Quixtar: Beware of This Work at Home Scam
How do I know that Quixtar is a scam? I have relatives that were involved in Quixtar just from the outer fringes. I have friends of friends who are in Quixtar now. I also have been recruited to sell their products and turned it down. All these experiences led me to do more research on this company because I saw its lure and it definitely smells fishy. This seems like the biggest work at home scam.
First, I'll do a Donald Rumsfeld and Q&A myself to get out the facts.
1) What is Quixtar? Quixtar is a company that sells products both of their own company as well as other major brands. The premise is that by buying from them, you are changing someone's buying habits by getting them products cheaper and direct. You're saving them gas by not having to shop. You buy a certain amount every month, you get discounts. This is just as a buyer.
2) Are the products legit or cheaper? A lot of them are. Some of their products are a bit low quality, though. The paper towels that they sell aren't anything to brag about. Sure, it's cheaper, but they don't fit on your standard paper towel roll and for a few cents more, you might as well go to the grocery store. And as a buyer, you can pretty much get their name brand products for about the same price anywhere at your local chain store. Their "sales" aren't really that different than anywhere else. Their energy drinks aren't bad tasting and actually don't come with that down feeling afterwards. The detergent works well, the vitamins work well, but again, nothing spectacular.
3) What's the catch? The catch is selling the sell. See, they show you these products and say "ok, their a little cheaper on the dollar than if you bought them at the grocery store. But if you decide to SELL the products, we can get them to you even cheaper! All you have to do is..." and then it begins. All you have to do is buy a certain point value per month and you get a discount. BUT... if you can convince others to buy under your account, a piece of their point values count towards yours.
For example, every month you gotta get 200 points, which is about $250, to get a 3% commission (which works out to be 6 dollars. Wow.) If it gets towards the end of the month and you haven't sold any products under your account to get those points, guess who sucks up the cost? You! That's a lot of lipstick.
And vitamins. Why do you think they rate so high on vitamin sales? Because their nutrional supplements are decent, easy to buy and give away. If I had to find 100 bucks to spend or not get commission, I can only buy so much lipstick for my wife. I might as well buy vitamins and supplements. At least I'll be in shape while I'm poor.
The only way to keep yourself from stocking up on cheap lipstick and toilet paper is to convince others to pay the average price (if not higher) for those products under your account. You don't get any of their money, but you get a commission based on how many products they buy. How do you convince someone that they should buy from you and not from someone else products that really don't save them money?
You don't. You convince them to sell to others. And you get a percentage of their points, and so forth and so on. So in the end, most Quixtar people aren't even selling the products, their selling the IDEA of getting those products.
4) How much money can you actually make doing this not-so-pyramid scheme? There are two answers to this: 1) Not a lot and 2) A TON. It all depends on what kind of morals, gumption, salesmanship, and extra time you have in your life. 99% of the people (and this is my guess) don't make a lot.
They start off thinking that they will because the one guy who has the flashy car and rings comes by and says "you can be like me by selling these products!" Then they get that commission check and see that it's $115 for about 20 hours of work a week, convincing others to "change their buying habits", researching products, finding the sales, ensuring their customers got their orders, etc. Guess what? Quixtar reported (because, by law, they had to) that the average independent business owner- that's the name for the guy who decided to sell and not just buy- averages only $115 a month! Is working at home that hard worth $115, minus gas and sleepless nights?
So how do you get to be the guy with the flashy car and makes answer#2 money? You sell your soul... and the pipe dream. Continuing the scenario, your 5 people aren't selling well. What can they do to get better? Well, they can buy these tapes from you that are motivational in helping you sell. They can also buy videotapes and DVDs from you. They can also attend those seminars that you've been to that motivate people to sell.
But wait...how did you get those tapes and how much did you pay for them? You got them because you were so good at recruiting you made it to a special secret society of tape sellers. If you managed to recruit a lot of people that recruited others on the pipe dream, you are allowed to buy tapes from the company, sell them, and keep the profits.
And THAT is where the true money is. In my own house, I could buy one Quixtar motivational CD for 10 bucks, make 40 copies, sell them for 15 dollars and guess what? I keep the profit. Let's say those tapes worked a bit and my point values went up because my recruits recruited recruits to go out and recruit people to maybe sell these products.
The more points I have the bigger commission checks I receive. If my downline recruiting chain manages to net me 4000 points in a month, I get a commission check of $1050. And I didn't sell a damn roll of toilet paper to do it. Seminars are about $25; major function tickets are about $90. You can spend a lot of money just learning to sell these products, not to mention time and gas. No wonder you can clear barely over a Benjamin!
All in all, if you're in Quixtar to save a few dollars and make a few dollars, you're going to work very hard at it. Writing for Associated Content, depending on your typing and keyword ability, can make you a whole lot more. Just spending 8 hours on 10 articles that are special offers can make you $80. If you're good at selling a pipe dream, Quixtar may work out in your favor. But even then, the time probably isn't worth it.
