방문판매법상 다단계판매 규제의 문제점과 개선방안

Abstract

The Door-to-Door Sales, etc. Act(hereafter "the Act") defines multi-level sales too broadly in that it contains all kinds of sales through a multi-sales organization which is to characterize by two elements; the stages of entry for salespersons thereto are three or more and the entry of salespersons is solicited by offering or promising to offer certain profits comprised of retail margin and managing allowance. This somewhat formalistic approach, not considering genuine dangers of each sales method, cannot distinguish normal door-to-door sales from sales unfairly luring customers, which is likely to result in over-regulation of overall sales methods and over-protection of salespersons, not consumer. The Act should be revised for effective protection of consumer and efficient regulation of dangerous sales methods as following. First, multi-level sales should be defined not through a particular organization, but through soliciting behavior by offering or promising to offer unfair profits not based on sales performance. The number of stages of salespersons doesn't matter for the purpose of the Act. Second, door-to-door sales entails the danger of aggressive marketing and thereby irrational choice of consumer. However, administrative control cannot always fit for prevention and remedy of consumer damage from door-to-door sales and in principle civil law safeguards such as cooling-off and right to refund etc. could suffice. Third and finally, monetary transactions on the pretense of transactions regarding goods, etc. by using a multilevel sales organization or a similar multilevel organization comprised of persons who join such organization in stages could not be effectively regulated in the Act and they should be subject only to the criminal sanction under criminal law.