1. Only Kay bots would think that didn’t apply to them because they do ‘dual marketing’ *eye roll*. I do like the sign. Who doesn’t hate being stalked and harassed while just trying to go about their daily life? Good for businesses that will stand up for their customers.

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   • This is great! ??

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   • And Isagenix claims they’re not MLM; they’re “Network Marketing”. The Isagenix hun said it’s an “important difference.” Uh-huh, sure it is.

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2. I wish this applied to convention vendors as well! I was at a video game convention last week and there was a Lularoe booth! You can bet your bottom dollar that I went straight to the organizers and complained. I don’t want to be harassed to buy ugly, expensive polyester while I’m trying to shop for my SNES!

3. Nice, but the sign needs to be bigger because you know they’ll claim they didn’t see it. This should be at the entrance of all stores and restaurants.

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4. Yes Please. But only larger and include “This means “Dual Marketing” also. Lately, all of our local craft fairs have been one long line of MLM tents and complaining to the organizers of the craft fairs is useless because they are all MLM groupies also. It’s ruined several fair in my local town to the point that the only people who are going to them, are the vendors and then they complain that the the community is not “supportive of small business” Insert HUGE Eye Roll on that one. And our local crafters are now going to craft fairs 40mi away to sell their actual homemade crafts because they are tired of not selling and then being accosted by the MLM groups to join their “business”.

   • Yesssss, this is one of my pet peeves! YOUR OILS/MAKEUP/LOTIONS/SUPPLEMENTS/MAGIC COFFEE/WHATEVER ARE NOT A CRAFT!!!!

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     • Oh man, I think I’ve written about this before, but it still makes me angry. I worked in the central specialized lab at Johns Hopkins. To maintain your ASCP certification and continuing ed credits for the hospital, you’d go to talks by fellows or residents, etc. About actual medical stuff.

       Well. A girl had recently gotten into Essential Oils (Young Living or something?). She did a whole powerpoint and talk and then we all made bath salts. Craft time! This counted at continuing education! Then people started buying stuff from her. One girl actually got roped in and now sells it also. I no longer work there, but I constantly see it on facebook. She really pressured people who were interested to get the starter kit for $100. Sounds familiar!

       I learned so much on this site before that, and was furious that the lab education coordinator allowed this. Rubbing oil on the bottoms of your feet does not cure ailments through sweat glands! Absolute pseudo-science.

   • Ah I hate that “support small business” claim the bots always make. I’ve had an actual small retail business. If you want to claim the title of “small business”, you can pay the rent, insurance, utilities, advertising, etc, of a brick and mortar…only then will you have earned that title.

     Also the best craft/whatever vendors are those whose tables/booths are a graveyard of their failed past MLM attempts: Avon, MK, Tupperware, Amway, and more all piled up on one table, looking like they’ve spent many rough years in a dirty basement or shed.

     • The irony of the terminology is incredibly frustrating. I’m on LinkedIn and always come across MK people giving themselves the title of ‘entrepreneur’. It’s even more prevalent on facebook. These “entrepreneurs” do not develop and brand any products whatsoever, collaborate with [legitimate] business teams, or independently control a single part of whatever goes on within the company. They cannot even advertise, and I’d bet that a huge number of these women and men know nothing about the beauty industry.

       Tupperware parties and the like were a fad at one point when societal expectations were different and women weren’t really in the workplace. Thankfully, that time has come and gone (along with the rise of beauty supply stores and the internet), yet people are still clinging to this failing marketing scam.

       • OMG – MLM people always refer to themselves as entrepreneurs. Nothing could be further from the truth.

5. If they could please also stick this on Disney World monorails, specifically at 11pm when everyone is exhausted, that would be an A+. These people can’t even vacation without bugging strangers. I don’t want your magical illness potion after eavesdropping on me asking my friend for an excedrin, I want to go to bed.

6. Pyramid scheming – Endless-chain recruiting an “opportunity”

   Synonyms: multi-level marketing (MLM), MK dual-marketing, network marketing, direct selling

7. Our local ‘street fair’ only allows vendors with hand-crafted work, but the private businesses in the area can do whatever they want. So, the MLMs hit up the local businesses to put tents on their property during street fair.
   Unfortunate for the fair organizers that try to keep those kinds of products out. MLMs usually find ways to get around the system.

8. A local coffee shop in my area has a similar sign but they use the term direct sales instead of MLM, and they added “Our Customers Aren’t Your Customers” to it. I talked to the manager about it, to compliment them, and she said they were getting absolutely bombarded with MLM folks wanting to reserve a table for a meeting (no) or set up a table with information (no) with the guise of giving her more business. She said she won’t exploit her customers because that is exactly what these mlm folks are trying to do.

   • Good for her! That is fantastic!

9. I used to meet my customers for coffee all the time. For me, it was nice to get out of the house. However, I never approached anyone else in the coffee shop, I had the owner of the coffee shop I frequent tell me that she appreciated how I didn’t bug the other customers. And that she was in a dilemma because other MLMers did and her customers were annoyed. She didn’t want to lose my business but had real issues with others. I thanked her for telling me what was happening and we came to a compromise, I would still meet customers for coffee, however, i would not bring in any product to deliver. And, while we would talk about the opportunity, I wouldn’t give the clients the brochures until we were leaving. that way, it didn’t look like I was MLMing at all.

   I thought it was really nice of her. However, I couldn’t understand how others would approach random people. I never did that in my business. Mine was really word of mouth and when I did vendor fairs. I did really well with sales because of my non-pushy approach.

   I had recruits who did and told them not to because it was super tacky and looked desperate.

   As for the craft fairs, there was a big issue where I am from as well. However the ones that allow direct sales, have now started stating “craft and vendor fair” not just saying craft fair. That way customers know what to expect. They also have homemade only fairs and vendor only fairs. This seems to make it work better for us.

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