The Dark Side of Direct Sales

Big money, glamorous work trips abroad, and becoming your own boss - the world of door-to-door selling and chugging on the high street has been rebooted for the social media age.

The industry has been around for decades, but revenues have seen a boost over the last few years and it is now worth £2.6bn a year in the UK.

Some direct selling firms in the UK are jumping on the popularity of trends such as hustle culture to recruit young, ambitious people into entry-level jobs in ‘marketing’ or ‘management’ and to work with big, well-known, clients.

But as Lora Jones finds out, the reality is very different. She finds keen young people who have been sold the dream, only to find themselves working 80-hour weeks - for low rates of pay.

So how exactly is that possible - and what's the set-up that can reel in so many hungry young recruits? And what protection do they really have from exploitation?

Reporter: Lora Jones Producers: Jim Booth, Samantha Everett, Nalini Sivathasan Researchers: Star McFarlane, Jade Thompson Executive Producers: Gail Champion and Kim Rowell Production Manager: Jon Briest

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• No. of episodes: 487
• Latest episode: 2024-08-02
• Society & Culture

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