If you’re on Facebook, there’s a good chance that — between friends trying to sell you LuLaRoe leggings and whatever it is that Rodan + Fields is — you’re also seeing regular posts about essential oils and their various purported uses, from making you or your home smell nice to somehow miraculously (but not actually) curing diseases. Regardless of the pitch, the underlying message is the same thing: Buy, buy, buy. And these smelly oils are now a big business.. [More]
multi level marketing
Young Living Sentenced For Harvesting Essential Oils From Endangered Plants
By 9.19.17
Essential oils come from exotic plants all over the world, but do the companies selling these oils have the proper permits to import and sell the products made from them? The company Young Living has been sentenced for importing rosewood oil and spikenard oil without permission, and must pay $760,000 for importing the products without permits. [More]
4 Things LuLaRoe Sellers Say About The Stress & Cost Of Their Job
By 8.7.17
LuLaRoe, best known as the company behind the lycra leggings that at least six of your high school friends are trying to sell through Facebook, markets itself to freelance “consultants” as a possible pathway to financial independence and stability. But once again, LuLaRoe sellers are coming out of the woodwork to allege that this job is putting stress on their well-being, financially and physically. [More]
Lawsuit Claims LuLaRoe Misrepresents Quality Of Leggings
By 3.28.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
It’s not just sales consultants who are unhappy with multi-level marketing clothing business LuLaRoe: A pair of customers have filed a class-action lawsuit claiming LuLaRoe knowingly sold defective leggings that can tear after their first use. [More]
4 Things To Know About LuLaRoe Sales Reps’ Problems With The Company
By 3.2.17
You may have noticed in recent years an uptick of Facebook friends hawking leggings, skirts, cardigans, and other clothing items in groups dedicated to LuLaRoe. The multi-level marketing company has become a popular option for ambitious “consultants” hoping to earn money and maybe start a career. However, some current and former LuLaRoe sales reps are now publicly voicing their concerns about the company’s business practices. [More]
John Oliver Wants To Sell You On Why Multi-Level Marketing Stinks
By 11.7.16
John Oliver has a pitch for you. Yes, that’s right. In last night’s Last Week Tonight, he asked for just 30 minutes of your time to sell you on something that will change your life forever: an exposé on Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) schemes. [More]
Plunder The Inner Workings Of The DS-MAX Sales Cult
By 1.27.10
Now is your chance to find out what really goes inside the strange and shady world of the DS-MAX/Cydcor/Innovage multi-level-marketing sales cults. Luke St. Germaine, who last shared with us an excerpt from a book he’s working on about his experiences, has agreed to let Consumerist readers interview him. Put your questions in the comments or email them to ben@consumerist.com and let’s find out the straight scoop. For the backstory on what DS-MAX is all about, Eric Wolfram’s List of Known Scams gives a very comprehensive overview, and you can also check out these posts from our archive. [More]
Spammer Forgets To Fill Out Personalization Fields
By 1.19.10
I got this spam recently. Looks like our spammer forgot to fill out his form fields! “Whatsup My parents are from #CSVFIELD(3)# too! Are you 100% sure you wish to get rid of this #CSVFIELD(2)#?”I love how vague and modular it is, it’s like spam madlibs! [More]
I Escaped The DS-MAX Multi-Level-Marketing Sales Cult
By 12.8.09
Luke St. Germaine worked his way up the ladder of Cydcor, a spinoff of the notorious multi-level-marketing outfit DS-MAX, d/b/a Innovage aka Granton Marketing, from sales grunt to running his own office, until he saw the true face of the sales cult and got out the game. Exclusive to Consumerist, this is an excerpt from a novel he wrote about his experience. [More]
Network World Uncovers More Dirt On Zer01
By 7.23.09
NetworkWorld published its findings on the suspicious histories of the men behind new cellphone company Zer01 just two days ago, but they clearly sent someone behind the scenes scrambling. This afternoon they reported that Zer01’s parent company “has stripped its Web site down to only basic information,” and that “new details have also come to light suggesting a past connection between two of the involved companies, despite claims to the contrary.”
Is ZER01 Mobile A Legit Cellphone Service?
By 7.22.09
ZER01 is a new cellular service launching soon that promises unlimited calling and unlimited, fast data connectivity for $70 a month. There’s another unique twist: you can sell the service to your friends for $10 monthly credits. That’s right, it’s a multi-level marketing mobile virtual network operator—an MLM MVNO. NetworkWorld smelled something fishy, so they researched the companies behind the offering and found that there’s a lot of sketchy looking stuff. We put the highlights of their investigation into a chart.
"The Purple Horror" Monavie Group Blog
By 10.23.08
Remember the Monavie Acai juice Multi-Level-Marketing scam Chris Walters told you about a few weeks ago? There’s a whole community blog set up where people can post their Monavie stories as moderator-approved comments at purplehorror.com. Here’s one from a frustrated salesperson: “Our upline said that we weren’t pitching it the “right way”. Their idea of the right way was to lie. They didn’t think of it as lying, but it was… They would ask people if they had any medical conditions and whatever they said, the answer was always “Monavie can definitely help you with that.” Note the word “upline.” That’s a common word multi-level-marketing schemes use to refer to the person directly above you in their modified pyramid scheme.
Consumerist Attends Robert Allen's Get Rich Quick In Real Estate Seminar
By 10.23.08
I wanted to find out what Robert Allen’s “get-rich-quick in real estate with no money down” promise was all about, so when I saw a full page ad in the Daily Post advertising one of his free seminars recently, I went and checked it out. I’ll give you a full run-down later, but here’s the quick and dirty, and what I can tell about how the darn thing seems to function.
Despite Subprime Implosion, Robert Allen's Troops Still Pitch "Get Rich Quick In Real Estate With No Money Down"
By 10.21.08
Robert Allen promises to make you millions teaching you how to buy real estate with no money down. Unsurprisingly, Ripoffreport is littered with complaints about his company and those that use his name. Here’s the story they tell:
Just What The Heck Is MonaVie, And Should I Sell It?
By 10.6.08
I’ve been approached by a friend to join up with MonaVie acai juice—it’s a “superfood” juice that’s sold through “network marketing.” I actually do like the product, and this is a friend I trust, but my alarm bells are still going off. I don’t want to get sucked into a scam, obviously. There’s nothing about this company on your site, so I thought I’d drop you a line and see if you had any advice.
How The Modern Pyramid Scheme Stays Barely Legal
By 10.5.07
The modern pyramid scheme has undergone slight tweaks in order to stay just with the bounds of the law, and still keep the fun scam times going. When you strip away all the pretty foil and chocolate, though, a naked Ponzi sits in the center, laughing his ass off.
4 Typical DS-MAX MLM Scam Job Ads Found On Monster, HotJobs, CareerBuilder And Jobster
By 6.19.07
Using the names of companies accused of being DS-Max (now known as Innovage) subsidiaries/affiliates on Ripoffreport and a list on DS-Max The Aftermath, I did a search of Monster, Hot Jobs, and other job sites to pick out real ads that are out there and should be avoided.
