Monat MLM Review – Is Monat a Profitable MLM?

Hey there sea changers, and welcome back to my series of MLM reviews. Today we delve into the world of skin and hair products with my Monat MLM review. The sale of cosmetics and personal care products has become more and more popular over time in both the affiliate marketing space and within MLM. So if you are interested in setting up an online business in this space then is Monat a MLM worth considering? Let's check it out and see…

What is MLM?

Multi-level marketing (MLM) programs are the mainstay of the ‘party plan' world of products such as Tupperware, Mary Kay and Amway etc. and, as I commented above, becoming more and more prevalent within the cosmetics market. One of the reasons for this is that much of the sales and marketing for MLMs is now being managed online – alleviating the need to run parties – and, more importantly, not hassle everybody you know to join (you can of course, but you don't have to).

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 Monat?

Monat stands for MOdern NATure and is based in Florida in the United States. It was founded in 2014 by the Urdaneta Family whose vision is to ensure that “people everywhere enjoy beautiful, healthy, fulfilling lives through our exceptional, naturally based products, a fun and rewarding business opportunity, and a culture of family, service, and gratitude“.

The founders are still strongly involved with the company and discuss their passion in regards to assisting entrepreneurs in their quest for success. They are also the first company to give access to hair care products within the network marketing industry.

What do they Sell?

Monat offers a range of hair and skin care products for adults, children and pets. Their product range includes:

Hair

• Oils
• Shampoos and conditioners
• Masques
• Reconstruct Serums
• Styling Mousses and Clays
• After Shave and Beard Oils

Skincare

• Cleansers
• Scrubs
• Serums
• Eye creams
• Moisturisers

Pets

• Shampoos
• Deodorisers

Their website outlines their product ingredients are 100% naturally-based, safe, pure and sustainable as follows:

MLM Program outline

Those who join the Monat MLM program start out as Market Partners and are part of an opportunity promoted as “one of the most competitive in the industry”. On the surface it looks fairly stock standard in line with most other MLM Companies withing this niche such as Younique and Jeunesse Global – at least that is what I can garner from their simple 2 page compensation plan. Let's however start with the basics:

As with the most MLM programs, downline commissions and rankings are determined by the total Group Sales volume (GV) that you and your downline generate in a calendar month. To qualify for downline commissions within Monat, you will need to maintain rank specific GV levels but base commissions can be earned without any personal or group sales. From what I could find within their documentation, their PV calculations run from roughly $1 to $2 USD per PV point depending on the product or pack purchased.

Most MLM programs manage it this way in that commissions are paid on the points assigned to a product rather than the entire sales total. For example, if a product retails for $100 and has a 50PV rating (these generally vary from product to product) then the commission is calculated on $50 of the purchase amount only. So if a commission rate for a product is 20% then it will generate a $10 payment to the sponsor (I.e. 20% of the $50 commissionable amount). Clear as mud? Hopefully this will become a little clearer as we run through the payment methods.

How can I get paid?

The compensation plan promotes 8 ways in which you can make money when you promote and sell their products plus quite a few bonus options. These are pretty standard for a MLM program with commissions on par with many others I have seen. Let's check them out…

Note: The compensation plan, whilst containing all of the general information required, appears to assume knowledge of MLM workings and does not go into great detail in regards to the payment options on offer so please feel free to comment below if any of my information is inaccurate.

Retail Bonus

The Retail Bonus is the base commission earned on any sales that you personally make – these can be personal or customer sales. There are two tiers:

• 30% on sales from retail customers
• 15% on sales from VIP Customers

Personal Sales Bonus

The Personal Sales Bonus is an extra commission amount paid to those who can generate some higher sales amounts. Payments are as follows:

• 1,000 – 1,999 PV = 3% bonus commission
• 2,000 – 3,499 PV = 5% bonus commission
• 3,500 PV or more = 10% bonus commission

This matches the information pages stating that you can earn up to 40% commission on personal sales – as long as you sell 3500PV or more worth of product per month to trigger the full commission amount.

VIP Acquisition Bonus

This is a common bonus structure within many MLM programs which are designed to motivate the referral of customers to the site regardless of whether they join as Market Partners. In this case, you can earn $60 for every four (4) VIP customers that you personally refer each month.

There is no limit to the amount of VIP Acquisition Bonuses you can earn.

Unilevel Bonus

The Unilevel Bonus is the stock standard down line commission structure that almost all MLM programs are built around. In the case of Monat, their Unilevel structure is quite shallow (I.e. only to 4 levels) however their commission offerings are a little higher than most for level 1 and 2 earnings. Commissions are as follows:

Group Volume Bonus

As you grow your down line – and hence reach higher ranks yourself – The Group Volume Bonus will pay an extra percentage commission based on those in your sponsorship tree that also reach the higher ranks. So the more you nurture your down line to build their own rankings, the more commissions you can earn as well. Rates and ranking qualifications are as below:

To trigger the Infinity Group Volume Bonus, you must reach and maintain a rank of Managing Market Builder (MMB) or higher.

