Hello! Welcome to my Is Beachbody A Scam? review!
So did you get invited to become a fitness coach so you can lose weight and make money at the same time?
But did you think about the fact that you could be joining a potential MLM scheme or even worse a pyramid scheme?
Is Beachbody a scam?
This Beachbody review is going to answer all your questions!
First of all, I'm not promoting Beachbody here! So you're going to read a balanced and unbiased Beachbody review.
Without any further ado, let's get started.
Beachbody Review Quick Summary
Name: Beachbody
Website: https://www.beachbody.com/
Founder: Not disclosed
Price: $39.95 (one-time fee) + $15.95 a month.
Best for: MLM fans
Summary: First of all, Beachbody is a legitimate company. They sell real and legitimate fitness products. Their MLM program team Beachbody, on the other hand, is questionable.
If you're reading this review because you want to learn more about the compensation plan and how you can make money, then I want you to read this review to learn some concerns and ugly truths with solid proof.
Rating: 3/5
Recommended? No
What is Beachbody?
Beachbody is a company based in Santa Monica, California that sells fitness programs, supplements and nutrition plans to lose weight.
It was founded in 1998.
In 2007, they created a program called Team Beachbody which uses an MLM pay structure.
With Team Beachbody you have the opportunity to become a fitness coach that sells the Beachbody products and earn a full-time income.
In 2017, Team Beachbody made it in the 28th place in the global direct selling 100 list since they managed to earn a revenue of $863 million in the same year.
Yes, it's obvious that Beachbody is a successful and established company.
But I think you are wondering one thing.
Is the Team Beachbody a pyramid scheme? Can I make money with it?
I'll answer all your questions in a second, just keep reading. 😉
The Beachbody Product Line
Before I get into the compensation plan and the commission structure I'd like to talk about the Team Beachbody packages and products first.
So first of all, Team Beachbody offers different products, programs and even fitness gear for their clients.
They also have challenge packs which are all-in-one solution programs that are like a bundle made custom for you to help you achieve your fitness goals faster.
I'm not going to talk about all the Beachbody products, but I'm going to quickly touch on their 3 best selling products.
1# Shakeology - $129.95 (30 Servings)
Shakeology is a food supplement which is the best selling product at Beachbody.
If you have watched some of the Beachbody videos or if you're a member, you probably noticed that they always mention and recommend Shakeology to be drunk daily.
Shakeology is advertised as a "superfood nutrition shake" which will give you benefits like:
- Healthy digestion
- Increased energy levels
- Encourage you to eat healthy
- & help you lose weight
2# Daily Sunshine - $99.95 (30 Servings)
If you have kids who do not like the taste of vegetables and fruits, but you want them to eat healthy, then Daily Sunshine is the solution.
It is a 3-in-1 smoothie which is designed for picky kids to eat healthy, food that tastes great.
3# Beachbody Performance Line - $109.95 to $199.95
The Beachbody performance line is a group of all-in-one supplements that are designed to keep you energized, improve focus and reduce after-exercise soreness.
Do The Beachbody Products Actually Work?
Well, it depends on you and your discipline. I have read many reviews about Beachbody online.
Lots of people say that their products work while there are also people who say that the Beachbody products don't work.
But generally speaking, the Beachbody products do work if you put in the effort and discipline.
My only complaint is the fact that their programs and products are overpriced.
Anyway, here are some positive reviews and negative reviews about the Beachbody products that I found posted on Consumeraffairs & Trustpilot.
How Can I Make Money With Beachbody?
Just like any MLM company, there are two ways to make money with Beachbody.
- Earn Commission on Direct Sales
- Earn Money by recruiting other members (Pyramid Scheme?)
So How Can I Get Started?
To get started with Beachbody and make money, you need to apply and become a team beachbody coach.
So if you're wondering what is a Beachbody coach or how much it costs just keep reading below I've got you covered 🙂
What is Beachbody Coaching? How Does it Work?
So anyone who wants to create a full-time income by promoting the Beachbody products and programs can sign up as a Beachbody coach.
Basically, Beachbody calls their distributors "coaches" so they look more trustworthy and professional.
This is simply a marketing technique that another MLM company called Optavia is using. These companies also calls their distributors as health coaches to improve their marketing and sales.
