Is Usborne a scam? | Usborne Books MLM scam
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- Опубліковано 8 лис 2020
- #usborneathome #mlmscam #usbornescam
Is Usborne Books / Usborne at home a scam? If you're a mom who wants a side hustle you feel passionate about, you may find yourself looking into whether Usborne Books & More Independent Consultant Program (Usborne at Home) is an MLM scam or not and I am here to tell you: yes it is an MLM scam and I will explain why!
*NOTE: My experience, as mentioned, is from the European program. I have heard various different experiences from American program consultants & do not claim to have personal knowledge as an American consultant.
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Please comment below if you have your own story regarding MLM scams! Thanks for watching :-)
I noticed you are getting push back from people in the comments that think earning less than 200 a month is a sustainable income. Please don't change anything; the title, the info, etc. A scam is a scam. It's not your fault some choose to be blind over an actual experience. No one can change what you went through and experienced, so keep it real and raw. Appreciated the vid!
Thanks so much, I appreciate this comment a ton!
What most people don’t realize is Europe Usborne Books is completely different than US Usborne Books and More.
I don’t know much about the company in Europe but the US gives you a kit of BOOKS for a cheap price and has ZERO sales requirements for life.
Wow it is amazing how different it is in the US. It is nothing like this. There is no obligation to sell and or pay back for the books. Crazy how different it is.
Wow, never even heard about this before but thank you for enlightening us, never know when I will come across it. Great video and very eye opening, God bless you for doing it to help some others who wouldn't know about this.
Never heard about it before. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this. I have had a negative experience as a customer. A lady set up a "book club", which I joined and she didn't say it was usbourne books. Long story short, I ordered the book, didn't receive it and she wouldn't refund as she wouldn't get her money back from usbourne.
😩 that sounds awful, I’m sorry!
How awful! It sounds like you had a very inexperienced and unprofessional consultant! I'm sorry that happened to you. Please reach out to Usborne directly to report the consultant.
That is awful. I spent $30 to become a consultant. And I take pride in being a reputable consultant…even though I’m new at this. I haven’t run into any of the issues that this girl is talking about. Maybe because I’m in America. I do not have to pay back anything. My agreement says I only have to have one book party a year to maintain my membership. Please don’t believe this is how Usborne works in the USA. It’s not at all like this. My mentors are great!! Very helpful and I love the Trello Board and Vizzlie which are extremely helpful with my parties. Like I said. I’ve asked my team leaders about this and this is not true as far as in the USA.
Wow! I have never heard about this before. Thanks for sharing all the information about this. 👍🏽💕
I’m sorry you had this experience. It sounds like one would have to sell a ton of books to make any headway.
The mlm model also heavily favors recruiting other people to sell 😕 Thank you for watching!
You need at least $500 in sales to make $100 commission
Super interesting. I love Usborne books too and I have seen the partnership programme advertised to me a few times. Great to know a bit more about it, and why I shouldn't bother, so thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! Definitely come back tonight to watch my toddler book recommendations from Usborne though, as they have great books! I think I watched a similar video you did for your two year old recently! Maybe we can collab sometime 😊 Thanks for watching!
I haven't heard about mlm scams before... thanks for sharing this video about it
Thanks for sharing this sis, MLM’s are so predatory and I’m happy you are able to share your experience.
Thanks for watching!
I’m so sorry to hear this was your experience! I have been an independent consultant in the U.S. for about a year now, and I will say the US program is much different. There is no requirement to sell a certain amount or purchase/pay back anything. I believe I paid US$35 for my starter kit, and I know they run sales on the starter kits from time to time, so you can join for even less. I will say, in my experience, it is extremely difficult to sell enough to make any significant money, and certainly not on a regular basis. I could not support my family doing it. We do have some amazing outgoing sales-people-types who sell tons, but I think a lot of it is dependent on your social circle, and your ability to put yourself out there as a sales person. Like you, I am not that sales person type. I’m glad that you mentioned that you love the books and that they are high-quality, that is the main reason I stick with it. It is fun and I mostly just get them for the discount for my two-year-old son!
