Multi-Level Marketing expert Robert FitzPatrick debunks the myth of earning money in MLMs in his article, The Myth of “Income Opportunity” in Multi-Level Marketing.

Multi-level marketing companies live and die by the claim that participants can make money. From some extra part-time money to complete financial freedom, MLMs promise you can have it. Robert Fitzpatrick notes:

The claim by multi-level marketing (MLM) companies of offering consumers a viable “part time income” or an “extraordinary income” greater than most other businesses or occupations is their hallmark attraction. It is also their greatest defense against persistent charges of pyramid scheme fraud, mind control and deceptive promotions.

Thank you for seeking out Pink Truth. What is this site all about? You might have heard that this site is full of a bunch of bitter, lazy, disgruntled ex-consultants who are lying about Mary Kay Cosmetics. That’s not true, and I’d like to use this space to tell you what Pink Truth is really about.

The goal of this site is education. We want potential Mary Kay consultants (and current and former consultants too!) to know about the “other side” of Mary Kay. It’s not all Pink Cadillacs! What you are told by your recruiter and your upline is only part of the story. Pink Truth is here to tell you the rest of the story.

Mary Kay Cosmetics has spent 50 years developing and perfecting a positive image. The general public believes that Mary Kay is a company that helps women. The reality, however, is that Mary Kay Inc. is a predator. It preys on women who need something (extra money, more friends, a career, a purpose, etc.) and exploits those needs.

Multi-level marketing companies that depend upon an endless chain of recruiting are doomed to collapse… as eventually the world will run out of people. Yet MLMs like Mary Kay continue to exist for decades, don’t they? (And the MLM apologists even using this longstanding history to give the company legitimacy…. It wouldn’t still be around if there was something wrong with it, they say.)

So how do pyramid schemes like Mary Kay stay around for so long? Pyramid scheme expert Jon Taylor explains it in his 8 R’s of MLM Durability:

A common tactic of multi-level marketing companies is hiding behind “product sales,” convincing potential recruits that significant retailing of products occurs, while in reality money is made from recruiting new marks.

MLM expert Robert FitzPatrick explains in his paper The Myth of “Income Opportunity” in Multi-Level Marketing:

Put on the Camouflage of “Product Sales”

Written by Robert FitzPatrick

As market-based economies become the prevailing global model, millions of people are being exposed to sales promotions, income opportunity solicitations, and investment schemes with which they have no experience or knowledge. Vulnerability to deception and the need for consumer education correspondingly reach global heights.

One especially dangerous deception is now luring millions of people in Asia into financial losses. Referred to here as the “non-retail direct selling company”, this type of scheme originated in the United States in the late 1970s and is now being exported around the world. Each year, it causes billions in financial losses and is seeking to entrench itself as an accepted form of business. It combines the purchase of costly products with the false attraction of earning an income as a self-employed person in “network marketing” or “multi-level marketing” businesses.

Multi-level marketing expert Robert FitzPatrick summarizes the common deceptions used to recruit new marks into MLMs and pyramid schemes.

From his paper The Myth of “Income Opportunity” in Multi-Level Marketing:

Multi-level marketing companies commonly hide behind a claim of “legality” to advance the scheme and recruit new members.

MLM expert Robert FitzPatrick explains in his paper The Myth of “Income Opportunity” in Multi-Level Marketing:

Following are some excerpts from Robert FitzPatrick’s article “The 10 Big Lies of Multi-Level Marketing.” Robert has studied MLMs and pyramid schemes for years and is the author of the book  False Profits and the head of  Pyramid Scheme Alert.

Robert has also served as an expert witness on pyramid schemes in both state and federal courts. This guy knows what he’s talking about! Just read the ten lies and ask yourself if Mary Kay Cosmetics fits the criteria.

Robert FitzPatrick of Pyramid Scheme Alert has conducted extensive research on multi-level marketing companies (MLMs). The research can be difficult with companies like Mary Kay, which are privately owned and therefore don’t release hardly any information about the dismal earnings of the sales force.

On the other hand, certain companies using MLM models that are similar to Mary Kay’s way of doing business, do release public information about their representatives. Robert studied figures for Amway (Quixtar), Nuskin, Nikken, Melaleuca, Reliv, Arbonne, Free Life International and Cyberwize.com.

Written by Black Nova

Just keep saying “no.” I have learned when my friends invite me to MLM engagements of any sort to tell them that I have a personal rule of not supporting any form of MLM because I don’t believe in the business model.

Regardless of the quality of the product, if it is a direct selling business, I will not buy product or attend any parties or meetings. This was hard at first because it went against the code of being nice. But Mary Kay and MLMs like it count on this. This is why they still push parties. They know women will be guilted into “supporting” their friend’s new “business.” Real businesses have Grand Openings and don’t need to beg people to support them.