Arbonne

Bymayor

It’s been just over a year since I first discussed my experiences with Arbonne, the multi-level marketing skin-care company. Since that time, over 600 comments have been posted to that single entry! Diehard Arbonne supporters and vehement detractors have enjoyed spirited discussion and debate via my blog. Isn’t the Internet great?

My take on the company remains the same. They have good product, albeit overpriced… and an unfair Internet marketing model that favors those who joined the company early and stymies those who would otherwise succeed online.

Anyhow, I was just perusing their official company website and came across some interesting numbers.

According to their site, the company paid out over $147 million in overrides and bonuses to independent consultants in the US.

They state that the average override and bonus paid to all registered Consultants in the United States was $101.16 per quarter and $404.63 on an annualized basis.

During the four quarters in 2005, an average of 12,798 registered Consultants (3.50% of all registered Consultants) received an override or bonus check from Arbonne.

The average quarterly override and bonus paid to registered Consultants in the United States that qualified for an override and bonus check was $2,887.74 or $11,550.94 on an annualized basis.

They also note that these numbers do not represent total profits as expenses are not considered.

In other words, the majority of the consultants don’t make anything worth noting. A very small percentage make the major moolah. And of those at a managerial level, approximately 6% earn what I would consider to be a good income.

I still think there is plenty of opportunity with Arbonne, especially for someone who is highly motivated and fits the Arbonne model. Youthful… pretty… outgoing… But for the majority of people who get involved, it’s just another MLM sinkhole.

