Tag Archives: UK

Amway UK & ROI continues to grow

Amway United Kingdom & the Republic of Ireland went through a tough time a few years ago with an investigation by the UK government (ultimately dismissed) . The company halted all sponsoring during the investigation, yet millions of pounds of Amway products continued to be bought and sold, and leaders all the way up to Diamond continued to qualify. Sponsoring renewed several years ago, along with a slightly modified business model that requires, amongst another things, Amway Business owners to have a certain amount of registered customer sales before they’re allowed to sponsor and to earn bonuses and rebates. The latest income disclosure indicates the model appears to be working well. This years figures (for October 2011 to September 2012) are below, along with the same data for the previous two years.

Retail Consultants can purchase and sell Amway products, but are not yet allowed to sponsor

Certified Retail Consultants are Retail Consultants that have developed at least 5 customers and €125 in sales, completed an online course, and are now able to sponsor.

Business Consultants have reached the top of bonus scale. If their business also has a structure that reaches minimum income level requirements, they qualify as Platinums.

CVR is Customer Volume Rebate. It includes the standard Amway volume rebate plus retail margin, which (unlike in most other Amway markets) is collected by Amway and then rebated to those who qualify.

Amway UK & ROI Income disclosure data
      2010       2011      2012
# of Retail Consultants  13,270  16,287  28,696
# earning CVR  5,522  6,582  9,161
average monthly CVR  €49  €47  €52
highest monthly CVR  €1,131  €642  €1,870
lowest monthly CVR  €16  €23  €23
# of Certified RC  7,640  10,043  12,544
# earning CVR/bonus  6,211  7,585  8,742
average monthly CVR/bonus  €132  €126  €139
highest monthly earnings  €4,865  €3,720  €5,644
lowest monthly earnings  €6  €7  €5
# of Business Consultants  50  62  76
# of new BC  12  13  21
average monthly CVR/bonus  €2,664  €2,584  €2,405
# of Platinums  45  58  71
# of Emeralds  3  3  4
# of Diamonds  1  1  1

That’s a more than doubling of registered consultants in just two years, and based on the # earning bonuses and the averages somewhere near a 50% increase in sales. One of the most vocal European critics of Amway and multilevel marketing is a man by the name of David Brear. His entire argument is based on his opinion that Amway’s products are “unsellable”. If we look at the figures above, each of those Certified Retail Consultants had to have a minimum of 5 clients in order to earn a CVR in any given month, which means they alone represent, at a bare minimum, over 43000 Amway customers and €10-15 million in retail customer sales in the UK & ROI. Many of the retail consultants will of course also be developing customers and making retail sales, as are the Business Consultants. It’s also interesting to note that at least one Retail Consultant earned straight retail sales commissions for a month of nearly €1900 (over US$2500)

As is usually the case, the beliefs of Amway’s critics just doesn’t stand up to the facts.

Amway UK moves forward – Part I

I’ve been a little busy in the brand x and  offline world the last while (as well as setting up Amway Talk) so I haven’t had much chance for posting updates about the goings on in the world of Amway.

Amway UK & ROI has however passed a major milestone. On Monday, July 21, limited sponsoring of new Amway Business Owners began. This followed the UK High Court refusing BERR’s petition to close down Amway. BERR has appealed that decision, however Judge Norris refused their application to force Amway to maintain a moratorium on sponsoring new ABOs. Given the milestone, this is as good as time as any to review BERR vs Amway UK, it’s result, it’s effect, and the basis of the appeal. Continue reading Amway UK moves forward – Part I

Amway UK case – further information and some comments

The UK’s TimesOnline, High Court dismisses claims against Amway, has provided some further insights into today’s dismissal of the BERR’s case against Amway UK. Here’s a few interesting quotes –

Amway (UK) was cleared at the High Court of “dream selling”, of operating an unlawful lottery and of being an unlawful trading scheme.

This sets an excellent precedence for similar businesses in the UK, and those who recognize the British legal system. Similar charges have been filed against Amway India by police in the Indian district of Andra Pradesh, and this UK case may prove to be helpful.

However, the company had to give several legal undertakings including not to recruit further sales agents until it had publishing details of their average earnings and to scrap its annual charge to register as a distributor. Continue reading Amway UK case – further information and some comments

Amway UK & Ireland – Is this the problem?

As you probably know, Amway , Britt WorldWide , and Network 21 are currently involved in a dispute with the Department of Trade and Industry in the United Kingdom (see other posts on the situation here)

In order to gain more understanding of the issues, I’ve been studying the United Kingdom law about what they give the unfortunate name of “pyramid selling”. The relevant legislation is Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 3. Now, like most legislation, it’s not written in such a way as to make it easy for untrained folk to understand, however a “plain english” warning that is included in the legislation is quite straightforward. You’ll find this warning on the Amway Europe and Amway UK & Ireland websites as well  as Amway literature and the literature and websites of virtually every MLM company with operations in the UK. It says –

1. It is illegal for a promoter or a participant in a trading scheme to persuade anyone to make a payment by promising benefits from getting others to join a scheme. Continue reading Amway UK & Ireland – Is this the problem?