Chances are you’re here because you’ve been approached by somebody affiliated with Melaleuca who has told you about an incredible ‘business opportunity.’
It sounds great – who wouldn’t want to make some extra cash by recommending products you love to your friends while getting healthy at the same time?
However, you’re a little hesitant.
Maybe you think that everything sounds too good to be true, or you’ve heard people saying things like ‘Melaleuca is a pyramid scheme!’ and ‘Melaleuca is a scam!’ and you want to do your research before getting involved.
In this article, we are going to dive into the Melaleuca opportunity and find out what being a Melaleuca Marketing Executive involves, whether you can make money with Melaleuca, and whether Melaleuca is a legitimate business opportunity or just another pyramid scheme in disguise.
Is Melaleuca a pyramid scheme?
Let’s find out.
Is Melaleuca a Pyramid Scheme or a Legit Business Opportunity?
The Basics
What is MLM?
MLM stands for multi-level marketing, and MLM companies are also referred to as network marketing companies or social selling companies.
MLMs have been around for years, and popular MLMs include Nu Skin, Modere, Arbonne, Color Street and even Avon!
You don’t receive a salary in a multi-level marketing company.
Instead, you earn money from selling products to people you know and recruiting others into the business.
When you recruit a new person and that person begins earning money, you will earn commission from the sales and recruits generated by THAT person.
This continues down in multiple levels (hence multi-level).
Imagine a triangle.
If the person at the very top of the triangle recruits 10 people, and every one of those 10 people recruit another 10 people, and each one of those people recruit another 10 people, you’ll be making commissions from EVERYBODY within the triangle because they’re all in your direct downline (the people underneath you in an MLM are referred to as your ‘downline’ and you’re their ‘upline’).
All you had to do was recruit 10 people and you make money from 1100.
While MLM companies also give you the chance to make money from selling their products, most people in MLMs prefer to recruit others because they stand to make a lifelong passive income from that person, whereas if they sell a product they’re just going to receive a one-off commission.
The ultimate aim of somebody in an MLM then, is to have as many people in their ‘downline’ as possible, enabling them to form large amounts of passive income for little work.
What is Melaleuca?
Melaleuca is the self-professed ‘largest online wellness club.’
It is based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and manufactures health, home cleaning, pharmaceutical and personal care products such as furniture polish, vitamins, laundry detergent, toothpaste and even essential oils!
Thanks to his huge success in growing Melaleuca, founder and CEO Frank VanderSloot (is that not the best surname ever?) is now the richest man in Idaho, where Melaleuca is insanely popular.
Melaleuca claim on their website to sell over 450 different products, but unless you are a Melaleuca member, you can’t actually see the products on their website, so we will just have to take their word for it!
Is Melaleuca a MLM company?
Something that is very interesting to note is that Melaleuca claims not to be an MLM company.
The reason they say this is because they claim their representatives do not sell products directly to customers, meaning that the point of sale happens directly between the customer and the company rather than a salesperson or distributor.
However, just because a customer isn’t purchasing products from Melaleuca reps, they are still purchasing something – the role of a Melaleuca Marketing Executive is to help customers set up ‘Shopping Accounts’ and then train them to do the same with their own customers.
This means that while you are technically buying access to the Melaleuca Shopping Club rather than physical products, you are still buying something – in Melaleuca, the opportunity to buy products is the product.
The practice of MLM companies making their distributors buy products to resell them, resulting in ‘inventory-loading’ is becoming less and less common.
In Monat, for example, the customer buys their haircare products directly from Monat’s website using the representative’s affiliate link. They are never buying a bottle of shampoo from a Monat representative directly.
Whatever Melaleuca claim, the facts are that reps get paid commissions based on recruiting people who want to build their teams, and this goes on in multiple levels.
It’s interesting to note that despite Melaleuca’s apparently emphasis on product sales over team building, you cannot join the Melaleuca Shopping Club ($19) and purchase products unless you have been referred by an existing member.
You can’t even look at the products without signing up underneath someone in the company!
What’s more, despite how much Melaleuca talk about focusing on customers, everyone signs up as a customer, making it the first level in the Melaleuca business opportunity.
It is almost as it Melaleuca wants to turn every customer into a recruit!
So, is Melaleuca an MLM?
YES. Make no mistake about it – Melaleuca is an MLM company.
Inside the Melaleuca MLM Opportunity
How do you make money with Melaleuca?
How does Melaleuca work exactly?
