how do you talk someone out of a pyramid scheme (nicely)

[Luke]

Rather than talking someone out of these schemes, you should just talk them into a fake, benign one you created.

"All you have to do is hug me 5 times a month, and before you know it, you'll have 20 people under you hugging you five times a month!"

[chimp_]

perhaps schools should have basic "don't be a fuck-up" lessons covering tax brackets and how not to get scammed

[Juggly D, The Posting Maniac]

very funny badhat, using nathan's login to make us think he's still alive

[emotional fascism]

I have a friend from high school who's caught up in one of the energy company scams. If he was not trying to get me to switch to his provider, he was attempting to sign me up under him to sell the same scam to more schmoes. I had to break off the friendship late last year because he was too fucking dense to see what was going on and that I wanted nothing to do with it.

I knew it was a pyramid before he even finished the first sentence of his pitch.

[tth]

Do this ... make yourself a calendar reminder for 6 months from now and ask them how much money they've made.

good advice

from what i can tell, the girl is dropping out of college to do this

[Durham]

Wait the person who wrote those words is IN college?

[mcwop23]

Be extra patronizing and bitch about her use of "your"

[tth]

she's a "pre-med" too

this whole thing is depressing and i dont understand how someone could be so stupid

[Durham]

How did Amway afford a fucking arena?
Also one of Romney's billionaire backers is a herbal remedies dude in Idaho iirc

[Robo-Chachi]

20% of Americans think they will be millionaires in the next decade. These people are definitely a good percentage of that group.

[tex porneau]

I would try to counter sell them

[tex porneau]

"no, I don't want any visalus because my lifealin is the most advanced health supplement on the market!"

[the genius king]

It's crazy because, people who buy into this stuff are basically telling themselves: "This company want to make me, a complete stranger with no qualifications, rich and succesful. How nice of them."

[Broncobama]

THE FED IS A PYRAMID SCHEME!!! RP 2012!!!

[TASKER, JERRY L]

You ever sit and really think about how life is kind of a pyramid scheme?

[TASKER, JERRY L]

damnit Nathan

[TASKER, JERRY L]

[Dr. Norm Thagard]

I'm not good with name changes. Who are you, Mr. Tasker?

[The Dirty Turtle]

20% of Americans think they will be millionaires in the next decade.

is this a real stat?

[gambra]

Shit like this is defiately one of the most mystifying things about America to me. There's stuff like Avon & Tupperware over here but no one lasts more than a few months at it & at least those are somewhat legit. It's the smaller junk schemes that are the most depressing.

[TASKER, JERRY L]

Just Badhat's friendly neighborhood kid diddler

[Dr. Norm Thagard]

I just met your friend timothy janes. Should i be afraid to board here? I'm not a kid but i am short.

[TASKER, JERRY L]

I'd be worried about Tim. I'm pretty sure (s)he's a serial rapist with a little bit of an ass fetish.

[viachicago]

[tex porneau]

[Automatic]

Have you guys ever been to the pyramid scheme meeting where they try to get you to shill those video phones to your friends and family? I think it was ACN.

http://www.acninc.com/

I was invited at the end of undergrad by a girl I worked on a project with back in 2006 and then again in 2008 with my boss by one of her friends. Shit was mind boggling, because apparently they had never heard of skype and insisted that it was "the future of communications" and I would be a fool not to jump on that.

edit: Apparently Donald Trump is a spokesperson for this crap.

[Amblin]

Scentsy is the one you are thinking of.

[Locke]

are all multi-level marketing companies pyramid schemes?

[tex porneau]

wait no, my aunt used to sell yankee candles. definitely a pyramid scheme

[viachicago]

are all multi-level marketing companies pyramid schemes?

not necessarily. shit like Avon/Tupperware, etc, its stuff people actually buy and some sales people can maybe supplement their other income if theyre really good at it. main difference w/ a pyramid scheme is youre more focused on getting other people to join than selling a legitimate product. pyramid schemes usually promote a bullshit product nobody in their right mind would actually want, and youd be putting a ton of your own money into it upfront.

which is not to say that most MLM companies aren't predatory and generally a bad idea to get involved with anyway