MonaVie: Scam or not?
The scheme: Typical multi-level marketing company, using the guise of “direct sales” to make the business look like a legitimate retail venture. The reality is that it’s nothing more than a recruiting scheme like Usana, Mary Kay, Arbonne, PrePaid Legal, Primerica, Herbalife, United First Financial, and so many other companies that make big promises to members, but provide little actual reward to 99%.
The founder: Dallin Larsen founded MonaVie. He used to work for Usana Health Sciences, and actually helped found Usana. He helped grow the associates to 70,000 and helped make up the compensation plan. Then he ditched out and started his own company
The product: Acai berry juice plus other fruit juices. I like to call this “magic berry juice.” It supposedly cures whatever ails you and there’s never been anything quite like it on the market. If you study multi-level marketing companies, you will see that one very common characteristic is some unique/special product that is hard to find and has never been offered before. It typically has magical powers and is so powerful that it justifies a high retail price. In reality, the high prices are not because the products are so good, but because there are so many levels of the pyramid which must be paid commission.
The cost: A bottle of the berry juice runs around $40. If you drink the recommended amounts, the bottle will last you about a week, which means the cost is about $5.71 a day. That’s an expensive way to get your vitamins. Excessively so.
The compensation: Here is the detail to the MonaVie compensation plan. Like a typical MLM, it’s got a complicated points – commission – points – bonus – override – incentive system. You build two legs to your downline, and qualify for commission based on the shorter leg. That longer leg? Too bad. Bonuses stop wherever the shorter leg ends. You can usually be sure of one thing in MLMs: The more complicated the pay plan, the less it benefits the members. And oooh… you can have up to “four business centers.” That means more purchases of products by you in order to get your commissions!
The product scam: There are apparently no scientific studies that prove the alleged benefits of the MonaVie juice. There’s no denying that there is nutritional value to the juice, just like any other juice. It’s the extraordinary health benefits claimed that are suspect. (Of course, the company disclaims any knowledge of cures claimed by the “independent” distributors.)
The recruiting scam: As with other MLMs, the company’s focus appears to be on recruiting, rather than retailing the product. Of course, the product is integral to the scheme. Without it, MonaVie could easily be called a pyramid scheme. With the product, we’re not supposed to identify the company as an endless chain recruiting scheme or pyramid scheme. And until the FTC decides to enforce the laws against pyramiding, many will believe that a company like MonaVie is perfectly legal and legitimate.
The commission scam: In order to qualify for commissions, a distributor must order at least 4 bottles of juice per month, which amounts to about $130 plus shipping and taxes. This is a common part of the MLM game: You can’t get your commissions unless you buy a minimum amount of their products. MLM supporters say “Well of course you’ll be selling the products so that minimum purchase isn’t a problem.” The truth is that very little actual retailing goes on in these companies because consumers are smart. The required purchases are usually not sold to a legitimate retail customer.
Saul – Unfortunately, you’re completely wrong. Success in MLM is not proportionate to the effort one puts into it. 99% of people involved in MLMs lose money. (See http://www.pyramidschemealert.org for more about this statistic.) Millions of people have put a lot of effort and work into MLM ventures, but have still lost money. Why? The MLM system is broken, and it does not offer an opportunity to make money for 99% of people.
I got a headache the first time I drank this stuff.
I just sat through a demonstration of this product. It actually sounded ok at first, until the “distributor” went into all his conspiracy theories about MD’s being “indoctrinated” (in other words, he’s smarter than his doctor) and tried explaining the inordinately complex compensation scheme.
I’m sure there will be MonaVie defenders to “bash” me, but anyone who gets involved with this company is a chump. I have spoken.
Hey everyone go to wikipedia and do a search on monavie. Scroll down to the bottom and there will be a link to the new Income Disclosure Statement for 2008. 99% of all the distributors for 2008 will make less than $19000 for the year. SCAM SCAM SCAM.
Is this Mona VIe approved by the FDA?
As long as they don’t make medical claims, they don’t need FDA approval. It’s just juice. So what they do is tell distributors that they’re not allowed to make medical claims like “it cures diabetes” but they ARE allowed to “tell their personal story” like “it cured my diabetes.” That way it’s not a medical claim, it’s just my personal story of what happened to me.
