| Typical Multi-Level Marketing | Consumer Direct Marketing |
|---|---|
| MLMs often require or encourage "business builders" to "invest" in substantial amounts of inventory each month to qualify for bonuses | There is no "investment". Customers purchase only what they will use up on a monthly basis. Customers purchase directly from the factory, so there is no need to purchase inventory. Therefore, there is no risk of financial loss. |
| MLMs often sell products no one really uses--like cases of magical fruit juice, magnets, or green algae--causing increased strains on family budgets. | Markets products already used in households on a daily basis - and have to be higher quality, more effective, and often safer to use than grocery store or drugstore brands. This means it is actually cost effective to use better quality products. |
| MLMs often back up phenomenal product claims with folklore and testimonials rather than science and laboratory studies. | Product claims are backed by legitimate science and research, with scientific studies done against its competitors. |
| MLMs often require their distributors to resell products to their customers. | Does not require any of its products to be resold to someone else. In fact, policy prohibits reselling. Everyone purchases directly from the company. |
| MLMs usually charge several times what the product is actually worth, such as $40 for a product that you would pay less than $5 for at the store. | The products are competitively priced with grocery store brands on a per-use basis, even through they are usually substantially higher quality than those brands |
| MLM distributors usually tout big checks to entice others to get involved. Rarely will a multilevel marketing company reveal what its distributors actually make. Most multilevel marketing companies will also never reveal their actual sales. | A good company publishes how much all the marketing members make at which status, complete with the high, the low, and the average in each status. Such a policy would easily expose most MLM companies. |