Yeah, I think the reason they do that is because they want you to purchase THEIR "pre-made website" (and of course their hosting fees for that site) in order to use their name.
In a way, I don't blame them - they're trying to preserve their integrity, and seeing pictures of me on a website selling cremes and lotions would just freak people out. :cower:
I think that this is pretty much a standard requirement now days, for about any home-distributor marketing company. This ensures that you won't be making any kind of false or misleading claims about any of the products that you are wanting to sell. So many times, distributors have reported that their product will "cure" something, and since there is no tested proof of this, it is basically just a hearsay testimony (even if it is true), and companies have had to deal with lawsuits from misrepresentation.
I know that Melaleuca also requires you to use one of their sponsored websites for online sales. It didn't cost a lot to use it, and makes ordering very simple to do.
Avon does the same thing, you just order on their website, and the rep you picked gets the credit. If you don't have a person distributor, Avon selects one in your area and assigns you to them.
It is pretty dangerous to try and sell anything door to door in this day and age, no matter where you live.
Even back when I was working for Combined Insurance, and had a route of renewals to visit, there were some places that turned out to be scary to go to. If there was a bad dog or something similar; we usually wrote a notice to the home office to put that client on mail notice, or at least add a note to watch out for the dog.
One time, I thought I was renewing a woman's policy (think her/his name was Evelyn, or something like that), and it turned out to be a creepy old guy who didn't want to let me back out the door again. I was pretty scared for a while, but eventually made my escape, and he was put on permanent mail notice !!
So, I think online sales are a much safer way to go , even if the website costs a little to have the company set it up for you.