The fountain of youth? Miracle cures? Or just another “snake oil” pyramid scheme that will rob you of your savings and alienate your family and friends? In this Young Living MLM review you will discover not only the dirty secrets behind this so-called business opportunity but also a viable alternative.
I will reveal something better than Young Living MLM that would be more suited to your needs. That’s to be found at the end of this review.
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Table of Contents
What is Young Living?
Young Living is an essential oils business and they’ve been in the game since 1993. Their annual revenues are around a respectable $1.5 billion per year. Young Living currently has around 1.5 million independent distributors working for them.
Young Living was founded in 1993 by Gary Young in the US state of Utah. The company operates using an MLM scheme where you pay to join, have to buy a starter kit, and go out on your own and start selling oils. Once you’ve joined up, you get to call yourself a distributor.
You’ll also need to recruit other people into your downline, also known as your team. MLM (multi-level marketing) is also known as network marketing, pyramid selling, and direct selling.
Are Young Living Essential Oils Worth The Price?
What I usually do right here is take a look on other sites and compare prices for Young Living essential oils. I’ll take a look on Amazon and eBay typically. I’ll compare the same exact product prices on Young Living’s own website and see if their oils can be bought cheaper.
I found a lot of Young Living oils on eBay at a lower cost and it’s worth mentioning that there are other brands of essential oils which cost up to 4 times less for a comparable sized bottle. Young Living is a very similar essential oils company to another one called doTerra.
The Young Living MLM Business Opportunity
The usual method that MLM companies use is to charge a signup fee and also get their new members to buy so-called “starter kits”. That’s basically a bundle of the companies’ products that you can use in any way you see fit. You could use them for demos, use them for your own private use, or you could even sell them on for a profit.
Once you’re set up with your sample collection of products, you will then go and try to sell these products to anyone willing to hear you out.
You will also need to recruit other people into what’s known in the industry as a “downline.” The people you manage to recruit kind of become your employees. They in turn will go out and try to sell the products and also to recruit others into the team. This system is known as MLM, or in full, Multi-Level Marketing. Sometimes it’s called pyramid selling, network marketing, or other terms. Here’s a definition of Multi-Level Marketing by Wikipedia.
So, as with all other MLM companies, you’re going to have to signup for a fee, and buy a starter kit which will help you get started. Most MLMs will provide training, and some will charge a fee for this also.
How Much Does it Cost to Join Young Living MLM?
There are several different levels of joining Young Living as a member of the MLM business. The cost will range from between $35 and $250. There are also the specialty kits which all range from $165 to $210. So the maximum cost of any starter kit is $250.
I’ve inserted some images of the starter kits below for your reference.
Above you can see the most basic starter kit and what is included.
Below you can see the other starter kits that you could choose from. There is also another tab you can see which is the specialty kits.
How Do You Make Money with Young Living?
As is typical in any multi-level marketing scheme, you make money in two different ways.
1. You sell essential oils to new or regular customers.
2. You recruit other people into your down line. Those people then generate their own sales and you’ll receive a small commission.
You’re going to have to be good at selling to sell these essential oils, because I’ve seen many other competitors selling more or less the same stuff. Notably, doTerra essential oils, which also has an MLM business opportunity. You can read my doTerra MLM review for more details on that one.
Young Living Compensation Plan
You can take a peek at the Young Living compensation plan here which will open in a new tab and is the official PDF document from the Young Living essential oils website.
It’s way too complicated for me to try and understand it, let alone explain it. However, there it is, just open it up and see if you can work it out. This is one of the main issues I have with MLM companies. They’re just too darned confusing to work out what you’ll earn in certain scenarios. Let’s move on and find out what the complaint rate for Young Living is like.
Young Living Complaints
Most companies, not only MLM companies, will invariably have complaints. You can tell a lot about the legitimacy of a company by how many complaints there are and the seriousness of those complaints.
Does the company rectify its mistakes? What about refunding people when asked? If you find out a company has too many complaints or that the company ignores serious complaints, it’s not going to be easy to make money.
I checked out my first point of call to find out how many complaints Young Living has at the Better Business Bureau (BBB). At the time of writing, I can see there are 91 complaints about Young Living. Many of the complaints are of the type you can see below in the image.
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Young Living Pros
Reasonable Startup Cost
You can get started with Young Living at $35 for the basic starter kit which I think is quite reasonable for a Multi-Level Marketing opportunity.
Young Living Cons
Buy Cheaper Essential Oils at Other Places
You can buy essential oils a lot cheaper from other places, if you’re not fussy about the branding.
Young Living Essential Oils Are NOT FDA Approved
After researching for a while, I quickly discovered that Young Living Essential Oils are not FDA approved. Below is a screenshot of a letter from the FDA to Gary Young, the founder of Young Living. The letter is dated from September 2014.
Young Living MLMers Making Fantastical Claims
Unfortunately, what happens with many other MLM companies is exactly what happens with Young Living as well. There are unscrupulous members who make fantastical claims about the products. Essential oils do not cure all of the diseases and ailments they claim to make. If you encounter someone from Young Living telling you the oils cure cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, or even covid 19, run for the hills.
Is Young Living a Scam?
And here is the video from which I took this screenshot. You’ll be shocked to learn that Gary Young seems to be a very, very dubious character. Please watch the whole video before jumping into Young Living essential oils as a distributor. It will save your reputation.
In the video, you’ll learn how Gary Young, the founder of Young Living Essential Oils, was paralyzed in his 20s. Gary Young claimed that doctors had told him he’d never walk again.
