Amway MLM Review (Is Amway A 60-Year-Old Scam?)

If you haven’t heard about The Amway Center in Orlando, it is a major sports arena like none ever built, it features modern architecture, amenities, and public spaces.

It is designed to host different events including sports, music concerts, and other family-friendly events. It is home to Orlando Magic (NBA Team) and Orlando Solar Bears (Ice Hockey Team). 

This preamble brings me to the subject of today’s review Amway Multilevel Marketing opportunity. The Amway Center is just one of the many commercial sponsorships of Amway the company.  This shows how big Amway really is…

What Is Amway?

Amway is the leading direct selling Multilevel Marketing (MLM) company founded in the United States of America in 1959. Amway is a short form of the phrase “American Way”. 

This company manufactures a  wide range of products for health, beauty, wellness, nutrition & home care and distributes them through its vast network of Independent Business Owners (IBOs) in more than 100 countries worldwide. 

Amway was founded by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos after their successful venture with a direct selling opportunity through a company called Nutrilite. Amway has its headquarters in Ada Michigan. This company had a reported sales figure of $8.8 Billion in 2018. 

How Does Amway Business Work?

In order to get started with Amway, you begin as an Independent Business Owner sponsored (recruited) by an existing Amway IBO. That person will be your upline just like in any typical  MLM structure company. 

How Much Does Amway Cost?

The Amway Startup Kit will cost you $62, sounds cheap, doesn’t it? 

Well, that’s not all. You can expect to incur other costs such as 

“Business Expenses” – Seminars, Meetings, Amway Apps, etc. These can really add up. 

Amway Products Catalog

When it comes to products Amway has quite a variety. Their massive product line features 5 main categories in nutrition, energy & sports, beauty, home care, and personal care products. 

Here is a sample::

1. Nutrition –  Amway Nutrilite

This is a supplement brand consisting of different types of supplements.

2. Beauty – Amway Artistry 

3. Energy & Sports – XS

XS Energy Cafe Mocha is a popular energy drink among the Amway IBOs. It is said to give you lots of energy plus it tastes good. Well for the price of $42 per can, you can’t expect anything less than great.

4. Home Care

Products in this category include iCook (cookware), eSpring (water purifier), Air purifier, disinfectants, etc. 

5. Sanitique

 Sanitique is a haircare range comprising of sprays, serums, masks, shampoos etc.

Are Amway Products Good?

There is no doubt that Amway’s products are top-notch quality-wise. This is probably one of the reasons why Amway is better than other  MLM companies.

When it comes to the prices, Amway is not afraid to ask for top dollar for their products. They give you good quality products after all!

The fact that Amway is still here after 60 years of operation means that people buy these products and actually Amway strongly encourages their IBO to be the product ambassadors by using Amway products in their homes. 

Amway Achievement Levels

At Amway, they refer to the achievement levels of their IBOs as recognition levels or pin levels.

To recognize and reward the achievements of IBOs, Amway has an award and bonus system. Pins and plaques are awarded in honor of business building achievements to encourage high performance.

Cash bonuses and other rewards are given at different levels. In order to be eligible for these bonuses and awards, an IBO must fully comply with the Amway Rules of Conduct.

The more products you sell and grow your high performing downline, the greater the levels of achievement you can attain.   

The lowest achievement is the Silver Producer and the highest is the Founders Crown Ambassador. 

Amway Compensation Plan

How do you make money with Amway?

There are 3 Ways

1. Retail Margin 

Buy the products at a special IBO price, sell them to customers at the price you determine and keep the difference. For example, if you bought a $100 product and sold it for $250, you get to keep $150 as your income. 

2. Bonuses

Earn performance points on products you have sold and, as your business network grows, earn points from products sold by IBOs you sponsor. 

3. Incentives

Elective Growth Incentives & rewards include Fast Track Incentive Program awards for new IBOs, rewards for key achievements in extraordinary growth and helping others succeed, trips and one-time cash awards.

In addition, IBOs can earn more income by boosting their sales volume, which is determined by their Point Value (PV) and their Business Volume (BV). Each product, or set of products, has a PV assigned to it.

Business Volume (BV) is the dollar value of the products that IBOs sell. To make it simple, your total sales volume is the combination of PV and BV (PV/BV).

Note:

 With Amway, as is the case with many MLMs, IBOs who focus on signing in new IBOs earn higher bonuses than those who focus on sales alone.

The total Point Value (PV), combined with Business Volume (BV), help determine your monthly performance and which bonus bracket each IBO will fall under for the month.

Amway Pros And Cons

Pros: What Makes Amway Good

1.High-Quality Products – no doubt about this one. When it comes to product quality, Amway rules.

2. Money-Back Guarantee – you are entitled to get a 100% full refund within the first 90 days of joining Amway. 

3. Longevity – Amway has been around for many years. They have had their challenges but  surely surviving for 60 years means that they are doing something right. 

4. Great IBO Training – they give their distributors high-quality education to help them perform well (sell better).

Cons: What Makes Amway Bad

1. Expensive Products 

Amway products are expensive, some of them are ridiculous, like the 237ml XS Energy drink that retails for $42.

