Forever living products?

Mrs W

What's the story with this? Is it like a cult or something??
I heard of it years ago but now it seems everyone's at it, i blocked 4 people on facebook this morning for filling up my news feed with crap. All this brainwashing stuff about how great it is, nearly everyone of them say "I was able to give up work, few hours a week and I'm making loads of money, pm me for details" bla bla bla
Does anyone else find it strange?

jimgoose

Pyramid scam selling snake-oil. Avoid.

Hande hoche!

I imagine they are staffed by the sexy singles in your area.

jimgoose

Hande hoche! wrote: »

I imagine they are staffed by the sexy singles in your area.

Last I heard those magnificent Hunky-Dorys ladies were at it, since their gig in the adverts went South. Pictures of health, they are! :pac:

lazygal

jimgoose wrote: »

Pyramid scam selling snake-oil. Avoid.

Hold on there now. It's a multilevel marketing strategy.

Dan_Solo

Do their outlets open on Sundays only, around noonish?

everlast75

They pedal Aloe Vera products, claiming that they are better than the stuff you can buy in Holland & Barrett, but they sell to their "members" dreams of a life in the sun, with all the money you make roping other people into it. They have seminars and such and is, as said above, a glorified pyramid scheme. I know people on FB who post regularly updates such as "god i can't believe I'm making money working away with a cuppa in my pjs. You too can have this great lifestyle, PM for details" and others like "I got a promotion today - this is the best job ever". In reality, they walk around like drug addicts, trying to pedal their wares and have f all interest in you if you aren't gonna buy off them.

Mrs W

I've one friend who has just turned into an arsehole over it, constant updates from him and the wife. Pics of shopping bags with #foreverlivingprofitz
They got an insurance claim and bought a new car but they're claiming it's all the money they're making at this stuff.

They make 35% on what they sell so basically they're just bumping up the price and sticking it in their pockets!

Duggy747

Sounds like a Trapezoid scheme to me

Tilly

I was given a bottle of the aloe vera after a back operation cause "you wont need pain killers if you drink this". Load of me hoop! Was back necking my morphine after a day.

jimgoose

Tilly wrote: »

I was given a bottle of the aloe vera after a back operation cause "you wont need pain killers if you drink this". Load of me hoop! Was back necking my morphine after a day.

Try "Coo-ee, Ivy!", much better than 'Allo, Vera! :pac:

folan

Forever living?
Perpetual Motion Machine?

everlast75

Duggy747 wrote: »

Sounds like a Trapezoid scheme to me

Dammit - I knew there was a skit in the Simpsons about that - thought it was a "rhomboid" scheme

bennyc

I know a few people who are into this, basically this is my take on it.

What you are selling is over expensive Aloe Vera Products, the product is apparently all from 100% aloe extract rather than the normal stuff you would pick up which would only have a fraction of the Aloe content. My wife is all into it but tbh I dont pay 8quid for my toothpaste I settle for the lidl stuff and if I could get away with it I would pump that back into the Forever tube .

Its very expensive products because the seller make 30% cash then you have a pyramid of agents all the way to the to top each getting a % of each sale.

Its not a pyramid scheme per say but is pyramid selling.

Our friends are in it in a big way and have been trying to get us involved, I say no f$%king way.
The model is based on direct selling from your living room, you might make your money back and even make a few quid if you host a couple of evenings because most people will be obliged to buy something from you. Usually you will be asked to host an evening in your house and then the people who get you introduced will come along and help you sell all these life changing products to you friends and family. They of course will help you identify are more friends and family who would be interested in getting involved.

To get involved it will cost you around 400 for the pack (30% goes to the person who got you in ) for you to test all products so you will be an expert within a few days and can flog all off in the comfort of your own home.

An example of the products, toothpaste 8euro , some 700ml ****ty drink 27e, give me a bottle of JD for the same price.

Banjo String

Got roped into attending a seminar one night in the crowne plaza in santry, purely to see what the fuss was about.

It was like a cult tbh. Patrons eyeing up 'managers' and 'supervisors' all gooey eyed etc.

There possibly was a chance to make money out of the scam scheme, but only from those that have been it from the start.

If I recall correctly, it was 329 (or there abouts) To join and get a welcome pack of products to flog on to (let's face it, friends and family)

I drove home after it in a fit of giggles. It's a pyramid scheme. Plain and simple.

