QUIXTAR - MLM - What do you know about it?

[PlannerByDay]

Hey folks,

I was recently approached by a good friend of mine who is getting involved in Quixtar - multi level marketing (MLM). For those of you who don't know what it is, it is an e-commerce version of the Amway sales and recruiting thingy. It works as follows.

You sign up to be a Quixtar representative/sales person. If you buy $200 of stuff this month from Quixtar on-line, you'll get a 3% bonus check (3% of $200 = $6). If you share/recruite this opportunity with nine others, and each buys $200 of stuff this month, they each were responsible for $200 and will get $6, but you are responsible for $2000, moving you to the 12% level. You get $240. However, you are responsible for paying the bonuses of the people right below me - $54 - so you keep $186. You make more because you did more, you found nine people who wanted to buy at a discount and get a bonus for doing it. After you reach the 25% bonus level there are other bonuses that kick in, but they're all based on the volume of product flow, not on signing people up or having lots of people.

What do you think about this?

Personally I was kinda offended that my good friend would approach me to "work under him" and make him money while knowing darn well I am very easy going and not a sales person, let alone skeptical about shopping on-line.

Share your thoughts with me? Do you know anyone involved in Quixtar? Is it a sketchy way to legitimize a pyramid scheme?

 

[Chet]

My brother in law is in Quixar, and he doesnt rely on it to make a living, but it does supplement the college fund for his 3 kids. He's mentioned in the past, you'll only be successful if you can dedicate X amount of hours to it consistently - the key being consistently.

 

[Repo Man]

Sounds like a type of pyramid scheme to me. I would stay away, especially if you are not the salesman type.

What do you actually sell?

 

[Planderella]

I think you have a better shot at selling Mary Kay.

 

[PlannerByDay]

What do you actually sell?

YOu can purchase any products online throught the website. You are not really a sales person but you need to get others signed up and sell the concept to them.

To me it is a total screw job. It involves going to all kinds of meetings where you talk about other ways of getting people so excited about the potential of getting rich that they will sign up. It is that kinda sales or maybe it should be refered to as recruiting.

 

[Repo Man]

Any money-making scheme where you have to try and lure your friends into joining for you to make money is a scam in my book. If one of my friends came forward with something like that, I would be offended that they were trying to scam me to make a few bucks. If you need extra money there are lots of other ways to do it, like scalping concert tickets or buying crap at rummage sales and selling it on E-bay for way more that you bought it for.

 

[PlannerByDay]

Any money-making scheme where you have to try and lure your friends into joining for you to make money is a scam in my book. If one of my friends came forward with something like that, I would be offended that they were trying to scam me to make a few bucks. bought it for.

Repo Man,

That is totally how I felt as my org. post stated. DON'T TRY TO HUSTLE ME. His justification was that if we (him, me and my other firends) all did it we could quite our day jobs in a couple years and just work a few hours a week and play the rest.

I thought no way dude, I don't have planner burnout yet.

 

[PlannerByDay]

Here is another question.

Should I question his friendship or should I just consider him "brainwashed " into thinking this is a good idea and he is only trying to share a potential business opportunity with his friends?

 

[BKM]

Stay away! It seems like a lot of these groups are quasi-religious or even cultlike in nature (Not that some people can't make a few extra bucks). Mathematics show that the endless profits promoted by these groups just can't work. They depend on sucking in the less dedicated/less connected/etc. to pay for the upline's profits.

Plus, MLMs are the biggest cause of "street spam" out there. They used to plaster my city with "Lose weight fast" and "work from home" crap. Seems to have calmed down-the internet is a better hunting ground.

 

[Dan]

That's one thing about MLMs, Josh ... you quickly lose any friends and alienate any acquaintences that you might have, because you're trying to rope them into your "downline."

An ex-girlfriend's mother was involved in Amway. Amway sales is akin to fundamentalist Christianity; many downline leaders follow the same model for gaining new recruits as some evangelical Protestant churches. Just like fundies, seldom do those caught up in Amway speak for more than a few minutes without mentioning the "fantastic opportunities" they get from selling laundry detergent. They're always "witnessing."

 

[Repo Man]

Here is another question.

Should I question his friendship or should I just consider him "brainwashed " into thinking this is a good idea and he is only trying to share a potential business opportunity with his friends?

I wouldn't question his friendship. He may just be naive and think that he is being a great friend by asking you to join. I would continue the friendship and if he mentions this scam agin, just say something like I don't like to get involved in business ventures with friends or tell him that your planning job is all you want to focus on.

These MLM schemes are a lot different than something like Tupperware, Candle Parties, and Pampered Chef stuff. With those things people are only asking their friends to come to their house to buy things. They are not roping them into some scam.

A friend of my parents was forced into early retirement and he has spent the last 6 or so years trying to rope his friends and family into all kinds of these schemes. It got to the point where my parents quit doing anything with him becasue they knew it would turn into some type of a pitch for his scam of the month.

 

[pete-rock]

Just like fundies, seldom do those caught up in Amway speak for more than a few minutes without mentioning the "fantastic opportunities" they get from selling laundry detergent. They're always "witnessing."

Ugh. And I hate it when both fundies and Amwayers do it.

I rent my house from fundamentalist Amway sellers. Nuff said.

 

[PlannerByDay]

I wouldn't question his friendship. He may just be naive and think that he is being a great friend by asking you to join.

TRUE, TRUE

Actuall he is a great buddy. I just thought I would throw that out there to see what kind of response I would get from all the throbbing minds of the Cyburbanites..

 

[Dan]

I went to visit the Web site, and some of the products looked familiar.

I then did a bit of Googling around. Just a bit ... a few seconds, really, because that's all it took to discover that ...




























Quixtar is Amway.

IMHO, stay far away ...