In a Few Words...
The peoplewho sign up as Beachbody distributors are called coaches automatically.
These coaches don't have any coaching experience or anything!
What Do Beachbody Coaches Do?
As a Beachbody coach, you need to help people reach their fitness goals and at the same time sell them the right Beachbody product or fitness program.
You're going to earn commissions and bonuses when you introduce new members to the Beachbody products.
How Much Does it Cost to Become a Coach?
If you want to make money as a Team Beachbody coach, there are some costs involved.
I'm going to breakdown for you the prices down below.
The Sign up Fee ($39.95 then $15.95 a Month)
To get started as a Team Beachbody coach you need to pay a one-time fee of $39.95.
After 30 days you will be automatically billed $15.95 every month.
With the sign up fee & the monthly fee you will get:
- The Team Beachbody Coach welcome book.
- Access to your Coach online office for 30 days.
- A personalized coach website.
- Tools to manage your business.
No MLM or Recruiting Involved!
The Beachbody Compensation Plan
Below I'm going to give you a quick overview so I can help you understand the Beachbody compensation plan quickly.
To make money with Team Beachbody you need to become a coach right? If you want to make more money, you will need to go up in rankings and levels.
Teambeach body has 4 Beachbody coach levels.
The higher your coach level is, the more you're going to earn.
So here are the Beachbody coach levels and also the commission breakdown of each level.
Team Beachbody Coach Levels & How Much They Earn
Level 1 - Active BeachBody Coach
So the Active Beachbody coach is the first rank you achieve.
A Quick Note!
Please note that an "active" Beachbody coach is different than the normal coach.
The normal Beachbody coach is the person who has recently signed up and paid the $39.95 and the $15.95 monthly fee.
But to achieve the Active Beachbody Coach level, you need to sell something worth 50 PV (personal volume) which is a product that is worth at least $55 or more.
The average Active Beachbody Coach earns $449 a year which is not a lot in my opinion.
Level 2 - Emerald Coach
To be an Emerald Coach, you need to recruit 2 active coaches.
When you recruit coaches, they will be called PS which means personally sponsored coaches.
By the time you become an Emerald Coach, you will earn more bonuses when your coaches purchase the Beachbody products.
The Average Emerald Coach earns $3,065 a year which is a bit worrying if you ask me.
Level 3 - Ruby Coach
If you want to become a Ruby Coach and increase your earnings, then you want to recruit and sponsor two Emerald Coaches.
You will earn the same customer leads and also the same team bonuses as an Emerald coach.
But on top of that, you will earn 5% of whatever your sponsored Emerald coaches earn plus 5% of weekly team cycle bonus.
The average Ruby coach earns $10,271 a year.
Level 4 - Diamond Coach
The diamond coach is the highest paid Beachbody coach with an average salary of $109,229 a year.
To become a diamond coach, you need to sponsor one diamond coach.
Diamond coaches enjoy higher weekly team cycle bonuses and more elite bonuses.
Within the diamond coach level, there are more rankings for you to reach to increase your earnings which include:
- 2-star diamond Beachbody coach
- 3-start diamond coach
- all the way up to the 10-star diamond coach
I'm not going to go into more details on how these diamond coaches earn because it can confuse you. If you want to learn everything about the Team Beachbody compensation plan aka pay plan, I invite you to watch the video below:
Want to Earn "Delicious" Affiliate Commissions?
How to Be a Successful Beachbody Coach
Below you will read some quick Beachbody coaching tips that you should follow if you want to succeed in this business.
- Learn Online Marketing (invest in a good course)
- Adopt the right mentality (the entrepreneur mentality)
- Be patient and work hard without giving up when things get tough.
If you want to master the art of recruiting Beachbody coaches then I highly recommend you to learn the following:
- SEO
- How to Start a blog
- Facebook Ads (buying traffic/visitors from Facebook)
- Email Marketing
- Youtube marketing
If you master these skills I mentioned above, you will learn how to create a blog where you attract lots of visitors that eventually will convert into Beachbody coaches.
If you want to master these skills I highly recommend you to check out My #1 Recommendation.
