IS AMWAY A SCAM?

1,020 thoughts on “IS AMWAY A SCAM?”

• Great arguments on both sides….so here’s the truth as I see it.
  1. Life is an MLM….the arguments on here that denegrate a model that relies on new customers is a nonsensical argument. Every company on Earth depends on new and continual customers.
  2. There are shady people in every profession.
  3. There are lazy opportunists that whine in general – apart from having a job that is “too hard”, “doesn’t pay enough”, “boss is an a$$, etc.
  4. The guys at the “top” of every successful business model make more than the employees “down the line”, or it’s customers. ..

  Not one person in this forum bats an eye when they continue to spend 100% of their paycheck for the benefit of multinational conglomerate big box stores. I happen to believe that is a scam. My goal, in every circumstance, is to make a decision that benefits my local community as much as necessary. The only way I know how to do that, how to compete, is to join the giants. There is no other company on earth that allows me to sell Target, Old Navy, Home Depot, Nike, Apple, Sports Authority, Vista print….etc.etc products at the same or better prices. Switch the method in which you shop, and your Amway products become less expensive.
  Choose a business just like you’d choose a boss. IF the person you’re recruiting is shady, leave….find someone who isn’t, be willing to do the work, and change the way you shop. Not the products you buy, simply the online, electronic, manner in which you buy them. It’s not rocket science and it’s not a scam. Amway opened the opportunity for you to own your own toll both on the e commerce highway – get in. I’m college educated, I continue to work. I have no illusions of becoming an AMWAY WHATEVER, nor do I think this will get me rich quickly. I think it is an incredible tool to grow in knowledge, and understanding, it’s additional income that is a tool for me to continue to explore new opportunities. For people looking to get rich, Amway is NOT for you. For people looking for an incredible resource that contributes to local economic competition, financial independence, and just the means to benefit off dollars that you are ALREADY SPENDING….it’s a no brainer.

• Yes, guys at the top make more than others. But in a regular company, even the lowest guy on the totem pole earns a paycheck and has money at the end of the month. In Amway, the guys at the bottom are using money from their paychecks and the guys at the top are benefitting.

  Amway is about selling false hopes and dreams.

• anyone read the ebook…

  Merchants of Deception?

  its free and downloadable.

  Interesting read and an eye opener for those who love the mlm industry.
  Discover the success and truth bout MLM

  http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/ni/comment/merchants_of_deception.pdf

  Cheers

• One can get financial freedom in Amway by enslaving a chain of thousands of Amway marketing executives and/ or customers- salves, voluntarily and a very few among them can again get financial freedom by enslaving voluntarily Chain of thousands of Amway marketing executives and/ or customers .

• amway is deff not a scam. It’s the fact that people can’t do the work but would rather do the work for their boss and fulfill their dreams. Either way if you look at it all corporations are “pyramid scheme” if you want to call it that. You have the workers, employees managers assistant managers boss supervisor in what ever order and everyone gets paid the different and deff the regular retail employee or what ever you do gets paid the least . But in Amway you can make more money the the purpose who ever put you on which is your upline/mentor or whatever . Everyone has a equal opportunity but some people think it’s going to come overnight and can’t stay committed and consistent for what ever reasons they can’t. Give it 2-5 years of consistent. Some people it might even take longer because of their work ethics . People retire from their jobs with this kind of business . But some people would rather just be apart of the 76% of Americans that work paycheck to paycheck and that’s fine too. But it’s your decision if you want freedom but freedom isn’t free , you have to pay the price for that . Keep that in mind . And trust I could go on on with reality and open up some of your middle class thinking /mentality. What sucks is that we are brainwashed to go to college to get a good “decent” paying job which your boss could just fire you at anytime who wants that. While most and a lot of people come out of college and can’t even find a job. And now in debt (not all) have to pay back 150,000 for that little piece of paper they went to school for . What sucks now you went to school just to pay that back off and your not even making enough to pay that back while you still have to take care of life plus 150000 in debt. Some people don’t even make that in total in 5 years . But I’m going to stop here .

