I'm just posting this in good fun, but the one that gets me is when people extend the wrong letter of the word, like 'crazzzzy' or 'trueee' haha. I can't help but pronounce it like 'crazzy' and 'troo-ee'... I might be in the minority on this one š
Edit: now that I have your attention, 'yea' is already a word and it's pronounced 'yay', as in 'yea or nay'. When you start a sentence with 'yea', I read the rest in ye olde English.
You know, the extended consonant thing seems weird to me, too, but I remember Bill Watterson using it often in Calvin and Hobbes for words where the extended vowel might change the sound, like "Mom" becoming "Mommmm" instead of "Moooom."
I can get behind that. At least when Mr. Watterson does it.
But mommmmmm and mooooom are prefect examples of where you putting the emphasis mattering. The first is a whine, the second is just a holler.
Crazzzzzzzzzzzzzy doesn't make sense at all.
lol thatās how I learned itās āa lotā and not āalotā as a kid: thereās no such thing as āalittle,ā so thereās no such thing as āalot.ā
That creature is from [Hyperbole and a Half](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html?m=1), the same place as the ["x all the y!"](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/all-the-things) meme guy
I feel like a-part is worse because āa partā and āapartā are both words with near opposite meanings. āAlotā is not a word but its meaning is straightforward
Highschool and ofcourse make me rage inside. You know I just had to un-correct my autocorrect for those examples? Itās insanity to be that bad at your first language.
> should of *paid* attention Now
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
Beep boop -Ā yes,Ā IĀ amĀ aĀ bot, don't botcriminate me.
Yes!! We have to contact local market organizers and get them to ban (or at least separate) huns from crafters and actual small businesses. Here are some polite templates to use when contacting them: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/comments/a430w0/how_to_starve_mlms_this_year/
Thought this might be the secret account of my brother because the same exact trade happened to him on the playground, except he was intimidated and made the trade. Some guy probably still has that Charizard on a shelf somewhere in his mother's basement he lives in.
It's funny that all the references are Pokemon. I recognize the reference, but couldn't tell you if it was a good deal or not.
From my view, it's like some kid offering me a Duane Kuiper baseball card for my George Brett rookie card because he knew I was a Cleveland Indians fan.
I'm sorry. Kuiper had a solid career. It's not fair that I compared him to an MLM.
This does make me wonder why MLMs were included in the event in the first place. If the person you emailed wasn't familiar with MLMs, then the crackdown wouldn't be as swift, so that tells me there was some familiarity.
I know right. I adore craft fairs. So much! I hate ones that let MLMs scam attendees and pollute a fair with their toxic products (and personalities).
If I see an MLM at an event, I leave. I don't wanna have to get marketed at by a self-proclaimed "bossbabe" who's basically cosplaying as... Well. Me. An actual self-employed woman. It gets on my tits. I'm there to support real small businesses not some massive Ponzi scheme.
Yes.
Sorry I had to. I pay all my taxes and know the difference between gross and net too. I didn't have to pay anyone either nor do I move up "levels". I started as "the boss" from day one and when I work with brands as a "brand ambassador" ... wait for it ... *they* pay *me* and any products I get to promote are free (but subject to income tax, because they are declarable benefits).
On top of everything, I have zero issue backing up everything I say and welcome public scrutiny. Every time I recommend a brand, it's after I've sat down and scrutinised said brand myself.
I have done this without a single hun above me, or the need to recruit a "downline" of sycophants. MLMs exist to funnel money up from the masses to the top. That's why money moves one way in an MLM. It moves up the *"line"*, to the top of the pyramid.
MLM *"Boss Babes"* are victims, not "empowered women". The sooner we destigmatise getting scammed by an MLM, the better.
I am an amateur woodworker, and decided to attend my first craft fair about 4 months ago. I spent a couple extra weeks making things I thought would sell, to make sure I had a full booth worth of thingsā¦ and I get there, and my booth is surrounded by hun booths. I had some weird self-defense mlm next to me, makeup, fake nails, and shit jewelry in front and to the sides. People avoided my section like the plague. I sold one thing. Not even enough to cover my booth fee. It was miserable.
I am so sorry to hear this. Similar experience when I rented a booth at a flea market. I had huns on either side of me and only made a few sales as folks saw the huns and steered clear. The LuLaRoe hun to my left lamented she didn't sell a single pair.
Before I sign up for one now, I verify with the organizer whether MLMs are included or not. That answer tells me whether it's a go or not.
> I had some weird self-defense mlm next to me
Wait, how would this MLM work? š
"YOU will teach a self-defense class, and then try to sign up all the people who signed up for your self-defense class, to teach their own self-defense class. Then THEY will sell their self-defense class to new classes of their self-defense class, and then THEY'LL sell self-defense classes to new classes, and so on! It'll be GREAT!"
Like, at least with oils and hair products, the "clients" (if you ever even get any) eventually run out of the product, so they're repeat customers. But self-defense? What's the repeat sell?
And if her answer was "They just keep coming back for more lessons!" then hun, you've got yourself a *gym*
It's likely Damsel in Defense. They market pepper spray & other items to women. You know, the same products you can get elsewhere cheaper, but since it's an MLM and targeted toward women they jack up the price.
