Maybe you’ve been approached by someone in Acti-Labs that wants you on their team. Or perhaps you just like the products and want to know if it’s a good idea to become an Ambassador. You want to be sure that Acti-Labs isn’t a pyramid scheme before you join.
In this article, I’m going to tell you how much it is to join Acti-Labs, what their compensation plan is like, and if it’s worth it to join. I’ll also let you know if Acti-Labs is a pyramid scheme or a scam.
(Hint: it’s better than most MLMs I’ve come across, but we still have some issues…)
I’ll also have an alternative solution for you if you feel that you’d rather not become an Ambassador with Acti-Labs.
Let’s dive right into it!
What is Acti-Labs?
Acti-Labs is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company that was founded in France in 2011 by husband and wife duo John and Yelena Miller. Acti-Labs products were made available to the UK, US and Canada in 2016.
They sell a wide variety of products including:
- Skin care
- Body care
- Weight loss supplements
- Makeup
- Hair care
- Toothpaste
- Nutritional supplements
You can purchase directly on the Acti-Labs website without going through an independent distributor.
How Much Does it Cost to Join Acti-Labs?
If you want to become an Ambassador (independent distributor) for Acti-Labs, you can join for $30. There are no obligatory monthly autoships or any minimum sales targets.
Once you become an Ambassador, you can add an optional kit.
The kits include:
- Sample Kit – $26
- Hair-Ologist Kit – $52
- Slim-Bassador Kit – $90
- Makeup-Junkie Kit – $90
- Skin-Thusiast Kit – $100
Since there are no monthly requirements in order to stay active, you don’t have to worry about making sure to hit those personal volume (PV) targets. (Most MLMs have a PV target that needs to be reached each month, and many distributors get into trouble when they can’t reach them via sales and end up buying that amount themselves.)
There are sales requirements in order to move up the ranks, and those are posted in the next section.
Acti-Lab Compensation Plan
According to the Acti-Lab compensation plan, there are 8 ways to earn commissions, and these are split into two different phases.
Phase 1 – The Kickoff Phase
- 20% base commission
- 5% – 10% additional personal sales bonuses
- Fast-start Acti-Cash
- Customer Loyalty Club Bonus
Phsae 2 – The Leader Phase
- Earn up to 10% from Team Sales
- 100% cheque match bonus
- Annual rank bonus
- Car allowancs
Here are the sales requirements for the Elite levels:
and the earnings:
Here’s a quick video that breaks down the compensation plan:
It’s nice to have a comp plan that doesn’t make my head spin. I’ll give Acti-Labs a point for that!
Acti-Labs Income Disclosure
At the time of this writing, there is no income disclosure for Acti-Labs. However, since it’s an MLM and it’s not super different from other MLM compensation plans, we can assume that more than 99% of people who join Acti-Labs will lose money. Source.
Positive Reviews and Complaints
At the BBB website, there are some positive reviews. These reviews state things like:
- Awesome products that are spa-worthy
- Very satisfied with all the products and everything shipped quickly
- The foundation is light and airy
- Lost 34 pounds in 3 months with their products
As far as Acti-Labs complaints go, it seems that most complainers have an issue with their customer service. Some of these complaints were:
- I can’t get a refund and they won’t send my items back
- The owner and people in customer service are rude and they close accounts without giving a reason
- Shipped dried up mascara
- The lipo-wrap kit didn’t work
- Ordered a 3-D Corrector Cream, but it was too dark and they won’t refund the cost
It looks like from what I’ve seen with Acti-Labs, the biggest issue is with their customer service. It seems hard to get a refund, even if the product is damaged or is the wrong color.
That would automatically make me nervous to order from them, especially if you don’t know if a color is going to work with your skin tone. Wouldn’t it just be easier to head to the mall or Ulta to have all the shades available to look at right in front of you?
Related Articles:
- Is Color Street a Scam?
- Is It Works! a Pyramid Scheme?
- Is Bellame Legit or Just Another Shady MLM?
- Is NewULife a Pyramid Scheme?
Is Acti-Labs a Pyramid Scheme?
Is Acti-Labs a pyramid scheme? No. Because there is a focus on products that can be sold retail, they would not be considered a pyramid scheme. I think there is a bigger emphasis on selling products directly to consumers with Acti-Labs, as opposed to most MLMs who really push recruiting.
In that way, they are less pyramid-scheme-y than most. I still wouldn’t recommend anyone joins, and I’ll tell you why after the pros and cons.
Pros
- Small start-up cost
- No monthly minimums required
- No autoships required
- More emphasis on selling retail than most MLMs
- Less confusing compensation plan than most
Cons
- Customer service seems hard to work with
- Won’t be able to make big bucks with retail sales
- Recruiting in MLMs is very difficult
- It’s time-consuming to continuously recruit and train new people
- Have to keep your team motivated because MLM turnover rates are high
- 99% of people in an MLM lose money
- No income disclosure to see what you can actually make
- When emphasis turns to recruiting, the pyramid scheme line begins to blur
Let’s face it, you’re not going to make a killing on selling the products retail. The most commissions you can earn is 30% when you sell $1000 or more in a month.
Let’s say you’re really good and you sell $5000 worth of products in a month. That’s $1,500. Not bad, but not exactly enough to live on.
And that’s selling $5000 worth! Every month. Which I think will be hard to do unless you have a ton of influence. The only real way to earn an income with an MLM is if you build a team. And that has its challenges too.
Here’s a video from an Ambassador talking all about it:
I thought it was interesting how she talked about providing support to her team members. Of course you would want to do that in order to be a good team leader. But how much of that can you do without going insane? With MLMs, there is a ton of turnover which means you are always going to be dealing with this.
An Alternative to Acti-Labs
Maybe you love the idea of working from home and earning an income. I do too! I originally like the idea so much that I joined an MLM myself.
After realizing how much money I was bleeding, I knew I had to get out.
But I had an alternative
Affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is something I’ve dabbled in in the past, and being in an MLM made me realize what a better opportunity it really is. You can read my post MLM vs affiliate marketing to get all the reasons why I feel that affiliate marketing is WAY better.
I’ll just give you a few reasons here:
- No recruiting
- Passive income (keep making sales again and again on work you’ve already done)
- No uplines or downlines
- No contacting friends and family asking them for sales
- No training
- You’re dependent only on yourself and not a team
You still earn commissions, but you can earn them on any products that interest you. If you’re passionate about skin care and makeup, there are countless affiliate programs you can join where you can earn a commission on those products.
Let me tell you a little more about affiliate marketing here.
Conclusion
Acti-Labs isn’t a pyramid scheme. While it’s not the worst MLM I’ve come across, it still has its downsides. MLMs are really hard businesses to work because you have to constantly find people to recruit, train them and keep them motivated. This is why more than 99% of people lose money in them.
You can still be your own boss and promote anything you like, including skin care, hair care and makeup by joining affiliate marketing programs instead. Affiliate marketing has much lower start-up costs and is a much, much easier business to work.