With that out of the way, I'd like to talk about some Beachbody problems, concerns and ugly red flags that I've found during my research.
Beachbody Problems, Red Flags & Concerns
#1 - Is Beachbody a Pyramid Scheme?
Lots of people are asking if Beachbody is a pyramid scheme or not.
But before answering this question let's first look at the definition of a pyramid scheme.
So this is the definition of pyramid scheme by the FTC.
When a company is all about recruiting and the revenue generated is coming from recruitments only and not from real sales of goods, then it's a pyramid scheme.
So that means Team Beachbody is not a pyramid scheme.
Why is Beachbody Not a Pyramid Scheme?
Because Beachbody does not rely on recruiting alone, this is just part of their business.
Beachbody does sell real products (fitness programs & nutrition plans) to real people that are actually interested in buying them.
When a company sells real products and recruiting is just part of their business then it's not a pyramid scheme but an MLM (Multi-level- marketing) scheme.
Pyramid schemes are illegal, but MLM's are legal. However, they are NOT the best business opportunity I'd recommend though.
I personally prefer affiliate marketing because it's more profitable & cheaper!
In fact, I earn a 4- figure monthly income thanks to Affiliate Marketing!
#2 - Questionable Ingredients & High Prices
Let's take Shakeology as an example. This product costs $129.95 for 30 services.
So you need to pay $129.95 every single month just for Shakeology.
In my opinion, this is so expensive and remember this is just one product.
If you want to follow the whole Beachbody program, you'll need to spend at least $800 a month.
BUT THE WORST PART IS...
I have read several complaints about the Beachbody products and their ingredients.
For example, Shakeology contains Folic Acid.
I'm no nutritionist, but I have read different studies saying that supplements that contain Folic Acid lead to cancer.
You can read these studies in the following links.
Here's a full review of Shakeology by a certified Nutritionist Consultant where she says that Shakeology is not safe nor healthy with proof.
#3 - How Much Does a Beachbody Coach Make?
As I said earlier, the Beachbody coaches are divided into 4 levels.
You want to increase your Beachbody coaching level if you want to increase your earnings.
So let's see again the 4 Beachbody Coaching levels and how much they make.
- Active Beachbody Coach - Earns $449 a year in average.
- Ruby Coach - $3,065 a year in average
- Emerald Coach - $10,271 a year in average
- Diamond Coach - $109,229 a year in average
Now, these average earnings get updated every year. You can always refer to the Beachbody Income Disclosure statement on their website.
As you can see if you want to earn a considerable salary you need to position yourself as a diamond coach which comes with tons of expenses as you would expect.
In my opinion, the Beachbody coach income potential is low and at the same time is very expensive!
I personally earn +$40k/year at the age of 24.
I only needed to pay $49/month to go full-time!
#4 - High Turnover Rates
High turnover rates are very common in MLM's. So people initially get very excited about the business opportunity because it looks very exciting and profitable.
But only to realize it's VERY hard and so expensive. Well, it's worth saying that most people think making money is easy or something like that.
Team Beachbody looks like a great opportunity because you can workout and make money at the same time. It's advertised very well.
But unfortunately, this results in high turnover rates because after a few months people realize it's not that exciting.
Especially when you see the costs involved...
#5 - The Team Beach Body Opportunity is Expensive!
I talked about how much money the Team Beachbody coaches earn right?
Do you remember that the diamond coaches are the only coaches who earn a reliable income while the other coaches earn less than 10k a year?
Well, to become a diamond coach is VERY hard and just a small percentage of the Beachbody coaches can become a diamond coach.
I'm not saying this to discourage you, you know everything is possible with hard work.
But just like any typical MLM, not most people are making money but only the ones on the top are making money (in this case the diamond coaches).
To become a diamond coach, you should be spending $1,000 a month buying the Beachbody products so you know VERY WELL how the Beachbody products work.
And also to show your clients demos and stuff to convince them to buy.
So the team Beachbody opportunity is very expensive.
Remember that I did not mention the costs to buy leads and traffic.
My website brings me over 1k visitors a day that's over 30k visits a month.
Thanks to my website I can make money converting my visitors into leads that make me a reliable income every month.
Now I earn over $3k a month without a degree or any special knowledge.
