Is Zilis a Scam? No, But it’s a Pyramid Scheme in Disguise… [2022 Review]

The overview and rankings

Name: Zilis

Founders: Steven and Angie Thompson in 2015

Website URL: zilis.com

Type: CBD Health & Wellness MLM

Products (Including Pricing): 20 out of 100

Success Stories: 5 out of 100

Price To Join MLM: $99-$1,299

$29 per month for "pro-cloud" or $49 per year

50+ PV to stay active each month = $99 per month (35 out of 100)

What To Look For In An MLM:

What is Zilis?

Zilis is a health and wellness Multi-Level-Marketing company that sells CBD oil. 

It was founded by Steven and Angie Thompson in 2015.

Zilis was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Texas. They are an MLM company, which means they rely on independent distributors rather than advertising to market and sell its products.

Husbands and wives frequently run companies in the MLM industry for unclear reasons.

Steven has also directed various MLMs, including Cyberwize, which evolved into LiveSmart 360.

Steven departed LiveSmart 360 in 2015 to create Zilis, and the company ceased to exist shortly after.

Although MLM is not a viable business model for people to join, it is encouraging to see a company with an experienced founder.

There are a lot of health benefit claims behind the controversial CBD oil, but most scientists suggest that more research is needed. It's also really only beneficial for certain illnesses and diseases rather than overall health for everyday people. 

We'll dig into this later in this Zilis review, but for now you can check out the 1 minute video about the "ultra company" below...

So as you can see, there are some real people that are benefitting from the Zilis MLM program. But you're smart enough to know that is just a promotional video for Zilis. 

So you're probably still wondering...

Is ZIlis a pyramid scheme?

Technically, no.

ZIlis is not an outright pyramid scheme because members can make money by selling the CBD oil for a commission.

A better question in this case would be...

Is Zilis a pyramid scheme in disguise?

What is a pyramid scheme?

A company that promises payment to their members for recruiting more people into the company. 

Outright pyramid schemes do not sell any legit products or services. These are illegal in most countries because it's impossible for everyone to make money, as you can see in the diagram below...

Most MLM companies do offer a product or service. 

But it has become increasingly common for some MLMs to use these products as a distraction to what the company really is doing. 

Zilis does have expensive products and there is a monthly sales quota to hit to "stay active". These are not good signs for legit MLM companies as you can see in the short video below...

Success is rare with Zilis

Truth be told... success is rare in any MLM program. 

Did you know that between 73% and 99% of all MLM representatives lose money?

The reason for this is that MLM's typically have a monthly "sales quota" for the distributors to hit. 

If they cannot sell enough products in that month then the distributors need to pay for the products themselves. 

In reality, this means the distributors end up being the companies biggest customers and they can often spend thousands of dollars before they sell anything or recruit anyone else. 

This results in them giving up.

Unfortunately, this is very similar to how Zilis works as you'll find out later in this review. 

How does Zilis Work?

In addition to having a relatively low success rate, most MLMs have extremely complex payout structures.

They always include difficult-to-understand graphics, technical terminology, and a variety of other elements that only serve to complicate matters.

It is believed it's done on purpose, so new distributors need to know what a terrible business opportunity they've joined. It does not seem essential to understanding every aspect of this compensation plan.

Here is a breakdown of the several ways to earn money with Zilis:

• Retail Commissions

Selling things directly to clients is one of the ways you may generate money with Zilis. Signing up for Zilis allows you to receive a discount on bulk purchases and earn a commission by reselling the products at full price.

The amount you earn depends on your rank and the package you choose when you join.

• Direct Recruitment Commissions

In addition, you receive a commission if you refer someone to the program. The amount you receive depends on the plan they purchase at enrollment. If you convince someone to buy a bronze package, you will receive $20; with a silver package, you will receive $60; with a gold package, you will receive $120.

• Commissions for the Recruitment of Vacant Positions

You also receive commissions when the people you attract recruit new participants. 

Your right and left legs must attain a minimum of 300 GV to qualify for residual recruitment commissions. The commissions you receive most likely rely on your affiliate rank and the package you chose when you joined.

You can earn between $250 per week at the lowest rank and $10,000 per week at the top, depending on your level.

Zilis makes good quality CBD oil and CBD extract. 

They offer everyday people the opportunity to make money from home by selling these products and recruiting more people into the company. 

This means two things:

• Everyday people can work from home
• Zilis saves money on advertising and marketing costs

So it sounds like a win-win right?

Well, before we uncover the truth let's check out the products...

Zilis products

First of all, it's so important to understand what any MLM company actually sells before you think about joining it. 

To be honest, if you do not use the products yourself or understand them, then there's not much point in thinking about joining because you are going to have to sell these... a lot!

Just to get yourself familiar with one of their products, check out this short video below...

So Zilis mainly sells CBD oils. 

But they do also sell some CBD extract.

