LOL! Surely you jest.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/predawn/F86/amway.htm
PS: to the guy who suggested that I "did next to nothing", I am tempted to say how I really feel about that slam, but I'm not going to breach FR ettiquette. I'll simply say that's pure BS. I worked my ass off, and lost my shirt. My "upline" worked even harder, and did even worse than me. He was a hell of a lot more disillusioned than I was when his hopes and dreams came crashing down.FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 1986AMWAY CORP. TO PAY $100,000 CIVIL PENALTY, SETTLING FTC CHARGES IT FAILED TO MAKE REQUIRED EARNINGS DISCLOSURES IN NEWSPAPER ADAmway Corp. will pay a $100,000 civil penalty to settle Fed eral Trade Commission charges it violated a 1979 Commission order by making earnings claims for its distributors without disclosing actual average gross income figures, under a proposed consent decree filed in federal court today. The consent decree and a complaint were filed at the request of the FTC by the Department of Justice. The consent decree is subject to court approval. Amway is a manufacturer and marketer of household and consumer products, which are sold door-to-door, including home and personal-care products, vitamins and food supplements. Under its Amway Sales and Marketing Plan, the Michigan-based company sells its products to distributors, who in turn resell to other distributors or directly to consumers. A 1979 Commission decision resolved FTC charges that Amway's claims about the amount of money distributors are likely to earn had the capacity to deceive potential distributors. The order accompanying that decision prohibits Amway from misrepresenting the amount of profit, earnings or sales its distributors are likely to achieve. The order also requires that whenever Amway makes above-average earnings or sales claims, it must also dis close clearly and conspicuously either the average earnings of all distributors or the percent of distributors who actually earn the amount claimed. According to a complaint filed with the proposed consent decree, Amway violated the 1979 order by placing an advertisement in newspapers across the country that represented the earnings of distributors without the required disclosures. The complaint charged that the 1983 ad, which offered Amway distributorships, contained earnings and sales claims that were higher than the average income actually earned in any recent year. In addition, the complaint charged, Amway violated the 1979 order by failing to include in its ad clear and conspicuous dis closures of the average earnings or sales of all distributors in any recent year or the percent of distributors who actually achieved the results claimed. Under the consent decree, Amway is prohibited from making claims about above-average distributor earnings or sales unless it makes the required disclosures about actual earnings or sales. This consent decree is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the company that it violated the law. The proposed consent decree was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. FTC Chairman Daniel Oliver and Commissioner Andrew J. Strenio Jr. did not participate in the vote.(More) Copies of the proposed consent decree, a stipulation by the FTC and Amway agreeing to the consent and the complaint are available from the FTC's Public Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-523- 3598; TTY 202-523-3638.# # #MEDIA CONTACT: Dee Ellison, Office of Public Affairs, 202-523- 1891STAFF CONTACT: Elliot Feinberg, Bureau of Competition, 202-634- 4604FTC File No. D. 9023Civil Action No. 86-1360[amway]
The Internet is filled with all the documentation anyone would ever need to form their own opinions on what happens to people who sign up for that religion.
The FTC citation above took me all of ten seconds to locate. I typed amway ftc into google. It was the second link returned, out of 2,810.
I'd suggest doing some googling if you want to find out what people have gone through. I'd also suggest backing off with the party line accusations against people who've lost money with that outfit.
It's generally acknowledged that the real money is in the "self-help" materials and services. Books, tapes, seminars, etc. Those guys -- that small cadre of biggies -- are the ones who rake in the money from the "true believers" who keep on forking out in the hope that if they somehow stick it out long enough, they'll get rich.
Personally, in retrospect, Clue One should have been when I had to spend a bunch of time in someone's house -- a friend, no less -- giving a long, drawn out pitch -- to try to sell a box of soap, so that I might make a few cents. That's a few cents gross. After subtracting all the costs of "doing business" -- it's tragically laughable.
Suffice it to say that most people find it more convenient to buy a box of soap at the store, where they don't have to get preached at by the checkout (who by the way doesn't have to sit there filling out forms just to sell the damn box!)
Watch it with the personal attacks. I've been there, I've paid my dues, and I've seen the lives tossed by the wayside. If all you've got to "contribute" are personal attacks, then I suggest you stow it.