I was an Amway member in 2023 and stopped immediately after I found out their hidden fraud ('fraudu2023 according to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary are deceit or trickery, an act of deceiving or misrepresenting). They use the concept of Pro-consumer in which you use the product and at the same time also profit from using the product. They implement the 'Weapon of Persuasion' to manipulate their agent and consequently their customer. I recommend you to read the book titled 'Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion' by Ph.D. holder in Psychology Robert B. Cialdini which in the book mentioned about Amwayu2019s fast growing followers. I take some excerpt from the book below:u201cOther compliance professionals also know about the committing power of written statements. The enormously successful Amway Corporation, for instance, has hit upon a way to spur their sales personnel to greater and greater accomplishments. Members of the staff are asked to set individual sales goals and commit themselves to those goals by personally recording them on paper.u201du201cA different version of the free-sample tactic is used by the Amway Corporationu2023 The confidential Amway Career Manual then instructs the salesperson to leave the BUG with the customer... at no cost or obligation to her. Just tell her you would like her to try the productsu2023 thatu2019s an offer no one can refuseu2023 Of course, by now you and I know that the customer who has accepted and used the BUG products has been trapped into facing the influence of reciprocity rule.u201du201cThe laws are designed to allow customers a few days after purchasing an item to cancel the sale and receive a full refund. At first this legislation hurt the hard-sell companies deeply. Because they emphasize high-pressure tactics, their customers often buy, not because they want the product but because they are duped or intimidated into the sale. When the new laws went into effect, these customers began cancelling in droves. The company have since learned a beautifully simple trick that cuts the number of such cancellations drastically. They merely have the customer, rather than the salesman, fill out the sales agreement.u201dYou'll realize almost all the tendencies they use upon you to manipulate you into their own profit.I'll list some so you would understand (there are 28 tendencies under The Psychology of Misjudgment done by Charles T. Munger):Liking/Loving Tendency: they arrange for its customers to buy from and for friends rather than an unknown sales person. Turning the salesperson away under those circumstances is difficult, it's almost like rejecting the friend. (In my case, my brother invited me, and it hurt my relationship with him). They even ask you to contact all your list of friends with given manual over a phone conversation.Consistency and commitment: they ask you to write testimony of their products and tell to as many people you would find. They even ask you to write down your goal and explain it to other.Reciprocation tendency: they equipped you with the bugs, a bag with free samples of products and some business tool to be used by subscriber.Authority: they use figure such as scientists to promote their productsIncentive-caused Bias: The more people I recruit (-not a real customer, but agents using the products), the more sales I could generate. For every purchase my down-line made, I got Point Value (PV) bonus, commission from the company. Most of the times my brother and my twin brother discuss on how to recruit new member down-line by promoting Amwayu2019s product. You see, theyu2019re not searching new customer, but new member.Influence-from-Mere-Association Tendency: High price means high qualityContrast Mis-reaction Tendency: they compare their products with the inferior one. The more inferior it is, the more attractive their products in comparison.In sum, Amway is a legal business but with a hidden motive to manipulate you to their advantage. Just like the Prisoner of War (being asked to write testimony of their own country dislike and spread out through the camp, etc.) being manipulated to serve their cause by using the Weapon of Persuasion.The reason why I joined Amway is because I liked their products and I was entitled for discount, even my brother started talking about me to his upper-man and customers for testimony. Then after I quit Amway I soon found out about this profound book 'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion' recommended by Charles T. Munger (Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman) to be read by everyone to protect themselves from misjudgment and manipulation by evil crooked people.u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014With respect to comment I receivedu201cA company selling good quality product at extra premium pricesu201dOnly if the product is of high quality. I bought Nutrilite products due to their high quality products backed by science.One more tendency I didn't add to the list is Influence-from-Mere-Association Tendency, high price means high quality. Just like dogs salivating when they hear the ring of a bell.You could refer to Fred Rose comment below, regarding the quality of Amway's product:u201cIn addition to all that you said above, Amway charges more for their product then what you can find the non Amway named product. For example a friend of mine sold Amway, I was looking for a under the counter water filtration system and he was bragging about Amwayu2019s so looked at it and it sounded good, then while on the internet by accident I found the exact same replacement filter as the Amway for 1/2 the price, so I called the MultiPure company that sold that filter and they said they make the filter for Amway. Later in conversation I found out that MultiPure also made the entire system including the housing except the Amway version was a plastic housing with a 5 year warranty and the Multipure housing was stainless steel with a lifetime warranty, and the stainless steel version was again 1/2 the price of the Amwayu2019s cheaper plastic version. Needless to say I bought the non Amway product.u201dThere's study done regarding this tendency: It was the peak of the tourist season, the store was unusually full of customers, the turquoise pieces were of good quality for the prices she was asking, yet they had not sold. My friend had attempted a couple of standard sales tricks to get them moving. She tried calling attention to them by shifting their location to a more central display area, no luck. She even told her sales staff to u201cpushu201d the items hard, again without success. Finally, the night before leaving on an out-of-town buying trip, she scribbled an exasperated note to her head