Everyone has seen the tantalizing advertisements: “Working from home!” “Create your own business!” “Set your own schedule, be your own boss!” with wage promises of up to $20 an hour. Even on campus, students have fallen in love with this seemingly easy way to earn money.
The ultra-glam lifestyle of these “#bossbabes” makes this job a dream. Private gigs with Kelly Clarkson and Selena Gomez, free cruises and the promise of powerful female friendships were flaunted on recruiting flyers. For some women who managed to escape the clutches of this work, it felt more like a nightmare.
Recently, multi-level marketing (MLM) companies have been in the news due to the nature of their exploitative practices brought to light. MLMs are based on a hierarchical structure (which internet users jokingly refer to as pyramid schemes), in which constant recruitment is essential to keep the company afloat.
The average worker recruits employees under him and when he has enough people under him, he rises through the ranks of the company, earning a certain percentage of what his subordinates earn. For those at the top, that means big bonuses. But, for the many people who struggle to sell products, that means losing more than was needed in the first place.
To join an MLM, you have to buy a starter kit, which the superiors and the company consider an investment.
These are usually expensive: skincare company Rodan + Fields is asking nearly $1,000 for their starter kit, while the clothing brand LuLa Roe has historically charged between $5,000 and $10,000 for starter kits (these have since dropped to around $500). More often than not, new employees are rudely awakened when these kits arrive, as many of them contain damaged goods or are not complete.
Many current employees claim that MLMs have provided them with many benefits during their career with their company, but former employees claim the opposite. In one documentary per Vice News, former LuLaRoe employees were interviewed, from those at the top to an employee. All said leaving meant losing so many friendships and relationships they had cultivated over the years, leaving them feeling very alone.
As this video and others show, MLMs tend to be very predatory. These companies prey on people who can’t work or haven’t looked for other traditional 9-to-5 jobs.
Primarily, the groups that make up this demographic are primarily stay-at-home moms (or moms with many children/responsibilities, as they are typically older) and military wives (due to their relative isolation on base with their husbands). Students are also being targeted, as seen at Rutgers when students (including myself) received Canvas messages advertising free and easy money.
Most MLM employees don’t make any money at all. In fact, they tend to enter debt.
The only people who benefit from this operating system are the original employees. Many women believe that, especially in more isolated situations, businesses like these are the only way to make friends, and their desire for friendship with other women is so strong that they risk losing money to maintain them.
The subreddit r/antiMLM consists of people who have been in MLMs before, been affected by them, or generally have a distaste for them. They refer to MLM employees as huns, a fun way to emulate the common selling vocabulary that so many of these people use. This subreddit provides anecdotal stories about how people left MLMs and what to do to avoid falling into their alluring trap.
There are several warning signs of an MLM – if they promise great pay with little effort, it’s either an MLM or a complete scam. They also advertise being your own boss, paired with phrases such as “work at your own pace” and “build your own schedule!” These phrases particularly appeal to busy people looking for a lucrative side job.
Another red flag would be if they ask you to buy products before you even get onboarded and then urge you to keep replenishing inventory in order to sell more. This ends up giving the company more money and bleeding you dry. Investing constantly when you’re only losing money to follow trends sounds suspicious, don’t you think?
Finally, being extremely adamant about continuing to sell to people despite what income level they seem to be at is a huge red flag. Many MLMs focus on hosting parties where people (usually moms) buy stuff and are often pressured into buying expensive stuff. Many times employees will stay for hours at a time in order to make a sale.
MLMs are predatory and harmful. They can lead honest people down a path to financial ruin, and relationships damaged by the almost bigoted behavior they exhibit can take years to mend. If you or someone you know notices the warning signs, stay away – unless you want to be part of the Hun cult.