MLM or Direct Sales?

[SWhite109]

Can somebody explain to me what the difference is between MLM and Direct Sales?

[pat f]

MLM is direct sales but not all direct sales is MLM.

As I see it, direct sales means that you are selling goods and services through media and personal contacts without the "middleman"

The MLM or network marketing component enters into it when you are not only selling direct but you are able to recruit others who, when they sell direct, provide you with additional income from the sales that they generate.

Unfortunately MLM has gotten a bad name because so many scammers focused on the recruitment rather than quality products.

there are however many well-known solid billion dollar companies out there such as Avon, Watkins, Amway, MonaVie, Herbalife etc that have provided great incomes over years and years. they have even made some people rich...not quickly but with hard work and sticking to it.

[DebraFerrie]

Yes, many people think of MLM same as network marketing and same as direct sales since they all involve selling a product or a service.( though as mentioned above, you can be in direct sales without it being MLM)

The ability to make the larger amounts of money come from MLM though...because you build a team while selling the products.

Short term cash plus long term residual= win/win

[eablow]

I also think a big difference is the inventory. With an MLM you are required to purchase the product to sell to others. Direct sales is just referring others to a company.

[Cornelius]

MLM is what it is. Which is Multi Level Marketing which means marketing a product by recruiting people and being compensated through different percentages at different levels for their sales. Direct sale is basically just being compensated from the sale of a product.

Not every company that has a MLM compensation plan has a purchase requirement. Depending on the product and it's compensation people do and can make some very good income just from direct sales. This is especially true with the financial services companies that offer direct sales along with an optional MLM compensation plan marketing financial products.

A person who only does direct sales in most instance may earn more upfront commission which they can invest a percentage on their own and still build up income which they can have access to later. So it's basically building up a personal residual income plan.

The big question with joining any company is if you had to make a living from the direct sales of your product does the commissions pay enough to live on? That's something I was told to consider when looking at any company.