Most people who have joined USANA's business opportunity have lost time and money. I strongly believe USANA is operating an illegal pyramid scheme. According to the a FTC letter: "...a multi-level compensation system funded primarily by payments made for the right to participate in the venture is an illegal pyramid scheme." It should be noted that 90% of USANA's net revenue comes from their distributor's own purchases. It should also be noted that USANA requires their distributors to purchase about $1560 each year for a 1-business center account and about $3120 each year for a multi-business center account. These required purchases give the distributor the right to participate in the business venture and be eligible for commissions. If the payment is not made, the associate will lose all group sales volume accumulated (converted to commission when enough points accumulate). Seems like a pyramid scheme to me!
The federal agency responsible for investigating Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) companies is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The only way the FTC will investigate whether USANA is a pyramid scheme is for "enough" victims to file a complaint. So the most important thing anyone can do who believes they were swindled is to file a complaint with the FTC. It is very simple to file a complaint, although the task may seem daunting. I will provide a step by step walk-through to help guide you through the process.
Click on the following: FTC Complaint Form. This will open into a new window. You may receive an annoying popup from the FTC regarding a survey, just close that window. (That's just one of their attempts to annoy you and prevent you from actually filing out a complaint)
Fill out your contact information and whether you are submitting this complaint on behalf of someone else. Lawyers or attorneys might fill out the form on behalf of their client. However, since there are no actual instructions with this complaint form, I'll assume anyone can fill out this form on behalf of a friend or family member who is being or has been swindled by USANA.
Next, answer whether you are a member of the armed forces or a dependent. Not sure how this is relevant to the complaint, but whatever.
The next step is to choose what type of complaint you are filing. The correct option on this screen is to choose "OTHER" because none of their initial options have anything to do with business opportunities.
Now choose "Business Opportunity and Employment Offers" in the upper menu box. After a few seconds, you'll be able to choose "Multi-Level Marketing/Pyramid Schemes" in the lower box. I find it interesting that the FTC groups those two terms together.
Choose ow you were first contacted regarding USANA's business opportunity. Your choice will will result in a different set of follow up questions. "Email" contact will ask many questions regarding emails. "Phone" with its own set of questions.
Eventually you will come to the question that asks if you know the name of the company or individual in your complaint, or have additional information about them? This option should be chosen as "YES"
This part of the form asks that you tell the FTC about the company (USANA). Company Name "USANA Health Sciences". Address is "3838 West Parkway Boulevard | Salt Lake City, UT 84120". Phone: 801-954-7200.
Additional information is desired but not mandatory. Questions such as how much money you spent on the business opportunity, When you were first contacted, The name of the individual who contacted you, etc...
Now you are asked about "Consumer Information". Here is where you enter who the victim is. It may be the same information as the one entered earlier for the contact info, or may be the person you are filing this complaint in their behalf (Friend, Family Member, Client, etc...)
This next part is the meat of the complaint form. Here is where you get to explain how you were victimized. Perhaps you were told by your upline that you must stay on autoship for the business to work. Maybe you were told only quitters fail. Perhaps you were told you could make millions and were shown pictures of fancy houses and cars in their literature. The FTC needs to know your story.
Finally, you will see a confirmation screen where all the information you entered is displayed. Once you have confirmed the information is correct, click "SUBMIT" at the bottom of the form.
While the FTC complaint form seems long and tedious, it is very important to do. Many people might not file a complaint because they feel embarrassed or ashamed to have been suckered into a scam. Perhaps you were told over and over that USANA is not a scam because they have been in business since 1992 and are a publicly traded company. Perhaps you are told that it was your own fault you couldn't make any money and that you shouldn't blame others for your failure. These are all very serious statements that the FTC really needs to know about. I have received many emails from people who feel this way. Don't blame yourself. 99% of USANA participants lose money. The compensation is actually designed to fail this many people.
If you know someone who lost money in USANA, encourage them to file a complaint.
Dear Usana watchdog. I am very interested in filing a complaint. I am just concerned about the section where we have to identify my direct sponsor. My direct sponsor was a close friend of mine and I do not want to get them in trouble. Will this FTC complaint hurt them? My sponsor didn't make me any false promises, it was everyone else who did etc.
ReplyDeleteThis is another reason why many people do not file a complaint. People are usually recruited by a close friend, co-worker, fellow church member or family member. So they fear that filing a complaint with the FTC will get the person who recruited them into trouble. The FTC can tell who the victim is and who the culprits are. Those that are using a boiler room to recruit hundreds and hundreds of people are the ones who would get hurt from the FTC complaint because if the FTC were to shut the company down after an investigation, then those people would not be able to cash in from their downline.
DeleteMost people are victims. In fact, 99% of them are. I cannot speak for the FTC, but I would hope your friend would be fine. But this is how and why MLMs are able to continue preying on millions of people. Nobody wants to get their friends in trouble, so there is a huge fear of filing a complaint.
Good Luck
Dear Usana Watch Dog,
DeleteI've been in Usana for about 12 years and I know what a pyramid scheme is and Usana is not a scheme. The money I've spent in Usana products has been a great investment in my health. Bill
Why do you think USANA is legitimate? How much commission have you made over the 12 years? How much of the commission came from your downline associate's mandatory product purchases which they make in order to be eligible for their own commission? You see, it isn't about the "product", it's about the fact that the majority of commissions paid out is funded by the required product purchases for the right to participate in USANA's business opportunity.
DeleteUSANA should not require their associates to make ongoing purchases in order to participate in the compensation plan. If USANA did that, then the only associates purchasing the product would be those who actually purchase it because they want it and not because they are forced to. That will never happen because USANA has designed the compensation plan to be a pyramid scheme, which guarantees their products will be sold to their distributors...
Bill, their are other ways to invest in your health than to spend $1560 a year in vitamins...
I started in mid-March. No commissions for March. April $830. May $1200. I'm anticipating hitting $1900 in commissions for June. I spend approximately 3.5 hours per day (an hour before work; 2 after) contacting leads, and 30 minutes of preparation per day for the following day. On Saturday I spend about 4 hours.
