Before we share our own evaluations on over 350 MLM* programs, it is important that you do your own evaluation. We will not be responsible for the consequences of a decision that is ultimately yours to make. (See Disclaimer below.) But we are confident that here you will receive the best advice available on how to make that decision.  

To begin, obtain the compensation plan of the MLM program you are considering. Then answer the questions for each step and follow the links to its conclusion.

Click here to begin the evaluation.

Then you can see how your evaluation stacks up against ours. So start the 5-step evaluation now. Then you might want to read some of the feedback we have received.

Sample of recent feedback:

"You say Avon is a good MLM. Not so fast. Let me tell you what Avon is REALLY like.

"In order to make any money, you have to sell  a TON of product. In my area, there is an Avon lady on every street corner. Unless you are an aggressive pain in the a**, it's not possible to sell enough product to really make money, especially if you are doing this part time. Competition among reps gets downright nasty - some Avon ladies have been known to toss competing representatives' brochures in the trash, or put their own labels over the competition. While retail sales are supposedly forbidden, this rule is not enforced. Avon ladies have been spotted on EBay and in local flea markets en masse. Every meeting all we hear is "Sell, sell, sell'" and "recruit, recruit, recruit."

"Avon makes serious money off its representatives. I became a beauty advisor just by paying for a seminar - no exam required to see if I am really qualified. And I keep my certification current just by buying a new kit each year. I was paying $15 a month for an official website. It doesn't work, and Avon says it works fine - they refuse to look into why it won't function on customers' computers. They fail to understand that a customer is not going to delete cookies or do anything else. If the site doesn't function, they are gone.

"Avon has made a number of poor business decisions that have resulted in disappointed customers - and now their stock price is declining. No wonder - if you take care of the customer, the stock price will follow! So now they announce sweeping changes in the future - no word on what THAT means. It will NOT be better for the representative - be assured of that.

"Avon did not start out as an MLM, they began as a door to door company, like Schwan's frozen foods. They need to return to that and hire qualified salespeople who have real knowledge of cosmetics and beauty, for the sake of the customer. Avon is a good MLM? No, I'm sorry. I have spoken to a large number of women who "Used" to sell Avon, and I am about to join their ranks."

I was just on your site and saw a letter from a "Michelle" who talks about Avon being an MLM.  Avon is an MLM!  My best friend (well, not anymore, she's too busy selling Avon) has terminal cancer.  She started with Avon about six years ago (before the cancer) just to buy the product for herself.  Over the past six years I have seen her completely change into someone I do not know.  Her house is overrun with Avon books.  She spends EVERY DAY in her car driving all around the countryside trying to recruit people to sell Avon.  Definitely MLM! 

Because of her illness, she receives disability . . . which all goes to Avon.  She is so exhausted from her travels to sell Avon that she collapses into bed after each trip.  She says it makes her feel like she is doing something productive.  I cannot get through to her, her husband can not get through to her. She accuses us of not being supportive (ha, isn't that an MLM tactic!)  She recruits anyone who will sell, and let's face it, most of these people can't afford to be selling Avon.  They have a group that goes out regularly 4 times a week to different areas to "recruit." I could go on and on . .

Funny thing is, she thinks Avon is so great, and what she has done is create a person (ME) who will bash her wonderful product every chance I get.  I cannot understand, if your time on this earth is limited, as hers is, why the heck would you want to spend it selling Avon?

Avon is becoming an MLM!

I signed up to be an Avon lady in January. In my first interview, I was shown something called a Fast Start bonus, where if I recruit so many Avon ladies, I get $25 per new recruit. Plus more and more and more if I recruit more, upwards of a $1200!

(What they don't tell you, and what I found out later, is that if you don't have 5 active recruits spinning at any one time over a 13 campaign period (6 months), Avon wipes out your downline and gives it to your district manager. And you can be out several levels of bonuses. MOST Avon ladies that post on discussion boards lose their bonuses. They are told to blame themselves for not trying hard enough. A HANDFUL succeed at it. The donkey and the carrot.)

