. 100 crore from the previous Rs. 800 crore. No wonder the Amway would be compelled to close down its fraudulent business in the country soon if the same trend continues.
Let us hope that sanity prevails over the Government of India to cancel the business license to the Amway and close down the company.

4 comments:

IBOFB said...

My friend, you've missed a digit. Amway India 2008 sales are expected to be 1000Cr, not 100Cr - a significant increase.

You also clearly have little understanding of the business model. The great majority of folk recruited are merely customers paying wholesale prices. Active business builders such as Raja Naren are few and far between. As such their involvement in downline is enormous. Showing plans, doing product demonstrations, training others to do the same etc, etc etc.

You say "a business is one thing through which one earns money by selling products earning some profit". That is precisely what we do in Amway!

You go on to ask - "And moreover, from where he is getting money. Is that by way of directly selling products to the customers or commission through enrollments? This is a very important question."

Yes, it is a very important question. If commissions come from enrollments, then it's quite possible an illegal schem. In Amway, something which you clearly are not aware of, NO commissions come from enrollment. Neither Raja Naren nor any other Amway business owners earns income from recruiting people. If you believed this to be the case, which clearly you do, then no wonder you think it's could be a scam. If it was true, then I'd agree with you. It's not true.

As for Raja Naren's commissions, on his personal sales there'll typically be around a 30% retail markup. For his personal group he'll have additional wholesale markups from between 6% to 21%. Just like any other business, if you buy in large volumes you get a cheaper per unit price.

For folk he has personally worked hard to recruit and train, over years, to develop their own significant businesses, he gets around 4% commission on that business. For anyone else in his group he develops a large business, he typically earns no more than 1%.

And contrary to your "enroll two persons" claim, someone of Raja Nareens level has most likely personally helped at least 40 to 50 people get started in the Amway business - not two!

You are right that it takes decades in traditional business to earn millions. Not always however. Is Yahoo a legitimate business? Google? Their founders made *billions* in less than a decade.

As it happens, the average time to reach Diamond (Raja Naren's level) is about a decade. The average income in the US at that level is $150,000/yr. Not exactly "millions". The folk earning millions in Amway have indeed been working with the Amway business for decades.

Clearly you have a great deal of misconceptions about the Amway business. In summary -

(1)Profit is earned through sale of products
(2)No commission is earned through recruiting
(3)Amway India sales have increased substantially in the past year, not decreased
(4)Amway products have won numerous independent consumer awards

That is the reality. Your opinion on the value of the products may differ, however it's just your opinion. No product needs to please 100% of the potential market to be a success.

Either way, points (1) to (4) are all facts, not opinion. Facts that you do not believe in. Whether you believe them or not, they remain true. You may wish to consider that perhaps your misconceptions have coloured your conclusions.

Unknown said...

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Shyam Sundar said...

Dear Chenna,
How long you have been with Amway? How much you are spending every month on purchasing Amway products? How much you are earning? Certainly you are a new victim on the BLOCK. Soon you would realise that it is a wasteful exercise and you have wasted enough money. If you realise the truth do not hesitate to express it sincerely.

Unknown said...

raja naren is a brilliant man in the world.