Duggy747

The Irish Facebook page seems a bit odd alright, ran by a 25 year old woman "living the dream" but the posts read exactly what you might think one of these schemes would say to rope you in.

Hmm....

.....that's me convinced, where do I sign up?

Mrs W

I knew it reminded me of something!!

http://youtu.be/OkdLWuCRe0c

gramar

When I was about 18 I was thumbing a lift and got picked up by a man who was selling for Amway and tried to get me in on it. I gave me a few cassette tapes (yes it was some time ago) of members who gave speeches at seminars about how great it was and how much money they were making.

He also showed me a few products and told me how much I could make doing very little but basically to me it sounded like door to door selling and trying to convince others to get 'involved downstream' so you could make money off of their sales etc so it went no further.

There was definitely a 'sect' type mentality to it that I just couldn't trust.

bennyc

This is the brain washing for the brainwashers, bonus week apparently

Hande hoche!

Mrs W wrote: »

I knew it reminded me of something!!

http://youtu.be/OkdLWuCRe0c

That's the first time I have seen your one who plays Jenna Maroney in anything else.

Dravokivich

Duggy747 wrote: »

The Irish Facebook page seems a bit odd alright, ran by a 25 year old woman "living the dream" but the posts read exactly what you might think one of these schemes would say to rope you in.

Hmm....

.....that's me convinced, where do I sign up?

Are we meant to match the left column, with what they mean on the right column?

I go first,

Forever / Job
Royalty Income -> Making Someone Else Rich

Mrs W

Hande hoche! wrote: »

That's the first time I have seen your one who plays Jenna Maroney in anything else.

She was in ally mcbeal too

Duggy747

Mrs W wrote: »

She was in ally mcbeal too

She was in a movie where Evan Rachel Wood gave her some cunnilingus :pac:

Shakespeare's Sister

Forever Living and the like are very very strange and cultish all right. Something a bit sinister about them.

I know someone involved with such an organisation and is usually a very calm, levelheaded person, but turns rabidly defensive if something even just approaching criticism of the organisation in question is made.

Maphisto

Duggy747 wrote: »

The Irish Facebook page seems a bit odd alright, ran by a 25 year old woman "living the dream" but the posts read exactly what you might think one of these schemes would say to rope you in.

Hmm....

.....that's me convinced, where do I sign up?

That reminded me. If you dream that one day you're selling corn by roadside in India and then by chance you end up selling Corn by the roadside in India. Are you living the dream?

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

So, I buy all these products for the guts of €400, I then flog them to friends and family, giving me a profit of X amount. Fair enough.

How do I make money by recruiting other agents though?

Maphisto

Duracell Bunny wrote: »

So, I buy all these products for the guts of €400, I then flog them to friends and family, giving me a profit of X amount. Fair enough.

How do I make money by recruiting other agents though?

Don't you take a cut of their first party pack? And then a % of their future sales? I'm guessing.

Bipolar Joe

100% aloe? Isn't aloe vera pretty toxic, which is why there's only tiny amounts of it in products?

LETHAL LADY

It's like Tupperware on acid for me.

OU812

I know someone fairly high up in it here. Been doing it for a few years & has made decent money out of it. Unfortunately (for him), now because of the size of the country, he's having trouble recruiting new sellers & sales have slowed down... He's constantly going on about how much he earns & how much he's going to earn next year & going to the conference in Lake Tahoe all expenses paid...

He hasn't even got his car taxed because it costs so much to do & is talking about renting a top of the range merc to go to meetings in "to give the right impression". Bit of a dick to be honest.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I have a friend who is pretty big into it. He left a very well paid state job to concentrate on it full time. He's fairly much near the top of the pryramid and in fairness has done very very well from it. New cars each year, constant trips abroad but he has totally changed in personality. He's given up smoking and drinking (not a bad thing) but has become fanatical about his health and pushes the healthy lifestyle on others a little too much. He's still a nice fella and a friend and in fairness has never tried to 'recruit' me but I can't help but think the whole FL thing is very cult like and not all that it appears.

