Multi-level marketing (MLM) uses a pyramid structure to exploit all but a tiny fraction of the people that invest in it. The MLM model promises jobs and delivers financial disappointment or disaster.

The vast majority of MLM sellers make less than a dollar an hour before expenses. MLM companies pressure them to put more and more of their money into often worthless inventory. They also face constant pressure to sell to family and friends.

MLM companies target low-income or vulnerable communities with false promises of financial stability and success. Hundreds of companies, large and small, use an MLM model because it efficiently siphons money away from everyone but the few at the top. MLMs sell everything from cosmetics and harmful/useless 'wellness’ products to kitchenware and clothes.

And there's nothing explicitly illegal about the MLM model, because they exist in a regulatory gray area at the edge of pyramid schemes. Many people don't even know what an MLM is after they've been hooked. MLMs have incredible lobbying influence in government despite many investigations. Let's bring this issue to national attention in the US and Canada, and demand change.



Further Reading:

https://www.magnifymoney.com/blog/news/survey-vast-majority-multilevel-marketing-participants-earn-less-70-cents-hour/

https://www.bbb.org/phoenix/news-events/consumer-tips/2015/03/opportunity-or-scam-multi-level-marketing-vs.-pyramid-schemes/

https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-budget/342526-why-multi-level-marketing-companies-fear-an-honest

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/herbalife-distributors-claim-in-1b-suit-events-were-a-sham

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/04/multilevel-marketing-yoga-pants-facebook/558296/

https://qz.com/1039331/mlms-like-avon-and-lularoe-are-sending-people-into-debt-and-psychological-crisis/

https://youtu.be/s6MwGeOm8iI

https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/family-finance/articles/2018-06-12/what-to-know-before-getting-involved-in-an-mlm-company