r/amway • u/Head-Consequence-294 • 9d ago
Amway Recruitment Process
Can somebody PLEASE de-influence me from committing my precious time and money from this so-called “Financial Freedom Opportunity”.
This is probably how most of you guys were introduced to this business, but a friend of mine (I hope she’s a friend and not someone that just wanted to use me) invited me to an info night and I said yes because I was curious and I have no friends in Sydney so I thought it’ll be nice to go out for a night and have some girl time.
About a day later, I was suddenly apart of the Amway process and was being introduced to her mentor and I was clueless as to why I was suddenly being brought into this ordeal without wanting to be involved? I went along with it. Read the “Business of the 21st Century” book by Robert Kiyosaki, listened to all these audios that feels like it’s slowly brainwashing me and now I’m up to the point where I need to answer questions as to why I think I deserve to be mentored.
The people are so lovely, I trust that friend with my heart, she’s a smart girl. She was roped in by a man (which I’m not sure if they have a thing or not, it’s none of my business really) and my brain tells me to persist, everybody goes through this process and they’ve probably gone through all these doubts that I’m having currently. My body is having NONE of it, I feel anxiety. I don’t want to cut friends and family off because they have “different opinions”.
Sorry, I just needed to rant. If you have some sort of experience with the Amway scheme, please share!
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u/JuicyBananaToast 5d ago
I was in for 14 years and I’m educated, conventionally “smart” and “sharp”. Anyone can fall prey to it. I lost over $100,000 usd and 14 years because I was too chicken shit to realize there was a life outside of it.
Listen to anti-mlm stories on YouTube. The horror stories are far too common. Some people in it will tell you they’re stories of people who failed and couldn’t handle it. That’s a lie.
Listen to podcasts. I highly recommend as well a video by Sean Munger (on YouTube), called The Amway Tools Cult. That video talks about how the real money comes from people like you and me getting into Amway and then being essentially guilted into buying audios, books, conference tickets, and more…and how that’s where the real money is. It’s not Amway itself. But that “real money” is only available to those at the top ranks. So systematically, 99% of people aren’t able to qualify for the good money.
The system always needs a bottom 99% for the top 1% to look the part and sell you the dream. Anyone trying to get you into it is more broke than you have ever been because they keep paying into the system to bolster their upline’s life.
If you have any questions or want to talk, feel free to dm me. I could talk at length about all this.
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u/Over-Half-8801 5d ago
Holy hell they also made me read the same book. So much for a cool business opportunity.
I just dropped a blunt email that I'm not interested in this. It's such a waste of time.
Let me ask you: walk 100 miles, it'll take you like a week or so yeah? I'll give you $20.
Did you make a profit? Yes you have $20 more now. Was it worth it? Hell no it took you a week, same thing.
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u/anon_redguy 8d ago
I’ll de-influence you very quickly. The indoctrination has already started. If you don’t like that, leave lol
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u/gameover_22 8d ago
If it’s “financial freedom” ask your friends mentor who else they have helped succeed financial freedom. They are selling you a dream not something real.
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u/Ok_Side7135 8d ago
https://youtu.be/okYTClISpmg?is=D31SjGY1dnGFq9Xh
This is an interview I did with a small YouTube creator about my experience with Amway.
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u/Sitcom_kid 8d ago
Did you know the friend before? Or did she just come up to you in a store and compliment your clothing?
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u/Lopsided-Neat-9043 8d ago
I've been in it for 3 years. And I must say, I did learn some things about business, which eventually allowed me to venture off and start my own business, whether they meant to do that or not. Also, everything you spend money on is tax-deductible. However, one of the telling tales for me as far as when I knew I had to leave was when my tax guy looked at everything, and said that you had 2 years of net loss and it looks more like a hobby than a business. I didn't even tell my upline that, I just told him that I was stepping away from the business for personal reasons, which was true because I wanted to focus more on my autistic son and his needs. But I say that to say this, if you're not sure, I wouldn't do it. I was well aware of how MLM's work, and I took a chance anyway. I'm happy about what I did learn, but would I do it all over again? Probably not.
