Dillards 64: Now with Multi-Level Marketing!

[artdecades]

I feel lucky that I don't have many people in my bubble that do MLMs. The only one that seems to have gotten a few of the ladies is Stella and Dot and at least that stuff is cute and good quality (yes, I have bought stuff at parties )

 

Anyway, I have a question. How do you guys think Jill and Derick justify FabFitFun when they feature brands owned and created by LGBTQIA individuals. I am on their site and they have Dr. Brandt products. Dr. Brandt was a gay man. I am sure there are more instances of this too. How do they explain this away?

[nastyhobbitses]

11 minutes ago, SilverBeach said:

If you are referring to Primerica, it is not a scam. Mr. SB has been a Primerica representative for 13 years. He has passed both the Series 6 and Series 63 examinations required for licensing to sell insurance and securities, as have all Primerica representatives, which is required by law. He is registered with FINRA which is also required. The financial industry is highly regulated by the states and Federal government and Primerica is no exception. You can't stockpile financial products in your closet and sell them on eBay when you need to dump them, LOL. Nor can unlicensed untrained people sell anything. Clients have insurance protection and investments like the clients of any other financial services firm. 

I don't know how Primerica as a scam got started but that is complete bullshit and it irritates me to no end. Competitors don't like Primerica because of it's market dominance, but it has a high stock price and major companies are steadily buying in. The antiMLM reddit has a lot of misinformation about Primerica. Fair is fair, and Primerica is unfairly lumped in with the likes of Nerium, Advocare, Amway, Plexus, etc. when it is qualitatively an entirely different type of business.

Primerica is an MLM.

Bernie Madoff was the chairman of NASDAQ and his firm was registered with FINRA. That certainly didn't make him legit. 

[SilverBeach]

3 minutes ago, nastyhobbitses said:

Primerica is an MLM.

Bernie Madoff was the chairman of NASDAQ and his firm was registered with FINRA. That certainly didn't make him legit. 

Not comparable, but whatever. Exactly what is it then that makes Primerica a scam? I've outlined how it isn't but no one can say how it is. And Mr. SB  is totally legit thank you very much. I don't know if you have ever applied for insurance or securities licensing but they know the color of your underwear before it's all over as does FINRA.

Look, I'm not going to argue about it. People are going to believe what they want to, facts be damned. Mr. SB makes his income by selling, not recruiting. If someone is interested in getting licensed Mr. SB pays the $99 fee. If you can't pass the licensing exams or simply lose interest, that's the total outlay, $99. There are bad apples in every organization but that doesn't make it a scam.

Enough said, I'm done with it. I know the truth. No one has undergone financial ruin to be a Primerica rep nor have worthless products been foisted upon anyone. Have a nice evening.

[meowfundiecatz]

I thought through this. Jill's posts are awkward because why is she interesting? If that makes sense. I mean it's one thing to be odd like the original Duggars, but now she is just an average SAHM with 2 kids, skinny jeans, and a nose ring. (I've said this before) but I think if Jill actually shared about her life, maybe she could be interesting. Like not uninteresting recipes or selling stuff. But like, we still have no idea what happened when she had Sam. We don't know why she changed her standards. We don't know much. I mean, I completely understand wanting to stay private, but at least she could stay relevant and share something if she wants me to use her referral code. I literally could choose from hundreds and hundreds of those codes.

[BlessingsVonFundiePants]

Another awkward tweet from Derick’s mother Cathy. Apparently when said “until death do us part” she really meant it and she can’t wait to see her dead husband again in heaven...I’m not sure what her current husband is supposed to do when he gets to heaven...sit there uncomfortably I guess, just like now while he’s alive and reading her tweets 

[FluffySnowball]

1 hour ago, BlessingsVonFundiePants said:

Another awkward tweet from Derick’s mother Cathy. Apparently when said “until death do us part” she really meant it and she can’t wait to see her dead husband again in heaven...I’m not sure what her current husband is supposed to do when he gets to heaven...sit there uncomfortably I guess, just like now while he’s alive and reading her tweets 

So many possible reactions come to mind, with WTF and crying only being two... but let’s just laugh for now I guess. 

