Hey there sea changers, and welcome back to my series of MLM reviews. Today we enter into the world of cosmetics with my Younique MLM review. The sale of cosmetics and personal care products has become more and more popular over time within both the affiliate marketing space and MLM. So if you are interested in setting up an online business in this space then is Younique 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 Younique?

Younique was founded in 2012 by Derek Maxfield and Melanie Huscroft and is based in Utah in the United States. Their mission is to uplift, empower, and validate women across the globe.

The founders are strongly involved with the company and promote their passion in regards to assisting and empowering women as well as putting an end to domestic violence and the abuse of children.

What do they Sell?

Younique offers a range of cosmetics and skin care products including:

• Eyes
  • Lashes
  • Brow
  • Eyeliner
  • Eyeshadow
  • Eye primer
  • Fillable palettes
  • Eye brushes
  • Lash sets
  • Eye sets

• Lips
  • Lipstick
  • Lip gloss
  • Lip care
  • Lip liner
  • Lip stain
  • Lip brushes
  • Lip sets

• Face
  • Foundation
  • BB cream
  • Highlight & contour
  • Face primer
  • Bronzer & blusher
  • Setting
  • Concealer
  • Face brushes
  • Face sets

MLM Program outline

The Younique MLM program calls its members ‘presenters” with the opportunity to take part in the “Most Beautifully Simple Compensation Plan in the Industry”. On the surface, it certainly looks simple with a straight forward unilevel commission arrangement and none of the endless bonus opportunities that some other MLM programs offer – at least that is what I can garner from their simple compensation plan. Let’s however start with the basics:

Base Commission rate: Up to 30%

Member discount: N/A

Down line commission rates: 3 – 6% to 5 levels (1st generation (down line level 1) rates 3 – 6%- these are however not available on the lowest two ranks).

Minimum monthly spend to qualify for commissions

• None – however, as per most MLM programs, commissions and bonuses are reliant on personal sales volumes – these can be made up from either personal or customer purchases.

Payment terms: Hourly and monthly

Application required?: Yes, personal and payment information at time of first purchase

Purchase requirements to join: Yes

• It is free to become a Younique Presenter however a starter kit purchase is required for $99.

Marketing materials provided: personalized website, virtual online party arrangement capabilities.

As with the most MLM programs, down line commissions and rankings are determined by the total Personal Retail Sales (PRS) which are the full-priced sales you and your customers place on your website. To qualify for down line commissions within Younique, you will need to maintain rank specific PRS levels, wholesale sales levels (see below) and reach a rank of Pink or higher. From what I could find within their documentation, their Wholesale sales calculations run at roughly 75 – 80% of the full retail price (which is actually quite good compared to many others).

Most MLM programs manage it this way in that commissions are paid on a ratio of the retail price of a product rather than the entire sales total. For example, if a product retails for $100, then the commission will be calculated on 75%, or $75. So if a down line commission rate for a product is 5% then it will generate a $3.75 commission payment to the sponsor (I.e. 5% of the $75 commissionable amount).

How can I get paid?

As mentioned above, the Younique compensation plan is extremely simple – in fact it is an ‘old school’ arrangement and one of the simplest I have seen in that it offers unilevel commissions only plus a couple of bonus options. Let’s check them out below:

Note: The compensation plan I have used is from the website only so if I have missed anything please feel free to comment below if any of my information is inaccurate.

Royalties

The Royalties payment is a stock standard down line commission structure that almost all MLM programs are built around. In the case of Younique, their Unilevel structure is quite shallow (I.e. only to 5 levels) however their commission offerings are a little higher than most for level 1 retail sales earnings. Commissions are as follows:

Ranking structure

As you have probably noticed, the commissions above are paid out depending on the ‘rank’ that presenters’ are assigned within the Younique affiliate program. This ranking structure is quite straight forward with commission qualifications rising based on your total monthly PRV, wholesale sales and the number of underlings you have within your down line. Rank requirements are as follows:

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

Payment Options

One interesting by-note that I have noticed within this program is the payment structure. Unlike most other programs where you are paid monthly by Cheque, Direct Deposit or PayPal, Younique makes payment via the distribution of a Younique branded debit card.

Once a royalty threshold is of $50 is achieved, the card is activated and sent to the presenter. All payments from there forward are added directly to the card – some within 3 hours of the sale being finalised.

Note: There are some fees and charges associated with the use of this card – this information is found within the presenters’ membership agreement.

What else do you get?

On top of the base unilevel earning method outlined above, Younique also offers a couple of bonus plans including:

Fast Start Bonuses

Fast Start Bonuses are a common MLM platform to incentivise new members to hit the ground running with sales. Within the Younique program, presenters’ can earn cash credits towards product purchase if they can achieve the following:

• Reach 1,000 PRS or sponsor a new Younique Presenter within their first 60 days – Earn $50 Y-CASH credits
• Reach 1,000 PRS AND sponsor two new Younique Presenters – Earn a makeup bag filled with more than $200 worth of products!

Car Bonus

Once presenters reach the rank of ‘White’ through to ‘Orange’ Status can earn a car bonus for each month they achieve a minimum of:

• 500 Personal Retail Sales (PRS)
• 50 Fast Start First Level Wholesale Sales (FSFLWS),
• Combines Personal and First Level Wholesale Sales of 2,500

Payment is USD$250 (or equivalent other currencies) per month.

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 and calculation ratios are higher than most other programs.
• Most information in regards to their MLM program is easy to find.
• The program is extremely simple.
• The virtual online party option looks good.

What is no so good about it?

There are also some things to be aware of including:

• There are no extra bonus options that others have (such as rank achievement bonuses etc.).
• Their VISA card payment system is mandatory but not free to use.

How much can you make?

I was unable to find any average earning tables or estimates for the Younique program from within the website itself. I did find some estimates on other pages and as with most MLM programs, the percentage of members making the upper rank levels is very low.

My final thoughts

Look, MLM is not an easy platform to make money in and this is an interesting one based purely on the simplicity of it all. I keep looking for all the extra payment options and wonder if the lack of them makes this a risky proposition. That said, the Younique program is extremely simple to understand with a royalty structure that seems to be on par with most others that I have seen. I guess however that the lack of the multitude of added bonuses that many others (such as Monat and even Avon) offer may reduce earning potential in comparison – especially as base commission rates are on par.

At the end of the day, 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 warn you off.

The joining process is quite simple however there are some immediate financial requirements via the purchase of a starter kit. Once you have joined though, there are not the usual financial pressures of needing to make personal 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 – oh and this may also become necessary if your downline sales fail to make up enough to reach your rank required targets.

Reviews

I was unable to locate anything major in terms of negative reviews regarding non-payments or customer service for this site. There are some negative comments about the MLM program and products although it was not really anything that is uncommon in regards to most MLM programs.

Conclusion

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