A Herbalife distributor introduced you to their meal replacements and the business plan, so you wonder, “Should I Join Herbalife?” If yes, you’ve come to the right place.
In my Herbalife review, I will cover the below topics to help you make up your mind.
- What Is Herbalife?
- Herbalife Products
- How To Make Money With Herbalife?
- Herbalife Compensation Plan
- Herbalife Income Disclosure
- Can You Make Money Selling Herbalife?
- Is Herbalife A Scam?
Without further ado, let’s get started!
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 get a great bargain. This is a win-win advantage for both of us.
What Is Herbalife?
-Summary of Herbalife-
Product Name: Herbalife
Founders: founded by Mark Hughes in 1980
Product Type: Health, Wellness, and Skin Care MLM
Price: $94.1-$124.1 starter kit
Recommend: No
Herbalife is a health, wellness, and skincare MLM company that sells many products. You can also join its distributor program to make money by promoting its products.
Herbalife’s mission is to improve nutritional habits by its great-tasting, science-backed products that help people get the proper nutrition every day. With this ambition, millions of Herbalife Nutrition shakes are consumed worldwide.
Besides the famous nutrition shakes, Herbalife has skincare and hair care products. In 2018, the annual sales revenue exceeded $4.89 billion, with more than 4.5 million independent distributors and members in 94 countries.
What’s Inside Herbalife?
Nutrition products and the business plan, of course! Let’s start with the products first.
I won’t go through every product today, and I will only talk about the products that I am interested in or would like to promote if I join Herbalife.
Product Lines
- Core Products: Formula 1 Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix, Formula 2 Multivitamin Complex, and Formula 3 Cell Activator
- Heavy Weight: Weight-control products including meal replacements, protein bites, shakes, snacks, etc.
- Specialized Nutrition: Nutrition solutions for all ages give you the right balance of essential nutrients.
- Energy & Fitness: This is my favorite part since I work out regularly and take some supplements too. The product in this category – Herbalife24, delivers vital nutrients for faster recovery and optimal athletic performance. (I would love to try it!)
- Skin & Haircare: cleanser, moisturizer, acne kit, mask, shampoo, body wash, body cream, etc.
For more products, you can check the website HERE.
Does Herbalife Product Work?
It depends. I have never used Herbalife’s products, so I cannot give you my firsthand experience. Based on my research, meal replacements work well for people who want to keep fit.
Some customers claim that Herbalife products cause long-term health problems like lead poisoning, liver damage, and hepatitis.
You might consider both positive and negative reviews before you try Herbalife’s products, or you should consult with your doctors first.
How To Make Money With Herbalife?
You have two options to make money in the MLM industry, and Herbalife is no exception.
- Sell Herbalife products to earn retail commissions.
- Recruit people under you to hit group sales for extra bonuses and incentives.
Before we dive deep into Herbalife’s compensation plan, let’s see what you need to do to join this business opportunity.
Getting Started
To start your Herbalife journey, you must find your sponsor(aka upline). Then pick up an International Business Pack ($94.10) or International Business Pack – Super Starter ($124.10)
Third, fill out the Herbalife membership application and agreement to get approved. Once all the above is done, you are all set.
Herbalife Compensation Plan
Herbalife’s compensation plan is complicated and confusing, but I will try to make it straightforward to help you understand it easily.
- Retail Profit: You sell your customers with retail price and only pay Herbalife the wholesale price, so the differential price gaps are your retail profit(25% to 50%)
- Wholesale Profit: You need to move up at least one level in the system and have some downlines. Wholesale Profit is based on the difference between your higher-level discount and your downline Distributor’s lower-level discount. For example, you get a 40% discount while your downlines get a 25% discount. Then the 15% gap is your wholesale profit. (Up to 25%)
- Royalty Overrides: Once you become a supervisor and have other supervisors in your downlines, you can earn 1-5% commissions on your first three downlines.
- Monthly Production Bonus: Once you join the Global Expanse Team, you can earn an extra 2%-7% monthly production bonus.
- Annual Bonus: It includes 1% of the entire company’s revenue and one $2M check for the top distributor.
- Others: Cash rewards, paid vacations, training events, etc.
Feel dizzy? Just remember to sell more products or recruit more people under your team to hit group sales for bonuses. Once you turn yourself into a recruiting machine and a full-time Herbalife sales manager, you’ll start making commissions.