DeleteExpenses thus far:
Startup Kit $29.95
Entrepreneur Pack $599.99
100 points for April $127.00 (including shipping)
100 points for May $119.00 (including shipping)
Long distance CenturyLink $60.00 April
Long distance CenturyLink $60.00 May
MLMPhoneBurner April $120.00
MLMPHoneBurner May $120.00
Fed taxes (I pay at the end of the month)$600.
My profit thus far is small, less than $300.00, but my initial investment of $599.99 is a sunk cost. I'll keep you updated as I move through this. Oh, and with MLMPhoneBurner I make several hundred dials per day, and speak with about 20-30 per day. All leads are provided by my upline, all approved for do not call. Not bad for the amount of time most people spend watching TV. I'm sure you won't post this...
To the Anonymous who provided the expense report as well as commission amount,
DeleteAgain, How much commission came from "Distributors" versus "Preferred Customers"? That's the million dollar question.
How many associates have you recruited versus preferred customers?
In my case, I'm more interested in creating an organization, not retail sales. I will say that the company encourages selling the products first, as a priority. This is my decision as an entrepreneur. Personally, I'm grateful for the opportunity to spin up an international business for a very minimal amount.
DeleteGet a life. What a waste. If you put as much energy into something else you might actually get somewhere.
DeleteI told my upline that I just wanted to sell the products and I din't want to recruit anyone and she said that its easy to get customers, but I need to focus on recruitment of distributors.
DeleteHonestly, its been impossible to convince any customers to sign up for a four week autoship and recurrent billing to their credit card. Products are overpriced and people just don't want that kind of commitment.
They teach you to say anything you need to "dispel any fears the person might have" and I've seen my upline straight up lie when asked a question she wasn't sure about. they teach you to say whatever it takes to assure people its the right decision and I just can't do it to my friends knowing that they'll end up being a customer of USANA instead of a distributor and most definitely lose money. I'm just not that kind of person.
Your upline really said it's easy to get customers? Wow. Ask her how many preferred customers she has and see how fast she changes the subject or avoids answering the question.
Deletetracy wenkman is primarily building her business through PC which is why she is number 1 customer enroller.
DeleteI'm just wondering if usana is a scam why are they still around.
ReplyDeleteYes, for 20 years actually. Generally if something actually is a scam, then the lifespan would be very short. 20 years of profitability actually, better than most companies in the world.
DeleteRead about my Mark Shurtleff Endorses USANA Article and you will see exactly how USANA can swindle 99% of their distributors in a pyramid scheme and still remain in business.
Deletethey are still around for the same reason cigarettes are still around because they know how to get around the legal system. cigarettes and cocaine and alcohol and all these other drugs are still around. does it mean its a good company? they been around for more than 20 years also. You have to buy a pro pack for 1400 ? why so much... well its because there is 4 tickets for convention to make it possible so that thousands of associates will gather for one day to purchase millions of $ in products in one day.. all that profit goes to dave wentz pocket... please don't tell me he only makes 400k a year... if you're in business you can write off things remember.. you get a 100$ commission for buying your own product? if you think that is awesome then I see how they recruited you.. because you are braindead... What I hate about Usana is that these young people are being scammed out of their youth and wasting their lives worshiping these wannabe rich guys with nice cars that they can barely afford or have their other ways of affording it and pretend Usana bought it for them. these diamond directors are snakes and they are good salesman I give them that. and that is another reason why its been alive for so long. is because its not that hard to recruit someone ... if you talk to 100 people atleast one is tired of their job or jobless and will get sold on an expensive dream that these diamond directors are selling.... excuse for my grammar .......... I use to be a Silver director in Usana for 2 years.. I feel bad for selling pro packs and lying to my friends that they will be rich with me.. we're all broke now... you're welcome to leave a contact number and I can personally prove to you how Usana will ruin your life..
DeleteTO the anonymous poster who used to be a silver director and is now broke.
DeleteI would really suggest filing a complaint to the FTC regarding your experience with USANA. These sort of stories are the only way to get the FTC to even bother taking a look at USANA's business practices. The FTC will not even consider investigating USANA unless they receive "enough" complaints. How much "enough" is, is unknown.
BTW, I would be interested in how you can personally prove how USANA can ruin people's lives. Information like this from those who have personal experience with it (especially a silver director) would be very educational.
In responce to June 7th question by Usana watchdog of "how Usana will ruin you life" I will answer in short sentences so it doesn't look like a book because I can go on for hours of how it will. and btw Silver director is nothing even gold or even rubi emerald (long explanation)
Deleteways usana will ruin your life specially if you're in Next Evolution or in a XY gen group.
1. in order to have longterm success you have to be a sick liar. so good that you're lying to yourself and you're believing it. (long explanation)
2. your upline will tell you to quit your job, quit things you loved to do before USANA and make you feel bad that you're doing those things. Some people quit their jobs and have bills to pay and eventually lose everything because Usana is not residual income unless you have atleast 400 autoships balanced under you.
3.the only way to make a living in usana is to have leaders who do the dirty work under you to recruit packages because we all know the idea of autoships for a persons lifetime is not going to happen so you need "so called leaders to work everyday to find a sucker to buy a package so that they can brainwash that person to become a leader. if you're making a living in usana you have to maintain those leaders mindset and prevent them from quiting with the way you live.. the way you talk.. 24/7 you're finding a genius way to keep those kids hypnotized.. so hard to do.. harder than having a job.. so the fact that USANA is easier is a total lie.. most of the money is from packages and associate's autoship..
4. if you're under a diamond he/she is the ONLY one making enough to have a good living. the rest is paying for his clothes car etc.. he/she will claim he is multimillionaire. but sells shirts or bracelets and claim it will be going to charity but wow he just made an 800 profit from tshirts.. everyone loses at hotels 5$ to get in.. the one running that makes profit to pay for the room..
