If a USANA distributor asks you to join their Multi-Level Marketing business opportunity, simply ask them the following question.
How much commission do you make each month on average from (1) Downline Distributor's purchases and (2) Preferred Customer's purchases?
If the promoting distributor has actually made anything (66% of them haven't made a penny), then the answer you get will likely break down as the following: 90% of their commission came from Downline Distributors and 10% came from Preferred Customers. What does this mean? It means the distributor's primary job is to sell the business opportunity and recruit more distributors. Only 10% of the business opportunity is committed toward selling the product and signing up preferred customers.
How do I know this? Because 90% of USANA's products are purchased by USANA distributors according to their latest SEC filings. Does this mean distributors want the product because they use it or because they have a customer to resell it to? Absolutely not. In fact, USANA distributors are forced to purchase over $100 worth of product every 28 days in order to participate in the business venture. It is a business obligation. If the distributor fails to make this required purchase, then that distributor loses all volume points accumulated, is not eligible to collect commission and is no longer considered as “Active”.
So in order to be successful in USANA, distributors must recruit enormous downlines. Not only that, but these distributors must pressure downline members to also recruit more distributors. This is an endless chain of recruiting. More than half of new distributors stop participating within the first year. So in order for MLMs to survive, distributors must recruit new distributors at a higher rate than those who are dropping out. This is a pyramid scheme. If the recruitment of new distributors were to stop, then the MLM company like USANA would go out of business in just a couple months. The product itself cannot retain enough customers. Only the dream of becoming rich in their deceptive business opportunity keeps the company alive. Only 1% of those who join make a profit.
Now if that USANA promoter answers your question by telling you they make most of their commission from preferred customers, then ask them what the dollar amount is per month. If it is not more than $100, then they are not even recovering the expense of their $100 required product purchase, not to mention all the other expenses incurred.
Another answer you may hear is that they immediately received a $100 commission check their first week. This is a very deceptive answer because of the following. If you joined USANA and signed up purchasing their $1250 "Professional Pack" starter package, you will automatically receive a $100 commission check without having to sell anything! Now ask yourself, if you purchase something for $1250 and receive $100 back, would you seriously consider that an earning let alone a commission? This is one of USANA's dirty little secrets ad violates even their own policies and procedures by paying a commission to someone without any selling whatsoever. It's also used to manipulate their numbers.
If you are asked to join, consult with your accountant regarding the business opportunity. Take them the compensation plan and ask them to evaluate it.
As a Gold Director I average about $36000 annually and have about 20 customers.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. Someone just called us about this product. Google, trying to anticipate your objective, pops us "usana scam" when you finish typing "usana".
ReplyDeleteHere are a few links to the SEC reports recommended in the above post:
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/110314/usna10-k.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/110810/usna10-q.html
To the anonymous person who makes $36k with 20 customers, thanks for proving that to make a decent income with Usana, it's all about recruiting and about getting real customers.
ReplyDeleteToo bad the anonymous poster who claims to be a Gold Director making $36,000 annually with about 20 customers is not telling the truth.
ReplyDelete(1) Can't be from commissions. For that distributor to make $36,000 commission from 20 customers, each customer would have to buy $18,000 worth of USANA product each year. NOT happening.
(2) Can't be from reselling for a profit margin either. 20 customers would have to buy $5142 worth of USANA product at the retail price. NOT happening.
(3) To be Gold Director, the distributor must max out 1 business center for 4 consecutive weeks. For this to happen from 20 customers, 10 would be on the left leg and 10 on the right leg. Each customer would have to have purchased about $1200 worth of product each week for 4 weeks in order for this distributor to achieve Gold Director status. NOT happening.
This anonymous poster either made up the numbers out of thin air, or they are leaving out the several hundred downline distributors that are responsible for the claimed $36,000 figure. Either way, there is certainly a lack of honesty with this poster.
why the hate?
ReplyDeletei dont think you know as much as you think you know about MLM businesses.
and the anonymous gold director obviously left out a huge chunk of information, no one has time to list all their associates let alone have a debate with this "usana watch dog"
i just wish you good luck on the rest of your life, you seem to be quite negative when dedicating significant portions of your life to ariix and usana to spread some hate. i really wish that you'd try the business and actually give it 100% before hating so hard, give it 1-2 years who knows, better than wasting your life on this.
good luck!
