4 ms·

MLM has a specific definition which this doesn't meet. MLMs are businesses where the majority of your earnings come from the recruitment of new members into you

MLM has a specific definition which this doesn't meet. MLMs are businesses where the majority of your earnings come from the recruitment of new members into your downline rather than sale of a product. 7-Eleven doesn't offer referral bonuses for bringing a new member that are based on a percentage of that person's sales.

geofft 7y ago
Yes, I know that, I'm not claiming 7-Eleven is an MLM. I said it's like an MLM in this one way: many of them require that you buy a huge chunk of inventory up front whether or not you sell it, which is one of many abusive tactics of current American MLMs. (So is the actual multi-level bit.) See e.g. question 7 about "inventory loading" at https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/business-guidance-concerning-multi-level-marketing https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/bus... Mostly, this guy doesn't seem like an "owner" in the traditional sense to me - he seems to be unable to stock his shelves with inventory from other sources, and he certainly seems unable to set his own hours. He sounds like his work is directed by 7-Eleven. Another common scammy aspect of MLMs is convincing you that you're a small business owner on the path to future profits when you're one of many pawns of the actual business.
- lazyasciiart 7y ago
  It's a franchise. It's a very common model and while you may not like it, it is not a scam.
  - achompas 7y ago
    But at no point did OP claim it was a scam? They even ask if this is normal for American franchises, instead of accusing 7-11 of predatory behavior.
    - bitxbitxbitcoin 7y ago
      > This feels like an American MLM scam OP pretty directly implied it.
      - geofft 7y ago
        Is one no longer allowed to say "I wonder why thing A has properties that resemble thing B" without pretty directly implying "Thing A is exactly thing B"? My hope was to have a conversation about whether the franchise model is bad in ways that have overtones of scams, or whether MLMs are only scams by virtue of the MLM bit and not because of any of the other behavior that is often called scammy, or any such thing, but apparently that was too much to ask.
        lazyasciiart 7y ago
        > many of them require that you buy a huge chunk of inventory up front whether or not you sell it, which is one of many abusive tactics of current American MLMs Purchasing unrefundable stock is not inventory loading. It does not “resemble an MLM” in a meaningful way - you might as well say that any company that offers a recruiting bonus to employees resembles an MLM. If you want to talk about predatory business practices, there’s plenty of it around in the franchise model. When you keep saying “like an MLM” you sound like you think these attributes are specific to MLMs.

geofft 7y ago

Yes, I know that, I'm not claiming 7-Eleven is an MLM. I said it's like an MLM in this one way: many of them require that you buy a huge chunk of inventory up front whether or not you sell it, which is one of many abusive tactics of current American MLMs. (So is the actual multi-level bit.) See e.g. question 7 about "inventory loading" at https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/business-guidance-concerning-multi-level-marketing https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/bus... Mostly, this guy doesn't seem like an "owner" in the traditional sense to me - he seems to be unable to stock his shelves with inventory from other sources, and he certainly seems unable to set his own hours. He sounds like his work is directed by 7-Eleven. Another common scammy aspect of MLMs is convincing you that you're a small business owner on the path to future profits when you're one of many pawns of the actual business.

lazyasciiart 7y ago
It's a franchise. It's a very common model and while you may not like it, it is not a scam.
- achompas 7y ago
  But at no point did OP claim it was a scam? They even ask if this is normal for American franchises, instead of accusing 7-11 of predatory behavior.
  - bitxbitxbitcoin 7y ago
    > This feels like an American MLM scam OP pretty directly implied it.
    - geofft 7y ago
      Is one no longer allowed to say "I wonder why thing A has properties that resemble thing B" without pretty directly implying "Thing A is exactly thing B"? My hope was to have a conversation about whether the franchise model is bad in ways that have overtones of scams, or whether MLMs are only scams by virtue of the MLM bit and not because of any of the other behavior that is often called scammy, or any such thing, but apparently that was too much to ask.
      - lazyasciiart 7y ago
        > many of them require that you buy a huge chunk of inventory up front whether or not you sell it, which is one of many abusive tactics of current American MLMs Purchasing unrefundable stock is not inventory loading. It does not “resemble an MLM” in a meaningful way - you might as well say that any company that offers a recruiting bonus to employees resembles an MLM. If you want to talk about predatory business practices, there’s plenty of it around in the franchise model. When you keep saying “like an MLM” you sound like you think these attributes are specific to MLMs.