I believe it depends on local law, in some countries it can't be prosecuted as a pyramid scheme if it actually sells something, i.e. it configures "multi-level

I believe it depends on local law, in some countries it can't be prosecuted as a pyramid scheme if it actually sells something, i.e. it configures "multi-level marketing" (e.g. Agel, Monavie). Pyramid schemes always seem attractive to the uninformed, I think the investment these days is in making them barely legal.