Comments on: 12 Tips to Avoiding Pyramid Schemes & Scams like MonaVie

By: Jason Linsey

Jason Linsey — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:03:24 +0000

Just a few things to point out, which makes MLM different from pyramids.

1) Pyramids are unethical unfair & ILLEGAL. A good MLM (such as Mona Vie) is NONE OF THE ABOVE!

2) With a pyramid, you get your money directly from the people beneath you, who have all had to pay more than you for the same product. By the time the product gets to the bottom of the pyramid it’s priced way higher than it’s actually worth & so the guys @ the bottom can’t sell it & so lose out.

In contrast, with a good MLM, EVERYONE gets paid by the SAME compensation plan, DIRECTLY from the COMPANY and NOT from the person below them. And EVERYONE has the SAME opportunity to apply themselves & progress – that’s what I call FAIR!

It’s also interesting – since you specifically mentioned Mona Vie – that with this company it’s quite possible & easy from someone you introduce (who’s “below” you in the structure) to pass you in the ranks, if they apply more effort than you, and thus surpass your income. However, since you introduced them, you still get a commission. Again, that’s what I call FAIR!

(Just incidentally, the traditional distribution chain for products you buy in the shop – from manufacturer, to distributor, to wholesaler, to retail outlet, to end user (you) – is a pyramid, going by my above description.)

3) With any pyramid, you only benefit by keeping those below you where they are. Whereas with a good MLM, the system encourages you to pull people up to (and even passed) where you are.

4) World renowned author, mentor & financial expert, Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad) says that Direct Selling & Network Marketing (another name for MLM) is one of the best ways for the average person to make enough money to become financially free.

So, to all you skeptics out there who are happy to let your boss earn more than you, to be a “slave” to the company (working when they say you have to, for the money they say you’re worth) then just go sit at your desk & continue complaining about your lot in life, if that’s what makes you happy. But don’t criticise those of us who are willing & open-minded enough to actually DO something to get out of the rat-race!

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:43:40 +0000

The dude who wrote this obviously wasn’t a part of the same
company I am. I’f he ever was a part of it that is. I’ve been distributing Monavie for 2 weeks and I make twice as much money I did at my day job (after 4 years of college I might add). To all the people reading this trying to figure out if it’s a scam before signing up I tell you this… If you work hard and know what you want ( just like any business) this business will take you places you never imagined. This company gives you the vehicle to do anything you want.
Every business is a pyramid if you look at it. You have…

Boss
Manager. Manager.
Assistant manager. Assistant manager
worker. Worker. Worker. Worker. Worker. Worker. Worker

looks like a pyramid to me.

inc500.com
Monavie.com

do the research yourself :)

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:23:31 +0000

Troll
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. Lots of Trolls in here!

By: James

James — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:06:22 +0000

Dear all,

I was randomly browsing the internet and found this article.

I have just joined a network marketing company that I personally think is the best network marketing company around. There is huge growth potential, a great range of products, and a fantastic new payment plan which has changed the way network marketing works.

You don’t have to sell products (I would NEVER join a company that has to sell products) and you can make your money back realistically. I found out about the company whilst in Italy (it’s an american company – of course) through my girlfriend. She wasn’t trying to sell me anything, I just saw her using the products and got curious..

Her parents are factory workers, very simple people, but they are building a strong business for themselves. I really believe this opportunity is something for everyone.

Due to the huge range of payment methods for earning money, it is easily possible to earn your money back in the first month + more. That’s the aim that most people set for new recruits. You recruit 5 people into the business, get the first rank in the system and you will have earnt your investment back + made more money. You then work with a consistent amount of work to build your business. I’m not looking for people who think they can make $10000 an hour, or whatever other people claim. I want people who understand that this is a BUSINESS. There are a lot of companies in this world that fail, 80% of initial businesses fail, not all of them are successful. There are a couple of businesses that have a great business model and work. I feel that what I have found is one of those businesses.

I’d just like to clarify to the negative people above that I’m not a stupid person. I’m studying civil engineering, I have a series of online games which I have spent 1000s of hours coding on my own and I have always obtained grades ranked in the top 1% of the UK. I also did an interesting test conducted by Manchester Univeristy (UK) which analysed all aspects of one’s mind and I received a top 0.5% of the UK for common sense. I can therefore state that I believe this company is great and I have made the right decision.

