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a given MLM is a pyramid scheme is intensely fact-specific and beyond the scope of this This paper presents an historical analysis of the transition from an industry that continuing problem of illegal pyramid schemes found to be operating under the guise of The FTC has a record of action when it is evident from the.
Multi-level marketing is a strategy that some direct sales companies use to encourage their existing distributors to recruit new distributors by paying the existing distributors a percentage of their recruits' sales. The recruits are known as a distributor's "downline." All distributors also make money through direct sales of products to customers. Amway is an example of a well-known direct-sales company that uses multi-level marketing.
As far as the operational dynamics is concerned we need to apply active channel management plan and have mechanism to collect voice of customer.
In multi-level or network marketing and individuals selling products to the public - often by word of mouth and direct sales. Typically, distributors earn commissions, not only for their own sales, but also sales made by people who are recruiting. Not every legitimate multi-level marketing plans. If it is based on the money you make on your sales to the public, there may be legitimate multi-level marketing plan. If it is based on the money you make on the number of people who recruit them to your sales, it's not. It's a pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes are illegal, and the vast majority of participants lose money. If you are considering buying in the multi-level marketing plan, get the details. Consider productsFind out more about the companyEvaluation planLaSalle questionsConsider productsMany companies that sell their products through distributors sell high-quality goods at competitive prices. But some commodities show that exaggerated, have the dubious advantages, or are downright unsafe for use
Answer added by: Ghada Eweda Medical sales hospital representative is the correct answer.
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An MLM plan is a plan with three or more levels (the operator and at least two levels of participants) that promotes the supplyFootnote 3 of a productFootnote 4 to participants of the plan. Compensation is earned by participants in the MLM plan based on the supply of the product to participants and/or non-participants of the MLM plan. A legitimate MLM plan focusses on the supply of products rather than the recruitment of prospective participants into the MLM plan and offers products that consumers value and are willing to purchase (certain terms used in this section are defined below).
To prevent the deception of prospective participants, if an operator or a participant makes any representation about the compensation that is or may be earned under the MLM plan, the operator or participant making the representation must disclose the compensation received by typical participants in the MLM plan.
Often a product purchase, such as a distributor kit, is required to participate in an MLM plan. If the operator of an MLM plan requires a person to purchase a product to participate in the MLM plan then the product must be sold at the seller's cost and only for the purpose of facilitating sales.
Subsection 55(1) of the Act defines an MLM plan as a plan in which a participant receives compensation for the supply of a product to another participant, who in turn receives compensation for the supply of the same or another product to yet another participant in the MLM plan. Subsections 55(2) and 55(2.1) set out certain obligations relating to compensation disclosure by operators of and participants in MLM plans. Failure to comply with these obligations is subject to criminal penalties as set out in subsection 55(3). The full text of these provisions is set out in Appendix A to this bulletin.
A scheme of pyramid selling is a form of an MLM plan focussed primarily on generating earnings through recruitment. These schemes may offer products, however the products may have very little value or the plan may offer limited incentives for their sale. Income in the scheme is derived primarily from the money prospective participants pay to join the scheme and not from the sale of product.
Often schemes of pyramid selling promise huge wealth and financial security to their participants. They usually require the participant to pay to join. This payment may be described as an enrollment fee, a membership fee or an investment into a money-making enterprise. In addition to payment, participants are typically told that they must recruit others into the MLM plan, who in turn must recruit others before they are able to earn any money. Given the finite pool of potential recruits, pyramid schemes are inherently unsustainable and eventually collapse. Although a small number of participants at the top of the pyramid may make money, the overwhelming majority of participants lose their money.
Schemes of pyramid selling are illegal under both the Act and the Criminal CodeFootnote 5.
Section 55.1 of the Act defines a "scheme of pyramid selling" as an MLM plan with one or more of the following features:
It is a criminal offense to establish, operate, advertise or promote a scheme of pyramid selling.
2. Working Definitions of Key TermsThis section sets out the Bureau's working definitions of certain key terms used in this bulletin and/or the MLM provisions of the Act. These terms are not defined in the Act
An operator is a person or entity who is responsible for an MLM plan. An MLM plan may have more than one operator. For example, if an MLM plan is operated by a corporation, any individual who is the directing mind of the corporation, or who directs the making of a representation relating to compensation on the corporation's behalf, is also responsible for ensuring compliance with the MLM provisions of the Act.
A prospective participant is an individual who has expressed interest in joining an MLM plan or who has been approached by a current participant or the operator of the MLM plan to supply the product to others with the prospect of earning compensation under the MLM plan.
A participant in an MLM plan is an individual who actively engages in the activities necessary to realize the benefits of the MLM plan. A participant in an MLM plan has joined the MLM plan, has the right to sponsor others in the MLM plan and has the right to sell products to others.
Typical participants are representative of the smallest range of compensation earned by over 50% of the participants in the MLM plan. Where an MLM plan sets out defined levels of compensation and no single level accounts for the majority of participants (greater than 50%), reference must be made to the fewest levels that together, include a majority of the participants. Thus, the average compensation of participants in an MLM plan is not normally considered to reflect the compensation that typical participants receive or are likely to receive, because the average can be skewed upward by a few high income earners. For the purposes of this calculation the Bureau excludes individuals who have been participants for less than one year.
A representation relating to compensation is any statement, declaration or image that conveys a message about the compensation a person could expect to earn as a participant of an MLM plan. A representation relating to compensation is not limited to a dollar figure or monetary range, but may also include:
Operator's or seller's cost is the cost that the operator of an MLM plan or another seller incurs to acquire a product. This includes their direct costs of labour, materials, handling and shipping, but does not include any mark-up by the seller or allocation of indirect (overhead) costs. Thus, where a participant in an MLM plan gives consideration for a certain amount of product as a condition of participating in the plan, the Act requires that the operator or other seller supply the product to the participant at a price no greater than the cost incurred by the operator or other seller to produce or acquire the product.
