Anyone do Arbonne?

gb12345

Saturnalia wrote: »

How does this differ from Avon and the like? I did that for a few months and my experience was no different to what people are saying about Arbonne. So how come one outfit is a scam and the other not?

Doing Avon you earn your money selling things to friends, family, neighbours etc - they do not push you into recruiting 'downstreams', where as the likes of Arbonne rely on recruiting people to generate income.

bigmac12

...........

Hug

Saturnalia wrote: »

How does this differ from Avon and the like? I did that for a few months and my experience was no different to what people are saying about Arbonne. So how come one outfit is a scam and the other not?

Very good question Saturnalia, I would be very keen to hear the responses!

adouglasmhor

Hug wrote: »

Very good question Saturnalia, I would be very keen to hear the responses!

It's allready been answered above.

gb12345

Hug wrote: »

Oh my god.... People quit stuff? Stop the press! So because your friends didn't succeed with it, no-one can?. If your friend opened a shop and didn't succeed with it should nobody ever open a shop again?

Yet more sheep style misinformation

Isn't it funny how 6 people of differing demographics in different areas of the country and with different social networks all tried the same business and all gave up for the same reason - they didn't make any money because no one was interested in signing up below them.

Your example of a shop is totally misleading. If 1 shop of 1 particular type fails in 1 particular location then it would indicate that there is not a market for that particular product range in that location. It does not mean that the particular product range would not succeed in another location or that a shop selling a different product range wouldn't succeed in the original location.

Hug

gb12345 wrote: »

Doing Avon you earn your money selling things to friends, family, neighbours etc - they do not push you into recruiting 'downstreams', where as the likes of Arbonne rely on recruiting people to generate income.

No money is earned through "recruiting" it is ALL through product!

Saturnalia

No, Avon don't directly pressure you to recruit others, but from day 1 of signing up you are told about how much more money you could be making managing a team, and you are encouraged to recruit others. Plus it goes without saying that the only people you see making money out of it are the ones who do recruit.

Hug

bigmac12 wrote: »

I was approached by an Arbonne rep but turned it down for the following reasons:

1. You are making money out of the people you sign up as reps. Basically taking a commission/percentage (I think it was about 8%) of the products they purchase each month. This can mean making money out of your friends and family. No thank you.

2. Most reps have no idea about the products. They aren't trained well. Also you aren't allowed to sell the products on ebay etc. The reps seem to be making their money from the commissions rather than by selling the products on. Therefore a lot of the income is internal from the reps (similar to a pyramid scheme) and not from the external public.

3. They offer you a free white mercedes. This is however not free. They take out the finance in your name and your monthly earnings pay for it. If you leave Arbonne, you are stuck with the car and expensive financing agreement.

4. They give you stupid titles such as 'regional manager' after signing up 4 people to make you feel important.

5. The initial presentation where they put up photos of Alan Sugar and Richard Branson on a projector screen saying they support the scheme is complete lies.

6. You have to purchase a minimum amount of product each month. If you stop, they chuck you out the scheme and you lose your initial investment (they ask for circa £1k to get involved).

7. The only thing you can be successful at in this scheme is mugging people off.

I'm sorry you feel this way, the person you heard the presentation from will be able to answer your questions above (as this is not correct information) as I cannot give anymore of my time to this forum.

PlutoinCapricorn

Gb12345, I think that you are preaching to the converted. One of the benefits of being on MSE is getting access to the postings of people such as you.

Yes, doing research before joining something is very advisable. The dentist/chiropodist example seems irrelevant: what you need is the opinion of someone who knows what to look for where money-making opportunities are concerned, rather than someone who has a vested interest in people's joining. The Freshfield thread on the Savings & Investments board is a good example of this: I am sure that the people who asked MSE experts whether or not to invest were happy that they didn't listen to people who work for Freshfield and get paid for signing up new investors.

Perhaps 'iffy' rather than 'dodgy' is a better word for what this one looks like. I would look at the pros and cons, also the intelligence or otherwise of the arguments presented. I would look to see which side had the better case. I would digest the fact that as the products are highly priced, once I had exhausted my network I could only make money by signing up other people. This does not seem sustainable, and although it is not illegal it seems unethical. I would certainly see if people could get the products cheaper elsewhere.

gb12345

Saturnalia wrote: »

No, Avon don't directly pressure you to recruit others, but from day 1 of signing up you are told about how much more money you could be making managing a team, and you are encouraged to recruit others. Plus it goes without saying that the only people you see making money out of it are the ones who do recruit.

The difference is it is 1 level - you get commission for your team, if you become an area manager (or whatever they call it these days). With Arbonne, the commission is paid at multiple levels, depending on the fancy title that Arbonne have given you.