Yes that sounds like my situation but in a worse set up haha 😆
Have you tried schools and nurseries
Greetings from Machrina's Kitchen. I have bad experiences with Forever Living and Avon.
Hello1 I'm sorry to hear that :( I thought this experience would be different since it is a successful, reputable book publisher in its own right but the European branch of their MLM sales is a typical MLM scam. It's sad because their products are good!
I have a few books from them that I absolutely love. That being said, I called it as an mlm by the way some consultants do their "advertising". I'm sorry you had this experience. I love your videos!!
Thank you so much for your kind words! Yes, I tend to be “naive” (I prefer to call it trusting haha) as well as overly optimistic sometimes so in retrospect I’m not surprised I ended up getting caught up in loving the books & ignoring the warning signs 🥵
I joined and I love it! My 1st two parties I sold $500 worth of books. I have 3 more parties scheduled this same month. I love it so far but I went into it kind of understanding direct sales anyway. I just like that this is a product that I can believe in.
Hey Amber, not sure if you watched the video but this is about Usborne Europe 😊
Ugh sounds like not a very good experience! I do not like MLM scams, never have fallen for one thankfully but I see friends get hooked many times!
Yes I feel that the awareness has increased so much yet I still get daily invites to virtual parties or groups of my friends selling products as part of an MLM. I really relate to wanting to sell a product you believe in but honestly the companies take advantage of the sellers so it is not worth it. Thank you so much for watching!
This is not at all how it works with Usborne Books & More in the US!! I really hate you had a bad experience. We have no sales minimums and not obligations to pay back anything from our kit at all.
Also I am not sure what your prices were like but I just checked at least 10-15 books on the website you mentioned and they were all higher prices than our Usborne Books & More prices. 🤷♀️
@@dlphngold yea, what really killed it was the shipping from the UK to Europe. I get if it is out of their control but then don't have European consultants if you don't have a shipping point within Europe :( Thanks for watching! Glad it's run better in the US. I still like the books though lol I just order elsewhere or try to get secondhand though as it's better for the environment anyway (as much as I love supporting physical books, I do think it's best to recycle & relove books :-)
Usborne books and more USA runs differently. It is very transparent on the time frames as well as the cost- as well as your 6 months free e-commerce site - and you do not have to purchase a large kit to start. It Is by no means though just a hobby or side hustle. If you aren't dedicating a lot of time to it , it will go no where which is difficult especially if you don't want to be salesy. But 100% I do agree the books are fantastic and love them for my daughter! Sorry it was not a great experience for you !
Thanks for your comment. I’m relieved to hear it’s not scammy like the EU one!
Hi Hi. It’s Roxy. 👋🏽 This is interesting. These MLM get so confusing.
Hey Roxy! Yes I know!!! That’s how I got sucked in by accident 😂 I still love the products but I want to warn other mamas about the mlm side of the company 😅
The set up is way different in the US. Interesting to see the differences.
Thanks for watching!
Yes, here in the US it is awesome actually. My husband is an attorney and he looked over everything, UBAM has been great to me. Sorry for your experience.
You are entitled to post about your experience. MLMs do a ton of damage and if you help one person recognize a scam, then good on you.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing! 🙏
🥰
Never heard of those books🧐,But thanks for sharing 🥰
The books are great! I have a video with my top 5 coming out tonight. The consultant program = less great haha thanks for watching!
