Quixtar is it a scam?

Recently quite a few of my friends have been pulled into the quixtar program and have plans on become "Independent Business Owners". Anyone have the success rates at each level as well as the overall drop out rate and any pertinent information that might apply? I am very skeptical of such a business as it seems to have a pyramid style to it. They have attempted to get me to come to a few open meetings which I have not attended. Please inform me as well if my concern is unjustified as this could be a successful business venture but I do truly doubt it.

All of these things, in my opinion, are just scams to get the people at the top rich.
Also, from past experience in speaking to the people who take part in this sort of thing and reading/listening/watching the literature - I also think it is rather like some sort of cult and the people involved often seem 'brainwashed'. I used to work on a round with some guy and he always played his Amway tapes in the cab and they made me think of brainwashing... You kinda would get wrapped up in it without realising - very creepy!
Also, even though they put themselves forward as being friendly, as soon as you show in disinterest they often start to become excessivly aggressive and almost threatening.

My opinion - stay away and keep as many people away from it as you can!

Yeah, thats an internet version of Amway, and you are highly unlikely to make any money. Essentially, its just a glorious pyramid scheme. You might as well just send out a chain letter. Hehehe

Originally posted by apw100
Yeah, thats an internet version of Amway, and you are highly unlikely to make any money. Essentially, its just a glorious pyramid scheme. You might as well just send out a chain letter. Hehehe

I know quite alot of people who have made alot of money in this, my pearents included, they have stoped "building" the business, thye have had nothing to do with for a year out of lack of time yet still get a check every month from them, hey if you have the time go for it.

You will have to work hard but i have seen the out come and its 3 bmws and 4 harleys and a house thats huge. Note though at the moment the "business" is not doing to well (not the worst but not the best) watch it and when it starts moving again get in to it.

No its not a scam. Its not a pyramid scheme. Yes you can make alot of money doing it. But as in any business, you only get out of it what you put into it. To make alot of money, takes ALOT of time and effort. Many people don't put enough effort into it to become rich.
BTW I am involved in Quixtar, Yes we do make money, No I'm not rich.
But like I said It takes ALOT of time and effort to make it big, which I will readily admit is something I don't do.

It is a scam. Essentially, its a pyramid scheme. Unlike a legitimate retail business, which makes its money by selling products, Quixtar members make their money by recruiting other members. Whenever a person becomes a member, they have to pay a fee($150 or so?) to join. Part of this fee goes to the recruiting member, and the rest goes up the "chain", to the people who recruited them, and so on. This is where the vast majority of the money people make comes from. Sure, they technically sell products, but that makes up a very small part of the revenue. How many people do you know who buy their household items from Quixtar? Very, very few if any. Their "business model" sucks. After all, who wants to buy toilet paper and food online? Not many. They try to pass themselves off to the unknowing as "e-commerce", as if they are a legit company like Amazon.com. Really, all they are doing is selling the idea of selling something. After all, if it was such a profitable and revolutionary company, dont you think you would have heard about it from someone other than a recruiting member? Stay away

[edit on 4-9-2004 by apw100]

Originally posted by Skibum
No its not a scam. Its not a pyramid scheme. Yes you can make alot of money doing it. But as in any business, you only get out of it what you put into it. To make alot of money, takes ALOT of time and effort. Many people don't put enough effort into it to become rich.
BTW I am involved in Quixtar, Yes we do make money, No I'm not rich.
But like I said It takes ALOT of time and effort to make it big, which I will readily admit is something I don't do.

I totaly agree because my dad is in it. He doesn't put much effort into it. My friend who does put in a some effort showed me one of his checks and i think it was about $5,000. You need to put in a lot of effort and time into this in order to get good money.

Its not a get rich quick scheme....

Now let me tell you how this will make you rich, and quick!


Yeah.. im sure.

Do not join unless you want to be shunned by your friends and relatives. To be successful you will constantly be trying to find new shills. I was involved with Amway twice when I was younger. ( Yeah they sucked me in with greed. Plus I hated "working for the man".) I loathed myself for telling people about Amway and trying to suck them into the scheme because the products sucked.

That is among the most inaccurate things I've ever heard.

It is $40 to get your business set up. This actually goes to the corporation.

They make money from selling the products. After you proceed to be successful in their business, they will then pay you to record motivational tapes for the new people.

It is only a scam if you don't do it.
My boyfriend is doing it, he goes out 3-4 evenings a week for a couple hours and at this point it pays for itself and gives us some spending money... Without it I wouldn't be buying a house right now because I wouldn't have the income or the downpayment I now have.

It really is up to you, if you believe you are going to make money fast, you are probably wrong- but then again I know a guy who spent 4 months and makes close to 3k/month now.
If you want someone else to do it for you, then you are wasting your time and money.

When you start out you have to give it time, like a real business, because it IS a real business.
If you wanted to sign up and proceed with life as usual and expect money to roll in, not only are you really stupid but it won't happen that way. Most people that quit or who I've ever met who complain about it were people who did just that.