MLM is all about sharing the opportunity of a lifetime. Yes you do have to recruit and have to get customers but thats what comes with the job! Does not make it a scam. If you don't like to recruit or get customers than DON'T DO MLM. It's pretty plain and simple. So since you are so smart about MLM. Robert Kiyosaki said that "Network marketing is the perfect business", is this multi-millionaire stupid? What have you done to give MLM a bad name beside googling "USANA SUCKS". If you can work an extra 10 hours a week to earn potentially an extra 56k a year. It is well worth it. People work 10 years to get a pay raise of 5k a year. Please, do your research before you hate on an amazing company!
ReplyDeleteDear born yester ,,,ah Tony
ReplyDeleteThe pyramid scheme works best when you leave before the police get there. The person at the top of the mlm/pyramid scheme makes money by cheating the downline. The products are over-priced and are difficult to sell. The downline are are the customers who are forced purchase the product that they can not sell. This is called inventory loading.
To the Anonymous poster that replied with "dont think you know as much as you think you know about MLM businesses.
ReplyDeleteand the anonymous gold director obviously left out a huge chunk of information, no one has time to list all their associates let alone have a debate with this "usana watch dog""
All USANA distributors know exactly how many downline distributors they have at any given time because their Downline Management program tells them. Yeah, OBVIOUSLY the gold director left out a huge chunk of information - THE TRUTH! I've not come across a USANA distributor Gold Director and up that actually admits to the number of distributors they have in their downline. They won't disclose this information because it shows that the ONLY way to make a profit in USANA is to sign up more distributors instead of retailing product. They don't want you to know they are making $100,000 off the 10,000+ distributors in their downlines who purchase USANA product in order to participate in the scam.
Not to mention that their tactics for selling supplements based off "science" is completely absurd. Any medical student, pharmacy student, PHD can see through their charades. Only the naive young CEO fresh out of highschool aka "directors" are childish enough to believe in this companies products. The scary part is they are out there promoting products they can not fully comprehend. Keep it up watch dog!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much a full-time Usana hater earns.
ReplyDeleteYou've been hating Usana for 5 yrs already and still counting. If you joined Usana 5 yrs ago instead, you could have helped thousands and earned millions already, much better than producing an army of Usana haters. Don't hate too much, for it might be a cause of high blood pressure! :)
ReplyDeleteA full time USANA hater earns roughly 157,000 plus bonuses. I have had a friend in USANA for 10 years, still not even Silver.
ReplyDeleteWhat we do is what makes us who we are. :)
ReplyDeletei agree with u Watch Dog! Almost all of my friends were already been manipulated and hypnotized by this kind of opportunity, and now they always see me as a downline-to-be, but they never succeed. Thanks for this blog, I am more encouraged with keeping my word, never to join that any MLM. I think it is just a waste of hard earned money.
ReplyDeleteYou're right jina. Never join MLM. Let's just work until we die. Let our work consume whatever we have - quality time with loved ones, financial freedom.. Let us not stray too far from our safe zone. Let's not venture into something challenging. Let's just accept that this will be our life forever. Work work work. Perfect!
ReplyDeleteBTW... I laughed at the word "hypnotized". The associate who offered you the opportunity, did he sway a magic pendant in front of you or something?
Usana lovers are brainwashed. You can't argue with them. It's like trying to convince someone to change religions. They think that without MLM, they'll have to work for the rest of their lives. They buy the illusion that MLM is the one and only path to financial freedom. They honestly believe they are "helping" people become "free" when the numbers say most people fail, but before they fail, they help finance the fancy car for some high ranking person so it can be used to draw more unsuspecting college students into the system.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing they blindly believe is that all MLM haters are broke and have a dead end job. They can't fathom the possibility that there are MLM haters out there who actually make plenty of passive income without having to join a brainwashing cult who's purpose is to recruit more people into their "family" for financial gain.
They've been lied to and told over and over again that MLM is the only true way to financial freedom and without MLM, they can never be free and will have to work for the rest of their lives.
When you're told something enough times, surrounded by people who believe and therefore reinforce the same facts, it'll eventually become undeniably true in your mind. Over time, your thoughts will no longer be your own. You start talking like your leaders. You shun anyone who talks badly about your group. The people you hang out now are almost all part of the group. You've been slowly taught to stay away from people who don't share the same beliefs. People you once called friends are now referred to as the "negative people" who don't know any better and will regret not joining 5 years from now when you're rich and retired.
