The MLM industry is in a terminal decline.
But could it be a good thing?
Even though there was a brief surge in popularity during the pandemic the evidence shows that the MLM industry is, in fact, slowly dying out.
An article by William Keep, former Dean, School of Business and former Interim Provost/VP for Academic Affairs, and Professor of Marketing at The College of New Jersey, compares data from the Direct Marketing Association (DSA) with all retail sales in the USA.
‘The MLM industry is at its lowest mark since 1992’
The proportion of MLM sales have been in an almost consistent decline. William Keep discovered that MLM industry retail sales represent just .84% of US Retail Sales – putting the industry at its lowest mark since 1992.
99.6% of all participants in an MLM, on average, will lose money once expenses are taken into account. And we’ve already reported on the signs that it’s an industry in decline.
MLM reps earn LESS in 2019 than in 2004
In another article by William Keep on Seeking Alpha he reveals how, shockingly, MLM reps in the US in 2019 earned LESS than they did in 2004. This is based on data from the DSA themselves:
He also points out that one of the oldest MLM companies, Amway, has announced layoffs totaling over 1,100 employees over the past three years.
MLM has even less of the retail market in the UK
MLM has even less share of the UK retail market. According to the DSA, the direct selling industry contributes £2.7 billion a year to the UK economy. And the total value of all UK retail sales last year was £394 billion.
This means that the MLM industry is worth just .67% of the entire retail industry – lower even than the USA.
One reason why MLMs are gradually dying out could be because there’s increased exposure of the dark side of the industry.
The first series of The Dream podcast revealed the shady side of MLM, and the real reason why the industry isn’t illegal. And global MLM expert Robert Fitzpatrick has gone further by telling the story of multi-level marketing in his excellent new book Ponzinomics.
The media has also caught onto the scam that the industry really is – in our and many experts’ opinions. Documentaries like Betting on Zero, the BBC’s Secrets of the Multi-Level Millionaires, and critical mainstream media coverage, like this article in YOU Magazine, have helped spread awareness to millions of people around the world.
And appearances like this one on the BBC’s Women’s Hour by the DSA’s Director General, in which she ignored any factual points put to her and just trotted out tired, old MLM cliches and lies, just help prove that it’s not a reputable industry.
There’s been an explosion of anti-MLM YouTubers appear over the past year too, many of them former MLM reps. They are eager to air the dirty laundry of the companies they joined, the MLM industry as a whole, and the cynical sharks who feed off it by selling coaching and products to desperate reps (often shilled with a blatant stream of provable lies).
There are a growing number of popular Facebook groups, such as MLM Lies Exposed, dedicated to spreading the word about MLMs and offering support for its many victims. The largest, Sounds Like MLM But Okay, has 142,000 members. The antiMLM Reddit, meanwhile, has over 500k recruits.
This is a safer approach.