In order to see how to make money with Melaleuca, I took a look at the Melaleuca compensation plan.
There are two primary ways of making money in Melaleuca.
You earn commissions in Melaleuca through customers that you refer, and customers that your referred customers refer.
The more customers you enrol, the higher commission you receive.
Your ‘Marketing Organisation’ comprises not only the customers that you have enrolled, but those that your customers have enrolled as well.
The bigger your ‘organisation,’ the higher your commission (in other words, the bigger your ‘team’ or ‘downline,’ the higher your commission).
You will receive various bonuses as your team grows and continues to recruit new members.
There are 7 levels, or ‘generations’ in Melaleuca’s compensation plan.
- Product Advocates
- Business Builder (Director 1-2)
- Director 3-9
- Senior Director
- Executive Director
- National Director
- Corporate Director
When you get to the level of Director 3 and above, you will be required to recruit team leaders who will then grow their own teams. The money generated from these teams will trickle up to you, as the teams are in your downline.
According to Melaleuca, ‘Those who have reached these leadership statuses have not only invested enough time to refer several customers, but they have also helped some of those customers start a business and become Marketing Executives.’
To summarise, the best way of making money with Melaleuca is by recruiting other people who wish to build their own teams.
When you do this, your commissions will increase, you will be awarded bonuses, and you will earn far more money.
Just like other MLMs, Melaleuca also has a car bonus, which can be achieved by hitting a certain rank. However, MLM cars are not all they seem, as we discussed in a previous post.
How much money can you make with Melaleuca?
In order to see how much money people are making with Melaleuca, I decided to take a look at their 2021 Income Disclosure Statement.
An Income Disclosure Statement is a document that allows us to see how many people are making money within an MLM company, and how much of it they’re making.
According to Melaleuca, 81% of people who sign up with Melaleuca never go on to make any sales, and have only signed up to buy products from the site.
They consider this a great thing as it shows that the business is customer focused, but who’s to say that these people didn’t just try and fail?
Maybe they were sold on the ‘business opportunity’ but were just unsuccessful in getting anybody to sign up.
Whatever the case may be, 81% of everybody who enrolled in Melaleuca in 2021 made no money.
The numbers below show the mean averages of all the other Melaleuca reps.
Mean averages are not the best way to measure averages in MLM companies as the top earners in each rank can skew the results.
Using median averages would give us a much more accurate picture of how much Melaleuca reps are making, but unfortunately we don’t have this information.
The Melaleuca Income Disclosure Statement shows us that:
- 81% of Melaleuca reps made no money in 2021
- 9% made between $111 and $525
- 10% made between $274 – $31,738, with a mean average of $2116
- 2.6% earned an average of $9021
- 1.6% earned an average of $14,778
- 0.8% earned an average of $25,250
- 0.7% earned an average of $34,279
- 1.7% earned an average of $61,766
- 1.2% earned an average of $158,400
- 0.2% earned an average of $320,400
- >0.1% earned an average of $1,110,286
From this, we can see that most Melaleuca reps are not making any money, and from the ones that are, the vast majority are not making enough money to replace a full time job.
As of August 2022, the average annual salary in Idaho is $51,429, meaning that only about 3.2% of Melaleuca distributors are making above the average annual salary.
But that’s not all!
The more astute among you will have noticed that there is something off about these percentages.
Namely, they don’t add up to 100%.
This isn’t a case of me being bad at math you guys.
I checked these numbers three times, and they still add up to 108.9.
Does it make sense?
No, but that’s what the income disclosure says.
How much does it cost to be a Melaleuca distributor?
These numbers do not take into account the cost of working as a Melaleuca rep.
First, there is the sign-up fee for Melaleuca is $19 plus tax, which admittedly is a lot cheaper than other signup fees in MLM companies.
However, you also have to achieve a certain number of ‘points’ each month in order to receive any compensation and be kept on as an active distributor.
You can choose to commit to either 35 or 75 points per month. If you opt for 35 points then you will receive a 30% discount on products, and if you opt for 75 points then you will receive a 50% discount.
It is impossible to find out how many ‘points’ each Melaleuca item translates to because the products and their prices are hidden to non-members, but various articles estimate that 35 points equates to around $80.
19 + 80 x 12 = $979.
If you don’t choose your own products, Melaleuca will choose products for you and ship them to you automatically.
When you consider that Melaleuca reps have to spend around $1000 on Melaleuca in their first year but 90% of them made less than $525, we can see that 90% of Melaleuca reps likely lost money in 2021.
