Is Valentus a Pyramid Scheme? Legit MLM or Scam? [2022 Review]

The overview and rankings

Success Stories: 5 out of 100

Price To Join MLM: $20 + $59.95-$1199.95 product pack

50-100 BV points per month to remain active = $60-$120 per month (30 out of 100)

What to look for in a MLM:

What is Valentus?

Valentus is a health and wellness Multi-Level-Marketing company that sells coffee to help people to lose weight. 

Valentus provides a wide variety of health supplements for various needs, including boosting the immune system, maintaining healthy digestion, and losing weight. Prevail is a famous brand that includes several of these items; the name comes from the Latin word for "prevail," valentus.

Dave Jordan, a veteran of the multi-level marketing industry, launched Valentus, Inc. in 2014. His other title at the organization is that of chief executive officer.

Their mission statement reads as follows: "At VALENTUS, our mission is to help people PREVAIL in ALL aspects of life, from a breakthrough new line of products to the highest level manufacturing facilities on the planet, to a compensation plan that is unparalleled in the network marketing industry, to our corporate team that represents an unmatched level of leadership and integrity."

It was founded in 2014 by Dave Jordan. he's had experience of working inside other MLM companies such as Waiora, Melaleuca and LiveSmart, and some of these have a bit of a bad reputation. 

The company offers everyday people the opportunity to work from home by selling the products and recruiting more people into the MLM company. 

You can find out more about this opportunity in the 5 minute video below...

It may seem like a great opportunity to most people!

But you're smart enough to realise this is just a sales video created by the company itself. 

So you're probably still wondering...

Is Valentus a pyramid scheme?

No Valentus is not a pyramid scheme. 

It is possible for Independent Reseller's (IR's aka consultants, reps, distributors etc.) to make money just by selling Valentus products. 

However, Valentus is more like a "pyramid scheme in disguise". Let me explain what I mean by that...

What is a pyramid scheme?

A company that promises payment to members for recruiting people rather than selling a product or service. 

You probably know that these are illegal in most countries because it is impossible for everyone to make money inside a company structure like this. 

Just look at the Wikipedia diagram below to see why...

Valentus, like most MLMs, does sell legit products. 

However, it's really only possible for people to avoid losing money by recruiting other people into the company. There is a monthly sales quota to reach every month as an IR and this means many people have to continue to buy products for themselves each month to "stay active".

The way to avoid this, is by recruiting numerous people into your "downline", hence a "pyramid scheme in disguise".

Just watch the 5 minute video below to see what I mean...

Success is rare with Valentus

Valentus is not a publicly traded company and they have not released any income disclaimers. 

This means that finding out how many people make money inside Valentus is not possible at this time. However, there are very similar signs that it's hard to make money as an IR at Valentus to other similar MLMs.

How does Valentus Work?

Valentus produces a range of health and wellness products. 

But, after you've become a distributor for Valentus, everything is laid out for you. In all likelihood, logging in is required first.

There is a $20 activation charge to start selling. From that page, buyers can select from several bundles, including anywhere from one to sixteen cases of the desired item. You can buy them in bulk and save money in the long run.

The commission rate is 25%, and the initial bonus is $100.

• Valentus would like to have as many individuals as possible selling their products.

• According to the company website, this is how Valentus pays its employees:

• Sales Commissions in Retail: 25%

• Up to $100 Quick Start Bonus

• Cash Out: $100 for Your Legacy Code

• Up to $100,000 Weekly in Commissions for Working Two Teams

• Matched bonuses for both teams, with a 20% increase at each of the seven tiers

• Open Enrollment Pool with a Global Volume Share of 1%

• Monthly Car Bonuses Ranging from $400 to $3,000

To spend around $60, order from Amazon. Sellers may be purchasing as many as 16 boxes at $500 each to make a $30 profit on each unit sold.

But rather than needing to spend a lot of money on advertising and marketing every month they get everyday people to help spread the word for them!

In return, these "IR's" get the opportunity to earn money working from home. 

Valentus products

If you are serious about joining any MLM then you will need to understand more about the products, as this is what you will be selling.

There are dozens of products available at Valentus under the following categories:

• Instant Youth- Anti aging cream
• SlimROAST- Weight loss coffee
• Energy sachets
• Trim sachets (supress hunger)
• Immune sachets (antioxidants etc.)
• Prevail drinks (helps blood flow)
• eMulin (vitamins to provide energy)
• 24/7 Carb burner- capsules to help weight loss

First of all, it's crucial to be aware that there are thousands of weight loss products out there that are very similar to what is on offer at Valentus. 