[Rachel333]

2 hours ago, BlessingsVonFundiePants said:

Another awkward tweet from Derick’s mother Cathy. Apparently when said “until death do us part” she really meant it and she can’t wait to see her dead husband again in heaven...I’m not sure what her current husband is supposed to do when he gets to heaven...sit there uncomfortably I guess, just like now while he’s alive and reading her tweets 

I don't see any problem with this. Of course she misses her dead husband! That doesn't mean she doesn't also love her current husband.

[RainbowSky]

1 hour ago, BlessingsVonFundiePants said:

Another awkward tweet from Derick’s mother Cathy. Apparently when said “until death do us part” she really meant it and she can’t wait to see her dead husband again in heaven...I’m not sure what her current husband is supposed to do when he gets to heaven...sit there uncomfortably I guess, just like now while he’s alive and reading her tweets 

It kinda makes me feel awkward when my MIL posts my husband's dad's pic and says she misses him and stuff. I dunno how to react to that. I was crying one day when they were visiting and somehow she thought I was crying because he's dead (my husband was talking about wishing his dad would know the kids and grandkids, we were looking at my baby at the time.) and she said "I know honey, we all still love and miss him! It's okay to get it out!" 

Her current husband was friends with him so I guess he misses his buddy too. I don't know to take it sometimes. Like am I supposed to feel happy that current is okay and even though her first husband died, she loves him and he's secure in that? Or feel weird that she's still saying she misses her first one and crying when he's been dead 20odd years and her husband now is sitting right there? I'm not sure! And I was in 3rd or 4th grade when #1 died so I definitely didn't meet him lol.  My husband's ex who the older kids were with did know him pretty well because her dad was friends with him too (yes this can get weird lol) so I'm not sure if she was thinking that obviously I had to have met him too or ?? And that just felt more awkward. Another of her DIL posts that he sounds like such a nice guy and she wishes she could've met him etc every time his pic comes up. I'm not that kind of person lol

I don't know what to do with this! 

Anyway, my OT post went along with it, I swear. I just don't know how to explain things in a not quite so long sort of way.

[Snarkasarus Rex]

41 minutes ago, Rachel333 said:

I don't see any problem with this. Of course she misses her dead husband! That doesn't mean she doesn't also love her current husband.

I think the perceived awkwardness comes from the fact she mentions Rick Dillard on social media much more often than she does Ron Bynum.  That may be Ron’s preference, but it still seems weird to me.  If she talked more about Ron then I wouldn’t think anything of it.

 

[RidiculousFundies]

Oh Jill, oh sweetie, no no no. Please just no. 

She wants to be like Jessa in the mom department, Jinger in the worldly-type department and now she wants to be like the Bates girls. She doesn't know who she is, and it's sad because I'm a year older than her, with 2 kids also, and I'm so content in myself I'm just living my best life. 

As for the Story of Me books, they piss me off. Apparently in my country they are looking to ban gay marriage, and I'm not gay but it makes me so mad because no one should take away anyone else's rights. So Jill's books are offensive if she really is trying to become some sort of social media mogul

[Edhelfin]

Jill and Derick are just... sorry to sound harsh but if I had to describe them with one word, it would be simply 'unlikeable'.

Plus Derick looks like he smells unpleasant.

Their kids are cute though.

[HarleyQuinn]

Cathy's new husband is a mystery to me since we never see him. How does that dude put up with it? Or is he just silently awful?

[Alice in Fundieland]

20 hours ago, theotherelise said:

I imagine she is terrified about the next three years and how they will afford things. Unfortunately she has no conception of questioning her headship. 

She has been raised to believe that God and Derick will provide. I’m an atheist and I’d still bet that God is more likely to provide for the Dillard family than Derick.

[Rachel333]

1 hour ago, Snarkasarus Rex said:

I think the perceived awkwardness comes from the fact she mentions Rick Dillard on social media much more often than she does Ron Bynum.  That may be Ron’s preference, but it still seems weird to me.  If she talked more about Ron then I wouldn’t think anything of it.

The fact that he has been almost completely absent from any media makes me think he might just prefer it that way.