Just found this. I think the US Usborne runs a lot different and so far (I’m brand new to it) doesn’t seem scammy. I’m just enjoying how fast my free book credit adds up so I can add to our homeschool library. Like you, I absolutely love the books so much! They’re legit for sure. But yeah, the whole MLM thing can be sketchy. This is the first I’ve ever gotten into one. I sold my soul for a $30 free book credit and ended up with $265 In credit and $150 in my bank account in one week so I got hooked. 😂🤦🏻♀️
Hahahaha as terrible as my experience was for the Euro branch, I think I would be tempted to join the US one based on everything I’ve heard so far (positive) about it. Thanks for not jumping down my throat and understand this isn’t about Usborne USA! Trust me, I was dying for those free book credits and good discounts. That would have made it so easy to sell too! I may have enjoyed selling it as I’ve sold other educational materials I believe in my the prices we got for the EU branch were not sales and I could have literally sold Usborne outside of the program way easier! Hope you keep racking up those credits 😊 Love the books!
I’m so sorry this happened to you I’ve been apart of the USA branch for a year and it’s been wonderful for me. I have recruited 2 ppl but that’s because they wanted to join but it’s never been my Al to be a team lead or anything I just love selling the books and doing it with my daughter.
@@erneshaledbetter-miller7577 happy to hear it’s been a positive, educational experience for you!
I personally don't like mlm business.....this selling system is worth investing your time and efforts.
It seems like more MLM scams come out each day. So many things to lookout for. Good video.
Thank you!
I was scammed by this company. Three times before someone told me what it was, and pointed out their track record. All by different reps. I now freely say no thanks and when asked my opinion, I tell them they scam people and do not care about their customers.
Oh my gosh I’m so sorry to hear that!
Spectacular coverage!
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this. Was just thinking about getting involved with my friend, but have had little whispers of not feeling right about it. ~Sara not Caleb.
I had those feelings too but did it again, despite my gut feeling. Thanks for watching!
I'm sorry that your country's Usborne program is this way, but as a U.S. consultant, I have nothing but praise for our set up here! Only $30 for a kit, no other obligations or spending requirements ❤️ I would love it if you were clear that this isn't the U.S. division because that could be misleading to many people in our country 😊
Hi Kelly. I’m not sure how that is unclear for the viewer given that I said this is about Usborne at Home Europe. I even mention they have them for different countries. There are loads of other countries/divisions for businesses in the world besides the US and Usborne is actually a British company, not an American one so it would be strange to single out USA and not all the other locations where they run their MLM that I don’t know details about. Glad to know it isn’t so scammy in the US. I may have had a really different experience were I a US consultant. Thanks for watching & enjoy Halloween weekend!
@@Ashley.Heather I think it would help if it was specified in the title, because many people don't realize how many different Usborne divisions there are ❤️ It just hurts my heart to think that people like our customers or potential teammates may get the wrong impression about our division here, because our home office and CEO's are cherished and treat us so well in the field here😊 The large majority here find this business a significant blessing.
I am sorry you had that experience, I am just asking you to add it in the title which division this is, because I am concerned about our U.S. businesses being misrepresented. I have been a consultant for over 3 years. I make a full-time income as a stay at home homeschooling mom, ethically help my team members grow their business, bless my customers and families with our great products, and give back to charities through my business. I am very sorry for your poor experience, but please thoughtfully consider how you might be inadvertently negatively impacting others' businesses or potential buyers who benefit from our books. I watched the whole video in pieces, but didn't catch the division because I am a distracted mom (like many others) halfway watching a UA-cam video 🥰
I’ve been an Usborne consultant in the USA for 3 years now. It’s set up completely different here. Yes you are “inactive” after 6 months but you just have to place an order once a year to keep your discount. You don’t have to resign up. Sorry this happened to you. The books are awesome and I love having them for my kids.
Hey! It seems many USA consultants have had much more positive experiences and I am really happy to hear that. Despite my negative experience with their MLM Europe branch, I really appreciate the quality & wide selection of the books so I support the traditional publishing side of Usborne still. My daughter and I love them! Thanks for watching & sharing your experience. 😊
I’m sorry you fell prey to this, but I’m glad you got out. Note to anyone else: If you must recruit others to sell, it’s a pyramid scheme.