Is Melaleuca a Pyramid Scheme?
In order to see whether Melaleuca is a pyramid scheme in disguise, we must first outline what a pyramid scheme actually is.
What is a pyramid scheme?
Pyramid schemes are very similar to MLMs, but the main difference is that MLM distributors are supposed to make more of their money from product sales rather than recruitment.
A traditional pyramid scheme takes an initial investment from each member and promises to pay them for enrolling others into the scheme, meaning that people are buying into an ‘opportunity’ to get rich.
However, as members increase, recruiting quickly becomes impossible and so most members are unable to profit or even make their initial investment back.
The Wikipedia diagram below illustrates just how unsustainable this business model is – after just a few levels of recruitment, the scheme would have recruited everybody in the world and there would be no-one left to recruit!
Because it’s impossible for most people to make any money in a pyramid scheme, pyramid schemes are illegal.
However, most pyramid schemes have got wise to the fact that they have to offer a product in order to appear legit, but even though a business may have products, the focus will always be on recruitment rather than product sales.
Because there are so many of these ‘pyramid schemes with products,’ around, the FTC hasn’t quite caught up yet, and so many people believe that just because a company hasn’t been shut down yet, it can’t possibly be a pyramid scheme, which simply isn’t true.
In order to see whether Melaleuca is a pyramid scheme in disguise, we must attempt to answer 3 questions.
1. Are most people unable to profit?
When we looked at the Melaleuca Income Disclosure Statement, we saw that the vast majority of sellers were not making anything close to a full-time wage, and that many of them were likely losing money.
This hugely contradicts the idea that joining Melaleuca is a path to financial freedom or a legitimate business opportunity.
When you consider that 90% of Melaleuca reps are likely losing money and only 3% are making a full time income, it becomes clear that most people in Melaleuca are unable to profit.
2. Do you have to pay to play?
While the sign-up fee is relatively small, Melaleuca representatives must spend a certain amount on products each month in order to qualify for commissions and remain active in the company.
With Melaleuca members spending around $1000 per year, Melaleuca is definitely a company where you ‘pay to play,’ and it could even be said that the real customers of Melaleuca are the representatives themselves!
3. Is there a large focus on recruitment?
The basic commission from a customer buying products is just 7%.
When you consider that Melaleuca products are extremely inexpensive, a 7% commission per product sale equates to just a few cents.
You would have to sell thousands of products every month in order to make any kind of liveable income from this.
Thus, Melaleuca reps are motivated to sign others up, so that they can grow large downlines and their commission percentages increase.
In other words, yes, there is a huge focus on growing a team in Melaleuca, and the only real money to be made is through recruitment.
Why is Melaleuca so secretive?
Melaleuca is a very secretive company.
You will not find product prices listed on their website, and representatives are not allowed to talk about the opportunity publicly or even reference Melaleuca by name on their social media accounts!
In Melaleuca, everything is very hush-hush and discussed in the privacy of direct message and in-person chats.
But just why is Melaleuca so secretive?
Well – and this is only my opinion – Melaleuca want all of their sales pitches to occur privately to minimise their chances of being reported (most social media platforms ban MLMs) and investigated.
The image below shows a section of the Melaleuca Terms and Conditions that expressly forbids reps from even describing the products publicly online!
Whatever Melaleuca’s reasons for being so secretive, you have to wonder why they don’t even allow their own representatives to say the name ‘Melaleuca’ in public!
Melaleuca FAQ
Although Melaleuca is not affiliated with the Mormon church itself, Frank VanderSloot, CEO, is a devout Mormon.
To cancel your Melaleuca account, you need to submit a signed cancellation form to Melaleuca, no later than midnight on the last day of the month. You can do this by fax, email or letter.
Despite what they claim, Melaleuca is definitely an MLM company.
As the vast majority of people with Melaleuca make very little money (or even lose money), Melaleuca cannot be considered a good company to work for.
Melaleuca isn’t a scam, but as it functions very much like an illegal pyramid scheme and most people don’t make any money, Melaleuca cannot be considered a legitimate business opportunity.
Melaleuca is an FDA-approved manufacturer of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, but some of the products Melaleuca produce (such as dietary supplements) are not regulated by the FDA.
Is Melaleuca a Pyramid Scheme? | Final Thoughts
Most MLMs closely resemble pyramid schemes and Melaleuca is no different.