Tracy,
You wrote “…but they ARE allowed to “tell their personal story” like “it cured my diabetes.” That way it’s not a medical claim, it’s just my personal story of what happened to me.”
That is not entirely true, at least in the case of USANA. A customer is allowed to make any personal claim they want. However, if they are a distributor selling the product, they are not allowed to give a personal testimonial such as one that claims the product cured them.
See the following Policy of USANA’s that restricts their distributors from making any kind of medical claim:
https://www.usana.com/media/File/Training%20page/BDS%20files/policies%20and%20pro/US-CEN-Policies%20Procedures.pdf
3.4.1 Product Claims
USANA Associates may not make claims that USANA products have
therapeutic or curative properties except those contained in official USANA
literature. In particular, no Associates may make any claim that USANA
products are useful in the cure, treatment, diagnosis, mitigation, or prevention
of any diseases. Such statements can be perceived as medical or drug
claims. Not only are such claims violative of the Associate Agreement, but
they also violate the laws and regulations of the United States, Canada, and
other jurisdictions.
I wasn’t clear – I’ve been told that the official literature prohibits medical claims, but the telling of the personal story is the wink and nudge to get around that.
It’s so funny to read blogs like this. People crack me up always talking about things don’t work or it’s a scam. I own a Jani King franchise and I have been in business for 13 years and have built a huge cleaning company.
I had several people come to me and ask me about purchasing a franchise and I explain to them that it is going to require work, a lot of effort and time and that you will not make money for 2 to 3 years.
These people, who all have an employee mentality, meaning that they work one month in their business and expect to make a profit right out the gate. None of the folks are in business because they think like employees, have short term thinking and no vision.
And because no of them had any of these things, they all failed! So what’s the first thing they do, bad mouth a multi million dollar company and say stupid things like, Jani King doesn’t work, Jani King is a scam, Jani King is this.
I recently became a Mona Vie business owner and after 3 months of getting out there and working MY business and not expecting to be rich after 3 days, I can say that Mona Vie is like any other business, if you but forth the effort and you have long term thinking, then it will work for you too! And if it doesn’t then look in the mirror for the answer why it didn’t!
Rick, Mona Vie is not a drug, it is a food so it doesn’t have to be approved by the FDA.
This Monavie craze is just completely insane. Why sell a product through an MLM? They say it’s all about the people right? It’s all about promoting a healthy lifestyle right? Well then why do they put something terrible like Sodium Benzoate in the product? For those that don’t know what Sodium Benzoate is it’s been linked to Parkinson’s disease and other Neurodegenerative diseases. But they really care about your health and not just making a quick buck off of you. Sodium Benzoate can also form benzene, a known carcinogen, when combined with guess what VITAMIN C. But I’m sure that I’m just being negative right?
As for the company Dallin Larson had his last scam shut down by the FDA for making false health claims. He learned a few lessons from that and moved on to his current scam Monavie. ANYONE who involves themself in a MLM is suspect in my opinion. But to prey on sick people and provide them with false hope about the benefits they’ll see from a product that can actually have a serious detriment to your overall health is just sad and completely immoral. When a company like Coca Cola, which clearly isn’t all that concerned about health, removes Sodium Benzoate from their products it has to make you wonder why a “healthy lifestyle” company like Monavie continues to use it. My brain tells me it’s because they don’t care at all about your health. They just want to get their hand in your pocket and take as much money from you as possible.
I urge anyone who knows someone involved in this nasty scam to try and get them to get out of it. The diehards are pretty brainwashed as you can tell by some of the comments in this thread but at least you’ll know you tried.
Wow lots of debate on a mlm group that is here today and gone tommrow, its a buisness model that makes the owner and a select few on top make a quick buck. The people that choose to get envoled and invest time & money into any kind of home buisness better do there home work first. The first thing I did was type “mona vie scam” into google.