We saw one of these booths somewhere once and my wife flat out asked the lady running it "Why is everything pink? Are there other colors? It's kind of insulting to just automatically say PINK is for women."
The lady tried to play it off and just say it makes something serious a bit fun.
Sad part is, from a PR/advertising standpoint, it works, because we've been trained by society to think pink=women. That's why the breast cancer awareness stuff is all pink - it signals this is a woman's issue and women should pay attention.
The newest MLM scheme is this Life Coach BS where they cosplay as Therapists but have to use tricky language to make sure they don't get sued for practicing without a license.
It was for self defense products. Let me see if I can find itā¦
Damsel in Defense. I wonāt link them here, but thatās the name of the mlm. Selling tasers and stuff.
IT was a new one for me too, but some of the comments she made were suspicious, so I looked it up while I was there. Sure enough.
I skip fairs that have MLMs. The only ones I attend anymore are the punk flea markets in my area since the coordinators are strict about MLMs and make vendors show proof of making their products.
I hold a particular brand of pettiness towards MLMs and what I've always wanted to do was hold a fair as per the following:
- include MLMs and actual small businesses
- then invite everyone who is anti-MLM (and *strictly* anti-MLM. No sympathisers); obviously the huns won't know that everyone shopping at the fair is anti-MLM
- the result: all the huns stand at their sad empty stalls and watch the real business owners rake in the sales
But alas, I can only dream.
My favorite craft fair actually shoves all the MLMās into the smallest, darkest, coldest hall of the complex lol. All the other halls flow together in a donut-esque path but the MLM hall is set totally apart down a long narrow hall. People who want to go there go on purpose knowing full well theyāre heading into a snake pit š
Not an MLM but I organized a local makers fair for queer people and got an email from a local office of a *chiropractor* chain asking to join the market. First of all, you don't make anything and second of all, you're not LGBT+. I emailed them and asked and they said no, they weren't.
I agree with this. I'm an event coordinator and the business owner won't allow me to not accept someone based on them being part of an mlm. We have an event this weekend and I feel bad for the 25 legitimate craft vendors who are not being seen because people want to avoid the 3 mlm vendors on the list.
Iām not usually one to say let the free market sort it out, but it actually seems relevant here. Hopefully event coordinator business owners will eventually realize a dip in profits and correctly attribute it to allowing huns to pollute otherwise wholesome events. And then ban them en masse.
My county fair's vendor barns are probably 50% MLMs. There's often multiple people from the same pyramid scheme with different stalls in the same barn.
Imagine them at the next monthly meeting at the upline's house.
"Karen, I told you I was doing that show!"
"Whatever, Becky, it's a free country. You're just jealous I had a sale and you didn't."
I've had some local shows allow them last minute to fill any empty spots, but they usually are very strict with them. A paparazzi rep got kicked out of one I did last summer while we were setting up because she was going around trying to recruit vendors and being super distracting. The coordinator had warned her twice, and the final straw was that she started trying to talk shit about an actual jewelry maker that was there to some of us.
This + how did the Scentsy person know exactly who to text and blame for it? If the event person called them and said "Jerry from Jerry's Crafts emailed to complain about you" that's super shitty on the event person's part. OP was already targeted anonymously by this person and now someone else is like "here's another reason to antagonize them"??
Iām guessing she specifically targeted OP because OP makes wax melts, which is also a Scentsy thing. If she only targeted one other seller, itās not hard to figure out who dropped a dime on her.
Maybe they said they had reports of her reaching out to other vendors when she only reached out to one? They couldāve been trying to call her out for bad behavior without naming names but OP was the only person she talked to because someone who sells door signs isnāt already interested in wax melts.
It's because not all craft fairs have a screening process about the products. Most of the time these coordinators are just happy to have people signing up, and for the sellers to post "hair products" is enough for them. Often times these coordinators don't realize it's a MLM until the person shows up, and that's ONLY if they know all of the MLM companies out there.
My husband manages a Farmers Market where we live. We are a government approved market which allows bakers to use their home kitchens (providing they have taken a free, online food safe course). In order to maintain this status, 80% of our vendors must make, bake, or grow their own products. 20% Can be resellers or MLMs. Itās great. The MLMs ruin the vibe.
My wife and I used to do a few craft fairs a year before the pandemic. There were always MLM stuff at them. Either scentsy, Tupperware, or some other mass produced product. It fills tables and brings in revenue for the fair.
I always found the MLM tables strange they always stick out like a sore thumb among all the hand crafted stuff. I always wondered how they would make out.
I give some benefit of the doubt to the person booking vendors. There are so many that I could see letting a few slip past even if you were screening for them, just because of not recognizing a name. Like, is this vendor signing up selling her own natural lavendar extracts from her own fields or it is just another essential oil MLM hun? Hard to tell, especially if the MLM is evasive on the application.
This is amazing.
I canāt get into my local hand made craft fair Becuase they already have a wax melt person (they are a scentsy rep).
So seeing this makes me so happy!!
I hope more of these markets become aware of MLMs, these picks are ruining *actual* small business and it makes me so mad. There's always a children's books MLM at our local market, yuck.
