Herbal Life In Thailand

[DavidOxon]

Hi there

Has anyone else ever come across this company recruiting or distributing in Thailand?

Are they a pyramid scam or a genuine business opportunity?

Grateful for any info before I let a friend get involved.

Thanks

David

[peter991]

Herbalife started 28 years ago and has 1.7 million members.

It has a fair bit of respectability in the weight-loss business too. Ex-wife tried 'every diet known' and found Herbalife was the only product that did the job.

I am not in any way associated with any weight-loss company.

Peter

[DavidOxon]

Herbalife started 28 years ago and has 1.7 million members.

It has a fair bit of respectability in the weight-loss business too. Ex-wife tried 'every diet known' and found Herbalife was the only product that did the job.

I am not in any way associated with any weight-loss company.

Peter

Thanks for your speedy response

David

[jumnien]

My heart couldn't take the ephedra in the weight-loss nutritional drink. I spent a couple hours under observation in Bumrungrad with an extremely elevated heart rate and blood pressure. A good friend is a distributer and enjoys it very much.

[A_Traveller]

As MLM's go {multi-level-marketing} this one has a decentish reputation. However, I've never been 'sold' pun intended, on the marketing strategy of selling to friends, or even worse selling them the idea of selling to their friends by buying from you. I've always wondered how long such 'friendships' last...

Regards

PS if you search for herbalife and scam you'll see there are those who are most assuredly unconvinced. Same with Amway et al.

Edited March 31, 2008 by A_Traveller

[Theyreallrubbish]

As MLM's go {multi-level-marketing} this one has a decentish reputation. However, I've never been 'sold' pun intended, on the marketing strategy of selling to friends, or even worse selling them the idea of selling to their friends by buying from you. I've always wondered how long such 'friendships' last...

Regards

PS if you search for herbalife and scam you'll see there are those who are most assuredly unconvinced. Same with Amway et al.

I remember Herbalife arrived in Thailand in force around the time of the economic crisis and desperate middle class Thais were roped in. I'm pretty sure most of them never made their initial money back.

I had a bad taste in my mouth from them simply because they were exploiting misery and desperation and selling these people the idea they could rescue themselves financially. The problem with all these schemes is that only the bosses at the very top make any money.

Plus, with the huge commissions being paid at each level you need to sell a cheap product at a huge mark-up for everyone to get their share.

I remember being invited to dinner at a few upper middle class Thai homes in the late 90s only to find they really wanted to recruit me to sell this stuff as part of their pyramid. Annoying and uncomfortable

[PrBkkPr]

Hi!

Please apply due diligence before signing up with any of these MLM companies. Most are scams and even the so called "credible" ones sell you products that are extremely over marked-up (thats how they manage their different levels of commissions), some of thoses so called "credible" ones have products that are almost marked up by a 1000 %!. You can find the products with similar constitutions for a fraction of the price. Plus some of them are not even FDA approved and they go under the guise of health foods or supplements but yet make claims either their hand-outs or at sales pitches which are not FDA approved. If you come across such claims, contact the local FDA and file a report. Also make sure that these companies are registered with the local MLM Association. Better still , just stay away from any individuals who are in it. Its basically for scammers and underachievers. There is another American base company pulling these similar scams at the mpment and they operate from Centralworld...a company called Agel who have sachets of food supplements that are over priced and not FDA cleared.

[Theyreallrubbish]

I remember being invited to dinner at a few upper middle class Thai homes in the late 90s only to find they really wanted to recruit me to sell this stuff as part of their pyramid. Annoying and uncomfortable

Me too. Same with that A#way and A*A insurance bunch of clowns. Keep drinking the Kool Aid.

For some reason at that time most of the foreigners who came in to set up the Thai operations seemed to come from New Zealand. I hadn't known New Zealand was a global hub for MLM

[khunandy]

For some reason at that time most of the foreigners who came in to set up the Thai operations seemed to come from New Zealand. I hadn't known New Zealand was a global hub for MLM

Kiwis love pyramid selling, no shame roping family and friends in to these schemes.

Some people seem to make money but don't get stuck next to one at a party under any cicumstances.

Same goes for Amway, Nutrametics etc etc...all scams unless you live and breath marketing 24/7

I do know a guy who got into Herbalife 25 years ago and he is a multi millionaire now, he is a social leper but rich enough not to care

[Gravelrash]

Hi!

Please apply due diligence before signing up with any of these MLM companies. Most are scams and even the so called "credible" ones sell you products that are extremely over marked-up (thats how they manage their different levels of commissions), some of thoses so called "credible" ones have products that are almost marked up by a 1000 %!. You can find the products with similar constitutions for a fraction of the price. Plus some of them are not even FDA approved and they go under the guise of health foods or supplements but yet make claims either their hand-outs or at sales pitches which are not FDA approved. If you come across such claims, contact the local FDA and file a report. Also make sure that these companies are registered with the local MLM Association. Better still , just stay away from any individuals who are in it. Its basically for scammers and underachievers. There is another American base company pulling these similar scams at the mpment and they operate from Centralworld...a company called Agel who have sachets of food supplements that are over priced and not FDA cleared.

