Direct Selling Association

According to the U.S.

Direct Selling Association, there were 7.3 million people selling to nearly 44.6 million customers in 2021, contributing to an estimated $42.7 billion in retail sales to the nation's economy.

That's terrifying.

Right.

So the FTC has probably been going after Amway or looking at this for a number of years.

And I'll share with you maybe some of the frustration that I heard is that even members of the DSA, the Direct Selling Association, didn't know about this happening until it happened.

So they kept it secret.

So part of the reason why nobody's talking about this is because no...

You were saying like steel, things like that possibly could have had a thumb in that pie.

But another lobbying effort that had a big finger in the pie was the DSA.

the direct sellers association which is mlm's lobbying arm because why wouldn't amway and mlm want a billion new fresh victims to go after so they really wanted to get in there and there's some stuff about like china not allowing pyramid schemes and then sort of like amway buying them out and then american pyramid schemes are fine it's this whole thing like maybe we should do an episode on it But it's really interesting how the lobbying money and Amway's financial and political power in the world has really shaped a lot of global events.

And you don't really think that like, oh, like Amway or Mary Kay or Avon.

Welcome back to the podcast.

I am so thrilled to have Dave Grimaldi here with us from the Direct Selling Association.

Dave, how are you?

Becky, it's so tremendous to be back.

And so we, who are critics of the industry...

We were concerned, of course, when Trump came in in 2016 and indeed the industry was kind of feeling its oats and the trade association, the direct selling association actually got some members of Congress to introduce a bill that would be favorable to the industry.

Now they've been favorably, they've been successful at getting some of these bills done at the state level, but they hadn't gotten one at the federal level.

It did not get through.

Utah continues to be ground zero.

Michigan, of course, because of Amway, Texas, a few of the states have more than others.

It's interesting that The Direct Selling Association has a congressional caucus.

And I do call it an industry because they do generate revenue.

The order resolves allegations of deceptive earnings representations, forced inventory purchases, duplication, and widespread falsification of retail customer sales records.

Below is a breakdown of the mandatory compliance guidelines for Amway and its independent business owners, independent business owners, followed by the broader ramifications for the MLM industry and the Direct Selling Association, DSA.

1.

Mandated Activities and Guidelines What Amway, and approved providers like WWG and LTD, must do.

Truthful opportunity presentations, avoid touting outlier incomes or using vague claims like financial freedom or $40,000 plus income potential when prospecting without presenting official, context-rich median earnings disclosures.

2.

Ramifications for the MLM industry and the DSA.

This settlement is the most consequential regulatory action against direct selling in modern history.