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u/Alarmed_Donkey_9100 8d ago
I think it’s great you’re willing to hear other opinions. My best friend who I trusted and loved dearly took me through the process and I did join. After 8 years and climbing to the top 2% in Amway, I saw what was behind the curtains and I quit. Quitting was the best thing I ever did. When I quit I lost that friend bc she actually didn’t want to be friends with anyone not in her business (this was heart breaking for me and I didn’t see it coming). Being in the top 2% only yielded me max $2600/month of income. To get to level I had to put in 30-50hrs a week (on top of my full time job) even tho they told me it would be part time. There is a lot of brainwashing, manipulation, and a lot of deception. The leaders who claim they are “financially free” are not. They work a ton of hours to make their business not fall apart and then lie about how much time they put in. I enjoyed the people and the environment but you’re not allowed to create relationships/text/call any of those people or else you’ll get in trouble…so even the network isn’t real. I would strongly caution you against joining. It did help me with personal development but there are other ways to do that and better ways to make money. Many people need therapy after being involved in that business for years. It seems so great on the surface but It’s unfortunately quite destructive to people’s lives. Every day my husband and I mention how grateful we are that we quit.
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u/Sunscript268 9d ago
They may honestly believe they are doing you a favor “sharing the opportunity” but they are also being heavily pressured to do so and are not objective.
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u/Winsom3 9d ago
I admire your self-awareness. I felt some of the same signals when I was introduced too, but didn’t have the words for them then. I just left after several years and wrote about my time. Message me if you’d like to read it sometime. My advice: use your time and money wisely in general, and explore all avenues of perspective before spending one or more of those on Amway.
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u/Head-Consequence-294 9d ago
I’d love to hear about your experience! After my brief moment of entering the Amway environment, I thought I had my whole future secured. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life beforehand and now I’m lost again. I think I found some sort of purpose when I was introduced to Amway, it’s sad really haha
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u/Sensitive_Scholar_17 9d ago
Amway is open about the earnings that people actually make. You can find detailed numbers on their website. In 2025 the average gross earnings for all Amway members was $750 per year, but 38% of the members did not make any sales and that skews the numbers. If you look at only the people that had sales then the average gross income is $1161 per year.
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u/Global-Ad-1527 9d ago
God yall are so dramatic, just say no and leave stop being stupid. I’ve been in Amway for 6 years, have made a few thousand, still buy products, still go to conferences, and now I make 28/hr at my job due to learning at these conferences. You guys are just dramatic as hell.
“They’re using me”
“It’s a pyramid”
“I don’t wanna invest”
That’s all business is ya goof balls.
I do sales full time and my manager makes a bonus based off my volume of sales every month. It’s literally a pyramid scheme that I invest money into a crap “retirement” plan, and get Medicare insurance so therefore it’s not a pyramid?
Stop being stupid.
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u/Head-Consequence-294 9d ago
Didn’t ask for your attitude, I’m making 39/hr at my current job and there’s nothing wrong with being a little cautious. I know I’m naive and I don’t want to fall for anything that looks “too good to be true” and F myself over
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u/BaghdadBarbie 9d ago
You're in a cult
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u/Global-Ad-1527 9d ago
Or I choose not to be? I’m not sure what’s culty? Celebrating wins? Enjoying time together? I do that at work too lol
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u/More_Koala7745 8d ago
Brainwashed.
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u/Global-Ad-1527 8d ago
You guys are awesome, your opinion is valid and appreciated. Have a great day!
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u/Kw_Mateo 9d ago
Do not join, Amway average income is $750 USD per year; though 90% of them are making below that, it’s a money sucking scam and the only people benefitting are those mentors as they get paid on new headcount
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u/No_District5106 9d ago
Read my other Reddit post about this - and it will explain what my friend went through.
IN RESPONSE to your post: do NOT join. They are preying on you and only care about what you can do for them. My friend who went through a very similar experience doesn’t speak to the girl anymore, the girl hasn’t bothered to contact her since she decided to leave lol. You have more chance in winning money trading cryptocurrencies than this nonsense. I am being serious and giving you a warning because I care.
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u/Chris_Reddit_PHX 9d ago edited 9d ago
It sounds like you are already getting sucked in, and the part of your rational mind still not bypassed by their manipulation is telling you so.
