Jan 1998 Comments


Dear Sir,

I stumbled upon your web-site today while working on renewing my Amway business. I must say that what you have presented confirms may of the things that I have suspected but haven't proven. I am currently in " the business" and will be continuing to renew. However, my story is somewhat similar to yours and I find that I have some reservations and have stopped building. On a positive note I have been able to use the knowledge and information that I have gained from being in the business for over 5 years to my advantage. I would never have been able to survive in the business world that I am in now with out the "baptism by fire" that I received in the Yeager system. I have been able to double my 9 to 5 income by applying the principles I learned and have also started a computer service company that is now starting to show a profit. So it could be said that because of my affiliation with Amway I have developed a good source of income. I am not the timid person I used to be. Thanks for your effort on your site


Hi my name is * I have left the business 1 year and 4 months.... That court case against yager...wilson..and haugan...etc...my upline did the exact same thing to me and I mean exact same thing to me.......I even recorded amvoxes from my upline to my group and recorded my upline at a restraunt trying to con me out of my business for $500.00 dollars.... They even used amways rules and regulations to try and tell me I had to buy back $4000.00 dollars of non-amway tools back from a downline direct...

So here I am an ex Direct Distributor with three directs in my downline... a group about 300-400 people...pist off ---ripped off---hurt...and stuck with $3000.00 dollars worth of tools...I'd sure like to get my money back...

P.S. after 6 years in the business..the only thing I get is a monthly pv check between $150.00 to $500.00 per month....I guess I should count my blessings... don't know how long it will last...

but man the money they owe me from my tool business.....UNBELIEVABLE....

CAN YOU HELP???


I thought when Sidney was gone, everything was over on the internet. Guess I was wrong.

Well, it's quite obious you've never owned a business and have only limited knowledge concerning the pros and cons of Amway. Let's get started.

Amway is cheap to start - average businesses run upwards of $100,000 to get the doors open. Then there's the expenses of the first year . . .

No employees, office equipment, advertising, incorporation fees, buildings, lawyers, state/federal regulators, etc - essentially NO OVERHEAD. $6 for a tape, $3 for an open meeting, $50-75 for a seminar are VERY REASONABLE - check out seminars for other businesses.

Amway is a business - if it is anything else to anybody else, THEY make it that way.

No one has to do anything in order to be in Amway except buy a kit and renew annually. No tapes, functions, products - nothing.

People fail in Amway - omigod. People fail daily at everything to include businesses. SOME WILL FAIL AT AMWAY. Big deal - that's life. Amway is not guaranteed to work for anyone.

People who have lost money are off their rocker. Amway products are guaranteed. Tools are and have been for the last five years I've been in. If you've got a problem with an upline, the corporation will take care of it. Trust me, it happened to me. I got my money. This means my upline was bad not Amway (and, omigod, there are bad people in everything).

Charles, I hope I've opened your eyes to the fact that over 50% of Amway distibutors don't even buy one product after they open a kit. Amway does not work for everybody and it never will. It is not guaranteed to work for you. Don't stress - nothing is guaranteed to work for you.

But it worked for me - I'm a Ruby with a Ruby leg and just received a $2447 Annual Profit Sharing check. It took five years but we cleared $70,000. Not bad.

Why don't you put out the right information? Why don't you REALLY try to help people decide if it's for them rather than sarcastically offer bona-fide "facts". That type of website would help everyone. Anyway, good luck.


My name is * and I live in Sweden. Amway just resently came to Sweden and I have some questions for you. The people that are hard-working with this are claiming that: There is no monthly demands to buy anything to get bonus. You would get bonus from your downline anyway (If nobody is buying were come the bonus from) They also claim that if you have only 3 legs that breakaway you get your 4% bonus from those legs without having any personal-group-points. They claim that this is a new compensation-plan that have been introduced in Sweden . Please answer my questions,and I also would like the compensationsplan in a file if it is possibly

Amway is not in Sweden nor have there been any announcements that they will be opening soon


you're 100% right !!!!

I WAS too .... I went to +/- 8 to 12 meetings , one BIG meeting ... then i quit (5 months) , i had a lot of money to spend on video's and watch tv.... On the cautch (sofa) .... hehe

i'm happy to be out... we did a lot but nothing was good .... we spend about 20 hrs spending/ meeting people but it was very wasted time....

C ya Lt.Killer (i burn them now ) We now return to our regulary scheduled flame-throwing!


Hello. I have enjoyed your web site. Lots of interesting things. I am a little curious what drives you to do this though. It seems that you have invested a lot of time and effort with the site. I am a distributor (since 1990). I too have had some success only to see it all disappear. I did everything I was told.......tapes, functions, etc......and ended up at zero. It was extremely frustrating when the downline got out, not to mention painful!

I still have faith in the Corporation and The Plan. They and it have always performed as represented to me. The problem I have is with the methods used in showing the plan........lots of negatives there that have nothing to do with the Corporation. I still believe it is a great opportunity.......if you can get the point across to others.

I too found that doing a hundred was expensive. I figure it to cost about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 times the PV. I really believe that if people were told the facts and not led to spend lots of extra time and money on the support side, the business will work and work much better.