Then I used common sense and looked up all facts talked about in all the blogs. I am tryig the drink my self right now its on the ACIDIC side but I wonder what kinda of chemicals must be added to the bottels of mona vie to insure the juice does not go bad before it reaches the consumer.
I am sure this juice has some health benifits but the preservatives that have been added to this juice has greatly reduced the health benifits to the consumer and for the price they ask I am glade I got this bottles for free.
I have choosen not to try this buisness model reason one to much bad NEWS on the internet Reason two its about to bottom out the ones that got in the first year made some money but now there is to much bad news out there.
JGO
You peepul are all full of it. Monavie is the best oppertunity in America today. Acia juice cannot be found anywhere like it is in Monavie. It’s a bargain at any price (it even cures cancer). I’ve got my upline working like you wouldn’t beleev and I’m going to be a champion. Monavie gives back, too. The biggest pyramid scheme out there is Corperit America, not Monovie.
Frank… learn how to spell.
Wow Frank, wow. Cures cancer huh? What Galen said. Read a book buddy and smarten up.
My brother has been selling MonaVie for over a year now. He called me to pitch a great “investment” opportunity, which turned out to be this MLM scheme. He encouraged me to research the company, which I did extensively. Foolishly, I thought he wanted my honest feedback. When I got back to him with my findings however, he cut me off and told me I was “harshing his vibe” (he’s been living in Calif way too long). He then went on to tell me he was warned by his sponsors that there were a lot of “negative thinkers” out there, and not to listen to them. Wow! Telling recruits to ignore any criticism of the company or product is one heck of a huge red flag that something’s amiss.
Every now and then he’ll renew his pitch, typically after he’s attended another MonaVie “educational” seminar in Florida. The corny lines he tosses off after attending one of these revival meetings are almost comical. I’ve been in sales and marketing for over twenty years (including short-lived summer jobs promoting consumer products door-to-door), so I’ve heard them all before. They’re commonly used in sales training courses that advocate a hard sales approach – where it’s taught that the product doesn’t really matter, it’s all persistence.
Reading thru these postings (and at other sites) I see the same phrases and logic my brother uses, repeated over and over again. Naysayers are dismissed as “lazy,” it’s all about the effort you put into it, why pour your sweat into making money for other people (guess sponsors and people above you in the pyramid don’t count), etc. I humored him once and looked at his confidential distributor website (another technique that I’m sure he learned at one of his seminars), but was still unable to get a handle on how much money he or anyone else in his downstream was making. When asked a direct question about his earnings to-date, his answer is always couched in terms of his future potential and the thousands of dollars someone else is earning every month (another learned response). After a lot of pushing, he recently allowed that he’s covering the bottles he and his wife are drinking (whoopee-de-do).
Intelligence, unfortunately, does not guarantee inoculation against these types of MLM schemes. My brother’s a smart guy, ambitious, hardworking and very successful in his real career. He is hardly struggling financially; both he and his wife make multiple six-figure incomes. However, he’s always been a little bit gullible and has tried several different “entrepreneurial” opportunities in the hopes of being able to leave his stressful regular job. This gullibility, coupled with a large and active social network, makes him the perfect MonaVie candidate. Fortunately, unlike most people, he can afford the time and money he’s plowing into MonaVie without really harming his future security.
I found the link (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/pyrdalrt.shtm) to the FTC’s Consumer Alert on Multilevel Marketing informative – especially the part about distributors being responsible for the claims they make. You should hear the health benefits my brother tells me that he and his “friends” (read: sponsors, and other MV distributors) have gained from drinking the juice … eliminated my toenail fungus, increased my virility, got rid of their diabetes, even cures cancer and the common cold! MonaVie is definitely mitigating their liability by avoiding these claims in their official literature, but encouraging their distributors to share these stories among themselves and their potential customers. For me, these claims only serve to further strain the credibility of the organization.
Part II (missed copying these paragraphs on my initial posting) …
When I think of all of the MLM companies I know – Amway, MaryKay, ShoptoEarn, etc. – none of them are based on competitively (e.g., reasonably) priced products. I used to market chemicals to the personal care industry, so I know firsthand that the products sold by Amway and MaryKay are no different, in fact are usually lower grade, less expensive formulations than their competitors’ products that sell for far less. MonaVie fits that MLM criterion as well.
