Melaleuca sells a range of environmentally friendly products through it’s network of distributors, and it’s been doing this successfully for over 30 years.
But does that make it a good business opportunity?
Like any business, there are some good points, but there’s also some drawbacks to consider before diving in. In this review, I’ll show you what to expect.
Melaleuca Review
The company was founded in 1985 by Frank Vandersloot and specialises in health and household care products that are good for the environment and safe for people to use.
The company says it is not a multi level marketing company and after doing a bit of digging, it seems perhaps on some technical grounds they are not.
However, they are extremely similar to typical mlm’s many ways and (although a controversial model) mlm isn’t a scam in itself.
The Products
I actually don’t mind their products, at least what I can see of them anyway.
They don’t allow you to buy their products right from their website without having been referred by someone directly which is annoying. You can’t see prices or make a purchase unless you’ve been signed up already which makes it hard for people to evaluate their product range properly.
There are over 450 products from household cleaning, skin and beauty, health, wellness and nutrition among others.
To me it seems they don’t claim to be the key to ultimate health and wellness so much as they focus on environmentally friendly and cost effective products. So, despite keeping key details from the public, the products seem pretty legit!
They provide a patented ultra concentrated formula for some of their products which save the environment and is apparently more cost effective.
I haven’t used these myself so it’s probably something you’d need to work out for yourself as to how much you like them and how good the value is.
From what I can see, there are more positive reviews on the BBB website than negative which is a good sign.
The Melaleuca Business Opportunity
There’s not a whole lot of marketing material on their website about the opportunity except for a few convincing and seemingly genuine testimonials.
Personally, I believe the people in the videos and think there is not much hype in comparison to a lot of opportunities so this is a good thing.
The general idea is to sign up as a customer, buy some products and then tell others how great your experience has been. Hopefully, they will buy some products from you and join your team which means you get to use products you love and make an income while you’re at it.
Sounds good, but is it really that simple and amazing?
Compensation Plan Overview
In this section I’ll outline some of the main points in the Melaleuca compensation plan and help you to understand some of the real costs involved in getting started.
This was accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of writing this and is subject to change, so always do your own research before making any decisions.
Ways You Can Earn
There’s always a lot of different types of bonuses and ways to earn within the mlm world so I like to keep things simple and straight forward.
Retail Commissions: You can earn commissions by selling people the product. This comes in anywhere from 7-20% depending on your level within the company.
Downline Commissions: You can earn based on your organisations performance at a flat rate of 7% and this is capped depending on your level within the company. This is one of the key differences I found that is different to most mlm companies I’ve reviewed. There are no levels, your team is simply placed in your organisation as a group and you earn 7% on their sales. The amount is capped but increases as your rank increases.
Either way, this is where most people will focus their attention and where the majority of money is going to be made. Leveraging the efforts of others is the name of the game with companies like this.
Bonuses: There’s also a few bonuses on offer to reward the higher performers within the company.
Getting Started
It was pretty hard to find information on the joining costs with this business. The company keeps everything very secret but I did manage to find a few reviews saying it costs about $29 to become a ‘preferred customer’.
Anyone can do this (as long as they have been referred by someone) and if you want to be in business this will absolutely apply to you.
This fee allows you to get 30-40% off your orders and requires an auto-ship every month to be part of, which leads me to talk about the cost of staying in business.
According to the compensation plan, at the base level of ‘Marketing Executive’ you must acquire 29 product points each month to stay active and maintain your position.
Based on the US price list this means about $40 per month will be the absolute cheapest option to stay in business.
There is the option to buy a ‘Business Value Pack’ which contains a few samples and what seems like some pretty basic things you would need to build your business with. I’m not convinced its worth that amount of money but I could be wrong.
Whatever the case may be, this would be the absolute essentials in getting started with this company for anyone serious.
Startup Costs
It was rather difficult to find concrete facts about the costs but as mentioned, this is accurate to the best of my knowledge and feel free to correct me if you are a distributor.
Joining Fee= $29
Staying Active= $40 per month
There are other costs involved such as seminars, conventions and trainings and their related costs like travel and accommodation. While these aren’t necessary I assure you there are heavily pushed on people as essential to success.
