- Dividend Payout Could Hit Record Amount This Year
- With Investors So Bullish, Stock Pullback Must Be Ahead
- Is Bill Gross, PIMCO's Bond King, Losing His Touch?
- Greece Austerity Deal Runs Into Trouble Once Again
- Why Saving Greece Could Destroy the World
- Apple’s Record Run: $500 Is a Magic Number
- Housing Still Hurting Consumers, Economy: Bernanke
- Get Ready for $5 Gas This Year: Ex-Shell CEO
- The World's Best Beers
- In Search of America's ‘Hottest Forecasters’
- Dow vs. S&P 500: Which is a Better Investment?
- Mick Fleetwood on the MP3 ‘Dumbing Down’ of Music
- Avis on the Road to Strong Growth: Analyst
- Private Homebuilders: Dead Men Walking
- LinkedIn’s Growth Is Already Priced In: Analyst
- The Real Reason Behind Bank of America’s Rally
- 5 Hedge Funds’ Top Stocks Soar After 2011 Rout
- This Valentine’s Day Love Is Served on a Silver Platter
MOST SHARED
- How Rescuing Greece Could Destroy the World
- A King Dollar GOP?
- How to Date a Wall Street Man
- Mario Monti on Italy's Economic Future
- The World's Best Beers
- Dow vs. S&P 500: Which is a Better Investment?
- Mick Fleetwood on the MP3 ‘Dumbing Down’ of Music
- Mario Monti's Efforts Good Enough?
- Blue Ivy Gets Trademarked by Beyonce and Jay-Z
- Greek PM on New Debt Deal
MOST POPULAR
HOT ON FACEBOOK
China Relaxes Rules on Direct Sales Distribution
Text Size 
Amway and Mary Kay have received direct-selling licenses in China, ending an eight-year ban that limited the rival companies' recruitment of distributors.
The relaxed rules could further open a market that, with more than $2 billion in annual sales, has become the largest for Amway's parent company, Alticor. Almost a third of Alticor's sales are made by Amway's subsidiary in China.
"In China we are the largest direct-selling company by a good margin," Amway spokesman Rob Zeiger said Wednesday. "It's good news for us because it formalizes our regulations for the market, which is good news for any company. And while the rules for direct selling in China are different from the rest of the world, things have always been different in China."
Having direct-marketing regulations in place "means that our sales force knows that we have our future captured in China's laws," Zeiger said. "And for salespeople, who like to operate from a base of confidence, that's great news."
China prohibited direct sales in 1998, when a rash of illegal pyramid schemes caused huge economic losses around the country. The impending rules to outline what can and cannot be done selling products directly to China's 1.3 billion consumers will affect the companies' bottom lines.
China was supposed to have direct-marketing rules in place by Dec. 11, 2004. The major point of contention for Alticor has been the ban on multilevel marketing.
After 1998, Amway (China) Co. Ltd., or Amway China, as the subsidiary is known, was forced to change its business model and opened stores -- a first for Ada-based Alticor. Mary Kay is based in the Dallas suburb of Addison, Texas.
Independent contractors still could sell door-to-door but there was no chain of distributors as found in other markets. Product ownership remained with the companies. Those Amway stores will remain under the new program, Zeiger said. The model has worked well for Amway China, which has 140 shops with 180,000 sales representatives selling more than 160 products.
- Marketing clichés aside, sometimes diamonds are for investing.
- The ‘Fast Money’ traders weigh in on fashion related stocks from apparel to footwear.
- This list of the 10 most active cities for speed traps was compiled by Trapster.com. See if your town is there.
- This Valentine’s Day should prove a love fest for restaurants, as many couples will be dining out.
- Here’s a look at Westminster Kennel Club’s most successful breeds—and how much they cost.
- What kind of homes do celebrity couples share? Here’s our updated list. Take a look.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
