Quixtar Review – What’s Your Name Now Amway?

Amway founded Quixtar in 1999 and only a decade later, the company is now known as Amway Global.

Amway products and Quixtar products are basically identical. Offerings include nutritional supplements, cosmetics, beauty aids and even appliances available through a friend without the need to enter a store.

The company uses the MLM business model, meaning that the more recruits a representative has, the more money one makes. However, Quixtar has something the old Amway model didn’t: the Internet. This makes Quixtar the 21^st century Amway – a network marketing business.

The company still relies on a word of mouth and little to no advertising, making one wonder why they bother with the web. However, as many viral emails show, just contacting the people one knows can mushroom into thousands of contacts a day.

In order to become an IBO (Independent Business Owner), one must know an IBO. Don’t know someone in Quixtar? It’s not hard to find a rep, all you have to do is go to google and search for “Quixtar rep” and in the results you will find a ton. Each business owner in the Quixtar family is encouraged to set up their own website to promote the products. In fact, it is a requirement. Quixtar is designed to be a web business.

Like any store, IBOs are required to purchase their products for resale. In addition, they are encouraged to recruit other IBOs. Just as the IBO’s recruiter is making money off of all the IBO’s purchases, so does that IBO makes a commission from those recruited.

One hurdle is the fact that Quixtar prohibits conventional advertisement of IBO’s websites. So essentially, it comes down to one-on-one communication and old-fashioned word of mouth in a modern medium. One would suppose that social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook could serve to spread the word. However, the rules seem slightly unclear and this may violate Quixtar’s often vague and ambiguous rules.

The adage “it takes money to make money” applies as well. From the outset, the IBO faces the costs of building and maintaining a website and purchasing the products to sell. There is also the purchase of a $200 starter kit to include in the budget.

The IBO makes money off of the retail mark-up to customers, just as any store would. In addition, each member makes 3-25% of business volume depending on productivity and both monthly and annual leadership bonuses and incentives based on group performance.

It may sound like a pyramid scheme but Quixtar is, in fact, not. Each member of the team is a legitimate business owner. And like many small business owners, it is up to each one to come up with their own method of making money. Within the company’s parameters, of course.

- Carin