We may have inadvertently given business to an MLM.
My wife and I have both been wanting to get into better shape, and one of my wife's best friends has lost a lot of weight in the last year using a program called Beach Body. She let us use her login for the app, so that we can get the exercise videos for free. She also is letting us get pre-workout and recovery at her cost.
I had no idea that it was an MLM until another of my wife's co-workers offered her a deal on the program (not knowing that we're using the program for a lot cheaper through the friend). Then I started to do a little bit of research into the program and discovered that it's an MLM that's been around a while.
Granted, the friend is clearly not trying to make money off of us or recruit my wife to start selling the product. The product (app with different workouts & pre/post-workout) have given us good results, but I feel a bit uneasy about giving any money to an MLM. I think that once I finish the current batch of pre-workout and recovery, that I'll just get stuff at Wal-Mart instead.
Beachbody is surely an MLM. I think it's gotten a little LESS MLM-y since Beachbody on Demand, though.
I started using the workouts (back when they were DVDs), and became a "discount coach" for the discounts. I really liked Shakeology. But, it's expensive and then it started disagreeing with my digestion. Then they came out with the streaming service.
After the streaming service ($99/year), there was no reason to be a coach anymore. I wasn't using any of the products (pre workout and recovery). I love trying all the workouts - DH and I have done significant portions (if not the full program) of P90X, LIIFT4, 21 day fix, Hammer and Chisel, PiYo, and MBF. One way that BB makes money is to charge for "early access" for new workouts. So, a new program comes out, and you pay for it. But in 6 months it's free. Do you need to pay for it to get it 6 months early? Sometimes, the answer is yes if it really appeals to you. Otherwise, it's almost exclusively COACHES who are paying for it, and encouraging others to sign up with them, and in the meantime selling them preworkout or recovery or whatever.
I can't imagine that it's much of a money maker anymore. I used to know quite a lot of coaches (I do live in So Cal), and several of them made actual money at it, but a LOT of the money comes from building a "downline". With the release of BOD, people just don't need to have a coach to get access to the workouts. I imagine most people just do what we do. At least, I haven't seen many posts of earning "free" vacations lately, and not just because of COVID.
I mean, I can't even bring myself to buy their gear. I've done some of the workouts from 80 day obsession, which requires sliders. You know, the sliders, if I buy them through BB and a friend, were close to $30. On Amazon? $11. Sorry.