Lastly, I’m willing to bet some people can make money, even a lot of money, selling MonaVie, but it’s not the sure-fire, just put in the effort and it’ll happen scenario being pitched. As has been pointed out often in the above postings, only a very small percentage of people will be successful. While that can be said of many business ventures, the MLM model is structured so that these successes are disproportionally small. Also, just because you can make money at something doesn’t mean it’s ethical; after all, you can make a lot of money selling illegal drugs, or overpriced hardware and cleaning supplies (like Mechanic’s Choice) that rewards crooked corporate purchasing agents with expensive prizes depending on how much of a markup they’ll approve. The latter example is legal, but it’s still unethical. If you’re one of the true MonaVie believers, like my brother, at least you’re not facing that unethical conundrum (you’re just naïve, not dishonest).
Oh well, I’m posting this to hopefully help anyone that has recently signed up, or is thinking about selling this juice. My advice is to read everything you can find online with an objective eye, then reconsider your involvement. However, if you’re a true-believer, good luck, and yes, I know, I’m just a negative thinking, lazy corporate cog that resents the successful life you’re building for yourself.
hahaha You peepul are so jellus its not funny. If you were smart like me youd be seling Monovie. I’m going to be a chambion and they’res nothing you can say or do about it.
Frank, us peepul are so jellus its not funny! You’re gonna be a chambion and they’res nothing we can say or do about it! You’re a spelling bee champ, Frank!
Yes Frank we’re all very jealous of your scam. None of us have access to the Monavie income disclosure or are smart enough to read it and realize that over 90% of Monavie “distributors” would make more money mowing lawns. Not that there’s anything wrong with mowing lawns, at least that’s an honest line of work. But yeah I’m really jealous. I’m sure with your obviously superior mental aptitude that you’re one of the upper 5% that are actually making a decent living in this scam.
Your ansers just prove why I’m better than you. Hear I am trying to educate yer silly tails, and you just be hatin. It shows a lot of ingnerints on yore part. Monovie not only cures cancer, but acording to acter Wilferd Brimly, it cures diabetus as well. So if you loosers want to mow lawns or clean toilets, you can start with mine.
I think this Frank fella is pulling our leg. No one can spell that badly. There’s Spell Check.
Frank has to be a troll. Poe’s Law comes into play whenever someone tries to satirize fundamentalists, and MonaVie salespeople are certainly fundamentalists.
I agree and I’m fairly certain Darwin would have intervened by now if Frank was real. He can’t even spell Monavie.
I was thinking about signing up as a MonaVie Distributor. I am very greatful for this website. You do help people in making their decisions.
I had only heard good things about MonaVie and how easy it was to make money from it. They hand you magazines with all success stories in them. I decided to do some further research on line and hear some real stories about it. I was shocked! I am glad I did my homework.
It is a good product but I will not be investing my hard earned dollars into making someone else rich. I do realize now that it is a MLM Scam.
Thank you for helping me to make the right decision.
