Mannatech MLM Review

Hey there sea changers, and welcome back to my series of MLM reviews. Today we are going to a take look at a couple of extremely popular direct marketing niches with my Mannatech MLM Review. These niches are to do with health and wellness supplements and skin care products which have proven to be an extremely lucrative online market with many making a good living selling items via online stores and affiliate marketing.

Added to this obviously is the large array of multi level marketing programs that are available for these products. So what is the Mannatech MLM program 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 supplements and beauty/cosmetics markets. These niches have exploded within this MLM industry in recent times as well – mainly due to the fact that much of the sales and marketing is now being managed online hence reducing the need for network marketing type sales parties (network marketing comes from the traditional processes in that sales are undertaken mainly within the personal network of the program member).

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 Mannatech?

After a scientific breakthrough in the 1990s to do with the gel of the Aloe plant, Mannatech was founded 1995 with the launch of Ambrotose Complex® — their flagship product. From there they have grown from this single glyconutrient supplement made with a potent blend of Manapol powder and several other plant-based ingredients to a large range of “innovative, leading-edge products that help support health, beauty and wellness”

With a mission to “Live a little better. Feel a lot healthier. Connect more often”, Mannatech is a publicly traded company based in Flower Mound, Texas in the United States.

What do they Sell?

Mannatech are another in a long line of MLM companies that work within the supplements and beauty products market with a decent range of products including:

Integrative Health – Dietary Supplements

• Advanced Ambrotose®
• Ambrotose AO®
• Ambrotose LIFE®
• Ambrotose LIFE® slimsticks
• Ambrotose® Complex
• GlycoCafé®
• Manapol®️ Immune Support Formula
• NutriVerus™
• Optimal Support Packets
• Phyt●Aloe®
• PhytoMatrix®
• PLUS™

Targeted Health – Need specific dietary supplements

• BounceBack®
• CardioBALANCE®
• GI-Defense™
• GinMAX®
• GI-ProBalance®
• GI-Zyme®
• ImmunoSTART®
• MannaBOOM® slimsticks
• MannaCLEANSE™
• Manna-C™
• Mannatech Men's PRIME 7™
• Mannatech Women's PREMIER 7™
• Omega-3 with Vitamin D3

Essentials

• Catalyst™ Multivitamin
• Eye Support
• Sleep Support

Weight + Fitness

• EMPACT+®
• OsoLean®
• SPORT™
• The InnerScan™ Body Composition Analyzer
• TruHealth™ Maintenance
• TruHealth™ System with Shaker Bottle
• TruPLENISH™ Nutritional Shake
• TruPURE® Cleanse slimsticks
• TruSHAPE™ Advanced Weight Management capsules

Skincare

• Emprizone®
• FIRM with Ambrotose®
• Uth® Facial Cleanser
• Uth® Lash Serum
• Uth® Moisturizer
• Uth® Skin Rejuvenation Crème
• Uth® Skincare System

Item costs appear to fall into the low to medium price range of around $30 to $100 per item keeping them in line with competitors such as Herbalife and Plexus Worldwide.

MLM Program outline

The Mannatech MLM program calls their members ‘Associates' who are part of what can only be described as a comprehensive and full program comprising 18 earning options. These include all of the common retail and downline commission structures and a good number of bonus options as well. I couldn't find their compensation plan on their website however it did pop up on a basic web search so here are the basics as I have found them…

Within most MLM programs, rankings and commissions are determined by the total qualifying volume (PV) generated by the Associate and their down line within a calendar month with points assigned to each product. These point allocations can range from 50 to 100% of the retail price (before tax and shipping) and vary from item to item and currency of sale.

In the case of the Mannatech MLM program, I was unable to locate information as to how QV points are calculated however a general example is as follows: If a product is sold for $100 with a Commissional Volume (CV) of 70, then payments are calculated on $70 of the sale cost not the full $100. Hence, then if a downline commission rate is 5% then the payment to the Associate would total $3.50 (i.e. 5%of $70).

