I don't know why, but scams interest me, sort of like gambling which is one of the few vices that never got its hooks in my soul. As a natural born skeptic, I've only rarely been taken in, yet I do like to learn about how it's done. This site has all you'd want to know and more.
The inspiration for this post came from Florida Cracker: When she's not writing about animals, Duane Allman or all types of human interest stuff, she tends to have a keen eye for the lower life forms among our species.
The part that leapt to my attention was the section on 'multi-level marketing'.
My first contact with Amway was a semi-crazy neighbor who during my youth taught me the meaning of 'party buzz killer'. He could alienate everyone within earshot at any social gathering, regardless of his seemingly genuine closeness to anyone there. Like a one-man relationship wrecking ball, he had no reservations about accosting each successive victim with his rapid-fire, persistent requests to get involved in a compelling business adventure and attend an upcoming meeting at a local hotel. This was some decades ago.
My most recent contact in a similar vein was a year or so ago, when I was shopping for groceries at the local Safeway. A nicely dressed young man approached me in the produce section and said, "Excuse me, but you look familiar. Do you work in graphic design?"
"No," I said, "but I did some of that in the distant past. When are you thinking of?"
"I think it was a few years ago, maybe five or seven. Is your name by any chance Bob?"
"No, it's Winston," I replied.
"Well, maybe I'm mixed up, but you do look very familiar."
I suggested some past affiliations of mine which might identify the common ground, but neither of us could nail down the connection. I searched the old memory banks but definitely could not place him. I related that I had moved on to numerous other technical pursuits since the old days of CorelDraw 1.0 and Ventura Publisher.
Finally he said, "You know, Winston, I'm working for a company now that is really looking to grow in the areas you're experienced in. The financial upside is unbelieveable. I'd love to tell you about it when you have a chance."
Since I sort of felt like I knew the man, still trying to place him from job-related experiences of the past 10 years, I said 'sure' and we agreed to meet a couple days later at a local coffee shop.
I wasn't particularly looking for a job, but what the hey.
When we sat down over coffee, he took out a legal pad and began sketching out an extraordinary business convergence: In the 1950s, two guys I've never heard of, Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos, blended their expertise in marketing and finding great consumer products, and together become responsible for generating billions of dollars in revenues for thousands of Independent Business Owners (IBOs).
[skipping explanation of IBO concept...]
Long story short: "Now there are thousands of products from the most well known suppliers - ever heard of OfficeMax...Clinique...Este Lauder...many others...? - available through a single shopping network at substantial discounts. Looking into the future, we can see that it won't be long before consumers can do nearly all of their shopping on the Web - and can manage their purchases online through a single Web interface. This will allow volume discounts, preordering, home inventory management. How would your wife like if instead of having to buy cosmetics and household supplies whenever she runs out, she could build a database of items that would be automatically refilled throughout the year?"
"Wow," I say, "that seems like it could be a good idea, being able to offer access to different online stores like a shoppers club. I'm not sure if we're organized enough to have anything automatically refilled, though. But I could see how some people would really be able to use such a service."
"Well, now there is one company - called Quixtar - which allows you to do just that. It's already doing over 22% of all the commerce on the entire Web. Do you have any idea how much money that is? But there's more. You're a tech-savvy guy, so you can probably see where I'm going with this:
"Based on the system developed by Van Andel and DeVos, Quixtar is helping more and more new IBOs earn extra income simply by helping more people find these excellent products on the Web. You get your own portal for shopping, and you can allow others to use it, and you make a commission off every purchase.
"Winston," he asks me,"just by virtue of your ability to use the Internet, how would you like to be able to earn $1,200 a month in your spare time, by meeting new people and introducing them to these products?"
[He writes the figure '$1,200' on the pad.]
"Would that help pay off some bills? Pay for your kid's education? Take a vacation? The people I'm working with all have one thing in common: They are completely out of debt and are socking away extra money every single month. For only about 10 hours a week of work, how would you like to be in that situation?"
"Hmm...some kind of sales, huh?" I say, thinking to myself "I wish I was in my car driving away right now."
"I'm not sure," I say, ever the alpha male, resigned to hearing the rest of the sales pitch. "How exactly does the business side of it work?"
He goes on to describe a unique selling opportunity, which involves great products and wonderful "tools" to help me succeed, such as tapes and books. In fact, there was a fantastic educational conference taking place that weekend in DC where I could get together with hundreds of other IBOs, learning how to make lots of money and become entirely financially independent. Bill Britt himself, one of the most successful sellers in the organization would be there. There were just a few slots open and for only $125 I could still attend.
I finally got an opening to say, "The shopping portal sounds interesting; I'll have to check my schedule about the other part," and we exchanged phone numbers with a promise to speak in a couple days.
I got home and rehashed my adventure for the wife, and in doing so I said something that came to mind: "You know, the whole thing reminds me a lot of this neighbor I had growing up, who basically alienated the entire neighborhood selling Amway."
Then I googled "quixtar" and lo and behold, it IS Amway. Suddenly it all became clear, and the pyramids came tumbling down all around me.
And boy howdy, did the Internet have a bevy of information about it.
When I later talked to my Quixtar guy, I told him that I had a mental block about turning every personal relationship into a business proposition, and therefore wouldn't likely be much help to his organization - but if he ever wanted to get together about the shopping deal, I'd be happy to take a look at the products.
He was noncommital about getting into the product side any time soon, which I later learned is because it's not really about selling products.
I also learned I'd been the object of an established Quixtar sales approach, likely documented in the "tools." For some reason this made me feel a little better about the whole thing, and mildly approving: Hey, a good scam's a good scam. I got to see it up close and it didn't cost me a thing.
(There's much more background here, here, and here.)
Don't get me wrong: I think people who perpetrate scams that rip off the innocent should (and will) burn in hell, and should also receive whatever sort of scorching we can dish up here on Earth. Ripping off the innocent is tragic.
But scams like the pyramid scheme are different, because they require a two-way tango involving on one side a scammer, and on the other, a dope. Ripping off dopes is comic, which to me is sort of entertaining.
And therein lies the essence of irony.