Rank Advancement Bonus

This is another common bonus within many MLM programs in that you can be rewarded with a once off payment for each time you achieve a higher rank. These payments are as follows:

Rank Advancement Matching Bonus

Again, if you are able to nurture your personally introduced down line to increase their own sponsorship trees and increase their own ranks, then matching rank bonus payments are made to you as they qualify for their Rank Advancement Bonuses as outlined above. Payments are as follows:

Generation Bonus

Whenever a member of your downline reaches the rank of MMB and above, all of those within their sponsor trees are call a generation. So as you build your downline and they build theirs, you can qualify for an extra commission based on the total sales of all of those within any ‘generations' within your down line legs.

Commissions are earned on the sales of those underneath the MMB member only.

Ranking structure

As you have probably noticed, the commissions and bonuses paid out above are reliant upon the ‘rank' that you are assigned within the Monat affiliate program. This ranking structure is quite straight forward with commission qualifications rising based on your total monthly GV, the number of underlings you have within your down line and of course, how much they sell/purchase in a calendar month. Rank requirements are as follows:

As with most programs, rankings are determined by the total Group Sales Volume that you and your downline generate in a calendar month. As your downline grows, your commission rates increase as outlined earlier within this post.

What else do you get?

On top of the potential earning methods outlined above, Monat also offers a couple of bonus plans for those who achieve higher rankings within the program. These include:

Motor Club Bonus

Once you reach the rank of Market Mentor (MM) and above, you qualify for the Motor Club Bonus. This is a monthly payment of $500 to $1000 per month to be paid towards your car payment of lease.

To qualify, you must reach and maintain your rank for three (3) consecutive months before the payment is triggered.

Smart Start Bonuses

Smart Start Bonuses are another common MLM platform to incentivise new members to hit the ground running with sales. Within the Monat program, the Smart Start period is the first to months of membership and has three bonus options as below:

If any of your personally sponsored Market Partners earn a Smart Start Bonus, then a matching bonus of $75 is paid to you as well.

Product Pack Bonuses

Whilst it is not mandatory to purchase a starter kit when you join as a member, there may be some pressure from your sponsor as they (and then you in time) can earn Prodict Pack Bonuses for every Pack that newly sponsored members purchase. Payments are as follows:

Emerging Founders Pool

Another common payment bonus within MLM programs is the Emerging Founders Pool. Members who rank as MM or above can qualify for shares of 1% or the total company generated sales volume. There are a number of qualification points for these pools payments – these are outlined as follows:

How much can you make?

I was unable to find any average earning tables or estimates for the Monat program. As with most MLM programs however, the percentage of members making the upper rank levels is very low.

Monat does acknowledge this within its policies and procedures documents with sections as per below:

My final thoughts

Look, MLM is not an easy platform to make money in. That said, the Monat program does seems to be on par with most others that I have seen with ample opportunity to earn if you can attract and nurture a down line. There is some good information available in regards to the commission and bonus structure so if you are passionate their products and like this brand, then to be honest I cannot see much in there that would cause me to earn you off.

The only real red flag for me is the inability to locate accurate PV information. The joining process is quite simple however there are some immediate financial requirements via a membership joining fee. Once you have joined though, there are not the usual financial pressures of needing to make minimum purchases in order to qualify for commissions as long as you can make them within your downline. Although to be honest, I think if you are going to succeed in any MLM program, you will need to be intricately aware of the products you are promoting – meaning I think some purchases will be necessary.

Reviews

Finally, and I normally don't do this as a separate section, but before you rush of into this program I would advise that you do some solid research into some of the reviews and legal issues that Monat has faced. To be honest I don't know if it is anything that many other product manufacturers of this nature have also not experienced but in terms of transparency, I just wanted to outline it here.

In 2018, Audet & Partners filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court based on widespread complaints suggesting that consumers were misled about the safety of hair care products distributed by Monat. Some suggested that they had suffered hair loss, scalp burning and other irritations. I did find records of 6 other lawsuits over the past few years in regards to their products, reviews and public statements.

Note: These statements are based on my online research (links to court documents above ) and not my own personal opinions and I have not included unfounded reviews found on Facebook or similar media. I note however that Monat has chosen to challenge, and in some cases instigate, each case.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my honest review and appraisal of the Monat 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 Cosmetics or MLM 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 from it – these commissions do not increase your sale price. This may include sales made via Wealthy Affiliate.