Herbalife's Misleading Lesson About The Collapse Of Qualification Buying

Editor’s note:  Herbalife has argued that the business model has changed over time, specifically that new distributors are not pressured to buy loads of product upfront to achieve sales leader status, a process known as qualification buying. They say more and more distributors buy smaller amounts of product over longer periods of time, proving that customers really are interested in buying the product for self-consumption. Richard’s own investigation into South American nutrition clubs shows how the scam has simply morphed. Distributors enter training programs and are required to space out purchases to maintain participation in the programs – thus creating an…