My first two campaigns, despite speaking with many women and handing out brochures, I got zero orders. My third campaign, I was able to order as many brochures as I wanted and gained 3 customers by Herculean effort.

Why was it so difficult?

A) Avon doesn't tell you your area is infested with Avon representatives. No, they say call a few friends and relatives, it's easy. You get 50% off. Here's 10 brochures for your first two campaigns. Ten brochures is a joke! You need 100 brochures to land 1-2 customers!

So Avon is guaranteed that you won't make full use of the first two 50% off campaigns -- except for the inventory they tell you to "stock-up" on for all the customers that will be calliing you. (Fat chance.)

Our What's New flyer -- which is an advance opportunity (everything is called 'opportunity') to order demonstration products -- is packed with adamant advice that we must wear the jewelry, the purses, the shoes, the sunglasses, the etc., etc., if we ever hope to be a good salesperson. Ka-ching. (Red flag #3)

And hard goods like purses and shoes are only at a 20% discount! Ever! (Made in China, faulty merchandise -- which we have to pay to return.)

Flag 1: When I told my 'upline' (Yes, they use the terms Upline and Downline all the time now) about the fact that their were too many reps, and I wasn't gaining new customers, guess what?

She came out to train me on door-to-door canvassing.

INSTEAD, she spent hours and hours training me how to RECRUIT. In a town already top-heavy with representatives.

To show you how bad it is, we ran into several women and spoke to them directly. Out of all the women, only ONE did not have a representative. We even met one active Avon representative and three former representatives! Talk about over-recruiting.

So her solution to my dilemna that I wasn't getting enough customers was, you guessed, it go into LEADERSHIP.

Yes, Leadership is an unofficial level of recruiting & management (Red Flags 1, 2, 4!!!!, 5!!!, 6!!! and 7!!!)

There are levels called Leadership (1-4 recruits,) Unit Leader (5-?) recruits, Adanced Unit Leader, Executive Unit Leader, etc., etc.. They are not 'called' management. But you are expected to 'manage' your downline using a tool called 'downline manager.' (Red flag 2, 4)

My goal? To recruit women from low-income (specifically, low-income per my training) women who are permitted by public assistance to join Avon. Get them to place the minimum orders required to get my bonuses. Once I get my first bonuses, in order to advance, I need to ... uh, welll.... no advice there, because you aren't really supposed to get any further. (Most don't.)

So I'm supposed to convince already impoverished women to join a pyramid scheme, promising them that if they invest in demo products, clothing, jewelry, they are not in a position to buy, that they can 'take control of their finances,' (quote) with Avon. Only, there is 1 rep for every 400 residents in our town (est.) -- and that includes disinterested men, babies and children without paychecks, and women that hate Avon.

I'm not even supposed to try to sell the Avon products anymore?

I joined Avon to a) sell Avon, b) enjoy a discount on my products, c) use products made in the USA (only now I find 75% are made in China; and Useless Customer Service has been moved to India) and d) get high-quality, affordable products into the hands of struggling women.

Now look what Avon's turned into :(. It wasn't like this when I sold in the nineties.

My DM says that Avon is soon increasing the MLM scheme $1200 bonus to $2000. Woo-hoo :(.  

You've got take a closer look at this company.

Sincerely,

A Masked Avon Rep

PLEASE HELP!  We believe this site presents information about MLM/network marketing that is as close to the truth as can be found. It can save you much time, money, and grief, as it has done for many others. And since law enforcement has essentially looked the other way on this type of consumer abuse, it is left to informed consumers to inform and warn their friends and relatives about the potential losses they could suffer from participation in a recruiting MLM." So please print and distribute at least 5 copies of the answer cards to those you care about – and ask each of them to share answer cards with 5 people, and each of them with 5 more, etc., etc.  . . .  In this way, you can influence many people for good – through an endless chain of truth-telling.  Check out these handy answer cards (8 to choose from) that you can print and distribute now –  as well as carry with you for those awkward moments when you are recruited by a well-meaning friend or relative. For more information, click on the appropriate links on the home page.

