Welcome to MLM-TheTruth.com
You came to the right place for authoritative answers to your questions and reliable guidance in making decisions about MLM participation and/or help with recovery. This information is based on the most extensive research ever done on MLM compensation plans and profitability, on distinguishing characteristics separating legitimate direct selling from pyramid or chain selling, and on the deceptions used to sell recruitment-driven MLMs, or product-based pyramid schemes.
DISCLOSURE: Once an avid MLM enthusiast, I rose to the top 1% of distributors for Nu Skin. But after a challenge from my wife, I took a closer look and discovered I was losing over $1,200 a month. This was the beginning of 18 years of research, which has been used by law enforcement, attorneys, the media, universities, and consumers worldwide. – Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D.
Consumer Awareness Institute
Our mission is to seek and share the truth about MLM (multi-level marketing), through research, analysis, and worldwide feedback. Numerous research reports by top MLM expert Dr. Jon M. Taylor and Executive Assitant Jonathan Brand, are posted on this web site, including analysis of profitability of over 500 MLMs. (See menu selections above.) Thousands of consumers have thus been guided to make more informed decisions about MLM participation. More…
News & Developments
Important ebook revised: THE CASE (FOR AND) AGAINST MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING: The Complete Guide to Understanding the Flaws – and Proving and Countering the Effects – of Endless Chain "Opportunity" Recruitment, or Product-based Pyramid Schemes. Bound copies will soon be available for libraries, law enforcement, attorneys, researchers, and educators. (See description below.)
Consumer Protection awards –& Consumer Protection Turkey awards.
Also – This letter deserves an MLM recruitment turkey award: Homeless man recruited by MLM person forced to walk 20 miles when he refuses to buy into an MLM program.
The FTC issued its final Business Opportunity Rule – exempting MLM!
After a corrupt and irresponsible rulemaking proceeding, the Federal Trade Commission recently stepped away from its role as the nation’s consumer watchdog when it issued its final Business Opportunity Rule (BOR). It is actually a good rule except for one thing: MLM companies – by far the most prevalent (over 90%) of all business opportunity sellers – are exempt from having to disclose any information to prospects to protect them from MLM fraud, which (with its inherent flaw of unlimited recruitment of endless chains of participants) is endemic to the industry. How did this happen? See MLM-theTruth Update — Issue #5)
About our research
18 years of research on over 500 MLMs formed the basis of these reports. It's the most extensive ever done on MLM as a business model, as well as on specific programs.
REGULATORY CAPTURE: The FTC's Flawed Business Opportunity Rule
This disturbing report documents how the DSA (Direct Selling Association) lobby helped the MLM (multi-level marketing) industry gain an exemption from the FTC Business Opportunity Rule, leaving consumers unprotected from the most unfair and deceptive of business practices – proving the need for a firewall between regulators and those they regulate – and for public officials with the skill and the will to stand up against powerful special interests. (180-page PDF file)
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Disclaimer: These reports are intended purely to communicate information in accordance with the right of free speech. They do not constitute legal or tax advice. Anyone seeking such advice should consult a competent professional who has expertise in endless chain or pyramid selling schemes. Readers are specifically advised to obey all applicable laws, whether or not enforced in their area. Neither the Consumer Awareness Institute nor the authors assume any responsibility for the consequences of anyone acting according to the information in these reports.