Originally posted by apw100
It is a scam. Essentially, its a pyramid scheme. Unlike a legitimate retail business, which makes its money by selling products, Quixtar members make their money by recruiting other members. Whenever a person becomes a member, they have to pay a fee($150 or so?) to join. Part of this fee goes to the recruiting member, and the rest goes up the "chain", to the people who recruited them, and so on. This is where the vast majority of the money people make comes from. Sure, they technically sell products, but that makes up a very small part of the revenue. How many people do you know who buy their household items from Quixtar? Very, very few if any. Their "business model" sucks. After all, who wants to buy toilet paper and food online? Not many. They try to pass themselves off to the unknowing as "e-commerce", as if they are a legit company like Amazon.com. Really, all they are doing is selling the idea of selling something. After all, if it was such a profitable and revolutionary company, dont you think you would have heard about it from someone other than a recruiting member? Stay away

[edit on 4-9-2004 by apw100]

there was a thread about Quixtar a while ago. it took a while to find it because i realized that i was searching with the posting range of the past 3 months. lol. well anyways,. its

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I have been involved with Amway a couple times and it is fairly high pressure sales and you can make money and it is a legal company in many countries of the world.The origanial products were and are very good products

Aliens, thank you for finding that link. If you have questions about Quixtar and are thinking about joinig. Please read the thread that Aliens has posted. If you have read the thread then you know that my husband and I had joined Quixtar. And yes it did cost a $150 to get started, not $40. Though they might have lowerd their sign up fee, but I doubt it. Everything that EmbryonicEssence has researched is corect. This was a horrible experience and we are glad it is over. Listen to your instincts, if it feels wrong don't do it. I wish we had!

From my limited experience of the these sort of things and from watching and speaking to people involved, it almost seems like some sort of brainwashing.
I've heard stories that when you start to get established and go to these 'bigger' meetings it's sounds awfully like some sort of cult.
The people involved tend to be very defensive, which is understandable if you believe strongly in something, and often appear to be blind to the whole thing - not seeing it at all like someone looking in does.. If you see what I mean.

The fee to actually join is $40, people usually say $150 or so because usually new people order a product pack as an introduction. That makes the cost go up because you are joining and shopping for products. I can factually tell you this because I just went through the process with someone quite recently.

Originally posted by earthmagick12
Aliens, thank you for finding that link. If you have questions about Quixtar and are thinking about joinig. Please read the thread that Aliens has posted. If you have read the thread then you know that my husband and I had joined Quixtar. And yes it did cost a $150 to get started, not $40. Though they might have lowerd their sign up fee, but I doubt it.

blanketgirl, you are probably right about the fee. We did order a product pack. Though you are pushed into buying thier tapes and demos. Attending what they call, "Dream Weekends". Were you go away to a hotel and spend the weekend being brainwashed. This does cost a LOT of money. And if you don't do these things, you are viewed as not trying to secede in "the busness". You see the more work you do, the more money they make. The more people you recrut the more money they make. It's a pyramid scam. Not to mention it does not fill good to subject your family and frends to this.

Yes she is correct about the fees.Typically it is about 150 that includes a number of products. you can sign up without getting the products, which is around 40 dollars.But it is not a pyramid scam. If it were it would be illegal and would have been shut down.

Also the more people you recruit the more money they make, is only partly true. The more people you recruit the more money you make as well.

Not to mention it does not fill good to subject your family and frends to this.
Is partly true too. As with any business it takes alot of time away from your family in order to make it sucessful. Business don't just grow on their own it takes alot of involvement to build them and keep them strong.

Please read the link that Aliens has provided. Here, www.abovetopsecret.com...

This has been covered. All that you need to know is in that link.

Skibum

Family, friends. I wasn't talking about being away from them. I was talking about using them, recruting them. Making them sit through all the garbage to get them to sign up. Thank goodness they care about us.

Pyramid scam, this is very sticky. Again read the posts in the link. It covers this.

from reading that link, a lot of the information isn't factual, it has WAY too many opinions mixed in to be an accurate view. It also does have slight inaccuracies, so no, the topic hasn't really been covered.

They don't MAKE you go anywhere or buy any of the tapes.

Realistically, everyone is brainwashed to think the path they are taking to be successful is the way.

Before I get told that I'm brainwashed, these are things that I thought and noticed before I got involved and I still believe to be true.

How many people in corporate America are at the top? How often do people complain that they can't get to be the top guy? How on earth is the average corporation, where you slowly work yourself up rungs on a ladder any different than a pyramid?

In reference to Quixtar being a pyramid there is one massive flaw in this theory, you can easily make more than the guys above you. If I only sponsor one person and have no customers, and the guy I sponsor goes diamond, I get NOTHING. In a pyramid, I would still get more than him. In corporate America if you do all the work your boss gets all the credit, the company car and a bonus. Now how again were you defending the normal workforce???

How exactly is it using people when they buy products they want to buy? If you purchased something you didn't want: 1)return it 2) it's your fault, nobody made you do it. They didn't stand with a gun to your head and make you enter your credit card info. (if they did, we have a bigger problem)

The reason there are problems is because people instantly want a get rich quick scheme, but that isn't what they are offering. You have to run it just like you would run a conventional business- because *gasp* it's a business. It works, it's amazing people can even call it a scam because most people involved have seen it work for someone- they just don't want to get down on themselves for not doing it.

If someone fails, it really is their responsibility, if you don't blame it on your boss when you get to work late, why would you blame it on Quixtar if you don't do the work?!?