That’s my part for this forum. I don’t care if you don’t believe me. I don’t care if you don’t understand, I just want to put a positive word in for MY company because I’ll be honest.. the one in this discussion sounds like a crap idea with a crap posibility to make money back.

I wish you all good luck with your lives,

James.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:38:51 +0000

You can call any MLM a pyriamid if you like, but I don’t see many opportunities in the economy these days. I personally know some of the people that have quit their jobs, paid off their loans and are very happy at home with their families. I’ve been in it longer than some and I have less results, that’s my fault/issue. No one is “lucky” you have to be working and positioned to take advantage of things that come up. But its just like a treadmill or any excercise equipment, its up to you to do the work for the results you want. Less work, less results, and most times attitude is a BIG issue!!

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:33:54 +0000

I’m a monavie distributor & Monavie has a specific list of claims we can or can not make. It is often stated to the distributors it is a juice not a medicine. Anyone making outrageous claims is on their own and out of line. Monavie does not allow these claims. Monavie has a large compliance dept., and is busy trying to track down these people with un-approved claims. Just remember if you work in a corporate environment, that is a pyramid also, you will never make more than your boss or the CEO who is the Pharoh!!

By: PM

PM — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:45:34 +0000

what a moron, do you even know what a pyramid scheme is??? “A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, often without any product or service being deliveredPyramid schemes are illegal in many countries, including the United States,[1] the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Romania,[2] Colombia,[3] Malaysia, Poland, Norway, Bulgaria, Australia,[4] New Zealand,[5] Japan,[6] Italy,[7] Nepal[citation needed], Philippines,[8] South Africa[9] Sri Lanka,[10] Thailand,[11] Iran[citation needed], the People’s Republic of China,[12] Mexico, Portugal and The Netherlands.[13] ” Can you read this???? now does MonaVie offer product or service?? I hate when people open their big mouth without even knowing what they are talking about…..

By: nic

nic — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:46:37 +0000

Maybe it should be Drink it , Feel it Share it then shut up?
Why don’t you ppl bag on avon or amway or any vitamin mlm’s?
I think you are a sour puss because you are not filthy rich like the top 50 out of 100 ppl who are in mlm industry…internet facts…the top 50 are in monavie
http://www.businessforhome.org/mlm-500-top-earners/

look for yerself

By: RJ

RJ — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:35:21 +0000

Wow ! seems to me that Mona vie can be legal in over 12 different countries,if they were illegal they would be shut down by now! sounds like typical amway people who have lost distributors to Mona Vie and now they have to create ” doom and gloom ” websites to cry about being losers in life,( sounds like this website) pyramids are in Egypt.Funny how some people let ” can’t fix stupid” websites like this one make their decisions in life for them,get a life stop whinning!Mona Vie rules!!!plain and simple!

By: brondan

brondan — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:02:59 +0000

Anyone heard of placebo? If you believe something works, then your psycho somatic takes place. The actual product is no beter than a sugar pill. $40 for juice is a bit extreme. I am a Chef and I can create many juices like Jack Lalane. He is still living as far as I know and he is very old. Eat well and exercise!

By: brondan

brondan — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:57:37 +0000

Smoke pot. It is cheaper and does much more for ailments. Don’t get pulled under by schemes.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:58:28 +0000

A friend of mine has been going on and on about the MonaVie product for 2 weeks now. He has told me that the pains in his shoulder have vanished and this juice is the best thing ever,and,oh by the way he says why dont you and your wife start selling this stuff too. WARNING DANGER WILL ROBINSON !!!!! sorry i said it smells like a pyramid to me. No he says, they even give out expensive cars to top producers. WARNING DANGER

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:17:54 +0000

WOW is right BlackEagle. Since you know so much about antioxidants try explaining this study http://www.mensjournal.com/superjuices-on-trial It would appear that a person would be better off drinking apple juice. This is what happens when a test is performed on Monavie by a lab that doesn’t have a financial stake in the company. What a disgrace.