Healthline even suggest there are some big claims made by weight loss supplements and little evidence to support these claims. 

There's even some alternative types of coffee MLMs such as:

• Revital U
• Elepreneurs
• Javita
  
• LurraLife
  
• HBNaturals

So what makes Valentus stand out from the crowd?...

Valentus SlimROAST coffee- flagship product

Their flagship product is certainly their SlimROAST coffee...

There are numerous benefits claimed by Valentus for drinking this coffee such as:

• Nourish your body to support weight loss
• Helps satisfy cravings and reduce appetite
• Solution to weight management

These are pretty bold claims that you've probably seen from other companies too. So it's always wise to find unbiased opinions from people that have tried the products...

You can find over 100 Valentus reviews on Amazon, which helps to give you an idea of what people think...

The most common complaints:

• Expensive
• Didn't lose any weight
• Bad taste

The most common positive Valentus reviews:

• Reduced my appetite
• Tastes nice
• Does what it claims it will- but a bit expensive

We'll dig more into the cost (which is hidden on the Valentus website) and the products later in this review. 

For now you can find out a bit more about the coffee in the 9-minute video about their products below...

Can you make money with Valentus MLM?

It will be extremely hard to make good money from Valentus. 

There is a monthly "sales quota" to stay active, which means that if you can't sell around $100 of products every month you will need to purchase the products yourself to "remain active". 

Most IR's do not realise this until it's too late, but equally if you want to sell the products well, you should probably use them yourself. 

Typically the people that do make more than $1,000 a month from MLMs act more like a "sales manager". They recruit people and then encourage them to sell more. They are usually quite extroverted people who  are good at "selling the dream of being your own boss".

How to make money with Valentus MLM

There are 2 ways that IR's make money from Valentus:

1. Sell the products for a commission
2. Recruit people into the MLM and earn bonuses from their sales

A big reason why Valentus is not an outright pyramid scheme is because you cannot earn money just for recruiting people. You only earn "bonuses" from anything they personally buy or the sell. 

I'll explain this in the compensation plan, but first you're probably asking yourself...

How much does it cost to join Valentus MLM?

It costs a one time fee of $20.

You will then be encouraged to buy one of these "product packs" at a heavily discounted price:

• Basic: $59.95
• Starter: $145.95
• Advanced: $239.95
• Business builder: $575.95
• Career success: $1,199.95

Each pack comes with a different range of products in boxes, which you can personally use or sell on. 

But the costs do not stop there...

Valentus monthly cost

To "remain active" the IR's need to sell 50-100BV every month...

In English this means you need to sell over $60-$120+ worth of Valentus products each month depending on what "rank" you are at. 

If you cannot sell this amount of "BV", then you will need to purchase the products yourself or your account will get suspended, often without notice. 

This means you will need to allow these costs for your first year:

• $20
• $59.95 to $1,199.95
• $60 x 12

Total cost for 1 year = $799.95- $1,939.95

This is the minimum expenses and doesn't include anything like marketing, packaging materials or additional training (such as sales or online marketing). 

Valentus compensation plan

For some reason most MLMs like to make their compensation plan harder to understand than an excited 4 year old with a mouth full of marshmallows. 

Valentus is no different. So I will do my best to keep this simple...

There are 7 ways you can get paid at Valentus:

1. Retail Commissions – 25%
2. Fast Start Bonus – Up to $100
3. Legacy Coded Bonus – $100
4. Dual Team Commissions – Up to $100,000 per week
5. Dual Team Matching Bonus – Seven levels starting at 20%
6. 1% Global Volume Shared Enrollment Pool
7. Vehicle Bonus – $400 to $3000 monthly

If you read that and tried to work out what that table means above and are feeling confused, then Valentus has done their job very well!

MLMs often use confusing terms and complicated plans to make it seem like there are loads of ways for you to earn money. 

But the simple fact is you can only do 2 things to make money:

1. Sell products
2. Recruit people and hope they sell products

All the other terms are not needed when you start. If you really want to get your head around the plan a bit more, then you can watch the 12 minute video below (I started it in the right place so you can avoid all the faffing)...

Or you can find the full 10 page Valentus compensation plan here. 

Is Valentus a scam?

Technically Valentus is not a scam. 

They offer legit products and pay their IR's like they claim they will. 

However, many people claim that Valentus is a scam after joining and find out out all the hidden fees, and how hard it is to recruit their best friend into the pyramid scheme in disguise. 

