Friday, February 13, 2009

Amwayed!



The Bloke and I have just been Amwayed!

We met an acquaintance at a cafe this morning for what we thought was going to be a discussion about helping his business with an IT idea. Wrong.

Out comes the chart and the dubious statistics about how much money you'll make, then the talk about how it's "not a scam" and "not pyramid selling", then how you'll be your own boss and get "residual income ", i.e something for nothing.

Well they were talking to the wrong people and I let them know that pretty smartly. I did economics at uni and both the Bloke and I are extremely cynical people. Nothing comes for free.

I let them know recruiting my friends for this bullshit scheme was something I had no intention of doing and that their projected incomes (over five years) were less than what I was currently earning. So piss off please!

I can't believe Amway is still around! I remember my Dad having a "friend" come over when I was a kid to try and get my parents involved in it. Needless to say, they didn't remain friends.

Ah, there'll always be people to whom the idea of a get-rich-quick scheme is too enticing to refuse. Suckers.
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11 comments:

  1. MrScribblerFebruary 13, 2009 at 9:27 PM

    I remember a friend pushing Amway some 40 years ago.

    I thought it was a scam then and time has proven me right.

    If you and the Bloke had gotten into it in 1969, it might have made sense.

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  2. FlinthartFebruary 13, 2009 at 9:44 PM

    Dear old Amway. Still out there raising money for the right-wing church...

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  3. TraytableFebruary 13, 2009 at 9:55 PM

    My mum was in Amway back in the day, but only so she could buy the household cleaning products at a discount... I still remember the jumbo tub of L.O.C.!!!!

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  4. nicoFebruary 13, 2009 at 11:14 PM

    I got Amwayed a few years back (the newer version of it)... made me laugh.

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  5. LERMONTOVFebruary 14, 2009 at 12:33 AM

    One of the few sales experiences worse than the Mormons turning up on your door - Enjoy dinner with the Bloke!

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  6. mr-stuFebruary 14, 2009 at 1:47 AM

    Never heard of it over here in England and as you say nothing in life comes for free!

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  7. KimmywooFebruary 14, 2009 at 6:56 PM

    Scrib: If we'd bought into anything in 1969 we'd have it pretty good by now!

    Flint: Yep! Read about it on Wikipedia when we got home.

    Tray: I remember those jumbo bottles, and that weird globe logo-thing! Seems as though they've scrapped that.

    Nico: You've got to laugh.

    Lerm: Oh, let me just blog about THAT experience!

    Stu: Lucky you!

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  8. becomingkateFebruary 14, 2009 at 9:08 PM

    Dang! Last time someone Amwayed me was maybe 1993. The guy said I'd have to be stupid to pass it up, lol.

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  9. TraytableFebruary 14, 2009 at 11:04 PM

    I grew up in a religious family and Mormons used to turn up on the doorstep on a regular basis. There was a particular subject (I cant recall at the moment) which when brought up caused them to run for the hills... it was hilarious!

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  10. MickHFebruary 15, 2009 at 1:59 PM

    Well I was in Amway for a brief period in the early nineties. It wasn't a scam! But it doesn't work in this country. I found that the prices of the items were too dear and too concentrated. Many of my customers liked the products but it took them months to use them. Amway wanted you to sell heaps of products to get any real returns monthly so you had to have a huge customer base. The way to maximise your returns however was to network your business but in this country people treat you like you have a disease (see above) It wasn't religious! If it was I would have been outta there so fast my feet would not have touched the ground!

    So to succeed in Amway you had to have a skin as thick as an elephants and the sales ability of a used car salesmen. In end I wasn't comfortable with cold canvassing people, nor with the pressure that people above me in the chain were subtly applying. Unfortunately you had (like relatives) no say in the chain you were signed up in unless you were very savvy and found out who the real go getters were (there we some good ones) and signed under them.

    I don't know what the new one is about, I thought it was dead! But if its anything like the old one and you are prepared to work (real) hard at it, don't care what your family and friends think of you, can goal set and achieve like an Olympic athlete, then you could be successful at it. But it's not easy money and should never sold as such (although some people did I believe) It was never sold to me like that.

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  11. MickHFebruary 15, 2009 at 2:53 PM

    One more thing.

    I just read the Wiki entry. What tripe!
    I was a member of Dexter Yager's network and there was never, ever, any religious connotations referred to. Maybe we were insulated from that in this country. It was all business, in a furious American sort of way.

    However some of the rallys felt like they were one step removed from an evangelist gathering. One shout of "Praise the lord" would have fixed it!
    LOL
    :-)

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