The Amway Independent Business Owners Association International Board (formerly the Amway Distributor's Association Board) has just changed the "sales rules" for distributors. This is the second change in the last two years. The previous rule had stood since the 1979 FTC/Amway decision. The previous change allowed IBOs to sell to either 10 retail customers, or to sell a total of 50 PV to retail customers, in order to qualify for a bonus. Amway itself has not made any attempt to enforce those rules, and most distributor lines of sponsorship completely ignore them.

The new recommendation, which was adopted by Amway Corporation, will become effective June 1, 2000. The rule now states:

4.22. Retail Sales Rule: In order to obtain the right to earn a Performance Bonus during a given month, an IBO must: (a) make not less than one sale to each of 10 different retail customers (e.g., Members or Clients); or (b) have at least 50 PV of sales to any number of retail customers; or (c) have $100 at Retail Sales Rule Cost. Retail Sales Rule Cost shall mean the published IBO cost for all items on any orders sold to a Member or Client, or the actual price paid to Partner Stores by Members or Clients. If applicable, Partner Store Retail Sales Rule Cost is applied in the month when the Corporation credits Partner Store volume to an IBO's business. [Boldface type indicates the new part of the rule.]

This change was made, obviously, to accommodate those few Quixtar IBOs who actually have sales to Members or Clients. The real question is, how will this rule be enforced, especially in light of the recent shutdown of Equinox International.