Hey there sea changers, and welcome back to my series of MLM reviews. Today we are going to a take look into a company offering a large range of home, clothing and personal wares with my Better Way Designs MLM Review. The online sale of homewares and personal products such as jewelry and handbags etc. can be extremely lucrative with many making a good living selling items via online stores and affiliate marketing.

Added to this obviously is the array of home based multi level marketing programs that are available. So, what is the Better Way Designs MLM all about? Let’s have a look and see…

What is MLM?

Multi-level marketing (MLM) programs are the traditional mainstay of the ‘party plan’ world of products such as Tupperware, Mary Kay and Amway etc. and, of course within the homewares, clothing and handbag markets. It is quite prevalent within MLMs as well – mainly due to the fact that much of the sales and marketing is now being managed online.

The ‘multi level’ aspects of MLM come from its hierarchical nature in which you make commissions based not only on those that you sell to, but also the sales of those whom you ‘sign’ into membership arrangements as well.

In short, the process works as follows:

1. You join the program, either via referral from another person (known as your up line) or directly through their website.
2. You promote the products of the company via parties, workshops or online.
3. As you make sales, you offer incentives to your customers to sign up as a member of the program (there are different names for this but they all mean the same thing).
4. That new member is then placed ‘underneath’ you in a hierarchical arrangement (known as your down line).
5. You, and a number of levels of your up line, then gain extra commissions for everything they sell as well.
6. If they manage to refer their customers into memberships, they also become a member of your down line allowing you to make up line commissions as well.

The number of levels of your up and down lines will vary depending on the program you have joined. Commission rates will also change as your down line grows or contracts and many will also offer other incentives such as total company sales percentages and/or access to membership prizes as your own business grows.

Who are Better Way Designs

Working to a motto of “Small but mighty!”, Better Way Designs (formerly known as Better Way Imports) was founded in 2018 by Beth and BJ George. Their sales processes are built on a philosophy called ‘the Dignity Cycle’ where they purchase their products up front at or above fair-trade standard prices so their artisans are always paid first. From here, they then work on providing meaningful careers for their consultants. 

Better Way Designs is based in Michigan in the United States.

What do they Sell?

As above, Better Way Designs work within the home products market as well as a massive range of other priducts such as clothing, jewelry, handbags and much much more. In fact there is so much that I couldn’t even start to list it all here.

Below however are some examples from their catelogue:

MLM Program outline

The Better Way Designs MLM program calls their members ‘Freedom Fighters‘ who are part of what appears to be a very simple program with a very basic retail and downline commission structure. On the plus side however, their compensation plan is readily available on their website with the following information.

Anyway, here are the basics as I have found them…

Base Commission rate: 20 – 33% – dependent on rank

Down line commission rates: 3 – 6% to 3 levels (level 1 down line is 4%)

Minimum monthly spend to qualify for commissions

To qualify for downline commissions, Freedom Fighters (FFs) are required to meet monthly personal sales targets of at least $600 per rolling quarter. This can be made of personal or customer sales. This target is also required to qualify for the base 20% sales commissions as well.

Payment terms: Monthly.

Application required?: Yes, Application form on website.

Purchase requirements to join: At enrollment, FFs have the option to purchase one of three starter kits ranging from $199, $399 or $599.

Marketing materials provided: Start kits include:

• 10 Catalogs
• 50 Customer Order Forms
• 10 Host Order Forms
• 50 Invitation Post Cards
• 25 Trafficking Brochures
• 10 Recruiting Brochures
• 1 Car Decal
• 1 Training Manual
• and an Exclusive #FreedomFighter Shirt!

Rankings and commissions are determined by the total personal sales generated by the FF and their down line within a rolling quarter before tax and shipping and minus returns.

How can I get paid?

Ok, so from what I can garner from the compensation plan that I found, there are only 3 ways in which FFs can make money when they promote and sell Better Way Designs products – as always, please comment below if there is more to this or my information is inaccurate.

These are fairly straight forward and outlined as follows:

1. Personal Recognition Sales Commissions

Personal Recognition Sales Commissions is the base commissions earned from their sales to Customers. Commissions are paid based on the rank and total personal sales of the FF as follows:

2. Team Commissionable Sales Commissions

Team Commissionable Sales Commissions are Better Way Design’s version of the traditional unilevel commission structures prevalent within many MLM programs. Within the Better Way Design MLM program, commissions are paid to 2 levels based on total sales of the FF and their downline recruits as follows:

FFs must meet sales targets of at least $2400 in personal recognized sale per rolling quarter to qualify for the above payments.

3. Generational Commissionable Sales Commissions

The Generational Commissionable Sales Commissions are paid on the total Personal Recognition Sales from the generational teams of the FF – i.e. all downline members under a recruited FF at Director level or above. These commissions are paid as follows:

Ranking structure

Better Way Designs, as with most MLM programs, uses ranking structures on which to base commission payments and other bonuses upon. Rankings for the Better Way Designs MLM program are as follows:

As is common with almost all MLM programs, rank progression is the total sales within the partner’s down line. Ranks can rise and fall based on the ability (or dis-ability) to reach the required member and sales targets.

What is good about it?

So, after a good look around the site and looking at all the options I could find, I do like the following:

• Commission rates for entry level sales are very good.
• There is a massive range of products to sell.
• Sales are run on the party plan model.

What is no so good about it?

There are also some things to be aware of including:

• There are joining costs.
• Sales targets are in place for even base sales commissions
• There are not the large array of bonus options found within other MLM programs of this type.

How much can you make?

Better Way Designs does not provide an income disclosure statement on its website (that I could find) however as with most MLM programs, it has to be assumed from the compensation plan that the percentage of members making the upper rank levels – and hence earning a living – is very low (usually less than 1%).

My final thoughts

Look, MLM is not an easy platform to make money in and there is not much that I have seen here to put this program above the many others I have seen. The founders of the program privde for clear and ethical processes and work with disadvantaged women all over the globe.

However, the program itself does seem to fall short of many others within this niche in terms of the need for sales targets to be met for even the base sales commissions as well as highish joining costs. There are also nowhere near the number of bonus options found in many other MLMs of this type. That said, if you are passionate about these products (or the message and good work that they do) with a large customer list at your disposal and the ability to generate good sales, then the 20 – 33% base commission rates might just appeal here.

Once you have joined, there are not the usual financial pressures of needing to make minimum personal purchases in order to qualify for commissions as long as you can make them within your down line. Although from what I can see, I think if you are going to succeed within this MLM program, you will need to have a good array of demonstration stock on hand.

You may also need to bump up your personal purchase quota if customer sales alone are not enough for you to qualify for commissions and within a particular quarter.

I was unable to locate any negative reviews in terms of non-payment etc. although there were some negative comments (not as many as most others however) about the quality of customer service and the MLM program itself – although it was not really anything that is uncommon in regards to MLM programs or products within this niche.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my honest review and appraisal of the Better Way Designs MLM program. I hope it has been of assistance but as usual, if you have any questions or experience with this program please do not hesitate to reach out by commenting below – especially if any of my information is inaccurate.

Are there any other programs you have been looking at but want to know more about? If so, please comment below and I will do my best to get some details for you.

Do you want further assistance with any of the above or need help to build your own online business based website?

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Until next time

Have fun

Paul

Note: If you make a purchase from this page, there is a very good chance that I make a commission. This may include sales made via Wealthy Affiliate.