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Home » Multi-Level Marketing » Why Multi-Level Marketing is a Scam: How It Can Turn You Into a Slave

Why Multi-Level Marketing is a Scam: How It Can Turn You Into a Slave

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Home » Multi-Level Marketing » Why Multi-Level Marketing is a Scam: How It Can Turn You Into a Slave

In this article, you will learn why multi-level marketing is a scam, and you will also know what made a scam a scam! (i.e., what online scam is all about?).

You will learn what scam is all about and how to avoid them.

how-to-make-money-online-usa-from-home

You will also watch a YouTube video of an insider of an MLM program that has been scammed before and has been involved in various MLMs and now concluded that all MLM is a scam.

And finally, I will offer you the best alternative to MLM schemes, and why you need to be promoting your own business online instead of other people’s business which could have been a scam.

I will also offer you how to come up with your own business online and show you how you can participate in training that will help you discover a company that you love.

The step by step training will help turn your passion into a thriving business online.

You will learn the following in this article:

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

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why mlm is a scam

What Is Multi-Level Marketing?


We’ve all heard of MLM, but have you wondered what multi-level marketing is about?

MLM is a controversial marketing strategy where the people that generate sales are not only compensated for them, but also for the sales that other people under them (in the MLM hierarchy) generate.

The recruited salespeople are called “downlines”; there can be multiple levels of compensation in Multiple Level Marketing.

Other Terminology used in MLM includes pyramid schemes, network marketing, and referral marketing; many pyramid schemes make efforts to present themselves as legitimate MLM businesses.

MLM is classified as illegal in Mainland China.

According to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a lot of MLM companies are made up of illegal pyramid schemes that exploit their members.

Most MLM involve in direct selling; the salespeople sell products to a consumer through relationship referral and word of mouth method of marketing.

MLM salesmen and women not only sell the company’s products, but they also motivate others to join the company as a distributor.

These are why multi-level marketing is a Scam.

Unfortunately, MLM is usually associated with scams (See what a scam is and how to avoid them) and since this is a sensitive topic for some, below I am going to take a closer look at this and explain why MLM is a rip off scheme.

Multi-Level Marketing  Will Turns You Into A Slave


Multi-Level Marketing is a Scam

Who is a slave, according to the Thesaurus Dictionary, “a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; a bondservant.”

If a condition makes you work like a slave or makes you work in conventional, unimaginative ways, then you can be classified as a slave or a drudge.

Since all MLM is all about making cold calls and convincing others of how great the product or products you sell are and why they should buy as many of them as possible.

So basically, you are hustling, and at the same time, you put your reputation at risk.

After all, few things in this world are as annoying as having to listen to someone’s MLM pitch about products that you may not be interested in and have never heard of.

Unfortunately, if you don’t hustle in MLM, you don’t get to make money.

And if you don’t make money, then you’re not going to be around for too long.

MLM Will Never Reward You Without Over Charging You


If those already in the MLM wouldn’t overcharge others to buy their products, then they wouldn’t be able to make any money.

What this means is that for you to make money, you always have to sell overpriced junk to people.

In many situations, what you’re selling may be poor quality or downright useless for the buyer.

You are always required to sell the product to remain relevant to such an MLM program; most of this time this is usually a must. Otherwise, you are not moving forward.

To join an MLM scheme, you usually need to pay a fee and purchase some products as well.

The modern MLM scheme may even entice you to join free but after you either pay some little amount to go forward or you remain dormant in that system.

Unfortunately, MLM programs usually make money by selling inferior quality products and by forcing those who are already in the scheme to keep selling the products to other people.

It’s a never-ending chain; this is why multi-level marketing is a Scam.

MLM Always Pays Rating Agency To Remain Relevant


Getting “credentials” that they can eventually flaunt to their potential customers is something that most MLM companies consider.

There are so many awards out there that these MLM companies can pay for, Stevie Awards is one of them.

This kind of award helps them to gain people’s trust, even if most individuals have never heard of those awards or know what they mean.

Many of these schemes even pay good money to the BBB to go up the ranks and clear their name, regardless if they’re a legitimate company or not.

So if you’re still asking yourself “is multi-level marketing a rip off scheme?” then the answer is a resounding yes.

MLM Make You Promote Other People’s Business But Not Yours


You may think you’re the king of the world because you are making money with the MLM program you’re in, but the truth is that you don’t own the website, the business, and anything else than the product you bought.

One of the biggest lies with MLM is that you’re building a business, but that’s not true at all.

This is not affiliate marketing where you are the one that creates a product, a brand, and then a website and a following.

With MLM, you always need to hustle and keep looking for people that would join the program so that you can eventually turn a profit.

Regardless if you’re a distributor, a sponsor, or even a type of boss in the scheme, at the end of the day these are all words with non-intrinsic meaning.

When you look at yourself in the mirror and think about it for a second, you realize that you’re just one out of the thousands of blocks in the pyramid.

The very day all your downline decides to opt-out of the MLM program that is the day your income stopped.

Your business should never depend on any downlines; when you decide to sell the value and products that people need.

They will be mandated to purchase your products because they need it to survive in one way or the other.

How MLM Make You Make Money Off Your Friends And Family Members


For people to make money after they join an MLM scheme, they need to consider recruiting as many people as possible; this is why I classified multi-level marketing as a scam.

There are some MLM programs; you can only join the program only if you can promote and win people under you before you can join.

Most of the time, your family is directly reached for your initial MLM outreach.

You tend to reach out to or engage people that trust you because they are the first point of your calls and since they believe you they effectually buy into the so-called product.

An instance is MMM Global; all MLM work with a similar structure and objective to scam its victims.

