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

[SvenMaeglasson]

you can't talk people out of their greed. If you're sincere in offering your opinion on the thing without criticizing them, and if they go forward and learn the hard way, it was their decision.

[the_village]

my parents decided to enter retirement in their 40's and support themselves selling some bs organic nutritional supplements/beauty supplies and flipping houses. now they are in their 50's back to working at their old shitty jobs except getting paid much less and will probably be working well into their 60's.

i wonder if my parents still have that room stocked with pills and cremes. it would have to be a pretty depressing experience throwing it all out.

i remember trying to tell my dad he was part of a pyramid scheme when he explained to me that soon enough he'll have people selling for him and the money will just come in with little to no effort. he and my mother even went to a las vegas convention where they got their picture taken with the president of the company, had it framed and put it up in the house. add this to the timeshares (yes, plural) they've fallen for and so long inheritance.

people who fall for pyramid schemes are so desperate and greedy there is no convincing them otherwise. they will most likely get upset with you for expressing any skepticism. kinda like talking to a ron paul supporter. don't bother.

[pickles]

Never gonna forget "ARE YOUUUUUU!!!???"

[pickles]

oh and just tell her she's fucking stupid if she falls for this shit. It's not nice, but then people who fall for schemes don't need someone to be nice to them, they need a firm slap in the face.

[can]

wait, can you actually make money from pyramid schemes if you devote enough time/enthusiasm to it?

[SvenMaeglasson]

my parents decided to enter retirement in their 40's and support themselves selling some bs organic nutritional supplements/beauty supplies and flipping houses. now they are in their 50's back to working at their old shitty jobs except getting paid much less and will probably be working well into their 60's.

i wonder if my parents still have that room stocked with pills and cremes. it would have to be a pretty depressing experience throwing it all out.

i remember trying to tell my dad he was part of a pyramid scheme when he explained to me that soon enough he'll have people selling for him and the money will just come in with little to no effort. he and my mother even went to a las vegas convention where they got their picture taken with the president of the company, had it framed and put it up in the house. add this to the timeshares (yes, plural) they've fallen for and so long inheritance.

people who fall for pyramid schemes are so desperate and greedy there is no convincing them otherwise. they will most likely get upset with you for expressing any skepticism. kinda like talking to a ron paul supporter. don't bother.

Nice post. It's really shitty that often by giving an opinion warning them of their retarded scam or whatever, they turn around and blame you for not warning them enough, etc. once it fails instead of taking personal responsibility over doing it in the first place.

[mcwop23]

there are so many legit schemes, can't imagine why you'd waste time on this shit

[Feech La Manna]

I'll never forget my dad's reaction when I asked him to let me participate in the pyramid scheme they ran in the back of every Boy's Life magazine

[The Dirty Turtle]

to fall for this shit you need to be stupid, lazy, arrogant and naive all at once

[SvenMaeglasson]

wait, can you actually make money from pyramid schemes if you devote enough time/enthusiasm to it?

Probably. Having the mindset of a hustler is more important than the scam itself in a way. The majority of people entering into the pyramid aren't hustlers, they're greedy rubes being told that they too can be successful like a hustler despite not having the people smarts and capability/stomach to bullshit and manipulate like one.

[The Dirty Turtle]

i forgot greedy

[Coca Cola]

oh yeah when I was really young I had a "good" friend try to get me into one of these. fuck that kid. even then I was smart enough to ask how the fuck it was supposed to work.

[kid8]

kid8 you live in some sort of sad cartoon i swear

Thanks. Finally, someone who gets me.

[tth]

Thanks for the advice. I know you have good intentions. I've researched it and your telling me what I know about MLM,I have thoroughly done my research specifically on this company, and feel like I've made the right decision based on that research. I feel as though the FTC is biased because it is a corporation. I've been involved in MLM and can detect a bad MLM "scheme" or pyramid scheme.