Man lots of skeptical people out there. Understandable, since there are many things out there to be skeptical about. Look I am an Emerald Executive in the company (you can look here to see what an Emerald Executive averages weekly and annually http://media.monavie.com/pdf/corporate/income_disclosure_statement.pdf). I have a unique story as far as how I got involved in with this product and company. I found this bottle of this acai berry juice while out getting lunch one day. Brought it back and loved the taste. I also did some research on the acai berry and loved the scientific studies that they were coming up with. I was drinking it daily after reading some of the articles. I have a history of cancer in my family and I had read that loading your body up with antioxidants was the way to go. Studies have shown that this little berry is loaded with antioxidants. About 7 months later I had a gentlemen give me a call. He told me there was a business behind this product. For 4 months I told him I wasn’t interested. Why? because I had no clue of what the income potential of this company was. I was thinking I had to sell bottles and cases and the potential earning was going to be $5 per bottle or something similar. When I finally went to look at the business (main reason was to finally tell him I saw it, thank you, now leave me alone), I was absolutely amazed at the business structure they created. If you build this up properly it will create a residual stream of income that will last you and your family forever. By residual stream of income I mean an income that will pay you while you are sleeping, eating dinner, watching a movie, etc., It is the opposite of active income which is working 9-5 and getting paid for the hours you put in and that is it. If you talk to any financial adviser out there they will tell you to go out and create residual income for yourself. If you have created a source of residual income then great for you, but if not then I have ne for you. To be honest I have never had more fun building my MV business. I have made some great friends that will last a lifetime. It is challenging and you will not make a tremendous amount of money overnight, but if you build it up the same way you build up a traditional business you will build something that is absolutely recession proof. What I mean by the same way you build a traditional business is let family, friends and other associates know that you are in business and give them an opportunity to see if it something that they would like to do themselves. I did this same thing when I started my mortgage business by handing out cards and calling everyone I knew to let them know what I was doing. Well the mortgage industry is not the same and I thank the person who introduced me to this business every day since it saved me from foreclosure and bankruptcy. I also thank myself every day for not listening to the negativity that comes from this forum. If I would of listened to these negative people I would not be where I am. If you are listening to these negative, uneducated (not college uneducated, but MonaVie uneducated) people then you are potentially letting a complete stranger steal your dream. Now you can do whatever you want, but I strongly suggest you take a look at something and create your own opinions rather than rely on other opinions. Please understand that scams are not studied and published in the US National Library of Medicine, but MonaVie is: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
Thanks for your time.
Does anyone have a membership ar Costco? hmm wonder if theres Executives
and shareholders and CEO’s who make money at the top every time you buy something? Grocery stores? Walmart? ect…. but we think nothing of that!
Karen! do you like the product does it does it sound like good nutrition? does it help anyone in you family? do you believe in it ? if u do then the glass is half full not empty. if you only listen to people who fail you will never succeed. it takes alot of work to be succesfull not many people are but knowone is stoping you from trying!
Go drink your dingle berry juice, Mike.
Some people are worth listening too and some are not!
your choice!
Last time I checked, none of the staff or line managers at Costco have to pay money for the priviledge of showing up for work. In fact, if they show up on time and do their job, the company GIVES THEM money! What a SCAM! LOL
Don’t listen to the haters Mike, what the mind believes can be achieved! If you really believe you can fly, you can leap from a tall building and fly. Don’t listen to the naysayers, they’ve never done it, SO HOW WOULD THEY EVEN KNOW?
Is Mona Vie worth listening to, Mike? You gonna be a millionaire, Mike? How stupid can you be?
going to to be a millionaire?? hmm ive already passed that landmark ive been self employeed for 30 years i know what it takes to get there i am 50 now. have learned through trial and eror. i got there by never blaming my failures on any anyone but myself. any one who thinks they can jump into MLM and make a living right off has another thing comming u start it off as a hobby work into it now as far as the expence hmmm i pay 167,000 a month to keep my one of my business’s running what does mona vie cost and if u use this product as a nutritional food doesnt sound like much of a expense!
if your going to own a businees you going to have expenses and the amount of mona vie probalby would make any one who knows business laugh at how little it is! you sound like a good employee stay that way! all business”s need good employees
I seriously doubt you’ve learned through trail and error. You’re with Mona Vie. Oh, what is your other business, Mark? Avon?
Wow some people have looser writen all over them! youi go ahead and have the last word! cuase i now know why people who succeed dont waiste there time blogging wont lower myself again.
My wife is looking into this. We have bottles in our house for our own consumption. Took it for a while. Nothing.
She is intelligent and has big time common sense. But I think she’s being taken on this one. I think the problem lies with a co worker. He is WICKED smart and is pushing this on co workers. Because he is so smart (not like my wifes husband)its easy to agree with his selling.
I hope I’m as stupid as she thinks I am. She rarely chances ANYTHING. I hope she doesn’t get burned the first time she tries.
Mark, it’s “loser” not “looser”. And believe me, you’ve already lowered yourself by falling for Mona Vie. You’re not smarter than a 3rd grader.
Hey thanks for the correction on the misspelling! youl make some one a good secretary!