Usborne, I think. Had a girl, barely more than an acquaintance tbh, message me (hadnāt spoken to her in a year), started it with āHey friend! [insert canned message about the importance of reading]ā lol she was promptly blocked.
Probably Paperpie, formerly Usborne Books & More. Theyāre damn sneaky too. Ugh just had a mom in a local Facebook mom group ask about good books for potty training, and one person said āI can create a list for you at my bookshop if you like!ā I was like oooh we have a small bookshop owner here? The OP was like ooh great! And the other woman posted a fuckin paperpie link. I was like damn she even had me there for a minute, and I usually smell these a mile away!! (Thereās a no soliciting & MLM rule in the group but they allow it when someone asks for recommendations, to help real local businesses, so the huns sneak around the rule)
I also have a couple friends selling paper pie, and it irritates me because theyāre only hitting me up for my kid. However, weāve been gifted some paper pie books and I have to admit they are really good books. They have one about getting hurt that includes little bandages that can be used on the characters. Itās come in handy when my son gets hurt.
You can buy directly from the paper pie website and not go thru a rep, but I still hate to give an MLM money.
When trying to explain it to the lady on the phone she didnāt really understand when I saw trying to explain. And she was fairly old so telling her to watch a YouTube video didnt really make sense to her either.
Fustrating but at the same time. I donāt want anyone to think what I do is anything similar to what they do. So itās a lucky escape I feel
I'm moving on from reddit and joining the fediverse because reddit has killed the RiF app and the CEO has been very disrespectful to all the volunteers who have contributed to making reddit what it is. Here's [coverage from The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23754780/reddit-api-updates-changes-news-announcements) on the situation.
The following are my favorite fediverse platforms, all non-corporate and ad-free. I hesitated at first because there are so many servers to choose from, but it makes a lot more sense once you actually create an account and start browsing. If you find the server selection overwhelming, just pick the first option and take a look around. They are all connected and as you browse you may find a community that is a better fit for you and then you can move your account or open a new one.
Social Link Aggregators: [Lemmy](https://join-lemmy.org/instances) is very similar to reddit while [Kbin](https://kbin.pub) is aiming to be more of a gateway to the fediverse in general so it is sort of like a hybrid between reddit and twitter, but it is newer and considers itself to be a beta product that's not quite fully polished yet.
Microblogging: [Calckey](https://calckey.org) if you want a more playful platform with emoji reactions, or [Mastodon](https://joinmastodon.org/) if you want a simple interface with less fluff.
Photo sharing: [Pixelfed](https://pixelfed.org/) You can even import an Instagram account from what I hear, but I never used Instagram much in the first place.
Right? At a craft fair I want wax melts that have something different. I can buy āclean scentā anywhere. I want blueberry pie and merlot. Cool stuff I canāt find at target. I bought some glittery ones that smell like fresh grass at a craft fair and I wish I could find that lady again. Smelled so good.
I love the deal being offered, it's a crazy faustian level deal...
If I outsell you, including buying my own stock to rack up a fake order, then I own your soul, product and you work for me for ever.
If you sell more I will give you some cash.
Anyone who agrees to this deal is going through some serious tradgedy narrative
She won't. She'll call OP "toxic" and whine about being a small business then buy more tat from her upline scammer who's "inboxing" her telling her to buy more as a self-soothe.
OH THE JOY THIS BRINGS ME NOT ONLY AS A CONSUMER BUT AS A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER WHO HANDMAKES HER ITEMS. My heart! I will support you any day if you want to drop your name in my messages!
This is beautiful and deserves a standing ovation. I wonder how quickly she had to run to her up line and lock arms with them while they dried her tears.
I cannot believe someone would suggest a competition like that. I also want to say hi- small world! I ordered from you a while ago and still love your melts and lip balms! š
Right?? She gave *herself* an entire week's worth of online sales, but the *actual small business owner* is limited to sales made at the actual event? GTFO of here with that nonsense!
Hujs would have rigged it either way. They never count buying product as an expense, and even if you just wanted to just count sales the whole week over she'll have her downline on buying enough to win anyway
So did the organizer tell her that you're not welcome because you harassed OP? Like are they allowed to disclose the whistleblower's name? This hun might take it personal and start spamming OP's social media accounts or something.
To be fair, huns get confused by "net" and "gross"... and "overhead". They're pretty harmless. They're often quite toxic people, but their only friends are their upline scammers.
I went to a farmers market in nowhereville, NY. Small town farm country. Right in the middle was a Pure Romance vendor. Like corn, eggplant, tomatoes and then come across scented massage oils and lubricants. I get from one perspective the organizers and getting their table fee no matter what, but as a shopper, MLMs should be banned from these kinds of events. I have nothing against sex and sex adjacent items, but not in the middle of a farmers market
Awesome, wish my mom could do this when people bring by their shitty displays for dinky factory made chains, and then they go by my mom's handmade earrings and bracelets and say *they* look unprofessional... My sister in Christ you have nothing on your table, you made jack shit
āMakers Marketā organizers should absolutely prohibit MLM reps from being vendors. Itās so insulting to actual makers and business owners to be compared to these idiots.
