Is Paparazzi Accessories A Scam?

Someone sold you cheap jewelry and introduced a business opportunity, but you still wonder, “Is Paparazzi Accessories A Scam?”

In my Paparazzi Accessories review, I will cover the below topics to help you make up your mind.

  • What Is Paparazzi Accessories?
  • How Much Profit Do You Make From Paparazzi Accessories?
  • Paparazzi Accessories Compensation Plan
  • Paparazzi Accessories 2021 Income Disclosure
  • Is Paparazzi Accessories Legit?
  • Is Paparazzi Accessories A Pyramid Scheme?
  • Is Paparazzi Accessories A Scam?

Disclaimer: As the owner of Smileaffiliatesuccess.com, I have tracked down special deals for products, tools, and services mentioned herein. When you click my affiliate links on this page to make a purchase, I may get a small commission, and you will definitely get a great bargain. This is a win-win advantage for both of us.

What Is Paparazzi Accessories?

-Summary of Paparazzi Accessories-

Product Name: Paparazzi Accessories(used to be Paparazzi Jewelry)
Founders: Misty & Trent Kirby, and Chani & Ryan Reeve in 2010
Product Type: Jewelry & Accessories MLM
Price: $99-$499 Starter Kit + 50PV monthly requirement to be “active”
Recommend: No

Paparazzi Accessories is a jewelry and accessories MLM company that sells beautiful accessories. You can also become a consultant to make money with it by promoting their products.

Misty & Trent Kirby and Chani & Ryan Reeve founded Paparazzi Accessories in 2010. They provide jewelry and accessories at $5 for every piece. They believe that trendy accessories can be available and affordable to women everywhere and every day.

The company grew 900% in just six months because everyone loves to buy $5 accessories, and you can only buy them through Paparazzi Consultants. There were around 20,000 fashion consultants of Paparazzi Accessories, and it is sold all over the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Guam.

However, is it a “work from home” or “quit your 9-5 jobs” business opportunity? This is what I will discuss in my Paparazzi Accessories review. Let me share more details, so you can judge yourself.

Is Paparazzi Jewelry A Scam? - Paparazzi Accessories Products

What’s Inside Paparazzi Accessories?

We have many to talk about today, including the Paparazzi accessories and the business plan. Let’s start with the accessories.

Product Lines

Paparazzi Accessories offers all accessories you could find in retail stores, and it doesn’t need an explanation to promote the products, saving you tons of time during your showcase.

Paparazzi products include:

  • Hair Clips
  • Necklaces
  • Bracelets
  • Earrings
  • Rings

Is Paparazzi Accessories Really Lead-Free?

Here is a recent statement from Paparazzi Accessories founders and corporate offices dated December 22, 2021. You can use it as a reference when your customer ask you about it.

“Paparazzi Accessories meets applicable safety laws and regulations in the United States, including California Proposition 65, which is one of the most stringent consumer laws in the United States, even though some jewelry may contain trace amounts of lead and nickel. The metals found in Paparazzi jewelry pieces are primarily made of iron and include other trace minerals. Those trace minerals are made up of a metallic alloy of either zinc, steel, or aluminum. Before our jewelry is sold, Paparazzi tests its jewelry for chemicals of concern using labs that are accepted by the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission.”

How Much Profit Do You Make From Paparazzi Accessories?

There are two ways to make money in the MLM industry, and Paparazzi is no exception.

  1. Sell Paparazzi accessories to make retail commissions
  2. Recruit people to make group sales for extra bonuses and incentives

You don’t make money by recruiting people underneath your team but by sales from them and their downline customers. This is the difference between calling it a pyramid scheme or a legit MLM business.

Before we dive deep into the compensation plan, I would explain how you get started with Paparazzi.

Getting Started

First, you must find a consultant in your region by postcode, and you inevitably become someone’s downline. Next, you need to purchase one starter kit from the below options, ranging from $99 to $499.

