Before You Join an MLM
A practical checklist for slowing down the decision and collecting written answers.
Consumer information, carefully sourced
Boring facts about income opportunities can prevent devastating surprises.
This site helps prospective MLM participants read income disclosures, separate gross income from profit, and ask better questions before paying fees, buying product, or recruiting people they care about.
Editorial standard: We use public records, company disclosures, regulator materials,
and careful language. We do not label a company or opportunity with legal conclusions unless a regulator,
court, or cited source has done so.
Read first
Gross Income Is Not Profit
Why compensation, bonuses, and revenue should be compared with ordinary expenses.
Corrections policy
How to request a correction and how updates will be handled.
Before You Pay
A short pause checklist before fees, product, subscriptions, events, or licensing costs.
If someone said this to you
financial freedom
In an MLM pitch, "financial freedom" is usually an income or lifestyle claim, so a prospective participant should ask for written income disclosure and expense information before joining.
passive income
MLM income is not automatically passive; ask what ongoing selling, recruiting, purchasing, training, and rank maintenance are required to keep compensation.
find two people
"Find two people" usually points to duplication or recruiting-based growth, so ask how compensation works without recruiting and what typical participant outcomes are.
Fast answers before you decide
What should an MLM income disclosure show?
A useful disclosure should help you understand typical participant outcomes, including no-earnings participants and expenses.
What MLM expenses should I ask about before joining?
Ask about every required, optional, and commonly expected cost before joining.
What should I do if a friend offers me an MLM business opportunity?
Keep the relationship separate from the decision and ask for written disclosures before paying anything.
Starter company pages
Amway
Public-record notes and questions to ask before joining Amway as an independent business owner.
Herbalife
Public-record notes and questions to ask before joining Herbalife as a distributor or business-opportunity participant.
Primerica
Public-record notes and questions to ask before joining Primerica as a representative.