Anyone got any experience with Neways? An MLM company?

[Siggy]

I would like to ask if anyone has any thoughts or first hand experience with a company called Neways:
It is a MLM company that sells "natural" products and supplements. These are of course secondary to building up a downline of other salespeople below you to earn a residual income!

My sister in law is about to jump into this and apart from a few articles on the web I cant really find out if it is genuine or a scam.

What i have found:
The owners have been sent to jail for tax evasion - not really an indictment on whether the company is a bad bet - just greedy owners!
There has been one instance of a product being recalled and the company fined about 3 years ago when a diuretic was found in a slimming supplement and not disclosed on the labelling.

Other than that i cant really find anything concrete to say whether this is a good thing or not. Take it as understood that She knows what MLM is all about and the effort she will need to put in to make money.

I suppose I am asking if this is another AMWAY?

All thoughts appreciated!

Siggy

[TheSmJ]

If you really can't make any income unless you successfully get people "below you", then it's a classic pyramid scheme.

[Leonardo]

Other than that...If they are willing to cheat the government, they are certainly willing to cheat their field representatives whom they will never meet face to face. TheSMJ is right. It's not a legitimate business model. The company owners will cut and run as soon as the market is saturated, which won't take long. Do your sister-in-law a big favor and tell her not to walk, but to run away from this company.

[GHoosdum]

If you really can't make any income unless you successfully get people "below you", then it's a classic pyramid scheme.

A classic pyramid scheme is illegal. The company wouldn't exist after the government noticed its existence in that case. The only point of a pyramid scheme is to funnel in more people. At least this case has some product.

Unfortunately, though, this sounds more like herbalife than anything else. Personally, I'd steer clear.

[Cyclonite]

Stay away.

[profdlp]

Tell your sis-in-law that in addition to buying a lot of product which she is going to have to somehow sell, she is also going to strain her relationship with every family member and friend that she has. I think I'd rather see a friend join a cult than fall prey to this crap. :grumble:

[Leonardo]

The only point of a pyramid scheme is to funnel in more people. At least this case has some product. It's still a pyramid scheme. It probably has just enough product to avoid the legal definition of a prohibited business. I still would consider it a pyramid.

[csimon]

I would like to ask if anyone has any thoughts or first hand experience with a company called Neways:
It is a MLM company that sells "natural" products and supplements. These are of course secondary to building up a downline of other salespeople below you to earn a residual income!

My sister in law is about to jump into this and apart from a few articles on the web I cant really find out if it is genuine or a scam.

What i have found:
The owners have been sent to jail for tax evasion - not really an indictment on whether the company is a bad bet - just greedy owners!
There has been one instance of a product being recalled and the company fined about 3 years ago when a diuretic was found in a slimming supplement and not disclosed on the labelling.

Other than that i cant really find anything concrete to say whether this is a good thing or not. Take it as understood that She knows what MLM is all about and the effort she will need to put in to make money.

I suppose I am asking if this is another AMWAY?

All thoughts appreciated!

Siggy
What's the point in pursuing with this MLM? Is it to build a downline and "get-rich-quick" while others do the work for you? Or is she genuinely sold on natural products and supplements?
If the answer is the latter I would tell her to go to natures sunshine products. I used to pay my annual renewal of $25 to maintain my membership status and get all of the natural & supplemental products at cost + shipping. I don't anymore because I know enough ppl that still do it and I just get them to order things for me. The biggest problem I ran across was justifying the high shipping costs. You really need to order about $150 worth of stuff to break even on shipping usually. So I call a friend who orders once a week and gets calls all week long . By the end of the week she's absorbed the shipping and made a small profit.
I actually know someone who does this successfully full-time from home. She works her tail off but doesn't make much money off of it really. It's not for me for sure.

[Siggy]

What's the point in pursuing with this MLM? Is it to build a downline and "get-rich-quick" while others do the work for you? Or is she genuinely sold on natural products and supplements?
If the answer is the latter I would tell her to go to natures sunshine products.

She is very into wholistic medicine and is a Pilates Instructer - she plans on selling the supplements at her classes, She plans on buillding her downline with people that genuinly like and use the product - she figures that way she will get more out of them.

[celcho]

it sounds like you have plenty of concrete negatives, their recall and tax evasion, and nothing positive about them.

looks like the answer is obvious. there might be other products she could distribute that won't make terrible people rich (the owners that got busted by the IRS).

[Guyute]

FWIW I was involved with Amway for several years. Long story why still not in; I must be the only person in North America who had a positive experience???

A good set of questions to ask, because once in a blue moon a reputable MLM comes along (I think), are
1) Do you have to spend a LOT of $$ to sign up? The more $$ to sign up, the faster you should run. Usually means they are about to give you a wedgie you will never forget! High startup costs are OK for a McD's, but MLM's are SUPPOSED to cost little to start...that's the whole idea. If products are supplied with a kit, add couple of hundred $$$, roughly. If they ask you to buy $10,000 worth of products right away, handcuff them to a tree inside the baboon cage. My Dad go screwed by a water-filter MLM this way. $4,000 buys YOU a lot of water filters- 14 years' worth!!!


2)Are they forthright with related costs? Do you HAVE to buy support materials? Amway included a clause in everyone's contract that any support materials bought by your downline were immediately cash-refundable by YOU if they quit- prevented people from making money on books.

3) Do you make money right away? My wife was looking at an MLM that she had 3 people ready to sign up below her, but she couldn't get any residuals until she qualified for their first major level, and she would have had to quit her job to do it- again, against the spirit of fake it til you make it.

4) Are the leadership transparent? I was never told it would be a cakewalk, but the payout was a lot better than a job! My upline never lied to me.

5) Will they work with you until you are successful? ask them if they will help you qualify a few people and THEN you will get in. That question usually separates the scam from a legit biz. Anyone genuinely interested in your success will bust their hump to get you going fast and well.

6) Do they have name-brand items? Offering only private-label products can be a limiting factor.

Hope this helps.

[Thrax]

My parents were both in Amway, and have very positive stories to tell.

[Leonardo]

A good set of questions to ask, because once in a blue moon a reputable MLM comes along (I think), are
1) Do you have to spend a LOT of $$ to sign up? The more $$ to sign up, the faster you should run. Usually means they are about to give you a wedgie you will never forget!

Guyute, your wisdom has been immortalized (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?p=439479#post439479)! "Short-Media Byte"

[Guyute]

Aww shucks, Leonardo...

really, thanks, that IS an honor. My first!

You and SMJ do bring up valid points- these scam artists are usually VERY slick, and will give you just enough glimpse into their companies for you to believe they are not "front-loading" (I think it's called that) products or going after tons of signup fees. Worked with a guy who got stung like that- him and his bud actually gave some guy they had never met before void cheques for their residuals- he lost $1200, his bud over $7000- they forged the bank card and emptied their accounts.

[GHoosdum]

Here is an excellent article about MLMs:
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/archives/2006/11/network-marketing-is-a-big-fat-scam.html

[profdlp]

Here is an excellent article about MLMs:
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/archives/2006/11/network-marketing-is-a-big-fat-scam.html
I got this far...

"But Ramit," you might say, naively, "how can it hurt?
...and completely lost my train of thought... ;D ;D ;D