Welcome to my NuSkin review. No doubt you’re here because you want to know Is NuSkin Legit or is it a network marketing company you need to avoid?
NuSkin is a multi-level marketing company operating worldwide and offers an exhaustive selection of products.
They range from personal care, anti-aging, and nutritional additives.
Nu Skin is one of the more popular MLM companies around and they got their start in 1984 in Utah.
Nu Skin was founded by Blake Roney, Nedra Roney, Steve Lund, and Sandie, N. Tillotson
At this time, they are highly rated and accredited with the BBB (Better Business Bureau).
Let’s take a look at NuSkin from the network marketing perspective.
Is NuSkin Legit – Making Money With NuSkin Is Difficult
People have the choice of registering as wholesalers and purchasing items in bulk, reselling, and making commissions.
To earn money from the company, you can enroll by filling up an individual distributor form on their site and choosing a starter kit.
These kits start from $150 and go all the way up to $1,230.
NuSkin may ask to invest $100 or more every month on item purchases.
Personally, I find this to be a bit expensive if you are just starting out.
For example, starting an affiliate marketing business through Wealthy Affiliate is $49 a month.
There are no recruiting, sales meetings, or buying on auto-ship associated with Wealthy Affiliate.
The website’s disclaimer suggests that you do not have to buy items to be an associate.
The application procedure requests you to choose a starter kit.
You may also have a $25 bill for buying a business kit and $20 in fees for annual membership.
According to NuSkin, associates sell items and receive 25% in commissions.
You also get 5% in bonuses earned from distributors you enroll and consumers you sell to.
Also, you can develop into one of the company’s Sales Network Executives after successfully enrolling new associates.
This gives additional incentives. You also get to take part in Leadership Bonus Pools.
Is NuSkin Legit When Most Associates Aren’t Making Much Money
Would it surprise you to learn that there are over 700 millionaires in the ranks of NuSkin?
Probably. Especially when you realize not even 3% of people are able to make more than $400/month selling the company’s merchandise.
Also, you may have to buy items that are above $100 each month.
Add to that your business expenses. You most likely will end up paying more than what you make.
Interestingly, the following statement can be found in NuSkin’s Income Disclosure statement:
Translation: You aren’t going to make much money!
You can click here and read NuSkin’s Income Discloser statement for 2020.
Below is NU SKIN’s 2018 Sales Compensation Summary.
There are some alarming facts here.
If you are an “Active Bran Affiliate” your average monthly commission is $37.
A “Qualifying Brand Representative’s” monthly commission is $120.
If you’ve become a “Provisional Brand Representative”, your average monthly commissions are $64 monthly.
Those numbers go into the negative if anyone in these three levels is purchasing products from the company on a monthly basis, which most distributors are encouraged to do via auto-ship.
Keep in mind this is an Income Disclosure Statement from 2018.
However, when you think about it, it’s quite revealing.
The average person fails to make money when getting involved in multi-level marketing of this type.
Although this was from 2018 the same still holds true today.
Nu Skin is a network marketing company (MLM) and only 0.5% of Nu Skin distributors make more than $100 per month.
Those are statistics that are not encouraging at all.
The hard fact is this: Most people who get involved in multi-level marketing FAIL to make money.
If NuSkin Has Over 700 Millionaires In Their Ranks, Then Why Are These Numbers So Alarming?
According to the website Talented Ladies Club, over 55,911 distributors earned nothing in 2017!
That’s almost unbelievable.
It looks even worse when you understand that these statistics come from NuSkin’s own Income Disclosure Statement:
Please keep in mind the above “earnings” are before expenses are deducted.
There are many MLM apologists who will passionately argue that “every business is a pyramid scheme” when you look at how most businesses are structured.
There are those who will try to argue that these people “didn’t work hard enough on their business,” or they didn’t “spend enough time on their ‘business”.
According to this recent survey into MLMs the average amount of hours per month spent “working on their business” was a whopping 462 hours.
Yes, that’s 462 hours a month.
And most of them will earn nothing for all their hard work.
These appalling numbers without a doubt reflect what is true based on most income disclosure statements seen so far:
The MLM model, regardless of the product sold, has failed the bottom 99.7% of the earnings pyramid, on average, year after year.
NuSkin Court Cases Make You Wonder If The Company Has Learned Its Lessons
NuSkin is not without controversy though and has settled a few lawsuits through the years.
1992 lawsuit:
Nu Skin was sued in 1992 for overstating (lying) about the income that new distributors make. This was a huge settlement covering over 5 states.
1994 lawsuit:
In 1994 NuSkin paid the Federal Trade Commission over one million dollars to settle “deceptive marketing claims.”
1997 lawsuit:
In 1997 NuSkin was back before the Federal Trade Commission for “unsubstantiated promotional claims” and was ordered to pay a fine of 1.5 million.
2014 lawsuit:
In 2014 the Chinese accused NuSkin of being an illegal pyramid scheme and China filed suit. The result was that Nu Skin settled for $47 million dollars with China.
NuSkin also had to pay an additional $750,000 because they tried to bribe Chinese officials.
