MICRO DEBATE: Herbalife is a pyramid scheme
The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.
After 2 votes and with 2 points ahead, the winner is...
- Publication date
- Last updated date
- Type
- Standard
- Number of rounds
- 3
- Time for argument
- One week
- Max argument characters
- 2,500
- Voting period
- One month
- Point system
- Multiple criterions
- Voting system
- Open
Only 3 Rounds.
This is a micro-debate 2,500 characters. Three days per argument
4 sources per round.
MWD for definitions.
One week to argue (due to my busy workload)
For those who don't know what Herbalife is, it's an MLM "health" company https://www.herbalife.com/
Multi-level compensation on downline sales• Royalties• Bonuses
Those who do, make money primarily from recruiting new Herbalife distributors, convincing them to buy product, and getting them to recruit even more distributors. Simply put, because Herbalife’s incentive structure rewards recruiting as opposed to retail product sales, Herbalife is a pyramid scheme. It lures in new distributors by promising riches and preying on entrepreneurial dreams but the truth is that 89% of Herbalife distributors will never earn a penny from the company
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- A pyramid scheme funnels earnings from those on lower levels of an organization to the top, and are often associated with fraudulent operations.
- The vast majority of pyramid schemes rely on profiting from recruitment fees and seldom involve the sale of actual goods or services with intrinsic value.
- Multi-Level Marketing operations (MLMs) are similar in nature to pyramid schemes but differ in that they involve the sale of tangible goods.
- A pyramid scheme funnels earnings from those on lower levels of an organization to the top, and are often associated with fraudulent operations.
- The vast majority of pyramid schemes rely on profiting from recruitment fees and seldom involve the sale of actual goods or services with intrinsic value.
- Multi-Level Marketing operations (MLMs) are similar in nature to pyramid schemes but differ in that they involve the sale of tangible goods.
Can I Make Money With Herbalife?
Yes but you have to also have patience. This is not a scam or a pyramid scheme. This may be the hardest work you’ll ever do but it will be a work of love. You are not working for someone else with Herbalife. You are the CEO of your own Herbalife business.So, your income potential will be entirely dependent upon your level of focus, drive and commitment. The average Herbalife supervisor only makes about $549 USD annually. That being said, your goal should never be simply to make it to the supervisor rank and stop there.There are Herbalife distributors making anywhere from several hundred dollars a month to several thousands of dollars per month. So, how much does it cost to join Herbalife is a great question to ask. You are seeking answers and obviously are desiring more out of your life than simply trading time for money.
I have tried the products and have lost some weight, look younger, feel better, smarter and earned supplemental income.
When combined just about 20% exercise with 80% nutrition the results are amazing.
- That you have to pay money to join; and
- That you profit mainly from payments made by subsequent participants that you recruit.
There have been many reports of acute, clinically apparent liver injury in persons taking Herbalife products, but the link to the HDS product has often been controversial. The specific ingredients in the various Herbalife products that might cause liver injury have not been identified.
Herbalife is a pyramid scheme. stay away from Herbalife. overpriced products and false advertisement of products. You have to "sell" to your family members. a lot of pressure to recruit. A typical pyramid scheme where 10% at the top make 90% of the money, and the 90% at the bottom make peanuts.Prosflexible work scheduleConsno salary, no benefits, constant pressure to haggle your family and friends
In this debate, I set forth two criteria for which we must judge if a company is a pyramid scheme
In this debate, I set forth different criteria to Pro for which...
PRO's own definition says the scheme has to profit mainly from subsequent participants, here is where CON argues, if the distributers can earn from sale of products there is no need to rely on recruitment. CON argues it better when he says there are 6 different career options, point to CON. Since PRO has instigated the debate he should have prooved that other sources of income, such as direct sales are negligible when compared to back payment from the company, which he does not, so PRO fails to make his case.
Sources: PRO loses his arguments mostly because of his sources the income disclosure statement used by PRO specifically states that even if the income received as payement from the company is 0. The distributor can make money from sale of products, which in essence is what a distributor should receive money for. Other business also have the same working, you pay a fixed price for distributorship which is in thousands of dollars and recieve cut based on the sale of products. How is this model any different, I could see no difference. It further made no sense to me how by paying only 100 dollars PRO is expecting anyone to make an yearly income. PRO's sources contradicted his stance of a pyramid scheme.
This is... a bit frustrating. A lot of the debate just isn't all that relevant because both sides largely concede that they meet their definitions. Pro does spend some time challenging whether Herbalife meets the more specific definition forwarded by Con, but I can really only see it covering some of the bases, which means it is at best partly meeting the definition. I might have been willing to buy that partially meeting the definition is sufficient to at least call into question whether it is a pyramid scheme, but I don't really see that argument from Pro, so while I have some reason to believe that it meets part of the definition, I'm not really sure what that means.
What that leaves me with is the question of whose definition of a pyramid scheme is more accurate; so, basically, Merriam-Webster vs. Investopedia. And that's where it becomes tricky. Neither side provides a particularly good reason to dismiss the other. Con argues that his definition is more specific and distinct from a con. I agree with both statements, but each is only a possible reason to accept his definition. I need to see why the distinction from a con is necessary, or why specificity is necessary. To that end, if I had a clear example of a company that would meet Pro's definition and most certainly is not a pyramid scheme, then that likely would have swayed me. Pro's argument for his definition is pretty much solely based on the bounds of the debate laid out in the out in the description, where it does say that MWD is the source for definitions. Pro does later mention criteria based on that definition, but they don't really bolster the definition he gives.
That doesn't leave me with a lot to work into a decision. Con does give me more reason to favor his definition, but given that it was laid out in the description, I'm buying that MWD is the source for definitions unless I'm given a solid reason to disfavor it. That leaves me leaning Pro on the definition, and as long as I am, that means I'm also buying that Con had to challenge Pro's arguments based on that definition. I can see some of Con's points that kind of address it, but none of them do enough to ensure that Pro didn't meet his burdens. Hence, I vote Pro.
thank you for your vote. :)
if you have time, if this debate at all interests you etc etc then please vote. If not, do not worry obviously.
Complete BS vote. The ending highlights how BS it is. No logic at all.