saleswoman, u201cEverything in this display case, price u00d7 u00bd,u201d hoping just to be rid of the offending pieces, even if at a loss. When she returned a few days later, she was not surprised to find that every article had been sold. She was shocked, though, to discover that, because the employee had read the u201cu00bdu201d in her scrawled message as a u201c2,u201d the entire allotment had sold out at twice the original price!u201cmake money selling at a marginu201d(1) I'm not convince with the Operation of Business where their customer is their agent down-line. The demand is artificial, not real demand, due to incentive-caused bias (commission reward by the company in Point Value). As far as i know, (2) Amway is a distributor company (selling other's people products - affiliated companies) ranging from many products, which make the products more expensive by reselling.u201cThe techniques you mentioned. Thatu2019s called marketingu201doru201cI think your article is dishonest in that calls a great company with great products evil because the marketing tactics of some of the millions of sales peoples offends youu201dAs long as it is used for good and not against the buyeru2019s will, that is recommended. If it hurts the feeling of the buyers after the transaction is done, therefore those marketing is not presenting their products actual value, nor the buyer buys because he needs it. Actually Charles T. Munger recommended only to good people for their protection, not to be used to mislead others.u201cI suspect the writer above might have failed in many attempted businessesu201dSorry, but Iu2019m not involved in any particular business even in Amway. Iu2019m just an observer of my brother and my twin brother doing business in Amway. I have no down-line under me, nor do I sell their products, nor do I attend their meetings. Iu2019m their customer. Moreover, I am still studying in University during my 2nd year.u201cIf reading one book was enough to cause you to quit, then you probably will quit at any thing that requires putting forth an effort and learning what is required to succeedu201dItu2019s not the book u201cMerchant of Deceptionu201d which caused me to quit. Itu2019s the operation of business (recruiting more member to increase sales) which Iu2019m not convince of. Yes, I agree that you could sell at margin as a retailer, but Amway itself is a retailer, making the price more expensive. As Iu2019m a risk-adverse, Iu2019m not going to take risk myself, instead I learn from other mistake and past failure.u201cIn reading your self appointed authority post, I have deduced that you are not a successful business person in any fieldu201dYou don't have to be successful and experience to be a u2018carrier of message' of another successful person (I'm referring to Charles T. Munger, a successful businessman and investor)u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014If you read the book 'Influence: the Psychology of Persuasionu2019, it tells you how to say No, when you feel pressured or having butterflies in your stomach feeling when making a decision.For example, if a person selling fire extinguishers came to your house giving free inspection, then after the inspection he/she started to market his product to you. You can just say to him honestly u201cthanks for the inspection, but I'm not in need any of theseu201d. You took the gift (remember to always accept other kindness, if not you would hurt their feeling), but didn't return the favor. This person has done the right thing not to purchase against his will. The problem is do you know the sellers motive? We could just guess.Both my brother and my twin brother has quit doing business in Amway. Whenever I bring up the topic, they try to avoid it.Note: this answer has been edited many times due to hatred that i received in the comments below. Please be respectful with my answer, this is my first answer on Quora. This is my view, and you have yours. Peace.u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026u2026.Please read the book, u2018Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion' by Robert B. Cialdini (before criticizing me. You should attack the idea, not the person) which you could search online. Although simple, it's powerful to mislead you. For example:1. Why 38 bystanders didn't do anything while there's murder (Catherine Genovese, 28 year old women being stabbed to death) being committed in front of them without calling the police?2. How can a beggar (The Hare Krishna Society) able to produce large scale economic gains and funding the ownership of temples, business, houses and property in 321 centers in the United States and overseas?u201cGroups of Krishna devotees - often with shave heads, and wearing ill-fitting robes, leg wrappings, beads, and bells - would canvas a city street in unison while begging for fundsu2023 The unsuspecting passerby who suddenly finds a flower pressed into his hands or pinned to his jacket is under no circumstances allowed to give it back, even if he asserts that he does not want it. u2018No, itu2019s our gift to youu2019, says the solicitor, refusing to accept it. This benefactor-before-beggar strategy has been wildly successful for the Hare Krishna Society, producing large-scale economic gains and funding the ownership of temples, businesses, houses, and property in 321 centers in the United States and overseas. After once falling victim to to their tactic, many travellers are now alert to the presence of robed Krishna Society solicitors in airports and train stations, adjusting their path to avoid an encounter and preparing beforehand to ward off a solicitoru2019s u2018giftu2019. The Krishnas know very well how frequently their gifts are unwanted by the people who received themu2023 one of the group members would frequently leave the central area and return with more flowers to resupply her companionsu2023 Her journey turned out to be a garbage route. She went from trash can to trash can beyond the immediate area to retrieve all the flowers that had been discarded by Krishna targetsu201d3. Why member of fraternity members show the greatest group solidarity, despite having to undergoes hazards and humiliation of initiation ceremony?4. Why the cult follower of Reverend Jim Jones in Guyana, South America willingly took the poison draft which lead to the large scale mass suicide? Also what is the reason behind the increasing of suicide cases?5. Why traffic accidents frequently occur when there was a visibly clear road in front of the ill-fated lane switchers?6. Why opera theatre hiring actors for fake applause?7. Why a wonderful woman who having terrible parents marries a terrible man? Also why a divorce woman marries a terrible second husband?8. etc.
