# New MLM company? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mlm-company/138586 "2002-11-25T02:54:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Basandre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@Basandre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Basandre)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mlm-company/138586/1 "2002-11-25T02:54:02Z")
Just this weekend, I heard about a company that recruits salespeople from its customer base like Amway does. It’s called Mellaluca, or something like that (I didn’t catch the spelling), which I gathered is a name of some wonder substance that the company puts in cosmetics, cleaning products, health stuff, and probably lots more. (Slices, dices, and also makes julienne fries!) One of my stepdad’s daughter-in-laws is apparently selling the stuff and has my parents buying a lot of it from her. One item in particular seemed kind of fishy - pills that are supposed to help prevent prostate cancer. IANAD so I don’t know if it’s feasable, but I cringe at claims like that. Also, it seems that if they don’t order 35 ‘points’ worth of stuff every month, the company sends them stuff anyway (and happily bills them for it, I imagine). Has anyone else ever heard of this company? Is it a scam like Amway, or is it more like Avon (where the products actually sell on their own merits)? The claim of a “wonder substance” sets off lots of alarms in my head, as does the monthly order thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mlm-company/138586/2 "2002-11-25T03:13:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Basandre \* > \*\*\Also, it seems that if they don’t order 35 ‘points’ worth of stuff every month, the company sends them stuff anyway (and happily bills them for it, I imagine).\ \*\* You seem to have answered your own question. ---
**Author:** ![Basandre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@Basandre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Basandre)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mlm-company/138586/3 "2002-11-25T03:23:42Z")
Yeah, yeah, I know it sounds like a scam for sure. But I don’t realy know any more about it than what they told me. For all I know, they signed up for some sort of “get a 10% dicount if you promise to buy at least 35 points of stuff a month” thing, they didn’t say. I was hoping somebody else had come across them, and could be more definite. (Why don’t I just ask my parents about it? If it is a scam I don’t want to trigger a future ‘pitch’ to me because I expressed interest. If it isn’t a scam, I don’t want to stir up family trouble, since it’s touchy enough as it is) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mlm-company/138586/4 "2002-11-25T03:28:15Z")
I was given this pitch about 7 years ago. It is a MLM structure but not quite as aggressive as Amway. The active ingredient in a lot of the products is tea tree oil from the melaleuca tree of Australia and southeast asia which does have some remakable properties and is a very powerful natural disinfectant and anti-bacterial compound. See [Melaleuca - The Wellness Company](http://www.melaleuca.com/) I got some soap and a bottle of disinfectant from them. Both worked fine buty were quite pricey. Some people claim (and seriously believe in) near miraculous properties for these products. > [@](#): > > Australian Tea Tree Oil is one of the most exciting oils in the world. This natural oil is an effective antiseptic, fungicide and bacteriacide, and has many safe and effective uses in the health and cosmetics industry. > > Tea Tree Oil was originally harvested from natural bush environments and first used by the Native Aboriginals for medicinal purposes. > > While there are many varieties of tea tree species, it is the leaf from the “Melaleuca Alternifolia”, which is indigenous to Australia, that is recognized as producing the best quality oil. Australian tea tree oil is a totally natural product produced by steam distillation of the leaves of the tea tree. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-mlm-company/138586/5 "2002-11-25T03:32:05Z")
[Melaleuca Distributors Sue their Upline and the Company](http://www.mlmsurvivor.com/melaleuca.htm) [Sites critical of Melaleuca](http://www.kunani.com/Business/Opportunities/Opposing_Views/Melaleuca/)