Once again we see a disappointing result. Only 3% of Arbonne consultants earned a full time income in 2018. The table only includes consultants who actually earned an income. They tell us that 88% of Arbonne consultants earned no commission at all in 2018

If we adjust the figures in their table to include all Arbonne consultants who participated in the income opportunity, then we see that only 0.3% earned a full time income. In other words 99.7% earned less than they would with a regular job from the Arbonne opportunity in 2018

If we were to include all the expenses incurred, this would confirm that most consultants lose money on the Arbonne Opportunity

Update

We have written a separate post for the 2019 Arbonne Income disclosure.





Why is it Hard to Make Money With Arbonne

We believe that the problem is not with Arbonne or their products. The problem is with network marketing! MLM is a business model which is designed to market products. It is not a franchising system.

As we have seen, Arbonne has raised all 5 red flags from Jon Tayolors 5 Step MLM evaluation. His studies have found that if a company raises 4 flags, then the chances of making money are less than 1%. He has also found that overall, 99.7% of people who enter any MLM will lose money

MLM often makes money for the company selling the products. This doesn’t mean that you can make money in their direct sales force. At the end of the day, the goal of any MLM is to make you buy products. The system wants you to be a customer, not a business partner

Another reason it may be hard to make money with Arbonne is because of the products. At the end of the day, this opportunity is a sales job. Any salesperson will tell you that you make the best money selling quality products at a good price. Even though consultants may claim that they are high quality, it seems that Arbonne are overpriced compared other similar products.

How Good Are Arbonne Products

We read a review of Arbonne by Meghan Telpner, who found that the products aren’t as good as they claim to be. For example Arbonne energy fizz sticks are just a dose of caffeine. Each stick has about as much caffeine as half a cup of coffee.

Another issue she found is that even though the website gives the impression that they are non-GMO verified, this is not entirely true. In the small print they give the very vague statement that a growing number of products are verified. However the truth is that several Arbonne products are not non-GMO verified.

After speaking with several active consultants, Meghan formed the opinion that Arbonne Consultants don’t fully understand the products. They tend to focus on hype phrases, like cleaner and purer, but there is no basis for any of these claims. Furthermore Arbonne does all their own testing, so there is no independent scientific verification of the quality. Her consensus is that while they are priced as premium quality, Arbonne products are not premium quality.

Arbonne proudly displays a list of ingredients which they will not use in their products. Telpner points out that this is quite meaningless as most of the ingredients would not be found in any skincare products.

As for the science behind Arbonne products. Well they do all their own testing, which is a big no no in the pharmaceutical industry. As they have not been independently tested, there is no real proof that Arbonne products are as safe or pure as they claim.





Is Arbonne an Illegal Pyramid Scam

Even though MLMs closely resemble pyramid schemes, they are not illegal. The reason dates back to the 1979 case of Amway vs the FTC. After 4 years in court Amway was found to be offering a business opportunity, rather than a pyramid scam. The technicalities came down to wording in their paperwork. One example requires consultants to make retail sales.

The Amway ruling effectively opened the doors for all other MLMs to operate within the law. However we should remember that being legal doesn’t make it ethical. If you knew that less than 1% of people had a chance of generating a real income, would you feel comfortable recruiting new consultants?

Another issue, is that even though these rules may be in the paperwork, they are difficult to enforce. For example, several people in MLMs have said that they have cupboards full of product. This is because of the minimum monthly purchases they need to make to remain active in the system. Even though stockpiling is against the rules, there is no way for the company to monitor it.

Being legal does not make MLM ethical. All companies are in business with the goal of selling goods and services for a profit. Network marketing companies are able to charge a higher price because they create a customer base of loyal members who believe that by consuming these products and recruiting others to do the same, they will become financially free. According to the 2018 FTC Guidance for MLMs, these could be considered misleading or unlawful claims by Arbonne distributors.

Even though MLMs operate within the legal framework, that has not stopped some former consultants from going to court and claiming Arbonne is a pyramid scam.

If you are reading this review in 2020, then you are probably feeling the impact of the Coronavirus. Living in lock down seems to have inspired some Arbonne consultants to take advantage and use it as a recruiting opportunity. It turns out that some of their promotional activities have been less than legal, as per this official warning from the FTC to Arbonne.



Should You Join Arbonne

The only reason to join any MLM, is if you are already buying their products, and are happy enough to recommend them to others. The only way to make Money with Arbonne, is to sell a lot of product. If you’re not looking for a sales job, then Arbonne is not for you

If you are considering Arbonne as a business opportunity, then here’s a very entertaining video which we hope will convince you to consider other options: