Is Jeunesse a scam? Before you decide to join their business opportunity, read this full article to see what this company is all about.
While it may seem tempting to join because you’ve been told that you can make a lot of money, let’s really take a look and see if this is actually true.
Because not everything is what it seems in the world of multi-level marketing (MLM). That’s especially true for a company like Jeunesse, which has had four lawsuits filed against them for being an illegal pyramid scheme.
But are they really?
Let’s dive in and see!
What is Jeunesse?
Jeunesse is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company started in 2009 by co-founders Randy Ray and Wendy Lewis. They sell anti-aging, beauty and wellness products, including creams, mist foundation, primer and supplements. They also sell Monavie, which we learned Life Leadership‘s co-founder, Orrin Woodward has ties to.
One of the people who jumped on board right away with Jeunesse is someone by the name of Alex Morton. Apparently Alex was a top earner in the MLM (ahem, pyramid scheme) called Vemma. He jumped that ship right before Vemma got in trouble with the FTC.
Rumor has it that he got some backdoor deal to join Jeunesse. There really isn’t much information about it though. You can read what behindmlm.com has to say about it. Interesting stuff! It sure is cutthroat at the top of that pyramid!
How Much Does it Cost to Join Jeunesse?
In order to join Jeunesse and become a distributor, you’ll need to purchase a starter kit. The basic starter kit is $49.95 and comes with booklets, a catalog and a USB drive with files and information you need to get started selling Jeunesse.
Here’s an unboxing so you can see exactly what’s in the kit:
There’a also a $19.95 annual fee for your personal website. This fee is waived if purchases from your autoship during the previous year is 360CV (commissionable volume).
When signing up, you could choose one of the following packages, which have products in them:
- Basic Package = $199.95
- Supreme Package = $499.95 (Buys you into the Pearl Executive rank for 60 days)
- Jumbo Package = $799.95 (Buys you into the Sapphire Executive rank for 90 days)
- 1-Year Jumbo Package = $1799.95 (Buys you into the Sapphire Executive rank for 90 days)
- Ambassador Package = $1099.95 Buys you into the Sapphire Executive rank for 180 days)
Here’s a video that explains the packages:
In order to be qualified for commissions, you need to purchase or sell 100 PV (personal volume) of products each month.
Jeunesse Compensation Plan
I. Hate. Compensation. Plans.
They are so confusing, and I think it’s on purpose. Jeunesse’s plan might be one of the most confusing I’ve come across. I’m going to be posting videos that can hopefully explain it a bit.
I couldn’t find an official compensation plan on the Jeunesse website. Instead, the link that says “Learn More” just takes you to a page about their incentive trips. You can see that here.
The 14 Different Jeunesse Ranks
The first video shows the different ranks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5dorXnifQ4
- Associate
- Distributor
- Executive
- Jade Executive
- Pearl Executive
- Sapphire Executive
- Sapphire Elite
- Ruby Director
- Emerald Director
- Diamond Director
- Double Diamond Director
- Triple Diamond Director
- Presidential Diamond Director
- Imperial Diamond Director
- Crowne Diamond Director
Of course, each rank has its own requirements in order to qualify for that rank position. I thought this slide in the video was interesting.
It’s sure starting to look like a pyramid, isn’t it?
6 Ways to Earn
Here’s a video that explains the ways you can earn with Jeunesse.
By the way, this video starts off extremely shady. It says things like:
- “You’re now closer than you’ve ever been to making life-changing amounts of residual income from the comfort of your own home.”
- “All you need to do to achieve that dream is to share this opportunity…”
- “How far you go, and how much money you make is entirely in your control”
Um, OK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oObOn1uLOnI
According to the video, there are 6 ways to earn:
- Retail Profit
- New Customer Acquisition Bonuses
- Team Commissions
- Leadership Matching Bonuses
- Customer Acquisition Incentives
- Diamond Bonus Pool
Those Team Commissions sure add up!
Jeunesse Income Disclosure
I’m happy to report that Jeunesse does have an updated income report, which you can view here. The bad news is that it doesn’t say much.
It says:
“Of the 9,136 U.S. Distributors who have ever sponsored someone and had some activity in 2018, 19.4% did not earn any commissions in 2018.”
And there’s another piece with total reportable earnings of all trackable sales:
- 59.96% (about 4,475) earned more than $245 – and the rest made less
- 13.14% (about 1,035) earned more than $4,350
- 2.12% (about 158) earned more than $82,000
Say what?
What does this even mean?
To me, it looks like:
- 19.4% Jeunesse distributors earned no money at all
- About 60% earned $245 or less
- About 13% earned over $4,350 (not sure exactly what that means)
If you add all that up, 95% of people in Jeunesse earn way, way less than someone working a minimum wage job 30 hours a week. Before expenses. And this is only people who are active. If they added in the people who didn’t quality as active, the numbers would likely be much worse.
