It’s likely that you have come across Shaklee through an email list, on social media or got it recommended by a friend or family member.
Is Shaklee a scam? The reasons why you’re here is because you have want answers right so, that’s what I’m going to provide for you within this Shaklee review.
First and foremost I must commend you for actually doing a bit of extra research before committing to purchasing or joining Shaklee. For all you could have known, Shaklee may very well be a scam and rob you of your money so this review could help you find anything peculiar about it.
To be totally transparent with you I haven’t used Shaklee so I can assure you that I will not attempt to sell you on it unless of course it’s worth investing in.
What I will aim to do is provide you with an unbiased 3rd party review of Shaklee that will hopefully help you to make the correct decision in the end.
PRODUCT NAME: Shaklee
OWNER/S: Forrest C. Shaklee
TYPE OF PRODUCT: health and wellness MLM
PRICE: $49.95 + Monthly Autoship
SUMMARY: The good news is that Shaklee is not a pyramid scheme or a scam, considering it’s been around since 1958, it’d be very surprising if it actually were one.
Shaklee is probably up there as being one of the better MLM opportunities to pursue as the success rate it has is very good compared to other MLM’s, the products it creates are eco friendly, it has great support and tools for its distributor ls and of course the fact it has been around for so long adds a lot to its credibility.
Of course there are a few negative aspects to it as well such as the fact you will need to do a lot of face to face selling and recruiting to ultimately succeed, the business is pretty expensive to start up and you could argue that there are too many products within their line which might make it hard to recommend stuff to customers.
All in all Shaklee is a solid MLM company although, I personally wouldn’t join it, mostly because it’s a bit expensive to upkeep and run. If you want to join however, who knows, it could turn out to be great for you
FINAL RATING: 3/5
RECOMMENDED: NO
WHAT IS SHAKLEE?
Shaklee is a health and wellness MLM founded by Forrest C. Shaklee in 1956, which makes it a very old and established company. Shaklee is also a global brand being available in 7 different countries namely Canada, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, China and Indonesia.
As Shaklee has been in the industry for over 6 decades it makes sense that the company would diversify its products so, now it also sells supplements and meal replacement plans along with selling beauty products too.
I’ll go into more detail on the type of products that they sell below.
Another thing worth noting is that Shaklee is a company that prides it self in creating products that have a positive impact on the environment as well as for your health.
As for why its worth trusting me, I’ve checked out quite a lot of MLM’s on this website such as :
Which is why I believe I have a solid grasp on what makes a good MLM Company to look into (to an extent).
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SHAKLEE’S PRODUCT LINE
Shaklee has very large library of products spanning over 200 goods separated into multiple different categories.
These categories include :
- Nutrition : This category includes protein shakes, multivitamins, anti aging supplements, nutrition regimes etc.
- Healthy weight : in this category you get weight loss kits, shakes, meal in a bar and snacks, energizing tea etc.
- Beauty : This is the typical beauty line which includes anti aging creams, makeup, hydration collection etc.
- Sports : This category just includes a bunch of performance packs and goods that help you stay energized and active when doing sports
- Green Home : This Category provides household cleaning equipment and water filtration systems
- Shaklee Style : This line just include the accessories and apparel that the company sells.
If you want to check the products for your self click here
DOES THE PRODUCT ACTUALLY WORK?
As I’ve not personally used any of Shaklee’s products myself, I can’t tell you if they’re actually any good which is why I did a bit of research on what real consumers thought of them and this is what if found.
On bbb it does seem like people genuinely do like the products being sold, some individuals even saying they’ve been customers for 25 years.
Even on bestcompany, the outlook on Shaklee’s product seem to be overwhelming positive.
So it seems like the products seem to be very well received. This in turn mean that you shouldn’t have to deal with too many problems, at least when it comes to the quality of the products sold.
HOW DO YOU MAKE MONEY THROUGH SHAKLEE?
As is the case with pretty much all MLM businesses there are 2 ways to make money with them, Shaklee being no exception.
