Hello! Welcome to my "Is Valentus A Pyramid Scheme?" review! (Updated for 2022)
Were you just introduced to Valentus wherein you can get products to help you lose weight and at the same time, earn money? Well, you better hold it right there before making any decisions!
It is very important to make some research first before you join any companies or businesses like that. Is Valentus legit or a scam? Or is Valentus a pyramid scheme?
You are about to find out the truth behind this company! So without any further ado, let's get started.
Is Valentus A Pyramid Scheme : Quick Summary
Name: EB Formula
Website: https://www.valentus.com/
Founder: Dave Jordan
Type: Health and Wellness MLM
Price: $20, $59.95 to $1199.95 product pack, 50-100 BV points every month to be active = $60 to $120 every month
Rating: 1/5
Recommended? No
More...
What is Valentus?
Let's get some background information about Valentus before anything else. What is it?
Valentus is a Multi-level marketing company in the Health and Wellness industry. It is known to provide coffee products which can help you face your problem of losing weight.
It may sound great at this point. However, it's owner, Dave Jordan who started Valentus in 2014, had experience with other MLM companies that had bad reputations. Some of them are LiveSmart, Waiora and Melaleuca.
Valentus also promises you a work-from-home oppportunity through its MLM program. You will be compensated for selling Valentus products and recruiting people into it. More information about this later on.
Dave Jordan of Valentus
Dave Jordan is the founder and CEO of Valentus. According to him, a leader must lead through example; however, as what is said earlier he had some bad experiences with some company. What that might say about him is up to your interpretation.
However, Dave Jordan has promised to lead Valentus with passion, commitment, and enthusiasm to helping others.
How does Valentus work?
Like I said earlier, Valentus follows the MLM business model. It produces health and wellness products for its customers.
Moreover, to save money on marketing and advertising, it provides a job opportunity for anyone who wants to sell their products. So it is a win-win situation.
Why waste your time on MLMs, selling products and recruiting people when you can do this method?
With this one, you can have a 4-figure monthly income without paying for any products!
Is Valentus A Pyramid Scheme : Valentus Products
Now, let's have a brief information about Valentus Products. There is a wide range of health and wellness products available in this MLM company. Here are the main product lines of Valentus.
Although these products sound good, you should take into consideration that there are a lot of MLM companies out there that offer similar products.
Healthline even stated that these products have huge claims but provide less evidence of being effective.
In fact, most MLM companies are into the health and wellness niche! Some of them are Ariix, Vyvo, Jeunesse and Zurvita.
So if you are a distributor or seller of Valentus products, you will have a difficult time to look for buyers since other distributors from different MLMs are doing the same thing!
You might be wondering if there is something that separates Valentus from its competitors. Of course there is. Valentus' flagship product.
Flagship Product - Valentus SlimROAST Coffee
As you can see above, this product has huge claims about helping you lose weight, reduce your appetite and weight management. To actually find out if this is true, I searched up reviews about this product in Amazon.
The most common complaints that I found there are the following:
- Tastes bad
- Weight loss is not effective
- Very expensive
There were also positive reviews in Amazon. The most common ones are:
- Helped in reducing appetite
- Effective but expensive
- Tastes nice
As you can see, the main concern is how expensive it is. We will go through that later and why it is actually bad for you.
Can you make money with Valentus?
The short answer is yes, you can make money with Valentus. You will be compensated for selling the products. However, one thing that distributors will realize when it is already too late is that it is very difficult to earn.
Apart from that, it is too expensive and you will have monthly expenses to pay for. If you are not fond of selling and not hardworking enough, you will likely lose money rather than earn.
This goes to other MLM companies too. Studies found out that between 73% and 99.9% of MLM distributors lose money. So you should proceed at your own risk! Also, reading reviews such as this one is a really big help.
How to make money with Valentus?
If you are still interested in joining Valentus, here is how you can earn money with it! As an MLM, there are 2 main ways to be compensated.
- Sell Valentus products
- Recruit people to join Valentus and earn from their sales
Take note that you will not be compensated by simply recruiting people. You can only earn through their own sales. This is the reason why Valentus is not a pyramid scheme. However, there is still a chance of it being a pyramid scheme in disguise!
I shall explain this later.
How to join Valentus?
To join you must pay for a one-time membership fee that costs $20. No annual fees. Afterwards, you will then be encouraged to purchase one of the product packs shown above.
Each pack has different products that you can sell or personally use. However, that's not all of the expenses you will have!
Monthly Cost
This won't really be disclosed immediately to you. But there are monthly costs that you are required to pay for. Moreover, this is very common to all MLMs out there.
To be eligible to earn bonuses and commissions, you must become an "active" distributor. To do that, you must meet the required monthly Bonus Volume (BV). You can see the equivalent BV in the picture above based on your rank.
If we translate 50 BV - 100 BV into English words, that means that you need to sell at least $60 to $120 worth of products monthly.
If you fail to sell them within a month, you have no choice but to purchase them yourself. Otherwise, your account will be suspended without even notifying you.
With that, let's calculate your expenses for the 1st year of joining Valentus to really give you an overview.
- $20 - membership fee
- $59.95-$1,199.95 - product packs
- $60 x 12 - monthly BV
Total expenses for 1st year = $799.95 to $1,939.95
This is still the mininum expenses that you will be making because there are more stuff that you will need to pay for. Some of them is marketing, packaging materials and training.
With this Program I can make money without buying any products, I just promote other people products and earn commissions.
I don't have to recruit or hard sell.
This business is a lot more profitable than MLM and a lot cheaper to start!
