Is Traveling Vineyard a Scam? Wine MLM Pyramid Scheme?

Traveling Vineyard Review

The overview and rankings

What to look for in a MLM:

What is Traveling Vineyard?

Based on my research, I discovered that Libby entered the MLM industry after being invited by a friend to one of the events of Pampered Chef, another MLM company that sells kitchen equipment and tools.

He then decided to apply the same concept to wine products, hence, he started Traveling Vineyard.

Is Traveling Vineyard a pyramid scheme?

No, Traveling Vineyard isn’t a pyramid scheme. Their members can still make money by simply selling their wine products even if they don’t recruit anyone.

But a better question to that is… Is Traveling Vineyard a pyramid scheme in disguise?

What is a pyramid scheme?

The only ones who make most money inside a company are those who recruit as many people as they can to join this supposed “MLM business opportunity.”

But if you were to based on the diagram above, you’ll see that it is impossible for all the members to make money in a system such as this as you are going to run out of members to recruit later.

If you want to know how to spot these “pyramid schemes in disguise,” you can check out this 5-minute video below...

Success is rare with Traveling Vineyard

This happens because MLM companies have a “sales quota,” which means that members can only stay “active” and can receive bonuses if they manage to sell a certain number of products monthly.

If they can’t, then they have to buy the products themselves just to stay as an active member and to earn money.

This results in members losing thousands of dollars from their own savings before they manage to recruit one person.

We are going to dig deeper into the Traveling Vineyards income disclosure later in this review.

How does Traveling Vineyard Work?

Traveling Vineyard sells wine and helps customers to find the right wine for them depending on their preferences, be it for a red wine, white wine, or blend.

Aside from that, the company also offers everyday people an opportunity to work from home by selling their products and receiving commissions and bonuses for the sales and recruitment.

It looks like a win-win situation, right?

But the thing is… Traveling Vineyard saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing costs because instead of creating advertising campaigns, they just let their members do all the promotion and hard work.

Before we see if that really is what’s happening, let’s know more about their...

Traveling Vineyard products

If you really want to test out your luck in an MLM such as Traveling Vineyard, then it’s best that you learn more about their products so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

In fact, I recommend you taste their wine yourself for you to have a better insight and to know if it really tastes good and it’s worth it.

But if not, then you can just hear what I have to say about their products after I spent hours of research on them…

Traveling Vineyard divides their products into 5 categories:

• Red
• White
• Sweet & Fizzy
• Semi Sweet
• Accessories (wine accessories)
• Success Kit (business packages)

And here are some of their most popular products:

• 5 String Reserve Petite Sirah ($24.99) - Red wine that features a crisp and bitter sweet taste
• Sky Blossom Red Wine Blend ($19.99) - A red wine blend that has a light and mild taste
• Jitterburg Sauvignon Blanc ($18.99) - White wine which has a unique sparkly texture and mildly sweet taste

But take note that there are many other brands out there that offer the same thing.

Two of the most popular MLMs that sell the same products such as Traveling Vineyard are:

• Scout and Cellar
  
• OneHope Wine
• Direct Cellars

All claim to be unique and special, when in fact, they just offer the same opportunity.

So, what makes Traveling Vineyard “special”?

Traveling Vineyard flagship product

• Fire Pit Favorites ($68.997) - A wine package which includes a bottle of Gewürztraminer, Rosso Veneto, and Activist Syrah. It also has a free set of Tulip Pourers.

Here is a 1-minute video that shows their products:

Let's then know if...

Can you make money with Traveling Vineyard?

Technically, you can. But it is hard to earn money from Traveling Vineyard.

There might be a few people who make some bucks, but they’re extroverted people who work round-the-clock recruiting as many people as they can.

They even treat this as a full-time job. And for what? For pay that’s slightly higher than minimum wage?

How to make money with Traveling Vineyard

There are 2 main ways that you can make some money from Traveling Vineyard. These are by:

• Selling their wine
• Recruiting members to the company to become “recruiters”

It sure sounds fishy, especially with the recruitment part.

So, how does the company save themselves from being called a pyramid scheme?

Simple, and that’s by letting members earn bonuses only from the sales of their downlines, and not by simply recruiting them.

Before we proceed to their compensation plan, let’s learn...

How much does it cost to join Traveling Vineyard?

There are 2 ways to join Traveling Vineyard.

Either you subscribe to their Essential Kit worth $99 or opt for their higher-tier Complete Success Kit worth $179.

