Nu Skin Review: Pyramid Scheme or Scam?

Today we will be reviewing a company called Nu Skin. Is Nu Skin a pyramid scheme or scam? Find out in this Nu Skin review.

Are you ready for a skin care MLM? That is exactly what we will be talking about today.

Skin care MLMs are pretty common, just like essential oils, cosmetics, and supplements.

Anyway, you probably heard of Nu Skin before as they have been around for awhile.

Nu Skin is actually an MLM that I am quite familiar with, since one of my family members used to be part of it.

Back then, I have totally no idea of how MLMs work. I thought that they are pretty cool and more personal since you have to market your products personally and you need to gather people in a party to get them to buy from you.

In paper, it seems like an interesting concept.

Aside from selling their products, these MLMs advertise themselves as a good side hustle.

In this Nu Skin review, I will be providing information about the company, its products, and how you can make money with it.

Hopefully this Nu Skin review can help you decide whether you want to sign up for the company or not.

Before we proceed with the Nu Skin review, check out my #1 recommendation to making money online after reviewing 300+ MLM companies.

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What is Nu Skin?

Nu Skin is a multi-level marketing company that sells skincare and personal care products.

The company was founded in 1984 by Blake Roney.

Blake Roney had a net worth of $600 million and was even one of the richest persons in his home state of Utah. Pretty impressive for an owner of an MLM company, but not surprising.

The company has been around for almost 40 years, which is longer than the expected lifespan of an MLM company. They are probably doing something right, I guess?

To find out more about Nu Skin and the opportunity they advertise, feel free to watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm7RwrUehP4&ab_channel=NuSkinSingapore

Nu Skin sells the following products:

  • beauty devices
  • skin care products
  • nutritional supplements
  • nutritional products
Nu Skin Review - Nu Skin products

The company is currently based in Utah, United States.

How MLMs work

It seems like you can actually make money MLMs: just not the money as big as they advertise to be.

Well, what is an MLM anyway? Basically, it’s a business model that closely resembles a pyramid schemes, except they have products.

It resembles a pyramid scheme because it prioritizes recruiting members than actual selling.

The products are the major reason why the FTC cannot prosecute these so-called businesses. I guess they are in a pretty gray area?

I don’t know. In my opinion, they should be banned.

Before going into a business, remember to prioritize your own financial security first.

Learn to research. You can also consult reviews like this one as reference.

Is Nu Skin a Pyramid Scheme?

Since Nu Skin members earn money both by selling services and recruiting new members, then it is safe to say that Nu Skin is not a pyramid scheme.

However, even if the company has been here for quite a while, I do not suggest having confidence on them just by that fact alone.

Sure, they are quite established. But who really buy their products?

Who are the best customers in MLMs? Of course, it’s the members. They are the ones who mostly buy the products.

Even though pyramid scheme-like business models are not meant to last, it seems like Nu Skin prevailed in putting that common occurrence to rest.

For you though, I am not sure that it is quite the good idea. You will be starting at the very bottom and have to work your way up.

Pyramid scheme vs Multi-level marketing

Like Tori Belle, LimeLife, and Green Compass, Nu Skin is not a pyramid scheme.

Nu Skin’s Income Disclosure Statement

Like I mentioned earlier, you will be starting at the very bottom in this company.

The company has been around for 30 years, so just try to imagine how much time it will take for you to even rank up.

You have a lot of tough competition: those in the higher ranks in the company.

Even if you do not want to admit it, they know more people to sell their products too, have more knowledge than you, and knows the in-and-out workings in the company.

Just take a look at Nu Skin’s 2019 income disclosure statement here.

Nu Skin Review - Nu Skin income disclosure

Very Low Income Potential

Take note that the data being shown here only represent the active members of Nu Skin. Let us do a quick math to find out how many members are actually active.

11.92 + 1.02 + 2.8 + 0.93 + 0.63 + 0.08 + 0.2 + 0.1 + 0.18 = 17.86

Only 17.86% of all members seem to be active.

This means that majority of the members that signed up did not even make sales that will make them eligible to receive commissions.

Do you realize have ridiculous this sounds?

82.14% of members seem unaccounted for, and for what specific reason?

The numbers never lie. This is why the best source of data you can find about MLMs are their own income disclosure statements.

This is why some MLMs do not even dare release theirs.

Imagine being totally sold to the idea then you find out that majority of members failed to even make any money. Take a look at the commissions paid to those bottom 2 ranks. $33 for Brand Affiliate and $120 for Brand Representatives. Per month.

This makes their annual average commissions total to $396 and $1,440, respectively.

Now that is just ridiculous. Imagine working just to try to sell Nu Skin’s products and being rewarded pocket change.

Take note that this is the average income.

This means that some people made lower or higher than this amount.

Yeah, no thanks. If you are thinking about trying this out, then I suggest that you find another side hustle.

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Is Nu Skin a Scam?

No, Nu Skin is not a scam. However, I think this video might change your mind about joining this company.

Judging by the data from their income disclosure and the results of the math we did earlier, it is not that surprising to see people that disapprove of the way that Nu Skin is being run.

She is a pretty credible source of information because she is an ex-hunbot.

She knows what she is talking about as she joined quite a few of MLMs.

How to Make Money from Nu Skin

These are the only two ways to make money with Nu Skin.

  1. Sell products
  2. Recruit new members

As usual, recruiting is more encouraged than actual selling, so If you want to climb the ranks and succeed, then recruiting is the way to do so.

How to Join Nu Skin

To join Nu Skin, you should click this link.