Yikes.
Positive Reviews and Complaints
Let’s see what people have to say about Jeunesse!
A couple of positive reviews I saw said:
- A wonderful company with a great business opportunity
- This company has given me love and support
Just keep in mind anyone who is a distributor for Jeunesse is going to say it’s great because they want you to buy their products and join their team.
I found plenty of Jeunesse complaints. To be fair, people do tend to complain online much more than they provide positive reviews. But, it’s still something to consider when you’re thinking of joining a company like this.
Jeunesse complaints include:
- Overpriced products that aren’t that good
- I would give them a negative 5 stars, customer service was rude, they only refunded 90% of the product I didn’t even want to order
- It’s a rip off, the products don’t work
- They refuse to refund me defective products
- Bought $21,000 worth of product, but the expiration date on the products was coming up and there wouldn’t be enough time for customers to use it before they expired. It was unfair to get products with expiration dates so soon.
You can see more complaints at the BBB website.
The BBB does give Jeunesse an A rating for responding to their complaints.
Related Articles:
- Is Paparazzi Jewelry a scam?
- Is Origami Owl a Pyramid Scheme?
- Is It Works a Pyramid Scheme?
- Selling Essential Oils Online [MLM vs. Affiliate Marketing]
- MLM vs Affiliate Marketing – Why Affiilate Marketing is 100x Better
Is Jeunesse a Scam?
So is Jeunesse a scam? I’m not personally going to say it’s a scam. I’ll let the FTC decide. (There have been four lawsuits filed against them for being a pyramid scheme.) They do have some focus on retail sales, but it looks more to be about recruiting with Jeunesse. In fact, I read that their compensation plan is very, very similar to Vemma’s compensation plan. And we already know what happened to them…
Here’s what Ethan Vanderbuilt thinks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prd_CSOZLiE
Pros
- Low start-up cost, especially if you’re just doing retail sales
- Can make a nice income if you can sell the bigger product packages
Cons
- Products are expensive, which will make them hard to sell retail
- Almost no one makes a decent living with Jeunesse
- Possible shady deals to place distributors at the top of the pyramid
- Focus seems to be more on recruiting
- If you want to build a team, you may feel pressure to buy the biggest package
- It’s questionable if the products actually work
- When you become a distributor, you actually become a customer and you are helping line your upline’s pockets
MLMs are just a terrible idea unless you’re the person who started it. Yes, a few people succeed. Very few. More than 99% of people lose money in an MLM. That’s from a report posted on the FTC’s website.
And you really have to hustle to sell and recruit. It’s a ton of work for no reward.
An Alternative to Jeunesse
If you enjoy the idea of creating an income from home, then I have a Jeunesse alternative for you. You can promote other people’s products for a commission. This is called affiliate marketing, and you can read more about it here on my homepage.
I’ll give you some basics here.
Let’s say you’re into beauty products. Instead of signing up with an MLM like Jeunesse and having to pay for a starter kit, going out and trying to sell your products and recruiting people, you can join an affiliate program for free and promote their products on a simple website like this one.
You can sign up for Amazon’s affiliate program easily and promote anything you want from their site. Here are some of the many choices of anti-aging creams on Amazon:
Or, you can sign up to be an affiliate for Sephora, MAC Cosmetics or a whole host of others. Most major companies have an affiliate program.
It works like this:
- You create a website around the topic of your choice
- You sign up for affiliate programs related to that topic
- You provide reviews and other helpful information that people may want to know about certain products
- You add your special affiliate link
- When someone clicks from your site then makes a purchase, you get a commission!
Unlike with MLMs, the work that you put in now can pay you over and over again. You can create passive income with affiliate marketing.
See why else affiliate marketing is 100x better than joining an MLM!
There are some things you need to know to set your site up right and get people to it. That’s why I recommend this training. You get 10 free lessons and there’s no credit card required.
Conclusion
Is Jeunesse a scam? According to Ethan Vanderbuilt, yes. According to the FTC, not yet. Jeunesse has a very similar structure to Vemma, which the FTC did determine was a pyramid scheme. So I would certainly be careful. What if you’re lucky enough to build up a nice income and then the FTC comes in and decides Jeunesse is a pyramid scheme? Your income would be gone.
That’s why it’s much better for you to have total control over your work. Affiliate marketing allows you to have that control. You won’t have to worry about anyone coming in and taking it away from you. You build a site, and that’s your asset that you can keep forever. (Or, you can even sell it for a hefty profit.) Read more about affiliate marketing here.