Insurance and Investment counciling companies that use this technique are after a couple of things:
1) your up front money. Charging you $250 - $X,XXX for an "education" in how to sell the products is direct income for them. Put simply, they are in the business of recruiting people, not in the business of selling product.
2) your small circle of family and friends. Most people who get invovled in these types of things sell product only to immediate family, friends, or direct contacts. The idea is that it would be too expensive (and likely not successful) for the companies to try to market down to these people. But with you out there pushing your family members, maybe they will buy (even if it is really a lousy investment, which often appears to be the case).
Basically, when you see a situation where more money is made by dragging new people into being "sales reps" and less money is made actually selling product, you should know it isn't a very good deal. Amway (whatever they call themselves these days) is exactly in this model, making everyone a "distributor" and the only real money is made not selling product retail, but pushing it off to your sub-agents. While some people do get rich, most people sell a few bottles of soap a year and don't make enough money to buy a case of beer.
my suggestion: turn and run.