Hey Mr. “Emerald Executive”, AKA Chad, MonaVie appears to cause problems with cognitive thinking, impairs judgment, removes all sense of humor, inflates egos, and seems to cause comprehension and reading deficiencies. I will refer you to a previous post of mine made back in July of this year. Weird how I seem to know more about MonaVie’s policies and procedures than even an “Emerald Exectutive” does. Here ya go, Chad, read ‘em and weep:
For all of you MonaVie distributors **making even one comment about MonaVie** you do realize that you are in violation of the basic policies and procedures that MonaVie has required you all to abide by…right?
Or did that somehow fly right by **all** of you?
Here is the link, be sure to read sections 5.3, 5.4, and 5.12 YOU and YOU ALONE are liable for any and all comments you make about MonaVie the business or the effects of drinking MonaVie.
http://sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Policies&Procedures_4-27-07.pdf
That includes comments on websites, blogs, chatrooms, etc. This includes comments, testimonials, redirecting to your website, and just any comment about MonaVie at all period. **Read it again if you missed it the first time.**
And if you were required to sign that agreement when you “got in”, just who do you think the FTC will be taking a look at?
And yes, I do personally know people who have had their MonaVie Scams…oops, I mean businesses, taken away from them for violating these policies. What are you going to do when that happens?
By the way, Chad, just like all of the claims made by MonaVie and their distributors, that last link you posted goes nowhere.
Got anything factual and real to show us that won’t get you kicked out of MonaVie?
Somehow I doubt it.
Chad, you stated that your family is prone to cancer. Are you insinuating that MV can cure cancer? Tell me honestly how many friends and family members have steered clear from you since you’ve started selling this elixir?
Mona Vie is known to fight inflammation. One cause of cancer is inflammation.Mona Vie doesn’t cure anything, what it does is give your body the proper nutrition to help your body do what it’s supposed to do. And that’s heal it’s self.
I tole yall that Monovie cures cancer. Same ignerint peeple be hatin.
Mona Vie doesn’t “cure” anything Frank. It gives the body proper nutrition which allows it to help “fix” it’s self. Big difference. Doctors recommend 7-10 servings of fruit everyday at this point, Mona Vie in 2 two ounce servings provides about 13. Also, it provides over 4,000 ORAC value which your body needs about 5000 a day to be at peak performance. This anti-inflammatory action is exactly why professional athletes like Joe Max Moore, Johnathan Pappalbon, and a score of others drink it on a daily basis. Because it does work. You may not “feel” it, you may not like the taste, but there is no denying the scientific facts that it is working in your body.
Us “ignerint peeple be hatin”!
Charlie,
The benefits that Monavie claims to provide can be obtained much more cheaply. I wish I had known you, and all the other Monavie “distributors” when I was selling used cars. I’d be as rich as the top man on a pyramid scheme.
No Andy that is not true. Not organically. Please explain your comment with the science behind it. I’ll listen. Besides as posted here in other peoples posts, Mona Vie makes no claims. However, our new product has claims made by the FDA for it.
Charlie,
You MonaVie “distributors” wouldn’t listen if God Himself told you that your product is an overpriced ripoff.
The only real debate about MonaVie is whether its “distributors” suffer more from confirmation bias or just plain denial.
Ahh, Andy, you’re forgetting the fundamental principle of MLMs…
They ARE listening to their god, Dallin Larsen.
And he is listening to HIS god, the almighty dollar.
Of course, they won’t see it that way right now. But after years of trying and finally realizing they’ve been scammed, they will sing the tune I’m playing for you right now.
Andy – They suffer from both, something the sweet elixir takes care of….
Play nice now. I asked for his facts, and got nothing. But I get the smack down from three people. Cool, I can deal with that. But still, where are the facts? I haven’t been scammed by anyone. I came into this business with eyes wide open. I have been involved with another MLM many years ago and swore I would never do another. I check things out very completely before I invest my time or my money. I’m sorry if some of you had some experience’s before. I’m just not having one of those. The deciding factor for me was the juice helped me. I wasn’t “conned” or scammed. The juice worked, and still does.