CAI

Consumer Awareness Institute

Non-profit Corporation

 The best sources for truthful information on MLM is found on the World Wide Web.

What's wrong with multi-level marketing? Experts speak out.

Some outstanding articles on network or multi-level marketing (MLM) have been published on the web. Below is an annotated sample (with links) of some of the best. And don’t forget to check out the numerous research articles at www.mlm-thetruth.com

 The Pyramid-Scheme-Alert (PSA) organization offers consumer information on MLMs, news of legal cases, analytical tools, insightful articles, and an opportunity to effect new laws and social change by membership and contribution. You can do your own evaluation of any MLM program or suspected pyramid scheme.

 “What's Wrong with Multi-Level Marketing,” by Dean VanDruff. This classic article summarizes the fundamental problems with MLM, as follows:

  • MLMs are "doomed by design" to recruit too many salespeople, who in turn will then attempt to recruit even more salespeople, ad infinitum.

  • For many, the real attraction of involvement in multi-level marketing is the thinly veiled pyramid con-scheme made quasi-legal by the presence of a product or service.

  • The ethical concessions necessary to be "successful" in many MLM companies are stark and difficult to deal with for most people.

  • Friends and family should be treated as such, and not as "marks" for exploitation.

You should read the whole article. Go to - http://www.vandruff.com/mlm.html

 

 Eric Scheibeler, a high-level MLM'r turned whistle blower, is offering his captivating book "Merchants of Deception" for free download at http://www.merchantsofdeception.com/purpose.html

 Dr. Stephen Barrett explores the risks of specific medical products being marketed with MLM at http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/mlm.html.

 False Profits, a book exposing how MLM participation can commandeer and derail people's religious ideals, has a web site at http://www.FalseProfits.com which includes many excellent articles concerning the legality of MLM. Be sure to read "The Myth of 'Income Opportunity' in Multi-level Marketing" – which confirms much of our research reported on our MLM research page.

www.mlmsurvivor.com – news, announcements, and resources for persons inquiring about MLM’s – or recovering from experience with an MLM. Particularly thorough on Amway/Quixtar, but covers other MLM’s as well.

 Read the transcript of Dateline MSCNBC's expose in 2004 on Amway / Quixtar.

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