Is Mannatech a Pyramid Scheme? 99% Lose Money [Full Review]

Welcome to our Mannatech Review!

So, I’m going to take a punt and suggest that someone has approached you with an amazing opportunity where you can work from home and earn some extra money from a company called Mannatech?

But you’re not entirely convinced it’s all legit, and you’re even wondering… Is Mannatech a Pyramid Scheme or a Scam?

You’re in the right place to get all of the answers you need to know about this business opportunity.  The short answer is that, No, Mannatech isn’t a pyramid scheme or a scam.  But whether or not it is a good business opportunity, is a lot more complicated to answer.  But stick with me in this full review, and we will get you all you need to know…

First off, it’s great to see that you’re doing your research before buying into any “seemingly good” product.

That is how you avoid scams and find only legitimate ways to make money online!

To be completely transparent with you, we’re not associated with Mannatech in any form.

We’re not here to pitch or sell you anything.

Instead, we want to ensure you get all of the information you need to make an informed decision about whether this is the right move for you.  We’ve got stats, videos and plenty of information about Mannatech, so let’s dig right in with a product overview…

Mannatech Review Summary

Product Name: Mannatech

Founder: Samuel Caster

Product Type: Health and Wellness MLM company

Price: $49 membership + $99 for starter kit + $100-$200/monthly

Best For: People who are good at networking and recruiting

mannatech-logo

Pros

  • Proven History

Cons

  • Legal Issues
  • Expensive Products
  • Hidden Monthly Expenses
  • A Pyramid Scheme in Disguise?
  • Saturated Market
  • An MLM

Summary: Mannatech is a health and wellness MLM that sells a range of Personal Care and Dietary Products.  They also offer an opportunity for everyday people to become an affiliate and sell these products and recruit a team in return for commissions.

But I wouldn’t recommend this opportunity to you… Firstly, there is the legal issues this company has faced.  Then there are the signs that they could be operating like a pyramid scheme, which are expensive products and a monthly sales quota that forces their members to keep on buying products each month just to stay active.

Then their own income disclosure shows that the average annual income for 99% of their members is $20.73.  There are much better opportunities out there for you…

Rating: 30/100

Recommended? No

What is Mannatech?

Mannatech is an MLM or Multi-Level Marketing company that sells a range of health and wellness products, specifically personal care and dietary or slimming products.  the company claims their main goal is to “promote healthy products that fight global malnutrition”.

The company was founded in 1995, and that came about from the scientific breakthrough from research completed about aloe plants and it’s benefits.  Mannatech was founded by Samuel Caster, which we’ll talk a little about him in a moment.

As they are an MLM, they also offer an affiliate program where they give everyday people an opportunity to become a distributor for Mannatech and buys these products at a discount, and then sell them on at retail prices.  You can also recruit other members and earn bonuses from their sales too.

You can learn a little more about the company with this 9-minute video…

Let’s now talk a little about their founder, Samuel Caster…

Who’s Samuel Caster?

Samuel-Caster-Mannatech

Samuel Caster is an American businessman and is the founder of Mannatech. 

He also founded several other companies, such as Eagle Shield and Electracat.

However, he is said to no longer have any ties to the company after he received a lawsuit from Greg Abbott, due to the alleged illegal marketing scheme operation of Mannatech.  Caster paid $1 million to settle the lawsuit.

How Do MLMs Work?

I always try and stay balanced with my reviews, but the more you review MLMs, the more you start to realise that they hurt more members than they actually help with the way they are operated. 

MLM’s are always likened to pyramid schemes, owing to the fact that recruiting is so prevalent with them and is constantly promoting even to the point where selling the products isn’t really pushed.

They also tend to use cult-like tactics to keep their members in-line… here’s a couple of examples to let you see what I mean…

MLMs are often parading their most successful members to others to showcase the potential.  They are the ones that are asked to speak at seminars about their experiences and they were able to achieve their level of success.  Which is often down to how many members they were able to recruit…  Members are also encouraged to attend these seminars to get inspired.