It's been proven that CBD oil has great benefits for certain illnesses and diseases such as:

• Relieving pain
• Reduce anxiety and depression
• Alleviate cancer symptoms
• Reduce acne
• Ease Parkinson's and epilepsy symptoms
• Reduce blood pressure
• Reduce diabetes

However, there is very little benefits for everyday people to take this regularly.

And the science almost always suggests that more research is needed as many of these studies have been conducted on animals and are not conclusive.

Zilis CBD Oil- flagship product

So if you are interested in joining the Zilis MLM, you need to know more about their CBD oils. 

Some of the highlights are:

• It's USDA certified organic
• 0% THC (this is the chemical that gives you the "high" from marijuana)
• Natural

However, there are a lot of other products on the market similar to this and there are even other MLM companies that I have previously reviewed that offer pretty much the same thing such as Kannaway and Emris.

You can see more about the Zilis CBD oil in the video below...

But truth be told, there is nothing special about Zilis' products.  

It is important to realise that the CBD MLM market is already very saturated. There are tons of companies that offer a very similar product line such as:

• HealX Nutrition
  
• My Daily Choice
• Touchstone Essentials
  
• Emris International
  
• Bocannaco
• Hempworx
• Kannaway
• CTFO
  
• hempSMART

This will make it harder to sell these products as there are a lot of companies trying to sell the same thing. 

So you may be asking yourself...

How to make money with Zilis MLM

Woo!

The part you've been waiting for!

So let's get straight into it.

There are 2 ways you can make money as a Zilis distributor:

1. Sell the products and make commission
2. Recruit more people into the company and get bonuses from sales they make

It's important to note that you won't get paid just for recruiting people into the company.

Many MLM companies use this fact as a way to get around being an outright pyramid scheme. 

But Zilis does require each distributor to sell a set amount of products each month to stay active. 

So that means if you recruit active members into the company, you are getting bonuses from the sales they have to make (or more likely purchase themselves) every month aka residual income.

How much does it cost to join Zilis MLM?

It costs $99 to join Zilis as an ambassador.

This comes with a CBD oil to try (which is the price of their CBD oil!)

But if you want to start on the best foot, you will likely be encouraged to purchase an "enrollment pack" ranging from $199-$1,299...

But the costs do not stop there amigo!

Zilis monthly cost

This is the part that most "ambassadors" won't tell you and you'll likely figure it out the hard way (if you weren't reading this)...

It also costs $29 a month for the "pro-cloud" which helps you track sales and run reports on your "downline" (the people you recruit).

There's no training or anything useful in here though it's just some software to track stuff. 

If you don't go with that then there is a $49 annual fee. 

But there's more!

You need to sell 50PV every month to remain active as an ambassador.

This means that if you cannot sell this amount you will need to pay for it yourself (and one CBD oil costs $99!)

So you're really looking at a total cost for one year:

• $99
• $199 to $1,299
• $99 x 12
• $29 x 12

1st year total expenses = $1,834 to $2,934

This is nowhere near the cost of starting a standard bricks and mortar business.

But it's certainly more than $99!

Zilis compensation plan

Most MLM companies like to make their compensation plan harder to understand than explaining quantum physics in Arabic. 

Zilis is no different. So I will try to keep this simple...

There are 9 ways that Zilis says it will pay its members:

1. Retail commissions (retail- wholesale price... 50%)
2. Fast start bonus ($20, $60 or $130 commission for recruiting someone if they purchase a "product pack)
3. Binary team builder (bonus from your downline)
4. Generational bonus (more bonuses for your downline sales as  you "rank up")
5. Infinity residual bonus (when you reach the top "ranks")
6. Blessing bonus (bonus for you to give to charity)
7. Jeep bonus (once you achieve a high rank)
8. Healthcare bonus (once you achieve a rank)
9. Global bonus pool (once you achieve a rank)

The requirements to achieve each "rank" are below...

Are you totally confused yet?

Great, that's just how Zilis wants it! So it seems like there's loads of ways for you to earn "residual income". 

Let's cut through the crap shall we?

There's only 2 things you need to do to get paid:

1. Sell CBD oil
2. Recruit more people into Zilis

And if you really look at those ways to get paid, you may notice that the majority of them require you to recruit people. 

*Cough* pyramid scheme in disguise *cough*

You can also find the full Zilis compensation plan here. 

Success is rare with Zilis

Typically, more established MLMs include something known as an income disclosure. Disclosure of income displays how much company distributors earn, how long it took them to get that money, and other statistics.

No MLM income disclosure appears favorable. Typically, more than fifty percent of participants lose money. The vast majority of those who make money earn only a few hundred dollars PER YEAR.

A minuscule fraction (typically less than.1%) earns a living salary.

Because Zilis is new, it has yet toot have an income disclosure, implying that most users do not earn substantial revenue from it (read their income statement here).

They acknowledge that the annual industry average for MLM is only $300. That means half of MLM participants earn less than $1 every day!

Is Zilis a scam?

