Amway Review – The Pros and Cons of Running an Amway Business

Amway Review

Before I get into this review of Amway let me introduce myself. My name is Ben Biel and I’ve been involved with the network marketing industry for over 20 years. My summer vacations were spent at network marketing conventions as a kid and my parents have been involved in over 20 different companies. I’ve had a love – hate relationship with this industry which, I think, gives me the ability to offer a balanced perspective of the companies I review. I use a simple pro/con method of evaluating that is by no means exhaustive but will hopefully help you to confirm any research you’ve already done on Amway.

Amway Corporate Pros and Cons

Pros– Amway is the oldest and largest network marketing company in the world and does over $9 billion in annual sales. If you decide to build an organization with Amway you can be sure that the company isn’t going to file chapter 11 and destroy all your hard work.

Cons– Amway’s reputation. Almost everyone has heard of Amway and those who haven’t will undoubtedly have someone in their life you will gladly offer their opinion. In some respects Amway has earned it’s bad reputation because of it’s cloak and dagger marketing techniques but on the other hand most of the people with a real bad opinion of them think it’s a “pyramid scheme” which gives away their ignorance.

Amway Product Pros and Cons

Pros– Amway has a large range of products including nutritional supplements, cleaning products and cosmetics. All of their products are well made and would certainly rank in the top 10 for each of the products they sell with many in the top 3. For example you would be hard pressed to find a better laundry soap than SA8 and it is considered a high efficiency, concentrated and green and it’s been on the market for decades.

Cons– Although the products are high quality most of them are overpriced. Even if they are not overpriced (i.e. the quality of the product justifies the higher price) it is difficult to convince people that they should switch mail order product that they used to buy at the grocery store or Wal-Mart for half the price. There is also a ton of competition. 90% of the other network marketing companies out there have products that compete with one or more of Amway’s product lines, often at a more attractive price.

Amway Business Pros and Cons.

Pros– The main pro to doing the Amway business is it’s commitment to personal development. The level of mentorship is extremely high and they focus a lot on building community and support for it’s Independent Business Operators. Another pro is the profit sharing which is huge but you have to be a Diamond before you qualify which less than 1% of IBO’s do.

Cons– All the personal development costs a fortune. Most of the people I know who have started an Amway business quit because they couldn’t afford the personal development. They amount of product you must personally consume or sell is also a deterrent, over $500/mo.

Another con is it’s marketing approach. People are trained not to tell people it’s Amway and often told to lie if someone asks if it’s Amway. This tactic leads to mistrust and resentment and adds to Amway’s poor reputation. Their marketing plan has not been updated in over 21 years. I found an old Amway business plan in my Dad’s office from 1989 and it had the exact same plan that a friend of mine pitched to me when he tried to get me to join his Amway business in early 2010. Most of it was word for word. They have not changed anything to new technology, the internet or social media.

Amway’s compensation plan highly favors the top earners and doesn’t give a great platform for new people to earn money quickly. Dollar for dollar most other companies do much better. For example my fiend in Amway has an organization that does about $120,000/mo in sales and he earns about $1500/mo. I have friends in a different company that do $60,000/mo in sales for their whole team and they earn about $3,000/mo. That’s a 400% difference.

Amway Review Conclusion

Amway is a great company that helps a lot of people. Everyone in this industry owes a lot to them for blazing the trail for all the other great companies that followed in their footsteps. That being said I think the time for making big money with Amway is over. There are lots of good networking companies with comparable products and better compensation plans that it would be easier to build a business with. Now, those of you who are passionate about Amway’s products or business it can still be done. I know of a guy who is sponsoring 10 people a week into his Amway business but he is not following the corporate business model at all. He uses purchased phone leads and calls over 300 people a day!