Pyramids Are All Around Us

Pyramid Schemes Give the Pyramid Shape a Bad Name.

We find it rather ironic that some people still mistakenly believe MLM is nothing more than a pyramid selling scheme when it was actually the reputable MLM companies that asked government authorities to outlaw and ban what is known as pyramid selling.

Pyramid selling is when people at the top (first ones in) are paid from the enrollment or membership fees of the newest members. The people at the top are the only ones to get any money.

In contrast, a legitimate MLM company does not pay members for simply enrolling new members. Instead, members (distributors) are paid a commission based on the sale of products and/or services to customers and distributors in their downline. Also, in a legitimate MLM, the newest members can make as much money (or even more) as the people joining before them.

Legislation was soon passed that declared pyramid selling to be an illegal activity. Unfortunately, some of the anti-pyramid laws also unintentionally discriminated against legitimate MLM companies, which was like “throwing the baby out with the bath water.”

Pyramid is not a “dirty” word, nor is there anything wrong with the pyramid shape. It’s a concept that is greatly misunderstood.

This series of images (a 42-second video loop) shows how the pyramid shape is all around us in many ways.

There are all kinds of activities that can take place within a pyramid-like organization, but it’s the way business is conducted that makes it legal or illegal, not the pyramid shape or structure itself.