My site attracts over 1k visitors a day
#6 - The Beachbody Lawsuit
Lots of people have complained about the automatic renewal system that Beachbody had going on.
So people would get their credit card charged every month without any notice.
This resulted into a lawsuit against Beachbody where the latter had to pay over $3 million.
But looks like the Santa Monica based company has disabled their automatic renewal systems after the lawsuit.
Good Things About Beachbody
#1 - Good BBB Rating
Beachbody has lots of complaints on their BBB page. But the good part is they worked very hard to solve those complaints.
That's what legitimate companies do. As I'm writing this Beachbody has a +A rating and it's been accredited by the BBB since 2002.
#2 - Beachbody is a Reputable Company
Most MLM companies would last a few years and then disappear. That's not the case with Beachbody because they have been around for a long time.
So this means that they are a pretty reputable company. It's also worth mentioning that Beachbody spends $122 million doing infomercials on tv.
#3 - Great Challenge Groups
Challenge groups are groups of workout and fitness enthusiasts that challenge and motivate each other every day.
This is an amazing thing because together by learning from each other you just grow and reach your goals faster.
So Is Beachbody a Scam?
Let's conclude this Beachbody Review by answering this question! Beachbody is a legitimate business and their MLM program Team Beachbody is legit as well.
This is a well-respected company that offers good fitness products. But in my opinion, the business opportunity is expensive and the earning potential is low.
Just 2% of their coaches make a full-time income which is not a good sign because only people on the top make money while the lower levels are struggling.
If you are truly determined to earn money from home, check out my top recommendation below!
Thank you so much for reading my "Is Beachbody A Scam?" review! If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below!
This is How I Make Money from Home...
Personally, I don't like MLM's because they are naturally VERY expensive and not so profitable!
Moreover, I tried MLM's but when I discovered affiliate marketing I never went back them!
I highly recommend affiliate marketing because:
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Hello. A Good Review. Learned about what is a pyramid scheme (heard of it by name only). Also learned about what an MLM company is.
Well it’s obviously not worth it. Better go with affiliate marketing. It’s cheaper and it’s enjoyable if you like working from home. I joined WA and i’m in second month. Didn’t make any profit yet but if i build on what i learn, things will start to snowball (after maybe 3 months).
Hi George, thanks for visiting yes Wealthy Affiliate is great training to learn affiliate marketing and it’s the same I’ve using and had success with.
Thanks again.
Anis
Thanks for this detailed review on the Team Beachbody the first that caught my eye was that the owner was not known this sends alarm bells ringing straight away. I must admit the products do seem very expensive and darn near impossible to sell, but like you say their focus is on recruiting which in turn swings it towards the pyramid scheme bracket. It’s just a shame that people still get drawn in with the promise of earning big money. So good to see that you are creating a great business in the affiliate marketing space something I am aiming to do. I will watch your site for more great information
Thanks for your comment and feedback Martin!
Hi and thanks for this heads up. I can’t stand how some unscrupulous people are so underhand in their marketing tactics. Clearly this is just another MLM scheme that doesn’t really have anything of value to offer new members apart from its referral scheme.
I hope that as many readers as possible stay right away from this site and concentrate to legitimate business opportunities. Thanks, Kenny
Hi Kenny, I don’t think Beachbody does not offer any value, they are a legitimate business but in my opinion affiliate marketing is better and more rewarding.
So happy to come across a review for BeachBody! I have known about this company for quite a few years as I lived in Southern California in the late 90’s early 2000’s when they were really picking up steam, so I have been surprised at the amount of people that are hustling and pushing “coaching” for this company all these years later. I personally have an issue with a company that uses the wording “coach” when these people are really product pushers and not actually helping. Of course, kudos to a brand that found a way to stay relevant for almost 30 years.
Hey Sara, yeah they have been around for a long time and that’s a good sign, but I also don’t like the fact they call their distributions coaches when they have no fitness qualifications.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Anis
Thecoaches are not trainers; the fitness workouts have those. BB never says the coaches are trainers! The coaches help people achieve their goals, support them, encourage them, provide them tools. Maybe mentor is a better term?
Thanks for sharing your opinion with us Sandra, highly appreciate it!