Personally, these lawsuits would be a dealbreaker for me.
I cannot do business with a company that has been in and out of courts as much as N
This clearly shows that Nu Skin has not learned from its mistakes. When you see this kind of activity, it’s difficult recommend
However, for some of you, these facts are not dealbreakers and some of you would still consider joining NuSkin
Is NuSkin Legit – Some Elements Of Being A Pyramid Scheme Are There
So this company has had some issues in the past and it’s definitely worth considering these lawsuits before joining.
In the minds of many people, all MLMs are borderline pyramid schemes.
It’s unfair to broadly label all MLMs as pyramid schemes.
However, NuSkin certainly has added to the controversy by settling in court for being a pyramid scheme.
The reason why people consider companies like NuSkin borderline pyramid schemes is because of their heavy reliance on recruiting people.
Companies like NuSkin rely heavily on recruiting new members to make money.
It’s incorrect to label all MLMs outright as pyramid schemes, as some rely more heavily of recruiting members than others.
While it’s accurate to say that NuSkin is not an all-out pyramid scheme, there are certainly elements of it in the company structure.
When you recruit someone you end up getting a piece of every sale they make and a piece of the sales your recruit’s recruits make.
NuSkin also provides various other monetary and lifestyle benefits and payments also.
The company’s items aren’t cheap. Luckily, you have 100% guaranteed cashback returns within 30 days. You also get 90% compensation for items returned after 30 days.
The company’s distributors earn additional incentives from their referrals is they meet specific sales quantities.
You have to ensure your referrals are making $200 selling as a fresh associate and a few enlistees before you can receive this $10 incentive.
Despite Controversy, NuSkin Products Are Well Received
Product Love: People online appear to love their anti-aging merchandise.
Customers say it helps tighten and clear-up skin.
NuSkin also explains on their site how their merchandise works and all the components included.
BBB Rating: The company has good accreditation and an A+ grade with Better Business Bureau.
During writing this review, they have only had seven grievances against them in the past 3 years.
The company’s items aren’t cheap. You have 100% guaranteed cashback returns within 30 days.
You also get 90% compensation for items returned after 30 days.
The company’s distributors earn additional incentives from their referrals if they meet specific sales quantities.
You have to ensure your referrals are making $200 selling as a fresh associate and a few enlistees before you can receive this $10 incentive.
Duration: NuSkin has been operating for over three decades. This is really reassuring as it means that they are in it foreseeable future.
There Are Better Options Other Than Becoming A NuSkin Distributor
A better option
The best platform I have found to accomplish this is Wealthy
The accompanying infographic outlines a few reasons why building an affiliate marketing business is so much more practical than getting involved with multi-level marketing:
I have to say that the #1 reason I would build my own website as opposed to network marketing is you have total control over your online property, your website.
Most MLMs have what is called a “dedicated website” where your website is basically a cookie-cutter version of the other distributor’s websites.
You aren’t allowed to modify it and you cannot add or subtract content to it.
You can’t do any basic SEO to it at all!
These are also known as “done-for-you” websites.
I could list many more reasons, however, the point is you need to BUILD YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
Although NuSkin Is Not A Scam They Have Serious Credibility Issues
This post is much longer than I wanted it to be,
Also, you may have to buy items that are above $100 each month.
Add to that your business expenses. You most likely will end up paying more than what you make.
Multi-Level Marketing businesses are infamous for their difficulty in making money. This is the state of many businesses.
Nevertheless, now with the availability of eCommerce websites, you can make money through marketing popular skincare or other merchandise without using MLM.
Business Practices: The company has paid penalties numerous times for misleading business practices.
The FTC charged them for making numerous exaggerated merchandise claims and for operating pyramid systems in China.
NuSkin has not been totally up front with their associate recruitment expenses on their site.
NuSkin does not actually satisfy ALL the requirements to be billed as a pyramid system or fraudulent.
Neither can NuSkin be called a SCAM.
NuSkin is similar to other multi-level-marketing companies I’ve reviewed on this blog such as:
My Opinion Is To Not Get Involved With NuSkin
NuSkin has products that consumers are purchacing, however, building a business and making money through multi-level marketing is going to be quite difficult.
It’s likely you will be spending more money than you earn as you’ll be buying products each month and investing in selling and promotion materials.
For you to prosper, you need to be unbelievably enthusiastic about the merchandise and think hard on selling them.
You shouldn’t rely on NuSkin providing you with training on the sales process.
Almost all Multi-Level Marketing companies such as NuSkin do not have training systems that teach you business marketing.
However, their plan of action involves mostly annoying your friends and family.
You will be training yourself on running your business and investing in classes that instruct you on these essential abilities.
Honestly, despite the past FTC issues and other deceptive claims, the company’s products have received fairly good reviews.
However, there is a constant concern that associates would flood review sites writing positive reviews.
In light of NuSkin’s past, the comparatively small choice of products, and extremely high expenses of some merchandise, this MLM strategy will be a hard selling point for most.
Talk Soon,
Howard
