OPINION: PAY ME $500 AND I’LL LET YOU SELL FOR ME.

A man walks into a bar. He’s dressed for success, his hair is combed, he smells good. He is very friendly and engages in conversation with you. He is charming, but he is only interested in one thing: your money.

You have just met Mr. Sales, a model for today’s salesmen. They work for direct-selling companies and can be anywhere and everywhere, selling anything from energy pills to herbal cleanses.

Today’s competitive job market has made finding reliable jobs difficult, so men and women are taking things into their own hands — or so they think.

The corporations salesmen, like Mr. Sales, are working for attempt to sell products while enrolling their consumers to also become a salesperson for them. Some corporations with practices that hire consumers as independent salespersons have ultimately proven to be pyramid schemes, as they require new members to pay for enrollment.

In order to sell his products, Mr. Sales must find the next victim. Therefore, he engages you into a direct-selling “party.” The party is designed to convince the masses to invest in the corporation’s product. Participants are lured with food and snacks to sit through a slideshow and lecture. They commonly share the “proof” of the corporation’s success. In this case, Mr. Sales shows off a Magazine touting his business as a 500 company. Unfortunately, the magazine is disguised as a professional magazine, when it is actually printed by the corporation itself to convince you they will make you rich.

“Look at the magazine; we are a 500 company,” he says.

A word of caution — the company is probably a fortune 500 because they make money off of you. A fortune 500 is never based on the amount of money their salesmen make, but based on the income of the corporation overall.

Many of these companies make the bulk of their income from you, the consumer/salesperson, as you purchase the marketing kits, promotional aids, sales kits, and other items they expect you to sell.

What kind of start-up cost? “It is only $500 to start your own business,” Mr. Sales would say.

One can easily interpret the start-up cost as $500 to be the corporation’s salesman. A word of caution, do your research and make sure that the company is making money off of the product, and not out of the salesman’s wallet.

If anyone is thinking of joining one of these companies, consider the following recommendation: Before paying the start-up fee, inquire with a family member or a friend who owns a local business if you can help to sell their products for a percentage of the sale. Helping a local business is good for the local economy, it will help your loved one’s business, and it will give you an opportunity to make money as an independent salesperson — all of this without you paying a start-up fee.