A typical MLM’er will claim that any direct selling should be considered an MLM – which is a straw-man argument & standard operating procedure for them. They say this, along with the false Donald Trump quote, throw out Warren Buffet being pro-MLM, and of course, the “partnerships” they have with Microsoft, Google, etc – which are nothing more than they fact that they might use PCs at the home office or are listed on a vendor website (which is usually free & not any sort of contractual relationship at all).
The more they have to argue they are a legitimate business, the more they lose any sort of credibility.