Is Younique a Unique Business Opportunity or a Scam?

Hi, there. Mrs. Bottlesoup, here. If you’re reading this post, you’re either a regular Bottlesoup reader, or you found this through the magic of the Internet. If you fall into the ladder category, you’re probably searching for ways to work from home or start a side hustle – and you’re thinking about Younique. I totally understand and respect that. Here at Bottlesoup, I am committed to providing my readers with all the facts about Direct Sales and Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) companies, so you can make an informed decision about your financial future.

Let me preface this by stating I am not a Younique Presenter, and the following article is meant to be informative and objective. I research and source all of my articles. The hyperlinks throughout are usually sources, but if you have a question about the information and opinions below, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you J Thanks for stopping by. Without further ado, here’s my findings becoming a Younique Presenter.

 

What is Younique?

Younique describes itself as a “direct sales company”. So what does that mean?

The Direct Selling Association describes it as “a method of marketing and retailing goods and services directly to the consumers, in their homes or in any other location away from permanent retail premises. […] Unlike direct marketing or mail order, direct selling is based principally on personal contact with  the customer.”

What’s so bad about that? Nothing, in particular. However, the issue becomes the pay structure and what you’re actually incentivized to sell. Hint: it’s not makeup.

Can I make money with Younique?

The most truthful answer is yes, you can make money with Younique. But before you invest in a starter kit and begin recruiting other Younique Presenters, let’s examine the pay structure and other materials straight from Younique’s website.

Let’s take a look at Younique’s compensation plan, which Younique refers to as the Younique Royalties Program. Here is a screenshot directly from their website (you can also visit the page here):

Don’t feel bad if you’re confused by these charts. The charts are not simple. If you look at the footnotes, you need to have a certain amount of personal retail sales in order to qualify for different statuses. If you look at the top graph, you can see the volume you need to sell in order to qualify for Yellow status – it appears that once you’ve reached Yellow, you have a smaller PRS to keep up with in Pink, but if you look below you now have Company Wholesale Sales as a requirement and presenters who are underneath you. This, for you, would be the start of a pyramid. When you join Younique, you are automatically in a pyramid, as you are under someone else and part of their status. In order to move up in Younique, you need to recruit new Younique presenters – not just sell products. Ask yourself: does this make sense? Does it make sense to recruit your friends and family into becoming Younique presenters – and, if they become presenters, then they are no longer your customers. Who will you sell these products to?

If you dig around the Younique website, you’ll find an interesting disclaimer on the Rising Stars Leaderboards page:

Less than the top 0.02% of Younique Presenters are making the Personal Retail Sales on this leaderboard – screenshot taken Dec. 10, 2016: 

For the sake of simplicity, we’ll assume that these Younique presenters are earning the maximum possible commission, 30%, on their Personal Retail Sales (PRS).

If you look at the top leader, Rouse has a PRS of $8,852. 30% of that is $2,655 in commission. This means that the very top leader, the top seller in Younique, is earning $31,867 before taxes. If you look at #10 on the leaderboard, Koch, her PRS is $3,093.74. This makes her monthly check (30% of PRS) $982.12, and annual earnings are about $11,137.46. These numbers may look great to you, but the fact is that less than 0.02% of Younique presenters are earning this amount of commission. So, ask yourself, if the tippy top ranges from $31k – $11k annually, and less than 0.02% of Younique presenters earn this much, how much is the other 99.08% earning?

Significantly less than $982.12 – and possibly nothing. Possibly, Younique presenters are actually customers of Younique.

You see, Younique makes money from selling its product and  from recruiting new people to sell its product. It passes this on as a model for its presenters, but the fact is the company doesn’t care if you sell its products or not – the company has already profited from your starter kit. From your website. From your “sample” purchases. From the unpaid marketing and advertising you’ve done for the company, in hopes that somehow your efforts will lead to a paycheck for you.

This is a classic direct sales/MLM/pyramid scheme. If you look, you will find people who are passionate defenders of this company and others like it (LulaRoe, Jamberry, etc.). There are many people who join these types of companies in hope that it will pay off for them financially and bring “financial freedom”. In short, you are being sold a dream. Everyone wants to find a way that can balance their lives and bring more money into their household. It’s incredibly appealing to think that you may be able to supplement your household income – or even support your entire family – on something simple and easy as selling products to your friends and family. But if it were that easy, everyone would be wealthy. And this is another danger of these companies – when we get to this point in the narrative, where you are not as successful as you thought you would be – the company blames the presenter or “consultant” for their lack of success. But it’s not true. These programs are designed to profit the company; they are not designed to support success for those on the downline.

If you have joined this company or another like it and you have failed, please know that it is not your fault. It is nearly impossible (and just 0.02% of Younique presenters are moderately successful) to earn an income from a direct sales company. You have been duped, but it’s important that moving forward you speak out against this. Don’t let the propaganda for these companies rule – let me know if you’ve had a bad experience. You can share it anonymously in a future post.