Then he discovered essential oils, and those oils allegedly healed him and got him walking again. Ummmmm. My BS detector is going off at full blast here.
The medical records of his accident are nowhere to be found.
Young Living Essential Oils Founder Gary Young is talked about in the video below.
In 1982, Gary Young attempted to deliver his wife’s baby in a whirlpool. The baby was held underwater for an hour and didn’t survive. You’ll learn more about it in the video below.
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Video from YouTube – Young Living Essential Oils – The Cult I Almost Joined
I believe watching the video above and listening to what is said about Young Living will shock you. And if you get involved with Young Living Essential Oils despite listening to the evidence against this company, you’re setting yourself up for major problems in the future. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Young Living essential oils advocates will often spout dubious medical nonsense such as their products helping with many, many diseases.
It has to be said that Gary Young died at the age of 68 after suffering from a series of strokes. RIP Mr Young, but didn’t he try the miracle oils?
Is There a Better Alternative to Young Living MLM?
Over 99% of people who get involved with MLM schemes do not make money. That is a factor you cannot ignore. While you could make money if you were good at recruiting and selling, it does seem way too difficult for my liking.
Is there anything better than MLM? The answer is a resounding “YES!”
It’s a different model of business altogether. It’s a model of business that has so many pros and so few cons. Would you like to know what it is?
A better alternative to Young Living MLM would be to create a website in any niche you can imagine and sell whatever you truly recommend on that website.
For example, my website, beststayhomejobs.com is all about making money online and business opportunities. I review ways to make money and I tell my readers what’s worth joining and what’s a scam.
As a result, sometimes I have the opportunity to invite people to something far better than MLM. It’s known as affiliate marketing. (Affiliate marketing is basically telling people about something you recommend, and when they buy said something, you get a commission).
There is no inventory you need to acquire, you can work from home, it’s all online, you don’t have to recruit people, and you really are your own boss.
For more information on how you can start your own business online, you can follow my guidance on how to make your first $1000 online. I will take you by the hand and show you how to do affiliate marketing from scratch using a proven, tried and tested method that works. It’s worked for thousands and it’s worked for me.
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My Final Thoughts About Young Living MLM
Just the fact that over 99% of people who get into Multi-Level marketing do not make money is enough to turn me off Young Living’s MLM as a potential business for me. I wouldn’t get involved in any MLM to be perfectly honest. As you may have seen in the video above, it’s too “cultish” for my liking. How about you?
You can have a quick read of these statistics about the MLM business model if you’re wondering if you’ll make money or not. You might be as concerned as I am with the facts.
From the FTC: MLMs Abysmal Numbers
From AARPF Research: Multilevel Marketing: The Research, Risks and Rewards
WHY I QUIT THE MLM INDUSTRY AT THE TOP | ANTI-MLM HORROR STORY
Watch this video from a former top MLMer about why she quit even though she reached the top. It’s an eye-opener.
What do you feel about Young Living Essential Oils? What do you think about their MLM scheme? Are you making money with them? Are you making money with any other MLM and how do you feel about MLM in general? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll reply.
I’m hoping you’ve learned all you need to know in my Young Living MLM review today.
Ciao for now!
Jim
PS. I have some other MLM reviews you may want to check out. You’ll find Monat, Herbalife, Amway and various other MLM company reviews on my site.
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away… Jim got a chronic case of sciatica and lost his job. However, Jim used this opportunity to learn how to build websites with WordPress and then to make money online. Jim wants to help you do the same, while helping you to avoid the plethora of scams. Let Jim help you earn your first $1000 online from home. Cheers and see you soon!
I was in the search for a good way to make some extra money during these amazing times. I had the thought of selling this product as it seemed like a perfect way to make some money quick and easily. I am so happy to have found your review on how this would not be a good way to make money as you need to add people below you and that can take time and lots of effort.
I do have a question for you and would like to know if you have ever tried something like this company before? I mean people think that selling products online can be very easy and simple to do. I hope that you can continue to make such great reviews of these companies and also others like it to help people that are searching for the quick money online.
Hi Douglas, MLM is never a great way to earn money. Most of them suck money out of you instead of making money for you. Over 99% of MLM members in any company do not make money. Some make a little bit of money, like a couple of hundred dollars a month and it’s only the very rare few who make enough to live on. That being said, MLM is structured too much like a pyramid scheme for my liking. In fact, another name for MLM is Pyramid Selling. In my opinion, they should all be outlawed, or at least restructured to make them fairer and more profitable for the majority.
The best way to make money is by working online and from home. The startup costs are lower and the profit potential is much higher than any MLM you could throw at me.
Take a look at my Wealthy Affiliate review, which is my top recommended way to earn money.
Hi Jim,
I just read your Young Living MLM review and I was wondering what is the average distributor’s monthly income. And can I expect to make more money than it costs me for the starter kit?
I read this article on wikipedia about the founder of Young Living, Gary Young. Here it is > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Gary_Young
I’m really desperate to start an online business. Can you help me?
Hi Marion, I really strongly advise against joining any MLM these days. Over 99% do not make money. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. MLM companies usually grow a cult-like following of avid supporters. They’re a bit like Donald Trump fans, there is no debating with them. Tell them the MLM is a scam and they fill up with rage and hate against you. And as per usual, they realize you were right, but only when it’s too late and they’ve lost thousands and barely ever made a profit. What can I do to put them off? I can only suggest a better solution, which is to start their own online business. And yes, I can suggest something that I highly recommend, check out how I made my first $1000 online.
Regards,
Jim