What's the deal with pyramid schemes?

What even is an MLM brand? MLM stands for Multi level marketing. Probably more commonly known as Network marketing or a Pyramid scheme to you and I.

 If you're reading this then the chances are you know which brands we are talking about. There are a lot out there globally.
 The structure of these brands usually works like this...

They have a sales team who promote the particular cosmetic or brand. This sales team rally in the support from friends and family by throwing "parties" or by constantly talking to their loved ones about how these products have changed their life.
 They encourage you to buy from the line (which they generally have had to purchase large quantities of themselves) and in some cases they then try to recruit you to also sell the brand.
 They are compensated through their sales and by how many people they can get to also sell the brand. The people they then recruit also try and sell to their family and friends and try to recruit. The chain gets longer and longer with only the people at the top of the pyramid making any real money.

We are not out to berate these companies or their sales teams but we wanted to write about our personal experiences with these brands and information we have learnt from talking with many others in the beauty industry or from those who have had first hand experience of working for them.

So this is the experiences we have personally had with MLM brands...

• Our inbox contains no less than 10 emails everyday from various consultants, all often working for the same brand and competing against each other asking us to review the brand/product....for their own financial gain obviously. We decline because we don't feel comfortable supporting a system where one person receives all the benefit and who are also under pressure to sell to you regardless of the product efficiency.

• Invites from friends to come over for a catch up. The coffee and catch up was not really what they wanted however, they want to bombard you with their sales pitch and try to flog you their products and get you to sign up with the promise of a huge income, new car, amazing lifestyle etc etc..

• Speaking with others who no longer talk to certain friends because they have been constantly flooded with texts and calls asking them to join the brand and sell the products.

None of these have been positive experiences for us or others who work in the beauty industry. For that reason these emails go straight into the trash can and we don't pick up the phone when certain friends names flash up on the screen anymore, which is really sad.

I don't know how they train their new recruits but the language and hard sell used at these parties can make a familiar friend seem quite alien. It's almost as though they have been brainwashed! We are yet to come across anyone who has made millions and have only ever heard horror stories of people who have lost a lot of money.

It's a free world and everyone can make their own decisions however we wanted to put a little of our experiences on MLM brands out there and also to explain the reason why we never review or respond to emails from these types of brands. We can now just reply to the emails with a link to this blog!

We would welcome your comments on this subject and if you are now living in a beach fronted mansion in Cannes, driving a new white Mercedes and look twenty years younger than your age because of these wonder products then we would absolutely love to hear from you.

What are your opinions guys?...