5. most of the hardwork is done by people that have been brainwashed to think they are at high rank. to rank advanced to Silver you need 8 Propacks paid in 1 weeks time.. do you know how hard it is to sell 8 pro packs in 6 days? you will have to either trick someone or force someone to buy a package if you put so much work in that week you will have to put in some $ and pay for someone or buy some healthpaks or surge packs because they are the cheapest... You make no profit and all the points go up to the leaders.. those pro packs come from family and friends because it is hard to sell to a Cold market. Warm market will trust you and put out their money for you because they love you. Now when Usana fails they will have this dirty taste in their mind and your friendship will never be the same.. and the diamonds are so sick that they will leave you if you don't produce points.. ruin a few months / years in your life and not care because they have so many bills (uncomfortable as they say to grow) but in reality just sacraficing their soul to take advantage of the world.. by pretending to be some angel or positive budda..
Wow, this is a very fragmented diatribe - can you spell spilchekqr? This is America. We have the capacity to make our own decisions. Most people do not quit their regular job until their income from USANA exceeds their day job.
Deletein responce to the spilchekqr.."this is america" we have capacity to make our own decision.... that is easy to say about everything. its easy to say not to be a prostitute or a stripper.. its easy to say don't smoke cigarette it kills you...but people still do it.... When you are involved in Usana and hang out with people that eat breath Usana you get influenced and the decisions you "want" eventually becomes what they want you to do... you get "SOLD" on the idea and you get brainwashed.. they make you worship Aaron Dinh so that you will stay and not think about the fact that you're paying for his Lamborghini... instead of pointing out my grammer.. oh well who cares.. why don't you point out some real info since you're so intelligent.
Deleteyou guys pro and con about usana are all retarded and got facts wrong. Just shut up to save yourself from looking stupid. To silver director who is now broke, you are not make out to be in business so don't do any more business and work as an employee to the day that you go, because this little losses is nothing compare to big businesses that Donald trump or other entrepreneur incurs and you are already whining your little loss of this usana 'oh usana sucks. oh because it make me broke oh because I'm too retarded to just listen to my upline.' No one in their right minds will give up the job to do network marketing.. it's just no one will give up the job to do mortgage notes business. Oh and like filing a complaint will do anything. morons. I have to say it.
Deletebtw, I never know any silver directors who went broke like you did. you must be either very stupid or a fake about being even a silver director.
DeleteHere you have it folks. This is the typical behavior response you will get from upline distributors. No professionalism. And these are people who think they are expert nutritionists trying to persuade others to ingest megadose antioxidants into your body even though many of the largest studies show it may do more harm than good.
DeleteBTW, people can become silver director within their first week by buying their family and friends professional packs and signing them up into their downline. I've heard that some even take it further than that and simply make fake accounts to put into their downline and purchase product through those. Gets you to Silver Director quickly. Getting to Gold and beyond has additional privileges and bonuses as well as recognition, which makes you more popular amongst the cult. Egos are big in the inner circle. And if you think getting stuck with all that product is bad, well these people know how to dump it on Ebay for a loss. However, the loss is quickly made up from the additional bonuses and perks you get when you are gold and beyond. Not to mention the Lifetime matching bonus plans and the platinum pacesetter programs which are all focused around recruiting people into the pyramid scheme rather then actually retailing or selling the product to preferred customers...
I think most people would rather be a moron (for joining USANA in the first place) than be a con artist (one who recruits hundreds and thousands of distributors into their downline knowing full and well that 99% of them will never make a profit no matter how hard they try. The fix is in. The compensation plan is designed to fail that percentage of people.
Hi blogger,
ReplyDeleteI know you have so much time in the world for you to be able to create this blog.
If you really think USANA is a scam, then prove and tell me what percentage of the stockholders of the New York Stock Exchange is a scam and how did it pass the NYSE.
Even scam companies won't be able to pass any of the top 100 largest stock markets in the world. It wouldn't dare try buy shares from the largest stock market in the world.
Pyramid scheme is composed primarily of money ONLY and non-consumable products.
Pyramid schemes includes direct referrals primarily within their compensation benefits.
The word 'purchase' is illogical if you would be saying that USANA's a scam. You should have said 'pay'. This word would highly deviate your assumptions without clear thought. Purchase would lead to 'buying products',
While pay would lead to 'direct referrals' in this case.
Forbes rated USANA to be top 2 and even outran TJX group of companies (rank 3), Unilever and Coca-Cola companies (rank 4 and 5).
Before you continue this blog, take a deep breath and find all the necessary supporting document from third party researches and analysis, not your own blogs that support your other blogs.
Enron and Worldcom circumvented the NYSE for many years. It wasn't the NYSE that investigated those companies and found corrupt and illegal practices. I don't know the percentage of public companies that are scams on the NYSE. I know one of them is, USANA. It passed the NYSE because the NYSE doesn't investigate the business practices of the company.
DeleteYour definition of a pyramid scheme is corrupt and flawed.
Here's a quote from the FTC regarding pyramid schemes:
QUOTE
Modem pyramid schemes generally do not blatantly base commissions on the outright payment of fees, but instead try to disguise these payments to appear as if they are based on the sale of goods or services. The most common means employed to achieve this goal is to require a certain level of monthly purchases to qualify for commissions. While the sale of goods and services nominally generates all commissions in a system primarily funded by such purchases, in fact, those commissions are funded by purchases made to obtain the right to participate in the scheme. Each individual who profits, therefore, does so primarily from the payments of others who are themselves making payments in order to obtain their own profit. As discussed above, such a plan is little more than a transfer scheme, dooming the vast majority of participants to financial failure.
UNQUOTE
Pyramid schemes have product.
Many organizations like Forbes ranked Enron and Worldcom very high as well. You should stop repeating the same nonsense your upline tells you.
Sorry USANA Watchdog, I'm not understanding your site -- it is interesting, even entertaining, but I'm not seeing the crime or the smoking gun. I guess if you were applying your scrutiny to all the publicly held companies that use a direct sales method, it would be interesting. But this has the same flavor as the crackpots who camped out on Wall Street.
DeleteHmmm, so how is this different from a car dealership? I buy a Toyota or Mercedes-Benz dealership for $3.5 million, I get inventory for another $9 million. Additionally, I have to pay an annual fee to Toyota or Mercedes for my right to use the "Toyota" or "Mercedes" name (naming rights), which I can split into monthly payments. Should I be reported to the SEC for paying a monthly distributorship fee?
