Multi-Level Marketing is the business model used by Avon, Tupperware, Amway, Herballife etc. The model is built on levels of distributors. If one were to make a visual of the distribution of distributors it would like very much like a pyramid.
In the world of supply -demand economics it's not really a viable model due to product demand, market saturation etc. Yet the companies themselves survive.
In 1979 The FTC ruled that Amway, as long as it maintained a certain level of sales of it's products to the general public and quit fudging the amount of money it's distributor's were making, was not a pyramid scheme.
Most recently Herbalife has been coming under fire for it's business plan. Some market speculators think the pyramid is getting ready to collapse.
Do you buy stuff from an MLM or have you ever sold stuff for them? Maybe recruited an underling, etc?
I have a bunch of Tupperware I bought in high school when a girlfriend decided to be a seller. I still have some it. The stuffs expensive but will seriously last you forever. My mom used to have all sorts of home parties where stuff was being sold - I remember not only Avon and Tupperware, but Sarah Coventry Jewelry and Home Decor stuff (not sure of the name). Most all of these companies would tempt you to be a distributor so you could get a discount on all the stuff they convinced you that you needed to have.
I never contemplated being a seller/distributor, but I'm really bad at salesmanship.
Edited, Jan 6th 2014 9:38pm by Elinda