How can I get paid?

Ok, as mentioned above, there are 18 ways in which Associates can make money when they promote and sell Mannatech products. These are fairly straight forward and there are a lot of the extra bonuses found in many other MLM arrangements.

The 18 payment options for the Mannatech MLM program are outlined as follows…

1. Retail Profit

These are the base profits earned by the general day to day retail sales that Associates can generate via parties, popups, social media or online. The profit is effectively the difference between the Associate discount and the retail price and starts at 10%.

There are no minimum sales targets to earn retail profits however there are obvious initial purchase costs for Associates via initial stock costs to on sell.

2. Member Commission

The Member Commission is paid to Qualified Associates who are able to recruit general retail customers into a membership. For a $10 joining fee, members qualify for a 5% discount on all purchases (and an additional 10% if they set up monthly automatic orders). For the Associate, a 20% commission is paid on all purchases made by their personally recruited members.

Members become so for discounted purchase costs only and do not work as Associates.

3. Direct Bonus

The Direct Bonus is a common MLM style payment designed to encourage Associates to promote the sale of enroller packs to those that they recruit. In this case, any Associate who recruits a new member to their downline that includes an Enroller Pack purchase can earn as follows:

4. Team Bonus

Another common bonus option within many MLM programs is the Team Bonus where Associates are rewarded for recruiting new Qualified Associates into their down line. Here, a $100 bonus is earned when a Qualified Associate (QA) builds an organization of six QAs with no more than three in any one leg.

Note: Once a QA's Group Point Volume (GPV) reaches 1,500 they must meet the Regional Director GPV requirement (1,500 GPV with no more than 1,000GPV coming from any one leg) to continue earning the Team Bonus.

5. Team Development Bonus

Once an Associate reaches a rank of Regional Director or above, they can earn the Team Development Bonus for every Team Bonus (as per option 4 above) that is earned by a personally sponsored member of their down line. This is paid to two levels of the up line as follows:

6. Personal Power Bonus

The Power Bonus is designed to award immediate income to those who achieve the rank of Premium/All-Star Associate or above and accumulate 6,000 Pack Qualifying Credits (PQC) through the sale of product packs in each of two separate legs. This is outlined as follows:

PQC is a set amount assigned to certain product packs and accrues based on product pack sales within the Associate's down line.

7. Fast Start Bonus

Any Associate that earns the Personal Power Bonus (option 6 above) within their first three complete months of operation within the program also qualifies for a $500 Fast Start Bonus.

8. Matching Power Bonus

Any time a new QA within the sponsor's down line earns a Personal Power Bonus (option 6 above), they earn a Matching Power Bonus of $500.

9. Matching Fast Start Bonus

As with the Matching Power Bonus above, any time a new QA within the sponsor's down line earns a Fast Start Bonus (option 7 above), they earn a Matching Fast Start Bonus of $500. See below for outline of payment options 8 and 9:

10. Unilateral Bonus

The Unilateral Bonus is Mannatech's version of the traditional unilevel commission structures prevalent within many MLM programs. Within the Mannatech MLM program, commissions are paid to 5 levels as follows:

To be eligible to qualify for the Unilateral Bonus, Associates must achieve 50 QV for the business period and maintain their annual renewal requirements.

11 – 12. Leadership and Generational Bonuses

The Leadership and Generational bonuses provide for extra unilateral commission levels for those Associates who reach higher ranks of Regional Director and above. With each new rank, these bonuses add another level to the base unilevel options as per the example below:

Note: the examples above is shown at rank of Presidential Leadership rank. Options vary from rank to rank and are displayed within the compensation plan.

13. Leadership Development Bonus

The Leadership Development Bonus is another common MLM option designed to entice Associate's to support those within their down line in rising through the ranks as well. In this case, once a QA reaches the rank of National Director (ND) or higher, they earn $100 per ND in their organization where they are the first up line qualified ND.

For Executive Directors (ED) or above, $450 per ED or Presidential Director in their down line is earned when they are the first up line qualified ED or above.

