[wyaeld]

Having a hierarchy that gets narrower at the top, with people earning more, is not what makes something a pyramid scheme.

Having the earnings of the higher tier directly funded by financial contributions from the lower tiers is.

I lot of MLMs have a particular 'hiding in plain site deception'. The retail margins on the consumer goods aren't where the bulk of the top tier earnings are coming from. The conferences, training materials, tapes, courses and a raft of support systems for the distributors... all produced at very little cost are the true source. This is where the generous subsidies come from.