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  1. Michelle Romano…who buys $6,000 of Arbonne for personal and gift use? If you used a complete set of RE9 anti-aging products quarterly (more than what is recommended) you would only be spending about $800 per year. If you did, you were a wonderful Arbonne customer. There are federal and state tax rules which apply in situations like that…when you exceed wholesale purchases exceeding a certain dollar amount. Remember, you WERE getting the 35% discount (wholesale) on a consultant application. It really is not appropriate for a consultant to act as a person’s tax advisor…and they are specifically instructed not to. Arbonne has changed its program and created a “Preferred Customer” account with a 20% discount to eliminate such issues and provide greater income opportunities for its real consultants. Your circumstances, although regrettable, are not due to an Arbonne failing. Your sponsor would probably not anticipate such purchasing volume and may not even know the ramifications of such purchases. It probably would not have crossed my mind either.
    ==========
    The person who complained about a friend in Arbonne who ditched her old friends for her new Arbonne friends and associates. It might happen sometimes. Perhaps the friend found people that were more positive to be around. Perhaps the friend was finding happiness and success with this new group of people. Why would this be a negative for your friend? Why would this make it a ‘cult.’ One of the guidelines for becoming a positive and successful person is to associate with positive and successful people. Fake it till you make it…another guideline for becoming successful. I am sure your friend did not stop spending time with you because you were not buying Arbonne from her…but she probably did start spending more time doing activities that helped bring her success…selling, training and positive thinking and living.
    =================
    As far as the claims that Arbonne products are too expensive…
    Depends on the product you are referring to. The RE9 system is less expensive than almost all comparable department store brands…and likely more effective. I agree that some of the Arbonne products are over-priced if you buy them at retail…and some even at wholesale. But there are special ways to buy some or all of these products that can make them very competitive if you know how to do it. It is really up to each Arbonne consultant to decide if they are going to assist individuals in obtaining products through these special purchasing opportunities. Such efforts take time and planning. I sometimes do to assist good clients.
    ============
    Back on May 18, 2006 I wrote the following on this blog. This information is all true. Unfortunately, in November of this same year, my wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She passed away on March 14, 2009. I am telling you this because in less than a year, between January 2006 and
    November 2006, my wife built up her Arbonne business so dramatically that the residual income kept coming in throughout her 2 1/2 years of treatment. Much of our $20,000+ out-of-pocket medical expenses per year were covered by her Arbonne income. Also, it is the kind of business that allowed her to keep working the business, whenever and wherever she was, throughout her course of treatment. By passing out samples to use, she had nurses and practitioners at the oncology center in Seattle buying the products. She sold Arbonne to Amtrak employees on her trips up to Seattle.
    She loved and believed in the products. (She still had her original friends and lots of new ones). She signed up her niece (who already had been using the Arbonne products) as a preferred client two days before her death. You have success in Arbonne when you believe in it and maximize your opportunities in promoting. You can do so and still lead a happy, normal life. Even months after her death, there is still $800 to $1200 per month of residual income coming in to the family. This will not continue for many more months without some action. The business was recently transferred to my name and I will be working to try to maintain and hopefully rebuild the business. I will have to work the business different than my wife. I will try to develop the ability to work the business in some of the ways that she did…but, for the most part, I will have to find additional ways to do it. Being female helps in various ways…simply because of the nature of many of the products (skin care and cosmetics). The social component of the business often favors females, as well. These issues, however, can be overcome through will, creativity and perseverance. I will do my best.
    # Kyle Elwood Says:
    May 18, 2006 05:07 AM
    My wife started actively doing the Arbonne as a Business Builder at the end of December, 2005. Her over-ride check from the company for the month of April (4 months work) will be over $2,000. Our family over-ride income is approaching $3,000 per month because, after watching her success and seeing the benefits of the products, I also signed on to do the Arbonne business. I was impressed with how the products sold themselves. I was impressed with how effective they are. Since I am a pharmacist, I felt I needed to associate myself with skincare products that actually accomplish what they say they do. They are superior to any product I have seen prior to this. As has already been stated…the vast majority of ‘consultants’ are ‘wholesaler purchasers,’ which Arbonne International has to include in their figures. If you want to see what is really happening with the business and what the opportunities are…take a look at how many people are successfully advancing to the higher levels (and incomes) of the business each month. Joel, you need to do more than superficial research if you are going to maintain credibility. Joel, if you really want to participate in a good business opportunity…my wife and I would be happy to show you the way. Arbonne is about team-work. Those who put forth the effort are helped greatly by the other members of the team. We work on the concept that helping other succeed will in turn bring success to us. It seems to have worked for my wife’s sponsor…as she just earned her Mercedes and has over-ride checks exceeding $4,000 per month and she has actively worked the business only a few months longer than my wife. These are small checks compared to those that have been actively working the business for longer periods of time.
    ================
    Diana….your upline is working to assist you and train you. At some point, you will have to begin doing these things for yourself and learn how to help YOUR downline and sponsored individuals (business partners).
    So, be paying attention and focus on developing yourself for the eventual need for you to take over your own business. Your business requires your energy and talents or it will not survive…as your upline has their own business to build and new people will come along that they will have to focus on. Work hard to learn then work hard for your success.
    ===========
    There is more than one way to build the business. The party method can be used or working with individuals, or both. My wife worked with individuals, mostly. You can be successful both ways if you work smart.
    ============
    Sharing the products with friends and family is not taking advantage of them. Many of these products are very good and their effectiveness is difficult to match. You are actually not doing them any favors by not giving them the opportunity to try them. Simply provide them the opportunity to sample them using a proper approach and then follow-up. If they like them, show them how to buy at the best price. If they don’t, that’s okay too. My wife’s mother starting using the RE9 anti-aging system and I felt it made her look 5 to 10 years younger. My mother uses the some of the same products. My wife’s nieces love the products. Many of my wife’s friends loved the products and continue to use them.
    =============
    If you want to know what is in the Arbonne products, all you have to do is go to the website and all the ingredients are provided.
    =============
    It is also important to be sure you have a knowledgeable upline that is eager to train and support you during you beginning stages of business development.
    If anyone has any questions or comments, you are welcome to email me.
    [email protected]
    Kyle

  2. hey, just curious….have any of you heard of this supposed lawsuit between arbonne and beauticontrol? i keep hearing of a lady in town that’s making claims that arbonne is going bankrupt? anyone know if this is true/???

  3. For those who enjoy arbonne and do the business- get off your buts and start doing something. Sitting here talking about the things you do and do not like will not contribute anything to your business.
    GET YOUR ASK IN GEAR!

