Some say one can make a fortune in network marketing. Others say direct sellers’ earnings do not cover even those minimal expenses they make. Which one is true? Or truth is somewhere in-between?
This article is an overview of 10 direct selling companies’ income disclosures for 2017. The businesses covered here are of varying sizes in sales volumes. Direct seller income figures do not include retail profits.
Sales figures of companies are from DSN Global 100 List.
4LIFE RESEARCH
2017 Sales Volume: $316 million
In 2017, those who received commissions constituted approximately 23% of 4Life’s worldwide field force.
Out of this 23%, less than 1% earned an average of $2 million/year. Another less than 1% made an average of 433.000 on an annual basis. 21.7% of 4Life’s total sales force earned below $700/year. Roughly 77% did not earn any such income.
Click here for 4Life Research’s 2017 compensation report.
ADVOCARE
2017 Sales Volume: $472 million
33% of its distributors earned income from AdvoCare. Their median annual income in 2017 was $125, average was $1,400.
0.08% of AdvoCare’s all distributors’ average yearly income was more than $100,000. 12% earned less than $5,000/year, and 67% did not receive any payments from AdvoCare.
Click here for Advocare’s 2017 compensation report.
ARBONNE
2017 Sales Volume: $553 million 
In the U.S, Arbonne had an average of 227,400 consultants during 2017. On a monthly basis, Arbonne made payments to an average of 27,300 consultants in 2017, or 12% of the total.
Within this 12%, the top 1% earned $250,000/year, 2% $68,000, 7% $17,000, 28% $3,500, and 62% $800.
Click here for Arbonne’s 2017 compensation report.
doTERRA
2017 Sales Volume: n.a.
During 2017, the company paid commissions to approximately 268,000 within the U.S. This is approximately 20% of its members in the U.S.
doTERRA’s entry rank represented 76% of its field force and 16% earned a commission, averaging $375 for the year. The second group, “Builders” make up approximately 23%. “Managers” represented 42% of Builders and averaged $752, and “Directors” represented 25% and averaged $1,250. doTERRA’s top group consists of “Leaders”, about 1% of all. Out of this 1%, approximately 10% earned $200,000 and above on the average.
Click here for doTERRA’s 2017 compensation report.
JEUNESSE
2017 Sales Volume: $1.3 billion
Out of the 9,150 U.S. distributors who chose to sponsor and build a team, 20% did not earn any money from Jeunesse.
39% earned less than $245, 61% more than that. 14% earned more than $4,350, and 2% earned more than $82,000. Jeunesse’s figures here consist of total earnings of all trackable sales and commissions.
Click here for Jeunesse’s 2017 compensation report.
LIFEVANTAGE
2017 Sales Volume: $200 million
LifeVantage’s figures cover July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017. Within this period, LifeVantage made commission payments to 48,500 distributors in the U.S. out of 63,000 (77%).
Less than 1% of the 48,500 U.S. distributors earned $1.3 million per year on the average. 18% made about $1,000, and 40% made $290.
Click here for LifeVantage’s compensation report.
MELALEUCA
2017 Sales Volume: n.a.
Melaleuca’s September 2016-August 2017 report states that 79% of those who buy products each month in North America were strictly customers who were not interested in the business.
“Product Advocates” who have at least one customer made up another 10%, and “Business Builders” constituted the remaining 11%. “Corporate Directors’”, the highest title-holders’ average annual income was $1.2 million. The report does not reveal information as to how many distributors were at these income levels.
Click here for Melaleuca’s compensation report.
NU SKIN
2017 Sales Volume: $2.2 billion
Nu Skin currently operates in 50 markets. In South East Asia, the company operates in seven markets.
The average number of Nu Skin’s active distributors each month in SE Asia was 110,000 in 2017. On a monthly basis, an average of approximately 14% of the actives earned a commission payment.
5% made $400/year on the average. 4% earned $1,000, 0.09% earned $97,000, and 0.07% earned $358,000 per year.
Click here for Nu Skin’s compensation report.
RODAN + FIELDS
2017 Sales Volume: $1.5 billion
Over the course of 2017, Rodan + Fields had 397,790 consultants. 222,277 (56%) of these received payment in at least one month and 175,513 (44%) did not earn any compensation.
59% of the 222, 227 paid consultants received $325, and another 30% earned $2,300 on an annual basis. The top 1.2% made more than $250,000 in 2017.
Click here for Rodan + Fields’ compensation report.
STELLA & DOT
2017 Sales Volume: n.a.
An average of 62% of Stella & Dot’s stylists in the United States were not paid in any given month in 2017.
0.1% of Stella & Dot’s active stylists who were paid in the U.S. having the titles “Executive Director and above” earned $292,000 on the average in 2017. 1.5% made $24,000, 10% made $3,600 and the average income for the lowest group that made up 74% was $1,400.
Click here for Stella & Dot’s compensation report.
There are several key takeaways from these figures. To me, these statistics once again show three important things:
1) It is possible to achieve really high incomes through direct selling.
2) Not everybody reaches those high levels.
3) In fact, “1” and “2” above are public information that everyone has access to.
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Hakki Ozmorali is the Principal of WDS Consultancy, a management consulting firm in Canada specialized in providing services to direct selling firms. WDS Consultancy is a proud Supplier Member of the Canada DSA. It is also the publisher of The World of Direct Selling, global industry’s leading weekly online publication since 2010. Hakki is an experienced professional with a strong background in direct sales. His work experiences in direct selling include Country and Regional Manager roles at various multinationals. You can contact Hakki here.
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