CJC999

CJC999 wrote: »

I have a friend who is pretty big into it. He left a very well paid state job to concentrate on it full time. He's fairly much near the top of the pryramid and in fairness has done very very well from it. New cars each year, constant trips abroad but he has totally changed in personality. He's given up smoking and drinking (not a bad thing) but has become fanatical about his health and pushes the healthy lifestyle on others a little too much. He's still a nice fella and a friend and in fairness has never tried to 'recruit' me but I can't help but think the whole FL thing is very cult like and not all that it appears.

I'm not familiar with FL, but it sounds very like Amway.

A Ukrainian friend seemed to have a personality transplant when she got involved with Amway. They have a huge range of what appear to be overpriced products, from cosmetics to pots and pans, and this girl could sing the praises of all of them like a priest at a pulpit. She didn't seem to sell much of it in spite of her evangelism. Definite culty sales brainwashing vibe.

Amway is huge in the States, with a headquarters in every State and tens of thousands of people selling. And yet you never hear of it being marketed in mainstream ways, like Avon would, for example.

Mrs W

OU812 wrote: »

I know someone fairly high up in it here. Been doing it for a few years & has made decent money out of it. Unfortunately (for him), now because of the size of the country, he's having trouble recruiting new sellers & sales have slowed down... He's constantly going on about how much he earns & how much he's going to earn next year & going to the conference in Lake Tahoe all expenses paid...

He hasn't even got his car taxed because it costs so much to do & is talking about renting a top of the range merc to go to meetings in "to give the right impression". Bit of a dick to be honest.

I think that's what my friend is aiming for too, the wife didn't global to work after the 4th child which was really because the childcare wouldn't make it worth her while but they're letting on it was because of this. He's always been one for mad schemes and ideas but is now in a good job and he's on about giving it up to concentrate on this BS!

Saw a thing by them on Facebook this morning that can help cure cancer apparently :eek:

Mink

Forever Living, Amway, Herbalife, Melaleuca, Agel....

All bollix multi level marketing, products are WAY overpriced and make an utter fool out of the person peddling them.

Sabre Man

A skeptical view of network marketing: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4176

Duggy747

Friend I know has recently gotten into another crowd, Body By Vi, magical weight loss supplements. Seeing lots of updates that are exactly like all the other FB pages related to the MLM products; The greatest thing ever, what's stopping you, only <insane price>, fixes everything.....

The One Doctor

Ah yes, the old 'Forever Living' pyramid scheme. A couple I know are involved with it and another scheme that recruits people to block buy hotel room nights and sell the nights to unsuspecting idiots. I can only assume that the couple have be affected by a virus that drops their IQ by 50 points. They also have a 4 year old daughter who actually growls at people and thumps any other kid in range.

KahBoom

To be honest, I doubt it's 'cult' like at all, as it's not difficult to spot a pyramid scheme - more likely is that people know they are in a pyramid scheme, but are convinced they are in high enough (and can possibly get their friends in high enough) to sucker others at the bottom of the pyramid, into taking the losses.

Given how that's a really scumbaggy thing to do, people will of course put on a salesman persona, not just to convince people of the scheme, but to convince them that they (the salesperson) are a 'true believer' as well (to save face - because people would write them off as a friend otherwise).

If I knew a friend into this stuff, they wouldn't be a friend for long, and I'd warn everyone off them.

Plazaman

Forever Living? Pffft ! Scammed into buying one of their 9 day detox packages for €140. You could lose up to 10 to 12 pounds in a natural way.

The aloe vera drink is rank, bee pollen tablets looked off, and some other table that looked like a suppository and of course the meal replacement shake (of course your going to lose weight if you skip meals, who do I look like, Anna Recksit?).

Natural me hole, waste of money, lesson learned and if you send me a postal order for €5.99 I'll tell you how to avoid such scammages.

marcbrophy

I was looking for something to watch a few weeks back and happened across a netflix suggestion called 'Believe' from 2007. At a glance of the description, I though it was a documentary about these MLM's, so I pressed play.

It's actually a dark comedy / mockumentary about these MLM's and reading the first few pages of this thread brought back that film in detail. It's practically the same thing. Cult like, only people at the top making money and so on.

Here's the imdb link to it. I was watching it on US netflix, so if you can use that, I seriously suggest a watch of this film.

InReality

I had a uncle lost a load of money on one of these ( Amway ) type schemes. Very dangerous cultish yokes.

