Suckers for Pyramid Schemes?

Today I had a surprising visit from someone I know (between an acquaintance and a friend) who tried to sell me on a modified pyramid scheme.  This one happens to involve an internet shopping website.  You get a percentage of whatever you and your downstream peeps, spend on the website.  You pay a modest but significant annual membership fee. 

They have high quality products, she assured me.  They are have a lot of organic and green products.  Don't you want to leave a green earth for your kids?  Me and my husband's health have dramatically improved with their vitamins.  Etc. Etc...

Is it me or are Kimchi Mamas suckers for these pyramid schemes?

I have a rather large extended family and over the years, my aunts and cousins have tried to sell me everything from blankets to knives, to make up, to pots and pans, to soap, and vitamins.  I have one cousin who is very into NuSkin and even went to their annual convention and apparently won some award for selling a lot.  She even travels to Korea to sell, and of course, travels all over the US. 

During my visit to LA last month, my cousins and aunts who all sell NuSkin products started ganging up on me and chided me for my "lack of belief" in the NuSkin gods.  They assured me that my make up was ruining my skin and that I would be repenting of my ways as soon as the wrinkles and other facial blemishes started showing up.  My response, which might not have been the wisest and definately was not the humblest, was, "If your products are so good, how come I'm the one with the best skin in the room?!"  I've been very blessed with decent skin.  And a little bit of the right make up goes on a long way...

Anyway, I know a lot of Koreans who sell these pyramid scheme products and couldn't help but think after the visit today, why are so many of my Korean family member and friends so into these phyramid schemes?  My dad has bought thousands and thousands of dollars worth of things from his friends and also from our family members.  And my cousins and aunts make a living off of them.  Most of the time, they just seem overpriced and too good to be true to me.  Today, when I heard about the miracle vitamins, I wanted to compare the lists of the actual ingredients to my Costco brand multi vitamins.  I was willing to bet that my Kirkland Signature vitamins were just as good as these miracle ones that supposedly took 15 years off of her husband and "dramatically improved their health."

Take for one, the $3000 blanket.  Yes, a three thousand dollar blanket!  It is goose down and the one great thing about it is that it does not shed, but is that really worth $3000?  My grandma got that for me as my wedding present.  Apprently, it was on sale for $2000.  There are also pots that cost $200 for the smallest one, and knives that cost just as much.  (Although, I suppose, you can pay those prices at William Sonoma too.)  Anyway, those are some real product that my cousins and aunts have sold in the past.  They seem to have settled on the NuSkin stuffs for now.

I guess I should be happy for them... that they have found ways to put a roof over their children's heads and clothes on their backs.  Maybe I'm over sensitive to it because of my general anti-consumer nature?  But I see my dad buying water filters, and vitamins, and blankets, and pots and pans and feel like he's being robbed blind... and then they make me feel guilty for not buying too.

Anyway, what's been your experience with this?  Have I just offended some dedicated NuSkin users?  (Sorry!)  Is this not just a Korean thing?  Maybe it's an Asian thing?  Maybe my theory is bogus since Mary Kay and Avon both started in the US and all.  =)

-Mary

Comments

[josie]

Funny you should mention NuSkin - a relative of mine sold their products almost ten years ago. The ingredients were nothing special. Here in Sweden I only rarely come across pyramid selling schemes.

I would imagine that this goes on in many immigrant communities - you buy from people you trust and you are also made to feel guilty if you don´t buy so there is an element of pressure to it.

There is a Swedish company similar to Avon and Mary Kay, that does very well in Russia and Egypt. It is a way for women to earn good money without working outside the home - and for other women to get products that might otherwise not be available to them. Granted we aren´t talking ridiculous prices as in your examples!

[Gooksu]

IT's sad and pathetic and I hate that my mom falls for it all the time. She most recently bought a jar of Veganese from some organic dealer for $5.60 and gave it to me. Why did you buy it in the first place and don't you know it's available at Wholefoods for less?

She also has it all, the vitamins, the filter, the knives, the soaps, make-ups, and probably a lot more than I know. She won't tell me cuz she knows that I'd freak out on her.

I don't know what it is but most likely the fact that they want to believe, they want to do what's best for themselves and with most Koreans I know, they'll believe anything if it makes them younger or skinnier.

[crazymixedupgirl]

Hmmm... not sure if it's a Kimchi thing or just a human thing in general. After all, who doesn't want to make money by doing what they normally do and then get paid when other people do what they normally do? :) To be precise, however, pyramid schemes are only when the newer members' fees pay for the older members' "commissions" or winnings. There is no product. In the cases you cite, there are actual products and is more an example of MultiLevel Marketing. The quality or efficacy of the products may be in dispute. :D

[Green]

It's not just a Korean thing. My grandpa's girlfriend's relatives were heavily into (sc)Amway and we're white.

I knew a couple into Pampered Chef.

I think it's a sucker / guilt issue. Are you easily sucked in, or do you question information provided to you? Do you easily succumb to guilt, or are you able to look someone in the eye, say "Thanks, but that's not for me," and not look back?

[Xibee]

Oh man, it was NuSkin all the way back in the mid 90s, and my friend's (Chinese) Mom bought into it as well as all his sisters. And then recently my Maylasian friend's mom foisted ProActive stuff on her and she just gave it to me.... that's the frivolous get something good for cheap (and you can MAKE MONEY) obsession.

There's a dark side of this story: A Korean relative of ours actually was begged at and pleaded with by his niece until he signed over his entire life (essentially everything he had saved plus they made him back a guarantee with his home) to start one of these pyramid schemes. They made every assurance to him in the book. The business failed, it divided the family into warring factions that will never be healed, and this poor relative is now being treated like crap by his spouse because he lost everything for the two of them.

This fixation on getting rich quick (and being duped by those who buy into it)is like goldrush mentality was in the 1880s here or worse. I think it arises out of desperation and feelings of helplessness, because people used to think there was no way out of their situation, that they would never get ahead, so they'd choose to grab onto anything that looked like their OWN business. And it's the image thing (the awards/ranks for selling things), too. But now it's just amazing they still do it.

Aren't there enough rewards for good solid hard work in Korea? That's what I wonder.

[HCG]

right on Xibee.

maybe it's just my own personal experience, but every single person I've met with involvement in Amway, NuSkin, Arbonne etc. has lacked a basic understanding of how to actually build wealth of any variety. hence the appeal of a seeming shortcut to 'success'.

guilt of that social pressuring sort doesn't work very well with me -- I have no problems telling someone that I'm not interested in buying overpriced things that make no sense, even if it means that someone goes away with the perception that I can't afford it (in that tsk tsk way).