By: blackeagle

blackeagle — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:18:03 +0000

WOW seems like a lot of people are thrown into the fear of not being successful in thier daily lives. Me personally i’ve tried Mona vie and think it is a great opportunity to reach out to people and offer an alternantive to the daily grind, I may not be on the top but I get to meet new people every chance I get, and by the way try explaining to people the mistakes you may have made if and when your were in an MLM or try to convince the people like me who know the benefits of antioxidants and just the overall sense of my health just recently three people in my family were diagnosed with heart ailments and the only thing their doctors offered were pills, and how many of the drugs that the FDA had approved have been recalled, my mom passed last year and when i visited her most of the pills (22) daily never dissolved in her system. Go” Mona Vie” and keep giving us an alternative and ways and means different than the daily grind of haters and nay sayers

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:15:26 +0000

Tiffaney it has nothing to do with anger or negativity but you have been paying attention in your meetings. People are critical of Monavie because of the fraud being committed by distributors daily to sell an overpriced fruit punch that has no special value. It’s a blend of concentrated juices with Acai and a number of nasty preservatives.
No one cares about people making money but if you’ve been told that you can make money easily in Monavie you’ve been lied to. It’s simply not reality. Here is the analysis of Monavie’s June IDS. This is information released by Monavie and it highlights the money making scam for what it is.
Fact 1
The top 1%(0.77% or 1 out of each 130) received 65% of all the Monavie commissions. (HUGE Red Flag)
Fact 2
The bottom 91% of the entire Monavie sales force, received no company payments.
Fact 3
Of the 9% who did receive a commission check, the bottom 99% of them earned on average only $59 a week, before product costs and all business expenses.
Fact 4
The average income of the bottom 99% of all Monavie distributors was $3.75 a week before all product costs and business expenses.

Sounds like a great opportunity doesn’t it????

You are right there is good and bad in every company. But legitimate companies competing in the real marketplace have to stand behind their claims. Monavie does not make claims you’re right about that. They can’t make claims because the product is nothing special and they know this. Instead they let their distributors make claims behind closed doors during tasting parties. In less than an hour you could find 100s if not 1000s of false and illegal claims posted on websites by distributors. Perhaps you’re naive enough to think that these people just cooked up this info on their own but I’m not. They range from saying that Monavie replaces your daily servings of fruit (it doesn’t look at the nutrition label) all the way to saying it can treat or prevent diseases. Monavie knew this would happen. Larsen’s last juice scam (almost identical in structure just a different blend) was shut down because they made claims and don’t think that the FDA isn’t looking at what’s being said by distributors. The company is responsible even though they’d like you to believe that they are not. It’s just a matter of time before they are publicly humiliated by an enormous fine or just shut down completely.
I have no problem with MLM. I know how it works for most involved so I’d never get involved myself. I have a problem with supplement MLM. It’s very difficult to sell a bottle of juice for $20-40 without lying about its value. If you want to sell knives, or some other product, through MLM go for it and good luck (those systems don’t work out for about 99% too). But to sell a “health” product through MLM is just disgraceful and if you insist on being involved I’d get used to having critics.

Most Monavie reps I’ve seen like to write off their critics as being negative people, people who are ignorant of the facts, or their competition. Just so you know I’m none of the above. You should really do some non-Monavie produced research and AIBMR doesn’t qualify. They are run by a guy with a financial interest in Monavie and they use pseudo science to prove that natural products are beneficial. Shauss has also been busted in the past for faking his credentials and is well known by National Council Against Health Fraud. Monavie is nothing special other than the price tag.

By: Tiffaney

Tiffaney — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:27:24 +0000

To Orlando…May be your friend said the wrong things about the MonaVie…I went to the website to see why so many people were so angry. I did not see one thing about tumors, cancers, and cures. So good look with the FDA shutting them down. As far as making $100,000 in a few weeks with the write product whether it be MonaVie, real estate, wedding cakes, speciality coffee or whatever… you can make that amount of money if you really put your head down and your feet to work. This is the beauty of America. The ugly is that we find it perfectly fine to work hard for a company as a salesman or consumer and drum up $100,000 in sales but when it comes to doing $100,000 in sales for an entrepreneuring friend or family member we go nuts and get extremely evil. There is good and bad in every company. I hope that your friend acheives his goals and more. In these economic times he is trying to increase his income and not wait on someone else to give him what they deem him to be worth. Carry a video camera to record your anger.