• I just want to say that Amway is not a scam nor a cult. its about freedom in all aspects. These are a fulfillment of the mind and soul and It creates an enrichment of thoughts and purpose. In regards to the lady that doesn’t associate with her family we, that’s on her. Everyone has a choice and if her choice is to ignore her family it her fault alone not Amway’s. The products are amazing, people that criticize the products are the ones that haven’t tried them and are to scared to invest in themselves period….

• Hate all MLMs. I’ve even seen one, not Amway, present itself as a job opportunity to a lot of out of work people in a meeting set up through a job placement activity that a small city was doing to try to help people get jobs.

  My problem, though, is that my wife likes Amway products. I’m half tempted to become an IBO just so I can get discounted product. The only problem is I can’t seem to locate any straight forward information on what it would cost me or what I could hope to save, if anything, by doing it. God knows I’d never try to foist it on anyone else.

• I have never been skeptical of MLMs unless they are brand new. The MLM business model is designed to reward effort, persistence, confidence, open mindedness, and resilience… pretty much the very traits you need to success in any big business (not self employment or small business).

  What I do find skeptical are some of the products (quality-wise) and the actual IBOs (independent business owners) doing the business that may not be suited for business ownership, or who may be shady, or who are not educated on how to run a business period.

  If you find a solid MLM that has survived at least 10 years, is consistently growing, sits well with the Better Business and FCC, and you manage to find a well educated, established, caring and motivating sponsor…. I say GO FOR IT. Your success is dependent upon you. And you must learn basic entrepreneurial skills, adapt to the business and success mindset and never ever quit.

  A lot of people say Amway is a scam. IT IS NOT… if it were, the FCC would have shut them down decades ago. Wake up and use your brains people. It is just the oldest direct selling/MLM company in the world so of course it is going to have gone through thousands of horrible IBOs, while trying to refine and tune their systems. Amway has evolved into an amazing organization. You can thank them for going through all the legal battles to put MLM and NM on the maps and legitimizing that type of business.

  Amway is not a cult. That was a lot of teams back in the old days. Like back in the 70s. So if you think for a second that it’s a cult….seriously, you are too dumb for business ownership. As for people in Amway seeming brainwashed; it may seem so to an average person who has been molded by society to get schooling then get a job. The mindset needed to succeed in Amway or any other MLM is diametrically opposed to the employment world. You don’t try playing baseball with chess pieces. If you were to hang out with any successful business owner, you will see that their mindset is completely different from their employees, and that they seem brainwashed too. But their brains are washed in entrepreneurial soap, not employment soap.

  Yes, I am an Amway IBO. But I do not sell Amway and I have been able to make a solid income off the Amway opportunity based off personal use. But I will say one thing…. Amway is NOT for everyone and too many Amway IBOs contribute to the degredation of Amways reputation by recruiting ill-fitted people. This must stop. Learn from success Amway IBOs and “scout” for people who are “looking” and “open” to hearing about any opportunity.

  If you feel you have been scammed by Amway, I bet you I can explain why. Most of the time, it’s lack of knowledge about the opportunity, the pay & bonus schedule, etc. Please feel free to email me, and I can explain to you where the mishap might have happend. And if it is indeed a mistake on Amway’s part, they won’t think twice to apologize, refund you and make it up to you!! I cannot tell you how many times Amway has went out of their way to make sure my team is well taken care of. Once, I had to go through an entire case of protein shakes before I realized I was allergic to them. Amway sent me a 100% refuld (although I had no shakes left) and refunded the shipping and taxes, then had their doctors consult with my own doctor to find out what went wrong so they can improve their formulas to prevent such reactions. That is how Amway works.