With a huge emphasis on recruitment, fees to join and obligation to buy products in order to hit targets, Melaleuca definitely appears to be functioning like a pyramid scheme.
Most Melaleuca representatives are not making a profit, and so the idea that this is a legitimate business opportunity is just not true.
If it wasn’t already clear, Not Your Boss Babe does not recommend joining Melaleuca, or any other MLM!
An Alternative to Melaleuca
If you’re looking for a side hustle or a work from home job, you may find these articles helpful:
Advantages and Disadvantages of Blogging
Easy Freelance Jobs for Beginners
Best Side Hustles for Single Moms
How to Sell Feet Pics Online
Secrets to Selling on Poshmark
Profitable Digital Products to Sell on Etsy
How to Become a Micro Influencer
That’s about it for today, but as always, if you have any questions then don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below and I will get back to you!
Until next time,
XOXO
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I have been a customer for 13 years, with 3 generations under my wing. my kids and grandkids and I only have this to say. Great company with superior products founded with the end consumer in mind. Absolutely love, love the products!
11 year customer and I have referred a few people to the store as well!
The writer of this article is so far off in so many areas of how Melaleuca operates. The writer clearly does not understand the customer or business side of the company.
Fantastic company!
It’s a pyramid scheme.
Your article here has so many mistakes in understanding Melaleuca. You don’t have to be a fan, but I wish you were appropriately communicating about the store and structure. The Direct Sellers Association also states Melaleuca isn’t an Mlm. The 81% that are customers, are people that designate when they join the shopping club, that they don’t plan to refer, and the 7 generations has nothing to do with the advancement status. Melaleuca is a 37 yr old company, completely debt-free, $2.6 billion annual income and has paid out over 6.9 billion to families for referring an excellent store. Also, you can see all the products without having a membership.
Also, while the writer of this article may not be bad at math, they’re definitely not good at thoroughly reading the Income Disclosure Statement. If you look carefully at the percentage statements, you can see that they can’t just be added wholesale.. you’ll need more exact numbers and not ranges.
Lmao you are a brainwashed sheep at the bottom of the pyramid. Unknowingly funneling your own money upwards and making crumbs for yourself.
Thank you Ginger.
You clearly don’t actually understand what a pyramid scheme is. Also.. MANY of your “facts” are just plain wrong. Do better.
I don’t think YOU do 🙂
Thank you for your comment. I love Melaleuca and all they stand for. I don’t make a lot of money but that’s my own fault. Took me 2.5 years to reach Director. The people who bag mouth Melaleuca were either given the wrong information by the person who enrolled them or they didn’t listen the the overview.
Love the company.
This article is laughable. To operate any business there is overhead. It’s inevitable that you will have to invest at some point.
Also, To shop at different stores there may be a fee. I am wondering if you have looked into Costco or even Amazon? As for the prices with the company, did you ask anyone? I did and was given the link to take a look and yes prices were there and yes it was as a non member. I personally chose to join because it cost me one dollar for the year membership and there products are very good.
The pyramid scheme line has been overplayed for so long now. A pyramid scheme is something in which you pay money and receive no products or services for it. Just a promise to make some cash hence the scheme.
A mlm company opens up a opportunity to make a little extra if you want or maybe just buy some good products. There are many out there that do have them. I buy but am not selling from a couple.
As for supplements not being FDA approved well none are. They don’t do that.
I get that you are trying to sell your own product/service but if you feel the need to trash others with untruths to make yours look better then I feel sorry for you.
99.6% of people in MLM lose money. The numbers speak for themselves.
You want numbers… The company has an 96% retention rate over 35 years. What does that tell you? People love their products, and the membership operates no different than a Costco; you are under no obligation to refer others.. so is Costco bad too?
Closed minds is all I’m saying.
Amen
Uh oh, found the brainwashed hunbot at the bottom of the pyramid 🙂
Thank you for defending Melaleuca…I’m a shopper for now and I like the product …the household products are biodegradable…I can use more bottles because it’s concentrated I just have to follow instructions..it’s saves a lot money..if I will become a builder of melaleuca then that’s when I get a commission, my only understanding of pyramid scheme is when I put money and nothing comes back to me but I have my product that I order, it simply I switch brand and store, if my friend that refer or introduced to the product and buy it and be a member to get lots of discount then the better. Switching .the store now the store is Melaleuca and directly the manufacturer.
Thank you.
I agree with a previous post. The author of the article clearly does not understand the business side of Melaleuca. Do your homework before swallowing all of the above information folks!
