Someone has probably introduced AdvoCare to you as a great way to stay in shape and make money from home.
However, you're probably wondering... can you really make money with AdvoCare? Or is it just a scam?
This honest up to date AdvoCare review in 2020, with videos, will reveal the true pros and cons of the company. You can then make an informed decision if it is right for you or not.
AdvoCare Review
The overview and rankings
Name: AdvoCare
Founder: Charles E. Ragus in 1993
Type: Health and Wellness MLM Direct Sales Company (since 2019)
Products (Including Pricing): 30 out of 100
Success Stories: 1 out of 100
Price To Join MLM: $59 +$50 per year (99 out of 100)
What To Look For In An MLM:
Summary: AdvoCare was determined as a pyramid scheme by the FTC in July 2019. Since then, the company has been forced into making changes including only paying members for selling products rather than getting bonuses for items sold by their "downline".
Hence, it no longer operates like an MLM business but a direct sales company. The issue is, there really is no training on how to use internet marketing to help sell the overpriced AdvoCare products.
It's still, therefore, very hard for people to make any money from AdvoCare without additional training or skills.
Make Time Online Rating: 43 out of 100
Recommended: No
What is AdvoCare?
AdvoCare used to be a health and wellness Multi-Level-Marketing company that sells a range of performance and weight management supplements.
It was founded in 1993 in Texas and became a multimillion dollar company in the 2000's.
However, AdvoCare was forced to redesign the company structure to a single-level direct sales model in 2019 when the Federal Trade Commission determined AdvoCare of operating like a pyramid scheme.
It still sells the same health and wellness products despite this change in structure.
You can learn more about the company and how it offers everyday people the chance to make money from home in the 2 minutes sales video below...
It's still possible for everyday people to earn money as an AdvoCare distributor.
But you're probably still wondering...
Is AdvoCare a pyramid scheme?
AdvoCare is no longer a pyramid scheme in any way.
The only way distributors can earn money is by getting commissions from selling AdvoCare's products.
It is impossible to get paid in any way from recruiting people into their "downline", unlike how the company used to operate.
What is a pyramid scheme?
A company that promises payment to members for recruiting more people into the company instead of selling any products or services.
These are illegal in most countries as it is impossible for every member to earn money.
Just see the Wikipedia diagram below to understand why...
Most MLMs do provide legit services or products. This includes AdvoCare before 2019.
However, it is often very hard for members to earn good money or even cover their own expenses unless they recruit people into their "downline". This makes many MLMs similar to a "pyramid scheme in disguise" and this is exactly why the FTC forced AdvoCare to change.
You can learn more about this in the 5 minute video below...
This case with the FTC and AdvoCare does suggest that EVERY MLM should be very concerned as there really was no difference to what AdvoCare did and many other MLMs still do...
Success is rare with AdvoCare
In fact, success is rare inside any MLM company.
Did you know that between 73% and 99% of all MLM representatives lose money?
To earn "bonuses" from a downline AdvoCare distributors used to have to sell $500+ of products every month to "remain active".
If they couldn't sell this amount they would have to purchase products themselves, meaning that distributors would often spend thousands of dollars every year.
You can therefore see in the AdvoCare 2017 income disclosure that at least 98.29% of distributors lost money in 2017.
This is a huge reason for the change in their company structure.
Since the change there haven't been any income disclosures, but the only way to make money is by receiving a 20-40% commission for selling AdvoCare's products.
How does AdvoCare Work?
AdvoCare produces a range of performance supplements and weight loss shakes.
However, they save a lot of money on advertising and marketing each month. They do this because they get everyday people to help sell these products for them.
In return, everyday people get the opportunity to make money from home.
In theory, it's a win-win!
AdvoCare products
Before you consider joining AdvoCare as a distributor you need to understand their products as this is what you will need to sell to make money.
AdvoCare has a range of products within the following categories:
- Weight management: meal replacement shakes, appetite control, supplements for energy + metabolism
- Energy: spark + meal bars
- Wellness: Vitamins, fish oil, herbal cleanse, fiber drink, probiotics, etc
- Sports Performance: Muscle building + recovery
There are too many products to go into detail about all of them in this AdvoCare review, but you can find all of AdvoCare's products here.
But it is important to be aware that there are hundreds of other MLM companies that offer a very similar selection of products such as:
So what makes AdvoCare stand out?
AdvoCare Spark- flagship product
AdvoCare's main "flagship" product is their "Spark", vitamin and amino acid supplement...
It's similar to energy drinks that helps to boost energy and mental focus, without any added sugar.
It's always a good idea to see what real people think about these types of products...
As you can see, the majority of people rate Spark quite highly.
AdvoCare knows how to market it well too. They even have some elite athletes recommending Spark as you can see in the 17 second video below...
Can you make money with AdvoCare?
In the past it has been very hard to make any money from AdvoCare.
Only 1 out of 665 members made over $50,000 in 2017 and these were typically very good sales managers that recruited a big downline of sales people.
Without being able to earn bonuses from the sales your "downline" make, these people will not be able to earn money like they used to in AdvoCare.
And just think about this... how many shakes could you sell in person to your friends and family each month?
1? 10? 100?
Even if you could sell 100 products worth $50 every month you will only earn up to 40% commission which would be around $2,000 a month.
The only people that can make any decent money from AdvoCare from now on will be those who use online marketing to help sell the products for them 24/7.
How to make money with AdvoCare
There is now only 1 way you can earn money with AdvoCare:
- Sell AdvoCare products
You can no longer make money from recruiting a team and earning bonuses from the sales they make.
How much does it cost to join AdvoCare?
The price to join has changed as well. It now costs $59 plus tax and $50 a year to remain active.
It used to cost $79 to join and you would have to hit a sales quota each month to stay active.