Thank you 🙏🏻
What about the Usborn Smart Shopper? I think that is the name of the program..
I have never heard of that....is that based in the US? I live abroad now and was active until the summer, at which point it was not a thing here as far as I’m aware. I don’t normally post MLM type videos (I focus on mom & expat life, books, sustainability, and sometimes something loosely related to those such as this) so I only shared this as it’s about my own experience & I know many moms get sucked in like I did. I still happily purchase the books but I just don’t want anyone to end up losing money, time, friends, etc over this and wish I saw more content being truthful about it.
Maybe it’s just a US thing. I don’t know much about it.
For All watching this - I’m in the UK and just joined Usborne at Home. The key here is to read the Terms & Conditions given. The very FIRST thing Usborne does is send you Terms & Conditions. The second is you send signed proof to them you have read and FULLY understand these terms. Only then is the contract activated. EVERYTHING is laid out in these T&C’s. I understood all of this. Regardless of whether you believe those terms are fair or not, regardless of what anyone says about how “easy” it is, that was your chance to say YES or NO. There is even a statement directly above the contract you sign that reads “Do not be mislead that high earnings are easily achieved”.
If you do accidentally sign the T&C’s without reading or understanding them, Usborne also offer you 14 days to return the starter kit for a full refund. No money lost.
I just want to offer both sides of the story here, because these are big important points to miss out.
Yes as was shown in my video, the terms had two different things stated and they did not give the two week written warning as stated in the terms, so they clearly did not follow their own terms in MY case. Hopefully they have fixed it by now.
I have been with Usborne for over 5 years through Usborne books and more in the States and it is an awesome company who treat us like family!! Our kits are $30 and you get $15 back in book credit. You are not obligated to sell, or reach minimums however if you would like to make a business out of it, putting in the hard work will open doors in many ways!! I’m so sorry you didn’t have a great experience but I have seen many families including my own blessed by this company, not only financially but the time I get to spend with my children whilst growing our home library has been so rewarding. Good Luck with your adventures abroad. I too am an expat living in the US.
I feel like I definitely fell for a scam in this myself. Goop points made here. Thank you for sharing this 👍
Hello dear I'm Alonso from Spain I came here cause I have a book about expeditions by Usborne ..
Regarding the issue they did not say all the truth it smells fishy.
Thanks for the video
This should not be confused with Usborne Books and More here in the states. There are no quotas and you do not have to pay back your kit. The only thing you pay extra for is your website after your first six months, which is only $8 a month with no automatic withdrawal.
If one watches the video it should be clear it is the European branch. Hopefully anyone seriously considering doing this would look up their region’s requirements 😊 Thanks for watching!
Thanks for sharing sis, was just planning on ordering some books for my kids.
The books are awesome! Some people have bad experiences with certain consultants, but the books are still very valuable resources.
You can still get the books, that's not a scam. Just don't become a consultant
My experience as a consultant has been nothing like this. I spent $30 to become a consultant. And I take pride in being a reputable consultant and making sure my hostesses not only get their rewards, but they get them in a timely manner…even though I’m new at this. I haven’t run into any of the issues that this girl is talking about. Maybe because I’m in America. I do not have to pay back anything. My agreement says I only have to have one book party a year to maintain my membership. Please don’t believe this is how Usborne works in the USA. It’s not at all like this. My mentors are great!! Very helpful and I love the Trello Board and Vizzlie which are extremely helpful with my parties. Like I said. I’ve asked my team leaders about this and this is not true as far as in the USA.
Hello, thanks for your comment/input. This video is not about Usborne USA, as was clearly stated in the video. Definitely happy to hear it’s run more fairly in the US!
This is NOT our policy for US consultants! $30 for starter kit, no invoice bill for difference if you don't sell, OMG I cannot believe the difference! Why not become a Yank?
I actually am a Yank & have a business called international Yankee English haha happy to hear it’s way better in the US but that option wasn’t there for me since I’m an expat living in Europe. Thanks for watching!
