Arbonne is a real company that sells Botanic health and beauty-related products founded in 1975 by Petter Mørck in Switzerland. They have over 1 million members and have been around for a few decades now.
Arbonne is not so much a work from home opportunity but a Network Marketing business. Arbonne make their money by recruiting new members to their business while selling through their downline. Their products include health and beauty products, weight loss, aromatherapy and make-up products.
Is Arbonne a Cult
Arbonne is sometimes accused of being a cult. Some Arbonne members are very enthusiastic and passionate about Arbonne, promoting it at every opportunity. These members will tend to be the most successful because they’re better at persuading others to join and they have themselves benefited greatly from Arbonne. Their claims that Arbonne has magically transformed their lives, complete with photos of a lavish lifestyle and trips to motivational sessions in Vegas make it appear cultish to some.
However, this is just motivational marketing and hype. I have seen no evidence that Arbonne is a cult.
Payments and Cost
Like many Network Marketing companies, they need to make a profit while providing commission to their resellers. This means their products are more expensive than if you just purchased them straight from a manufacturer.
The truth is that if you want health or beauty products you’re better off just purchasing them from eBay or Amazon then through a Network, as you can purchase Arbonne Products for a 20% discount.
The internet makes it more difficult nowadays for Network Marketing companites to sell their goods through a network, as you can usually find them cheaper online. Plus, there are some obstacles to overcome if you become a member/consultant of Arbonne.
• Registration Fee — To become a consultant of Arbonne you need to pay a registration fee of $79 and after 12 months you will have to pay a $30 annual renewal fee.
• Minimum Earnings — In order to earn commissions, consultants must earn a minimum of 150 PQV each month.
• Consultant Status — You must accumulate a minimum of 1200 PQV within a 12-month period to keep your status as a consultant.
The Positive Aspects of Arbonne
Extensive Range. There is a large range of products and they sell a lot of products that a large percentage of people use. These include:
• Nutrition products
• Perfume & Fragrance products
• Make-up products
• Skin care products
• Hair & body products
Commission — The commission is fairly good and is 35% commission for clients and 15% on preferred clients who have a 20% discount. Plus, you make commission on the people under you which can add up to a lot if you have a large downline.
Time — You can work your own hours and not someone else’s. However, this means you have to be disciplined as you’re working for yourself.
Return Policy — One of the good things about Arbonne is that they do have a good returns policy. If you don’t like the products you can return them within 45 days. If you’ve participated in the business opportunity you can return the products to Arbonne within a year. The problem is that the samples you’re using to bring people in and the products you’re testing just to find out if they work for you and so forth are non-returnable after the 45 days that they give you initially.
Product Purchases — You get a 35% discount on all product purchases if you’re a consultant and keep profits made on all retail sales.
The Negative Aspects of Arbonne
High Minimum Requirements
In order to earn commissions, consultants must earn a minimum of 150 PQV each month and you must accumulate a minimum of 1200 PQV within a 12-month period, to keep your status as a consultant. If you don’t earn a minimum amount through your downline you may have to end up paying for products in order to maintain your PQV.
Being a Salesperson
I don’t know about you but I hate becoming a salesperson to friends or family and putting pressure on them to buy products or join Arbonne. I just hate being that pushy person. It can be hard making money with Arbonne if you don’t have that outgoing extroverted personality that a salesperson requires.
When you run out of friends and family to prospect you may have to engage in cold sales, which effectively involves recruiting random people you don’t know and trying to convince them to join Arbonne. This can be more difficult as there’s no trust or relationship to begin with when trying to persuade someone you don’t know.
For people who are highly passionate and outgoing you can do well with Arbonne so long as you come across as sincere and advertise at the right time. There are techniques to marketing and it’s wise to learn what they are before you pitch to anyone.
Arbonne does have training available to members and a program called Arbonne University. It’s a website that provides extensive training for new members.
Time and Effort
It takes time to build your downline, so don’t expect to earn much money in the first few months. Like many Network Marketing Businesses, the money comes as a result of a lot of hard work. You may need to put in a lot of time and effort in at the beginning to get the results at the end. Only then can you become less active in the business.