4 hours ago, BlessingsVonFundiePants said:

Another awkward tweet from Derick’s mother Cathy. Apparently when said “until death do us part” she really meant it and she can’t wait to see her dead husband again in heaven...I’m not sure what her current husband is supposed to do when he gets to heaven...sit there uncomfortably I guess, just like now while he’s alive and reading her tweets 

In their version of Christianity they don't believe in marriage in Heaven. They believe couples who were married on earth will be together in Heaven just because they love each other, but it won't be marriage in the earthly sense so there won't be any issues in cases like Cathy's where someone was married to multiple people on earth.

[victoriasponge]

8 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

He has passed both the Series 6 and Series 63 examinations required for licensing to sell insurance and securities, as have all Primerica representatives, which is required by law.

Wasn't going to get involved, but according to Wikipedia (ah yes, reliable source go me) there are over 120k representatives and 22k of them have Series 6 licence.

As for whether it is like other MLM companies, well the average returns are better ($6k average for sales) but that's still not anywhere near a living wage. I mean, yes, better than Lularoe but not a liveable average. I don't doubt your husband's credentials or that he's a fair and honest salesman, but that doesn't mean the overall company is good.

At the end of the day, money still goes up the upline and representatives have to pay the monthly fee. I don't necessarily trust a company that makes you pay them for working for them. And scammy companies like Theranos also had lots of people buying in and some regulation, it didn't make them legit.

Anyway, I don't think Jill would sell one of the common MLM products. The start-up costs are high and she's coming up for homeschooling time now anyway, I can see her trying to increase the sponsorships which is a much better strategy if she can ever capitalise on the success she's got. It's all about posing and faking it basically. I don't like all the influencers on Insta and unfollow people who start it, but nobody can deny it would be lucrative and cover Derek's law school and their family if she did it right. Plus she's got the 'wholesome' Duggar image going for her which is just what some companies want.

[theotherelise]

9 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

If you are referring to Primerica, it is not a scam.

<snip>

 

I don't remember the name of it, but I don't think it was Primerica. There was a huge upfront training cost (I remember it being several hundred dollars, but this was back in 2011) and this poor girl was working at McDonalds and had a two year old at home with very infrequent child support. The woman trying to sell her on it was middle aged and sounded so desperate to make the deal that I knew immediately something was off. 

Better than sponsorships or sales, Jill could just watch one more kid during the days and make money babysitting. I wouldn't leave my hypothetical kid with her, but I'm sure some of her cross church friends wouldn't mind a morning off to get things done or go to their jobs.

[SamiKatz]

4 hours ago, RainbowSky said:

It kinda makes me feel awkward when my MIL posts my husband's dad's pic and says she misses him and stuff. I dunno how to react to that. I was crying one day when they were visiting and somehow she thought I was crying because he's dead (my husband was talking about wishing his dad would know the kids and grandkids, we were looking at my baby at the time.) and she said "I know honey, we all still love and miss him! It's okay to get it out!" 

Her current husband was friends with him so I guess he misses his buddy too. I don't know to take it sometimes. Like am I supposed to feel happy that current is okay and even though her first husband died, she loves him and he's secure in that? Or feel weird that she's still saying she misses her first one and crying when he's been dead 20odd years and her husband now is sitting right there? I'm not sure! And I was in 3rd or 4th grade when #1 died so I definitely didn't meet him lol.  My husband's ex who the older kids were with did know him pretty well because her dad was friends with him too (yes this can get weird lol) so I'm not sure if she was thinking that obviously I had to have met him too or ?? And that just felt more awkward. Another of her DIL posts that he sounds like such a nice guy and she wishes she could've met him etc every time his pic comes up. I'm not that kind of person lol

I don't know what to do with this! 

Anyway, my OT post went along with it, I swear. I just don't know how to explain things in a not quite so long sort of way.

You never stop missing a loved one when they die, regardless of how you've moved on in life.   You will always, always be dealing with the vacancy they left.  And it appears the new husband did know him so he lost a friend as well.You never met the husband/father so of course you wouldn't feel the same way. 