It also seems like with this business you’d be buying a lot of material just to recruit people into the business like:
- Promotional CD’s
- Referral cards
- Enrolments packs
- Product samples
- Product information guidebooks
In comparison to a lot of opportunities this is not very expensive but these are worth knowing before you join.
What I Liked
- Not very overhyped
- Strong product focus
- Disclose average member earnings
- I like their proactive approach to the environment and creating more eco-friendly products
What I Didn’t Like
- The whole thing is very hush hush… you can’t even see product prices unless you sign up as a member
- They claim not be like most mlm’s but in fact they are very similar
- They teach warm market techniques which I’m not a fan of
Final Thoughts
From what I can see, the company has some good things going for it.
After being in business for over 30 years, they are clearly operating a sustainable model. Just how good their products are I can’t say for sure.
But if you love them and want to share your experience with those you know, you could make a few extra bucks and score some free products.
On the other hand, if you are trying to build a full-time income, I do recommend branching out beyond your warm market. There really are more effective ways of selling products and growing your business than this.
Whatever you decide, I hope this review has been helpful.
Good basic review, but if you had actually received a presentation from a local representative you would have been able to see how much everything costs up front. You don’t have to sign up before you see them. The rep hands you a catalogue, all the prices and product points are listed. You can easily calculate what you get for you money before signing up. That eliminates one of your cons, your only real “con” in fact, about Mela… being too hush-hush. As for the other two negatives: every network marketing business has a strong element of MLM and every network marketing business wants people to explore their warm market thoroughly.
Thanks for sharing, and I couldn’t agree more with your last point, which is why I’m not a fan of MLM in general. I believe chasing friends and family to make a dollar, and their friends and family… and so on- sucks. But hey that’s me.
All the best with your business going forward.
This was by far one of the worst “reviews” of Melaleuca I have ever seen. How can you give a legit review if you have never even tried their products OR their business model? So much false and inaccurate information. literally, the only accurate thing you have on here is the name of the company. The most inaccurate info on here is where you say “You can earn commissions by selling people the product…”. This is the furthest from the truth. Not once do you take money from a customer, not once do you sell them a product, not once do you do any kind of MLM style transaction in order to earn commisions. This is only a referral based business opportunity. Meaning the customer deals with the company itself rather than with you.
If you read this review please disregard the “information” given. It is equivalent to writing a review about a movie where you heard the previews on the radio and feel like you have enough info to give an “unbiased” review.
So if you don’t make any money from a customer, by selling or earning commissions on the sale of real products… how do you earn money?
The reality is, you most certainly do earn revenue when you refer customers who buy stuff. If not a commission percentage then a set figure. Because if all you are doing is earning commissions by referring people who refer people into the business opportunity, and no money is made on the sale of genuine products or services, then you are involved in a pyramid scheme.
Just because “the customer deals with the company itself rather than with you” means nothing and does not change what I said.
I earn a full-time income with affiliate marketing, and every single person who buys something I recommend, buys directly from the vendor. That is how affiliate marketing and earning affiliate commissions works, and it’s common knowledge. You refer someone who buys, you earn a commission. The difference in your case, is that you are promoting an MLM company, where you also earn revenue on people you refer who earn revenue, and so on.
MELALEUCA HEALTH CLAIMS DATABASE
A TINA.org investigation has revealed that MLM supplements and products are being recommended for a multitude of maladies without appropriate substantiation. Here is a sampling of TINA.org’s findings for this company. Read more about TINA.org’s investigation of illegal health claims here. This company was notified of TINA.org’s findings and, on January 20, 2017, sent TINA.org a response.
https://www.truthinadvertising.org/melaleuca-health-claims-database/
https://www.ecowatch.com/22-cosmetics-companies-file-for-trade-secret-status-to-skirt-toxins-la-1881858579.html
http://www.ca.gov/SearchResults?search=melaleuca%2C+inc&primaryFilters=&secondaryFilters=&tab=google
Think before you drink!
Hello there, kerry here and I just wanted to encourage anyone who is interested in the melaleuca products or business to go for it.
It’s got some great wellness and household products that you use everyday, plus you get 15 % cashback on your total order and plus up to 50% off retail.
Does your supermarket do this?
[self promo removed]