Valentus Compensation Plan
In my years of reviewing MLM companies, I have noticed that their compensation plans are so difficult to understand. It is just to make people believe that they can earn a lot of money easily.
However, there are just 2 main ways to do it: sell products and recruit people. With that being said, I will do my best to simplify the Valentus Compensation Plan.
- Retail Commissions – 25 to 40% on retail to wholesale depending on purchased pack size
- Fast Start Bonus – Up to $100
- Legacy Coded Bonus – $100
- Dual Team Commissions – Up to $100,000 every week
- Dual Team Matching Bonus – 7 levels starting at 20%
- 1% Global Volume Shared Enrollment Pool
- Vehicle Bonus – $400-$3000 every month
They also have a wholesale customer program where every customer order is paid out in fast start and binary/duel team.
The pictures above looks confusing, right? Again, no need to worry. Always remember that there are just 2 ways to earn money with Valentus.
- Sell Valentus products
- Recruit people and earn from their sales
Valentus Lawsuit
There are no lawsuits in which Valentus has been a part of; however, the FDA has served them a warning letter. This warning letter talks about some Valentus products which Valentus described as drugs in their website.
Furthermore, the FDA stated that some products like the Valentus PrevailMAX and Valentus Prevail eMULIN C have been not generally recognized as safe and effective for the claimed and referenced uses.
This warning letter has been served in 2020 and according to the FDA in their closeout letter in 2021, Valentus has made changes in accordance with the warning letter.
Read more about the warning letter here.
Valentus Coffee Scandal
The New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority (MEDSAFE) has issued a warning against the consumption of one of Valentus' products in 2019. Their Valentus SlimROAST Optimum Dark Roast Coffee has been deemed unfit for consumption.
A test conducted by MEDSAFE has found that the product contains methylhexanamine (DMAA) and phenethylamine. In addition, MEDSAFE has said that this ingredients have "amphetamine-like" characteristics such as:
- Cardiovascular effects - Increased heart rate and blood pressure.
- Agitation and Psychological Effects
- Neurological Effects
In conclusion, the effects that you might be feeling from consuming this products could possibly be not because you are feeling well, but because of the effects of the drugs you are unknowingly consuming. Yikes!
You can read more about the warning here.
Is Valentus A Scam?
Valentus is not a scam. It offers products and at the same time, it does pay its distributors just like it claims to do.
However, this does not mean that joining Valentus is the best option for you! It is very difficult to earn money and you will be paying for a lot of things. Moreover, it is an MLM, meaning, it has a low income potential.
Is Valentus A Pyramid Scheme?
Let's get to know what is a pyramid scheme first. It is a business model where the only way to earn money is through recruiting people. There are no products and selling involved.
Although this sounds simpler, earning money is harder. In fact, pyramid schemes are illegal and are shut down immediately by the FTC when exposed. They are very unsustainable and only the owners can benefit.
So, is Valentus a pyramid scheme? Technically, it is not since it offers products. However, it can be a pyramid scheme in disguise. As you can see, there is a monthly sales quota that you need to meet.
But it is difficult to sell due to the fact that Valentus has a lot of competitors. To be able to recover from your expenses and to cover for your monthly BV, you will resort to recruiting people to have a decent income.
Now, let's get into the Valentus pros and cons.
Is Valentus A Pyramid Scheme : Pros
#1 Positive Product Reviews
The only pro we have here are a couple of positive product reviews like the one below. If there are people who actually like the products, then that could increase your chances of finding buyers slightly. They are also highly rated in Trustpilot with a rating of 4.4 out of 5 based on 289 reviews.
Is Valentus A Pyramid Scheme : Cons
#1 It is on a downward trend
Since Valentus was founded in 2014, it is now in a downward trend. Meaning, less people are getting interested and searching it.
In fact, most MLMs will fail and disappear after 10 years since its creation. People tend to opt for the newer MLM companies.
#2 Hidden monthly costs
If you didn't notice, Valentus' biggest customers are the distributors themselves. They have a monthly sales quota. Failing to meet them will lead to purchasing the products themselves.
This is something that won't be revealed when you are being recruited. The products are overpriced and they are additional expenses for you. In fact, a lot of distributors complained about this, like the one below.
#3 Expensive products
I made some comparisons between the Valentus coffee and similar coffee products.
As you can see, the Valentus coffee is way more expensive. This is a strategy that most pyramid schemes in disguise do. Since it is harder to sell the products because they are expensive, distributors will then resort to recruiting people!
#4 No income disclosures and huge claims
Most MLMs actually do provide income disclosure statements to have transparency. However, Valentus does not!
Moreover, Valentus makes huge claims that are not even true. Any businesses will always have ups and downs. But according to Valentus...
#5 Pyramid scheme in disguise
Lastly, there is a huge chance of it being a pyramid scheme in disguise. I have already given you the red flags!
This is already a sign that you should avoid Valentus. There are a lot more better ways for you to work from home! You can check out my top recommendation at the bottom of this review.
Final Verdict
To conclude this "Is Valentus A Pyramid Scheme?" review, let me give my final verdict.
Personally, I believe that Valentus does want to help people with their health and wellness, especially weight loss. However, the products are just expensive compared to the alternatives.
As for the MLM, I do not recommend it because of the low income potential and the costs. Moreover, any MLMs that behave like pyramid schemes in disguise will always be a difficult place to earn money!
So you should always proceed at your own risk if you want to try it out. I hope this Valentus Review helped you.
Thank you so much for reading my "Is Valentus A Pyramid Scheme?" review! If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below!
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