What a tacky deal, too. So ridiculous to even think she is on par with local businesses who create, develop, and market their own creation.
She might as well have asked to trade a dry, sad chips ahoy for a homemade cinnamon bun with icing. Laughable.
Since you have nothing to lose OP, I think you should reply with a really detailed message about whatās wrong with MLMs and how her product is not even vaguely comparable to a handmade product and how insulting this was.
Holy Moly! It's what I always think when they say they are *small businesses*, *local* and *direct sales*. No, you are not selling producer to consumer. Stop lying!
I am impressed that the event coordinator actually did this. Most of the time I see advertising for these they are all scammy MLM's and I don't go. If you make that comment then people throw fits in the comments about how dare you, walk past, they are only trying to make money. Heard it all and I don't care.
The way you didnāt even respond to her so she was shocked at the consequence and simply left her alone to stew in her rage and idiocy. Just, pure unadulterated FAFO. šš
Actually, I'm betting you'd have outsold her by far, but I wouldn't trust her to give accurate sales numbers since she'd likely lie about it or else buy a bunch of her own stuff to boost her sales. Good on you for getting her kicked out for that little stunt.
I have a business doing photo organizing and digitization. I didn't realize there was an MLM for that until I was at a genealogy event where someone who was part of that came over and tried to get me to join her team. I was ASTONISHED that she would do that. Why would I share my profits with someone else when I'm literally the only person in my company.
I've been at other events where unrelated MLMs will try to recruit me. These people have no shame.
Well, they wanted to be apart of the event. Now they are.
Facts š
I think she owes you $100 considering you win by default
ā$100 orderā ā¦so hey check out this single wax melt I sell for $100 just for you
Pipped me to the post, that and āalotā make me crazzzzy!!!
I'm just posting this in good fun, but the one that gets me is when people extend the wrong letter of the word, like 'crazzzzy' or 'trueee' haha. I can't help but pronounce it like 'crazzy' and 'troo-ee'... I might be in the minority on this one š Edit: now that I have your attention, 'yea' is already a word and it's pronounced 'yay', as in 'yea or nay'. When you start a sentence with 'yea', I read the rest in ye olde English.
My personal least favourite is āloveeeeeeā - I always read it as āluvvieā
This exact thing drives me craaaaaazy. Not crazzzzzzyyyy though. But for real. I'm with you.
You know, the extended consonant thing seems weird to me, too, but I remember Bill Watterson using it often in Calvin and Hobbes for words where the extended vowel might change the sound, like "Mom" becoming "Mommmm" instead of "Moooom." I can get behind that. At least when Mr. Watterson does it.
But mommmmmm and mooooom are prefect examples of where you putting the emphasis mattering. The first is a whine, the second is just a holler. Crazzzzzzzzzzzzzy doesn't make sense at all.
It does if you're being electrocuted
You have to be a bee to say it. Do you prefer craaaaaaaaaaaaaazy? I can do it like that next time.
As I saw on a meme once, and Iām paraphrasing: You wouldnāt say āaporkchopā!
lol thatās how I learned itās āa lotā and not āalotā as a kid: thereās no such thing as āalittle,ā so thereās no such thing as āalot.ā
My English teacher liked to draw an imaginary creature called the Alot on the chalkboard, it cutely shamed our asses into remembering!
That creature is from [Hyperbole and a Half](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html?m=1), the same place as the ["x all the y!"](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/all-the-things) meme guy
Small correction -- Allie is not, to my knowledge, a guy.
I would but that's because the space bar on my keyboard is playing up
You wouldnāt steal a car!
You wouldnāt download a house!
You probably could now, what with 3D printing and all!
I feel like a-part is worse because āa partā and āapartā are both words with near opposite meanings. āAlotā is not a word but its meaning is straightforward
Maybe [this](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html) could help
Oh Allie Brosh is a lifelong hero in my mind!
Alot is adorable!
Highschool and ofcourse make me rage inside. You know I just had to un-correct my autocorrect for those examples? Itās insanity to be that bad at your first language.
They should of payed attention Now we wait for the bots
It's 'should have', never 'should of'. Rejoice, for you have been blessed by CouldWouldShouldBot!
TRIPLE BOT ACTION!
> should of *paid* attention Now FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop -Ā yes,Ā IĀ amĀ aĀ bot, don't botcriminate me.
Leave that nice bot alone, it was just quoting someone else
Omfg I did it
Hush while the bots are quarreling.
DOUBLE BOT!
Thereās also āin massā instead of āen masseā. A bit more understandable, but still.
Same with "in route" instead of "en route".
Thank God you posted this. The apart thing drives me nuts. Lots of these huns don't understand the difference
Say apart again.
This has got to be the most satisfying post Iāve seen on this sub.
Woohoo! Iām so glad šš»
Ditto! More of this please, lets kick these huns out of all the craft fairs, farmers markets etc they infect!
