Is Mannatech a scam or isn’t it? Many have applied the “scam” label to this health and wellness MLM company over the years, but is the label deserved or not?
Let’s take a closer look and find out….
If you’re sick of all the scams out there, click below…
Company Name: Mannatech
Founder: Samuel L. Caster
Price To Join: $49.99/Year + a Starter Kit
My Rating: 3/10
~ The Mannatech Review ~
What Is Mannatech?
Mannatech hit the marketplace with its health and wellness supplements back in 1993 and the MLM company is even listed on NASDAQ.
The company has had its problems over the years, with a number of lawsuits filed against them and various other complaints. However, they continue to survive in the world of multi level marketing despite all the legal issues and the unfounded health claims they make about their expensive range of products.
In fact, some distributors have even made the statement that some of the Mannatech products can even cure cancer.
That’s one hell of a statement to make, and one that’s bound to breed controversy for the company.
As a business opportunity I don’t believe it’s a great fit. Anyone who regularly visits my site knows I’m not a fan of the MLM business model, and to get involved in one that promotes the way over-saturated health and wellness niche will just lead to frustration.
If you want to make more sales and recruit more people, then having your own website will really help. It’s way easier than you think. Just check out the free training at Wealthy Affiliate to learn how.
The Mannatech Products
The main push, or message, of the Mannatech product range is to nourish the world with Real Food Technology, helping to fight global malnutrition. The base ingredient for many of their products is called “Ambrotose”, that is said to improve the body’s immune system by enhancing cell to cell communication.
Their nutritional supplement and product range includes:
- Weight loss and fitness supplements
- Skincare range
- Integrated health & targeted health supplements
- Essential oils
So many MLM companies are in the supplement/health and wellness niche, it’s becoming overwhelming. I assume they choose this niche because it’s such a hot market these days, however there truly is a glut of wellness products on the market. Way too many.
Because of market demand, whether the company selling health products is MLM or not, the prices of these types of products are sky high. This means massive profit margins. In the case of MLM, just the very nature of the business structure and distributorship demands even higher price tags to compensate the distribution network. As an example with Mannatech it costs around $60 for a nutritional shake.
Mannatech’s Business Opportunity
Like I’ve mentioned, selling anything the MLM way is going to be hard work, but made that much harder in a niche as competitive as Mannatech’s. You need to recruit like crazy, as most of your money making opportunities will rely on building a healthy and active downline.
Once joining Mannatech as a distributor and buying your starter kit, your next task is to start getting other people interested in joining as well. This may involve targeting the people you already know, or possibly even setting up appointments with people you don’t know through internet leads, social media posting and advertising. Generally your sponsor will assist you on the first few appointments until you know how to sell the business as well as the products.
Personally I hate recruiting in that way, and there are many other ways to make money without the need to constantly recruit in order to generate an income.
Most people fail at MLM for this very reason, and even those that make some money only average around $500 profit per year.
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The Mannatech Compensation Plan
To help explain what can often be a rather complicated business setup, Mannatech have graced us with a 16 page PDF that explains the compensation plan in detail, as well as a video.
Some of the ways you can earn as a Mannatech distributor include:
- Direct Bonus
- Generation Direct Bonus
- Personal Power Bonus
- Automatic Order Bonus
- Team Bonus
- Team Development Bonus
- Leadership Development Bonus
- Presidential Development Bonus
- Lifestyle Bonus
- Silver and Gold Presidential Bonus
- Platinum Presidential Global Bonus
Some of the membership levels you can aspire to are as follows:
- Regional Director
- National Director
- Executive Director
- Bronze Presidential Director
- Silver Presidential Director
- Gold Presidential Director
- Platinum Presidential Director
Lawsuits and Legal Problems
One lawsuit was in Texas, where Mannatech were required to pay over $7 million because its distributors were making outlandish claims that Mannatech products could cure autism and cancer.
In another case in 2004 the nude photo of a child suffering from Tay-Sachs disease – a condition that causes progressive damage to brain cells – was used by Mannatech to promote its products. Mannatech made the claim that their nutritional supplements has actually helped the child, when in fact the child died shortly after taking Mannatech supplements.
In 2007 Mannatech was sued for more false claims that their “sugar pills” could once again cure cancer, as well as Down Syndrome.
There have been more controversies and legal battles throughout the turbulent life of the Mannatech MLM company, but yet it and its founder continue to live on and fight another day.
Target Audience
The health and wellness niche is popular because there is so much focus on living a healthy lifestyle in the modern world. People are also looking for ways to either supplement their income, or replace their current income with a new opportunity. MLM seems like the obvious choice for many because the business is already established.
What I Like
- Mannatech has been in business for a long time
- Somehow they seem to survive against all the odds and criticism thrown their way
What I Don’t Like
- They make some outrageous health claims regarding their products
- Research has shown that their base ingredient is much like sugar
- Any MLM scheme is a very hard way to make money
- The health and wellness niche is super saturated
- Mannatech products are extremely expensive
- The company has faced many legal battles and controversies over the years
- Most Mannatech distributors fail within their first year
How Much Does Mannatech Cost?
We’ve already discussed that the prices of the products are super expensive, but the costs don’t stop there. If you want to be a distributor for Mannatech, you need to pay an annual fee of $49.99 as well as purchase one of their starter kits.
Here are the prices, current at the time of this writing:
- Basic Kit = $99 to $169
- All Star Kit = $499
- Premium All Star Kit = $999
No doubt you will need to spend on other things to promote the products and the opportunity, such as paid advertising, creating a website, promoted social media posts and so on.
Is Mannatech a Scam?
I don’t think Mannatech is any more of a scam than any other health an wellness multi level marketing operation. It’s a legit company with real products. The problems have all arisen because of the health claims made by Mannatech and is distributors. Without the crazy claims they probably would have travelled along largely unscathed.
As a business opportunity, however, I don’t recommend it. You would likely make more money from doing paid online surveys in the comfort of your living room, although I don’t recommend that either.
Don’t Like MLM? Why Not Try Affiliate Marketing?
What I do recommend is starting an online business; affiliate marketing in particular. My online business brings in over 5 figures in income every month. If I can do it, anyone can. It costs virtually nothing to try. All you really need is to be shown the right way to go about it, and that’s where quality training comes in.
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Darren Burton
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