This is a cult but just like any cult, their members can't see that it's a cult. You can only see the truth once you've stepped out of the circle and stop drinking the Kool-Aid (endless brainwashing sessions, I mean trainings).
Why do cult members worship their leader? Because they see them as higher than they are. Do you really believe someone is higher than you just because they make more money? That's just sad.
There's only two reasons why you MLM folks defend your company: Love and Money.
You're like a teenager that joins a gang just for the sense of belonging and acceptance. Your self esteem is so low that you'll completely change who you are just to please your higher ups.
As for money, it's everything to you. You can lie to yourself and say you're in it to help people improve their health but take the money part out and you'll be a lot less enthusiastic about the products. You'll ditch your old friends, change into someone else, believing that if you make more money, it'll be all worth it. You drool at the sight of your leaders driving up in nice cars. You'll treat them like a celebrity even though you know deep down they favor those who make them more money. You'll treat them better than you'll treat friends who were there for you all those years all in the sake of money.
You feel good when a downline of your thanks you for showing them the opportunity. You believe that you're helping people be financially free and that may be true for a few people but you totally forget about all of the folks who failed under you. If you're going to take credit for the few successful ones, you're going to also have to take credit for the tons of failures as well.
I've read too many stories of people having their lives negatively affected by MLM one way or another. The handful of success stories get magnified while the thousands of failure stories get disregarded and written off as failure due to laziness or lack of determination. Having to constantly defend what you do for a living must be fun, buy hey, as long as you're rich in 5 years, that's all that matters right?
Usana is just one of my income streams and I could say it's a pretty good investment. The business is timely because more and more people are getting in to the wellness industry who are in search for the best health products.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that MLM is the only way to financial freedom. MLM is a great way to have flowing income if you really work it out. But there are lots of other businesses or assets to invest to, like stocks, mutual funds, etc. I think it's better if you use your MLM earnings to acquire such assets.
I still work full-time though I really can't see myself getting rich someday by working alone. But I'm not saying that MLM is the only way. MLM income becomes passive only after you have put so much effort and dedication to it.
So before joining any MLM, be sure if you can commit to it. You also improve the statistics of MLM people who failed by simply not adding to the number =)
Friend, it’s always commitment that will make you succeed.
Began USANA in January 2011. Already a silver director with steady income..yes we have associates but we by far have more customers who create stability. It's all in the training and time you take to listen to others and what their needs are. No rocket science - and there is no need to degrade people. If you tried an MLM and it didn't work out, I am sorry but a lot of it is the individual, and probably it is better to stay at your 9 to 5. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying you have way more customers who aren't part of the business than recruits? That's awesome. Good job. You're a true salesperson. By the way, it's October so saying you already hit Silver isn't that amazing. Some do it in less than a month.
ReplyDeleteAlso, no matter how well you do, no matter how ethically you do it, because you are part of an industry that produces false hopes and countless failures, you'll always be viewed as a money hungry cult member by many people. Just learn to live with it. The best way to have the naysayers shut up is to just not join the conversation. You can say whatever you want, it'll only make these folks fight you even more. If you believe in what you do, that's all that matters. No point in trying to convince people who you can't convince think differently.
USANA does not have more customers than cult like "entrepreneurs". They will be around for years to come, but how many more people can you manipulate? They tell you its an endless marketplace of people, but markets are finite. Just look at the numbers. If you REALLY cared about people and their well being you would tell them to exercise and eat healthy. Supplements are not needed, for the most part, if an individual can show discipline.
ReplyDeleteJust the fact that *everyone* can join and there are no requirements should make you think about what you are joining. You know that old saying "If its too good to be true...".
Logic said "They think that without MLM, they'll have to work for the rest of their lives."
ReplyDeleteWell, this is true. Without MLM or rental income passive income, YOU still have to work for the rest of your life. You have a job. So you have to work for the rest of your life.
Even if you have rental income, you have to work for your rest of your life by doing the rental and toilet uncloggin and everything else. So unless you win the lottery and put it in the bank with interest, you have to work no matter what.
The question is what is it that you are working so hard for? With a job, you are working for a boss and if you stop, you don't get paid!
With a rental income, you are uncloggin toilet and doing landlord stuff.. but you are working toward capital appreciation and passive income so that if you don't work you still have rental income. (uncloggin toilets and stuff are trivial compare to 9 to 5 jobs)
With MLM, you are basically working toward passive income. This is the same with all real estate brokers and life insurance brokers.