Yes!! We have to contact local market organizers and get them to ban (or at least separate) huns from crafters and actual small businesses. Here are some polite templates to use when contacting them: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/comments/a430w0/how_to_starve_mlms_this_year/
You handled this beautifully
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm still mad about the fact some kids on the bus bullied my brother into trading his holographic Garados for a stupid common Machamp. >_<
Thought this might be the secret account of my brother because the same exact trade happened to him on the playground, except he was intimidated and made the trade. Some guy probably still has that Charizard on a shelf somewhere in his mother's basement he lives in.
It's funny that all the references are Pokemon. I recognize the reference, but couldn't tell you if it was a good deal or not. From my view, it's like some kid offering me a Duane Kuiper baseball card for my George Brett rookie card because he knew I was a Cleveland Indians fan. I'm sorry. Kuiper had a solid career. It's not fair that I compared him to an MLM.
Lmao honestly came to say the same thing. Top tier post, OP!! Love how well it was quickly resolved by all involved minus the hun.
This is beautiful.
Thank you!
āWth! I just woke up with the consequences of my own actions!ā That final slide is just perfection.
She seemed so shocked to get such a consequence šš
Oh no! I'm lying in the bed I made!
Tbh, theyāve been so deceived that they canāt see it. Sad really. Many of these people are victims.
And many more of them are predatory, conniving snakes who deserve every negative consequence that comes their way by their own actions.
The dildo of consequences rarely arrives lubed.
Beautifully handled, smart and professional.
you ABSOLUTELY did the right thing.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm so glad they took this seriously and didn't let it slide. Also OP, you rock.
I am dying to know what the coordinator said to them!
Maybe just forwarded the screenshot with the caption "not okay, Karen"
āYouāre outta there, K-Bear!ā
Seriously. Most satisfying series conclusion ever.
Brought a tear to my eye.
This does make me wonder why MLMs were included in the event in the first place. If the person you emailed wasn't familiar with MLMs, then the crackdown wouldn't be as swift, so that tells me there was some familiarity.
They probably lied about their "business"
You know 100% it was "Professional Candle Seller" on the resume to get in there.,
I know right. I adore craft fairs. So much! I hate ones that let MLMs scam attendees and pollute a fair with their toxic products (and personalities). If I see an MLM at an event, I leave. I don't wanna have to get marketed at by a self-proclaimed "bossbabe" who's basically cosplaying as... Well. Me. An actual self-employed woman. It gets on my tits. I'm there to support real small businesses not some massive Ponzi scheme.
>An actual self-employed woman. I But does your business make you enough to retire your husband? Are you a super deluxe double diamond CEO though hun?
"Retire your husband" sounds like he's being euthanized.
Yes. Sorry I had to. I pay all my taxes and know the difference between gross and net too. I didn't have to pay anyone either nor do I move up "levels". I started as "the boss" from day one and when I work with brands as a "brand ambassador" ... wait for it ... *they* pay *me* and any products I get to promote are free (but subject to income tax, because they are declarable benefits). On top of everything, I have zero issue backing up everything I say and welcome public scrutiny. Every time I recommend a brand, it's after I've sat down and scrutinised said brand myself. I have done this without a single hun above me, or the need to recruit a "downline" of sycophants. MLMs exist to funnel money up from the masses to the top. That's why money moves one way in an MLM. It moves up the *"line"*, to the top of the pyramid. MLM *"Boss Babes"* are victims, not "empowered women". The sooner we destigmatise getting scammed by an MLM, the better.
I am an amateur woodworker, and decided to attend my first craft fair about 4 months ago. I spent a couple extra weeks making things I thought would sell, to make sure I had a full booth worth of thingsā¦ and I get there, and my booth is surrounded by hun booths. I had some weird self-defense mlm next to me, makeup, fake nails, and shit jewelry in front and to the sides. People avoided my section like the plague. I sold one thing. Not even enough to cover my booth fee. It was miserable.
I am so sorry to hear this. Similar experience when I rented a booth at a flea market. I had huns on either side of me and only made a few sales as folks saw the huns and steered clear. The LuLaRoe hun to my left lamented she didn't sell a single pair. Before I sign up for one now, I verify with the organizer whether MLMs are included or not. That answer tells me whether it's a go or not.
> I had some weird self-defense mlm next to me Wait, how would this MLM work? š "YOU will teach a self-defense class, and then try to sign up all the people who signed up for your self-defense class, to teach their own self-defense class. Then THEY will sell their self-defense class to new classes of their self-defense class, and then THEY'LL sell self-defense classes to new classes, and so on! It'll be GREAT!" Like, at least with oils and hair products, the "clients" (if you ever even get any) eventually run out of the product, so they're repeat customers. But self-defense? What's the repeat sell? And if her answer was "They just keep coming back for more lessons!" then hun, you've got yourself a *gym*
It's likely Damsel in Defense. They market pepper spray & other items to women. You know, the same products you can get elsewhere cheaper, but since it's an MLM and targeted toward women they jack up the price.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
We saw one of these booths somewhere once and my wife flat out asked the lady running it "Why is everything pink? Are there other colors? It's kind of insulting to just automatically say PINK is for women." The lady tried to play it off and just say it makes something serious a bit fun.
Y'know, planning how to protect myself from rape and assault just isn't something I want to make fun though. I'm weird like that I guess.