DeleteI quote: "Hmmm, so how is this different from a car dealership?"
DeleteLet me ask the person who posted this, if you're a car dealer, do you have to recruit any other people to buy cars (let's say to sell to others) so that you will earn money? Let's say there is a daily/monthly/annual quota to compare with the autoship, but are you forced to buy these cars to meet with the quota?
Majority of potential car dealers aren't approached to sell. They approach the company to sell. Majority of USANA associates do the other way around.
Rule of thumb in a business: You should put your faith in your products, that you can sell the product by yourself. If they really have faith in their products, then why the need to recruit so soon?
I'd like to add the fact that if a Car Dealership ran the same way USANA does, then the dealerships would be purchasing their inventory of cars at the same cost that their customers can get them for. 0% Profit Margin!
DeleteThis is what USANA does with their associates. Preferred Customers get the product at the same rate the distributors do. Sadly enough, there are very few preferred customers which says a lot about the product. Oh, and their preferred customer base has been dwindling away for many years now.
So imagine hundreds of thousands of car dealerships all over the world stocked with cars that nobody is buying except the dealerships themselves (because they have to regardless of demand). Sure makes the manufacturers rich (USANA) while leaving the dealerships broke (99% of USANA associates).
To complete the analogy, when the car dealership purchases their inventory, the dealerships in their upline (yeah, sounds ridiculous, but imagine it ran like USANA) would get the commission points from the required inventory purchases from their downline. Since the downlines are enormous, 1% of dealerships would make a killing while all the rest sat broke with inventory they paid too much for.
I love it when USANA distributors defending their scheme try to compare their USANA business to other real businesses.
In response to the comment "Sorry USANA Watchdog, I'm not understanding your site -- it is interesting, even entertaining, but I'm not seeing the crime or the smoking gun. I guess if you were applying your scrutiny to all the publicly held companies that use a direct sales method, it would be interesting. But this has the same flavor as the crackpots who camped out on Wall Street."
DeleteWhat you fail to understand is that USANA is not a "Direct Sales" company. USANA is a "Multi-Level Marketing" company. Difference is, direct sales actually sell product to customers outside the sales force and do so for a "profit margin". Their primary incentive is to retail, not recruit. MLM on the other hand focuses mainly on selling a "business opportunity" instead of retailing product. USANA's products are overpriced because 45% of the product's cost goes to enrich the very top 1% of distributors in the pyramid scheme. 36% goes toward enriching USANA. This year alone executives and Myron Wentz have sold $4.9 million in stock. However, 99% of USANA associates are "LOSING MONEY". Yet, it is those 99% who are losing money that are actually funding USANA's operation and buying over a half BILLION dollars worth of USANA product every year just to meet USANA's minimum purchase requirement in order to participate in the business venture.
That's a fraud. A complete scam. And according to the FTC, an illegal pyramid scheme.
Yes, this is what I meant about the whole Wall Street crackpot thing:
Delete"USANA's products are overpriced because 45% of the product's cost goes to enrich the very top 1% of distributors in the pyramid scheme. 36% goes toward enriching USANA. This year alone executives and Myron Wentz have sold $4.9 million in stock."
Not understanding the logic here. 45% of the product's cost goes to enriching the very top 1%. How are we determing the COGS? I don't see that in the annual report or the Qs. And why do we see a problem with Dr. Wentz and the executives of USANA selling stock? Stock is a privately owned asset, if they want to sell, that is their perogative. Why would that be a concern? Execs all over the world periodically sell stock to raise money, could be to diversify their portfolio, could be investing in something, could be setting up trusts for the wife and kids, could be making a donation to a non-profit. So what?
USANA WatchDog, are you associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement? You know what I mean, resentment towards those who took risks and were successful, and now are supposed to provide $120k jobs to everyone?
DeleteI despise those who are the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. They are a bunch of people who are anti-American / anti-capitalism and believe they should have everything handed to them.
DeleteHowever, to suggest I am associated with that movement because I take personal time to update a blog that explains how and why USANA is a pyramid scheme shows that you don't know what "capitalism" is yourself.
The Maddoff and Enron linkage degrades the objective nature of this site. The Maddoff and Enron defendants literally stole money from the company. Are you saying that the USANA executives are stealing from the company and/or stealing money from new associates?
DeleteThe Maddoff and Enron linkage is appropriate. Maddoff and Enron deceived investors. USANA deceives associates by selling a business opportunity that is designed so 99% of participants lose money while enriching the 1% who make millions. USANA sells the idea that "everyone" can make money in USANA. Fact is, even if all the distributors had doctorates in marketing, 99% of them would lose money because USANA's Multi-Level Marketing system is a Pyramid Scheme.
DeleteThe primary way product moves is by forcing the associates to purchase over $100 worth of product every 28 days whether they have customers or not. It's required to participate in USANA's business opportunity.
I have been reading the comments on this post and a few others. It is quite interesting to note that the USANA watchdog has directly asked and challenged the Usana distributors who are defending Usana, to answer the following question:
ReplyDelete"How much of your commissions come from preferred customers compared to the required monthly purchases of their associates?"
Not a single distributor has been willing to answer this million dollar question.
If Usana was in fact this super company who paid their associates fairly and not at the expense of their downlines, then obviously the distributors wouldn't hesitate to answer this question and slam dunk the watchdog. However, by choosing not to answer that direct question, is an admission of guilt in itself.
I was formerly a Usana distributor for over 2 years and can tell you without a doubt that most if not all of my commissions came at the expense of my downline, and it was primarily from their 100 point or 200 point required monthly autoshipments. I did receive some commissions from the new starter pack purchases new associates had to purchase, and very few commissions from preferred customers.
Most if not all distributors, plan their rank advancements in conjunction with their downline autoshipment points and schedule. The more associates you have underneath you (doesn't matter if you sponsored them or not) the more 100 point and 200 point autoshipments you will receive on an ongoing basis.
