Off-Topic: MLMs and my friends who sell for them

The blog's going to go off topic today, in favor of a small rant.

Two days ago I got a Facebook message from an old friend from elementary school. Now, we haven't really stayed in touch, but infrequently comment on each other's posts about kids or requests for advice. So we follow each other's families on Facebook and that's about it. Not that I wouldn't like to redevelop a relationship, but that's just where we're at.

Here's what the message said:

Hi Anne! Your kids are so cute! I love reading your posts about the girls and I can't believe your little brother has a son now!

I decided to reach out to some of my fellow momma’s today about the children’s multi-vitamin/probiotic that Plexus has developed.. and I immediately thought of you.  No worries if you aren’t interested, I just want to leave you with some info about the product, X-factor Kids.   I’ve become really passionate about gut health and it turns out our children can also benefit a lot as well!!

The vitamin is fully methylated (which means it is effective even with kiddos who carry the MTHFR gene), delicious, and contains really incredible strains of probiotics! The cost is very comparable to what you would get from Whole Foods or a health food market, (where I used to get my supplements.)

Here is a quick video about the vitamin/probiotic you can watch in your spare time. Ha!! 

Look. I'd LOVE to catch up over coffee. I'd probably even try your product, I really would. But now, I just feel used.

How do I respond? So far I've ignored her but I have half a mind to say "Let's actually be friends first."

And you know what else? I HATE that moms feel they have to sell this stuff to get by. Some of these products I really like (Pampered Chef, LulaRoe, Mary Kay, Norwex). Except for the essential oils, but that's a whole other rant. This business model just bothers me. The stuff is more expensive than it should be, because more than one salesperson is taking a cut of my purchase. It approaches an illegal pyramid scheme. And it's turning friends and acquaintances into nothing more than potential customers.