How Much Do You Need to Sell to Stay Active?
If you are just a preferred member of Herbalife, there is no monthly quota. You can purchase the products when you need them. Once you get 500+ volume points in a year, you’ll get discounts of 35%+ on most Herbalife inner nutrition products.
There are also no monthly requirements if you are a distributor, which is rare in the MLM business. What you need to pay is only the starter kit, and the cost is just $94.1-$124.1.
What I Like About Herbalife
TOP#1 The Logevity
5 out of 10 new companies can’t survive in the first five years, so Herbalife’s 40-year business operation is something we should admire.
Besides the famous weight-control products, Herbalife is also good at marketing. Herbalife sponsored(spent lots of money) football stars to wear jerseys to increase brand awareness.
This marketing strategy works very well, making people think athletes take Herbalife products to become stronger, so the effects should work on them too.
TOP#2 A 12-Month Money-Back Guarantee
Herbalife offers a 12-month money-back guarantee for all distributors if you are unsatisfied with the products. The products you purchased should maintain unopened for a full refund.
For customers and preferred members, you may return it within 30 days from receipt for a refund or exchange.
Ugly Truth About Herbalife
TOP#1 Herbalife 2021 Income Potential
Herbalife 2021 income disclosure told us some cruel news. You must know the numbers before starting your Herbalife journey.
- 50% (about 30,500 distributors) earned more than $241 in a month, while the other 50% earned ZERO in 2020.
- Top 10% (about 6,100 distributors) earned more than $3,925 in a month.
- Top 1% (about 610 distributors) earned more than $18,176 in a month.
- Those who reached the top 1% typically spend 5-11 years becoming the President’s team members.
This is not a work-from-home and be-your-own-boss opportunity, and you cannot make it a primary income.
Ask yourself, can you stick to your plan and work your butt off to reach the President’s team member to make $18,176 monthly. You should try other methods to make money if the answer is no.
TOP#2 Many Lawsuits
As I mentioned in the previous paragraphs, customers have liver damage, lead poisoning, and hepatitis after using Herbalife’s products.
In 2014, the Federal Trade Commission(FTC) sued Herbalife as a pyramid scheme that only recruits people to join the system without offering actual products.
This drama ended in 2016 that FTC agreed to a $200 Million settlement against Herbalife due to a deceptive and unlawful act. FTC sent checks to former 350,000 distributors who lost money when running the Herbalife business.
TOP#3 Recruit, Recruit, And Recruit
To get the most earnings from Herbalife’s compensation plan, you need to have as many downlines as possible to boost your income. This requires you to do lots of recruitment, and it relies on lots of face-to-face meetings.
I know it’s the nature of any MLMs, but I am not the kind who likes to spend the weekend convincing people how good Herbalife’s business opportunity is. I also don’t want to make money by recruiting people instead of sharing a good product that I find helpful and healthy.
TOP#4 It’s Saturated And Competitive
When it comes to the weight-loss products, you probably have your preferred brand that flashes through your mind, right?
In 2020, the USA weight-loss market was $71 billion, and that’s why everyone wants to share a part of it.
I’ve reviewed other similar MLM businesses just like Herbalife. Name a few here to prove my point:
Who Is Herbalife For?
People with weight-control issues like to make money by purchasing & selling Herbalife’s products. If you LOVE Herbalife’s products and find them work for you, go for it.
Can You Make Money Selling Herbalife?
Yes, definitely. People (top 1%) earned $18,176 a month in 2021, so you surely can make money by selling Herbalife. Don’t forget those people usually spend 5 to 11 years to achieve this status.
Should I Join Herbalife? Is Herbalife A Scam?
It’s your call to decide whether you should or should not join Herbalife. I’ve provided you with enough information in this article, and I believe you can make a good choice now.
Herbalife is not a scam nor a pyramid scheme. But, you need to remember three things I dislike about this business opportunity.
- With the low-income potential, you may earn $241 per month if you are lucky in the first year.
- Herbalife had many past lawsuits and agreed to a $200 million settlement.
- You need to do endless recruitment and make them become your downlines.
If you have one “Nah!” for any above, you will be interested in my alternative to making money online.
My Alternative Way to Make Money Online
My alternative way to make money online is through affiliate marketing instead of promoting Herbalife products in person.