By: Orlando Quinn

Orlando Quinn — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:34:07 +0000

Sales Rep from Manavie tells me during a lunch I thought was ‘just between two friends?’ That His Manavie Juice ‘Melts Away Tumors’ and ‘Cures CANCER’ and has many many Other Cuures! This company should be put out of business. We must ALL start carrying ‘VIDEO CAMERAS WHEN THEY SAY THIS SHIT, AND TURN IT INTO THE FDA AND COMPLAIN TO THE GOV’T’. These ‘False Claims’ must be stopped. It is a Pyramid Scheme pure and simple, and millions of MORONS are trying to make a quick BUCK$$$$ and destroying friendships along the way. The assholes at the TOP make ALL the real money. It’s Designed that way…Reps even say, ‘You can make $100,000 in a few weeks’. Joke! Put them our of business…Carry a Tape and Video Camera and turn them in….

By: Amazedbyignorance

Amazedbyignorance — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:41:46 +0000

Just take a quick look at the bio of Monavie’s fearless leader. Dallen Larsen’s last company, Dynamic Essentials, was closed down by the FDA for making false health claims. He then moved on to his next scam, hype in a fancy bottle. Monavie truly cares about people’s health huh? It’s about people right? Then please tell me why they use Sodium Benzoate as their preservative? For those that don’t know what Sodium Benzoate is it’s been linked to Parkinson’s disease and other Neurodegenerative diseases. But they really care about your health and not just making a quick buck off of you. Sodium Benzoate can also form benzene, a known carcinogen, when combined with guess what VITAMIN C. But I’m sure that I’m just being negative right? Why cloud the joy of Monavie with facts and science. It’s truly pathetic that anyone is involved in this scam. MLMs in general are shady at best but to prey on sick people and provide them with false hope about the benefits they’ll see from a product that can actually have a serious detriment to your overall health is just sad and completely immoral. When a company like Coca Cola, which clearly isn’t all that concerned about health, removes Sodium Benzoate from their products it has to make you wonder why a “healthy lifestyle” company like Monavie continues to use it. My logical mind tells me it’s because they just DON’T CARE. They want your money, that’s all. Coca Cola removed it because of course they care about the long term bottom line of their company. I’m sure they could see the future lawsuits lining up. Monavie knows there is no future. They will be shut down eventually and then there will be no one left to sue. I truly hope the government does the right thing and closes them down SOON. And hopefully Mr. Larsen will end up in jail where he belongs but I doubt it. See he leaves the false claims to his distributors and insolates himself from the illegal stuff. I read an interview with him where he said “it’s just juice.” Yup it sure is. It’s overpriced juice that is really not good for you at all. Go to the grocery store and get some fruit, go to a supplement store and get some glucosamine. You’ll probably feel better and you won’t be damaging vital parts of DNA in your cells mitochondria. But again I’m sure I’m just being negative. Keep selling the snake oil, after all there’s one born every minute.

By: Jodi

Jodi — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:08:09 +0000

I’ll stick to buying my shtuff from stores. If it takes someone individually marketing something to me without me asking, I KNOW IT’S TOO EXPENSIVE!

Heck, at 40 bucks a pop, it’d probably be cheaper to fly to Brazil, pick the berries myself, and mash them up with a bunch of water. At least I’d know how much acai was in it.

Are the people that drink this stuff sure it’s not some placebo sugar water with wildberries from grandma’s backyard? Is this approved by the FDA and why doesn’t MV say how much “acai” is in it?

If you want antioxidants from fruit that bad, stick with real fruit, you won’t get screwed and you’ll save a little money. Do you realize how much real fruit one could buy with $40! (sorry, $39)

By the way, why are MLM people reading a blog called “Stop Buying Crap”? This blog caters to getting people to stop buying the crap that you all con people into buying. (I used to be in an MLM scheme for a VERY short while, so I feel very comfortable saying this.)

The only people that make money in most of them are the ones at the top. The ones at the bottom never make a dime, and their P/L is usually negative. Oh yeah, a lot of people listened to Hitler too and thought he was great, didn’t mean he was right.

If there is anyone in an MLM scheme, do like amateur day traders, cut your losses now, and get out! Most people don’t make money day trading either.

By: Monica

Monica — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:18:38 +0000

Oh yea, my dist. mgr would always try to “encourage” me to develop a “downline”. I didn’t really understand it so I told her I wasn’t that interested, but she always tried. Also, there was always some new miracle cream or what have you that we had to try to get customers to buy.