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OK, first things first, the facts of UK law. People participating in Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) schemes must abide by certain rules, one of which concerns the pricing of the goodsand services they offer. Namely, they are not permitted to raise the price of an item as they pass it on down the chain - they make their money on bonuses. So let's look at what is an MLM - and I am not talking about the things that are usually referred to as MLMs: I am talking about things that are really Multi-Level. Well, how can we define multi-level. Would you agree that something where there's a guy in charge, who dictates (to a greater or lesser extent) what those below him do is at least dual-level? - I thought so. Of course it is. The boss is on one level, and the drones are on another level. Next, turn some of those drones into middle management, and you've got multi-level. On top of that, you've got the corporate structure of 99.99% of all the businesses (with employees) in the world. Thus, an MLM, by the definition of the words, is any company that is involved in marketing that has a normal corporate structure... See where this is going? Let's look at it another way. MLM - one guy buys something, and sells it on to a bunch of other guys (who could never use it all themselves) who are in turn going to sell it on to other guys, ad infinitum (almost) until such a time as some people buy just the amount of the stuff they really want. I don't know about you, but that reminds me of every conventional business out there... - and they hike up the price all the time. Thus, whichever of the above definitions you take as being the definition of Multi-Level Marketing, anyone who purchases anything from a normal store is quite obviously guilty of aiding and abating a criminal activity (the store's suppliers - a mark-up from wholesale to retail is legal) and thus liable to be prosecuted as an accessory after the facts (which is just as bad as doing it yourself)... Well, what can I say: fun shopping...