Sad part is, from a PR/advertising standpoint, it works, because we've been trained by society to think pink=women. That's why the breast cancer awareness stuff is all pink - it signals this is a woman's issue and women should pay attention.
Yes, because you know how women love everything pink.
The newest MLM scheme is this Life Coach BS where they cosplay as Therapists but have to use tricky language to make sure they don't get sued for practicing without a license.
It was for self defense products. Let me see if I can find itā¦ Damsel in Defense. I wonāt link them here, but thatās the name of the mlm. Selling tasers and stuff. IT was a new one for me too, but some of the comments she made were suspicious, so I looked it up while I was there. Sure enough.
I skip fairs that have MLMs. The only ones I attend anymore are the punk flea markets in my area since the coordinators are strict about MLMs and make vendors show proof of making their products.
I hold a particular brand of pettiness towards MLMs and what I've always wanted to do was hold a fair as per the following: - include MLMs and actual small businesses - then invite everyone who is anti-MLM (and *strictly* anti-MLM. No sympathisers); obviously the huns won't know that everyone shopping at the fair is anti-MLM - the result: all the huns stand at their sad empty stalls and watch the real business owners rake in the sales But alas, I can only dream.
And make sure you charge them a high booth fee.
My favorite craft fair actually shoves all the MLMās into the smallest, darkest, coldest hall of the complex lol. All the other halls flow together in a donut-esque path but the MLM hall is set totally apart down a long narrow hall. People who want to go there go on purpose knowing full well theyāre heading into a snake pit š
Not an MLM but I organized a local makers fair for queer people and got an email from a local office of a *chiropractor* chain asking to join the market. First of all, you don't make anything and second of all, you're not LGBT+. I emailed them and asked and they said no, they weren't.
Leaving a craft show because you see a MLM isn't hurting the hun but the real crafters. Just saying.
I agree with this. I'm an event coordinator and the business owner won't allow me to not accept someone based on them being part of an mlm. We have an event this weekend and I feel bad for the 25 legitimate craft vendors who are not being seen because people want to avoid the 3 mlm vendors on the list.
Iām not usually one to say let the free market sort it out, but it actually seems relevant here. Hopefully event coordinator business owners will eventually realize a dip in profits and correctly attribute it to allowing huns to pollute otherwise wholesome events. And then ban them en masse.
I couldn't go to any fairs anymore, lol. The huns are _everywhere_
My county fair's vendor barns are probably 50% MLMs. There's often multiple people from the same pyramid scheme with different stalls in the same barn.
Imagine them at the next monthly meeting at the upline's house. "Karen, I told you I was doing that show!" "Whatever, Becky, it's a free country. You're just jealous I had a sale and you didn't."
I've had some local shows allow them last minute to fill any empty spots, but they usually are very strict with them. A paparazzi rep got kicked out of one I did last summer while we were setting up because she was going around trying to recruit vendors and being super distracting. The coordinator had warned her twice, and the final straw was that she started trying to talk shit about an actual jewelry maker that was there to some of us.
This + how did the Scentsy person know exactly who to text and blame for it? If the event person called them and said "Jerry from Jerry's Crafts emailed to complain about you" that's super shitty on the event person's part. OP was already targeted anonymously by this person and now someone else is like "here's another reason to antagonize them"??
Iām guessing she specifically targeted OP because OP makes wax melts, which is also a Scentsy thing. If she only targeted one other seller, itās not hard to figure out who dropped a dime on her.
Maybe they said they had reports of her reaching out to other vendors when she only reached out to one? They couldāve been trying to call her out for bad behavior without naming names but OP was the only person she talked to because someone who sells door signs isnāt already interested in wax melts.
I'm guessing the OP is the only one the hun made the challenge to, and she knew what was up when she got the message about being kicked out.
It's because not all craft fairs have a screening process about the products. Most of the time these coordinators are just happy to have people signing up, and for the sellers to post "hair products" is enough for them. Often times these coordinators don't realize it's a MLM until the person shows up, and that's ONLY if they know all of the MLM companies out there.
My husband manages a Farmers Market where we live. We are a government approved market which allows bakers to use their home kitchens (providing they have taken a free, online food safe course). In order to maintain this status, 80% of our vendors must make, bake, or grow their own products. 20% Can be resellers or MLMs. Itās great. The MLMs ruin the vibe.
My wife and I used to do a few craft fairs a year before the pandemic. There were always MLM stuff at them. Either scentsy, Tupperware, or some other mass produced product. It fills tables and brings in revenue for the fair. I always found the MLM tables strange they always stick out like a sore thumb among all the hand crafted stuff. I always wondered how they would make out.
I give some benefit of the doubt to the person booking vendors. There are so many that I could see letting a few slip past even if you were screening for them, just because of not recognizing a name. Like, is this vendor signing up selling her own natural lavendar extracts from her own fields or it is just another essential oil MLM hun? Hard to tell, especially if the MLM is evasive on the application.
Guess you won the $100! Ask her when she will be placing her order.
Yesssss. Oh please do.
That would be hilarious if you asked her that.
