The idea for this activity is to talk to students who are looking for work/make some extra money. Usually, 2-3 IBOs will go together, and stand in the busiest areas of the university. Each IBO carries a folder, and a sign up sheet. While standing, IBOs would stop students, and ask them:

“Hi, I am representing a local company, and we are looking for some sharp students to come on board. Are you looking to add something to your plate?

If they say yes, or what is it, then a sales pitch is thrown.

“We work with fortune 500 companies, and we are helping them increase their online presence. These companies include BestBuy, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Nike, Adidas etc. If you are interested to learn more, we will be having a student workshop this week, right here in this university. Do you think you can make it? If yes, I need your name/number as I need to send you an official invite”

The workshop isnt really a workship. Somebody goes through the entire Amway plan, without really mentioning “Amway.” At the most, the parent company “Alticore” is mentioned. A follow up meeting is booked if a student is still interested. During followup, the plan is shown again, with Amway included.

Energy drinks are sold to gas stations, private utility stores and smoke shops. Usually, 1-2 IBOs go to these stores, and they equip themselves with a XS Advantage sheet, some sample flavors, and some fake business cards. Fake business card (with a fake name) is very important, as it prevents Amway from finding about this activity. When IBOs enter one these stores, they look for the store owners, or store managers. IBOs introduce themselves by saying, “We are local energy drinks distributors in the area. and we have a new product that we are bringing to the stores. This product is already #1 selling energy online, and now the company wants to bring these energy drinks into the local stores.”

Most store owners are not ok with the price. IBOs are then advised to give them a “deal” in this scenario. Like sell the cases at a loss, and make some of the money back when the Amway bonus check comes in.

High school students are a high target for Amway IBOs. They are naive, motivated and open minded. However, they are also underage (between 15-17). They love the idea of someone who looks “successful” give them a game plan for their next 5-6 years. IBOs find these students through their own kids, or facebook. If an IBO has a kid in high school, that’s a jackpot for them. Their kid can then potentially do their marking for them. Otherwise, Facebook is like a sea full of “prospects.” These students are told that they have a chance to make it big by the time they graduate from college. “Imagine yourself graduating from college, and already having a secondary income, coming in every month. Imagine, yourself not rushing into the first job you find, which is usually at McDonald’s. You will have the the luxury of time to find your ideal job. Or, if you really build this business solid, by the time you graduate, you will not even need a job…..”

I have heard these lines over and over again by local Platinums and Emeralds after the “open meeting.” These Con-men are willing to jeopardize these kids’ future. The local emerald here forced his kid to decline a athletic scholarship offer from a major university, just because he wants his kid to build the Amway business.

Online selling is done over a short period of time to break a pin. Here are the steps needed to sell online without getting caught:

– Make an online account on Ebay and Amazon,

– Link these accounts with Paypal,

– Bank account/credit card used for paypal should be different than what you use for Amway shopping,

– Address on these accounts CANNOT be your home address. It can either be your neighbor’s address, or a random address. This takes the assumption that any returned items will not be collected by the IBO, and will be considered as a “loss,”

– Manage these accounts from a different computer/network. Cannot be your home network/computer,

– Take pictures of the products yourself, and not use pictures provided by Amway,

– Always send something extra. This will potentially create a return customer, and

– Buy the products you are going to list on Amazon/Ebay in advance. This does few things:

–>Makes the IBO motivate to sell them faster, and

–>Makes it harder for Amway to track you.

As successful Amway IBOs, they open a side business to supplement their business. While this is totally fine, but I have noticed a lot of such IBOs do not declare their side business in the “meetings.” They try to imply that all their income is from Amway only. I once asked my upline, and his reply was “This is because we don’t want to promote our secondary business in Amway meetings.” While this statement may be true for some, but not true in my case. [This isn’t true for virtually ALL side businesses, just as it isn’t true for what they did for a job before they “retired” from it. It’s apparent to to me the 15 year olds can’t afford as many tools, so they have to supplement with jobs, even after they “retire” from their jobs.]

3 of our uplines had a side business of Contracting. Coincidentally, I was a contractor before starting the business. Once I got in, my upline recommended me to utilize his company to get contracts. I saw no harm and did join his contracting company to get myself contracts. Fast forward to 2014, I decided to call it quits as far as Amway is concerned. Of course my upline made all sorts of efforts to keep me in (which is fine with me). However, now, it’s TAX time and my upline is not issuing me my W2. No response of emails and texts. After I sent him a warning that I could file a complaint to IRS, the guy responded right away and said it will take him couple of more weeks to issue me my W2. This is unethical, and it makes me feel terrible, that I was partnered with such evil minded people.