I love the books too, I'm in the USA. I've been a consultant for 4.5 years and now its crazy. We're still not allowed to sell on places like Marketplace, but UBAM is now allowing some of their books to be sold in stores. Combine that with the shipping rate increases of $3+ in 4 years, and why would anyone want to buy from my website?! Its $10 to ship orders under $50!! Its robbery!
Plus, I'm supposed to be a part of one of the best "teams" out there. However, I can't get my questions answered. My comments about lack of parties and needing advice are deleted for being "too negative". They literally don't want to hear about ANYONE on the team struggling. I've mostly been on my own for the entire time because they only care about the top, HUGE sellers. The rest of us can kick rocks.
I’ve heard that a lot! Thanks for sharing.
This is definitely differently than the Us company. I’m so sorry you went through this with them where you’re at. I really love their books. That definitely sounds pretty scammy and I definitely will go back and look at my papers to see if i missed anything in the contract 😩
I've heard that from a few US consultants, so I'm really happy they have a better agreement for the US consultants!! I put a disclaimer in the description box too since some people don't watch the full video or simply miss the parts where I say it's about Europe lol but I still looooooove their books! That's why I was so disappointed by the experience. I still buy their books but usually not directly from them. I made a video of my top 5 Usborne books for two year olds to show I do still love the books haha Thanks for watching by the way!
Absolutely! Glad i watched!
We have Usborne in Canada and the rules are very different and if you read the "contract" it's quite clear. But honestly if you didn't intend kn selling why did you join ? It's a way for you to get a discount but it's the way they sell... But it might be very different where you live. Here, it's no issue and yes these books are quite nice.
Hello! I answered all your questions in the video. I would have happily sold if I didn’t have to rip off customers to sell (they could easily get the books for cheaper via third party sellers). In fact the discount for myself was hardly any less than third party sellers and the shipping took insanely long, so I wasn’t even buying for my own daughter through them at a certain point. It made way more sense to buy them elsewhere or get secondhand. I showed or answered the rest of the questions in the video. Glad to hear it’s a lot better in Canada. I have heard the US has a better system too. It would be great if they changed the Euro one!
On here to get research my kids school has fundraisers from Usborne I’m an anti MLM activist
You might want to clarify that Usborne has different consultant agreements for different countries. Our agreement in the US is completely different. No minimums or quotas, etc. I’m not sure why yours had so many selling requirements.
Hi Judith! I did say in the beginning that there are different regions and my perspective was for Europe via the UK but I’ll add a disclaimer for the US; thanks!
@techno vikernes I’m not sure if you’re referring to the commenter or me but please be kind; thank you!
@techno vikernes I don’t think she sounded angry at all- just direct.
@techno vikernes This is 100% untrue. There are large amounts of people within MLMs that make sustainable incomes - enough to retire their significant others VERY comfortably.
@@aprilvdh Do you consider 1% of people involved in an MLM to be a large amount? That's how many don't lose money according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Usborne is not a scam. You only get free books & money if you book parties! Your business depends on having parties. That's it.
Not entirely true on either account but I already addressed why the EU branch of it was indeed a scam (breaking their own contract with me, etc)
I like it 👍
So paying to buy the rights to sell their books and make commissions is a scam? I think you are just upset that you can't make money and have no idea how to sell.
I love the books 📚
Same!!! Thanks for watching 😊
I’d just like to say that Usborne books and Usborne Books and More are completely separate companies :) the United States is Usborne Books and More and my two years in the company is so different than your experience. It would be nice if you had made this clear in the beginning because some people are viewing this and thinking it’s Usborne Books and More. We do NOT have any of these requirements. ZERO. I’m so sorry these geographical “systems” are different companies completely. US requires none of this. This video really gives Usborne Im general a bad name and Usborne Books and More is not Usborne. Regular customers do not realize this.
