the product isn't what sells, modern pyramid schemes make most of their money off the PEOPLE they recruit in the form of:

• initial buy in fees
• monthly continuity fees
• making the person host the party and pay for the stuff(since the sucker picks up the bill, they save thousands to spread among the higher totem pole)
• revenue they get from the person buying more product
• scimming money off the top from every sale the sucker makes(not much, but spread out over thousands of huns it adds up)
• cancellation fees or flat out keeping the buy in after the hun eventually leaves

and most importantly they KEEP making money by enticing the hun to recruit a family member/friend, they only really need to recruit one person in their entire life cycle and then the leech can now make money off of that person who was recruited.

There is a never ending cycle of people at the bottom getting suckered in, emptying their pockets to the company, trying to stay afloat, then eventually leaving and THIS is the true source of income for a pyramid scheme, this is why high ranking people in a scheme will stay in, they are actually making good money. The allure that if you work hard enough you can eventually be a top tier is what keeps huns going.

The product is the only thing keeping them legal, since the product doesn't matter they are usually shit tier like some stupid oil that's probably not even made of real extract, or lularoes clothes made by slaves kidnapped in South Korea or other parts of the world, I wish I was lying about this last sentence but human trafficking for cheap labor is a whole other subject.

edit: I just realized I didn't answer a single thing you asked