• I AM AN AMWAY BUSINESS OWNER AND I WOULD LIKE TO SAY ONLY ONE THING THAT ALL THE FRUSTATED PERSONS WHO FAILURE IN ANY FIELD IS DUE TO LACK OF HARD WORK AND ALL THOSE PERSON SPREAD NEGATIVITY IN THIS WORLD.
  AMWAY IS THE WORLDS LARGEST DIRECT SELLING COMPANY WHICH HAS CHANGED BILLIONS OF LIFES AND I AM ALSO AMONG THEM. I AM PROUD TO BE AMWAY BUSINESS OWNER AND AMWAY HAS 5A RATING IN THIS WORLD AND THERE ARE MILLIONS OF EXAMPLES THAT PEOPLE WORKED HARD AND GOT A WONDERFUL LIFE FROM AMWAY…
  THIS IS ONLY THE COMPANY WHO HAS NEVER RETURNED BACK FROM ANY COUNTRY WHERE IT STARTED ITS BUSINESS….
  AND ALL THE USED PRODUCTS ARE 100% REFUNDABLE…
  THESE TYPE OF BEAUTY , ONLY AMWAY OWNS………………
  SO, ALL THE FAILURE PERSONS ARE REQUESTED THAT SPREADING NEGATIVITY ABOUT AMWAY WILL NEVER LEADS U TO SUCCESS… AND THESE THINGS WILL NEVER EFFECT ANY ABO OR AMWAY COMPANY FOR ITS SUCESS……….
  ROCKY JAYSWAL
  [redacted]

• Rauky Jayswal of New Delhi, India sent us this email with the subject line “Your website will be closed……..dont pass negative”

  “I AM AN AMWAY BUSINESS OWNER AND I WOULD LIKE TO SAY ONLY ONE THING THAT ALL THE FRUSTATED PERSONS WHO FAILURE IN ANY FIELD IS DUE TO LACK OF HARD WORK AND ALL THOSE PERSON SPREAD NEGATIVITY IN THIS WORLD.

  AMWAY IS THE WORLDS LARGEST DIRECT SELLING COMPANY WHICH HAS CHANGED BILLIONS OF LIFES AND I AM ALSO AMONG THEM. I AM PROUD TO BE AMWAY BUSINESS OWNER AND AMWAY HAS 5A RATING IN THIS WORLD AND THERE ARE MILLIONS OF EXAMPLES THAT PEOPLE WORKED HARD AND GOT A WONDERFUL LIFE FROM AMWAY…

  THIS IS ONLY THE COMPANY WHO HAS NEVER RETURNED BACK FROM ANY COUNTRY WHERE IT STARTED ITS BUSINESS….

  AND ALL THE USED PRODUCTS ARE 100% REFUNDABLE…

  THESE TYPE OF BEAUTY , ONLY AMWAY OWNS………………

  SO, ALL THE FAILURE PERSONS ARE REQUESTED THAT SPREADING NEGATIVITY ABOUT AMWAY WILL NEVER LEADS U TO SUCCESS… AND THESE THINGS WILL NEVER EFFECT ANY ABO OR AMWAY COMPANY FOR ITS SUCESS……….

  ROCKY JAYSWAL”

• ha ha ha. Is it not a pyramid scheme? Best pyramid scheme in the world. No one ever shops Amway products.

• I find these conversations with pumped-up Amway IBOs fascinating.

  They are so outraged that anyone should question their company.

  They are so bold and positive that they know the “facts” and Amway detractors are just lazy slackers looking to tear down this wonderful company with false allegations.

  But when the claims they so easily toss around are isolated, and they are asked to provide proof of their assertions, they refuse to admit that they can’t do so and they were wrong to make them.

  So here’s my recent email exchange with the very indignant IBO Rauky Jayswal of New Delhi.

  In his defense, he looks like a nice young guys trying to build a better life. Unfortunately, Amway seems to thrive on the dreams of nice young guys like Rauky.