Don't tell me you don't see this point.
Logic say: "Also, no matter how well you do, no matter how ethically you do it, because you are part of an industry that produces false hopes and countless failures, you'll always be viewed as a money hungry cult member by many people. Just learn to live with it. The best way to have the naysayers shut up is to just not join the conversation. You can say whatever you want, it'll only make these folks fight you even more. If you believe in what you do, that's all that matters. No point in trying to convince people who you can't convince think differently. "
ReplyDeleteI'm the same poster as the with the last statement "Do tell me you don't know this?" This paragraph by logic is very true and I give 2 thumbs up to this. People in mlm, no matter how truthful and nice, is marked as manipulative. I even marked them as that until I really know them as a person. So if you are still able to achieve silver, you have a chance to really do what you like to and just getting customers is really a truth salesmanship and if all MLM associate just focus on that.. the MLM industry might not have marked as manipulative and evil. But people abuse that distributor thing.
Heck I didn't even know avon was mlm, but my mom was using their products. Since she is just a customer and had no one to FORCE her to be a distributor, she buys the products and likes it... but if someone FORCED her to be a distritbutor, she might just cancel it. SEE THE DIFFERENCE!
"As a Gold Director I average about $36000 annually and have about 20 customers."
ReplyDeleteHow is this possible? By math it doesn't make sense..
Since I joined late last year, I have 45 to 50 active distributor(some of which are just customers) and 6 preferred customers AND I'm still a Builder..(flirting with achiever a few times though).
But I'm making an average of $500 per month..so that's all it matters and 3 month of which I really did nothing but still have that much coming in.
To the Anonymous who wrote:
ReplyDelete"Without MLM or rental income passive income, YOU still have to work for the rest of your life. You have a job. So you have to work for the rest of your life."
That just proves my point that MLMers are brainwashed. You're basically saying that there are only 2 possible ways to make passive income, actually 1 since you claim all people who have rental properties personally unclog toilets. Ever heard of property management companies?
Ever heard of royalties from intellectual properties? How about stock dividends? How about really simple semi-passive businesses like vending machines? Ever heard of affiliate marketing? You must've at least heard of the Youtube partnership program right? How about people who sell insurance? Photographers can make passive income as well but you didn't know that did you?
Learn to think outside of what your uplines preach to you. They tell you without MLM you'll have to work for the rest of your life to scare you into continuing to recruit and buy products each month so they can retain their own passive income.
FREE YOUR MIND NEO!
"Since I joined late last year, I have 45 to 50 active distributor(some of which are just customers) and 6 preferred customers AND I'm still a Builder..(flirting with achiever a few times though)."
ReplyDeleteHow are the people under you doing? Are they making any money? That is a lot of people to recruit to just make 500 per month. It is not enough money to quit your day job. It is based volume points so your distributors have to come in with the professional pack for $1000 so you can get more points. If you sign someone up for a smaller pack then the points are lower. Subsequently, you would have to recruit more people.
I started taking USANA supplements approx.
ReplyDelete2 1/2 weeks ago, I don't sell, I purchase because of the quality of the supplements. The price point is very reasonable and it's my health, I can't put a price on that. I'd been looking for quality products and came across USANA and I approached the rep. Will I suggest USANA to friends and family, absolutely!! I guess that would make me a preferred customer?? We need to be proactive with our health, don't wait until illness comes knocking to educate yourself.
How can you argue the quality of this product or have you been too busy bashing to even look at the products themselves?
We do need to supplement our diets. The quality of the fruits, veg., meat and fish we eat is not there today. We have more people impacted by degenerative diseases then ever before and look at the cancer rates!! If our bodies were getting what they needed from food alone we wouldn't be where we are today with all these illnesses. We need quality supplements(to complement a healthy diet and exercise) our bodies/immune system need help in todays world. I think USANA has gone above and beyond most companies out there and I will continue to purchase their products for my family.
Kelley
You must have had a really unhealthy life style to take vitamins for under 3 weeks and notice a huge difference. Well, good for you. Taking vitamins is probably better than not taking vitamins. I'm not convinced that Usana vitamins are 10 times more effective than one that cost 10 times less.
ReplyDeleteTo be truthful, if I were to sell expensive vitamins, I would tell people they're likely to die of cancer if they don't buy my vitamins too.