Essential Kit ($99) includes:

• Fast Start Guide
• Hosting Brochure
• 10 Bottles Of Wine
• 6 Bottle Tote
• Surveys And Interest Forms
• Wine Pourers
• Stainless Steel Waiter’s Style Corkscrew
• Magic Decanter Aerator

Complete Success Kit ($179) includes:

• Glass Carrying Case
• Tasting Glasses
• Sommology Tins
• Sommology Education Cards
• Team Building Brochure

Traveling Vineyard monthly cost

The costs for 1 year are...

• $99 - $179
• $16 x $12 = $192

Minimum costs for year 1 = $192 - $371

And that’s before you add all the costs for travel, allowance, training, marketing, and miscellaneous expenses.

Traveling Vineyard compensation plan

A lot of MLM companies have confusing compensation plans, and Traveling Vineyard is one of them. But no worries because I’ll do my best to simplify it in the best way possible…

Traveling Vineyard offers 5 ways for you to make money as one of their members:

• Personal Marketing Fees - Earn 15% bonus of all products sold as a referred.
• Personal Bonus - Earn 20% bonus every time you sell $400 worth of products.
• Management Bonus - Earn 5% bonus if you sell $500 worth of products in 2 months.
• Fast Start Bonus - Earn a $40 bonus once your recruited member sells $750 worth of products in the first 2 months.
• Early Promotion - Earn a $100 bonus once you reach the Three Star Leader rank.

Don’t worry if you are still confused because that’s completely normal, especially if you’re dealing with an MLM.

These companies use weird names and fancy terms just to make people see that there are loads of ways to earn money.

When in reality, there are just 2 things to do:

• Sell
• Recruit

You can learn more about their compensation plan by checking out the 17-minute video below.

Is Traveling Vineyard a scam?

No, Traveling Vineyard isn’t a scam. The MLM sells legit wine products and they also pay their members exactly as they say in their compensation plans.

However, a lot of their members are annoyed with false promises made by the company, saying that this is their “key to financial bliss.”

The more they stay with the company, the more they discover that they really are just losing more money instead of earning.

The next section of this review will show you the hidden facts behind this company so you’ll know if it’s worth the try or not.

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.

What I like about Traveling Vineyard

Key Terms:

• Pyramid Scheme – recruits members via a promise for payment from recruiting others into the company 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 Affordable products

One of the best things I like about Traveling Vineyard is that they sell affordable products.

This is rare for MLM companies that usually have overpriced products. Compare the price of their wines with other brands and you’ll see that there’s not much of a price gap…

For that, they gain my trust.

#2 Training included

Another nice thing I discovered about Traveling Vineyard is that they don’t just sell wine, but they also help their customers to choose the right wine for them based on their lifestyle and personal preferences.

What I don't like about Traveling Vineyard

#1 Expensive subscription

You have to pay either $99 or $179 just to be a member.

That doesn’t sound like much, but if you were to compare it to other MLMs, you’ll see that it’s just overpriced.

What’s more is that the company entices you to opt for the more expensive package because they say it’ll help you reach success easier.

But is that really the case?

#2 Hidden monthly expenses

You need to pay a monthly subscription fee of $16 to stay as an active member.

Yes, that may not be that much, but that’s still money, right?

Why do you have to pay every single month, when you’ve already paid the “expensive” subscription fee of $99 or $179?

#3 Is Traveling Vineyard a pyramid scheme in disguise?

If you need to spend $16 monthly to be active, then there’s one way you can avoid that, and it is by recruiting more people into the company.

You can refer to this diagram below for a clearer understanding...

You can then guarantee them that they need to recruit again for them to earn. It just sounds silly to me as it’s clearly a “pyramid scheme in disguise”...

#4 Only 1 in 235 members earn over $28k a year

If you’re going to check out the Traveling Vineyard income disclosure, you’ll see that 87.3% of their members earn lower than $980 yearly.

What’s more is that 94.5% of members are earning just $2,253 every year, while having an average expenditure of $1,517 annually.

That means 1 in 235 members earn over $28k a year.

My opinion - Traveling Vineyard

Traveling Vineyard does make good quality wine that’s priced correctly. But what do I think about the business opportunity presented here?...

The only way you can make good money is if you recruit as many people as you can and sell them the idea of becoming their own boss, even if the reality is that they’re going to lose more money instead of earning.

For sure, that’s not a good business model you want to be a part of...

How I make passive income online

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:

• 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.