14. Leg Star Bonus

The Leg Star Bonus is paid from product pack sales the Associate's down line and paid out on the sale of every Premium (All-Star) and Premium Renewal Pack. This is paid as four different bonus options as follows:

• 25% of the Leg portion of the Star Bonus on the purchase of each pack is paid to the first up line 1-Star Associate.
• 25% is paid to the first up line 2-Star Associate.
• 25% is paid to the first up line 3-Star Associate.
• 25% is paid to the first up line 4-Star Associate

15. Presidential Development Bonus

The Presidential Development Bonus rewards Presidential Directors who are able to nurture Presidentials within their down line. This bonus is paid from a pool of 5% of total company sales and a contribution from certain pack sales. Each Presidential Director receives one share (not to exceed $450) from the pool for achieving the rank as well as shares based on Presidential Directors developed within their down lines as follows:

16. Global Volume Bonus

The Global Volume Bonus is another commonly utilised MLM payment option designed to reward those at the highest rank levels within the program. In this case 1% of Global Finished Product Sales (GFPS) is divided into two pools, one earned

for loyalty to Mannatech and the other intended to help cover the costs for travel and business development. The loyalty pool is 75% of the total 1% GFPS pool. One share is granted for each Presidential Director leg developed.

17. Auto Order Bonus

The Auto Order Bonus is paid to the sponsoring Associate for any member of their downline who establishes an Auto Order arrangement. In this case, a 5% bonus is paid on an Associate’s discounted cost of products selected on an Automatic Order.

Note: If the enrolling sponsor is not at Qualified status, the bonus is paid to the next qualified Associate in their up line (i.e. their sponsor).

18. Incentives

Incentives are further bonus options available to QAs outside of the Compensation Plan. Designed as extra motivation these incentives can include

• Special rewards
• Extra discounts
• Trips
• Conferences etc.

Ranking structure

Mannatech, as with most MLM programs, uses ranking structures on which to base commission payments and other bonuses upon. The compensation plan however down not show ranking requirements within a table or chart so as an example, I have included the requirements for two of the ranks as follows (others are available within the compensation plan):

Again, as is common with almost all MLM programs, rank progression is determined by both the number of members within the Associate's own line, and the total sales made by those members per month. 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?

What is no so good about it?

How much can you make?

Mannatech does provide an income disclosure statement on its website as follows:

As with most MLM programs, the percentage of members making the upper rank levels – and hence earning a living – is very low (0.17%). In fact, despite the high number of payment options, only 1.1% make an average income of just under $600 per annum.

My final thoughts

Look, MLM is not an easy platform to make money in and despite the large number of payment options available, there is not much here to put this program above the many others I have seen. However, the program is pretty straight forward with common commission arrangements and the ability to make sales online or in person. So if you are passionate about these products with a large customer list at your disposal and the ability to generate good sales via a number of processes, then the 10 – 20% 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- especially if your are simply chasing retail profits – then 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 remain ‘Qualified' for commissions and/or discounts within a particular month.

Legal Issues

Mannatech has been subjected to a number of legal and compliance issues during its time of operations. These include:

• 2005 – a class-action lawsuit was filed against Mannatech for violating the Securities Exchange Act.
• 2006 – A U.K.general practitioner was found by the U.K. General Medical Council panel to have “abused her power as a doctor” after illegally promoting and selling the company's products to people as a treatment for medical conditions.
• 2007 – Investigations into how Mannatech recruits were taught how to target products to prospective customers with specific illnesses.
• 2014 – Controversy around baseless claims by Ben Carson, a conservative politician, that Mannatech products were instrumental in the disappearance of his cancer symptoms.
• 2017 – Letter of warning from the FDA for illegally marketing products as medicinal.

It should be noted that, where applicable, Mannatech has argued each of these issues however some research should be undertaken here if you are unsure about joining.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my honest review and appraisal of the Mannatech 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 Supplements 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.