Then there is the fact that MLMs dictate how you should spend your money.  What we mean by this is that they set you monthly sales quotas that you have to achieve on a monthly basis.  If you don’t achieve this quota, you lose your active status.  The only way to avoid this stance is by buying the products yourself, which costs you $100s a month.

The last point we want to raise is that MLMs often regard themselves as your saviour.  It makes you more dependant on them.  That is why they constantly encourage you to recruit people.  A bit like how some church groups do.  They want their members to recruit more and more people, on the promise of more bonuses.  But as their business opportunity is unsustainable, you have no choice but to keep on fulfilling their demands to continue with their business venture.

You’re also not allowed to criticise the owners, or the company, or the way it is operated.  Seems like a cult to me…

MLMs are not a great business opportunity, and we’ll show you later how 99% of their members are losing money…

I’m not saying it’s impossible to make an MLM work for you.  But there are loads of factors to consider.

Is Mannatech a Pyramid Scheme

No, Mannatech isn’t a pyramid scheme.  

As a Mannatech member, you are able to make money from selling their range of products, without a need to actually recruit anyone.

However, the main issue with MLMs is the only real way of making decent money is through recruitment.  It is really hard to make money just by selling their products, so recruitment is often encouraged. So a better question would be… Is Mannatech a Pyramid Scheme?

What’s a Pyramid Scheme?

A pyramid scheme is a company that promises its members payment for recruiting people into the company, instead of for selling their products or services.

They are illegal in most countries around the world due to them being totally unsustainable, as the diagram from Wikipedia shows…

pyramid scheme

It is actually impossible for everyone to make money in a structure that relies solely on recruitment, as there aren’t enough people in the world to keep on recruiting at the rate you would need.

Mannatech, like most MLMs are not pyramid schemes.  But as they have such a big focus on recruitment, that they could be considered as a pyramid scheme in disguise.  Especially when you combine them having overpriced products and a monthly sales quota that you have to achieve.

The members who are making an MLM business opportunity successful are those that are really outgoing people who are recruiting loads of people into their downline.

You can check out this 5-minute video that helps you spot these pyramid schemes in disguise…

But is anyone finding success at Mannatech?

Success is Rare at Mannatech

It’s not just rare at Mannatech, but it’s rare at any MLM opportunity.

Did you know that between 72.5% and 99% of MLM members are losing money?

The main reason for this is that MLM companies tasks their members with a monthly sales quota they have to achieve to stay active.  If you’re not able to sell this amount, then to avoid being kicked out, you’ll have to buy the products yourself.

This means that their members are buying hundreds of dollars worth of products each month just to remain active in the hope that it turns into a full-time income at some point..  Peope are usually out a few thousand dollars before they are able to recruit anyone.

And recruiting people is your only route to avoiding buying products every month…

We’ll show you the results of their income disclosure statement later in this review…

How Does Mannatech Work?

Mannatech is a health and wellness MLM, which sells a range of personal care, dietary and slimming products.

They also offer a chance for everyday people to make money from selling these products in return for commissions. (You buy the products at wholesale prices, and then sell them at retail prices.  You keep the difference).

It sounds like a good deal for both parties. But the reality is that the MLM company saves millions of dollars a year on advertising and marketing costs and the hard task of selling these products is left down to you.

In an oversaturated market, this is much harder than you might think…

Let’s take a look a their products…

Mannatech Product Line

If you are seriously considering joining an MLM, then you are going to need to get a good idea of what their products are all about.

mannatech-product-line

Mannatech has products in the following categories:

  • Integrative Health – Nutritional supplements aimed at improving your overall health, both physically and mentally.
  • Targeted Health – Nutritional supplements aimed at improving bone, muscle, and heart function. The products here also aid in digestion.
  • Weight + Fitness – Nutritional supplements, shakes, and sports drinks aimed at helping you burn fats and cleanse your body from toxins to achieve optimal shape.
  • Skincare – Skincare products that include moisturisers, cleansers, and creams, which helps get rid of dark spots, wrinkles, pimples, and blemishes.
  • Home Living – Essential oils products that help improve body function and slow down the signs of ageing.

