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Strategies for Retiring Young, Soon, and Wealthy
672 hits
| Aug 12, 2004 2:19 pm |
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re: re: Forced matrix & other things to avoid in MLM |
Howard
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> Paul Bradley Cordle wrote:
>There is no legal requirement for sales tools to be sold "at or below cost". This is an ethical issue, rather than a legal one.
Actually, it is both a legal and an ethical issue. One problem here is that this is governed by various state governments (in the US), and the rules are 1) not consistent, and 2) in the modern internet era, basically impossible to monitor, much less enforce. The attorneys general of most states have ruled that an MLM company may not charge for sales tools over cost, and cannot require distributors to buy them. The AMO (Amway Motivational Organization, also associated with Quixtar) scams get around this because the AMO tools are not actually sold by Amway/Quixtar, and they aren't (nod, nod, wink, wink) 'required' -- you just aren't going to be 'successful' (nod, nod, wink, wink) without them...
BTW, I see violations of this general rule quite often. MLM organizations routinely thumb their noses at the law, and get away with it, sometimes for many years. As mentioned, in the age of the Internet, that is easy to do. For instance, in some states, an MLM may not go more than 5 levels deep -- yet I see many 6, 7, and 'infinite' level plans. MLMs don't have a monopoly on bad behavior, but they engage in it more often than non-MLM businesses. The best MLMs (e.g., Mary Kay) have to continuously and vigorously work to prevent such abuses.
Even though I'm not personally interested in Passport, I wish them luck. I find their approach to tools to be remarkably refreshing. Their training teleseminars are free, and even open to non-members.
Private Reply to Howard (new win) |
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