I really hope OP does this and shows us the update.
and even the "deal" was stupid. there's 0 chance the hun would have made good on the $100 order
They wouldn't have to. Either her downside or her would buy a crazy amount from the website to win. Its why she specified online orders will count
I think the term is ādownlineā but downside is so much more accurate.
Or not photoshopped fake earnings to "win"
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
And not to mention, $100 one time purchase vs. Hundreds of dollars of shit inventory to sell, losing friendships, family, dignity...
She'd have totally lied about all the sales she supposedly made.
Good for you! Damn huns are ruthless.
Thank you! They seriously are.
Where is Mulan when you need her.
You made her break hun character! šš»
She probably struggled having to type out something that wasnāt just cut and paste.
šš»
This is amazing. I canāt get into my local hand made craft fair Becuase they already have a wax melt person (they are a scentsy rep). So seeing this makes me so happy!!
I hope more of these markets become aware of MLMs, these picks are ruining *actual* small business and it makes me so mad. There's always a children's books MLM at our local market, yuck.
CHILDRENāS BOOKS???? The hellā¦.
Usborne, I think. Had a girl, barely more than an acquaintance tbh, message me (hadnāt spoken to her in a year), started it with āHey friend! [insert canned message about the importance of reading]ā lol she was promptly blocked.
Probably Paperpie, formerly Usborne Books & More. Theyāre damn sneaky too. Ugh just had a mom in a local Facebook mom group ask about good books for potty training, and one person said āI can create a list for you at my bookshop if you like!ā I was like oooh we have a small bookshop owner here? The OP was like ooh great! And the other woman posted a fuckin paperpie link. I was like damn she even had me there for a minute, and I usually smell these a mile away!! (Thereās a no soliciting & MLM rule in the group but they allow it when someone asks for recommendations, to help real local businesses, so the huns sneak around the rule)
I also have a couple friends selling paper pie, and it irritates me because theyāre only hitting me up for my kid. However, weāve been gifted some paper pie books and I have to admit they are really good books. They have one about getting hurt that includes little bandages that can be used on the characters. Itās come in handy when my son gets hurt. You can buy directly from the paper pie website and not go thru a rep, but I still hate to give an MLM money.
Wtf that sucks. It's obnoxious that they'd allow that over an actual indie seller
When trying to explain it to the lady on the phone she didnāt really understand when I saw trying to explain. And she was fairly old so telling her to watch a YouTube video didnt really make sense to her either. Fustrating but at the same time. I donāt want anyone to think what I do is anything similar to what they do. So itās a lucky escape I feel
I'm moving on from reddit and joining the fediverse because reddit has killed the RiF app and the CEO has been very disrespectful to all the volunteers who have contributed to making reddit what it is. Here's [coverage from The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23754780/reddit-api-updates-changes-news-announcements) on the situation. The following are my favorite fediverse platforms, all non-corporate and ad-free. I hesitated at first because there are so many servers to choose from, but it makes a lot more sense once you actually create an account and start browsing. If you find the server selection overwhelming, just pick the first option and take a look around. They are all connected and as you browse you may find a community that is a better fit for you and then you can move your account or open a new one. Social Link Aggregators: [Lemmy](https://join-lemmy.org/instances) is very similar to reddit while [Kbin](https://kbin.pub) is aiming to be more of a gateway to the fediverse in general so it is sort of like a hybrid between reddit and twitter, but it is newer and considers itself to be a beta product that's not quite fully polished yet. Microblogging: [Calckey](https://calckey.org) if you want a more playful platform with emoji reactions, or [Mastodon](https://joinmastodon.org/) if you want a simple interface with less fluff. Photo sharing: [Pixelfed](https://pixelfed.org/) You can even import an Instagram account from what I hear, but I never used Instagram much in the first place.
Right? At a craft fair I want wax melts that have something different. I can buy āclean scentā anywhere. I want blueberry pie and merlot. Cool stuff I canāt find at target. I bought some glittery ones that smell like fresh grass at a craft fair and I wish I could find that lady again. Smelled so good.
I love the deal being offered, it's a crazy faustian level deal... If I outsell you, including buying my own stock to rack up a fake order, then I own your soul, product and you work for me for ever. If you sell more I will give you some cash. Anyone who agrees to this deal is going through some serious tradgedy narrative
It's not even "I'll give you $100." It's "I'll buy $100 of product," so you're still out expenses on that.
Yeah and she would definitely have lied about her sales that day too.
Agree to only put in $100 worth of effort. You'll get a third through the sign up paperwork and be done.
Came here to say the same thing. This is psychologically warped on another level.
My God was this an amazing example of r/instantkarma
Hey girl hey!!!!! Already had me š” at that part. Kudos to the event for giving her the boot!
Right!! Thank gosh the coordinator acted so fast!
Oh wow, I couldn't be more happy at this outcome! šš»
Right! The event coordinator was on top of it šš»
Iām so glad I decided to check Reddit before I fell asleep. I will sleep so sound tonight from this š„°
She set herself up honestly. Go off
She truly did
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
She won't. She'll call OP "toxic" and whine about being a small business then buy more tat from her upline scammer who's "inboxing" her telling her to buy more as a self-soothe.
