April 5, 2021
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You may have been offered the opportunity to be your own boss using this MLM. But you've probably asked yourself… Is Damsel in Defense a scam?
No, Damsel in Defense isn’t a scam. The company is selling effective and legitimate self-defense products. It also pays its members like it claims it will. But some people call all MLMs scams due to the recruitment nature which can look like a pyramid scheme.
Does this mean that it is a legit opportunity to make money from home and is enough reason for you to leave your full-time job?
This full Damsel in Defense review, with images, videos, pros, and cons, will answer this question and help you come up with an informed decision.
The overview and rankings
Name: Damsel in Defense
Founder: Jimmy Lin, Mindy Lin
Type: Self-defense MLM
Products (Including Pricing): 40/100 ($82)
Success Stories: 2/100
Price To Join MLM: $100 subscription + $50/monthly
Summary:
Damsel in Defense is a self defense MLM which sells pepper sprays, stun guns, and other similar products.
They are also maintaining an affiliate program with members selling their products for commissions.
Make Time Online Rating: 40 out of 100
Recommended: No
Damsel in Defense is a Multi-Level-Marketing self-defense company that manufactures self-defense weapons that range from stun guns, pepper sprays, and personal alarms.
They also develop and sell safety accessories such as breakaway lanyards, RFID wallets, and striking tools.
It was founded back in 2012 by Jimmy Lin and Mindy Lin. Jimmy is the CFO of the company while Mindy is the CEO. Their headquarters is located in Jacksonville, Texas.
Their mission is to provide safety not only for women, but for men and children alike. And what sets them apart from other safety products is that they create ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing self defense weapons and products.
They are also most likely the only self-defense MLM there is.
Check out this 1-minute video about the company...
For sure, you might then want to ask...
No, Damsel in Defense isn’t a pyramid scheme.
Members of the company earn money by selling their items and products. And they don’t need to recruit and depend solely on it just to make money.
But even if we know this, it is still worth asking… Is Damsel in Defense a pyramid scheme in disguise?
A pyramid scheme comes in the form of a company or organization which pays members to recruit other members.
This has already been banned in many countries around the globe because members cannot earn a sustainable and regular income from a company or organization which is solely paying for recruitment.
This is clearly explained by this Wikipedia diagram...
MLM members making the most money are those who recruit as many people as they can by telling them the wonderful business opportunity they can get even though we already know that this isn’t true as what is shown in the diagram.
Members are just going to be running out of members they can recruit sooner or later.
Here is a 5-minute video on how you are going to spot a pyramid scheme in disguise...
But why is...
Success is difficult with any MLM company such as Damsel in Defense.
Little do people know that between 72.5% and 99.9% of members are losing money.
This happens because MLMs have a sales quota which they need to maintain for them to stay active and get bonuses and commissions.
If they don’t sell and reach the stated number of products they must sell monthly, then they have no choice but to just buy the products for themselves.
This is the major reason why most MLM members lose money from their own pockets before they get their first ever recruit.
Damsel in Defense sells stun guns, pepper sprays, and many other protective and personal protection devices.
They have an affiliate program where anyone can join as members, which in turn, means that they buy the products at lower prices and sell them at higher retail prices.
It sounds nice because both the company and sellers make money.
But what’s actually happening here is that Damsel in Defense is just avoiding the expensive cost of marketing because they just let members do all the hard work in marketing and advertising.
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!
It is important to understand the products of the MLM you are interested in, so in case you join and become a member, you already know what to expect and do.
Here are some of Damsel in Defense’s best-selling products:
And aside from those, they also have their own flagship product...
Little Ringer ($82) - A stun device that lets you stun criminals who are in close contact with you. It comes in a stylish and low-key ergonomic design.
Bute note that there are lots of other company MLMs that sell the same products just like Damsel. These are:
I found a short 50-second video about one of their best selling products:
So...
Yes, you can make money from Damsel in Defense, but it’s hard.
There are some who make money that is comparable to minimum wage, but they work for more than 8 hours a day, much like a full-time job.
Also, Damsel in Defense does not have an income disclosure to prove that their members are earning enough money.
Do these 2 things if you want to make money from Damsel in Defense:
Note, though, that you are only earning money every time your downline members makes a sale, and not just because you have recruited them.
This way, Damsel in Defense avoids the authorities from calling them as a pyramid scheme because the recruitment incentives and payments aren’t done directly.