After reading the FTC definition of a pyramid scheme, Usana is without a doubt a scheme masked with a very expensive product. My upline brain washed me to think differently, but when you step outside the box and look at the model objectively, you clearly see the scheme.
The fact that Usana is on the Nasdaq, FDA certified, and in the physicians desk reference guide does not give the company credibility. They simply just buy their way in.
If Usana was so great, the multi diamond directors like Steve Swart, Lynn Johnson, Tim Allen etc wouldn't have all defected to Ariix, and neither would Usana's top medical advisor, Ray Strand.
could u please tell me which direct selling companies are not scam according to your logic?
ReplyDeleteThere are companies that don't ask you to become a distributor as soon as they introduce their products. These are companies that focus on selling quality products to the consumers, and not on passing down the products down to their distributors. These are companies that only give incentives to the recruiter, and not commissions.
DeleteWhere's the passive income there? It comes when people come to you. This is also when there is someone else you regularly pay already overseeing the production/procurement of your products for you. MLM is like that too, only that the overseer is not forced to purchase anything and there is no awkward feeling in introducing the products or the business opportunity as well.
Some companies like Avon are like that, don't you think?
Errr sorry, I mean, "These are companies that only give one-time incentives to the recruiter upon their recruit's first sale/sign-up, and not continuous commissions from the sales of their recruits."
DeleteIf there is an upline, and the commission points travel up the hierarchy with no limit, then by that very nature the products are being passed down from the top distributor all the way down to the bottom while collecting a payment through each level. That's how USANA works, but the product doesn't physically travel to everyone's address. That's why 45% of the cost of the product goes to fund the commissions in USANA. That causes the distributor's cost of the product to already by grossly overpriced and not retailable. Hence the focus on recruiting associates instead of retailing product. Each associate has to purchase the product if they want to participate, and the upline collects commission from these required purchases. In fact, the majority of all commission paid out stems from these required 28 day 100/200 point purchases (payment) each associate makes. According to the FTC, this is an illegal pyramid scheme.
DeleteIf the MLM company limited the commission paid to the upline (3 to 5 level high), and gave the majority of combined commission from that sale of a product to the distributor who actually retailed the product to a customer (say 70% of the commission), and that these products are not forced to be purchased by the associates themselves (unlike USANA), then that MLM company would probably not be a pyramid scheme and the majority of associates would make a profit. I've not seen any MLM company as such...
You have some very great insight into this topic and your responses are very mature and informative. I have a friend who just signed upto this, and he wont listen to any of us when we tell him its a pyramid scheme, he is pretty dumb when it comes to someone holding a $ above his head.
DeleteKeep it up with the great responses to these people trying to defend it, I learn much more about it this way.
In addition to "how usana will ruin you life" and "how Usana has been around so long" for the legal stuff with the law I am not an expert of but for the recruiting part I know exactly how it works because I was a silver and to do it I'll post it here so that a lot of people don't get tricked.. To save people time from being brainwashed..
ReplyDeletethe only way Usana will survive is with recruits and stay longer alive with autoship with recruits.. to recruit and brainwash you need to know the system called "Kaizen" created by duke tubtim or aka Pop which was renamed by Aaron Dinh because he copies everything Duke does then he talks crap about him like its High School. AD is so edified that the kids don't know how flawed he is and everything he says they will listen because his leaders talks about him like hes a god and people get hypnotized just like cult religions.. people get tricked.. the mind is easily tricked..
the secret to recruit and brainwashed
it starts with Dr. Wentz dream. "I dream of world free from pain and suffering. I dream of a world from pain. The USana family will be the healthiest family on earth" Its hard to talk about Dr. Myron wentz because he's such a nice guy... But to start off the Kaizen his phylosophy touches a new recruits heart.. thats how it starts..
then they talk about the products and a few veterans will say this cured this.. this helped that.. testimonies are way more believeable than commercials because its coming from your family friends.. so they talk about authoship.. thats how you convince new people to replace shampoo etc energy drinks etc.. with usana so they pay for it monthly..
rich vs wealth
1. get promoted (like director then you get roles for trainings, achiever you get to have dinner with a diamond.. if you get promoted you get to go on stage and everyone claps for you.. your head gets big for example like Wyman Duong in NEX lol. Hes 18 but thinks he knows everything because he got promoted.. your head gets big and you stay in longer and harder to quit..
2. get events larger the more particing the more believable that this is real..
3. get people paid so they can survive longer.. get them paid at anyway possible at the expensve of their parents or friends which really isn't real pay because they profited from their family..
then talk about their why's.. you talk about the whys because you'll forget this is a pyramid and just focus on your material goals.. you have goals to hit position and they will pressure you to hit it..
to find people you use the memory jogger..you make a list to remember your old friends.. then you plan on how to invite them...
to recruit.. you invite them by saying its a job interview.. you make someone else the expert so they can meet your upline so they can sign your friend up.. then cycle goes on on.. reasons for people to quit is that the upline is rude or pushy or just unhappy.. so they train you to be happy and positive all the time..
Haha exactly.... This is how it works! You used to be apart of nex too? Which team were you apart of
DeleteBelieve it or not there are some network/direct selling companies that are not schemes. One that comes to mind is premier design jewelry. There is no monthly autoship requirements, etc. You show your customers a catalog of jewelry, and if they like it, they place an order with you. You make a commission on that sale, as you should, you earned it.
ReplyDeleteThe other way is to conduct parties, where you display jewelry and people buy it from you on the spot. This method obviously requires you to purchase the jewelry up front but it is for the sole purpose of selling it to a customer and not for personal use.
Even better, if you can find people who would like to host a jewelry party (no enrollment pack needed to purchase, or any monthly committment) just someone you know who wants to have a party, that host receives discounts on jewelry and you receive commissions for selling the jewelry.
There is no scheme involved here. The Jewelers dont need to make any 100 point autoshipments to stay active. You don't lose any points or any of that none sense. If you sell, you make commissions, if you don't, you don't make anything. That is fair.
I am sure there are other legitimate network marketing and direct selling opportunities out there that actually pay the distributor for selling their product and business opportunity without any schemes and I also would like to know what some of them are as selling jewelry isn't for everyone.