  1. Preview Pack $99: 35 pieces of jewelry, retail value = $175.
  2. Small Home Party Kit $299: 120 pieces of jewelry, retail value = $600.
  3. Large Home Party Kit $499: 200 pieces of jewelry, retail value = $1,000.

Besides the starter kit, to stay active with Paparazzi, you have to purchase at least 25 pieces each month, which equals $125 at least. So, we can calculate the total cost of becoming one of Paparazzi’s consultants.

  • Starter Kit $99-$499
  • Monthly Requirement $125*12=$1,500

The best chance is you pay $1,599 to start a Paparazzi business, while the worst is $1,999. Other costs, such as additional training, travel, gas, food, or miscellaneous expenses, are not included, so the total cost must be higher than my calculation here.

Paparazzi Accessories Compensation Plan

Here we come to the most essential and complicated part of this review. MLMs like to create their terms and fancy acronyms to make people see loads of ways to make money, but I’ve made things easier for you today.

  • Retail Profit: Each piece you sold, you earn a 35%-45% commission.
  • Show Rebate: When you purchase a $1,000+ order, you could get a 10% of show rebate processed and included in that month’s commission check.
  • Business Building Bonus: Once your personally referred consultants purchase a starter kit, you get a 15% calculated by the commissionable personal volume as long as you are active.
  • Unilevel Bonus: This is where the concept of traditional MLM recruitment comes into play. You can earn up to THREE levels of commissions on your team, and it’s between 5%-10%.
  • Generation Bonus: Once you reach the Executive Director or higher, you can earn an additional bonus(1%-3%) for up to THREE generations of your organization.

These are probably everything you need to know about the compensation plan. Feel free to check the detailed compensation plan on this page.

Paparazzi Ranks

There are 15 ranks in the Paparazzi commission structure. You can start as a consultant and achieve requirements until you reach an Iconic Impressionista, the highest rank of Paparazzi.

Typically, the higher the ranks, the more requirements you must achieve to keep your status.

Ugly Truth About Paparazzi Accessories

TOP#1 Paparazzi Accessories 2021 Income Potential

From Paparazzi Accessories 2021 income disclosure, I saw interesting numbers that speak for themselves.

  • 72.84% of consultants made less than $24 per month.
  • 22.51% of consultants made less than $1,000 per month.
  • Only 0.44% of consultants made a decent income per month.
  • The chart below excludes expenses incurred by a Consultant in operating and growing their business.

I don’t know about you, but 0.44% seems pretty low to me. It’s not a “work from home and be your boss” opportunity during the pandemic, and you cannot turn this into your primary income at first.

TOP#2 Home Parties

I am not a fan of home parties because I barely invite people to my house to showcase any MLM products, and I want to keep my house a place where I can fully relax after a long day at the office.

I understand that hosting home parties can be fun if you are guests that get invitations. But for the host, it’s not just showing your potential customers Paparazzi accessories and the business plan. There are more plans you need to take care of, such as “Who should you invite to the parties?”, “What drinks & food should you prepare?” etc.

TOP#3 Not For Everyone

Yes, Paparazzi accessories are mainly designed for women!

If you are male and want to join this business, you might face more challenges than women. I don’t mean men cannot make money with Paparazzi, but this opportunity is more suitable for women, in my opinion.

What I Liked About Paparazzi Accessories

TOP#1 Low Price At Just $5

Every piece at Paparazzi Accessories is only $5! Yes, five dollars.

This is a very competitive price that people wouldn’t think twice before purchasing if they love the products. The selling tactic is to make people feel that the products are not expensive, so you can sell as many pieces as possible to maximize your earnings.

TOP#2 Focus On Sales Commissions

If you look carefully at the compensation plan, it’s easy to find out that they are giving a high commission rate(35%-45%) to help you make sales.

On the other hand, as I mentioned in the last paragraphs, you need to sell tons of accessories since each piece is only $5.

TOP#3 Virtual Parties

During the pandemic, I believe you ever joined Paparazzi Facebook groups that are full of products, and the hosts are using the marketing tactic with time sensitivity. For example, “Place your order before the time runs out!” Looks familiar?