"You must have had a really unhealthy life style to take vitamins for under 3 weeks and notice a huge difference" I've not made the claim of noticing a "huge difference" you're putting that out there. I do actually live a healthy lifestyle, (just got back from a 5k run with some girlfriends after working a 12 hr night shift, how's your morning shaping up?)I also play soccer and floor hockey and I'll be hitting the big 44 this year!! I'm no fast food junkie but I do enjoy it every now and then :)
ReplyDeleteI think you'd benefit from reading some medical journals when it comes to vitamin supplements so you can educate yourself on the beneficial effects. Cancer rates, as well as heart disease, fibromyalgia, MS,(to name a few), would go down if we had proper nutrition with quality supplements. We need supplements for optimal health! So if you're going to get on your soap box do something worthwhile!! You may not like Usana's business model but they need to be commended on the quality and price point of their product.
Our food barely meets the RNI (Canada) RDA's (US)and these standards are now increasing based on research!! The original RDA's go back to WWII at a time when food was rationed and they needed a baseline in order to avoid common nutritional deficiencies(scurvy, rickets,beriberi)So they are now changing to reflect what we need for optimal health not minimal.
Purity, potency, and safety are foremost in any nutritional supplement, especially if you are taking it on a daily basis. My preference is quality manufacturing through compliance with GMP standards. When these standards are not met,(your "10 times cheaper version"), the product may contain more or less of what is on the label along with other things like pesticides, herbicides or animal residues, molds and insect parts from inappropriate harvesting and storage. Yummy! I'll stick to being a USANA customer any day, at least I know what I'm putting into my body. Another great product is Vega by Brendan Brazier.
Oh and just an FYI I'll be celebrating my 5th year as a cervical cancer survivor in May. Don't wait for illness to come knocking to educate yourself. It's much easier to maintain and optimize your health then claw your way back. My mission is to heal from the inside out and educate as many people as I can along the way.
Kelley
USANA customer
What was the point in stating that you are a cancer survivor? I know you said you're just a customer but do realize that there are reps out there who will indirectly make claims. A comment talking about vitamins, then saying you beat cancer. Sure, you didn't say vitamins cure cancer but putting both things into the same paragraph, sneaky.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not vitamins really are that beneficial is still up for debate. I've read arguments for both sides from researchers.
If USANA really is all about making the world a healthier place, they should cut the crap about choosing the MLM model to "reduce" cost to the consumer. The MLM model is used solely to make sure products are sold. More profitable.
By the way, I have a friend who listens to heavy metal music. He's cancer free. These statements are not related.
USANA is NOT scam. It's a legitimate business.
ReplyDeleteUSANA (and other MLM-type of business ventures) are only tainted by greedy uplines who hypnotize their downlines that they can earn easy money for just a short time. Most downlines don't know that they will have to dedicate a lot of their time and they will have to become a good salesperson with good PR skills to be able to profit from this kind of business.
If the products are not worth the price, then the business will fail because people will not buy them -- this is what happens if you use the traditional business model to sell these products. So the company using this business model will either improve their products, sell their products at a cheaper price or ditch their products and make another one.
However, if the USANA (or whatever MLM business there is) products are just that bad and the business still runs up to now, THAT MEANS THAT THE COMPANY IS FILLED WITH GREEDY DISTRIBUTORS/ASSOCIATES/DIRECTORS/RESELLERS/WHATEVER. (Capitals used for emphasis.)
If a certain product is really bad, an honest MLM distributor will simply report the product or stop distributing them, not using their downlines to sell the product -- but this isn't really the case in most distributors. Sigh.
If the product is good, then I don't think there's anything wrong with distributing it thru MLM. It's just making the product easily available through other people. But like what I've said, it's badly tainted by greedy people.
I don't believe in the "middle men makes distributing the product more expensive" though. What do you call the distributors then? Aren't they middle men too?
WOW do you like to take things out of context. I stated I had been taking the supplements for a short time, not once did I elude to the fact that this is why I'm cancer free. My reason for looking at supplements and healing from the inside out, to continue healing at an optimum level, was due to having had cancer. I had conventional treatment, radiation and chemo(both cancer causing as well as treating) I've beat cancer because I continue to be cancer free because of the treatments I had and the fact that I do what I can to stay healthy and now I've added to that regime with USANA!!! At the 5 year mark they consider you cured but I'm sure you already know all that.
