as you can tell from my posts, I really don't like the OCF forum being used as a fishing pond for businesses. But in fairness, here are some reviews of the company that indicate it is just a sleazy version of Amway (but I don't see Brian selling Amway products to us)

[quote]It's MLM a la Amway. Legit business with legit (if overpriced) products, but you are unlikely to make any money after expenses unless you are a very persuasive person who can build up a big empire of sub-distributors. Avoid, it is not easy, and if you have real sales talent, you could be employing it better than in alienating your family friends and acquaintances through trying to recruit them.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:19 PM on September 10 [5 favorites]

My mom's been involved in this for years. I don't think there's anything particularly illegal about the operation, but it's never really sat well with me. i_am-joe's_spleen got it right when he said it's essentially Amway, another thing my mom got caught up in (detecting a pattern yet?). She loves their products, so she's generally quite enthusiastic about it, but I've never thought their products were particularly spectacular. In general, my mom's done okay with Melaleuca, but not great. She also has a successful and totally legitimate business completely apart from her MLM dabbling, so she can generally afford to take a slight risk on this kind of stuff every once in awhile. I think it's fine, since she enjoys their products and I don't think they're taking advantage of her, but that said, I've never enjoyed it and actively discouraged her on a few occasions. I suspect you and your friend will not find this a worthwhile venture.
posted by Diagonalize at 8:01 PM on September 10

My dad used to be a Melaleuca distributor. You are forced to buy a minimum amount of stuff every month which is not cheap, and if you're not good at selling it, you'll just end up with piles and piles of their product. It's not easy to sell either, as none of it is particularly impressive and as I said, it's overpriced. The stuff isn't bad, it just isn't good enough to entice most people to spend the extra money.

Just stay far away -- it's a waste of time and money.
posted by yawper at 8:33 PM on September 10 [1 favorite]

This is my mother's current obsession. Some of the products are quite nice -- a lot of people swear by the lotion, the stain remover and laundry detergent are very effective, et cetera. However, I find the mandatory monthly orders highly off-putting, don't use enough of any of the products to justify signing up, and don't particularly care to try their own personal versions of a zillion different products so I can evaluate them against the ones I'm already using.

If you like and want the stuff they sell, I don't think it's particularly terrible. If you're looking for free/easy money, you'll probably end up with a bunch of catalogs, sample lotion bottles, and former friends.
posted by mayhap at 7:42 PM on September 10 [/quote]