 

[JillyO]

7 hours ago, BlessingsVonFundiePants said:

Another awkward tweet from Derick’s mother Cathy. Apparently when said “until death do us part” she really meant it and she can’t wait to see her dead husband again in heaven...I’m not sure what her current husband is supposed to do when he gets to heaven...sit there uncomfortably I guess, just like now while he’s alive and reading her tweets 

I guess what I find weird about saying something like "I can't wait to see him/her again in heaven" is that - to me - it basically means you can't wait to die. And I know that this is actually a pretty common thing to say among Christians, so I'm not bashing Cathy in particular. I guess as a born-and-raised atheist, I just can't reconcile saying something like this with someone who clearly isn't ready to die. I can understand saying something like "when I pass on eventually, I look forward to seeing xyz again" and drawing comfort from that. But saying you can't wait for it, not so much. YMMV.

[llg1234]

10 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

Primerica is an MLM.

Bernie Madoff was the chairman of NASDAQ and his firm was registered with FINRA. That certainly didn't make him legit. 

Plot twist!

Spoiler

 

[Knight of Ni]

A friend tried to pull me into Amway. He even brought his “mentor “ with him to talk to me too. I was really not interested and trying to be polite. They were so insistent that at one point it almost seemed easier to agree to sign up then keep telling them no. Every excuse I gave them they had an answer for why Amway would be a solution to the problem.  “My grades actually improved when I started selling Amway” was one line they tried. Umm yeah because Amway will really help me on the thermodynamics portion of physical chemistry not to mention the Krebs Cycle. Eventually I just had to give them a hard no that I wasn’t joining because I didn’t want to and that’s it. The thing that really ripped me off was that the first few minutes of the meeting was them talking about how Amway totally wasn’t an MLM and how it was different then all those other scams. He even demonstrated this with little pictures of pyramids and arrows. They told me that I was making a big mistake because their products just sell themselves. To hear my friend talk about it people just walk up to him on the streets or the gym to ask him about buying. All he has to do is hold a product and people will fall all over themselves to get it. 

Yeah, glad I dodged that bullet. 

[SweetJuly]

1 hour ago, JillyO said:

I guess what I find weird about saying something like "I can't wait to see him/her again in heaven" is that - to me - it basically means you can't wait to die. And I know that this is actually a pretty common thing to say among Christians, so I'm not bashing Cathy in particular. I guess as a born-and-raised atheist, I just can't reconcile saying something like this with someone who clearly isn't ready to die. I can understand saying something like "when I pass on eventually, I look forward to seeing xyz again" and drawing comfort from that. But saying you can't wait for it, not so much. YMMV.

It's just another example of the Duggars et al.'s lack of eloquence.

[MoonFace]

1 hour ago, JillyO said:

I guess what I find weird about saying something like "I can't wait to see him/her again in heaven" is that - to me - it basically means you can't wait to die. And I know that this is actually a pretty common thing to say among Christians, so I'm not bashing Cathy in particular. I guess as a born-and-raised atheist, I just can't reconcile saying something like this with someone who clearly isn't ready to die. I can understand saying something like "when I pass on eventually, I look forward to seeing xyz again" and drawing comfort from that. But saying you can't wait for it, not so much. YMMV.

I find it weird to say that too.   After all, it's TIL DEATH DO WE PART.    In my mind that makes it that there are no marriages in heaven (Apologies to those who do believe that - this is just my opinion)   I think you will see those you loved on earth but the relationship is not the same.    

[RidiculousFundies]

5 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

In their version of Christianity they don't believe in marriage in Heaven. They believe couples who were married on earth will be together in Heaven just because they love each other, but it won't be marriage in the earthly sense so there won't be any issues in cases like Cathy's where someone was married to multiple people on earth.

Im genuinely asking, does it only work that way if a spouse passed away? How do they think it works in the case of divorce? Where my mom and dad are divorced and she remarried, would she end up in heaven with my dad again? What happens to her second husband? 

[Rachel333]

22 minutes ago, RidiculousFundies said:

Im genuinely asking, does it only work that way if a spouse passed away? How do they think it works in the case of divorce? Where my mom and dad are divorced and she remarried, would she end up in heaven with my dad again? What happens to her second husband? 

That would just be up to them. It's not like Christians in that tradition typically believe that people are mandated to be together or not in Heaven.

[SamiKatz]

If parents are reunited in heaven God himself would need to intervene if mine showed up there.  I grew up with them hating each other and they only time they've spoken in 40 odd years or so was at my sister's wedding (15 years ago).  Rufus bless indeed.