I tried to get a harmless herb approved through the FDA, my lawyers quoted ridiculous bribes required. Needless to say my attitude to the credibility of the Thai FDA is zero. It merely makes things legal.

As to MLM companies most people do it to try to make money, and yes the products are not cheap as many levels eat commissions from any given sale. Most people will not make money, but some have the aptitude and can become quite wealthy. Assuming the company doesn't go under they can be drawing income for many years.

If interested try it for 6-12 months, if you aren't going anywhere by then you probably never will. If doing in Thailand check what is popular here, not too saturated and has a setup in your own country as well for another avenue to push "sales". It also helps if what you are flogging is actually useful. Many herbalife products are actually quite good, but it isn't cheap here so consider who your victims will be. Oh and try to avoid the overpriced "sales aids" unless you have a long term goal to be a zombie parrotting those pitches.

[AnalyzeThis]

Appreciate the comments of the above members even though i doubt anyone of them knows the company from inside. I have been with Agel for a few months.

Wonder how PrBkkPr can claim that these products are marked up by 1,000%.

To answer A_Traveller, if you make money don't you want to invite your friends to be part of the network?

With Agel, there is no pushy sale...Also it is good to join at the beginning and with an international team.

David, PM/email me if you need more details...

[rgs2001uk]

Appreciate the comments of the above members even though i doubt anyone of them knows the company from inside. I have been with Agel for a few months.

Wonder how PrBkkPr can claim that these products are marked up by 1,000%.

To answer A_Traveller, if you make money don't you want to invite your friends to be part of the network?

With Agel, there is no pushy sale...Also it is good to join at the beginning and with an international team.

David, PM/email me if you need more details...

wonder what page of the manual this classic line is from, greedy people preying on the weak and the vulnerable, no scruples whatsoever.

how do you sleep at night? knowing you are probably thought of as being even lower than an estate agent or a financial adviser.

sorry i have just answered my own question no scruples, notice you didnt miss the chance for a bit of follow up action with another unsuspecting mug.

youve got to laugh.

[Bagwain]

Did my tour of duty twice with both Amway & Herbalife plus a sprinkling of others. Bloody hard work and I am a salesman.

If you spent as much time and energy as needed with MLM. then with any viable business oportunity, it would most likely give you similar results.

I for one won't go there again!!

[Johpa]

I remember being invited to dinner at a few upper middle class Thai homes in the late 90s only to find they really wanted to recruit me to sell this stuff as part of their pyramid. Annoying and uncomfortable

Me too. Same with that A#way and A*A insurance bunch of clowns. Keep drinking the Kool Aid.

I remember all to well the original Amway infestation in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A few people made lots of money. And then a whole lot of people either made nothing for their time and efforts, or lost money. But even those who made some money lost most of their friends. The problem is that amongst the more traditional Thais, failure to purchase goods from a friend or relative who makes a sincere effort to sell you the goods is seen as a tremendous loss of face (khai naa) and the typical response is for the seller to get upset and end the friendship. I know several people who quit their jobs, including two teachers, to become Amway dealers, only to have to completely rebuild their social networks. The typical scenario is for the friend to purchase the product once to maintain face (raksaa naa) and sustain the friendship but then refuse the second time. And as any retailer will tell you, one only makes a profit when the customer returns again.

[sylviex]

One poster above stated he suffered heart problems from the ephedra in the "weight loss" product.

Ephedra/ephedrine acts like an amphetamine in preventing (normal) hunger. It also has very dangerous side effects. You may have taken pseudoephedrine in pills like Codral. (No, it wasn't just the absence of the runny nose that made you feel good.)

I would stay away for this reason as well as that of the perils & distastefulness of marketing to friends.

Ephedra refers to the plant Ephedra sinica.^[1] E. sinica, known in Chinese as ma huang (麻黃; pinyin: má huáng), has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for 5,000 years for the treatment of asthma and hay fever, as well as for the common cold.^[2] Several additional species belonging to the genus Ephedra have traditionally been used for a variety of medicinal purposes, and are a possible candidate for the Soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion.^[3] Native Americans and Mormon pioneers drank a tea brewed from an Ephedra, called Mormon Tea.