ReplyDeleteMy wife was talked into Usana by her friends last march. Since then she dedicates Thursdays as her "business days" at the Jims Eatery down the street. I figured out that she has almost broke even. Ive tried to tell her that her off time is better spent somewhere else. Just what Logic said about the 5 years being rich and how non believers are "negatives" thats so efin true. Actualy it reminds me of girls playing tea party with imaginary friends when her and her girlfriends get around eachother. Its so obvious how Usana is such a big company and grew so fast.... Dumb people from Utah. They believe in anything.
ReplyDeleteDid you not read what I wrote carefully? This article is about Usana, yet you brought up that you're cancer free after saying all of these good things about Usana. Why? What's the point in stating that? Simple, because you want to indirectly relate Usana vitamins with curing cancer. And you claim to not elude to why you're cancer free. What a joke.
ReplyDeleteQuit with your misdirected nonsense.
We do not care if the product is good or bad.
ReplyDeleteWe do not care how the product can benefit anyone.
We do not care if you are gaining a lot from this kind of business.
What we mind is:
1. HOW THE ASSOCIATES/DIRECTORS "ENCOURAGE" THEIR DOWNLINES TO RECRUIT MORE
2. THAT MAJORITY OF ITS SALES DON'T COME FROM THE CUSTOMERS BUT THE AUTOSHIPPED PRODUCTS TO THE ASSOCIATES
3. AND MOST OF THE ASSOCIATES' EMPHASIS ON RECRUITING THAN ON SELLING.
My emphasis on the capitals. Please, do yourselves a favor and don't look stupid by giving us a monotonous tone on how you got rich, or how the supplements made you healthy, or how "negative we are blah blah we're not trying blah blah we are failures and we fail financially because we did not join blah blah".
If you succeeded mainly because of your sales and if your few downlines did not earn by recruiting enormous downlines but by selling as well, then you deserve to have everyone's respect here.
I just hope those greedy associates would have their guilt penetrate their impenetrable thick skin. Sigh.
My friend went to a USANA training session today and I had him ask the question you posed. He said and I quote "They don't. The company pays them." According to my friend, that is what they said.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I had him ask about purchasing $100 worth of products every 4 weeks. He said that the distributors there told him that USANA does not require you to purchase $100 every 4 weeks, just that it was recommended. What do you think of all this?
In response to Mingsquared's comment,
ReplyDeleteThe company (USANA) pays them commission, but that commission comes from somewhere, and it rarely comes from selling product. The commissions generally come from downline distributor's purchases. That isn't selling anything since $100 worth of product is required to be purchased by participating USANA associates every 4 weeks.
As for the second part of your comment. The required four week purchases are required if that associate wishes to remain qualified to receive commission (whether from preferred customers or downline distributors). If the associate fails to "personally purchase" over $100 worth of product inventory during a 4 week cycle, that distributor will lose all Group Volume Points generated that has not been converted to commission. It's a very sick thing that USANA does. That is: steal rightfully earned group sales volume from their distributors just because he or she doesn't "personally purchase" a minimum quota.
The harder one tries to actually sell USANA product to the public, the quicker they will realize that it's nearly impossible. When they are about to quit, upline leaders will tell them that only quiters fail, and that they need to "Build their business", which means sell the business opportunity and recruit like crazy.
I took a look at USANA's Binary Compensation Plan online and I could not find anything on there that specifically says the associates must make personal purchases. However it does say that an associate must achieve XXX Personal Sale Volume every 4 weeks. Would that PSV be the personal purchases?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Mingsquared,
ReplyDeleteThis is stated in USANA's annual financial SEC statements: "To be eligible to earn commissions, an Associate must purchase a certain amount of product each month ("Qualifying Purchases"), which they may resell to consumers or use personally."
So USANA has misled their distributors with the "Personal Sales Volume" (PSV) requirements. What it should really be called is "Personal Purchase Volume" (PPV)
I find it comical that some Usana reps actually tell people the $100 a month is not required and that no one forces you to buy it.
ReplyDelete@Mingsquared - Sorry to say this but your "friend" just wants to make money off of you and is lying straight to your face. Yes, the monthly requirement is optional but if you don't pay it, you don't qualify to make any money.
That's like telling someone that it's optional to go to work. Of course it's optional but if you don't work, you don't get paid.
By the way, breathing and eating is recommended too but you don't have to do those things. LOL.
