Internet Links for Further
MLM Research & Information

This page of links was shamelessly cribbed from Dean Van Druff's page.  Dean's pages on MLMs are the first two links below.

What's Wrong With Multi-Level Marketing - An excellent article by Dean Van Druff of Dallas, Texas.

E-Mail examples, Frequently Asked Questions, Additional Points and Rebuttals section at http://www.vandruff.com/mlm_FAQ.html

Dr. Jon Taylor of the Consumer Awareness Institute has posted a most excellent analysis of the similarities between MLM and illegal pyramid schemes, which can be downloaded at: http://www.whatisgood.com/nwm/

False Profits, a book exposing how MLM participation can commandeer and derail people's religious ideals, has a web site at http://www.FalseProfits.com which includes a sample Chapter of the book.

A Christian businesswoman, Athena Dean, exposes the spiritual cost and duplicity of MLM proselytizing within the church in her books "Consumed by Success" and "All that glitters is not God -- Breaking free from the sweet deceit of MLM," available at http://www.winepresspub.com/dean_a.html

Ami Chen Mills "Shaking the Money Tree" is fascinating journalism that captures the "stink" of MLM pathology and culture most vividly. Hold your nose, and dive into major deja-vu at http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/10.03.96/cover/multilevel-9640.html

US Government USPS on Employment Schemes, including Distributorship and Franchise Fraud, Phony Job Opportunities, and Multi-Level Marketing at http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect/emplmenu.htm, or direct to the MLM warning at http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect/pyramid.htm

FTC warning on MLM chicanery at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/invest/mlm.htm

Better Business Bureau (BBB) has Multi-Level Marketing Scam Alerts at http://www.bbb.com/alerts. This page has become cluttered, so you might want to click on SEARCH and then type in "pyramid" or "multi level marketing".

Forbes Magazine's article on Herbalife has graphs that show the "by design" MLM balloon burst, at http://www.forbes.com/forbes/97/1020/6009043a.htm

Dr. Stephen Barrett explores the risks of medical products being marketed with MLM at http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/mlm.html. Specific examples are given.

Eli Mantel's "Cagey Consumer" has a great set of research links and concise position statements at http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/5395/mlminfo.html

Charles Midgett's "The Other Side of The Plan" page at http://www.getfacts.com/amway examines some of the bogus truisms and urban legends taken as fact in MLM culture, such as "9 out of 10 small businesses fail within the first year" as an excuse for the ravages of inevitable MLM failure.

For articles on "MLM Harassment" at work, as well as postings on Amway and MLM in General, see The Skeptic's Dictionary at: http://dcn.davis.ca.us/~btcarrol/skeptic/mlmhar.html

Sidney Schwarz's ever-under-attack "Amway, the Untold Story" is a treasure-trove of dramatic information not normally disclosed by your friendly MLM practitioner, at http://www.teleport.com/~schwartz

For a humorous lampoon of some of the goofy products often peddled via MLM, see "The Laundry Disk 2000" Website at http://www.worldwidescam.com

For transcripts of discussion group interviews and dialogs concerning the veracity of MLM, see http://members.aol.com/multisense/home.htm

A book written for Pastors, "Is your Church a Market Place?" by Kim S. Mather, is posted in part at http://www.newwave.net/~poohbear/chaching/index.html

See another posting by Robert L. Fitzpatrick entitled "The 10 Big Lies of MLM" at http://members.tripod.com/~nomorescams/fitzpatrick.htm

A MLM Lawyer gives an opinion on what constitutes a "legal" MLM scheme in the US at http://mlmatty.com/legality.html

Consider Procter & Gamble's perspective on the Amway "Satan Rumor".

For a survey of lucid reformers within the MLM industry (a most welcome and cathartic trend) see: 1) "Where Have All the Products Gone" by Gerald Nehra at http://mlmstartup.com/articles/ramble.htm; 2) A lament of the soaring prices and flimflam nature of a few too many modern MLM products by Leonard Clements at http://www.profitsonline.com/profitsonline/Articles/ArticlesA-H/Clements7.html; and 3) A sober assessment of the assertion that "everyone can make money at MLM" by Tom Schreiter at http://www.mlmcentral.com/library/zerosum.html

As a closing parable - if you are not already familiar with it - please click here to read a synopsis of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes".

© 1999-2005 Robert H. Braver, Norman, Oklahoma. Nothing in this web site should be construed as legal advice. This web site is provided for information purposes only. Opinions presented are those of Mr. Braver (or other contributors as indicated). The operators of this site will not give, sell, or otherwise transfer email addresses stored on any of our hosts to any other party for the purposes of initiating, or enabling others to initiate, electronic mail messages.