Amway Review – Scam Or Legitimate MLM Business?

Welcome to my Amway Review!

Helping people live better lives is the vision of Amway, and is accomplished by helping individuals from all around the world to discover their potential, and achieve their goals by offering better brands and opportunities for the future.

Known as Amway throughout the rest of the world, Amway North America is the brand name that is used in North America.  For those of you who have not followed the history of Amway in recent years, Amway North America was previously known as Quixtar from 1999 to 2008.  This company is also often referred to as Amway Global, but all of these brand names fall under the Corporate trade name of Amway Corporation.

In this Amway Review, I will be providing the facts concerning this company, their products, and more importantly, the MLM Business opportunity that Amway offers as an Independent Business Owner.

This Amway Review will be answering the obvious question:  Does Amway offer a legitimate and promising MLM Business opportunity, or should this be considered as a scam or pyramid scheme?  I intend to answer this very question in my unbiased Amway Review.

Company Details & History

Founded in 1959 by Rich DeVos & Jay Van Andel, Amway began by offering one single product: Liquid Organic Cleaner (L.O.C.), being the first concentrated, bio-degradable cleaning product.

Product Line

Today, over 50 years later, Amway offers a massive line of products related to:

• Health & Wellness
• Beauty
• Bath & Body
• Home Products

Popular Brands

Amway provides customers and IBOs with access to popular brand names including:

• ARTISTRY
• NUTRILITE
• XS
• ATMOSPHERE
• SATINIQUE
• eSpring
• iCook
• TOLSOM
• SA8
• Legacy of Clean
• Ribbon

As you know, these products and brands are offered exclusively through more than 3 million Independent Business Owners throughout more than 80 countries and territories around the globe, which transitions us into my Review of the Amway Home Business opportunity.

MLM Business – Getting started and how it works

The minimum cost to begin your business and enroll as an Amway Independent Business Owner (IBO) is the purchase of a Welcome Kit for $62. This includes the $50 Amway Business Services & Support fee and the $12 IBOAI Support fee.

This Welcome Kit will provide you with a step-by-step guide to understand your Amway Business and products, and provide you with the training that you need to qualify for their early bonus programs.

Product Purchase

Amway also offers an optional Product Kit for $83.99.  However, after the delivery charge, this kit will cost $97.74.

This kit will provide you with full-size products for personal use, as well as samples to share with potential customers.  This will also provide you with marketing materials and tools to help you introduce Amway and their products to others.

Annual Requirement

There is also an Annual Business Fee that must be submitted prior to December 31st of each year.  If an IBO fails to submit their renewal agreement with their annual fee payment, they will lose their Amway Business, including their placement within the Amway Compensation Plan, as well as their entire downline.

Compensation – How earnings are made

As an Amway IBO, you will of course earn retail commissions on all personal product sales.  In addition to that, you will earn monthly performance bonuses ranging from 3% to 25% of business volume, dependent upon your monthly production.

As you begin to build an organization of IBOs through your recruiting efforts, you will earn monthly and annual leadership bonuses, as well as other cash awards and incentives based upon the production of your team as a whole.

IBO Training & Support

Amway utilizes a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) business model to distribute products and compensate their IBOs.  This means that in building your business, the methods of sharing products with and recruiting your friends, family members, acquaintances, and associates will be highly encouraged, and will be the basis of your training as a new IBO.

As an IBO, Amway will support you in your sales efforts with DVDs, magazines, brochures, and free personalized websites.  You will have direct support from your sponsor, as that individual will have a vested interest in your success.

However, the methods of prospecting among your warm market of friends and family members will still be at the core of your support and mentoring.

Optional Training Resources

Many successful Leaders within Amway have developed Business Supply Materials (BSMs), which are offered through their Professional Development Program (PDP).  These materials come in many formats including video, audio, digital, and print.  These materials and courses provide new IBOs with technique training, business building tips, product spotlights, and personal development training.

Through these Business Supply Materials, newer IBOs have an opportunity to learn from leading IBOs within Amway who have already built a successful and thriving business.  People who have already been there and done that!

These materials are made available to newer IBOs at an added expense.  These courses and training materials are created at the expense of the IBO, so to recoup the cost of creating these materials, they sell them to other IBOs who have a desire to learn.

Amway Review Conclusion

In my professional opinion, Amway is a very legitimate MLM Business opportunity.  Amway is one of the biggest names in the MLM industry, and big names become big targets.  Throughout their existence, they have been called a scam, cult, fraud, and pyramid scheme, which is not uncommon among MLM companies.  Amway is none of these!

Amway and their parent company achieve more than $9 Billion in annual sales.  For the fact that they offer hundreds of high-quality products across multiple product lines, and have done so for more than 5 decades proves that they are not a scam or pyramid scheme.

Food for thought…

However, where I disagree with Amway is in regards to their training methods.  I strongly feel that the Warm Marketing tactics of prospecting among family and friends are not an effective way to build a profitable Home Business for the long term.  These methods might have worked well in the 70s and 80s, but not in today’s world.  In fact, the proven statistic that Multi-level Marketing carries a 97% failure rate proves my point.

It is from those who have failed where MLM companies like Amway get the reputation of being a scam or pyramid scheme.  I can assure you that Amway is none of these, but if you desire success within your Amway Business, you are going to need to bring a more modern and effective marketing strategy that extends beyond your family and friends to build this business.

If you can bring a marketing skill-set to the table, I strongly feel that Amway is a solid business opportunity with globally recognized brands and products to build a business around.

I hope that you have found my Amway Review to be informative and educational!  I wish you the best of luck in your search for a home business!

Category: MLM Company Reviews