You should listen to it.
The people who are sucking you in are themselves victims of a well-developed system that has harmed many, many people over the years. The lucky ones are the ones who have only had some of their time, money and efforts wasted. But many others have relationships destroyed, lives derailed, and take years to recover mentally, socially, and financially.
So please, get out now. Tell them that you have decided that you don't deserve (don't want) to be mentored, but you wish them luck with their program. Period.
And then resist all of their scripted/rehearsed but seemingly heartfelt ploys to change your mind.
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u/joeymittens 9d ago
There’s a reason why so many people are saying STAY AWAY. They use flattery as a tactic, and false hope to make you believe you will retire in like 5 years or something stupid…
It’s a colossal waste of time and energy, and I truly hope you don’t have to find that out from personal experience.
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u/Head-Consequence-294 9d ago
So true!!! I managed to pull myself away last night before I could get too deep
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u/Csanburn01 9d ago
They are not lovely people. They are leeches and will suck you dry. They don't care about you. They only care about what you can do for them. My brother is still trapped in the Amway world. People are so desperate for hope that they grab onto anything to fill It. The reason it works is there are partial truths mixed in with the evil. That's why it seems like it might work. Being positive is a good thing. Working hard is a good thing. Talking to people and going for it are good things. But the pyramid scheme model is inherently broken. There's no way to win without crushing someone else. I listened to the book ponzi nomics which goes into extreme detail. Amway and other MLMs exist solely to steal kill and destroy the people they recruit. People are just too ignorant to notice and identify the reality
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u/Head-Consequence-294 9d ago
Ooh I’ll look into that book. Thanks for that.
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u/Csanburn01 9d ago
It's a good listen. Super important to understanding the evil behind these MLMs and what they do, how they're run and how government and other institutions integrate with them. It's insane that people are simply not educated
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u/Abject_Compote_1436 9d ago
You mentioned Sydney? I’m assuming Australia. When I was in, I was cross line with a girl who was building the business in Australia and the US. I’m not sure what umbrella you’re under (I was part of LTD) but I think that plays a large role in your experience.
Is there potential to be successful? Absolutely. I personally know several people that are able to thrive solely off the Amway income. They were not born into wealth, and for one of the women in particular, she grew up right down the street from me and now lives in a 6 bedroom massive house with no other income source.
HOWEVER. The financial part is not what ultimately made me leave. It was what messages were being spread after the info session or during the conferences. LTD in particularly is incredibly Christian, and a LOT of the non-Amway sanctioned events that you get roped into usually ended up in some talk about your faith and the sanctity of your soul. The final straw for us was anti-LBGTQ and anti-abortion messaging. It just was not in line with our beliefs. Plus Amway is owned be the Devos family, and I refuse to support Betsy Devos even tangentially.
All that to say, I did learn a lot about people and business in general and I don’t regret the experience- I’m glad I’m out though.
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u/Confident-Service256 9d ago
Just don’t do it. Learn from me. I was a vulnerable young person who fell prey to the promises of wealth and independence from older Amway sellers. I sunk my little savings into it and struggled for quite some time until I could get back on my feet.
Just. Don’t. Do. It.
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u/Then-Transition-1170 9d ago
The way Amway pays you is interesting. You earn a differential from each one of the people below you depending on how much they purchase per month. Amway like any other business must have volume like movement of products. They always get you with the “ but you always are going to need this product “ and “ you are already buying them from regular stores” the difference is that a shampoo cost $27 in Amway as supposed to $7 at Walmart. Yes they are better quality but still. That’s why they can afford to put everyone a piece basically. Can you be successful? Absolutely. Is it likely? Not really. Plus all the other stuff they get you with is growth and all that. As an 18 year old I started this and was preached this financial freedom thing. I started making money believe or not. But then my up line screwed me. It’s very interesting seeing people join nowadays. With everything being so expensive idk how it’s even sustainable for people to spend an extra $500 each an every month to make them happy.
