When an MLM is merely a means of selling an actual product--a good product that people actually want--I don't have a problem with it. In many ways, NuSkin is like this from what I hear. Avon and Tupperware are kind of like that. And, even though I think the essential oils thing is a bit wacky, even they seem to work like this.

Those can be irritating, but I don't have any real complaints about them. The reason is they don't survive by recruiting sellers. They survive because they have good products to sell. They sell something real that makes the money.

Then, there's other kind of MLM--the kind that sells you on the possibilities of what you can make if you only join the team. The kind that requires you to sign up to buy product. The kind that builds "business" by building a downline. This is the type that defies logic and math.

A friend of mine described it this way: "If McDonalds worked like an MLM (referring to this second type), I wouldn't be able to just buy a hamburger. I would have to sign up to the franchise to buy a hamburger. Them, to make money, I would have to sign up more people to buy franchises. Doing the math, nobody really can make any money unless they are at the very top."

Looking at it that way, he's right. Don't pretend all MLMs are like what your wife is doing, because they're not. Oh, and even WITH the type that your wife is doing, sure there are those who buy and enjoy it. But for each of those, there are plenty more people thinking "oh, man...here is the crazy (insert MLM name) lady wanting me to buy her crap again." Setting up "parties", bugging friends and family, is not my idea of good business.