1. The first method is by directly selling the product to other individuals and in return make a commission for the sales
2. You make money through your recruits and downline, by getting residual income by following and meeting certain criteria as well as make money through bonuses and incentives due to meeting company set goals.
HOW TO GET STARTED
If you want to become a distributor for Shaklee there are a few things that you will need to do depending on which of the membership levels you want to join under.
Level 1 Customer (Free)
As a customer it’s pretty self explanatory what you can do. It’s obviously free to be a customer and the only thing you can do is purchase Shaklee’s products at their retail price. At this level you can’t promote Shaklee’s products
Level 2 Member/Premium Customer ($19.95)
After paying a one time fee of $19.95 you’ll be provided the following benefits :
- 15% – 25% discount on your purchases
- No autoship or monthly order requirement
Of course you still can’t promote the products at this level
Level 3 Distributor ($49.95)
It is at this level when you can start to promote Shaklee’s products and potentially start making money. There is another requirement that you will need to meet besides the upfront $49.95 one time fee.
This fee is something very typical of MLM companies known as a monthly autoship, which in Shaklee’s case will be at least 100pv per month (roughly $80 – $120 per month). It’s usually the autoship fees that make a MLM opportunity a lot more expensive in the long run.
Level 4 Gold Ambassador ($299 – $599)
There is one final level beyond the distributor rank, which is where most other MLM’s stop, called the gold ambassador level. In order to become a gold ambassador you will need to purchase one of the following 2 kits :
- GOLD PAK ($299)
- GOLD PLUS PAK ($599)
By doing so, you’ll be given access to better commission rates, which might be good for you in the long run but, to become a gold ambassador you still will need to pay all the fees a required for a distributor along with having to buy one of the Gold PAK packs.
Ultimately this means that becoming a Shaklee distributor ain’t gon be cheap.
COMPENSATION STRUCTURE
There are 3 main way through which you can earn commissions through Shaklee and these way are :
- Get customers and sell them Shaklee products to make retail commission
- Recruit members within your downline and make money whenever they purchase products, essentially making you money on autopilot
- Earn a bunch of different bonuses for completing tasks such as advancing in ranks or helping your downlines to advance in ranks.
What I’ve just written is the basic premise of the company of course, if you’re serious about becoming a distributor for Shaklee, it’s definitely important that you check out the compensation plan for yourself which is why you should check it out by clicking here or watching the video below.
THE NOT SO GOOD THINGS
You Will Need To Do A Lot Of Face To Face Selling
This is pretty much always going to be the case with MLM companies. Even though recruitment isn’t as huge an emphasis with Shaklee as is the case with other MLM’s, face to face selling and recruitment will always play a huge role in how much you’ll be making with the company.
The other problem is that face to face selling will also only get you so far so, recruitment will ultimately be the best way to make consistent money with Shaklee because the company does use a downline structure and this structure does become more profitable the more you recruit /sell and move up in ranks.
The bottom line is that you will need to either learn how to do face to face selling if you’re not very good at it right off the bat or you’ll need to figure out how to get customers through online means (My #1 Recommendation may help with this). If you’re not able to do any of the things mentioned, it’s probably not going to be worth pursuing a MLM business.
The Start Up And Upkeep Costs Are Expensive
On top of the recruitment, the start up and upkeep costs can also take a toll on your finances. Depending on which level you want to go for, the start up costs may be a little different but, as some one who’s serious about making the opportunity work, it would make most sense to become a gold ambassador.
Becoming so will cost at least another $299 along with the $49.95 and the monthly autoship. Nevertheless, if we’re talking about the absolute minimum (roughly because I’m not too sure the exact dollar values of the Pv) and assuming 100 Pv translates to around $100, the total will be $1249.95 for the year!
That’s a fair bit of money to part and it only gets more expensive if you opt for the gold ambassador level. The bottom line here is that becoming a Shaklee distributor is far from cheap, especially when you compare it to other business opportunities that literally cost a third of what Shaklee costs to run for the year.
Too Many Products
This is a minor problem in my opinion but, the over 200 products can become quite the overwhelming ordeal for you as a distributor especially when it comes to recommending something within every single category.
