Comment Number: 522418-07248
Received: 7/10/2006 1:03:48 AM
Organization:
Commenter: Philip Goscienski
State: CA
Subject: Business Opportunity Rule
Title: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
CFR Citation: 16 CFR Part 437
No Attachments

Comments:

Sirs: I am a retired pediatrician and I have been an IBO for 32 years. My Quixtar income is the largest portion of my income. We registered with Amway, now Quixtar, in 1974 in order to educate our six children. We accomplished that and have placed our business in a family trust in order to ensure the college education of our grandchildren and their children. We and our children have benefited greatly from our association with others in the business, specifically in the role models provided by our associates. It took us more than 2 weeks to decide to join our sponsors in the business. During that time we felt no pressure to join and we have maintained that policy when sharing the business with others. We present the plan to others in a realistic fashion so that they understand that it takes months or years of effort to reach an income that will match that of the average U.S. wage-earner. It took us 13 months to reach that level on a part-time basis. All prospects receive a copy of the SA-4400 document that explains how the business works and how bonuses are calculated. The cost of getting started includes the registration fees and amounts to approximately $54.00 with California Sales Tax. We suggest that new IBOs purchase a trial pack of products for $60.00 and an annual literature subscription of $20.00. We do not sell any other materials to prospects and let them know that they are not expected to buy such materials in the future unless they choose to do so. The new proposals would make it extremely difficult for new IBOs to sponsor others, and would probably discourage most of them from ever doing so. Presenting a prospect with a portfolio of litigation presented against our company and all its IBOs is simply impractical. No other business is required to do anything of the sort, and this proposal seems quite discriminatory. Who would pay for such a portfolio, and how much would it cost to produce? How often would it have to be updated? A waiting period of 7 days would impose a huge delay in building a business and hurt the very people that it is deemed to protect: the prospect. No other type of business is required to provide a list of references, and this clearly is a violation of privacy. The idea of having to disclose personal income is expecially abhorrent. The opportunity for abuse of this provision is incalculable. The likelihood of litigation is huge. I do not share the details of my income with prospects. I do tell them that we have qualified at the 25% level for more than 30 years and that doing so for all 12 months of the fiscal year provides an annual bonus of $10,000. I also disclose that we receive income from Japan in the amount of several hundred dollars each month and that we have done so for 26 years. I am aware that a few IBOs in all types of marketing businesses have not been truthful, have applied presssure to prospects and have exaggerated income. I am also aware that not all physicians are truthful and that some have done great harm to patients. Over-regulation has led to severe problems for patients and burdensome costs to physicians and hospitals. I fear that the proposed requirements for business opportunities would also incur a cost far in excess of their value. Respectfully, Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.