This process is pretty straightforward, as you only need to provide your personal details to be able to register. You just need to make your initial order, pay for it, and wait.

There are various starter packs available that will, at least according to them, help you make money.

I can only respond to that with one question: Why would I need to spend money to make money?

It is not like Nu Skin products are easy to sell either, so they do their best to make you believe that the opportunity is pretty easy to do, when it is anything but.

Things I Like in Nu Skin

Established Company

Honestly, I think this is the only impressive feat about this company. I guess you can be confident with them by knowing that they have been around for 36 years.

Sure, they have been here for a while, but do not get easily swayed by them.

Positive Product Reviews

I mean, if your company is this old, you would have perfected your products’ formulas already. That’s already a given.

I found a lot of positive reviews for Nu Skin products, so I guess their products are safe to use?

Nu Skin review 1Nu Skin review 2Nu Skin review 3

Philantrophy

I am actually surprised when I saw this on their website.

Nu Skin Review - Nu Skin charities

I rarely see MLMs that actually donate to charity. Since Nu Skin is already established, they can now afford to donate to charities.

I have no way to confirm this, however.

Things I Dislike in Nu Skin

Recruit, Recruit, Recruit

I am not even surprised about this one anymore. Do you want to climb up the ranks and earn more in this company? Well, you have to recruit.

You cannot climb up just by sales alone (if you can even make sales).

Prepare to ruin your friendships and relationships.

Anyway, you do not have to worry about what to message the people you know and the strangers on social media since these MLMs prepare a script for you to copy and paste.

Lots of Competition

Skincare brands

What? Nu Skin has a lot of competition? Obviously!

These skincare MLMs keep popping out, I do not even know some of them exist.

Anyway, I do not really know anyone who buys their skincare products from MLMs.

There are quite a lot of good brands online and in malls that sells quality products.

To be honest, I just go to my local Watson’s store to grab my skincare products. For the obscure products, I buy them online.

Yeah, people do not really need MLMs anymore, so I am not sure how this one is still standing.

Overpriced Products

This facial scrub costs $19.22, from Nu Skin.

Nu Skin facial scrub

This one costs $5.97, from a well-known brand.

Clean&Clear facial scrub

If I can get a facial scrub that cheap from a well-known brand, which is available in-store and online, why would I buy the one that Nu Skin is selling?

This is only one example, and I am pretty sure they have other products that are overpriced.

Nu Skin Compensation Plan

You may view Nu Skin’s compensation plan here.

These MLMs often drop complicated terms thinking that people are dumb, and that they are being smart.

However, all I could say about that is they love beating around the bush with information that will actually help people make money. Kind of selfish, and very shady, right?

Anyway, from my understanding, here are the ways you can make money with the company:

  • Sales commissions
  • Fast-start payments
  • Executive bonuses
  • Volume maximiser
  • Depth maximiser
  • Mega performance bonus pool

You can watch this video to understand the compensation plan better, and hopefully understand it better than I do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bsIyi9obZA&ab_channel=Winwithryan

Nu Skin Ranks

These are the skin ranks that you can reach in Nu Skin.

  1. Brand Affiliate
  2. Brand Representative
  3. Gold Partner
  4. Lapis Partner
  5. Ruby Partner
  6. Emerald Director
  7. Diamond Director
  8. Blue Diamond Director

10 Shocking MLM Statistics That You Need To Know!

MLM stats
  • Almost 99% participants of all multi-level marketing companies lose money, according to the FTC.
  • There are 38% more chances of you profiting from your own any kind of small business than joining these MLMs.
  • Success rate of an online business, which will give you financial and time freedom, is 20% more than joining MLMs for making money.
  • The odds of you winning a lottery worth $10k among 10,000 people is 300 times higher than actually making money from MLMs.
  • According to the AARP foundation, 47% distributors of all MLMs lose their money. Apart from this, 27% do not make a single penny.
  • In the remaining 26% that actually make money, 53% of them make less than $5000/year.
  • 39% of those 53%, who are making $5000/year quit because recruiting and selling crappy products to friends and family members jeopardized their relationships.
  • Forget about building a long term business with MLMs, because 50% of all MLMs participants quit within one year.
  • 75% people that joined MLMs say that they will never again join any kind of MLM.
  • A poll was conducted in 2018 among 1050 MLM distributors and it was concluded that most of them made 70 cents an hour and 20% of them did not make a sale. 60% of them made less than $500 in sales over the past 5 years and 32% of them acquired credit card debt to finance their MLM involvements.

SOURCES:

My Favorite Program

Final Verdict – Nu Skin

Even though Nu Skin has been in the business for many years, I do not recommend it. Well, I do not really recommend any MLMs anyway.

This MLM gives you nothing new to work with.

They do not have any unique products, and there are already a lot of companies and brands doing a better job than them.

Like I said before, I am not quite sure why these skincare MLMs multiply in number, even though there are already a lot of successful companies that do not employ the MLM model.

No matter where you look, there seems to be an MLM for anything.

I reviewed a lot of them already, yet I still keep finding more.

The problem with these MLMs is that they know exactly what you want to hear, which makes them tempting to people.

Not only that, but it also seems like they falsely advertise your products.

I am not quite sold on the thought of lying to my friends and family just to get sales. I am also not fond of their overemphasis on recruitment.

Also, who still buys from MLMs these days when you can buy almost anything online, which is more convenient?

Would you like a proper side hustle that will actually make you money? Then stay away from Nu Skin.

That’s it for my Nu Skin review.

I do not recommend MLMs. but if you want to make money online, you should check out my #1 recommendation to making money online after reviewing 300+ MLM companies.

My #1 Recommendation