Some of their most popular products are:

  • Catalyst Multivitamin ($49.99) – this is made up of natural plant-based nutrients that strengthens the immune system and improves the functions of the liver, kidney and nervous system
  • Uth Facial Cleanser ($32.99) – washes away facial impurities such as makeup and dirt. It also slows down the production of dead skin cells and gets rid of clogged pores
  • Empact ($74.99) – provides a boost to keep up with strenuous daily workout and exercises. Also speeds up recovery

Whilst Mannatech will claim their products are special and unique, they are really just the same products as those that are sold from the hundreds of other MLMs that are in the health and wellness sector.

Examples of other MLMs selling similar products are:

They all claim to be the best company with the best product, but is there something that makes Mannatech stand out?

TruHealth Maintenance – Flagship Product

TruHealth provides a holistic slimming and body strengthening program. This includes 2 TruPlenish shakes, TruShape capsules, and TruPure Slimsticks.  The price is $179.99.

mannatech-truhealth-product

You can learn a little more about their products with this 4-minute video…

Haven't Made Your First $1 Yet?

Studies have shown that more than 70% of the people who want to make money online have not made their first dollar yet. So, you’re not alone!

Can You Make Money with Mannatech?

You can make money with Mannatech, but it will be really hard to actually achieve a decent income.

They will be a few that are earning a little more than the minimum wage, but to do that they will be working like full-time sales managers.

Their income disclosure statement shows that only a few people are making good money from Mannatech.  It’s those at the top ranks, who have recruited huge teams under them, which does point at them being a pyramid scheme in disguise (possibly)

How To Make Money with Mannatech?

Mannatech is your typical MLM opportunity, and with that there are the usua 2 ways for you to earn money from their compensation plan.  These are:

  1. Retail Commissions – Buy their products at wholesale prices and sell at retail prices
  2. Recruit people into your downline team and earn bonuses and commissions based on their sales

Please note that you don’t actually earn money from recruiting members, that would make them an outright pyramid scheme.  Instead, you only earn bonuses and commissions based on your downlin teams sales.

So, it is in your interest to train them to make good sales for you to earn the passive income, the MLM promised you…

To be clear, the members who are most successful are those that are great at recruiting.  But recruiting is easier said than done.  It is nowhere near as easy as these MLM companies make out.

But if you want the passive income that the MLMs advertise, it is your only option.  The more downline members you have selling products, the more bonuses you are going to be earning.

But as we said earlier recruitment based models are unsustainable, so this won’t work in the long run.

MLMs don’t really care how many products you sell, as every one of their distributors has to keep on buying products each month to remain active.

Let’s get into how you get started with Mannatech…

Getting Started with Mannatech

The startup cost for joining Mannatech is relatively low compared to many other MLMs.  It’s $49.99 for the registration fee.

This covers you for the first year, and is called the Associate Membership subscription.  Although you don’t actually get any products with this fee.  So, naturally you will be encouraged to buy one of their starter packs.

These are:

  • Back Pack – $99 to $169
  • All-Star Pack – $499
  • Premium All-Star Pack – $999

But that isn’t where the costs stop, I’m afraid…

Mannatech Monthly Costs

Like with most MLMs, there is a monthly sales quota you are expected to achieve each month.  Mannatech’s sales quota is 100 PPV.  To remain active, you have to sell these amount.    100 PPV works out to between $100 to $200 worth of product.

Most members are unable to do this, especially when starting out.  But what most don’t realise is that this means you have to buy $100 to $200 worth of product each month to remain active.

That is why so many MLM members are losing money, and not earning money.

So, here are the costs you need to consider for the first year…

  • $49
  • $99-$999
  • $100-$200 x 12 ($1,200-$2,000)

Minimum Costs for Year 1 = $1,348 – $3,048

This is before you take into account any other expenses, like training, marketing, fuel, travel, food and any other expenses that go with an MLM opportunity.

P.S. This program enabled us to Create a 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income Stream.  It’s Free to get started and costs only $49/month to go full-time!

