Selling the product that way does not create more profitability for the manufacturers; it creates more profitability for people in the sales channel. Dateline (linked below) got an Amway higher up to admit that some of their elite distributors make over 75% of their income, not from selling these supposedly great products, but from the motivation business: " Seminars, rallies, functions, motivational tools, tapes, books, speaking engagements, appearances." They are basically making money selling the motivation product to their own salespeople. You demonize working for someone else, but with the rate of success that seems common from all accounts, if you have the killer work ethic you are describing and don't mind making no money for a few years, you might as well go work in the mailroom of some large corporation. Maybe you'll eventually get promoted to VP of something and make 7 figures. And at least in the early years you'll have health coverage and won't have to pay lot of money to your own company for them to train you.
Chaserious
JoinedPosts by Chaserious
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81
Amway
by enigma1863 ini was curious, how many jws end up getting caught up in pyramid scemes like amway.
i was caught up in there online program quixstar for a little while several years ago.
i noticed there are several similarities between amway and a cult..
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81
Amway
by enigma1863 ini was curious, how many jws end up getting caught up in pyramid scemes like amway.
i was caught up in there online program quixstar for a little while several years ago.
i noticed there are several similarities between amway and a cult..
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Chaserious
Since these are the best businesses on earth, CyberJesus, why can't the products compete with other products on the free market and be sold in stores and on the internet? That way, both the manufacturer and the customer would be better served. Neither would have to subsidize 6 different salespeople up the sales chain and the product could be less expensive for the consumer, yet still yield more profit for the manufacturer. And don't cite a car salesman example again. Most consumers want someone to help them pick out something that is going to cost 6 months salary or more. Vitamins and cleaning products are not comparable.
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What are the WT Society's expenditures?
by Apognophos ini'm hoping someone who has at least a little inside knowledge can help educate me here.
what sort of things does the wbts pay for, on a worldwide basis?.
- i understand that khs are owned and funded locally, at least where the locals can afford them, but what about in poor areas?.
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Chaserious
Haha - yes jgnat, we seem to pride ourselves on going big or going home here in the U.S. of A. Even if we're going big with someone else's money!
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What are the WT Society's expenditures?
by Apognophos ini'm hoping someone who has at least a little inside knowledge can help educate me here.
what sort of things does the wbts pay for, on a worldwide basis?.
- i understand that khs are owned and funded locally, at least where the locals can afford them, but what about in poor areas?.
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Chaserious
One other thing I thought of - There used to be an investment vehicle called Auction Rate Securities (ARS) that was promoted by investment banks and money managers to their clients as basically as safe as a money market account. It was seen as a short term investment vehicle that paid a little more than a money market. Huge investors in ARS included entities that you wouldn't think of as making risky investments, such as universities, pension funds, hospitals, and municipalities. At the beginning of 2008, there was $330 Billion in ARS in the US. And in February 2008, poof, the entire market collapsed. I would not be surprised at all (or even consider it irresponsible on their part) if they had tens or even hundreds of millions parked in ARS. They are a perfect investor for that kind of instrument.
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What are the WT Society's expenditures?
by Apognophos ini'm hoping someone who has at least a little inside knowledge can help educate me here.
what sort of things does the wbts pay for, on a worldwide basis?.
- i understand that khs are owned and funded locally, at least where the locals can afford them, but what about in poor areas?.
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Chaserious
Jgnat, in the U.S., nonprofits can and do invest in riskier instruments than mutual funds. In the IRS link you provided, it says that in many states a "prudent man" test is used (Often called the "reasonable person" test). Guess what that prohibits? Almost nothing. Maybe investing in a Nigerian Prince or something, but not much beyond that. If the government wants to go after them (which is unlikely), they could definitely say that investing a portion of their assets in hedge funds, real estate investment trusts or mortgage backed securities was reasonable - after all, the smartest investment banks were doing it too. It does also say that certain types of especially risky investments are "closely scrutinized" (but not prohibited), most notably including margin purchases, commodity futures, and options. I doubt they invest in this latter group of securities, but I would almost be surprised if they didn't have some dough in MBS, REITs or hedge funds before the crisis.
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What are the WT Society's expenditures?
by Apognophos ini'm hoping someone who has at least a little inside knowledge can help educate me here.
what sort of things does the wbts pay for, on a worldwide basis?.
- i understand that khs are owned and funded locally, at least where the locals can afford them, but what about in poor areas?.
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Chaserious
I'm sure this has been speculated on here before, but I would not be surprised if they had a lot of money tied up in risky investment vehicles during the financial crisis and lost some of their cushion. They were probably doing rather well in the early 2000's, as organizational growth was higher then (also I think a few were still hanging onto hope that the big A would come before the 1914-ers all died), the economy was doing well so publishers probably had more disposable money to donate, plus they sold 360 Furman for $205 Million in 2004. If they had hundreds of millions of surplus cash, I doubt they put it all in a money market account or 2% return CDs. As has been noted here before, they have been on the list at hedge fund conventions. Like many other large entities, they could have lost hundreds of millions during the financial crisis from 2007-2009. Just speculation, but maybe this is why they are trying to build a cushion back up.
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The Results of an Atheist Sex Survey
by Most Noble inwhat happens when 10,000 non-religious people take a survey about their sex lives including people who were raised in one religion but later left it?
well, you get a treasure trove of data thats never been analyzed before.. .
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2011/05/15/the-results-of-an-atheist-sex-survey/.
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Chaserious
The Mormons are beating JWs in feeling the most guilty about sex. Seems like the WTBTS is doing its job of guilting the pubs rather poorly. Jah's people aren't #2 at anything.
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81
Amway
by enigma1863 ini was curious, how many jws end up getting caught up in pyramid scemes like amway.
i was caught up in there online program quixstar for a little while several years ago.
i noticed there are several similarities between amway and a cult..
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Chaserious
Sigh... yes, the words you wrote are correct, CyberJesus. However, BEFORE you posted that, I had already written that "t hey give you a ring if you earn more than $100k, $250k, etc. in regular income, so it's not a $250k bonus", thus acknowledging that it represented $250k in income. Therefore I did not need to be corrected. However, you insisted on correcting me anyway, making a statement that was not inconsistent with what I had already said, and then called me stupid on top of it. That is the part that is no bueno. Not the clarity of your post.
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81
Amway
by enigma1863 ini was curious, how many jws end up getting caught up in pyramid scemes like amway.
i was caught up in there online program quixstar for a little while several years ago.
i noticed there are several similarities between amway and a cult..
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Chaserious
CJ - I would not have made that comment if I had known that English was not your first language. However, to be fair, you did directly call me "stupid" in your previous post when the problem appears to have been your failure to understand the message I conveyed.
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81
Amway
by enigma1863 ini was curious, how many jws end up getting caught up in pyramid scemes like amway.
i was caught up in there online program quixstar for a little while several years ago.
i noticed there are several similarities between amway and a cult..
-
-
Chaserious
250k means you either won that bonus or made 250k .... Poor stupid people..... What do you for a living anyway
I do something that requires far better comprehension and writing ability in the English language than you evidently possess. You said in an earlier post that the $250k ring award was a $250k bonus. I corrected you and said it was merely an award recognizing the earning of $250k in income, not a separate $250k bonus on top of income. You did not seem to understand. I suggest you read my earlier post again, but more slowly this time.