Capt'n Midnight

Mrs W wrote: »

Saw a thing by them on Facebook this morning that can help cure cancer apparently :eek:

oops

that's a medical claim

Irish and EU law is pretty clear on that

Tail Docker

Mink wrote: »

Forever Living, Amway, Herbalife, Melaleuca, Agel....

All bollix multi level marketing, products are WAY overpriced and make an utter fool out of the person peddling them.

A mate who lives abroad tried to rope me into the whole Herbalife thing, offering silly money for doing feck all. I chose to pass on this fantastic opportunity and the lad haunted me to change my mind for ages. It sounded like making your living by codding other people, to me. Keep it. I prefer good old fashioned hardship..

kowloon

Duggy747 wrote: »

She was in a movie where Evan Rachel Wood gave her some cunnilingus :pac:

They really are scraping the barrel coming up with names for these aloe vera products.

strobe

Anyone wanna come to my tupperware party? I wanna know if this tupperware is too sexy for my sister...

xzanti

Friend of mine was into it back in '07.. I held one of the 'nights' in my house as a favour to her.. The stuff is all sh1te imo.. the makeup it absolute crap, no pigment in the eyeshadows..

The lady who was hosting it spent the majority of the night trying to brainwash us about how amazing a business opportunity it was and kept harping on about some trip to Budapest that she and the other 'leaders' were being treated to as a perk of the job.

Anyway, my friend had to pay for her starter pack which was a couple of hundred iirc and then she would make a profit off whatever she sold.. she didn't stay too long at it anyway and I'm guessing she made a loss on it.

I recently got a PM on Facebook from a rep in my area (whom I'm not friends with and don't know her from Adam) offering me the opportunity to sell this stuff.. I obviously gave it a wide berth.

Not my cup of tea at all.

cazzer22

My aunt is hugely involved with it and I now get Aloe Vera toothpaste, lip balm, gel and various other cosmetics for Christmas, birthdays and Easter. Oh dear.

Mrs W

strobe wrote: »

Anyone wanna come to my tupperware party? I wanna know if this tupperware is too sexy for my sister...

Tupperwheresthe****inglid?

MammaZita

Plazaman wrote: »

Forever Living? Pffft ! Scammed into buying one of their 9 day detox packages for €140. You could lose up to 10 to 12 pounds in a natural way.

The aloe vera drink is rank, bee pollen tablets looked off, and some other table that looked like a suppository and of course the meal replacement shake (of course your going to lose weight if you skip meals, who do I look like, Anna Recksit?).

Natural me hole, waste of money, lesson learned and if you send me a postal order for €5.99 I'll tell you how to avoid such scammages.

Did you not find the Clean 9 effective? I did it a couple of months ago, lost 10lbs which I've more or less maintained. Heading on holidays next week and considering doing it again when I get back as I know after 2 weeks eating, drinking and realistically not exercising, that I'm going to come back heavier, sluggish, demotivated, etc.

I don't really know many others that have done it apart from the person that sold it to me who lost 7lbs. I did find it good though as it motivated me to make healthy choices once I finished it and I suppose after paying €155 I wasn't going to let the weight creep back up. Also isn't there is a 60 day money back guarantee- did you pursue this and does this work in reality?

hattoncracker

My sister is after getting really into this over the last couple of months. I've not really had the chance to speak to her much about it until the other day. Even the way she types on Facebook has changed, she's using words and language she never would have used before!

She's been trying to get me to sell it and join her "team". I asked her if it was a pyramid scheme and she called me narrow-minded. She told my 64 year old mother to stop taking her vitamins and to drink this instead. And she's trying to get my fiancè who has ms to start taking some of this over-priced crap.

When I asked her what the difference between her aloe Vera drink is and the one for €2 in the Chinese supermarket she was saying all this shiz about the different levels of aloe Vera in each product or some bull.

I think it appeals to her because she's not as financially independent as she'd like to be. She is a travelling hairdresser by trade and her car is on the way out and she wants an audi. The credit union declined her for a loan and this started straight after that.

I'm a little worried, if I'm honest. Shes only 25, but maybe this is a lesson she has to learn. I hope it doesn't turn out to be an expensive one!!

OU812

^ there's a huge amount of brainwashing in it. She's actually an ideal candidate as she'd be in direct contact with a huge amount of potential punters, but she'll badly damage her existing business.

If she uses the phrase "smashing it" I know who's team she's on.