Multilevel marketing (MLM) plans, also known as "network" or "matrix" marketing, are a way of selling goods or services through distributors. These plans typically promise that if you sign up as a distributor, you will receive commissions -- for both your sales of the plan's goods or services and those of other people you recruit to join the distributors. Multilevel marketing plans usually promise to pay commissions through two or more levels of recruits, known as the distributor's "downline."

To be avoided are MLM plans that are actually pyramid schemes in disguise - that is, plans that focus only recruiting more and more distributors, but have no substantive product at the bottom of the pyramid.