  IBO Rauky Jayswal wrote:

  “all those contents and negativity shared on your website about Amway is wrong ,
  Amway is the largest direct selling company certified by government of USA and India as well ,
  So your website don’t have rights to spread negative about Amway , wrong this are not allowed as per legal rules ,
  Don’t try to spoil your self , there will be legal issues with u,

  “being an educated person you have to judge and verify that your website should not contain and wrong information and as I have seen 95% of your contents on your website are false and this will harm u a lot…”

  ADMIN wrote:

  Rauky:

  Thanks for this important information. We do not want to post anything that is incorrect or might get us in trouble. Can you please help us understand a few things that you said? Thank you.

  “Amway is the largest direct selling company certified by government of USA and India as well”
  I wasn’t aware that the U.S. and Indian governments certified direct selling companies. Can you tell me which government department or agency is in charge of certification? Can you give me a links to the MLM certification programs in the US and India?

  “AMWAY HAS 5A RATING IN THIS WORLD”
  Can you tell me which agency gave Amway a 5A rating? Is 5A good? What’s the highest rating a company can get? Does this rating indicate that AMWAY is a good company to buy from or sell to?

  “your website don’t have rights to spread negative about Amway , wrong this are not allowed as per legal rules”
  We don’t want to do what’s not allowed by legal rules. Can you tell me which specific legal rules prohibit us from saying negative things about Amway? Many people say bad things about their experience with Amway and they feel ripped off. Are they breaking legal rules too?

  Thank you for being patient and detailed with your answers. We will take anything down that violates legal rules and will get site taken down.

  ADMIN

  IBO Rauky Jayswal wrote:

  “Thanks for your questions ,
  Your all questions are genuine . I will be glad to answer them with proper logic and proof and along will that you will be receiving all the links as well…

  “I will send your all the required information to you within 12 hours.

  “Thanks for questions , I will get back to u with all the links and legal documents.”

  17 hours later, ADMIN wrote:

  Hello? Rauky? Are you there? Testing… Testing… Hello Rauky? Can you hear me? It’s been 17 hours… Is this thing on? Rauky…?

  Can’t tell you how many Raukys have come and gone on this thread in the past few years…

• UPDATE: Rauky sent me a crazy email with a list of 34 links to Amway propaganda pages, wikipedia entries, even the Amway return policy page. He attached 17 documents including slideshows and videos.

  He did not address any of the three statements he was supposed to support/prove.

  When I pointed this out, IBO Rauky Jayswal sent me an ominous and threatening warning:

  “Remove the contents or else your website will be forcely closed”

  Does anyone know if Amway sells a website removal spray that Rocky might be able to get hold of, because I’m getting nervous.

• I was involved with Scamway back in 2012. At the time I was very naive and trusting. I was overwhelmed by the loud pop music, rythmic clapping and “positive” vibes. Still, being the naive idiot I was, I took it seriously for a while. My friends warned me it was a scam but I was too dumb to listen. After a few months of playing the system I lost my job and that shook me back to reality. Unsure of my future and living off my savings, Amway took a back seat. Luckily I got my job back three weeks later and forgot about Amway, doing everything I could to avoid it. I eventually quit a few months later and it left me bitter. Amway’s insistence of “positivity overload” left me feeling cynical. I was angry at myself for falling for it. Amway had a real effect on me mentally. Before it I was happy and optomistic. After Amway I was bitter and cynical. It’s taken me two years to recover. I look back at the pre-Scamway me and cringe.
  There has been one benefit. I have a facebook friend who super into Herbalife. Due to my Amway experience, I did my research and saw Herbalife was an MLM like Amway. To be fair, Herbalife seems more focused on actually helping people with health and fitness rather than scamming people out of money. I wouldn’t join Herbalife at all, but now I’m doing my research.

  That’s the key. Once I started doing independent research the illusion of Amway fell apart. I saw through the empty promises and realised it was all BS. Before I tried to justify my involvement by saying the products were good but when I lost my job and had to be really frugal, I saw the same (or similar) products were MUCH cheaper at the supermarket.