No, Zilis is not a scam.

It provides legit CBD oil and pays its recruiters like it says it will. 

However, is this an opportunity that you want to get involved with?

Only you can be the judge, and the rest of this Zilis review will help to reveal the truth about the company. 

Just to be fully transparent with you, I am not a distributor myself and I do not endorse Zilis in any way.

I have researched the website, testimonials and information on the Internet to get to the bottom of what this program genuinely does. This is because I have been burnt from programs just like this in the past and I want to prevent others from making the same mistakes. 

What I like about Zilis MLM

There are a couple of things I like about the company...

#1 High quality products

The CBD oil is clearly good quality. This is another reason that Zilis ia not a scam.

There are some poor quality CBD oils out there that you need to be aware of. However, Zilis only uses natural ingredients and has some great reviews. 

It's heartwarming to see some people really benefiting from the products that Zilis creates. 

#2 Zilis pays it forward

Zilis likes to "pay it forward".

They have a patriot program (good for veterans) & match every zilis purchase with nutrition packed donations to countries in need. 

It's great to see companies that give back and don't just keep all the money for themselves.

What I don't like about Zilis MLM

There are some important things to be aware of about Zilis before jumping in.

#1 Expensive products

This is always the first thing I check in any MLM that I review. 

It's a huge red flag that the company is a pyramid scheme in disguise. 

Seriously just think about it...

Why would anyone willingly spend 100% or more for a very similar product? 

The answer to this lies in the fact that "distributors" have to hit their monthly sales quota. If they do not sell enough CBD oil from Zilis, then they have to buy it themselves. 

This means that most MLM members will encourage people to join the company rather than sell the expensive products. Basically, it's more likely for someone to buy these products if they are told they have the opportunity to make more money!

• Zilis CBD oil = $99 per oz
• Highly rated Amazon CBD oil = $5-$20 per oz

Zilis is 500% to 2,000% more expensive than other natural, good quality and highly rated CBD oil.

Zilis is not the only MLM company that does this, but when you truly understand what's going on, it's quite disturbing to know how many people get tricked into joining these companies without knowing the full picture. 

#2 Pyramid scheme in disguise

OK, so the previous point made is the first sign that Zilis could be a pyramid scheme in disguise.

But when you add these things into the mix it gets more concerning:

• 8 out of 9 "ways to get paid" from Zilis requires you to recruit
• The fastrack bonus encourages you to recruit 4 more people in the first 30 days
• People write reviews saying how they feel Zilis is a "pyramid scheme" all the time

The truth is, nobody can stop these companies because they "play by the rules" and use correct terminology as loopholes. 

It genuinely is possible for you to make some good money from Zilis...

BUT...

You HAVE to recruit people.

Fact.

If that's not a "pyramid scheme in disguise" then I'm not sure what is.

#3 Low income potential

Zilis has an income disclosure page on their website...

But apart from what you see above it seems to be missing the income disclosure!

You can even see that the average distributor earns less than $300 a year!

When you take into account the monthly costs (you will need to buy CBD oil every month at $99 a pop to stay active) you can now see why 99% of MLM distributors lose money!

#4 Expensive monthly costs

When you combine this with the high prices of the products you will understand how some people can make good money. 

With the CBD oil costing $99 and you need to purchase something every month plus the $29 for a month for the "back office" it becomes pretty pricey.

If you are able to recruit a lot of people into the company (this means ask all your friends and family, and probably church or make new "Facebook friends" all the time) then you can make a "residual income". 

But it will be at the expense of the people you recruit into the company. 

Because most people don't have sales experience.

Most people won't be able to recruit anybody.

And most people will feel embarrassed that they even fell for this scheme so they keep paying to "stay active" for a while. 

#5 Downward trend

This is the second thing I always check with any MLM company. 

The ones that do offer affordable prices and don't have a monthly "sales quota" can work as long as you know how to use internet marketing to help you (just think about how may CBD oils you could sell face to face and how many you could sell if the internet did it for you 24/7!)

But they are less likely to work once they go past the "early momentum phase".

As you can see Zilis is being searched for less and less each month on Google. Whilst other MLM companies like Farmasi are still in that upward early momentum phase!

The most successful MLM distributors "get in early" and recruit a lot of people!

That ship has sailed for Zilis.

My opinion - Zilis MLM

Here's my honest opinion about Zilis...

If you understand how to use internet marketing to get traffic to a website every month for free, then it may be a nice way to add another income stream. 

But I would only recommend you bother with it if you genuinely use the products yourself and like them. 

For 99% of everyday people... don't fool for the fancy promises and lifestyle that you won't achieve. 

How I make passive income online

MLM companies are not scams. It's genuinely possible for people to make money from them. 

However, once I learnt about affiliate marketing I much preferred the business model for a few reasons:

• You control the business and can promote ANYTHING you want
• You never have to sell to friends and family (or do any face to face selling)
• It's free to start

I had no idea how to make money online a few years ago.