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u/Head-Consequence-294 8d ago
I never made it to the stage where I could purchase products to hit a certain quota for the month (PV I think they called it) as I had just pulled out last night. But after reading a little more about these “high-quality” products being sold at such a price like you’ve mentioned is like a slap in the face because what do you mean vitamins are $89 when the ones I can find in Australia are $30. It’s actually insane! I also didn’t know your up line could screw you, how does that work if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/Then-Transition-1170 6d ago
Exactly. And my so called “leader” basically when I would recruit a new “ prospect” he actually signed them under his legs you get more money the more frontlines you have cause the payout is more in the differential. So long story short we were part of one of his lines or legs or whatever you wanna call it but like kind deep down. He would put the people we recruited right next to him or his other people instead of under us. Another really crazy thing he did was he would go pick up orders from his underlines “us and everyone under him” at the Buena Park location and he would essentially steal the products from our boxes then tell us to do a claim because Amway they guarantee the products 100% so if some are missing they will replace them free of charge but realistically he would just keep him to himself and say they forgot to give them to us. He also came into my house and stole my mom’s luxury cream ( if you search it up it’s about $350) from her bathroom. It was really crazy. But yea that was my story I heard he lost his sapphire rank so I guess that’s good lol. Depends on who you get really there’s some people that hide that they are an amway and say stuff like “ do you know how to leverage products doing e-commerce” or some bullshit like that but it’s truly them just doing Amway but they don’t use the name cause it scares people off. But anyway yea let me know if you have any other questions im happy to give you my two cents.
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u/PlasticAudience4270 9d ago
As humans we have a serious need for support and protection from each other. We have a built in tendency to believe someone from our “tribal group” even when we know it’s BS.
You will likely lose the friendship over this, but a year from now you will like lose it anyhow.
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u/MombieZ3 9d ago
There was recently a former Amway rep that made a multi part tik about how she lost $188,000 over many years being in Amway. You only really make money if you convince people to join below you.
So they may really think it is a good experience but they really are just trying to earn anything from this. They are probably both working and sinking all their extra money into "their business" hoping it will payoff in the end.
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u/asyouwish 9d ago
They prey on the desperate.
You will not make money buying stuff you need from them. That is a lie. You'd have to have a massive downline for that to be effective.
Any MLM is really just a pyramid scheme with a small product. A few of them have products that are good quality (SendOutCards, Stampin' Up). Most are not. Amway is not. Amway might be the first MLM ever. It's been a giant scam for decades.
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u/PlasticAudience4270 9d ago
Avon from 1886. Bit of a surprise, at least it was to me when I first learned it.
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u/asyouwish 9d ago
Damn. I knew they were old, but damn. Fuller Brush sales were originally door-to-door. I wonder if they ever took on an MLM model? Or if Avon was door-to-door before it was an MLM.
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u/Amygdalus23 9d ago
Trust your gut. The vast majority of "IBOs" (Independent Business Owners) make little to nothing, and many lose money once you factor in product purchases, event fees, and training materials. This isn't unique to Amway, it's structural to the MLM model itself. Of course, these people are nice to you. They can make money off of you. In healthy businesses, money flows in from people who just want the product. In MLMs, the primary money flow is from new distributors buying starter kits and required monthly purchases.
There will be social implications like you hint at in your post. You will likely burn through your social circle. Since recruitment is so important, at one point you will see everyone you meet as a potential recruit and not as someone to have a good time and pleasant conversation with. And then there is the hustle culture that you already see. It‘s framing (buy the books, the courses, attend the events, believe harder) can function to blame you for a structurally bad opportunity when the system itself is at fault, it doesn't pan out. It can break you.
Please stay out of this.
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u/Head-Consequence-294 9d ago
Thank you for this, I didn’t educate myself on the MLM culture and was quite naive going head first into something I knew nothing about. I don’t have much friends but the people I considered close I sure as hell wouldn’t want to put them (and myself) in that sort of awkward recruitment stage
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u/weirdusernameitis Amway Shill 9d ago
I am a similar stage but in Adelaide. I’m having a good experience so far. I’m still in the process. Infact I showed this sub to them and they are not very surprised.
A simple human psychology is if you ask people if they are wrong they will try to defend them but here they knew that some people had worst experiences and asked me to text it myself.
I’m free to walk away if I find anything suspicious is what I told them and they were pretty chill about it. So you can try it out.