If you’re in an MLM, you’re brainwashed. The numbers speak for themselves.
I am going to recommend u take this blog and all the other Network Marketing companies u have replicated your negative BS down by the end of the week. If u are now asking yourself who the heck am I… that is not important… what is – is who knows me. I promise U that I will personally send the legal departments of EVERY company u are knocking to serve your own self interest(s) the links about them, as well as conjoin their legal departments to focus on U that u will be spennding every dime u have, and every dime u earn from yr A.M business’ to defend yourself. I will also be notifying ALL the Companies U A.AM for about yr negative marketing practices AND LIES, innuendoes, etc., etc (in my and many others’ opinions)… that u will find yourself out of the A.M. industry as well and perhaps need to go back to basics and and learn the value of good business by starting out as a dishwasher and see if u have learnt anything in your life to work yr way back up the rungs. Again, by the end of this week… May 14th, 2023 Cheers Nick
The numbers are incorrect.
I noticed a severe lack of information from you to help everyone understand the business side of the company.
Thank you
You’re welcome!
I’m so glad I came across your article! I’d never heard of this company before and I’m glad I looked them up. Pay someone for the privilege of being required to pay them more every month? No thank you. I will stay far away from Melaleuca!
So glad you found this article before getting involved!
The author has given very inaccurate information. Some of the products can be found on Amazon for double the cost for customers (with extremely high reviews still) my parents have been customers 30+ years because they love the products and don’t sell or recruit anyone.
This article is false. Feel free to reach out to someone who actually is a customer or near keying representative for them and learn the truth.
Don’t believe the 1/2 truths that are reported. I love shopping at Melaleuca and have been for 3 years.
When our former CEO, now executive chairmen, acquired this company, he completely changed the business model that has been in effect for 37 years.
While you may be right on the background of what an mlm and a pyramid scheme is, you couldn’t be anymore mistaken.
Just because a company wants to only operate on a word of mouth basis does not mean their secret has to be a bad thing.
You can also be a customer and not work the business. There are 3 options, but first and foremost, we are all CUSTOMERS and are actually saving money in the long term. Go to the store and grab your essentials in our inflation world and then let’s compare how much we individually spent on essentials for the year. I guarantee you’re paying more. That’s a fact.
Oh, and btw, I’m a proud customer without a business side with this company. I could build a business if I wanted though. The difference between me and the top leaders of our amazing company is just amount of individual hard work they put in. I have one customer who is a happy one and isn’t a business builder.
Brush up on your facts before posting and Please stop spreading misinformation.
When everyone in the comments are trying to correct you and you’re blatantly disregarding them because you think your “research” is sufficient. I think I found the real problem denominator here.
Sure, you can sign up only as a customer but this article is about the MLM business model employed by Melaleuca.
lol you just go to melaleuca dot com and click on any product category. Every product on the page will show you the member and non-member price.
Thank you. Well written.
As a Melaleuca member myself, a lot of this is flat out not true, and I find it a little insulting that you would write an article like this without actually doing the research and making sure your facts are straight. Anyone can look at all of melaleuca’s products without being a member, you can even buy without being a member, it just costs more. Please stop using your platform to lie to people about something you clearly don’t know enough about. There’s actually pretty much no way to really “lose” more than $20. The products you buy every month are 100% refundable if you don’t like them. I don’t know why you feel the need to bash Melaleuca by literally lying about it
Oh, also, we DO NOT have to purchase inventory to resell. We buy products for ourselves and send people a link to join/purchase their own. This entire article is inherently untrue and just spreading misinformation.
You can’t see prices or buy without creating an account. Please feel free to link me to a page where I can do so if I am wrong.
lol you just go to mela leuca [dot] com (which seems to be blocked from being written explicitly in the comments) and click on any product category. Every product on the page will show you the member and non-member price.
I saw a family member making strange vague facebook posts about great affordable products and telling everyone to reach out in DMs. I googled a few keywords and came upon your article. I did find this after coming here, https://www.melaleuca.com/productstore/cleaning-and-laundry, you can click on any of the product categories to get to the products and prices. The member prices seem a bit high compared to Walmart, the non-member prices are ridiculous. Thank you for posting this, I know money has been tight for their family, I hope I can help prevent them from losing money in this by buying products at inflated prices they may not need.