If you workout 4 days a week and you take 1 can per day = 16 cans for a month

= 16 X $42 

= $672 (Don’t forget delivery charges). 

Crazy!

2. Only People At The Top Make Real Money

Despite the rosy picture that’s painted about Amway, the truth is that it is hard for new IBOs to make money. Even if you were to sell products, for many people, the high costs of running your business are often higher than the money you make. 

3.Pressure to Work Round The Clock

Amway promotes the idea of working part-time and earning money from home. However, a lot of Amway IBOs reported that there is a constant pressure to work hard all the time and never ever quit.

You have to constantly increase your Personal Volume Points.  Otherwise, you are seen as a big loser! 

Granted, in order to succeed in any business, you have to put in a lot of time and effort. But you see, lots of people don’t really like the idea of working that hard.

Besides it is misleading to make people believe that they can run their Amway business part-time, even if someone is employed.

4.Bad MLM Reputation + Past Lawsuits

Ok, Amway is better than a lot of other MLM businesses but let’s be honest, it remains an MLM and in many people’s eyes, all MLMs are pyramid schemes. 

The previous lawsuits that Amway was involved in also left a dent in the company’s reputation. 

So, you are a new IBO and want to talk to someone about Amway, and the first question is “Isn’t Amway a pyramid scheme?”. 

It means you have to sit that prospect down and explain to them why Amway is not a pyramid scheme. 

Bottom line: people are increasingly getting worried about MLM business.

5.Cult-like Behavior?  

Some Amway distributors report that they are told not to associate with anyone outside of Amway. Stay away from your family members if they don’t support Amway. 

There is a guy I know who sadly had to break up with his fiance because the was so consumed by Amway, she did not want to hear any criticism coming from anyone including her fiance. “it was as if she was possessed”…he recalled painfully. 

During seminars and meetings, it is said that Amway guys “worship” their leaders the same way cult leaders are worshiped.

“A person can just be rumbling on stage about ho much money he makes, not really making a  lot of sense, but the crowds go crazy about him…” 

Does Amway Business Work? Can You Make Money With Amway?

If you are just thinking about joining Amway today, there is a high chance that you will have to single-handedly push multiple boulders up a mountain. 

Here are a few boulders that come to mind:

• General negative attitude towards MLMs
• Good  quality Amway products which are expensive may be hard to convince people to buy them
• Market saturation – Amway has been around and chances of signing up new IBO are becoming slimmer by the day. 

Is Amway A Pyramid Scheme?

Absolutely NOT! 

Amway is a legitimate MLM business opportunity with a few problems but it is by no means a pyramid scheme. Amway has good quality products and that alone exonerates them from the pyramid scheme blame. 

Yes, a lot of people continue to call Amway and other MLMs pyramid schemes simply due to a lack of a clear understanding of the difference between MLM and pyramid schemes. 

MLMs are legal entities that have a real product to sell to the general public while its members are encouraged to bring in more product distributors. 

On the other hand, Pyramid Schemes have no product to promote except their own membership. The only way you will earn money is by recruiting more and more people. Pyramid schemes are illegal because in the end they collapse and people lose their monies. 

Sadly some pyramid schemes masquerade as MLMs, and that creates a lot of confusion among people.

Is Amway A Scam?

Again, no!

I have seen a lot of negative reviews from people who have been disgruntled by Amway and they go on to call Amway a scam. I guess it is out of frustration and anger because their Amway dream failed to come true. 

I will not call Amway a scam. But I will tell you to be very careful with all MLM businesses because it is being reported that the majority of people at the bottom of the MLM structure fail to make any money. 

They end up with huge loses and damaged relationships. 

So if you want to join Amway, proceed with caution.

Is There A Better Way To Make Money From Home?

If you want a better way to make money without having to push any products or hassle your family, friends, and strangers, I recommend that you do Affiliate Marketing.  

With this business model, you get paid by bringing in customers to a product without having to carry any inventory yourself. 

Think of it this way, 

You bought a cool pair of shoes and your friend sees them and likes them. He asks where you bought them and you tell him and he buys a pair. 

You have referred a customer and you should be paid a commission. But if you have no agreement with the shoe store owner…sorry you won’t get paid. We do this every day!

When you make an agreement with product owners and get a cut each time a sale is made via your efforts, that is Affiliate Marketing.

Don’t know how to get started with affiliate marketing? No Problem.

You can learn everything you need to know from Wealthy Affiliate. 

Read this review to learn more about Wealthy Affiliate.

If you want to sign up right away, go to the Wealthy Affiliate Website and create a free account.

You will be able to access the first 10 Affiliate Marketing Lessons without ever paying for anything, no credit card information is required. When you are ready to learn more you can upgrade to Premium membership. 

Once you are done creating your free Wealthy affiliate Account, you will receive guidance on how to get started. 

I hope to see you soon.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have benefited from this review. 

I wish you only the best in your quest to earn passive income!