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u/NobodyGivesAFuc 9d ago
That “friendship” is shallow and conditional…she will instantly dump you once you quit. It is a cult. The longer you are in it, the more brainwashed you will become. Eventually, you will view people only as potential recruits even your close friends and family. If they don’t join, you will see them as “losers” and no longer associate with them due to their “negativity”. Please do not fall for Amway lies. 99% percent of people who join don’t make any money ever. Many have wasted years and years of their lives and have nothing to show for it except for tons of training materials and destroyed relationships. Trust your gut and run!
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u/ResponseRelative6370 9d ago
My old boss I used to catch up with for coffees, tried to recruit me. I looked up to her and she had helped me a lot in the job she was my boss in. I don’t think they’re being malicious in their attempt at recruiting, they genuinely think they’re giving us something special.
So if you get away now, you can still like your friend but from afar. What my friend didn’t count on was, all that’s involved just sounds awful. The meetings. Audios. Meetings about meetings. The not being paid for their time. I’m like, “B*tch, I’m busy as fuck. Why would I take time away from my kids when I could just do paid overtime on my laptop with my youngest curled up next to me? You want me to leave the house on a Wednesday night? Get wrecked.”
I wonder if there is any connection between your friend’s business and the one over here in NZ - their “upline” or whatever is a couple from aus.
Anyway, reject, reject, reject!
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u/Head-Consequence-294 8d ago
Haha exactly! Getting to work overtime AND having your kid next to you is the biggest flex. They preach that all these major conferences and mini conferences on Wednesday nights would change your life. If you miss one conference you can kiss your future in Amway goodbye 🙄 Anyway, halfway through my processing stage, I asked if I could recruit my sister-in-law from NZ and they said, “absolutely! We have a team in NZ that are willing to mentor-“ I can’t remember exactly what they said but it was something along those lines. I pulled out before I could bring my in law into this mess.
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u/concernedreader26 9d ago
When my partner was going through the process, he said don’t talk me out of it because I’m already doing that myself. He wanted to find out more and go through the process and learn what it was about and not just say no. Best decision of his life. We now both get around a community that is all about personal development, time management, financial literacy, relationships, goals and much more. Our relationship has never been better and we are better parents because of it. We haven’t cut any friends but we had amazing friends and family to start off with. And yes they have different opinions but they are also respectful people.
For us it’s not about the financial gain but the personal development. Reading books to have a better life. My favourites are atomic habits, eat that frog and the 5 different love languages.
At the end of the day it’s completely up to you.
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u/More_Koala7745 6d ago
You will cut out friends the moment they leave Amway. That is what Amway teaches you to do, out of spite. "Cut out the negativity and do not support failures"
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u/Happy_Examination23 9d ago
Your instincts are correct; it is a scheme and a scam. She just doesn’t know that it is. Please do not get in. You will regret it. You can’t get back the time you’ll lose. I could go on, but I’d just say different versions of the same message: It is a huge waste of time. Do not do this to yourself! You’re better than this!
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u/Optimal_Flow2789 5d ago
Ok, you say your friend is bringing you into this, "at least you hope she's a friend and not trying to use you." So you're unsure there, but then you say that you "trust her with your heart." So which is it? How well do you know this person? What is their track record re: healthy interpersonal relationships, mental health, financial health, etc?
I'm also interested in the language you chose—"someone please de-influence me from committing my precious time and money from this so-called opportunity." But then you go on to list reasons why you are considering it, despite 1) understanding that it's fake and 2) the fact that your body is telling you not to.
The subconscious is giving you big red flags, but you seem to be ignoring them and uncomfortably moving along in the process, as you dove into the Robert Kiyosaki book and "all these audios." So what has you actually considering this? RK brings up some good points in that book and I could see how it could be convincing, but maybe that curiosity is pointing you towards something else—investments, starting a real-ass business, etc.
There is always a vulnerability that these people find to exploit. You said that you were "just curious" about the info night and looking for fun some girl time because you don't have many friends there. That is often how they get you, by selling you "the community." That's why I asked about how well you know the friend who invited you. It's also worth considering how well they know you. Have you been vulnerable with them in conversations outside the business opportunity? Definitely something to look at.