Should You Support Friends in MLMs?

I have talked a lot about MLMs here.  I’m sure we all know people who are in MLMs.  It’s incredibly common to see people posting online about the new independent businesses they have started selling this product or that product.  And of course, if you read here, you know that you shouldn’t sign up to be a part of an MLM, but what about buying products from MLMs?  Should you support friends in MLMs by purchasing from them?

Supporting the MLM Structure

Generally speaking, while I understand the desire to help your friends in their business endeavors, by patronizing their MLM business, you are supporting the MLM and helping to keep the structure running.  Additionally, by helping your friend stay “successful,” you’re helping them stay in the business.  The longer anyone stays in an MLM, the more money they are likely to lose.  It can be hard to say no, but it’s important to say something like “I want to support you, but I can’t support a MLM.”

What are they selling?

If you still really want to support your friend by buying from them, make sure you do some research into what they are selling first.  MLM products are generally all overpriced – that’s how the owners and the higher-ups make their money.  That doesn’t mean that they’re all bad products, of course.  But some most certainly are.  So consider what you’re buying.

First and foremost, I would personally avoid any products that claim to “cure” things.  This could be vitamins, supplements, oils, anything along those lines.  Why?  Well, they probably don’t work and more importantly, could be dangerous.  You will frequently see people in essential oil MLM touting the health benefits of putting the oils into your food and drinks.  This can cause serious injury and is absolutely something you should not do.  Additionally, supplements are often not strictly regulated, so you don’t know what you might be putting into your body.

Some things are probably fine.  A purse is a purse.  A pizza stone is a pizza stone.  A shirt is a shirt.  Of course, the quality of all these things may vary, but they’re likely not unsafe.  And some things might actually be nice.  I had a Pampered Chef pizza stone someone gifted me for years until someone dropped it.  It was great.  Of course, as we saw from LuLaRoe, sometimes the quality of the products can change significantly.

I still wouldn’t recommend buying these items because again, you’re going to pay more than you would at most retail stores.  And really, it’s better to support your friend by helping them realize that MLMs aren’t great and there are better ways they can make money.

Read More:

• Essential Oil MLMs – Why they’re even more dangerous
• Why do People Still Fall For MLMs?
• LuLaRoe Lawsuit – Company and Owners being sued for $49 Million

Megan Smith

Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:

In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance.  It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information.  It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck.  While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.

While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.

Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.

So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan.  I needed to budget.  I needed to know what I was spending my money on.  I needed to prepare for the future.

I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way.  I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.