Imagine selling Herbalife products to your friends, family, or anyone you know. Don’t you feel embarrassed or blushed? 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 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 great value.
If they like it, they may purchase the products or services via your links. Here comes your earning potential.
The platform I am using currently is Wealthy Affiliate. You will find all the proven-to-work training courses, every Friday LIVE training sessions, one keyword research tool called Jaaxy, 24/7 site support, and the most friendly community in one place.
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.
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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 Made Over $1 Million With Affiliate Marketing.
- Can someone make a full time income promoting WA? You bet they can!
- What Does $1000 Per Day Look Like?$
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- A Very Humbling $12,803.26 Month – August Progress Report
- It’s Getting Better: $500+ in 2 Days
- Newbies Pay Attention! $5,195.20 Affiliate Check for June: Thanks WA!
- Joined the 10K Per Month Club. January Earnings $13,481.39
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- Made $7,395 in a WEEK: First Black Friday Results!
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.
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I think that the people that are only looking to “sell the product” are not going to succeed in Herbalife. First, we have to look at the purpose of this company, which is to help people. Even if you succeed in selling the products, this is not going to help if your downline doesn’t grow in the company. In Herbalife, you rise by lifting others. This means that selling the product is just one part of it … you have to help and guide your clients to reach their goals. Now, based on the recruitment process, you won’t succeed in asking people to join because nobody likes that. Social media is the best tool to recruit, you don’t have to be asking people to join, they will reach out to you if they like what you offer, and want the results that you are having with the products/workouts/etc.
Hi Mercy,
Thanks for leaving your comment on my Herbalife review. I hope it helps you well. 🙂 The mindset of helping others before selling also works in the affiliate marketing business and MMO niches. Online marketers find products that will provide people value and support and succeed online. By doing that, they can also make affiliate sales to make money online. So, everyone interested in making money online and MLM business should always keep this in mind.
I also love leveraging social media platforms to recruit people under you, which might save tons of time making cold calls. Thanks for sharing.
Matt
Nice review. However, one should think first and analyze how MLM works before joining one because they will usually present only the best feature to encourage people to join them but there are still hidden things in MLM that you need to discover.
Yes, you are correct. That’s why I love doing affiliate marketing so much because you are not restricted to promote the products from ONLY ONE company, which is Herbalife in this review, and you are able to promote whatever you have passion in.
If you are interested, the platform I am currently using is this one. Feel free to check on it when you get time to start your online business. Let me know if you have any questions. 🙂
Cheers,
Matt
Hi, Matt,
I often hear people are saying that they would love a business opportunity where they wouldn’t need to get involved in recruiting.
To be honest, I totally understand them as I don’t like the process either.
In essence, it’s not bad to let people know about certain things probably they weren’t aware of but I also know that the MLM way of recruitment implies getting back to your prospects which may seem annoying.
I would love a more passive way of earning money. I can see you are doing a great job here reviewing business opportunities.
Could you recommend a way of making money without having to address people too much?
I appreciate your feedback.
Best Wishes,
Natalie
Hi Natalie,
You point out exactly the same reason why I am not a fan of MLMs – I don’t like recruitment! If I join an MLM, I would have to convince people joining the same system as I do. If I like the products, it would be just okay. But, based on my research, most people join MLM just to recruit people to become their downlines. This is quite pitiful.
After reviewing many MLM, I only get the truth that most people failed in the process, and it’s close to 98% of people. My alternative way to make passive income resources is through Affiliate Marketing. thanks for asking.
You don’t need to purchase any physical products and sell to people face-to-face, and I believe you can tell why I embrace it now. 🙂
Matt
Hi Matt,
Lead poisoning..?? No thanks!
A US$200 million settlement is a large one, and Herbalife would not have agreed to that unless there were some good reasons.
As with any Network Marketing business, creating a downline is the only way you’re going to be able to do it full time, and the bigger downline you have the more time you have to spend coaching and training people.
Unless you get very well organised you’re going to be run ragged..!
Cheers,
Martin.
Hi Martin,
Great to see you again. Yes, I think it’s better we avoid any kinds of products that will cause health problems for our body.
The nature of MLMs is to recruit as many people as possible to become your downlines, so I don’t blame Herbalife on this. I think the best way to make money online is through affiliate marketing, not sure whether you have heard it before? If not, I would recommend you read this article. 🙂
Cheers,
Matt