The internet is the future of MLMs, so it’s not bad to see Paparazzi catch the last train. I prefer selling things on my website because it provides more flexibility and freedom. You don’t have to sell the accessories in person.

?Pro Tip: How I Start A Blog To Make Money Online?

Who Is Paparazzi Accessories For?

Women love to wear trendy, affordable, and different types of accessories every single day. If you do love jewelry and accessories, you should go for a try.

But, if you are like me and don’t like to wear accessories, it’s challenging for you to sell Paparazzi accessories. I will show you my alternative to making money online in one minute!

Can You Make Money Selling Paparazzi Accessories?

Yes! You can make money with Paparazzi accessories, but it might take a few years before you make decent money.

Ask yourself! Can you bear the pain that you only make less than $1,000 for the first few years? Can you afford to pay $125 monthly to be active with the compensation plan? Can you stick to the business plan and not give up after many rejections? If the answers are no, you may try other methods.

Is Paparazzi Accessories Legit?

Based on my findings, Paparazzi Accessories is a legitimate MLM business. If you like jewelry and accessories, you can take this as a side hustle instead of your primary income source.

Is Paparazzi Accessories A Pyramid Scheme?

Let’s read Wikipedia’s definition of a pyramid scheme“A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products.”

Paparazzi Accessories provides $5 accessories to everyone, and every consultant can make money with it by promoting the products and the business plan. I won’t call it a pyramid scheme.

Is Paparazzi Accessories A Scam?

No, it is NOT a scam. Paparazzi Accessories is a real business. People get commissions from the compensation plan. It also offers a 35%-45% retail commission, which is good compared to other MLMs.

Before you sign up with Paparazzi Accessories, I do hope you think twice about things I don’t like that much:

  1. The low-income potential, you could only make less than $1,000 every month.
  2. Hosting home parties, I am just not that social to invite people to my house and show them Paparazzi accessories.
  3. This business is mainly designed for women, NOT everyone.

For any above, if there is a “Nah!” popping out of your mind, feel free to check my way to make money online.

My Alternative Way to Make Money Online

My alternative way to make money online is through Affiliate Marketing instead of promoting Paparazzi products in person.

Imagine you sell Paparazzi products to your friends, family, or anyone around you. Don’t you feel embarrassed? My face turns blushed when I only imagine myself selling products, not to mention that they might avoid you ever since.

Doing affiliate marketing will save you from that:

  • It’s free to start your affiliate marketing business.
  • You don’t need to buy physical products and sell them face to face.
  • There is no monthly minimum sales quota in affiliate marketing.
  • You don’t recruit people to become your downlines to build a team.
  • You are not restricted to promoting one product. You can promote anything you like!
  • Work on your schedules & you are your OWN BOSS!

You only need to start a blog with quality content. So every time people land on your site to read your product reviews or other articles, they will find insight and value.

If they like it, they may purchase the products or services via your links. Here come your earning potentials.

Affiliate-Marketing-Process
Affiliate Marketing Process

The platform I am using currently is Wealthy Affiliate. You will find all the proven-to-work training courses, every Friday night LIVE training courses, one keyword research tool called Jaaxy, 24/7 site support, and the most friendly community.

You are more than welcome to check my full Wealthy Affiliate review HERE, or click the button right below to start your online journey with us.

Wealthy Affiliate Income Proof

Here are some of the most active members from Wealthy Affiliate. Each of them did succeed in generating a sustainable income to replace their 9-5 jobs. You are more than welcome to check their stories HERE.

I hope you enjoy this review and you are more than welcome to share ideas or leave your comments below. I will reply as soon as I can, thanks.

Enjoy this post? Don’t forget to bookmark this page or save it on Pinterest!

Is Paparazzi Accessories A Scam?Is Paparazzi Accessories A Scam?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt is a 30ish guy who has a corporate job and chases the dream to become a digital nomad with a laptop lifestyle. He is passionate about making money online and will keep creating quality content to find his online success.