So I found out from another friend that apparently associates can get discounts on USANA products?
ReplyDeleteAnd I keep hearing that there are loopholes in the system that USANA people abuse to make more money. Can someone elaborate on what exactly those loopholes are?
I have no idea what the loopholes are but as for the discounts, I believe there are 3 prices. Retail, wholesale, and autoship.
ReplyDeleteAs a distributor, you can get the lowest price which is basically the price that we talk about anyway because NO ONE pays retail for these products and if they did, they got massively ripped off. In other words, even at the lowest "discounted" rate, you still couldn't sell enough to the general public to make a living off of this.
You can find Usana products for nearly half off the "discounted" price on Ebay where people are selling them for a loss because very few will buy these vitamins at any those higher prices.
This is why the main customer base are the distributors themselves. They're not just buying the vitamins otherwise, they wouldn't pay that much either. They buy them to qualify for the compensation plan. That's what makes buying these vitamins at that higher price worth the investment to most of them.
A relative of mine who happens to be a USANA associate caught me reading this blog.
ReplyDeleteInstead of giving me answers that can refute the information stated in this blog, she would tell me stuff like, "Instead of believing in this author, why don't you believe in Robert Kiyosaki/Donald Trump/whoever?", "USANA can give good results, they are existing for n years now", "Remember what Bo Sanchez (a famous preacher in the Philippines) said? Blah blah blah" and would even use the name of God (God wants us to be rich, so we should use the opportunity, etc).
When I asked her that question, she told me that most of her earnings came from sales, people approach her because she is slim, etc. But then again, she gained that body because she is physically active and her boyfriend is athletic.
She sold me the products against my will, and there was no improvement whatsoever, blame me and my poor lifestyle. Now even without those improvements, she'd suddenly ask me to become her downline to earn money. I suddenly realized that she also recruited the people who approached her, whether the products gave good effect on them or not.
Maybe I should start getting my butt moving and get healthy -- Then tell her that it's not just the supplements.
USANA trains their associates (and is generally the case in all MLM) to ignore negative information and only focus on the positive. MLM is treated as a religion. A bad one. Most people know it is bad, and when they try to help their family members who get sucked into this bad MLM religion they are treated as if they speak of blasphemy.
ReplyDeleteIt is a common phrase that MLM associates use to claim that "they are approached" by customers. That is hardly the case. You don't just walk up to someone and say "Hey, you look slim and healthy! Are you selling some food supplements?" Supplements don't make someone slim or in shape. Athleticism, working out, and eating right keep someone slim and in shape.
Most people do not notice any improvements to their health or lifestyle when taking vitamins because unless you are seriously deficient in a particular vitamin or mineral, your body doesn't need additional resources. In fact, the placebo has a greater effect on people than USANA vitamins. Most people stop using USANA products, so according to the majority of people who have tried it, USANA products are not worth it. I guess those people are just stupid. Actually, those people are smart for not wasting any more of their money on "overpriced" product. Tens of thousands of companies sell vitamins. Most sell their product much cheaper than USANA.
The motive to recruit people into the business is the fact that the only way to be successful in USANA is by selling the opportunity to get rich. The products only act as tokens in the pay to play scheme. USANA takes raw materials that cost as much as dirt, press it into a capsule/pill, bottle it, and sell it for an ungodly amount. USANA profits greatly while 99% of their distributors (who are the primary buyers) end up LOSING money. That's no business, that's a scam.
Thanks for the comment! Good luck on getting healthy!
Hmm, Watch Dog, who pay you to do all this?
ReplyDeleteNobody pays me to do anything. I do not make anything from this either.
DeleteI don't like how usana pushes the business over the products. Why do I need to spend $100 a month just to keep my business open. Why is usana products so expensive? Will they guarantee me a long and healthy life? If I take them I'll never get cancer? Will I notice a difference if I take usana vitamins or generic store brand vitamins? Probably not. Also, the whole way usana makes you balance both sides. If I have 20,000 points on my left side and only 1000 on the right guess what? I only get paid for 1000 points. Usana is cult like and most distributors won't let goal of the company because their up lines keep pumping lies into them. Also with usana they can change their restructuring if they wanted too. You could be a gold director making $30,000.00 and then usana could change how much you make. There is nothing you can do about it.
ReplyDeletejust like your employer could fire you as much as he likes. there is nothing you can do about it.
ReplyDelete