  4. WARNING!!! It’s possible Arbonne is headed for extinction. As a former consultant and relative of a National Vice President you should know that since the sale of Arbonne several years ago to the investment holding company, Harvest Partners, this company has, in my opinion, been profoundly mismanaged and has lost its direction and the positive culture which had made it so appealing both from a product philosophy and business opportunity.
    Product quality has suffered greatly and the once family atmosphere is gone entirely. Consultant support has nearly evaporated. This company is now acting from desperation. In the last year they fired Candice Keefe, head of product development, who was the one person who remained committed to the original ideals and core principles which had guided the company from the start. Those in charge now are simply bean counters looking to score returns on investments above all else. The know nothing of the founding principles or of the unique characteristics of the network marketing business model.
    They have recently filed a pre-structured bankruptcy to keep lenders at bay, laid off over 150 employees and are looking for any reason to shed National and Regional Vice Presidents thinking this will enhance cash flow. Several top NVPs have already defected to other opportunities. Arbonne recently instituted new rules forbidding VPs from any involvement with other MLM companies; even if just as a customer and even if their SPOUSE is involved in other MLMs. I know of several NVPs and RVPs who were terminated simply because they purchased unrelated products from other MLM companies, even though they are not actively building those businesses, or because their husbands are involved in ANY MLM, even if it’s not a competitor. Such ruthless behavior by Arbonne will soon be well known as these former NVPs and RVPs begin to tell their stories and take their downlines with them to other opportunities.
    I highly suggest you STAY AWAY from any involvement in this company. You will be wasting your time and effort as I predict this company will be gone within 18 months.
    I was once an enthusiastic proponent of Arbonne, but since the sale this company it has been nothing short of a total disappointment with incompetent management and failures in many aspects of operations. Now it has lowered itself to a level I consider IMMORAL in their actions and attitudes. The frustration and anger is causing defections by the thousands. Stay away, stay away, stay away!!!!!!!!!!!!

  5. I am just a bystander to all of this, i have never tried or even heard of this product until Today, out of nowhere i am contacted by someone from highschool, that i was never really close to or liked very much, her email to me write away wanted me to check out her arbonne site, claiming the all natural aspect.
    I started to look into it, and it reminded me a little bit of the Golgi berry juice. One must question how and why people would be getting rich off of selling ordinary products, it makes me question all the mark up, why not just let people buy the products on line at a reasonable price, and the company wouldn’t have to spend money on all these representatives making money off of what could be difficult to prove benefits, you can claim personal stories, and how much you love a product, but because one is always looking to believe in something why not believe in skin care or health, its the easiest thing to suck people into in, without proven hard core benefits.
    Just for some facts, Shaklee is a very inexpensive product and there is no buy in to sell it, and no promises of mercedes and becoming rich, people only distribute it to their friends and family because it’s a way of getting cleaning and health care products that are unavailable on the shelf for a low cost, lower, they do not have to have personalized websites, you just go to the website, put in your id number and your rep receives a little financial residual for introducing you to their products, they sell products, not a lifestyle and a car, think about the overpriced mark up if everyone can get so rich off of it, remember as an employee you are actually paying sign up fees, website fees, etc… you dont think its a big cost, do the math, everytime someone signs up whether or not they sell the products, they make money on people signing up, not selling the products, so the ones that help them get more and more membership fees, they will compensate, remember the purpose, you are supposed to be supplying people with health, not lining your pockets and selling memberships, remember what you are doing and what you are compromising, I am not insulting the product as i havent used it, but did you really go to the lab and make the product or did someone tell you what was in it, really check out the ingredients and i am sure there are some unnatural aspects to it, it isnt illegal to claim something is natural as long as there are a few natural products thrown in. Not very many people spend money on skin care and lets face it, dont truly need to,
    Unbias commentor