You should delete this article or re-do your research. You are wrong about so many things. I have been using the fantastic products for 30 years, and have worked the business for a short period in that time but have mostly been a customer. Most enrollees are just customers like in a Sam’s Club, you don’t lose money shopping and you get great discounts. It is obvious to anyone who knows anything about this company that you are ill informed. Great company, superior products and yes, if you work the business there is money to be made.
Do your homework.
Of course you can be a customer but as the article states if you want to ‘work the business,’ there is in fact, no money to be made (unless you’re at the top of the pyramid!).
You literally have NO IDEA what you are talking about! There isn’t a pyramid. You are probably paid by a legit MLM to bash Mela because Mela is out performing all products.
False.
Thank you
Hi, Remember this nice lady is promoting HER business, affiliate-marketing.
I’m curious why she singled out Melaleuca? She didn’t mention Amway, AVON, Tupperware or any of the other Legitimate businesses.
Everyone knows if you want to succeed in marketing you have to put in the Work.
A lot of people love the idea of making lots of money but for whatever reason do not work at it. That’s their choice.
I have been a member of Melaleuca since 2012. I encouraged 3 people to join with me.
I and one of my friends continue to buy Melaleuca products Every month because they are Excellent and competitively priced. Quality counts!
I love their research-backed patented nutritional products, and their personal care products.
Because I Referred my friend and she too loves the products, I have received a small commission check from Melaleuca Every Month since 2012 because of a little work I did in 2012. That’s REAL residual income!
People go do your research and go check out Melaleuca directly, yourself.
Despite all the hype, you might want to consider how many people succeed at affiliate marketing. You Think about that…
K Novak, USA
I have articles on many other companies including Avon, Modere, Monat, doTERRA, Arbonne, USANA, Pampered Chef, Isagenix, Beautycounter, Nu Skin, and more.
Melaleuca is by no means the only company that I have written about. Feel free to explore the site and read my other posts.
Do you research them a little better? Asking for the mass amount of people telling you the errors found in this article.
Thank you
You need to broaden your thinking. All companies are potentially MLM’s. All money from companies goes up the chain of command with the CEO/PRES making the most from the profits. All MLM’s do is share the profits & advertising dollars to everyone in the company. The harder you work the more money you make in either situation. Good ole American work ethic. I have been buying Melaleuca products for over 10 yrs. I have referred enough people over that time ( which has not been that many) to earn money to pay for all my products. Which means I have not had to go to a store and buy Cleaning products, laundry products, beauty products for 10 years. Just think of all the gas, plastic bags and energy I have saved!! I don’t use all their products but I do buy the one’s I need. Just like when I go to Target or Costco. I only buy what I need. But with Target & Costco they lure me in with other products I end up buying, spending way more money then I should and ending up with products I probably won’t end up using. I think that is a SCAM!!!!!! Yes you can see & buy all their products without being a member. You will just pay more.
Please refer to numbers 12 and 13 of this post: https://notyourbossbabe.com/marketing-buzzwords/
🙂
Brainwashed or not. Purchases can made from this page. Let’s keep it 1k.
Become a Melaleuca customer, then write your article. It’s. 100 percent wrong. I’ve shopped there for 15 years. You are really missing out.
This article is not true and shows you’ve not done enough research on Melaleuca at all. I’ve been using Melaleuca products for over 12 years and I’ve NEVER been healthier since I’ve stopped buying Lysol, Clorox wipes, Windex, Cascade, Dawn and so many other highly toxic cleaning and disinfecting products that we buy in Target, Walmart, Costco, etc. I’ve also taken their vitamin supplements and stayed fully healthy even in the height of the pandemic and haven’t had any symptoms of a cold or Covid since I started using all of their products. I used to get bronchitis, the flu or worse prior to detoxing my home and taking the supplements that I’ve purchased from Melaleuca. My whole family is much healthier as a result. Inhaling the fumes from the toxic products sold in retail stores is as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.
Agreed. Very poorly researched.
It’s funny, every time I ever have read an anti mlm article you’ll hear these horror stories of lies and money lost, and yet here you write this inaccurate article where everyone who has had an actual experience with the company as a customer only has great things to say about the company and the products/value. Many things you wrote are actually lies because you post something as fact and it’s misinformation. I also find it hilarious that at the bottom of your article you are pushing a “product” of your own for people to use your referral code so you get a kick back (the very thing you are damning in all of your posts). I do not work with melaleuca, I have used the products for years and decided to refer some friends and have made over $5k in the last few years on people choosing to order each month. I don’t push anyone or even actively recruit, I just like sharing products I love and it’s cool I make a little off it too. At the end of the day I choose to keep ordering because the products are great, safer and not overpriced. I’m in my 30’s and I make 6 figures from home outside of melaleuca, so I’m neither in it for the money or to lose friends by pushing crap they don’t need. I just think if you’re going to post an article about a company it’s irresponsible to include lies and assumptions you’ve come to.
