David Beckham -LA Galaxy - HerbaLife Scam

Oopsadaisy

Google is your friend

"This figure attempts to cover up the fact that 98.5 percent of distributors earn an average of less than $10.50 per week from the company, and less than 1 percent of the distributors receive a full 82 percent of the compensation paid by Herbalife."

Here's the link for this....

http://www.eworldwire.com/pressreleases/17882

Title of article is....FDI Cites Herbalife’s Top 5 Misrepresentations from Recent Presentations

Other snippets are...

The 2005 10-K [note from oopsadaisy - this is a tax/payroll return gov doc] discloses: "For the latest twelve month re-qualification period ending January 2005, approximately 60 percent of our supervisors did not re-qualify and more than 90 percent of our distributors that are not supervisors turned over."

and...
Yet by Herbalife's own documentation it is clear that almost none of the supervisors ever earn enough in commissions to recoup the $3,000 to $4,000 investment they made to move up - on average they receive $549 per year and about 60 percent don’t remain a supervisor for more than one year. That's not much of a return on their 'investment'."

Oopsadaisy

Of course the massive market for herbscam is now China...where tens of thousnads of people are losing their savings chasing the MLM scam that is herbalife.

After all the Chinese are not exactly an obese nation, so the demand for the 'product' is nil; it's that everyone is falling for the 'recruit people and share their profits' fraud.

monosyllabicben

Thanks for the links. I had a quick look through and they seem to be from 3 or 4 years ago but I've not had a detailed look at them.
I've not been working with the company that long so don't know how it was run then and if it's changed.
But I don't understand how people have lost money.
The only money you give Herbalife is the money for stock and if you are not selling stock then you will lose money. Same as a shop or most other buisnesses???
I'm pretty confused by this TBH.
If you order £500 + you get bigger discounts on the stock so I guess people might get greedy/stupid and order large ammounts of stock to get a bigger discount and have no way of shifting it.
All I can say is I've never lost money and I make a decent second income with it.

Oopsadaisy

Ben

you're pushing vitamins pills [please don't start bleating some pseudo-science about how they are brilliant] that costs pennies and you retail for pounds...no wonder most people see it as a scam.

pimento

monosyllabicben wrote: »

Hi I sell Herbalife mainly to my football team but I also sell it to people trying to loose weight.

It's lose not loose. Loose is what your trousers become when you lose weight.

It doesn't look professional if you can't spell the thing you're making money on.

Sorry to be a pedant but it's one of my pet hates.

muchacho

The only thing I've learnt from this thread is that Oopsadaisy has a chip on his/her shoulder due to a reason we don't yet know. But from my experience it's often due to jealousy or a bad experience with the company.

I'll tell you a good marker, to determine whether someone knows what they're talking about - ask them if they think MLM is pyramid selling. If they answer 'yes', stop the conversation and walk away, as you're not communicating with someone who knows what they're talking about, so it's completely pointless.

I'm not with HL but with another Direct Selling company, make a bloody good living and have worked with (and helped) many other people along the way. If the product sells and the marketing plan works, then the business works.

I've not tried the HL products so can't comment, but can pass comment on MLM overall. Plus, it's not for everyone. A lot of people want their wage in their pocket every week and be happy with it, which is fair enough.

Another thing, with the amount of people who prefer to spend a large portion of their online activity, 'knocking' MLM companies, there's been an increase in the turnover of the company I'm with, and I dare say many others too. If the customers didn't want the products, then the products wouldn't move and the company wouldn't make any money. Simples.

Oopsadaisy

Hey muchacho, have you read any of the articles dealing with HL and their 98.5% of their distributors earning less than $400 a yr??


If you've found an MLM that works for you, and doesn't involve ripping off vulnerable people by selling them penny vitamin/food supplements for pounds 'to help them lose weight' or alternatively doesn't involve selling way over-priced plastic tat door to door, or magnets to 'improve car/boiler fuel efficiency' and doesn't rely on you persuading all your friends and family to join the cult, then well done you. Long may it continue to bring you happiness.

BTW what is the name of this wonderful opportunity you've discovered??