  6. Just a thought to all you die hard Arbonne peddlars, that make these great claims about the manufacturer, you should always know who you in fact represent, i think it was mentioned earlier, but It is owned by a financial holding company and another Skin Care product company Levlar, and now apparently the Holding Company, Harvest Products has sold it recently, I wonder why that is??? There have been lay offs and a drastic decline in Consultants.
    Some of the stuff was originated by the Swiss, but no longer, and the inventor never makes the money, the idea is always bought and then the quality and purpose compromised for the all mighty dollar. I hope all of you are proud that you are making money off of all the ones on the bottom selling and pushing the product, and you make a percent off of them, that is just disgusting and ridiculous, in a clothing store, each sales person makes money off of the volume they sell not the number of salespeople below them, the ones on top do not have to push the product anymore, they just simply suck the ones below into more membership fees and then steal their commissions, as they get a higher percent of those poor people’s commissions, honestly how can you wake up in the morning, you are no longer making commissions of off your own sales, it’s someone elses.
    I guess that’s where greed takes you, it’s not that most of the people dont try hard enough or work hard enough, they are just not as unethical as the ones that do succeed.

  7. Despite almost disappearing (filed for Chapter 11) and then coming back… they are up to their old antics again with high pressure building of down lines, promises of high almost impossible to reach profits, slandering of competitor’s products, misleading claims on their own products, selling worthless sales kits, etc. etc.
    OMG, people will never learn.
    It is frustrating that despite all the timely information available on the Internet, people fail to do their homework and fall into this classic MLM scheme known as Arbonne.
    Most people who join Arbonne will spend more money hosting parties, buy Arbonne products for personal use (often products they would never have spent money on prior to being introduced to the company), buy mandatory promotional aids, and so on…. The bottom line, when a Arbonne recruit actually factors in the time spent and expenses VS income earned, it is almost always going to be a losing proposition.
    Have a look at all those who posted their costly myarbonne web pages in past entries on this site, not a single one exists today! In particular, what ever happened to jouneytothetop (guess Jamie never reached the top) or the crazier than crazy Maria McDonald. Both their sites are gone now, despite their incredible enthusiasm. I think those two examples speaks volumes about what happens to most Arbonne ‘consultants’.
    BTW, My neighbor was a ‘victim’ of Arbonne. We were once good friends but she went off the deep end when I asked her (politely) to stop asking me to get involved in Arbonne. Amazingly, she was convinced that Arbonne was my future! I am a lawyer!!
    Eventually, she (a mother of three children under seven) left her husband and children for another Arbonne (male) consultant. Her last words to be were (paraphrasing) that god would provide through Arbonne and that she needed to rid herself from all negative thinking people (btw, that was a clear reference to all those who did not like Arbonne).
    I am reasonably certain that not all Arbonne consultants are that brainwashed…. although the earlier Maria McDonald reminds me so much of my former neighbor.

  9. Great thread. Arbonne is no different from the other MLM companies out there, looking to pay big money to the fat cats at the top by having everyone at the bottom work hard and make nothing. I did MaryKay for a while, same crap. Now I work for a company that has no buy-in, no buying large amounts of stock to sell on, no billing or collections, no risk. Companies that rely on their consultants “overstocking” at each order obviously have little faith in their own products. Also, Arbonne has a way of suggesting their products are chemical free (hence the asterisk and small print beside some of their products), when they are far from that. I can see why they filed for Chapter 11, and why so many consultants are jumping ship.

  10. i would disagree… we have promoted 12 rvps in less then 4 years. All seems to be working and so many doing well. I think its how much one gets plugged in and stays plugged in. The products sell themselves. Love them, share them and enjoy those rewards!

  11. i agree… thanks for mentioning and pointing out the obvious. It is simple, and works. If you failed or had a bad experience…oh well, move on. Its no diff then the cruel corporate america. You chose your destiny. Its a fun company and we are really changing so many lives daily especially with our nutrition line. Get on the bus or get out of the way we are all exceeding. =)

  12. Katie M-
    Where did you get this information?
    “I can see why they filed for Chapter 11, and why so many consultants are jumping ship.”
    I’ve never found a “real” answer when I’ve researched this.