Published by Paul Bright
Paul Bright is a 10 year military veteran. He is also an accomplished website content producer with over 2,000 published works online through Yahoo! Voices, Demand Studios, Digital Journal and Examiner among... View profile
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18 Comments
Post a CommentThere were some truths in your account. But, as an EX distributer for both Amway and Quixtar, I can honestly say that the Branded products are Great...and I miss them. The program was one that I truely miss and wish I had stuck with. I never felt better about life and myself as I did when I was part of the Childers organization. The only thing that didn't work, was me. Truth is, Most People don't get rich..just as in any business.
ow a profit then head over to your community college and take or re-take Business 101.
One of the biggest drawbacks of Amway is also one of its most alluring traits: anyone can do it. The barrier to entry into this market is $59/year. That makes it at once attractive to the person desperate to get out of their 9 to 5 and to the charlatan with no sense of business ethics. I've owned two non-Amway related businesses and own one now. I joined Amway because I believe in the business model. I like the fact that the people I spend months if not years to train in this business won't quit and become my competition. I will gladly help them be successful because it helps me in the end. Will your manager train you to do his/her job unless he/she has been promoted? The MLM model is only flawed in that people can get in for next to nothing and then assume they will get rich overnight. My businesses took YEARS to develop. The Amway BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY is no different. The key is to find the right leader to show you the way. If you didn't give this opportunity at least two years to sh
(cotinuded) that that $20,000 was not my brother's but family and friends.
Quixstar and Amway have found a way to beat the judicial system and thus our government. It is against the U.S. law to just collect money in return for get-rich-quick scheme unless authorized by the government like lotteries and gambling in casino or online. To make it legal, Quixstar found way to still collect money from their so-called IBOs in exchange for their brainwashing cassettes (audio and video) and books. Plus, if you want to attend their rallies, then you have to buy "tickets." These tickets weren't cheap ($70 to $100).
Quixstar rally usually has huge crowds. The only rally I went to which was held at the basketball stadium and it was completely filled. Also, there were a lot of people standing. There must have been over 200,000 people. So, at $70 to $100 a ticket, you could imagine the amount of money they collected at the rally ( to be exact say $100/ticket * 200,000 people = $20,000,000). Th
(continued) I was coaxed by one of the IBOs above me to come on this paid-trip ($70.00). As you can see, the money going out of my pocket was getting bigger and bigger. All this while, I made zero money or no money at all. One of the things I noticed then was I would get calls after calls day and night everyday from IBOs, who I never met, asking me to pay for this or signup to go on a paid-trip to be at this Diamond's rally. When I think about it now, I feel so stupid and dumb for not realizing soon that Quixstar and Amway are Scam.
My brother onetime lost over $20,000 on AMWAY. He was supposed to go door to door selling these shower-heads, which were supposed to be environmentally green. Let me tell you something, he lost everything. They wouldn't give his money back and no one bought these shower heads even though he went door to door begging and crying. According to my brother, all this happened when he went to rally in Atlanta back when Amway was in operation. What's worse was t
I was an IBO for Quixstar. I didn't like it one bit. I would be lying if I said I made enough to quit my daytime job or pay my bills from Quixstar within 2 months or even 3 months. From day one, I was brainwashed to buy this and that - go here and there - listen to him or her, etc, etc, etc. I kept spending money on cassettes after cassettes, books after books and brochure after brochures of these so called diamonds and ruby IBOs speeches and writings. Mind you I am not and wasn't rich then. In fact, I was barely getting by with $30,000 salary day time job. I had a lots of bills to pay. So, when I accidentally made the initial contact with this Indian guy, who was obviously dressed in a well-to-do manner, he pulled me into this Quixstar. In reality, he was as broke as I was. One of the things that I was strongly told to do was to get a website from their webhoster (about $50/month), get communikate 1800 number service (about $35/month). In fact, for one of their event in New Jersey, I
Even if you ignore how Quixtar itself works, the people scared me. Those who I knew and met while in Quixtar were either two faced or desperate. I feel bad for the desperate ones, because I was in their boat too.
The two faced ones were scary and I'm very glad I got out of it. There was something demonic about some of the higher ups I talked to, they would seem nice at first and told me I could do things my way... until a couple of weeks after I signed on.
First, They "reccommended" me to go to these meetings EVERY tuesday and even some additional "parties" and if I didn't go they'd either call me constantly or they would come to my apartment (the only person I gave my address to was the friend who refered me,) to ask me why I wasn't at the meeting or they'd restate why it is important to go. Once when I told them I didn't go because I was working at my job, they demanded to know who my employer was, where they could find them, and my work schedule. Thankfully I had the nerve t
Wherever there are LCK's there's a tool scam: http://texsquixtarblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/9-steps-of-truth.html
Wherever there is hope there is hate.
Quixtar is nothing short of a cult. Basically a bunch of usually uneducated people chasing people around at gas stations begging them to to put their name and number on a business card they just made the week before so that they can nag them for the next month to go to some "jenny craig-weight watchers-like meeting" and talk about how you can make 3000 a month in 10 hours a week work time.
Heres a tip, If you're in quixtar now and you're on this site, and you have any hinkling that you should quit the business, then quit now. Get out with your money, dignity and you'll even keep the same friends. I know you may think, im gonna make it. Im gonna be that person. But let me tell you, you're not. You're gonna chase the shadow for a long long time until you finally get your head out of your ass.
Run from Amway, quixscar or whatever else they call themselves this week.