• Amway is a LEGENDARY pyramid scheme. It preys on the lazy and weak minded Americans who are looking for the easy buck. Amway is at the top of the pyramid, selling their overpriced products. You will be at the bottom… FOREVER… If you can’t see that and want to work your arse off trying to sucker your friends and relatives into buying products that are cheaper EVERYWHERE else, than best of luck being at the bottom of the pyramid. But for God’s sake, have some integrity and class and call a spade, a spade.

• Hi

  How is everyone doing? Yes, I am former IBO. Yes, in my opinion Amway is a scam. The bread and butter of the business is in the tool business. A real business provides a service or sells a product. In some cases it does both. Sure, you don’t have to buy those tools every month. Yes. its a option. You will make very few dollars in just recruiting IBO’s. Its is the tool business, that propels the business model. In the Amway business, there is a very high drop out rate. That is right 75% of IBO’s will never return back the following year. If you are thinking of having a long term business that is no good.
  If you look up Robert Blankley, he is the one that put out the report on how Amway runs its business model. He said, it runs its business that is paralleled to a Mafia. The report is a very good one. He is an expert witness that did a yr study on Amway. You can call me 813 505-5982

• Hi

  Have heard of Dave Ramsey? He told a caller one night on National Radio to get out of Amway, before lose everything. Its a business, that is being run by very bad people. A cult he called it.

• I started Amway 2 times.

  Second time, signed up through a cousin.

  A Direct says, diamond & everyone down the chain, say “we are going to England, sign up now!!”

  Sure, I have connections in England. check clears, no UK member numbers.

  Time passes while still pursuing Amway in USA. Repeated questions to upline, “what happend to the money?”

  Don’t worry, we have all paid it.

  more time passes, again question, “don’t worry, everything is good.”

  Left Amway after losing thousands of $$.

  Called Amway Corporation for information.

  Me: I paid $150 for membership for UK”

  Amway Corp: “We have no record of that”. Contact your diamond.

  ME: WHAT!!!???

  I couldn’t believe my ears that even Amway refused to look into this.

  25 years later my cousin is still doing it. Has a full time corporate job (not Amway). Probably still showing 2-5 years retirement plan.

  Now cousin gets jealous ‘cos we live fancy house, drive nice car.

  I still get people contacting me & asking.

  I am straight, and say, if it’s Amway – not interested. End of topic.

  I came here for other business opportunities’ feedback.

• 100% scam, perpetrated by conjobs who entwine their scam with religion and right-wing nationalism and identity politics to seal the deal. The people who fall for this scam tend to be authoritarian-leaning Christians, or else they soon become so.

  Shortly after I’d left that religion, an Ambot tried to recruit me. It was recognizing that bizarre similarity that kept me out of it! Everything about it felt like the church I’d just escaped! They even talked like preachers and prayed at all their meetings!

  I wasn’t smart enough then to see how the business model itself just didn’t work, but no way was I ever tangling with evangelical Christianity ever again. That I knew was bad news, so any organization that was that similar to it had to be the same. I’m thankful to that Ambot. He really did a great job of showcasing the “opportunity.” (He ended up losing his real job, like many Ambots do, and had no downline at all two years in, despite the plan several times a week and prospecting every day for hours. Last I saw, he lost everything he owned and had to move back home to live with his parents at 27. He still tried to “build his business.”)

  This was in the 90s. Nothing has changed, except I notice the big Diamonds seem like they’re a lot older now of course! The retirement fantasy is just that, a fantasy. They’re all still working and will never stop. They must. If they walked away for a year to “walk the beaches of the world,” their downlines would collapse! LOL!

  If a chatty stranger at a store or coffee shop talks about mentoring or retiring by 30 and won’t tell you the name of the company involved but wants you to read a weird book, it’s Scamway! Run! Don’t look back!

• Amway have proof to me they not a scam!

  Only way is not a scam! They for for it!

  Then I’m right! They are a scam!

  Pay for me or go to hell!