The ftc doesn't support it because they'd have to regulate a nation full of independent distributors. MLM occurs in different markets it just has different names. Many successful entrepreneurs use MLM or "networking" Warren Buffet, Donald Trump, and Kiyosaki.

In this new age it applies to Romer's theory of more innovatiness needed to a successful economy.

You argue that no matter how good the product is by licensing distributors and not by selling the product. Where your wrong. Body by vi has a line of products that are just for sell to consumers. There's many companies that sell products that aren't sold in stores (shakeology).

That is why I said research is crucial. It's like comparing McDonalds nutrition vs. Mad Greens. You can't generalize all MLM because of the ones that were unsuccesful. I would've been more open if you had listed both pros and cons of MLM not just cons. In any business venture there will be a con.

Thank you for looking out though,
~~~~~~~~

[tth]

fucking christ okay i surrender

[Spoilt Victorian Child]

my parents decided to enter retirement in their 40's and support themselves selling some bs organic nutritional supplements/beauty supplies and flipping houses. now they are in their 50's back to working at their old shitty jobs except getting paid much less and will probably be working well into their 60's.

i wonder if my parents still have that room stocked with pills and cremes. it would have to be a pretty depressing experience throwing it all out.

i remember trying to tell my dad he was part of a pyramid scheme when he explained to me that soon enough he'll have people selling for him and the money will just come in with little to no effort. he and my mother even went to a las vegas convention where they got their picture taken with the president of the company, had it framed and put it up in the house. add this to the timeshares (yes, plural) they've fallen for and so long inheritance.

people who fall for pyramid schemes are so desperate and greedy there is no convincing them otherwise. they will most likely get upset with you for expressing any skepticism. kinda like talking to a ron paul supporter. don't bother.

I really should have gotten my dad something awesome for Father's Day.

[Robo-Chachi]

A former boss of mine, who I really respected, tried to get me to sign on for some business that would have me selling shit in Wal-Mart parking lots. It was really sad. Like watching a friend succumb to heroin.

[Merciel]

This, thankfully, is one scam my parents have never fallen prey to.

TTH unless that girl is your sister you need to cut her out of your life.

[Merciel]

Actually even if it was my sister I'd yell at her and then if that didn't work I'd cut her out of my life.

[Chyet]

My youth pastor was once swept up in a pyramid scheme and tried to tell us all about toothpaste.

[Durham]

everything about pyramid schemes is heartbreaking

[kid8]

Chyet?

[Gehrig Industries]

I threw a hail mary to google, but it turns out Christina Romer has never publicly come out against Body By Vi

[Hal Jordan]

fuck yeah chyet is alive

[Hal Jordan]

my brother once spent a few months selling those hologram bracelets, but those are more old fashioned snake oil than pyramid scam. i think he made a little money off of it.

[mcwop23]

Thank god you're back chyet

[universe]

This stuff bums me out. We're a society of thieves.

[universe]

The worst I've ever felt in life was when my dad lost his job and was looking for a new one, he called a phone number that was in the classifieds section of the paper advertising for job opportunities. He called and got a message and was asked to wait; nobody came on so after a few minutes, he hung up. End of the month he gets a phone bill for like $300 --- he didn't notice (because the ad didn't say it explicitly) that it was a toll number and charged some crazy toll per minute. It's just a big scam to trick people into staying on hold to steal money from them. And the newspapers must know this, you know?

Like, at that moment if I had been asked to join a terrorist group I probably would have.

[fox]

yo cheyt

[can]

The worst I've ever felt in life was when my dad lost his job and was looking for a new one, he called a phone number that was in the classifieds section of the paper advertising for job opportunities. He called and got a message and was asked to wait; nobody came on so after a few minutes, he hung up. End of the month he gets a phone bill for like $300 --- he didn't notice (because the ad didn't say it explicitly) that it was a toll number and charged some crazy toll per minute. It's just a big scam to trick people into staying on hold to steal money from them. And the newspapers must know this, you know?

Like, at that moment if I had been asked to join a terrorist group I probably would have.

is this shit legal?