While you can become less active once you’ve built a downline, you will still need to have active consultants. This can involve a lot of work and follow up to make sure they remain active consultants, otherwise they can fall away leading to a shrinking downline and less revenue.
Average Revenue
The average revenue annually that their active independent consultants earn is relatively low. Only 13% of the US Arbonne consultants are bringing in regular checks and of that 13%, 90% are making $3,391 per year on average.
How Successful is Arbonne
Arbonne has been around for over 36 years so their longevity does indicate a successful company. However, the company did go bankrupt in 2009 but they seem to have improved their business practices since then.
Arbonne is one of many multi-level marketing companies that sell health and beauty products and like many beauty Network Marketing companies the average earnings are pretty low. Some network marketing businesses lack decent in-depth training on how to get new leads and sales. However, Arbonne does have a sales training program called Arbonne University. This is a website which provides training for new recruits.
Here are a few figures:
• Arbonne had an average of 182,500 independent consultants during 2015.
• Of the 182,500 consultants, only 23,800 (13%) received any earnings from the company during the year. These are considered active consultants.
• The remaining 158,700 did not earn a single dime.
• Most active consultants earn on average less than $300 per month.
Arbonne Payment Structure
There are four levels to Arbonne – District, Area, Region and Nation. Each provides a different percentage:
District – 8% Over Ride
Area – Additional 6% Over Ride
Region – Additional 3% Over Ride Plus Get the “White Mercedes Benz” or a $800 car allotment towards the WMB
Nation – Additional 1% Over Ride and $1000 allotment to WMB, No Salary Cap Ever
There are two major ways of earning money through Arbonne. One way is through commissions. These are direct sales you make to your customers. The second way of earning money is through Over Rides.
This is when you make an additional percentage from your personal purchase, or anyone that purchases products from you or anyone on your team. This can in turn vary depending on what level you are on – District, Area, Region or Nation.
Over Rides provide a significant amount of your income should you have a large downline. For a more detailed explanation of their pricing visit click here
Is Arbonne a Scam
I do not believe Arbonne is a scam but I do believe that unless you’re highly motivated, enthusiastic person with good marketing skills, you will find it hard to earn a decent income with Arbonne. Since most who join Arbonne make very little, most people will drop out of Arbonne.
While I do not believe Arbonne is a scam for a different perspective check out the following YouTube video by Ethan Vanderbuilt:
Things to Consider
Your Downline
Like any multi-level marketing business your earnings are largely dependent on your downline and growing your downline can be particularly difficult, particularly when you’re not given much in-depth training, and when products purchased via Arbonne are significantly more expensive than similar products you can buy elsewhere. In order to make money from your downline, you need your downline to be able to sell them in the first place.
Maintaining your Downline
In order to earn a sustainable income, it’s the bottom rank that really matters, as this line is the most vulnerable. This is because those who are earning the least are less likely to stay active in the program, which then effects the rank higher up. Getting some of your friends and family to join Arbonne is one thing. However, maintaining your downline may be more difficult if you do not know them.
Recruiting New People
Recruiting new people can be difficult, particularly when you’ve already exhausted your friends and family. You need to find regular leads and this can be difficult when there aren’t many positive reviews about Arbonne online and the company went bankrupt in 2009. Plus, your new recruits are themselves going to have to find people to recruit when they start or they will have to pay money to remain a consultant.
Conclusion
If you don’t mind putting the time and effort in at least at the beginning and you have good marketing skills you should consider giving Arbonne a go.
While I do not believe Arbonne is a scam, I do believe it takes high motivation, enthusiasm and good marketing skills to succeed with Arbonne. Since Arbonne have still not saturated the market as much as Avon and Arbonne is less well known outside of the US, you still have a chance to do well and earn a great income.
Arbonne Summary
Name: Arbonne
Website: www.arbonne.com
Price: $79 Registration Fee/ $30 Renewal Fee
Owners: Petter Mørck founder
Overall Rank: 7 out of 10