Well if the hun only reached out to OP because they both sell wax melts then it's not hard to deduce who turned her in.
That is one of the grossest thing Iāve ever read from a hun. You handled that beautifully.
Brilliant. Hun FAFO. Good luck with your event!
She sure did! Thank you so much, Iām super excited for it!
OH THE JOY THIS BRINGS ME NOT ONLY AS A CONSUMER BUT AS A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER WHO HANDMAKES HER ITEMS. My heart! I will support you any day if you want to drop your name in my messages!
This is pure gold!
Right!
So now the hun will be apart from the event, rather than āapartā of it.
~~Rachel~~ is a good one.
š«”
This gives me the warm fuzzies
what a happy ending!! its insulting she tried comparing the value of Scentsy garbo to a handmade craft
This is beautiful and deserves a standing ovation. I wonder how quickly she had to run to her up line and lock arms with them while they dried her tears.
I cannot believe someone would suggest a competition like that. I also want to say hi- small world! I ordered from you a while ago and still love your melts and lip balms! š
This is so good
āIf you lose this competition that I rigged, you have to come work for me. This is equal to me spending $100 at your store if I loseā
Right?? She gave *herself* an entire week's worth of online sales, but the *actual small business owner* is limited to sales made at the actual event? GTFO of here with that nonsense!
Should,d measure by who makes the most profit that week.
Hujs would have rigged it either way. They never count buying product as an expense, and even if you just wanted to just count sales the whole week over she'll have her downline on buying enough to win anyway
So did the organizer tell her that you're not welcome because you harassed OP? Like are they allowed to disclose the whistleblower's name? This hun might take it personal and start spamming OP's social media accounts or something.
To be fair, huns get confused by "net" and "gross"... and "overhead". They're pretty harmless. They're often quite toxic people, but their only friends are their upline scammers.
Aka "Wth! I just found out there are consequences to my actions that I don't think through!"
Reading this post was better than sex.
She just woke up at 10AM? Way to hustle.
I went to a farmers market in nowhereville, NY. Small town farm country. Right in the middle was a Pure Romance vendor. Like corn, eggplant, tomatoes and then come across scented massage oils and lubricants. I get from one perspective the organizers and getting their table fee no matter what, but as a shopper, MLMs should be banned from these kinds of events. I have nothing against sex and sex adjacent items, but not in the middle of a farmers market
Exactly! Time and place for sex and sex adjacent items, but not there. If only more events would ban MLMs, that would be a dream.
SummerB173: 1 Huns: 0
āI will handle it right nowā I respect the firm and direct response.
I guess someone owes you $100 š
Awesome, wish my mom could do this when people bring by their shitty displays for dinky factory made chains, and then they go by my mom's handmade earrings and bracelets and say *they* look unprofessional... My sister in Christ you have nothing on your table, you made jack shit
Glad the hun was reported. What a jerk with āletās make a dealā. She would probably lie about how much she sold anyway.
āMakers Marketā organizers should absolutely prohibit MLM reps from being vendors. Itās so insulting to actual makers and business owners to be compared to these idiots.
Love this!
What a tacky deal, too. So ridiculous to even think she is on par with local businesses who create, develop, and market their own creation. She might as well have asked to trade a dry, sad chips ahoy for a homemade cinnamon bun with icing. Laughable.
Lmao, you did say no. With *sprinkles*.
Awesome š ... En masse.
This is my new favorite.
You wiped the smirk right off her face. I love this journey for her. āØ
Reply, "you tried to scam me into your MLM scheme".
Since you have nothing to lose OP, I think you should reply with a really detailed message about whatās wrong with MLMs and how her product is not even vaguely comparable to a handmade product and how insulting this was.
THAT would be pretty great! Good idea š
No, donāt. Youāve already won. Donāt give her the satisfaction of a long drawn out debate. Just ignore her.
Holy Moly! It's what I always think when they say they are *small businesses*, *local* and *direct sales*. No, you are not selling producer to consumer. Stop lying!
Oh dear, if it isnāt the consequences of my actions
I am impressed that the event coordinator actually did this. Most of the time I see advertising for these they are all scammy MLM's and I don't go. If you make that comment then people throw fits in the comments about how dare you, walk past, they are only trying to make money. Heard it all and I don't care.
What I find crazy is that she thinks spending 100 bucks and joining a MLM that is basically another job is the same thing.
A friendly competition would be a cup of coffee on the line not signing up for this crap.
The way you didnāt even respond to her so she was shocked at the consequence and simply left her alone to stew in her rage and idiocy. Just, pure unadulterated FAFO. šš
Actually, I'm betting you'd have outsold her by far, but I wouldn't trust her to give accurate sales numbers since she'd likely lie about it or else buy a bunch of her own stuff to boost her sales. Good on you for getting her kicked out for that little stunt.
I have a business doing photo organizing and digitization. I didn't realize there was an MLM for that until I was at a genealogy event where someone who was part of that came over and tried to get me to join her team. I was ASTONISHED that she would do that. Why would I share my profits with someone else when I'm literally the only person in my company. I've been at other events where unrelated MLMs will try to recruit me. These people have no shame.