Mormon Tea (Ephedra funerea) growing in the wild in the Fiery Furnace area of Arches National Park near Moab, Utah.In recent years, the safety of ephedra-containing dietary supplements has been questioned by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the medical community as a result of a high rate of serious side effects and ephedra-related deaths.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} In response to accumulating evidence of adverse effects and deaths related to ephedra, the FDA banned the sale of ephedra-containing supplements on April 12, 2004.^[9] A suit by an ephedra manufacturer was upheld by a Federal District Court judge in Utah on April 14, 2005. ^[10] The FDA appealed this ruling, and on August 17, 2006 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the FDA's ban of ephedra.^[11] The sale of ephedra-containing dietary supplements remains illegal in the United States due to evidence of adverse ephedra-related effects.

Wiki

Mormon Tea !!

Edited August 18, 2008 by sylviex

[Gary A]

I have an aversion to all pyramid structured companies. They mostly rope in poor people and have those poor people take advantage of their friends selling them the products. The products that may be good are vastly overpriced. I wouldn't buy anything from those companies and although it does no good, I try to discourage my wife from buying those products. If the sales people make the mistake of talking to me first, I run them off.

[alaina]

I had two co-workers that were involved with Herbal Life here. Who knows whether or not they made any money (I doubt it.)

What I do know is that they became as annoying as Mormons selling Amway. After a while, the only people they ate lunch with were each other as the rest of us were tired of hearing the sales pitch and about the 'Herbal Life events'.

Unless you have some friends that you need to get rid of, I don't think the profit is worth the risk.

[girlx]

i used to work for them moderating their conference calls. it was like listening to religious zealots. i wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole. i don't think anyone other than the few at the top ever made money anyway.

[topak]

I recommend Chinese herbal medicines!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I recommend Chinese herbal medicines!

[Gary A]

Do the Chinese herbal medicines include tiger penis, rhinoceros horn, bear paws and cobra blood?

[lannaman]

Appreciate the comments of the above members even though i doubt anyone of them knows the company from inside. I have been with Agel for a few months.

Wonder how PrBkkPr can claim that these products are marked up by 1,000%.

To answer A_Traveller, if you make money don't you want to invite your friends to be part of the network?

With Agel, there is no pushy sale...Also it is good to join at the beginning and with an international team.

David, PM/email me if you need more details...

We joined AGEL two months ago. After both of us trying really hard we have attracted one other to join under us, and several others have been placed under us. None of these good folks have succeeded in bringing others in. We went to their seminar at Jontien and the impression I had was that there were a handful of folks making big money (Ferrari and several Benzs parked outside for show, the Thais just love this ostentatious nonsense!) and a hoard of others who were being conned to join and buy stock and then try to sell an uncertain product at a VERY inflated price.

I came away with a very negative impression of the whole scheme.

We live in Northern Thailand where the vast majority of people just cannot afford 3000 baht a month on a daily supplement. They also have a compensation system that can only work to the benefit of the greedy management.

I feel I do not want to push this on to friends and aquaintances. Their friendship is more important than the investment one can have of 10000 or 40000 baht. Just not worth losing friends over!

[tj916]

Had a friend in the UK go for Herballife in a big way a few years ago. He went for it in a big way for 18 months, stickers on his car, sales talks in the US, (at his expense), stopping people in the street if they were overweight etc. We used to have a book running on when someone would punch him LOL.

He used to buy huge amounts of the stuff to get Max discount and then not be able to shift it. He had a garage filled with the "product"

Didnt make a penny and was very cagey about what it had cost him. I helped him load the crap into a skip when he finally saw the light.

[tropo]

As MLM's go {multi-level-marketing} this one has a decentish reputation. However, I've never been 'sold' pun intended, on the marketing strategy of selling to friends, or even worse selling them the idea of selling to their friends by buying from you. I've always wondered how long such 'friendships' last...

I had to break off a friendship once when he joined an MLM company.

[kensingto]

You don't want to bother your uncle sam, didn't you?

[Harcourt]

dam_n. Wrong subject. Wrong herb. Wrong life. The thread heading had me intrigued.

[geriatrickid]

I tried to get a harmless herb approved through the FDA, my lawyers quoted ridiculous bribes required. Needless to say my attitude to the credibility of the Thai FDA is zero. It merely makes things legal.

Are you refering the Thai FDA or USA FDA?

You call it "harmless". Did you have the testing to back that up? People used to think cocaine which was safe and harmless too and it was in a refreshing cola drink. It is an "all natural product, derived from coca leaves.There are few if any restrictions on "herbs" unless they are touted as medicines. One can sell any non-lethal herb as food in Thailand. If someone wants to sell as a medicine they have to prove that it is safe and works. No bribes are necessary when submitting the clinical trials and supporting documentation. What is needed is a product that works.

Hebal Life has come a long way since its dubious origins. Is it crooked? I don't think so. Are the sales practices lame? I think so. There have been a couple studies supported by the company, but I don't think they prove anything. Because the products are health supplements they don't have the same burden of proof as medicinal products and can get away with the claims, although there have been several regulatory actions directed at the company. My personal view is that there are better ways to make a living than exploiting the greed and ignorance of people.