Maybe try watching it again? I do make it clear this is for the European branch. It is the same company. They run the MLM portion differently in the US but it is the same company. Just like McDonald’s in Europe sells different items than McDonald’s in the US doesn’t change that both branches are still the same parent company. I explicitly stated this video is regarding the European terms. I cannot comment on the US one as I was not contracted under the US terms. If you missed that part of the video, I cannot be faulted for it 😔 I am glad your experience has been more positive and I urge Usborne to review its European consultant policies.
The companies. aren’t the same parent like McDonald’s and I did watch the entire video. As stated in my comment I said it “would be nice if you made it clearer in the BEGINNING of the video” most people don’t finish a video all the way through :) have a great day. Just giving some feedback to make things more considerable going forward. I am terribly shocked that Europe’s company does this. I absolutely adore our US one! I’m sorry for your bad experience
You too!
The usborne
it wasnt a scam
Personal experience here! "Usborne Books & More" in United States of America branch is NOT a pyramid scheme or scam. I didn't have to put any money into being a consultant other than the kit cost (which is worth more). We also get 6 months free of website and do not have to "pay" anything back even if we don't sell one book. If we choose to continue after those 6 months free, it's only $8 a month of website. Otherwise, no other cost or hidden fees.
Also in America, if you go 6 months without an order, you can just pay for that next month of website and be good to sell/buy again for commission. (so thankfully is unlike what you experienced). I know there are a LOT of branches of "Usborne" around the world though. Which company branch did you join?? Is it Canada? Just curious! I think you should put that in your title so people aren't turned off from our US branch ;-) Best wishes to you and sorry you had a hard time!
Hi Faith, thanks for your response and watching! If you watch the whole video (I actually state it pretty clearly somewhere in the beginning), you see I explain clearly which branch I am referring to and also I put a disclaimer in the video and the description box that I am not talking about the US one, which I acknowledged I don’t know the details of 😉 I am very relieved to hear it is run MUCH better than the UK/Europe!
There is quite a bit of misinformation in this video. A bad communication experience for one person doesn't equate to a scam. The only wrong part I can see on the part of Usborne was that they never sent you the warning email that your 6 months was up. This indeed was unfortunate. This could be down to an IT error/glitch. Their fault sure, but one they tried to rectify by offering to reinstate your account if you submitted the £120 (it's £120 every 6 months to keep active btw) by an agreed date. Did you not do this anyway as you were about to submit the big order you spoke about 3 days after you were cut off?
At the end of the day people have differing opinions on what is a viable business structure but you can't call something a scam because it didn't work out for you. You admitted you didn't try to sell any books so I am not sure what you expected past the discounted books for your own children (which you state was the reason you joined). I don't want to become negative, I can see your channel is helpful but as a content provider with the intention of helping other parents this video just all seemed one sided and lots of innaccuracy.
How is being allowed to pay to join back up rectifying the situation? There is no misinformation in the video - just a factual account of what happened to me & my clearly stated opinion that it is a scam (seeing as “scam” is subjective). Have a good day.
@@Ashley.Heather you said in the video they offered to reinstate your account as it was if you placed the order (of a certain amount, am guessing 120 as this is the usual way) by a certain time to save you waiting the 4 months to sign back up again. You had a bad experinence yes but in my experence has been the total opposite. Just trying to present a bit of balance to public content. Anyway I will leave it at that as it's your channel. Thanks again and all the best x
@@KirstyLeeWalker I am sorry you misunderstood: they would only reinstate it as it was if I paid the full price to join again. I would have been completely satisfied with the offer to simply reinstate it! Again, I don’t like what happened and am just trying to warn others who are considering the European branch of this MLM. I still love the books & hope in the year since this happened, they have changed their ways. They never responded to my last email so I don’t know if that is the case.