@Anonymous (Jewelry) - Sounds like a typical sales job. The whole concept of MLM is to recruit. If there is no recruiting, then you're just in sales, which is great because you don't have to deal with people calling you a scammer.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous (Brainwashing) - That AD guy that everyone worships, gotta hand it to him, he's not an ordinary brainwashed MLMer. He knows the game and seems to work it to his advantage quite well. I feel sorry for all of his puppets though.
Wow, you do have a lot of time on your hands to blog so much about USANA. You keep asking about how many commissions are based on USANA associates orders. You seem to assume that people are being forced to buy products they won't use and aren't beneficial to them. That would be an issue for the person signing up as an associate if they have no need for the product but they are buying it. Also they have every opportunity to sell the product directly to consumers if they don't want to use the product. The bottom line is people have to be responsible for what they sign-up for. No one can so called brainwash you. Either you are smart and weigh all of the facts behind starting your business or you don't. These associates who are disgruntled because USANA didn't work are no different then people who start any other business. You have to do your homework and you have to know that whatever it takes for you to be successful you will be willing and able to do. Blame the company! Blame the business model! That's a chumps way to excuse their lack of common sense and ability to make wise choices for themselves. Good luck wasting your time doing this blog to help make excuses for people who want the easy way out.
ReplyDeleteYou would probably tell the same thing to those people who lost their money in the Bernie Madoff Scam, Enron Scam, Worldcom Scam, and so forth. It's their own fault, right?
Deleteyou can work hard in Usana but in order to succeed you have build leaders... leaders do the recruiting and rarely move the products correctly... meaning a lot of pcs are bought by the associates to be acknoledge as top pc enroller... no one here is complaining of an easy way out... even if you work hard you still need to recruit people... rarely the right candidate will do correct research first then join... you need to hide the bad parts of mlm and basically do a lot of white lies in order to recruit someone...i seen it on hundreds of people.. most quit because they suddenly realize they are being brainwashed... autoship is mandotory... it is a forced buy so they are forcing you... one last thing i want to say for those that havent joined yet...... if someone signs you up they benefit a lot of points and making money off you... if you succeed and become a leader you do all the hardwork while the top person gets all the points and pretend to be rich.. to become rich you have to find or build leaders that will retire your leg while you find more people to brainwash,recruit,train, that can potentially retire more of your legs while the diamonds sit pretty and take all the money... bottom line is if youre new.. people at the top gets paid and they hope you make it so they can get lazy and do nothing and post nonsense quotes on facebook pretending to be rich..
Deletei feel bad for tricking people to buy.. im truly sorry for wasting so many peoples money.. selling them an opportunity that can rarely support a living.. isnt that what we want to do? survive and pay the bills... usana adds to the bills and you will go broke gaurantee..
It is very unfortunate that people with the wrong skill set think they can make a lot of money over night via USANA. Like anything else, it takes a long time and a lot of hard work. It is not a get-rich quick scheme, it is a business. I'm fine with paying the 200 points per month to retain my distributorship rights. I don't understand the destructiveness of USANA watchdog, but I respect her right to her opinion.
DeleteI like when USANA associates claim that in order to be successful in USANA it takes "a lot of hard work". However, USANA distributors refuse to be specific regarding what they mean by "a lot of hard work". Leaving it ambiguous is their intention. If they had to detail what they meant nobody would join.
DeleteUSANA is a get-rich scheme, for the 1% of distributors actually making a profit. However, they only make a profit because the remaining 99% of distributors are all struggling to actually try and sell the overpriced product that there is actually no demand for at the prices used. And all 99% of these remaining distributors were all led to believe they could get rich by selling product when in fact the only ones getting rich do so because the 99% who can't are all purchasing their required 100/200 points of product every 4 weeks (13 times a year, NOT MONTHLY which implies 12).
You don't understand the destructiveness of USANA because you are blinded and have been misled.
people who have been a victim of USANA's pyramid scheme need to file a FTC complaint so USANA can't keep getting away with this.
No. USANA is definitely not a get-rich scheme. Every ruby, emerald, and diamond distributor struggled when they got started. The vast majority started part-time, and built the business over a 7-10 year (or more) period of time. That is just drivel to suggest USANA is a get-rich quick scheme. It is a small business and requires all the hard work and sacrifices that all small businesses need, likely more with the sideline snipers such as yourself taking shots at them.
DeleteIn response to "No. USANA is definitely not a get-rich scheme. Every ruby, emerald, and diamond distributor struggled when they got started."
DeleteEvery single one of USANA's Ruby, Emerald, and Diamond Directors got where they have by signing up massive amounts of distributors. Not a single one got where they did by selling or retailing USANA product. They got their by selling a false dream to hundreds of thousands of associates who never had a chance to make a profit because the compensation plan is designed to fail 99% of the distributors.
USANA is a get-broke scheme for 99% and a get-rich scheme for 1%.
You describe those 1% of associates as doing "hard work and sacrifices that all small businesses need". The same thing can be said for the Enron executives and even Bernie Madoff himself.
But how did they become Ruby, Emerald, and Diamond Directors, dd they magically hatch as such? No, they worked very hard, they persevered, and they became successful. They did not quit when things became difficult.
DeleteA lot of hard work means that you have to sell $20,000 worth of product to even make your money back! How many people can sell 20 grand worth of product in four weeks? My upline just got to silver and he has been working hard for 8 years. thats not even considered full time. Lucky for him, he is a teacher at my school, so he recruits many of the students who trust him and believe his promises. thats the real way someone rises in the scheme.
DeleteI started because they promised me extra income, but so far i have spent my savings to buy into it and haven't seen a penny of return. I wanted this to be a tool for my healing practice, but instead I've found that I've only become a tool for USANA.
my health has gotten worse since I started on their products and I've gained weight from their meal replacement crap. their "low glycemic" products contain 17g of fructose!!! thats freaking huge and its supposed to be from natural sugar... like high fructose corn syrup? I ate their bars for a month an had a drastic gain in weight. All the weight loss crap is bull. I'm sad that I spent $1000 on products that are sitting on my shelf. that could have gone to so many better things, and I'm more broke than ever!
i filed an ftc complaint! so easy to do. i feel better . i hope it works. I see more and more people getting scammed on facebook. More and more directors are being promoted by selling 1400$ pro packs to their close friends and relatives. stop this life sucking company by filing a complaint! :) lets do it guys.