AdvoCare monthly cost
There are not any sales quotas to hit to earn bonuses anymore. The only requirement to earn compensation is to provide your social security number...
However, if you are genuinely trying to sell these products it would be wise that you actually use them yourself so you can speak from person experience.
Therefore, you should probably allow at least $50 a month for products.
And if you are serious about making money from AdvoCare you will likely need to learn more about how to market products online and host your own website. It's wise to allow around $100 a month for training and the tools you need to do this.
AdvoCare compensation plan
Most MLM companies like to make their compensation plan harder to understand than solving a Rubik's cube blindfolded.
AdvoCare is now very different as it is a single-level direct sales company.
There are only 2 ways you can earn money:
- Retail profits
- Wholesale commissions
Retail profits
The simplest way to earn money is buying AdvoCare products at your wholesale price (between 20-40% off, see table above) and sell them on at retail price.
You make the difference in price!
Simple, right?
Wholesale commissions
If you have "preferred clients" then you can sell AdvoCare products on at wholesale value.
Let's say your client gets 20% discount.
If you get a 30% discount (by selling between $1k-$2k in a month) then you would make 10% commission from anything you sell to these "preferred clients".
You can find the full 28 page AdvoCare up to date policies with the compensation plan here.
Is AdvoCare a scam?
AdvoCare is not a scam.
They provide legit products and distributors can only get paid for selling the products and earning a commission.
It works very similar to affiliate marketing and people get rewarded for how much they sell.
Even though AdvoCare used to work like a pyramid scheme it now is completely legit. But does it mean it's the best way for you to work from home?
Just to be fully transparent with you, I am not a distributor myself and I do not endorse AdvoCare 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!
What I like about AdvoCare
There are some things that I really like about AdvoCare compared to many 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 Change in policies
Since the change in policies in July 2019, AdvoCare has become a completely legit way for people to earn money.
The FTC has got rid of any pyramid scheme and MLM structure and paid back over $150 million to consumers.
#2 It's now a legit business model- since July 2019
Direct sales works very similarly to affiliate marketing in the sense that you get paid a commission for any sales you make.
There is no recruiting people into a company in order to get paid. You simply sell a product or service and make a commission...
However, the best way to make these sales is by using online marketing because the internet can sell for you 24 hours of the day and all over the world.
This is why affiliate marketing can be far more lucrative than direct sales and the people that do well from direct sales are typically the ones that know how to use online marketing.
#3 Positive product reviews
There are tons of good reviews about the AdvoCare products online.
Just look on Amazon and you can see hundreds of positive reviews about the AdvoCare products. When real people like and use the products this is a great sign if you want to sell them!
What I don't like about AdvoCare
There are still some hidden truths about AdvoCare that are important to be aware of before diving in.
#1 Expensive products
AdvoCare's products are still very expensive compared to very similar items...
- AdvoCare = $1.31 per serving
- Amazon = $0.65 per serving
It costs 100% more to buy a vitamin and amino acids supplement from AdvoCare as it does from a very highly rated product from Amazon.
And these are not the only products that are expensive...
- AdvoCare = $3.21 per serving
- IdealShake = $1.66 per serving
You can see that their shakes are 100% more expensive than other meal replacement shakes.
This can make it hard to sell especially if people can find a very similar product for half the price by clicking a button on the computer.
#2 Can you really make money from Advocare?
The 2017 income disclosure suggests that it's not likely.
98.29% of distributors earnt less than $2,000 before expenses in 2017....
You could even be in the top 1% of distributors, which takes an average of 7.9 years work, and still only receive $17,826 a year!
This was the income potential before the change in policies and structure.
And there are no bonuses for sales in your downline any more. So the income potential is only going to be worse today.
#3 AdvoCare was a pyramid scheme according to the FTC?
It's important to be aware of this even if you're considering joining today.
100,000 distributors were affected by the change in policy and the whole companies reputation has taken a huge hit.
The changes are explained pretty well from this former distributor in the 9 minute video...
The changes do make the company stronger moving forwards, but it's important to be aware of these changes and that the company is completely different since 2019.
#4 No appropriate online marketing training
The biggest issue about trying to make money from AdvoCare is that the company does not provide training on how to use online marketing to help you sell the products.
So are you still expected to host "home parties" and knock on peoples doors to sell them in the 2020's?
This couple even explains how they were prevented from using online marketing to sell AdvoCare products. Advocare didn't allow them to keep their websites that they had built!
Just watch about 2 minutes of this video, it's in the right place...
You are also completely restricted to selling AdvoCare's products if you join as a distributor. This is not the case if you started affiliate marketing where you can promote anything you like.
#5 Downward trend
The final nail in the coffin for AdvoCare can be found on Google Trends...
It's much harder to sell something that people are not searching for and you can see that fewer people are searching for AdvoCare each month since 2015.
When you compare this to other direct sales companies like Farmasi you can see the trend is going the wrong way.
Ready to make passive income online?
I've created a growing passive income online with no previous marketing skills or online experience...
I've made a special video for you to explain exactly how I did this.
My opinion - AdvoCare
A lot of good changes has happened to AdvoCare and the FTC shutting down their MLM business model is not a good sign for other MLMs.
However, what do I think are your chances of making money from AdvoCare now?...
Direct sales is very similar to affiliate marketing, which is a completely legit way for people to earn money.
However, without using the internet to help you sell, AdvoCare is like trying to catch a fish with your bare hands. Plus, you're restricted to what products you can actually promote and they are twice as expensive as other comparables.
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.
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.
Ready to make passive income online?
In 2018 I had no idea how to make money online. I was a full time PE teacher with no marketing skills or online experience.
I fell for scams along the way but I've managed to create a growing passive income online.
And I've made a special video for you to explain exactly how I did this.