Mannatech Compensation Plan

Mannatech, like most MLMs, love a complicated compensation plan. They are really confusing, and make it look like there are loads of ways of making money, when the reality is that you only have 2 ways – selling their products or recruiting people.

We’ll try and keep our explanation as simple as we can…

  • RETAIL PROFIT – 10% of the costs of your product sales are paid to you by Mannatech.
  • MEMBER COMMISSION – These are commissions you get from getting people to sign up for Mannatech.
  • DIRECT BONUS – This bonus is obtained from the sale of starter packs to your recruited members.
  • TEAM BONUS – You can get this $100 bonus when you build a downline with six members.
  • TEAM DEVELOPMENT BONUS – You get this bonus by helping your downline members rank up.
  • PERSONAL POWER BONUS – This is awarded to those who reach the rank of Premium/All-Star Associate or above, and have accumulated 6,000 Pack Qualifying Credits (PQC).
  • FAST START BONUS – If you earn the Personal Power Bonus within your first three months in the company, you get a $500 bonus.
  • MATCHING POWER BONUS – When any of your downline earns the Personal Power Bonus, you also get $500.
  • MATCHING FAST START BONUS – When any of your downline earns the Fast Start Bonus, you also get $500.
  • UNILATERAL BONUS – To get this bonus, you must 50 QV within the specified time.
  • LEADERSHIP AND GENERATIONAL BONUSES – This is extra unilateral commission levels for those who reach the ranks of Regional Director and above.
  • LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT BONUS – Once you reach the rank of National Director (ND) or higher, you earn $100 per ND in your downline.
  • LEG STAR BONUS – This is paid out for every sale of every Premium (All-Star) and Premium Renewal Pack.
  • PRESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT BONUS – This is paid from 5% of total company sales, and can be obtained by reaching the Presidential Director Rank.
  • GLOBAL VOLUME BONUS – This is intended to cover travel costs and business development for those in the Presidential Director rank.
  • AUTO ORDER BONUS – This is paid to those who have any member of their downline sign up for the auto order arrangement.
  • INCENTIVES – These are other bonuses including trips, special rewards, and attendance to conferences.

Don’t worry if you’re still confused, that’s the general idea.  The main thing you need to know is that there are only two ways you can make money here;

  • Sell Mannatech products
  • Recruit members to Mannatech

But did you notice that all but one way is related to recruitment?

Anyways, here is a 10-minute video that will explain the compensation plan to you…

Alternatively, you can find their full compensation plan (pdf) here.

Is Mannatech a Scam?

No, Mannatech isn’t a scam.  They sell  range of legitimate products and they also pay their members on time just like they say they do.

So, why do many walk away from MLMs calling them a scam?  That is down to how many members are losing money.  They soon realise that they are spending a lot more money than they are making.  They realise how difficult it is to sell overpriced products or recruit people into a business model that doesn’t work.

Hence they walk away, often in debt calling it a scam.

The rest of our review is going to get you all the other details you need to know, to make an informed decision about whether this business opportunity is right for you.

Just to be completely transparent with you, I’m not a distributor of Mannatech, nor do I endorse Mannatech in any way.  I have researched the website, testimonials, and information available on the internet to get the details about what this program genuinely does.    I do this, as I have been caught out by a scam in the past, and am trying to help others avoid a similar fate

Tired of MLMs? Check How We Make Money Online Here!

What We Liked About Mannatech

Here’s what we liked about Mannatech:

#1 Proven History

Did you know that 1 in 3 MLMs don’t make it past the 10 year mark?

So, it’s a great sign that Mannatech has made it past that mark, by a mile as they got started in 1993.

I think it’s safe to say they are not a scam, nor that it is highly likely that they are going to get shut down or close overnight.