ReplyDeleteBeing a physician- it is my opinion (especially with Obamacare) that everyone start investing in their health. This may be with a new exercise program/high grade supplements or both. Stay healthy- it will be worth the investment-
ReplyDeleteI agree. The waiting list will be very long for any major procedures and if you are unhealthy, you will be getting the short end of the stick.
DeleteYes, I recommend the chellated minerals and mega antioxidants from USANA.
DeleteI just stop being a distributor days ago, reason? love the products but hate the network marketing, only really tried it for 2 years straight and did not advanced much. I butted heads with the uppers/leaders since I got started like 4 years ago, I hate lies and despise pushy people and these are two things they ask you to do constantly on order to "succeed".
ReplyDeleteThey (leaders) are constantly asking you how many people have you contacted, called, visited, gave information etc... and "A few" wont do, they want names, numbers and times then they all want to get together and hear you making those calls and "help" you convince people to "get in while the opportunity is here, it might be gone tomorrow". I have a mind of my own, I have morals and don't like to push people around even is it is "for their own good", many war where fought with this same reasoning.
I am not a complete idiot and have never been much of a follower nor a leader. I did love the products and I still use some of them that is what pulled me to sell them myself.
Did I made any money? no, I spent more than what I made, in promoting materials, little trips, gas, food, etc...
My leader is after, 4 years a silver distributor he accumulates 2000-3000 points on my side almost every week which gives him (if he has that much on his other side) an average of 500 dlls per week, if he is working full time this means he is earning 12.5 per hour, after 4 years of hard work and dedication. Not to mention that since he quit his day job he now has no medical or dental insurance and his retirement account has stop growing, hopefully he has not taken money out.
In that period of time a family member of mine has open her own B&M little business and is now making 6000dlls of profit per month every month, plus she and her husband kept their day jobs, insurances and a great pension with benefits when they retire in a few years.
I also started a smaller on the side business in that same period of time, online no dealing with public or overhead or other heavy expenses like insurance, rent or employees, I simply make crafts on my free time and sell online, I make and average of 1500-2000 extra dlls per month kept my job and benefits (and friends)and my bank account is growing.
My advise is, if you are going to put all your effort into something, let it be your own business not somebody else', you like the products? go to ebay or amazon and save your self a lot of trouble.
Now, if you are the type that like to control and manipulate people, that don't have a problem with lies (or extending the truth as some would say) and being pushy by all means yes you will be successful a few have, I did have a problem telling people they could make money in a short period of time, when I myself was not, and USana rules tells you to not tell anyone what your income is.
If you are wondering what took me so long to quit, truth is I kept forgetting to call and tell them to take my credit card account off so they would stop renewing my "membership" every year.
Error above, I said my leader was a silver distibuitor(meant director), he is just director after 4 freaking years. Also I just checked and in case anyone is interested:
DeleteFrom Usana Site
"$91,000 is the average yearly income for an established, full-time USANA Associate. $24,000 is the annual average of those who earned as little as one commission check each month. Total includes all earnings from the Compensation Plan, Leadership Bonus, Matching Bonus, contests, and incentives. Calculations based on earnings for fiscal year 2009. Figures should not be considered as guarantees or projections of actual earnings, which result only from consistent, successful sales efforts. To be considered in a rank's earnings, Associates must have earned checks at a median rank for at least 20 weeks. According to results from an in-house survey taken between 2004 and 2006, the primary reason 17% of USANA independent business owners join the company is to improve their financial future. 21% of that group earns a check at least once a month. Of those whose primary reason is to earn enough to replace a full-time income, 90% have been Associates for at least one year and 57% are full-time Gold Directors and above. The number of Gold Directors and above who have maxed at least 1 Business Center during the year equals less than 1% of all Associates. Those earning as little as one check a month equal approximately 3% of all Associates. If you include all 165,710 with the title of Associate, which includes Associates not actively building a business (acting as wholesale buyers), Associates who just joined, (as little as one day), and those who are just beginning to build their customer base, the average yearly income is still $616.71 with nearly one in three earning a check. To date, USANA has more than 140 Associates who are lifetime Million Dollar Club members. "
When I joined the average yearly income was over $800.00 if I remember correctly it has gone down to $616.71
Ignorance! It is NOT a "pyramid scheme", there is a movement/sale of products. A "pyramid scheme" is a movement of money (Bernie Madoff) and no product. This proves how ignorant many people are including the author of this blog. WHO do you know who has bought a Franchise to the tune of hundreds of thousands of $ and debt for years and years. IF you don't open the doors or show up and do the work, make the burgers, sell the yogurt you FAIL...is it a "pyramid scheme"?? What if you do open up but don't do any marketing, no ads, or build in a market that dies (or the fact that we have WAY too many of them now) and you go under bc of lack of sales etc? Hmmmmm???
ReplyDeleteYes, a movement and sale of products. The question is, who buys the majority of them? Isn't it the USANA associates as well?
Deleteevery associate who wants to qualify must buy 100 points (around 150.00 dlls)of product ever 28 days for one business center if you have more than one business center then you must buy 200 points (around 300 dlls) if they did not buy every 28 days the whole thing would fall apart in just one month!.
DeleteYour uppers and leaders constantly remind you to "stay active" and how you would loose your accumulated points (all 60 of them?!! LOL) if you miss buying product just one month.
This is why I buy product from loser associates on ebay (and there are plenty trying to get rid of product before it expires) cheaper and free shipping!!! whooo hoo!!! who does not love free shipping?
If Dr. Wentz of Usana really wanted to help people get healthier he would have made them affordable for all so all that "make the world a healthier place" is bullshit
If you have a family of 4, mom, dad and 2 kids just the essential vitamins for all would cost 100.00 plus shipping like 14.00 that's 114 X 12 = 1368.00 in this economy?
