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The Truth About QNET Scam: What Do We Know About Direct Selling?

In any business, competition is fierce and none more so than in the direct sales industry. Direct selling as an industry is widely misunderstood. As a result, you often find unfounded allegations are made against companies that operate a direct selling model due to deliberately spreading misinformation looking to damage a company and its brand, and QNET is no different. That’s because many people don’t understand what direct selling is and what the difference is between network marketing and a pyramid scheme.

QNET is a legitimate business operation that incorporates direct selling as its business model and has been around for more than 20 years — with operations in more than 25 countries.

What is Direct Selling?

To fully understand what direct selling is, it’s essential to understand what a traditional sales model looks like compared to a direct sales model.

Traditional Retail 

Most consumers traditionally buy their products in a retail store such as grocery stores, clothing stores, shoe stores, and gift shops. Consumers take a product off the shelf, pay for the goods, and leave with their purchase. In the case of a furniture store, the products may need to be delivered as they are too large for the consumer to put in the back of their car. 

Online Sales

Another way consumers make purchases is to buy through an online store such as Amazon. They simply set up an account, choose the products they wish to purchase, and have them shipped to their residence or business location. QNET is not a scam and instead operates in a similar fashion where their representatives and customers can also buy online and have their purchases delivered to their door.

Consultative Selling 

Some companies employ sales representatives who will call on established customers to inform them of new products that have come on the market or to take repeat orders their customers are already purchasing. Some retailers, such as decorators, curtain retailers, and flooring specialists, will send a sales representative to consult with customers on-site to discuss their individual needs. 

Business Development

Other cases, such as the medical device industry, software, office products, or insurance companies, will employ a business development specialist to prospect and bring in new business. 

When a company employs a salesperson or representative and pays a weekly or monthly salary, they cover all the associated employment costs, including healthcare benefits and paying taxes on behalf of the employees.

Direct Selling

Direct selling involves selling products directly to consumers at home, online, or through other non-store locations in a non-retail environment.

Some companies choose direct selling as a business model because, in the business models mentioned above, the product goes from a manufacturer to a wholesaler or distributor and then onto the retailer, then to the consumer, which naturally incurs additional costs in the supply chain. Choosing a direct selling model means the manufacturer or distributors avoid the additional costs of using intermediaries by selling directly to the public. The products sold through a direct selling model are usually not found in your typical retail locations and are often cheaper than comparable products in retail stores.

Approximately 100 million people worldwide are involved in the direct selling industry in both part-time and full-time capacity.

How Does Direct Selling Work?

Direct selling relies on sales representatives getting in front of people in a non-traditional setting. Direct selling is where individual salespeople reach out directly to prospective consumers through party plans and network marketing activities, not to be confused with direct marketing involving companies marketing directly to the consumer.

The sales representatives only get paid when they sell products, unlike employed salespeople, who get paid a weekly salary and, in some cases, a commission on top. Those involved with direct sales do not receive a base salary and only get paid a commission for what they sell. Depending on the direct sales model, the company may offer bonuses on top of a commission when they reach established targets.

Multi-Level Marketing

Direct selling is often associated with Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) or network marketing; however, they aren’t the same because while MLM is direct selling, not all direct sales models involve MLM.

MLM is a variation of a direct sales model as income earned as a commission on sales also includes the sales made by other people they recruited into the company, commonly known as a downline. In addition to their own sales, the salesperson also makes a smaller commission based on a percentage of their downline’s collective sales. This is to encourage people to recruit more people into the business.

MLM has been around for many years and is a legitimate business model. Avon, Mary Kay, Tupperware, and Amway are all examples of successful MLM companies. It’s important to note that sales representatives operating in a multi-level marketing model are considered a business owner and must abide by the country’s business and tax laws. Those involved in MLM are called Independent Business Owners (IBO) and generally work from home.

Unfortunately, MLM and direct selling companies often get confused with a “Pyramid Scheme” — but nothing could be further from the truth. 

What is the Difference Between a Pyramid Scheme and Multi-Level Marketing?

A pyramid scheme is illegal and unsustainable as a business model where people make money by recruiting new members, the funds of which eventually bottoms out. The main difference between a pyramid scheme and a legitimate network marketing company is that a pyramid scheme focuses on recruiting people, whereas a genuine MLM company focuses on selling products. An MLM or network marketing company does not pay for recruiting new business owners into the company.

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scam that promises you a high return rate with little risk. If the return rate sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and you should avoid investing in them.

Is QNET a Direct Sales Company?

QNET is a global eCommerce business that provides customers worldwide with unique, high-quality products and services while allowing budding entrepreneurs to build a business by promoting and selling these products and services directly to the public.  

They are a legitimate direct selling company operating in the Middle East, South and East Asia, Africa, Central Asia, and Europe. The company’s global footprint has helped develop micro-entrepreneurs in many emerging economies.