Thank you for your honesty! I’m looking for a work from home job. Doing lots of research to find a good company to work with. Suggestions welcomed!
Melaleuca is an amazing company to work for. I can show you factual information unlike this article. This is poorly written and blatantly incorrect. Good luck to you.
Original poster – one stat for you: 96.7%.
That’s how many customers choose to return every single month. That percentage has continued to increase over the years. Can you beat that? I have proof in my business. Do you?
I feel that your are possibly an upset customer from Melaleuca with all the BS you have stated about them. You have so much incorrect biased information in this article it is truly pathetic and sad. Your article and page is very laughable. Stating no money is to be made while many of us are profiting amazingly well. Heh. Stop being so childishly bitter and get over it. Your pathetic page needs to be shut down, before more people read your incorrect information and do not learn any actual facts about the company. I have severe allergies and Melaleuca products are the ONLY ones that I can use and do not have any reactions to what so ever. I have used them for a few years now and hope to continue to use them as before stated their products are beyond well and great, especially for not having any severe allergic reactions to them like i do with many other known brands on the market..
It in interesting how you are bashing on Melaleuca for how the do their business and you are pushing your stuff. So bashing on one for what you are doing too. Meh sad.
I’ve been shopping with Melaleuca since September of 2022. All the products are high performing, non-toxic, and they’ve never had a product liability lawsuit in nearly four decades. They are extremely eco-friendly. A literal 10 mL cough syrup dose is all the detergent that’s needed for a load of laundry. Everything is super concentrated. They give you a hundred bucks in free loyalty dollars the first few months that you shop so that you can try more stuff. The company is debt free; their purse strings are not held by BlackRock Vanguard etc. like all the other (globalist) grocery store brands. They truly are the last standing family owned independent consumer goods manufacturer in North America that can scale. Yes I got involved on the business side because I know if I work hard I’ll get somewhere financially or at minimum make enough to pay for all my household and hygiene essentials. Stuff I need anyway. It’s no secret you can Google it, average person spends about 75 bucks a month on all that stuff, so why not switch to American. I don’t have to reinvent the wheel, money is on the table, I just have to push out of my comfort zone and get it. As far as money trickling up, I think it’s good to support other American families and these American factories which are in the three states of Idaho Tennessee and Missouri. This company treats their factory employees extremely well. Every 5 years they get longevity bonuses whether they scrub toilets or run logistics in the distribution center. 5 years 5,000 10 years 10,000 15 years 15,000 etc…I met a man named Steve who runs senior logistics and has worked there 31 years. He’s received $105,000 just in longevity bonuses. Who needs a union when a company treats their employees like this? The founder Frank has made a couple billion but has paid out over seven billion. They support an orphanage in Ecuador run by Catholic nuns. They provide essentials during catastrophes and emergencies. The US government even came to them for hand sanitizer at the start of co<id. They provide school scholarships. They feed people. The average Joe Marketing executives that have worked their butts off to overcome being creatures of comfort are treated like kings and queens. I love that they are partnered with their customers. Most brands are partnered with the WEF= own nothing be happy, eat bugs not meat, screw your morals. Btw, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson both tried to buy out Melaleuca but Frank won't sell. These other companies literally nickel and dime us by building in product liability legal defense funding into the purchase price. Melaleuca has one of the largest cattle operations in the country and are now offering Prime and High Choice beef, never any hormones antibiotics or mRNA injections. Total game changer. I literally spend 10 minutes in the grocery store now. I've saved money also by escaping impulse buys at the store because I'm in there for such a short time. I just run through the house once a month and see what I'm running out of, lift up the shampoo bottle, etc and then start filling up my cart on Melaleuca. AI is expected to eliminate one in five jobs in the next 5 years. That is a bit frightening. People need this. It takes years to build anything. There's no such thing as saturation in this business model because I forget the amount but like 12 million teenagers turn 18 every year which is the age of doing business with companies like this. Many say no but some say yes and some change their mind and say yes. Whether you just shop or shop and build either way you win because you're supporting something really great. Epic really.