What happened to my post about Malaysia and the Phillippines? I must have spent 2-3 minutes writing that, and now it is gone - poof - like that? {Miffed and annoyed about biased sites}
ReplyDeleteIt's somewhere on the forum. just look instead of claiming that this site is "bias". I have not deleted anyone's postings. I have posted everyone's postings (so long that they do not use excessive profanity).
Deletethank you for running this blog! It makes me feel better that its not just my imagination, but I really am being scammed.
DeleteI see you always posting on usana but not on other companies. Usana is the one of the best mlm companies out there. What about ariix (nearly took everything from usana..total frauds and scammers), quixtar, isagenix, scentsy, and soooo many more? They are all mlm's...what you claim to be scammy. Why just pick on one? I think it's your personal crap with this company.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote "I see you always posting on usana but not on other companies. Usana is the one of the best mlm companies out there."
ReplyDeleteYour second sentence is exactly why I should focus only on USANA. People like you believe USANA is the best, which is why they should receive the most scrutiny. Also, I have witnessed first hand from a family member who has spent over ten thousand dollars on their USANA business, only to receive a couple commission checks and are unable to retail the product due to the exorbitant prices. The only people making money in USANA are those who have massive downlines of distributors. Nobody makes a profit by retailing product. Preferred customers are out of the question since there are over 3 distributors for every preferred customer...
Funny you mention Ariix, you should read through the entire blog. I have commented on Herbalife and others in the past, but not on this blog. This blog is "USANAWatchDog". See the name USANA in there? That's why it focuses on USANA.
dear blogger,
ReplyDeleteif you are really concerned about the welfare of the people joining MLM companies (which you think are scams) the why don't you do the same with other companies. USANA is not the only MLM company in the whole world. If you are not really paid I DARE YOU to do an investigation to the other MLM companies... not only usana... all you are talking about is usana usana usana... what about the others???????
thanks...
Hi Anonymous,
DeleteTry looking at the Helpful MLM Resources section at the right part of this page or try searching the web, there are others too.
Proof that he is not paid in any way:
1. The information he shares is readily available to all, what he only did was compile them
2. You don't need to pay anything to create a blog at Blogger (Blogspot)
3. The ads shown here are the generic ads also shown in other Blogger sites
This blog is only focused in USANA, hence the name.
Thanks.
I am really confused by this whole thread. Possibly the saddest thread I've ever read. How are you proposing a person can "Lose Money" with USANA? If a person actually loses money with USANA they have no chance to be successful at anything. $29.95 is the only money you put at risk. The rest is product so you can not consider that a loss. If you can not earn anything by sharing the #1 rated nutritional wellness product in the world during the largest wellness boom ever, um, wow, can't believe I am even responding to this. I guess I'm feeling giddy after an elderly lady friend of our family informed me that today was the first day in 15 years she could stay out of bed all day and that her Fibromyalgia symptoms have subsided after having been on USANA's product for 2 months.
ReplyDeleteIf you consider the $29.95 as the only business expense in USANA, then you are delirious. 99% of USANA's associates "lose" money and never make a profit. Two thirds never even receive a single penny in commission. These aren't people who joined because they wanted a discount on product. These are people who signed a business agreement and have an intent to make a profit. 99% lose. That's a loss rate that no other business venture has in the world has. You should ask yourself why recruiting new associates in USANA keep recruiting people who, as you put it, have "no chance to be successful at anything."
DeleteThe whole "#1 rated nutritional wellness product" was rated #1 by Lyle Macwilliam in the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements since 1999, in which the "RESEARCH, EDITING, and LAYOUT" was all done by Gregg Gies, a USANA distributor. Do you know what a "Conflict of Interest" is?
As for the Fibromyalgia symptoms subsiding because of USANA products, I suggest you call the news and have this story told world wide, because if USANA is responsible for such wonderful things, then the world should know, right? Good Luck!
Ohkay. the 99% who have failed and did not continue like me should join together a make that money. even if you are not under a friend or family member who recruited you. The matter facts are MLM;s are not pyramid scams whatever you call those. look up the definition of pyramid scams and talk to me. I don't care if it's amway, vector, or blah blah blah company. those who are the 99% are looking for something and i know how to help those people and get them started. oh well. look me up and see for yourself. I'm not shy about me being poor and going to school, working hard and doing usana was not a bad idea. followme instagram, snapchat and playstation network = moises3255
ReplyDeleteVery interesting way to recruit people. You claim you failed like the the 99%, and then want them to join you.
DeleteBTW, Research Fortune High Tech Marketing (MLM) and see why they were shut down by the FTC.
Multilevel Marketing companies are pyramid schemes that use tokens (product) to participate. These scams will run your wallet dry and then throw you out with the trash.
Has anyone successfully cancel their associate status without trouble after joining? In the contract it stated we can cancel membership anytime by writting to head office (aus). Is it that simple or is there any hidden penalty we need to be aware of?
ReplyDeleteIt is that simple. You may receive flak from your upline because you won't be purchasing product any more so they won't be able to collect commissions off of you anymore...
DeleteHundreds of people quit USANA every day. They don't concentrate their efforts on those who are leaving. They focus on recruiting. Besides, they already got your money and that is their strategy.
1) Most of their effort goes toward recruiting new people.
2) When recruited, they try to get you to buy the $1200 professional enrollment package and open 3 business centers.
3) The rest of their effort goes toward convincing you to keep personally purchasing over $100 worth of product every 28 weeks (because that's how the pyramid scheme works and the top 1% make all the profit).
4) Once you have decided to quit, they throw you out like last weeks trash.
The cycle repeats endlessly.
I wonder if Aaron shared his wealth with his ex-wife and child. He makes no mention of them at all.
ReplyDeleteHey Usana Watch Dog, have you been a Usana Distributor before?
ReplyDeleteI have never been a USANA distributor. I have never been a distributor for any multilevel marketing company. Never intend to either.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWas a good posting here, except the commenter decided to use the "F" word. please, do not use fowl language on this blog.
Delete