This article originally appeared in the City print issue, in stands April 2025. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date.
Imagine scrolling on Instagram and you see yet another one of your high school classmates posting that they have become a partner with some random brand. You do a little digging and realize that they might have found themselves involved in a sticky situation: an MLM brand partnership.
An MLM, or multilevel marketing company, is a company that distributes products or services to an individual. This individual is expected to sell these products or services and recruit others to be consultants with the said company. These individuals earn commissions from how much they sell and from how many people they recruit.
It’s important to note that an MLM is different from a pyramid scheme. However, MLM’s still come with their own dangers, and they can be enticing for a lot of people, especially broke college students.
False promises, high-pressure sales tactics and the risk of financial loss are what make these companies a danger to young people looking to make money.
About 71% of recruited salespeople for MLM brands have yet to complete a bachelor’s degree, according to an AARP study from 2018. The study also found that almost half become entangled with these brands in their 20s, such as college-age students.
Things like working from home, getting an income quickly and gaining an almost “influencer status” are all enticing things to university students hoping to pay for their education in a “get rich quick” kind of way.
Remi Dryer, a freshman studying history and anthropology at the University of Utah, recently found themselves unknowingly involved with an MLM brand.
“They sent a letter to my house,” Dryer said. “They said, ‘Hey, we’re a really good job for college students to have. We’re a huge employer of students at the U.'”
Dryer added that they are unaware of how this brand received their information. Dryer ignored the first letter, but then a second arrived.
“I was like, I’m kind of desperate for a job so I might as well apply,” they said.
Then, after four days, Dryer started noticing the problematic signs that couldn’t be ignored.
Dryer said that they would call people on the phone, read a script and try to promote this certain product. If they didn’t make an appointment to review the product, Dryer wouldn’t receive any money. However, unlike many MLM brands, they did not have to pay to join this particular MLM company.
“I remember specifically thinking, this is very shady. I raised my hand and asked if we would get healthcare or any benefits and was immediately shot down,” Dryer said.
Dryer left this MLM company four days after joining.
It can be difficult to leave a multilevel marketing company because the higher-up employers often try to get their consultants to stay, claiming that it will be worth it.
This was the experience of Meg Young, a 20-year-old BYU student.
Young said that the brand she was recruited to is one of the first that pops up when examples of MLM brands are looked up.
Young was recruited in person by a vendor and was asked to meet them in person.
“I told him I don’t know what to do with my life right now, and he said, ‘join my company,'” she said.
The MLM Young joined was more along the lines of a typical MLM. There were products that the consultant was expected to sell. For this specific brand, the first year of being a consultant is complimentary. After this first year, it costs $70 just to be on, excluding the fees to be able to sell, and the consultant has to buy $250 worth of products.
For many MLM brands, it’s common to have to pay to become a consultant. An article from Forbes says that about 99% of multilevel marketing participants end up losing money. There is an extremely small percentage that actually gain some sort of profit.
Another common factor of MLM companies is that commission can be earned by recruiting others to join, which both Young and Dryer were expected to do.
“I already didn’t feel good about doing this, but then for me to go out and teach people made it worse. Which by the way, is really the way you make money, not by selling the products, but by teaching other people how to do it,” Young said.
Young added that in order to leave this company, she had to make up an absurd story just for them to leave her alone.
“It’s all just millionaires coming and talking, being like, ‘you can be like me,’” Young said, talking about the false promises of MLM companies.
