Yeah, well, my friend here asked if his name is Bob. See you in Hell.

small business is big business.

those who are making money keep it quiet. they will not share and create competition. what , you think they are stupid? Nobody is out to do you a favor. they want you to buy into their products and services. period.

Any chance your friends are Chinese? A lot of the local Chinese expats are into the Usana thing. I got pulled into one such pitch, knowing what was coming, but did it to placate my then gf. I listened politely for an hour or so, but declined to sign on. A local Chinese BBS has a lot of those Usana folks too. And I kid you not, but in Mainland China you will see limbless kids as beggars, who were kidnapped and maimed to be more pitiful looking beggars for their masters.

Nope. not Chinese.

Avoid these scams. The real money is in helping widows safely transport their inherited millions to a US bank account. Typically, they'll cut you in for 10% give or take. It's amazing how many wealthy Nigerians are being abducted, murdered, or otherwise removed from their families. Heartbraking actually. Do a widow a favor and make yourself rich at the same time.

Similar experiences with friends that SHOULD know better concerning Pyramid schemes. These things crop up every few years it seems with differing products; diamonds, oil paintings, household products, financial instruments, etc.

A guy from work, college educated, former air force pilot, approaches me. He and his wife (in their early thirties) have invested $8K in what is a pyramid, (selling vitamins!). I am amazed! He pitches me for thirty minutes at work one day.

I politely listen, then, in trying to show him his error, I say: Would you rather have $25K CASH or... a checkerboard of pennies, that on the first square has one penny, then the second square has two pennies, doubling the amount for each succeeding square (to 64 total). He quickly replies ...well, the $25K!

I then show him how his vitamin selling will very quickly (after a few steps on the pyramid) involve the ENTIRE population of the USA.

(Take the pennies)

Look me up when you get there. We'll talk cars.

Moses, that is a hoot. Glad you wore it. Years ago I lived in the BOQ at Moffett NAS...when it was an NAS...and some of the senior officers were AmWay reps. They never stopped hitting us up. I would thought/hoped these Commanders would be smarter.

My wife, against my unwelcome advice, did the Mary Kay thing for a year or two...lost a lot of money and still has make up she can't really use...I'm still using the hand creme...:D

Send me $100 and I will tell you haw to get rich.

AMWAY, Shaklee, Mary Kay, Avon, Excel, Primerica.... they have different names but they are all the same. Stupid, greedy people are doomed to be separated from their $ and these organizations exist to do just that...

And your answer would be, "Get people to send you $100 to be told how to get rich."

Congratulations you have completed the seminar!

Now if you send me the $100 I will send you a framed certificate, a phone list, and a set of ginzu knifes valued at $200...
No wait there is more, we will send you TWO sets of ginzu knifes... guaranteed forever!
Now how much would you pay?
No wait!

Im only interested in the knives if they can cut through tin cans. Please provide proof, throw in a squeegee mop and a miracle shamy and Im there :)

Oh man. I have a fantastic Cutco Knives story somewhere...let me see if I can find it...

I'll bet most arent' aware that Enterprise Rent A Car is a big scam as well. Go to any rental office, and start talking to the kids working here. You'll find out that ERAC recruited them aggressively on college campuses (that's right, they get their degree and go wash and rent cars wearing full suits in order to look and feel more 'professional')...

check out failingenterprise.com. Very funny, very sad for the kids that get suckered into it.

Don't forget the shoe, I can cut through this boot!

Okay you get the mop, shamy, and the miracle food chopper...

Now how much would you pay?

Darn if I had a fancy foreign accent I be rich bt now!

Scott's a scam artist...if you send me $50, I guarantee that MY plan will net you more on the bottom line than his :)

I represent a very very large wealth seminar corporation that has been in the news lately. There scam is they get 100 or more people to invest in a tract of land and promise a 10%-20% return on there money. What the investor doesn't know is that the corporation is making 100-200% on the land and pocketing it.

But they pay well and I have no morals.

There's hope...you're still too honest for politics :)

I don't see the problem here. If they promise a 10-20% ROI and deliver, who cares what the corp. makes? It's not a zero-sum deal and they corp. has done what they said they'd do. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.

I'm betting that Terry knows they don't deliver...that's the problem :)