QNET’s products are designed to help people live healthier and improve their lifestyle and livelihood. Headquartered in Hong Kong, QNET has established offices and agencies in more than 25 countries worldwide.

The only way to earn an income with QNET is through the sale of products. It’s not a quick-rich scheme for those selling their products and services, representatives need to be committed, focused, goal-oriented, and work hard. It’s attractive as a segue into entrepreneurship because, unlike a traditional business, people don’t have to worry about coming up with enormous start-up costs and managing operational overheads.

Is QNET a Scam?

A lack of understanding is usually why people mistake a legitimate company like QNET for a scam.

To be successful in a direct selling environment depends on hard work; some people are unprepared to do whatever it takes to make their business successful. They expect to make money overnight, and in this business, they must be patient because it requires people to work the business. Therefore direct selling companies like QNET are often victims of endless media accusations and baseless complaints. 

What you find is disgruntled IBOs who discovered the hard work of an entrepreneur difficult and found that the direct selling business was not for them. They use online platforms and social media to vent their anger and frustration and blame the company, not themselves, for being unsuccessful. Unfortunately, this is human nature and happens in almost any industry where success requires work.

If QNET wasn’t a legitimate company, why would they become the official distributor of the Sydney Olympic Games commemorative coins and also a distributor at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games? Rest assured, the Olympic committee would have done their due diligence before awarding these contracts to QNET.

Dealing With Unethical Operators

Just as unethical people operate in traditional businesses, the direct selling industry is no different. A minimal number of people in network marketing and direct selling might engage in unethical practices. You also find this happening in traditional business models where unscrupulous operators try to outsmart the consumers. As unethical practices come to light, it makes that particular industry an easy target for slurs and disinformation reporting.

QNET representatives are not employed salespeople and operate as independent business owners who must sign a comprehensive document whereby they agree to conduct their business ethically and abide by comprehensive guidelines.QNET enforces a strict code of professional conduct in their distributors and penalizes those who violate their policies and procedures which can result in them being removed as an independent representative.

The Company has a well-established Network Compliance Department (“NCD”) assigned to monitor network behavior and ensure that representatives are conducting their business professionally and ethically. The QNET NCD thoroughly investigates all complaints or claims against any IBOs, and appropriate action is taken based on such investigations’ findings.

If you know someone who has misrepresented a QNET business or product, please bring this to their attention by sending an email to network.integrity@QNET.net where it will be dealt with expeditiously.

Unethical Customers

QNET, like many other companies and retailers, have experienced unethical customers who try to return products and claim a refund years after purchasing the product or claim to have an issue but never filed a formal complaint. If a complaint is made, QNET has a record in its database, which is followed up and tracked diligently.

In any industry, you find people who operate in the cloak of anonymity and use social media to express views without fear of consequences. Unethical people have claimed to be a QNET customer and posted a negative claim on social media, yet their names or email address weren’t in the QNET database, and there is no record of them contacting customer service or having been a customer.

Is QNET Banned in Some Countries?

QNET is not banned in any country except for Saudi Arabia and has nothing to do with its direct selling business model; it is to do with multi-level marketing in general. For instance, Saudi Arabia bans all multi-level marketing companies, not just QNET. That means QNET has not been singled out; it’s the industry of multi-level marketing/direct selling that has been banned across the board.

Because QNET was one of the fastest-growing direct selling companies in Saudi Arabia at one point and gained significant prominence, the media singled out QNET when they covered the country’s overall ban on the industry.

India, a country where QNET operates, has experienced some challenges due to the lack of direct selling legislation in their country. Along with many other direct sales companies in India, the Karnataka High court specifies that QNET and other legitimate direct sales companies can operate guided by the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Why Get Involved With QNET?

QNET has been in business for over 20 years and operates in countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Germany, where stringent laws govern the direct selling industry. QNET has always complied with local regulations in the countries they operate in, paid taxes, reinvested in the country, and contributed to numerous philanthropic activities. 

In recent world events where so many people have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the world has seen a shift away from traditional working models. The world has changed where flexible work options have become more commonplace. With the advent of technological innovations, more people than ever are buying products online.

QNET has revolutionized the future of entrepreneurship

Emerging countries have recognized that direct selling is a thriving industry creating microentrepreneurs who contribute to their communities. These countries have also instituted the necessary legislation to govern the direct selling industry, to distinguish the scams from genuine companies like QNET.

If you love to help others and get paid for it, QNET offers an unparalleled opportunity. If people choose to take advantage of this opportunity to earn a commission from the products they sell, there is no better reputable company than QNET. How much representatives earn depends on how much time they put in and how hard they work.

More examples of how QNET is not a scam here.

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Pamela is a television journalist, humor writer and novelist. Her first novel, Allegedly, was released in 2015 by St. Martin’s Press. The book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She and her husband, Daniel, have a 3-year-old son, Carter.

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