The lack of focus on specific high quality products may be a bit of negative for you or not a negative at all but, I still think it’s worth noting even if it isn’t necessarily the biggest issue Shaklee has.
The Success Rate Is Low
According to Shaklee’s 2018 Canadian income disclosure statement, although the numbers for directors seem to be really good with them earning around $10k+ and above, right below it accurately states the true success rate.
The statement below says that the typical individual who participates in the compensation plan only makes $250.27 which honestly is more in-line with how low the success rate within the MLM business is.
Of course the numbers they display on the charts are genuinely really good and even if say 15% of all affiliates fell within that range I’d be very impressed however, unlike other income statements I’ve seen Shaklee doesn’t display any percentages.
This in turn makes it pretty hard to gauge exactly how many affiliates truly are that successful.
THE GOOD THINGS
It’s Been Around For A Very Long Time
Having been around since 1958, Shaklee in my eyes, comes of as a very reliable and credible MLM company to join if you choose to do so. When you consider how most companies fail after 10 years, Shaklee’s presence in the health and wellness market for more than 6 decades is a very good point in emphasising the company’s reliability.
Great Tools And Support
Shaklee has a number of high quality support and training resources for its distributors to help them grow their business.
These tools include
- Shakless University : This includes business training resources to help distributors grow their Shaklee business.
- Sponsor Guidance : This is the help and guidance that you’ll receive from your referrer, your upline.
- Live Events : Shaklee organises various local & regional meetings, conference calls or corporate-sponsored training events which may be useful to you if you decide to attend them.
It’s An Environmentally Friendly Company
A lot of companies claim to be eco friendly yet usually tend not to be however, Shaklee is different because these claims are actually backed up through legitimate sources.
In fact Shaklee is the first company to be certified in offsetting, completely, carbon emissions into the environment basically meaning that they have zero impact on the environment.
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IS SHAKLEE A PYRAMID SCHEME/SCAM?
The good news is that Shaklee is not a pyramid scheme or a scam, considering it’s been around since 1958, it’d be very surprising if it actually were one.
Shaklee is probably up there as being one of the better MLM opportunities to pursue as the success rate it has seems to be a little better than most, the products it creates are eco friendly, it has great support and tools for its distributors and of course, the fact it has been around for so long adds a lot to its credibility.
Of course there are a few negative aspects to it too such as the fact you will need to do a lot of face to face selling and recruiting to ultimately succeed, the business is pretty expensive to start up and you could argue that there are too many products within the line up which might make it hard to recommend specific products to customers.
All in all Shaklee is a solid MLM company although, I personally wouldn’t join it, mostly because it’s a bit expensive too upkeep and run. If you want to join however, who knows, it could turn out to be great for you.
MY PERSONAL RECOMMENDATION
Although MLM’s have created its fair share of millionaires over the years, more often than not when it comes to training newbies and teaching them how to succeed in the biz, they tend to be very lacklustre…
This is why so many people tend to fail!
Therefore, personally I would suggest you look into creating your own brand, particularly through a website, whilst ultimately getting involved in my #1 money making method online as a result.
If you’re curious as to what my #1 make money online method online is, it’s affiliate marketing!
By having your own website and essentially driving targeted traffic to it, not only can you sell whatever MLM product you want, it’s also possible to sell other products too without even purchasing stock.
By doing this not only would you make extra commission per sale but you also won’t need to worry about fulfilling orders for customers and dealing with their potential complaints!
I’ve personally made over $100 in a day as a result of implementing affiliate marketing to my online business!
Here’s a screenshot of one specific payment
Others have made way more than me but, the fact of the matter is that it works, which is why I would highly recommend you look into it.
If you’re intrigued by the potential of affiliate marketing, I’ve put together a very in-depth guide diving into what affiliate marketing is, how long it takes to make your first bit of income along with how to effectively grow your online business and maintain its income.
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If you have any questions that you would like to ask me regarding Shaklee , feel free to do so in the comments section below and I will get back to you as soon as I can. If you have your own thoughts about Shaklee and would like to talk about it, again feel free to do so in the comments below!
Thanks
Amhil