After extensive research corroborated by MLM company reports, "5 Red Flags" have been identified which when found in a compensation plan lead to losses in excess of 99% – in at least four independent investigations. Read the full report on "The 5 Red Flags of a Recruiting MLM", a summary of which was published in the newsletter for the National White Collar Crime Center and presented at the Economic Crime Summit Conference in 2004. 

Since it is based on solid research, It is much safer to use the "5-step Do-it-yourself Evaluation" for an MLM program, than to accept the claims of MLM recruiters in making your decision on whether or not to participate.
 

"Your logical questions and objective research are exactly what is needed in this industry."  —Donna Horowitz
 

Research and consumer guides: 

This research and information on MLM (multi-level or network marketing, etc.) was prepared with the help of top experts over fifteen years by the Consumer Awareness Institute, directed by Dr. Jon Taylor. Opinions vary widely on MLM's legitimacy. But here you will find objective research on success and loss rates, compensation plans, etc.

What Went into This  Research: The investigative research that formed the basis of these reports includes: 

• Extensive comparative research on compensation plans of 350 MLMs and alternative business models to clarify differences and to find the causes of high MLM participant loss rates,
• Interviews with and feedback from thousands of MLM distributors and ex-distributors in a wide variety of MLM programs, 
• Interviews with the top experts in the field, 
• Surveys of hundreds of tax professionals where MLM is concentrated – representing thousands of tax returns of MLM participants, 
• Actual tax records examined by Wisconsin investigators
• Court records in MLM cases – including IRS income tax records of top distributors in one state, 
• Household consumer surveys regarding MLM participation, 
• Surveys of leading MLM company presidents, 
• Private and public financial disclosures by MLM companies, 
• Communications with law enforcement officials at all levels, and— 
• Direct experience with prominent MLM companies and communications with top MLM officials
  

For more information on the research and analyses underpinning these reports, go to – MLM Research and MLM Consumer Guides  

Search challenge: 

There are many blogs and sites giving positive and negative information about ACN. Just do a Google search - enter in "Is ACN a scam" or "Is ACN a pyramid Scheme?" and see what you get. You would be wise to do a lot of reading of the experiences of others - negative as well as positive - before joining their program - or any MLM. And you can do the same for any other "income opportunity" you are wondering about Also, be sure to read the reports linked from our home page, such as "1357 ways to earn a LOT more money than in MLM."

______________________________

General note regarding MLM deceptions:  

These types of deceptions allegedly promulgated by MLM promoters mentioned here are not unique to this MLM.  A complex set of deceptions is routinely used by MLMs of almost every stripe – with the possible exception of some party plans. This is not necessarily because MLM promoters set out to deliberately deceive those they target for recruitment, but because MLM is inherently flawed and must utilize misrepresentation and deceit to succeed and survive. Please do yourself a favor and read “Typical Deceptions” (used in MLM recruitment).

"Thank you for your great insights and all the work you have put into researching this little-understood subject.  If every [person] interested in joining recruiting MLM's would just take the time to read your [reports] and educate themselves, they could save a lot of grief."  —Michael Rawlings

* Chain-selling programs are referred to as "multi-level marketing" (MLM), "network marketing," "consumer direct marketing," etc. The MLM industry would even like to be called "direct selling," even if little direct selling to actual customers is taking place. Regardless of what promoters call a program, this 5-step do-it-yourself analysis will help you evaluate their potential for income or loss.

Avoid falling for the semantic trap of chain-selling promoters who say they are not MLM, or multi-level marketing. If the program pays on more than one level of participants, it is multi-level or MLM. If you get paid only for selling directly to customers and get no override commissions (other than a small referral fee) for recruiting more than one level of participants, it is single level compensation and could be considered true direct selling.

DISCLAIMER: These evaluations are intended purely as a communication of information in accordance with the right of free speech. They do not constitute legal or tax advice. Anyone seeking such advice should consult a competent professional who has some expertise on endless chain or pyramid selling schemes. Readers are specifically advised to obey all applicable laws, whether or not enforced in their area. Neither the Consumer Awareness Institute nor the authors assume any responsibility for the consequences of anyone acting according to the information in these reports.