"Jason McRiffle" brought up an interesting test in a BehindMLM comment for the "legitimacy" of an MLM, and it's more useful than it first seems. He dubbed it "the eBay test".
If an MLMer wants you to join "for the product", the way to check whether it's viable or not... is to take the product name and size, and go search on eBay for the same item.
If you can buy it cheaper on eBay including shipping than what you are supposed to sell it for, then it's clearly NOT profitable to join at all as you can't retail it at any profit.
Let's randomly pick one product from each of the top 3 MLM companies by revenue: Amway, Avon, and Herbalife.
Amway Nutrilite Double X Refill "retail price" is $88 on Amway's website
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Same refill is easily found on eBay for $50-$60, and if you want to bid, even less
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That's not a surprise, is it?
Avon "Anew Clinical Thermafirm" is $28 on Avon's website
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But the same cream is $12-$15 on eBay with shipping, even less w/ bidding.
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Herbalife QuickStart kit for weight loss is $115 on Herbalife website
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The same Herbalife Quickstart kit is $70-85 on eBay.
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The pattern is obvious and undeniable: you are VERY UNLIKELY to make ANY retail PROFIT selling the products, no matter how much your upline insists that the products will 'sell themselves". (Undoubtedly you can find some exceptions if you look hard enough, but that's not the point.)
So want to do this to your own MLM? Or the MLM you are thinking of joining?
1) Pick their top product. Figure out how much you have to sell it for to make a profit. If you can get it "wholesale" at 50, figure you have to sell it for at least $70 (including shipping and handling) to make a profit after all the hours you worked.
2) Then check the same stuff on ebay (or even Amazon, should you want to be thorough). People go where stuff is cheap, so if you can't beat the eBay price, you won't get any orders other than few pity orders thrown your way by your friends and family.
It's not a pleasant thought, is it?
To convince yourself, try a couple more products.
If you cannot retail with a profit... then your only RELIABLE source of sales is your downline... the people you recruited to join your organization... AND yourself.
You were TAUGHT by your upline (just as your downline is taught by you) that you should switch over your existing products to these products because these are as good (or better) as the ones you used. And the only way you get RELIABLY get more sales... is to add more downline, not sell more, because, remember, you can't really sell these at a profit because you can't sell them at "retail" prices, but must offer heavy discounts to match the online sellers.
You are told you'll be a retailer, a seller. But in reality, you are a BUYER, recruiting more BUYERS by telling them the same delusion... that they are sellers.
So where does that leave you?
A liar, who perpetuated a lie.
If an MLMer wants you to join "for the product", the way to check whether it's viable or not... is to take the product name and size, and go search on eBay for the same item.
If you can buy it cheaper on eBay including shipping than what you are supposed to sell it for, then it's clearly NOT profitable to join at all as you can't retail it at any profit.
Let's randomly pick one product from each of the top 3 MLM companies by revenue: Amway, Avon, and Herbalife.
Amway Nutrilite Double X Refill "retail price" is $88 on Amway's website
Same refill is easily found on eBay for $50-$60, and if you want to bid, even less
That's not a surprise, is it?
Avon "Anew Clinical Thermafirm" is $28 on Avon's website
But the same cream is $12-$15 on eBay with shipping, even less w/ bidding.
Herbalife QuickStart kit for weight loss is $115 on Herbalife website
The same Herbalife Quickstart kit is $70-85 on eBay.
The pattern is obvious and undeniable: you are VERY UNLIKELY to make ANY retail PROFIT selling the products, no matter how much your upline insists that the products will 'sell themselves". (Undoubtedly you can find some exceptions if you look hard enough, but that's not the point.)
Your Bottom Line
So want to do this to your own MLM? Or the MLM you are thinking of joining?
1) Pick their top product. Figure out how much you have to sell it for to make a profit. If you can get it "wholesale" at 50, figure you have to sell it for at least $70 (including shipping and handling) to make a profit after all the hours you worked.
2) Then check the same stuff on ebay (or even Amazon, should you want to be thorough). People go where stuff is cheap, so if you can't beat the eBay price, you won't get any orders other than few pity orders thrown your way by your friends and family.
It's not a pleasant thought, is it?
To convince yourself, try a couple more products.
Parting Thoughts
If you cannot retail with a profit... then your only RELIABLE source of sales is your downline... the people you recruited to join your organization... AND yourself.
You were TAUGHT by your upline (just as your downline is taught by you) that you should switch over your existing products to these products because these are as good (or better) as the ones you used. And the only way you get RELIABLY get more sales... is to add more downline, not sell more, because, remember, you can't really sell these at a profit because you can't sell them at "retail" prices, but must offer heavy discounts to match the online sellers.
You are told you'll be a retailer, a seller. But in reality, you are a BUYER, recruiting more BUYERS by telling them the same delusion... that they are sellers.
So where does that leave you?
A liar, who perpetuated a lie.