@@KirstyLeeWalker sorry I didn’t see the second part of your comment & I totally agree with commenting your view; it’s the same reason I posted my video - to balance out the public content 😊 May I ask whether you’re in the European branch? I am very happy to hear that your experience was different than mine. 👍
@@Ashley.Heather yes I am an Ubsorne partner in the UK and have successfully ran my business for 6 years and enjoy it. I have had experience in the past of members of my team not submitting in 6 months and changing their minds at the last minute. On calling head office they have always reinstated and have looked at each case. With you having an order ready to submit I just found it surprising they didn't. They have always been fair in my experience but I appreciate there will always be an exception and breakdowns of communication. Kirsty :)
Maybe rename this? Your experience is very unfortunate, but that is not at all how any of it works in the US...
Hi Amy, thanks for watching. As mentioned in the video, this is my experience in Europe. Happy to hear your experience in the US is different 👍
I would add a disclaimer within the title of the video as to which branch you’re referring to. Not everyone is going to watch the whole video and hear where you mention you’re only referring to one branch. I know you had said you love the company despite this experience. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to sway potential customers away from the bigger message the company carries. Promoting children’s literacy is so important, especially during these uncertain times.
@@shanaweber9724 I appreciate your comment but disagree. It is obvious I am speaking about one branch as you work for the branch where you are located, not all of them at once. I love the books, not the company (I lost a lot of money & had a great deal of unnecessary stress/anxiety as a result of their MLM) and I purposely made a positive "favorite Usborne books" video that I mentioned at the start of the video. Promoting children's literacy is very important indeed! That is why I share videos about reading to and books for toddlers. I don't think supporting a company that cheats independent consultants via an MLM is the answer to supporting children's literacy though. I love the quality of the books but stand by my message and experience shared in this video. I don't want other hard working, stressed moms to lose money & endure unnecessary stress the way I did. I encourage Usborne to change its policies & outrageous shipping prices for consultants and if that happens, I would change the title to say "outdated experience" and make a new video. :-)
I think this is quite an unfair representation of Usborne Books at Home, and the title for your video is misleading, verging on click bait.
Granted, your experience with Usborne has been unpleasant, I don't want to take anything away from that. But, I feel that you should write a disclaimer that your situation was a minority, as I am one of thousands of people who have managed to earn enough of an income to support my family through my Usborne business.
Thank you for watching & for your comment. I have a disclaimer in the video and in my description box that this is my experience & about Usborne at Home Europe, not USA or elsewhere. They are in fact an MLM and did in fact scam me (see video) :( Whether that is the minority or not I can't know unless a reputable third party does a study on it. However, even if I had some strange luck & was a minority, it is worth people being vigilant when they sign up in my opinion, which is why I made the video. How great you have managed to earn an income to support your family! Are you a European Usborne at Home consultant? I'm genuinely interested in how you managed that with the shipping costs & delivery time for each book coming from the UK and local stores/websites selling the books for less expensive, even with the consultant discount. I wanted desperately for this to be a great source of income for me as I love Usborne books. Hope you're having a nice day!
@Hannah Daley How much do you earn and how long have you sold for Usborne?
@ Hannah Daley - and how many hours do you have to put in to make that money and what are your expenses even outside of the shipping costs. And have you signed up people under you who have lost money, thinking they were going to make money. And how did you feel about that? I would assume this would be people who needed the income. And did you tell them that if they worked hard enough, they would make it. Were you told this? Were you told this and this made you feel as though you, yourself had done something wrong and not something out of your control? I could go on and on. MLM's are generally a scam for many reasons.