  13. Katie, I hear your concerns and had the same thoughts. I am writing a series of articles for my blog on my personal experiences with abonne over 3 years. I would love to interview you for one of my articles. Give me a call when you are available. 856-223-0458
    Lisa

  14. Sara,
    Im not sure if you are still in the Network Marketing business but your comment reminded me of how I was when I first got started and I ended going from one business to another spending money and being fed a bunch of ‘crap’ in all honesty, until I found ViSalus. If you want to know more pleae contact me, I’ll share my story with you!
    Rebecca

  15. I am not certain what you mean by “puppy-dog” Re9 lines. If you are/were “truly” dropping off puppies at people’s door steps, then I am not certain where you were informed that was how Arbonne works, or that it was ok. It’s actually against the P&Ps of Arbonne, and I know that some successlines were shut down for such practices in Hawaii. Arbonne is not about “bribing” people with puppies, the products sell themselves, and are truly amazing on their own. I am disappointed if this practice was being used, and maybe your upline should have coached you better. I’m sorry you were led astray, and have had such a bad experience with Arbonne, but that is not how it was/is supposed to be. If you follow their system, you will be successful. Period. The system does not include puppies, we sell skincare…not pets. Much aloha in all that you do in the future.

  16. A couple things: I was an Arbonne Internet Consultant. Great Products, most of them. EXPENSIVE YES!! Yes they ship in a huge box when it could be a tiny blush item or what-have-you. Just some food for thought: this business is not willable. If you make it up the ladder to a high ranking position and you are earning top $ residual income and you die, guess what? When you kick the bucket you can’t will that hard earned position to your loved one, children or anyone. Its the companies. Yep! That’s nice huh? Doesn’t seem fair. Not so with my business. And to date I haven’t heard of another company being willable. IDK? Food for thought. Also I like a company that has proof. A way of measuring and proving without a doubt that the products are working! My company does that. Ive never heard of another company able to make that statement. I like the scientific proof behind what a company says also. I am not talking about a marketing company thats coming up with a nice jingle or comercial this. I mean iron clad proof. Thats my company. Stock that has consistantly gone up year after year. I like a company thats about results! Not claims. Thats my company. Just food for thought!

  17. A couple things: I was an Arbonne Internet Consultant. Great Products, most of them. EXPENSIVE YES!! Yes they ship in a huge box when it could be a tiny blush item or what-have-you. Just some food for thought: this business is not willable. If you make it up the ladder to a high ranking position and you are earning top $ residual income and you die, guess what? When you kick the bucket you can’t will that hard earned position to your loved one, children or anyone. Its the companies. Yep! That’s nice huh? Doesn’t seem fair. Not so with my business. And to date I haven’t heard of another company being willable. IDK? Food for thought. Also I like a company that has proof. A way of measuring and proving without a doubt that the products are working! My company does that. Ive never heard of another company able to make that statement. I like the scientific proof behind what a company says also. I am not talking about a marketing company thats coming up with a nice jingle or comercial this. I mean iron clad proof. Thats my company. Stock that has consistantly gone up year after year. I like a company thats about results! Not claims. Thats my company. Just food for thought!

  18. did anyone ever get back to you with an answer to this? I’d like to know myself.Im thinking about selling and Im wondering the same thing…let me know if you ever spoke to anyone about this. Thanks! C

  19. I’ve tried a few different Arbonne products and I am absolutely not a fan. I used sunscreen and a few hours later noticed a weird metal taste – like I had absorbed something – and it happened on multiple occasions until I just gave up and tossed it. I had been given a moisterizer sample and noticed the same thing with that product. Most of the “gung ho” Arbobonians I know eventually drop out. Too much hype, not enough results.

  20. I have met plenty of RVP’s that it has taken longer then 18 months. I’ve also met a few that have reached that level in 6 to 12 months.
    I don’t want anyone saying that this isn’t hard. It can be! I am an Area Manager for 14 months now. I have a steady income of 1200 a month. I’m hoping to reach RVP by Dec. I love this company and I love the attitude. I am a better person because of Arbonne and the people I have met. My upline has taught me a lot about serving others. I would NEVER be told to buy products to help someone else get the car. Pretty sure that is against company policy!!
    Also we are taught to never fire hose people!! Who wants to be around someone that is pushy and doesn’t have anything else to talk about?? Not me.

  21. wow. Their up line sounds like crap. Mine told me that you can ask your family to sample the products or take a look at the business and if they say no for Gods sake leave them alone.

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