Oopsadaisy

Google is your friend.....

We're getting a lot of questions about MLM (multi-level marketing) and if they are all just Ponzi schemes and should be avoided.

We'll briefly answer the question here, though there are many other sites that do go a lot more indepth into the subject, but this should do as a basic foundation.

What is MLM?

It stands for Multi Level Marketing. It is a scheme where people invest or sell a product. It is similar to a pyramid scheme in that people recruit new members who are then in their "downline" and people can make commissions from the sales of people in their downline. Profits are split top heavy so people near the top of the pyramid make more money than people just joining at the bottom.

Is MLM the same as a Ponzi scheme (pyramid scheme)?

Controversial question, but the overall answer is no. There are differences between the two, the most important being one is legal, the other is not.

What are those differences?

Legitimate MLMs have a good product or service to offer. It has been launched and its proven to make money. It is these profits that will be distributed top heavy amongst the members. Always ensure that you will have enough supplies of a product so you can make a substantial profit. Illegal Ponzis don't have a good product or service - infact they may have nothing. They drive in profits from making new recruits pay joining fees that go to people at the top of the pyramid. A lot of precedence will be placed to signing up new recruits, in fact the Ponzi will often claim the majority of the money/commisions you make will derive from signing up new people into the scheme. If the illegal Ponzi does have a product to sale, often members won't be given enough supplies to make a good profit.

Should I still avoid MLM, despite is being legal?

All depends on you. MLM can sometimes be a good way to earn an income, but because of its inherent pyramid structure, there is always more of a risk involved than with your average job. Also the life expectancy of an MLM is shorter than having a full time paid job - so it depends on your character. If job security is high on your list of priorities, then stay away from MLM. However if taking a risk and overcoming a challenge sounds like its up your street then MLM can be good fun and can often work out, providing you choose a legitimate scheme, not an illegal Ponzi scheme masquerading as one.

How can I determine between legitimate MLM and illegal Ponzi?

Often it can be very difficult since fake MLMs are growing in believability. If you are new to the game, don't pay signing up fees, rather focus on pure selling MLMs. There can be (rarely) legitimate MLMs that still require you pay to join, but until you are confident you can determine which are fake and which are not, don't pay. Ignore schemes that reward you greatly for signing up new recruits as these are the ones that will fall apart fast. Some legitimate MLM's may commision you for signing people and for their sales, but selling the product will always be priority number 1.

There has been a surge recently of fake investment Ponzis, like Tazoodle - avoid schemes that haven't launched yet. They may say they are about to be the "next big thing" but if that were the case they would get private investors and not rely on people like you. This and if they have not launched yet there is no way to determine if it will be able to make money, in which case, once again the profits will only come from signing up fees, rendering the majority of its members with a monetary loss.

Okay there are other signs but this covers the basics of the basics. For more information on Ponzis, click here..

Ponzi schemes lure people into their illegal pyramid structures by baiting them with the promise of making loads of money online. Of course, profiting solely from the registration fees of people joining below you is illegal, because that represents an unsustainable business model.

Oopsadaisy

Weed Out the Scams
Not all direct sales companies are honest. Pyramid schemes and other bogus opportunities are common.

Red flags to watch out for include direct selling revenues that are exclusively dependent on recruiting people instead of selling products. Another warning sign is recruiters who are unwilling to share details of the compensation plan. Likewise, your initial investment should immediately yield something tangible, be it product samples or training and marketing materials, the DSA's Robinson says. Getting started shouldn’t cost you thousands of dollars.

Robinson also recommends that you make sure the direct sales company has a buy-back policy, meaning that it should refund you for any unused or undamaged inventory you've purchased if you decide to quit.

Perhaps the biggest misconception is that you can get rich in a matter of weeks or months without lifting a finger or selling anything. Nothing could be further from the truth. Like any business, you have to hustle for each and every dollar you make.

Adaline

I did the Herbalife thing a few years ago when I was unemployed. The best thing I can say about the experience was that I ended up having a fling with the person who introduced me to it! (and didn't need any help from the energy drinks either...)