My goodness you have a wealth of information here. Speaking only from my experience as a distributor and relative of a large diamond organization, I see some half-truths, misunderstandings, and plain old "bad information". I keep all books for my relative's emerald organization along with booking local functions in the area. I have first-hand knowledge of the expenses for the functions, Amway income and tool income. We are talking about six-figures and most of it is non-tool related. I know other organizations run differently and I know all about the Hart Organization. All I can tell you is what I see on this site is simply not all true and I don't understand why there is a need for misleading material. It is a fact that there are some bad apples in the business, but thats true in anything.


I think what you have wrote is wonderful in your opinion. But I believe if the business didnt work it wouldnt be around for thirty some odd years. When people do not succeed in something they first thought they might do very well , they will put down. The reason they do that is cause they are mad casue it didnt work for them. Its not for everyone. I am sure what you do is not for everyone either but that doesn't mean we have to make a webpage about it and put it down. I am sure your very educated and probably that has taken you so far. The statistics you have put down on your page don't make sense. Especially when you read different stats in Business Week, Wallstreet Journal and so forth. Even if only a few people put the time in it and make a substantial amount of money it proves it works. If a few can do it so can the rest. When you own your own business do not expect to have things fall in your lap. Its going to take and investment of time and money. That will apply with anything you do. I believe the Amway Business works, but there are those who do not work it right. That does give the Amway Corp a bad name. Sir, I respect what you have written. It may be not for you but you cant judge a business over the internet. I believe if you come in contact with the right people you will see how the Amway will impact thousands in a postive way. Have a good Day :)


Following my query about the calculation of the 4% bonus, here are some other thoughts.

Firstly, my background is a design engineer and I run my own design and manufacture business. I have been Amwayed previously by non friends and at that stage I rejected their offers out of instinct. I was recently approached by a friend and as I was running my own business, I thought I might be able to save money/ make money with the level of business I could do. Unfortunately, my business training (self taught from the school of hard knocks) meant that before any dollars change hands I needed lots of answers to lots of questions. You know, the business analysis type. When ever you get into business you need to do a business plan that you can believe in, not just have blind faith in. Anyway, I went to a seminar (I thought I could get some real details etc) and was presented with the rah rah.

I guess my parents brought me up to be too independant and be able to think for myself. This seminar scared me. Can everyone there really be lapping it up? I hope not. Someday I hope to be successfull enough with my own business ventures that I can play golf regularly and I hope to play with other independant thinking people.

Testimonials are part of any business promotion, but when testimonials come from people that still work day jobs ( they still have not taken the jump to full time business) and professionals that imply they are doing well then you need to make a judgement on the quality of the testimonial.

Oh, you know my friend that sponsered me, he is supposedly qualified as a business analysist. One of my first questions to him is about the numbers, facts etc. You know the boring stuff that business analysists do all the time. Unfortunately he has not taken time to do that. He trusts his upline so much that he does not need to ask questions. Uh, he has lost his independant thought process. I can picture him up on stage with onlookers saying to their downline, see him he is a business analyst AMWAY must be good.

So in the quest for more info I jumped onto the internet. Bingo. Plenty of stories, and I have actually found some descriptive analysis on MLM,s. Some good, some just story. But anyway, the biggest story I guess is the tapes, books and meetings. One of the first things you try to do in any business is tame the overheads that inevitably happen. I have seen some distributors claim that the tapes, books and meetings are training and are therefore a legitimate expense. True, this is a valid argument. However, the business I was presented was that the upline would do whatever to help me. Well, what about free training. You know, help me, and then ultimately I can help you grow the business. (I try to train people on the job with my own business.

I get self satisfaction helping people and it is actually good business. Consider if someone really excells. My business gets better. If that person leaves with the training I have given them , GREAT. That person will tell other people what a great person I am and that is free advertising. You know, a good testimonial. The one that comes obligation free.)

My thoughts today about the tapes books and meetings would be, if the tapes are essential to help train people then why dont upline pass down their own tapes when they have finished with them. Alternately, I am unable to find a reason why not, second hand tapes could be bought (I guess there are plenty out there) by any distributor and offered as an alternative at a much cheaper price (They could even make a profit on them as long as the sale does not become a MLM as per AMWAYS rules). The same goes for the books. I have to admit that before AMWAY I have invested in books and have found great value in them. I purchased books that I thought I would like and I am free to do with them as I please. Yes, I even lend them to people and sometimes I even give them away.

By the way since joining AMWAY I have not purchased any product, not sponsored and not presented the plan. I won't quit yet as I have more questions and hope to revive the though process in my friend.


my wife and i have been 'in the business' for almost thirteen years. alhtough we were never serious, we only sponsored a couple of people. after a while it dawned on us that we weren't the type to do this. we still buy the products (though i'm not sure we still will). i stumbled upon your site and a few others and i am so upset to think that my upline would decieve me the way it appears he did about tapes and functions. we were told many itmes that the tapes and functions were put on for about cost.

we were in angelo nardone's downline. do you know if this tape and function scheme was perpetuated by them?

we are inactive now, in fact i am now a pastor and can tell you, they totally misrepresent scripture with regards to success. thanks for this sote, i only wish i had access to it thirteen years ago. peace,