8 thoughts on “Is Paparazzi Accessories A Scam?”

  1. I found it interesting to read about paparazzi jewelry. However, I don’t like the concept of cheap jewelry. Most women prefer quality jewels and would not go for $5 ones. People might get tempted to go for this kinda MLM to make money. But in the longer term, it’s not possible to earn more money. I like your alternative option affiliate marketing. This is a legit online business where one can be his own boss and work at his own pace.

    Reply
    • Hi Kavitha,

      Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment. I hope this post helps you well. 🙂

      Cheap jewelry sounds crazy at first, but you might step down if you think about the quality. Which also makes the selling difficult than our thoughts. That’s why I don’t recommend people to join Paparazzi Jewelry to make extra money.

      On the other hand, my recommendation-Wealthy Affiliate, is a good start for people who like to make money online. It seems that we are on the same boat, so thanks a lot for backing me up here. 🙂

      Matt

      Reply
  2. I love nice jewelry and it is great not to spend much money on it, but on the other hand, if jewelry pieces sell for $5 us or less, then how long will they last? I am not sure if the quality is that good …
    Selling items at such a low price gives low commissions, whichs means that you have to sell a high amount of jelwery pieces in order to make some decent money. Hosting home parties can be a good way to generate sales, but it involves too much preparation: invites, drinks, snacks, food, which costs money too, more than $5 a piece, so I think that in this case, hosting home parties is not really worth it. To make a lot of money in this MLM you need to be on a high business level and I think that it probably takes time to get there …

    Reply
    • Hi Christine,

      The quality of Paparazzi Jewelry might be lower than our imagination. Considering the price, I think people would ignore the low quality when they buy it. You are correct on the hosting home parties part, which takes so much time for preparation, not to mention you also need to clean the mess up after home parties…
      Due to Coronavirus, I think Paparazzi Jewelry and its affiliates might face urgent financial risk since people have to stay at home in a lock-down situation currently. People need to make money online to avoid this unforeseeing pandemic, right? My alternative – Wealthy Affiliate is the best place for beginners to build an online business to promote things you have passion in, check HERE if you haven’t check it yet.

      Cheers,
      Matt

      Reply
  3. Hi, Matt,

    I honestly don’t like cheap jewelry. Even if it might seem tempting to buy a piece of bracelet for only 5 bucks, I know that it will not take long for it to get damaged and impossible to wear.

    It seems like there are a lot of women like me who prefer quality jewelry since Paparazzi distributors are making so little income by selling Paparazzi jewelry.

    In fact, this doesn’t surprise me at all because this is the reality of the MLM industry: unfortunately, only a small percentage of MLM distributors are making a decent amount of money.

    As far as I have read, except Facebook groups, they don’t provide their consultants with some sort of website/back office, so that they can leverage the power of the internet to make money this way?

    I appreciate your feedback!

    Reply
    • Hi Natalie,

      I believe the internet is the future of MLM or any other business opportunities. If any opportunities don’t leverage the internet, it would be easy to fail and not able to generate an income stream.

      So, I personally prefer affiliate marketing that could help people pursue an online business. You may check HERE for more details.

      Matt

      Reply
  4. Hi Matt,

    At $5 per piece the quality must be really questionable, although when it discolours or chips over time I guess you wouldn’t worry too much.

    However, the amount of time and effort you would need to put in to earn any decent amount of money would not make it worthwhile for me. And, as with most MLMs, you have to recruit in order to make money.

    Not my cup of tea!

    Cheers,

    Martin.

    Reply
    • Hi Martin,

      It’s nice to see someone who has the same thought as I did. What an exciting moment for me to see there are indeed some likely-minded people on the internet. 🙂 Paparazzi Jewelry is not my cup of tea because of the low-quality and the business model, so I went for another way to make money online.

      So far, my best experience is to do Affiliate Marketing with this platform! Feel free to check my full review, and all feedback is welcome.

      Matt

      Reply

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