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Operational Activities could be:
1. Training people and hiring sub level distributors
2. Networking
3. Leading & motivating
4. Updating percentage and sales level
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Background about Multi-level marketing (MLM)
"Some consider being Salesmanship to be an inborn trait as is Leadership".
"Some consider Salesmanship to be an Art"
Then there are those who believe that anyone and everyone can be a Salesman with some training. Traditional concept of channel sales and retain sales as concepts are studied by every marketing and sales student. From the humble beginnings of mom and pop shops to super markets, selling has come a long way. Apart from these sales channels we have also seen the concept of direct selling and referral selling having developed over the last forty to fifty years. In the last thirty years or so we have seen another new trend in sales known as Multi-Level Marketing and this has spread across the globe stealthily but silently and engaged millions of people in selling products and earning decent income for themselves. It is not rear to find your friends inviting you home for a tea party over the weekend and you find yourself buying the irresistible Tupperware products for your home. Similarly thousands of people are buying Home products, Personal Care products as well as Food supplements and other lifestyle products through their friends who happen to be a part of Amway Network. If you have been exposed to these type of transactions you have been introduced to what is known as Multi-Level Marketing or Network marketing. Network marketing is a fairly new concept that has developed since early 1980s and has spread all across the globe. Today it involves housewives, corporate executives, retired persons, students as well as people from all walks of life engaged in selling through network and early decent incomes while they continue to pursue their vocations. Network Marketing is a new phenomenon that has gained ground in the last three decades and hence there isn’t much of research, study and literature that is available as in the other traditional theories and practice of Marketing. The WFDSA - World Federation of Direct Selling Agents have defined Network selling as “Marketing and Selling of Products and Services directly to the Consumers in a face to face and in places like home, workplace and other offices other than retail sales locations.” On the face of it this definition describes the Network Marketing in the right way. However you will see that this definition can hold good even for Direct Selling which is not the same as Multi Level or Network selling. There are several characteristic differences in the modalities that these two sales methods follow though there are similarities too.
In both cases of Direct Selling as well as Network marketing, the selling happens on ‘One to One basis’ where the sales person comes in face to face contact with the user or customer. Therefore both the methods involved the End User or End customer on one end and the Sales person on the other. In both cases the Salesman involved plays the role of influencing the decision maker. The main different between the two methods is to do with the organizational setup of the sales teams as well as the method of compensation and income generation. However theoretically Network marketing is considered to be a part of Direct Selling methods.
What is MLM
Multi Level Marketing is an activity that anyone can take up at any point of time in life and generate income. There are thousands who take up MLM along with their main careers and then there are so many who have become millionaires by taking up MLM on full time basis and making it their prime vocation. This form of marketing does not require any qualification or any investments. Besides generating income, the individual gets to build social contacts and relationships as well which is seen as an added benefit.
Activities in Multi-level marketing
Multi Level Marketing or Network marketing keeps spreading in all countries like a wave. It is quite likely that you will be approached by a friend or an acquaintance or your colleague who will talk to you about this fantastic opportunity to earn extra income without any investments. Every individual who gets to hear the explanation provided about Network marketing and income generation is going to be perplexed and wonders if it is all true. The major question that people will wonder about the realistic chances of someone making the kind of money that is shown in the explanatory literature. Let us try and understand the concept of how MLM works very briefly from a macro point of view.
First and foremost you will be approached by an existing distributor who is trying to recruit you. On Signing up you will be entering into a contract with the principle company for whom you will be selling their products. The distributor who introduces you will now be called your sponsor. You will undergo extensive training by the sponsor or the Company on the product lines as well as on selling methods and other processes associated with selling as well as recruiting and developing your distributor network. You will need to invest a small amount (appx around $100) to buy a starter kit for your use in selling.
In MLM business, you will essentially have two main agendas that you will focus on. First would be to buy the products for you and your family’s consumption. At this stage you will notice that if you buy for example goods worth $100 per month, you will be entitled to a rebate of 15% from the Maximum Retail Price. Therefore you stand to save $15.00. Besides buying products for yourself, you might buy for your extended family and friends too and build up your sales volumes. As you increase the sales volume, your discounts keep increasing too as per the slabs and you can end up claiming up to 45% discounts on case to case basis.
The next activity that you will focus on will be to recruit other distributors under you. As you start talking to known and unknown people and get them to sign up as distributors, you will become their sponsor. As you start developing your network, you stand to earn income from the sales generated by your distributors down the line in the form of incentives, discounts, bonuses and royalties etc.
Let us say you have developed five distributors who place $500 worth of orders with you. You will be buying the products from your sponsor at a discount of 30% and each of your distributors will buy from you at 20%. Thus you will stand to retain 10% on account of each distributor. As your network grows and the business volumes of your distributors and their networks under them grows, you start gaining by higher slab discounts. However there may come a time when your first level distributors and their network grows to a volume where they start claiming the maximum discount that you have been buying from your sponsor or directly from the company ( When you grow bigger in size, you detach from your sponsor and deal directly with the Company), it is time for that group to detach from you and your next level distributor starts buying directly from the Company. At this stage you will start earning royalty or bonus at a certain percentage as determined by the Company on the business volumes that each of your distributor groups that have delinked from you.
On conclusion, Marketers need to remember that to achieve bigger sales volumes and develop distributor networks you will need to invest that much of time and be dedicated to this job. At this stage, it is quite likely that you will need to choose your priorities and decide if you wish to pursue MLM on dedicated and full time basis. Those who have gone ahead and invested their time in MLM on full time basis have become millionaires.
