MLMs are like miniature Sam's Clubs, but they focus more on selling memberships than products. Imagine a big box store like Sam's Club, being filled with three or four products, but hundred's of employees getting paid to sign people up to join. Once you pay the fee, you get to join the other employees in selling memberships to join the club. ("Oh, yeah, BTW, there is some chocolate in the back of the building, which you can buy, and the store will even give you a token commission if you can sell some, but the real money is up front, here, signing up new members. Isn't this great?")