Is Melaleuca a Pyramid Scheme Or Is It Legitimate?

When it comes to making money online, nothing probably raises my eyebrows worse than the term MLM. And if you’ve come across the brand name Melaleuca, you know what I mean. But is Melaleuca a pyramid scheme or a truly profitable health and wellness company?

Melaleuca is not a pyramid scheme because they deal in a wide range of real health and wellness products. As a brand, Melaleuca recruit members to promote its products. Referred to as executives, these members further invite more members, forming a multi-level marketing channel.

To be clear:

Melaleuca has been in business for well over three decades. Established in 1985 by Frank L. Vandersloot, Melaleuca deals in over 400 health and wellness products.

They have thousands of customers who enjoy their products, and their longevity in the niche market makes it a real business with a truly established consumer base.

But can you make money with Melaleuca? Is the business even worth the investment? More specifically, can you make a ton of money from the program?

Based on the research, polls, and conversations we’ve had from different individuals with firsthand experience with the program, making a ton of money with Melaleuca is farfetched.

You see:

Melaleuca is a multi-level marketing business. To make money with them, you need to recruit as many people as possible to it. And let’s lest we forget, even the costly membership fee imposed on the program makes Melaleuca a somewhat spooky business to invest in to begin with.

So what gives?

Is Melaleuca a Pyramid Scheme Or Scam?

Internet critics strongly state that Melaleuca is not a pyramid scheme. And based on the research data and statistics that I’ve gathered for well over two months, it’s safe to conclude that this brand isn’t a fraudulent business.

For what it’s worth, Melaleuca offers legit health and wellness products to over 20 countries around the world and generates billions of dollars in revenue every year.

In addition to making money by promoting health and wellness products, Melaleuca gives people the opportunity to make money by recruiting members to promote it products and earn commissions from the sales made.

How Does Melaleuca Work And How Does It Make Money? (Melaleuca Review)

As I already stated, Melaleuca deals in health and wellness products, racking in millions of dollars every year from 20+ countries in the world.

But the question is, how is Melaleuca able to reach an audience that big?

It’s simple:

They use people like you and myself to push their products to members and the rest of the world.

In other words:

• The company makes the products
• Executives, who also recruit other executives, market these products
• Melaleuca makes the most money
• The “executives” (or members) earn a small commission from the sales made

If you look at it closely, it’s more of a win-win business model – and a really good one if you ask me.

With thousands “executives” working for the brand from around the world, Melaleuca saves millions of dollars in advertising every year and continue to invest in making products and growing their profit margins.

Some of the products that recruited members promote include:

• Essential oils
• Hot beverages
• Vitamins and supplement
• Beauty product
• Body and bath
• Cleaning and laundry products

As you can see, such products are often in high demand, which explains why Melaleuca makes millions of dollars every year.

I need to make one thing very clear at this point:

Melaleuca doesn’t have a flagship product. As a company that deals in at least 400 products, I’m certain we can assume that they’re in business to serve everyone.

But,

Can You Really Make Money with Melaleuca?

As much as Melaleuca is a legitimate company, especially since they have been in health and wellness business for over 30 years, can you really make money with them?

You can make money with Melaleuca in two ways. You can promote their products and earn a commission from the sales you make. You can recruit more “executives” to join the business and earn a commission from the products they sell.

Looks great, or doesn’t it?

It doesn’t end there.

To make money with Melaleuca, you have to spend your own money. This brings me to a very important segment that I need you to understand quite well: the subscription fee.

How Much Does Melaleuca’s Membership Cost?

Melaleuca’s membership costs $19 plus tax per year.

But as with every other MLM business I’ve investigated in the past, the devil is in the details.

It turns out that there’s more to the membership fee than just the $19. You must accumulate a minimum of 35 products every month to stay in the program.

Although some members say that these products cost only $50, this PDF list shows otherwise. An almost accurate estimate would be $60. That’s $720 for the products alone.

So you end up paying $739 dollars a year, which is much higher than the $19.

Looking at this, I feel like Melaleuca isn’t being honest about its membership at all. And that’s a huge red flag as far as trust is concerned.

How Does Melaleuca Pay Its Executives?

I’ve been a part of a number of MLM companies in my country. And from where I sit, I can tell you from experience that they make their compensation plan harder to understand.

It’s unfortunate that it isn’t any different with Melaleuca.

That the brand releases income statement of folks making over $2,000 a year is something I quite fancy.

The problem is:

They don’t have a clear compensation plan that you can read and understand except for the claim that they pay their members in different ways.

Here’s a highlight of these claims:

1. You earn a mentoring bonus whenever of the executives you invited moves up the rank
2. Get a pacesetter bonus for maintaining your ranking for a certain period
3. The leadership bonus is the compensation you get when you rank very high in the program
4. Earn 20% commission for your referrals and 7% for other 7 membership tiers
5. Get a bonus if you get 20 enrollees in the first five months
6. You can get a monthly car bonus if you have a certain rank in the program
7. Get an advancement bonus when you get one of the 49 ranking statuses
8. Earn a double core mentorship bonus when an enrollee moves up in the rank
9. You also get a core mentorship when one of your referred executives moves up the rank

All these look good from the face value, but they are quite difficult to understand – especially for someone who is just getting started.

What the company doesn’t want you to know is:

• You must recruit people to make money in other ways other than commission from sales
• You only earn a commission when you make sales

I hope the last two points make the whole compensation thing very clear.

What I Like About Melaleuca

There are a few things about Melaleuca that pretty much stand out, and they’re as follows:

• Many products: Melaleuca has wide range products, making it one of the biggest multi-level marketing brand on the planet.
• Longevity: This agency has been in business since 1985, making it one of the long-standing MLM business that hasn’t rebranded to a different name.
• Positive product reviews: Melaleuca has scored hundreds of positive reviews for its products, which is something quite impressive in my opinion.

What I Don’t Like About Melaleuca

There are also a few things that I don’t like about this brand. These are as follows:

• Hidden fees: The brand claims that membership cost is $19 plus tax per year. But the brutal truth is that you have to pay $739 to stay in the program. They should have at least provided this information for clarity so we wouldn’t have to dig up for it.
• Expensive products: The fact that you have to buy products and then sell them at a higher price every month makes this model somewhat fishy to begin with. Compare the cost of similar products from other retail stores and you get the idea.
• Lack of sustainable income potential: You’re going to make money with Melaleuca if you’re lucky. But you can be sure you won’t make 6 figures a year, especially since recruiting “executives” isn’t an easy job.
• Difficulty in cancelling membership: They make it hard for you to opt out and this can be seriously frustrating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Melaleuca a legitimate company?

Yes, Melaleuca is a legitimate company that deals in over 400 health and wellness products. They have a huge consumer base in at least 20 countries in the world and make millions of dollars every year.

However, Melaleuca isn’t as transparent with its membership and compensation plan as it should. So it’s hard to determine exactly how you can profit from them.

How much does Melaleuca cost per month?

It cost $50 to $60 per month to stay active in the Melaleuca membership program. The money is for accumulating a minimum of 35 products as require by the program.

You will end up paying a sum of $739 every year if you want to continue being in the program.

Can I buy Melaleuca without being a member?

You can buy Melaleuca products from their independent resellers if you decide not to become a member of the program.

Final Thoughts

We’ve seen that Melaleuca is not a pyramid scheme. But it’s not the best way to make money from home, especially since the membership cost isn’t as apparent.