Wow, I think you are being incredibly unjust in this video so let's look at a few of the things you spoke about: a) you talk about a big 'buy in' amount - the initial outlay (which you did state) is £48 and in return for this you get £150 worth of books which is your start up kit. Whether you choose to keep that kit or sell it on is up to you. You are clearly advised that this is a discounted kit and that should you NOT meet the remaining £120 sales in 3 months then you would need to pay the difference. They are basically insuring themselves against a loss so that not every Tom, Dick or Harry orders up £150 worth of books at a discounted price of £48 - I think that's very fair (btw £120/12 is £10 a week that you needed to sell or equivalent to one or two books). b) you clearly stated that you had gone into this for the discount so you could buy a lot of books for your own child and that you are not a 'sales person'. This is a sales job. c) As I said, it clearly states in your t's & c's that after 6 months of non activity you would be taken off the organiser list. If your students did not attend classes for 6 months would you then see them turn up for class and expect to just start again without re enrolment? d) You talk about the ridiculous postage costs outwith UK - these are not a problem caused by Usborne, but by the parcel carriers and your countries import fees and happens with the majority of companies across the world. e) Lastly you mention where people can by the books instead - I'd like to know if you are affiliated with that company?
In summary - Usborne books are great. This is not a scam - you get out of it what you put in (you cannot expect to get something for nothing). Yes it is an MLM but so is every direct selling company across the universe - the harder you work, the better the rewards. However, and this is the biggy - there are NO pressures to sell the Usborne Books! There are NO enforced targets other than your initial one (there are targets which provide rewards but it is your choice if you aim for these or not - I chose not to). The SUPPORT you get from Usborne is FANTASTIC! They practically guide you through every step including advising you how you can increase your sales so you make more income. They put up training videos, author chats, etc. all the time so everything is up to date.
Your approach to the job is basically like me saying I want to lose weight, but I'll just sit here and eat and wait for it to magically happen.
Hello, thanks for your comment. I think you misunderstood my video because halfway through your comment there were so many things misconstrued that I stopped reading as I don’t have the time or energy to argue about points I already made very clear in the video. I’ll summarize my response based on the first half of your comment:
I did not intend on trying to get people to overpay for books & did it more for the discount for myself. I didn’t know at the time that the discount was still not as beneficial as simply ordering the books myself on bookdepository.com so if I myself wouldn’t even use the discount, that would be very immoral of me to upsell others. The shipping costs were unreal and that was not at all transparent nor were the terms of paying back the book packet (many of the items of which were actually on sale on the main website so I dispute the 150 pound worth). They purposely were misleading and they terminated my agreement without the legally obligated two week written warning, yet kept up my Usborne website where I had paid for advertising for but could no longer access myself.
I agree a business needs to make money but I don’t agree with scamming people by creating an MLM in such an unfair manner. Either they should create a fair system with decent shipping costs for European sellers (and shipping time....I usually had to wait nearly a month for my order!) or stick to regular sales.
Oh sorry I forgot to say that I am in no way affiliated with bookdepository.com - they somehow manage to offer free worldwide shipping within a few days, much different than the set up with Usborne. That is why I mentioned it since I get my books there now. Or local bookstores that carry them & I want to support 😊
@@Ashley.Heather a) where is the 'upselling' - the 'discount' you receive is commission. The books are sold to customers at the RRP or less. In order to earn that commission you should be doing more than just pointing people to a website. Myself and many other reps work hard to find the right book for a child as well as organising parties, events, book fairs etc. b) Bookdepository is a multimillion pound company and a part of Amazon and they buy in bulk to distribute across the world which they have dedicated channels for. Usborne is an independent publishing company based in the UK. It's a bit like comparing your local farmer's shop to a huge conglomerate.
I'm sorry that you had a bad experience - however you cannot call it a scam, but if you truly think you were scammed you should tell the Police which is the correct route to take.
@@sandramciver6256 You're completely ignoring the reasons I called it a scam and cherry-picking parts of the video. They didn't follow their own contract with me and tried to make me purchase a new kit after I worked hard hand selecting the right books for a large order I had that again, I went to place just 3 days after the 6-month inactive period. They were obliged to send me a written two-week dismissal but they did not do it. I encourage you to make your own content talking about your positive experiences rather than continue picking apart mine when you clearly have not watched the full video (or have chosen to ignore key aspects). It's important people see all sides of the experience, not just the positive ones. Wishing you the best!
@@sandramciver6256 just leave