What We Didn't Like About Mannatech

Here’s what we didn’t like about Mannatech:

#1 Legal Issues

Mannatech has had a few legal issues in the past, which is not a great thing for when you’re trying to sell products or recruit people, as a quick Google search brings these up rather quickly…

  • In 2005, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Mannatech for violating the Securities Exchange Act.
  • In 2006, A UK General Practitioner was found to have abused her power for illegally promoting Mannatech’s products as a treatment for medical conditions
  • in 2007, Mannatech was investigated for teaching its recruits to target vulnerable people desperate for cures to illnesses
  • In 2014, Ben Carson (Politician) was under fire for claiming that Mannatech products were the reason for why his Cancer symptoms disappeared
  • In 2017, Mannatech received a warning from the FDA for marketing their products as medicinal

We also found this post, describing their issues around their claims about the treatment of illnesses they are claiming their products can cure.

#2 Expensive Products

Overpriced products is a sign that an MLM is operating as a pyramid scheme.  It shows that the company is more focused on recruitment instead of selling their products.

You have to remember that you need to pay between $74 to $180 for their nutritional and dietary supplements.

But when you compare those prices to the other products found online, you can see there is a considerable difference.

Mannatech-Amazon-Alternatives

These all have a good rating, and are considerably cheaper.  So, why would people want to buy the products Mannatech members are promoting?

#3 Hidden Monthly Expenses

Mannatech members are required to sell 100 PPV each month to stay active.  This is another sign that they could be operating as a pyramid scheme in disguise…

If you’re not able to sell $100 to $200 worth of product every month, you are going to have to buy that level of products yourself.

What MLMs don’t tell you is that their biggest customer group is their own members.  Their members are constantly buying products in the hope of turning it into a full-time income.

#4 Is Mannatech a Pyramid Scheme in Disguise?

If you have both an overpriced product line and a monthly sales quota, it does point to an MLM that has a key focus on recruiting new members, instead of selling their products.  The reason is that, to avoid having to buy products each month, you are going to need to recruit and that means it starts to look like this…

pyramid-scheme-graphic

You’ll have to recruit people who are then obliged to keep on buying products for you to benefit, and then they need to do the same.  But it’s not a sustainable model.

Hence why most people are losing money when it comes to MLM opportunities…

#5 Really Low Success Rate

Then there is the fact that the vast majority of members are not earning enough to cover costs.

Their income disclosure shows that most of their members are earning an average of $20.73 for the year.  

mannatech-income-disclosure-statement

There are a few who are earning good money, but that is down to how much recruitment they have undertaken.  But when you have over 30,000 members who on average earn $20 that shows how many are losing a lot of money…

Haven't Made Your First $1 Yet?

Studies have shown that more than 70% of the people who want to make money online have not made their first dollar yet. So, you’re not alone!

My Mannatech Review - Final Conclusion

Mannatech sells a good range of products, although not particularly a product line that is much different to any of the others out on the health and wellness market.

And then as far as their business opportunity goes, there are just too many concerns for us to recommend this to anyone.

Firstly, there are the legal issues the company has been involved in.  Then there are the overpriced products and monthly sales quota, that brings us to a conclusion that there is a heavy emphasis on recruitment here.  

Which makes us wonder if that is really their goal, and that would make them a pyramid scheme in disguise.

When they are more focused on recruitment, it just means there are loads of people losing money.   That isn’t ethical in our mind, whatsoever…

How We Make Money Online

I’m not a fan of MLM, not because it’s illegal or not profitable, but because of all the restrictions and expensive costs involved.

Instead, Affiliate Marketing is our top recommended business model for anyone looking to make money online

The reasons are simple…

  • You can promote anything you want and aren’t restricted to only promote products from one MLM company
  • You don’t have to recruit anyone to make money
  • You never need to sell to your friends and family
  • It’s free to get started

In fact, with affiliate marketing we’ve been able to Create a 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income Stream.  If you want to learn more, click here.

Thanks for checking out our Mannatech Review!  If you have any questions or comments to add, then please write them in the comments section below. 😉

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Mannatech

$49.99 + $99-$999 + $100-$200/monthly
3

Overall Rating

3.0/10

Pros

  • Proven History

Cons

  • Legal Issues
  • Expensive Products
  • Hidden Monthly Costs
  • Pyramid Scheme in Disguise
  • Really Low Success Rate

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