It’s not only the fact that in most cases your friends and family will continue buying the products just so that you don’t feel bad but in the end, you get tired of it all.

You get tired of having to recruit new people every week, of trying to sell inferior quality products and of the perception that others have concerning your so-called job.

MLM vs. Affiliate Marketing


If you want to make money without having to chase people around, instead they will come chasing you. You must consider a new business model for the 21st century.

Others and shamelessly promote inferior quality products to people (usually) in desperate financial situations; then you may want to consider getting into affiliate marketing.

This type of marketing allows you to promote any service and product you want regardless of the niche.

Down the line, if you’re successful, you can even come up with your product, get a website, build a brand and a following and then make even more money.

What MLM does though if you want to consider it is that it forces you to stick to a single program?

You don’t care about your buyers at all, and you’re always going through stress because you need to sell as much overpriced junk as possible.

On the other hand, when you compare this to affiliate marketing, the differences are apparent.

Not only will you promote great products and a lot of them, at the same time you have the opportunity to grow a lot along the way and even start your own business.

MLM and affiliate marketing can never be confused since one of them is an ethical practice, and the other is very unethical.

Now that you know more about the difference between multi-level marketing and affiliate marketing, we also hope that you have gotten your answer to the question “is multi-level marketing scam?”

As expected, the answer is a resounding yes as you would be able to see if you were to go online and do a little bit of research. I hope you now know why all Multi-Level Marketing is a scam. MLM is always a scam!

Avoid Online Scam – Set-Up Real Online Business


In Wealthy Affiliate, you will learn how to identify your niche. Your niche will depend on what drives you in life. What do you like?

Do you love traveling? Or skating? Or Food? Is there any game you like playing?

The Wealthy Affiliate program will help you identify what you love doing. You will learn how to transform your hobbies into a moneymaking machine.

You will learn how to develop your very own website and how to use your website to make money for a living.

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Wealthy Affiliate is a community of learners; we learn from each other’s every day.

The platform has more than 100 videos and text training on various topics on the step-by-step method to turn your passion-driven hobbies into making money online.

You can also join free with a gift of two websites hosting forever without any condition; so what are you doing about your career?

Turn your hobbies into making money online today, and start working from home. If I can do it, you can do it even better.

Do you have any opinion on the MLM program? Are you doing great as an MLM program? Do you think I am wrong?

Please drop your comment and let me know about your program, maybe it may change my thought about it all.

9 thoughts on “Why Multi-Level Marketing is a Scam: How It Can Turn You Into a Slave”

  1. Hi John,
    I have been wondering for so long what MLM is. I’ve seen people chatting about it but never looked it up, oddly enough.
    From reading your article, I now know what MLM is and people have chased me to be a part of their pyramid scheme. I had no idea what it was when they were trying to sign me on but because of your information I understand what they were doing now.
    I am a Wealthy Affiliate member too and I’m having a great time with affiliate marketing so luckily enough for me, I never signed on to their pyramid schemes.
    Thank you for this I do, I had thought about signing on with them a few times but now I know to not go that way. From what I understand, at the end of the day, you still end up with a boss and that’s what we’re all trying to avoid.
    Thanks for your research to give us all this great info!

  2. Dear John,

    Great work on. And I am impressed with your article on MLM and scam. But do you really think all MLM is a scam? Are you saying that there is no legit MLM program that is not scammed?

    I knew great people making money promoting Multi-Level Marketing products, are you saying they are making money via scamming process?

    Please clarify.

    Regards

    Tricky

    1. Dear Trickyviews,

      Thanks for reading my article on Why Multi-Level Marketing is a Scam. To be straightforward with you. I will declare here that 95% of all MLM products are a scam. It is tough to swallow!

      Any product that you will need to solicit other members to embrace is a scam. Most especially if such product is not generally needed by everybody.
      I am having one or more online program that is MLM but is not a scam. They really added value to the members and populate of their regions. A very good example of such MLM product that is not a scam is Recharge And Get Paid. You can read that article up.

      Thanks for visiting my site.

      Regards

      John

  3. While I don’t agree with some of your ideas here, there are points that I am with you. Like for example, when you said that MLM makes you a slave, that’s true. I have friends in the industry they are so successful that they no longer have time for other activities except for hosting meetings, appearing in gatherings, and speaking in conferences. Although they look like they’re enjoying what they’re doing, to me I don’t like that set up. It’s really like the MLM company has already owned you! lol

    Another thing that I agree with you is, when you said that MLM distributors don’t really own a business, but rather promoting other the MLM company which they never own. Contrast with affiliate marketing, especially the one being taught by Wealthy Affiliate, people are being trained to really start own businesses.

    1. Hi Gomer,

      Thanks for those my point you agree with. We are no meant to agree on all stuff. 

      The best job online is to have your own business that can run with or without you. Can you imagine making over $25k monthly without disturbing your family or friends about referrer. that is what a legitimate business online that is not a MLM will earn you, Wealthy Affiliate is the best example of this. 

      Regards 

      John

  4. Hello John,

    You make me scare of working online, most especially on social media platform.

    Are you saying that people bait friends on face book to be friend them so as to get access to their system?

    Please revert.

    Isreal

    1. Hi Isreal,

      Yes, we have a lot of fake people online. This is so very common on Facebook these days. You can easily identify the fraudulent individual by the profile pictures they use (most naked and beautiful girls ); you accept them as your friends at your own Perry.

      Then they will be the first to chat you starting a conversion. They may send a link to you via FB chat. If you click on it that may introduce malware to your system.

      The malware will help them gain access to your system.

      Regards

      John

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