What About those MLMs?

My primary problem with Multi-Level Marketing is that so called independent distributors end up directly targeting their friends and family for sales opportunities. A friend of mine, also a corporate escapee, has been trying to sell me on some beauty products. Now when she calls, it's not just to chat but to generate sales, leads, and set up "beauty" parties. One can easily say "no thanks" to strangers, but with friends, it's hard not to be supportive.

To be fair, the third generation MLMs are much improved from their predecessors in that there is no need to purchase an inventory. Instead agents are more marketers than distributors because the product can be directly sent from the company to the purchaser. A very aggressive, outgoing sales person with lots of friends and acquaintances can potentially generate a decent to good amount of residual income after several years.

As far as the products themselves, they are generally of good quality. However, I found that they can be twice as expensive as department store brands and 3-4 times more expensive than drug store products. The mark up in price has got to reflect how agents get their cut.

I think the MLM idea can work if the products are unique enough and priced well enough to sell on their own merits, not from the pressure of helping a friend to earn commissions.