# Can one make a living selling Herbalife? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-make-a-living-selling-herbalife/640658 "2012-11-11T05:06:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-make-a-living-selling-herbalife/640658/62 "2013-09-05T14:46:47Z")
Facts and figures from Herbalife Corporate according to [http://ezinearticles.com/?Herbalife-Scam—The-Need-To-Know-Truth-About-Herbalife&id=872155](http://ezinearticles.com/?Herbalife-Scam---The-Need-To-Know-Truth-About-Herbalife&id=872155): > [@](#): > > According to Herbalife corporate, the average distributor’s 2006 earnings per month was $5,100, and from what I have heard recently that figure is expected to drop for 2007. I feel that this is a decent average to report, however, let’s take a look at the following: > •Close to only 1% of Herbalife distributors are responsible for earning over 85% of the company’s wealth - that means near 99% of the company is fighting for the remaining 15% of sales that make up the billion dollar Herbalife empire > These are not the percentages you want to see when considering a multi-level marketing company. Additionally: > •Herbalife products, on average, are sold at 30% more than the very same product with the very same ingredients, only with a different name, at most nutritional stores ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-make-a-living-selling-herbalife/640658/63 "2013-09-06T04:31:51Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Anyway, what does Herbalife do? > [@WhyNot](#): > > it’s weight loss and bodybuilding stuff. It mostly helps you lose weight from your wallet. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-make-a-living-selling-herbalife/640658/64 "2013-09-06T04:55:30Z")
Is Cutco Knives the same thing? This summer an acquaintance just got a job selling Cutco Knives and was convinced he would make a fortune selling them. He kept saying, " If I ONLY have 20 appointments a week and if each appointment buys ONLY $250 worth of knives, I’ll be sitting on a fat paycheck. And of course it will be easy to get more than 20 appointments a week, and I’m sure everyone will be so impressed by these knives they’ll buy a bunch of them!" There is just no way he’ll sell ever half as many knives. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-make-a-living-selling-herbalife/640658/65 "2013-09-06T11:59:02Z")
what about selling Kirby vacuums? All these seem like a scam. Why would you bother with a salesman selling your product when you could get it yourself? For that manner, why dont these companies just sell their product online? They wouldnt have to pay comissions to salespeople. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-make-a-living-selling-herbalife/640658/66 "2013-09-06T12:10:17Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > what about selling Kirby vacuums? All these seem like a scam. Why would you bother with a salesman selling your product when you could get it yourself? > > For that manner, why dont these companies just sell their product online? They wouldnt have to pay comissions to salespeople. In the case of Herbalife, because the product costs on the average 30% more than its competitors, the real money(at least for those at the top) comes from recruiting others. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-make-a-living-selling-herbalife/640658/67 "2013-09-06T12:15:28Z")
To be successful in recruiting others for Herbalife you have to be willing to lie to them. You cannot tell a recruit that you have other recruits working the same area already. The more recruits you have the dryer the market becomes. If you try to recruit a family member the lie is even worse, because when they try to sell to family members they find out that you are already hitting them up. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-make-a-living-selling-herbalife/640658/68 "2013-09-06T12:33:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > To be successful in recruiting others for Herbalife you have to be willing to lie to them. You cannot tell a recruit that you have other recruits working the same area already. The more recruits you have the dryer the market becomes. If you try to recruit a family member the lie is even worse, because when they try to sell to family members they find out that you are already hitting them up. Wasn’t that the same way Primerica insurance worked? They recruited you as a salesperson, and during your training they called on all your friends and relatives with the commissions going to the person who recruited you. When you’re finally ready to sell, all your leads have been used up, so your only choice is to find more suckers and use up their leads. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-make-a-living-selling-herbalife/640658.md?page=3)