You need to pay $100 to become an official Damsel in Defense member.
This also already comes with a starter kit which includes an emergency tool, personal alarm, tactical pen, concealed carry purse, Digital Defense Family Plan, and a Safe Hearts storybook.
Maintain a monthly quota of 50 PV for you to earn commissions. This means selling $50 worth of products every month.
Aside from that, you also have to incur these other costs…
Minimum costs for year 1 = $700
But note that the costs for marketing, training, gasoline, travel, food, and miscellaneous costs aren’t yet included in this list, which means you are going to spend more.
Almost all, if not all MLMs that I have reviewed have confusing compensation plans. The same goes for Damsel in Defense. But don’t worry because I am going to discuss this in the simplest way possible.
Damsel in Defense has 3 main ways for members to earn and make money:
I did my best to simplify that, but for sure, that is still confusing.
That is not uncommon, though, because MLM companies always use complex acronyms and fancy terms for members to think there are loads of ways they can make money.
When the fact is, there are just 2 very obvious and simple things to do:
Here is a 3-minute video on how you can increase your chances of making money...
Or you can find the full compensation plan here.
No. Damsel in Defense isn’t a scam. The company is selling effective and legitimate self-defense products.
They are also paying their members correctly and based on their stated compensation plan.
But members soon realize they lose money instead of earning money because they always have to make up for the unreached quota.
The rest of this Damsel in Defense review is going to dive deeper into that for you to see if this is really for you or not.
Here are its surprising pros and cons...
Just to be fully transparent with you, I am not a distributor myself and I do not endorse it 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.
Tired of MLMs? Check out how I make money online here!
Key Terms:
The best thing about Damsel in Defense is that they offer a unique product.
A self-defense company is very rare for an MLM as most MLMs are in the beauty, cosmetics, and health and wellness niche such as these:
This means that there is a good chance you can sell the products because of the very few options out there.
The average lifespan of an MLM is just 5 years.
Well, compare that to Damsel in Defense that already had a straight 8 years of operation without any signs of apprehension with the authorities as they were founded back in 2012.
This shows that the MLM is legit and legal and won’t be shut down any time soon.
It might be a good thing that you have a few competitors.
But based on fact, the market for self-defense products for MLM is just very small.
Check out this diagram.
You can see that you are going to have a hard time selling self-defense items knowing that there are not many people who need or are interested in it.
Damsel in Defense does not have an income disclosure, which is rare for MLM companies.
These are necessary for MLMs because these show that members are earning.
Well, there’s no way to see and learn if Damsel in Defense members are earning...
Joining Damsel in Defense might seem cheap, but little do members know that the company has hidden monthly expenses in the form of the monthly quota.
Members must sell 50 PV or sell $50 worth of products monthly so that they can qualify for the commissions and bonuses.
Can’t do this? Well, you’ve got no choice but to buy the products just for you to get the commissions, which obviously, also came from your own pocket.
I know it sounds silly, but many members do this in the hope of breaking even with the costs sooner or later...
The fact that members must sell or in this case spend $50 a month to stay active means that you need to do all that you can to recruit as many downline members as possible.
Here is how the system looks like...
This way, you get commissions from them, which you then use to pay off the $50.
Recruitment is the core of this company, and for this, there is no doubt that this is a pyramid scheme in disguise...
I make it a habit to check in with Google Trends…
And based on the diagram, you can see that the number of people who are searching for Damsel in Defense has dramatically decreased which means there are less people interested in the company.
This also means you are surely going to have a hard time selling their products because people aren’t interested in it.
Damsel in Defense sells effective, legit, and thoughtful self-defense products. But they are expensive and target a very limited market.
And for this, here’s what I can say about their business opportunity...
The only way to make money is by focusing and directing all your energy towards recruitment.
This is wrong because you already know that most, if not all, of your members are just going to lose money.
Surely, this isn’t an ethical business model because you just deceive them into buying the idea of becoming their own boss and then making them realize that they just lose instead of make money in the long run.
There are many other legit and profitable business opportunities out there that you can try any time soon...
MLMs are not 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:
In 2018 I had no idea what affiliate marketing was.
But I went from a full time PE teacher to making a passive income online within one year...
If you want to discover how I did it then check out this special video I created which explains exactly how. You can also get your free 7-day bootcamp to get started.
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