So that's why you may see some people online claiming that Valentus is an outright scam. 

Common positive reviews

Here are some of the positive reviews we had from Trust Pilot about the job opportunity...

• "The business is legit too, people can make real money and those that are determined will stick it out."
• "But one thing that attracted me most is its Compensation Package which remained to be unparalleled till this time in the history of MLM."

Common negative reviews

And here are the common negative reviews...

• "Do not believe a single word those girls say, they are brainwashed and fake.
  During the pandemic i was desperately searching for a job that i can work from home and one day i saw an ad on Instagram from a Girl saying that this industry changed her life, that you can earn lots of money in a easy way, that that's her full-time job."
• "The money I've spent were always more than what I was earning and in the i wss only wastin money and time.
  It is not a real job , and it is also funny that their main products are for weight loss but the big boss it's 100 kilos overweight."

Just to be fully transparent with you, I am not a distributor myself and I do not endorse Valentus 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. If you’d like to learn how to “Spot an Online Marketing Scam” then click the highlighted text.

What I like about Valentus

There is one thing in particular that I like about Valentus compared to some other MLMs out there...

Key Terms:

• Pyramid Scheme – recruits members via a promise for payment from referring others to the service rather than providing a product
• Affiliate Marketing- Connecting a customer to a product they are looking for and receiving a commission for doing so
• Red Flag - A warning sign

#1 Positive product reviews

You can find real testimonials from people that have tried the products and love them...

Sometimes you only see positive reviews about an MLM from the distributors who are trying to sell the products. 

However, the review above and others do seem to be from real customers. If an MLM has real customers that are die hard fans then it should be easier to sell the products to people.

What I don't like about Valentus

There are some hidden truths that you won't learn on the Valentus website that I think everyone needs to be aware of before diving in...

#1 Expensive products

The first sign to me that a MLM may be a pyramid scheme in disguise is if they sell overpriced products.

Just think about it... why would anyone spend twice the price or more on a very similar product?...

Valentus diet coffee = $2.70 per serving

Higher rated Amazon diet coffee = $0.20- 1.56 per serving

When you can find higher rated products for a fraction of the price it raises the alarm bells!

So who is buying these crazy expensive products?...

#2 Hidden monthly expenses

The answer is that the IR's are the companies biggest customers!

Why?

Because they have to hit a "sales quota" every month. If they do not sell $60+ products each month then their account gets deactivated just like this person...

This isn't me cherry picking a bad review on Trust Pilot either, you can find numerous other people saying a similar thing. 

Many people aren't aware that they need to buy products every month to stay active. And when they do, they happily pay the $60+ a month for overpriced stuff so that next month they have the chance to "be their own boss".

When you combine these 2 hidden truths you can see why...

#3 Valentus is a pyramid scheme in disguise

The first picture below is directly from the Valentus compensation plan...

Does that diagram look familiar to the one below it?

The simple fact is that if you want to make good money from Valentus then you HAVE to recruit people. Any system that requires you to recruit people to avoid losing money is really just a pyramid scheme in disguise.

#4 Hidden income disclaimer and bold claims

This screenshot is from the Valentus sales video at the top of this page...

Here's the truth... any "business" that you start is never going to be very easy to succeed and difficult to fail. 

That is a "black hat sales tactic" used to make it sound far easier than it actually is. It's bascially an outight lie to make you want to join.

#5 Downward trend

The final nail in the coffin is found on Google Trends...

Valentus has fallen off a cliff since mid 2019 in how many people search for it each month. 

It's far easier to sell something that more and more people are looking for. Just see the difference in searches to another direct sales company like Farmasi. 

My opinion - Valentus

I believe that Valentus means well and does have some products that can help people lose weight. 

However, their products are overpriced compared to similar alternatives.

But what do I think are your chances to make money from this MLM?...

The only way you'll be able to make good money is by recruiting people into the MLM. 

And any company that acts like a pyramid scheme in disguise is impossible for everyone to make money in. Therefore, you will need to recruit people knowing that the majority of them will lose money. 

This definitely does not sound like an ethical business model in my opinion...

How I make passive income online

MLMs are not all scams or illegal. However, I'm not a fan of them because of the restrictions to the expensive products you have to promote.

Once I learnt about affiliate marketing, I realised it's a far superior business model because:

• You can promote anything you want and truly own the business
• You never need to sell to friends and family
• It's completely free to start

In 2018 I had no idea what affiliate marketing was.