I have been a Melaleuca customer for 31 year. I love the convenience of shopping online since I don’t own a car. Now in my 70,s I can’t live without Melaleuca’s wellness products, especially the Peak Performance vitamins. I signed up for the 35 bp/month to get the greatest saving, I need to add theirs no such thing as getting a 50% savings if you sign up for 75 bp/ month, which I’ve gone over more times than not because of the quality of Melaleuca’s product line. In the beginning I told a few friends of mine about Melaleuca being a great place to shop, over time some told their friends, funny after all these years, those who are still around continue to be Melaleuca customers. I would like to add because I shared Melaleuca with my friends years ago, I have never had to pay for my Melaleuca products, try that at your local store that you shop at.
To all those that are here because they’ve been approached about the company.. do yourself a favor and stop googling and stop reading a random person’s garbage. Take 15/20 mins and talk to the person that referred you. Any questions you have can be directed to them. This just pours out misinformation. No pyramid scheme lasts 37 years. None. It would have been shut down by the FTC literal DECADES ago if her article was true. Many people opt to just be customer which isn’t generally allowed with pyramid schemes and MLMs. As for the stats; some people choose to just aim for a few hundred bucks a month. Others take it much further. 20k people/families join them every month just for their product; that also wouldn’t happen in pyramid schemes. NO ONE is forced to “recruit.” You either shop or you CHOOSE to shop and share. The monthly point system is not what she says. The format is not like she says.. the intent is also not even close to what she says. I mean.. look how many people on here have taken time to correct her and tell her to research. No one is saying “just believe us.” They’re saying to look at the actual company and how it works instead of Googling “melaleuca pyramid scheme” and reading the first article that comes up. You’re really doing yourself, and your families, a major disservice.
Would love to see your sources cited 🙂
Melaleuca huns are brainwashed into searching Google for articles like this one to “debunk” what was written. It IS and MLM and hardly anyone, except the top few make a money at it. The products are overpriced garbage. They are even under investigation b the FTC for improper claims. The huns are out in force! Be aware 🙂
So true!
Thank you for posting this article. I was invited by an acquaintance who wants me to sign up under her. Her lifelong friend is a Melaleuca salesperson, and gave us a PowerPoint presentation before inviting us to sign up.
I didn’t know what to expect, so I took some pics…
I can confirm, according to what the salesperson showed, that some of the facts stated by the author appear to be true. Even some mentioned in the comments; such as the ridiculous prices for non-members.
I went into it completely unbiased. Based on what I was told by the salesperson, how the company’s recruitment/benefits system works, I realized that it is essentially a variant of the pyramid scheme; even if benign.
That being said, there were three things that bother me about Melaleuca.
The first is the requirement to buy a certain amount of product each month; made worse by the fact that the prices are likely in US dollars. This might be affordable if you live in America, but not necessarily for those outside.
The second is the enforced secrecy of the company. I understand that all companies have this to some extent, but this level of secrecy seems concerning. I know many companies, and not one wouldn’t advertise through social media if they could hire someone to manage it. It seems Melaleuca wants to keep things in house, by having more complete control over marketing and information. This could be a good or bad thing, but we have no way of knowing.
I was still open to considering Melaleuca, despite the above points; until I came to this site and saw something that unnerved me deeply; and not from the author. Most of the comments defending Melaleuca are as emotionally-charged as they are illogical. There is even one post that outright threatens the author with legal action; which is both disgusting and futile (and technically illegal).
I’ve seen such online bullying before, but this level of attack on a single author who stated some facts and conjecture about a company, is inhuman. It’s abusive at a cult-like level; especially @Phyllis Ray…
I would have liked to hear some factual rebuttals from those who support Melaleuca, but unfortunately the company forbids that. So all I’m left with to represent the company is the realization that they want tight control of all marketing, that they require you to essentially commit fully to them on their terms alone, and worst of all… That there are people who support the company with a mindset akin to using an ICBM to kill a mosquito…
Thank you, all those who said the author was dead wrong without providing any facts. I hope someday you will each understand the irony of what you did.
(And please, don’t bother threatening me or rebuking me with empty rebuttals. I hope the author laughed at least as much as I did…)
This made me laugh out loud, THANK YOU. They really do show themselves for what they are.
Very informing article… I’ve been contacted by the Melalueka scammers and decided to give this a read. Everything you said makes sense, right down to saying you have to spend points and join for $20. No thanks, I will not be joining this scheme! And I will def give your other articles a read too ! Thx babe
Thanks!