MonaVie: Scam or not?
The scheme: Typical multi-level marketing company, using the guise of “direct sales” to make the business look like a legitimate retail venture. The reality is that it’s nothing more than a recruiting scheme like Usana, Mary Kay, Arbonne, PrePaid Legal, Primerica, Herbalife, United First Financial, and so many other companies that make big promises to members, but provide little actual reward to 99%.
The founder: Dallin Larsen founded MonaVie. He used to work for Usana Health Sciences, and actually helped found Usana. He helped grow the associates to 70,000 and helped make up the compensation plan. Then he ditched out and started his own company
The product: Acai berry juice plus other fruit juices. I like to call this “magic berry juice.” It supposedly cures whatever ails you and there’s never been anything quite like it on the market. If you study multi-level marketing companies, you will see that one very common characteristic is some unique/special product that is hard to find and has never been offered before. It typically has magical powers and is so powerful that it justifies a high retail price. In reality, the high prices are not because the products are so good, but because there are so many levels of the pyramid which must be paid commission.
The cost: A bottle of the berry juice runs around $40. If you drink the recommended amounts, the bottle will last you about a week, which means the cost is about $5.71 a day. That’s an expensive way to get your vitamins. Excessively so.
The compensation: Here is the detail to the MonaVie compensation plan. Like a typical MLM, it’s got a complicated points – commission – points – bonus – override – incentive system. You build two legs to your downline, and qualify for commission based on the shorter leg. That longer leg? Too bad. Bonuses stop wherever the shorter leg ends. You can usually be sure of one thing in MLMs: The more complicated the pay plan, the less it benefits the members. And oooh… you can have up to “four business centers.” That means more purchases of products by you in order to get your commissions!
The product scam: There are apparently no scientific studies that prove the alleged benefits of the MonaVie juice. There’s no denying that there is nutritional value to the juice, just like any other juice. It’s the extraordinary health benefits claimed that are suspect. (Of course, the company disclaims any knowledge of cures claimed by the “independent” distributors.)
The recruiting scam: As with other MLMs, the company’s focus appears to be on recruiting, rather than retailing the product. Of course, the product is integral to the scheme. Without it, MonaVie could easily be called a pyramid scheme. With the product, we’re not supposed to identify the company as an endless chain recruiting scheme or pyramid scheme. And until the FTC decides to enforce the laws against pyramiding, many will believe that a company like MonaVie is perfectly legal and legitimate.
The commission scam: In order to qualify for commissions, a distributor must order at least 4 bottles of juice per month, which amounts to about $130 plus shipping and taxes. This is a common part of the MLM game: You can’t get your commissions unless you buy a minimum amount of their products. MLM supporters say “Well of course you’ll be selling the products so that minimum purchase isn’t a problem.” The truth is that very little actual retailing goes on in these companies because consumers are smart. The required purchases are usually not sold to a legitimate retail customer.
Keep drinking the magic juice. Who cares if you could get the same benefits from something at the grocery store that costs $4. Who would want the same thing for a fraction of the cost?
I’m gonna unsubscribe. Good luck all. I really mean that.
Tracy, name for me which products that I can buy at the store that are as good for me or better. I have looked, believe me. They all have added sugars, water added Chemicals and vitamins. Truth be known, at full retail value of $45 a bottle that would be 6.43 a day, I pay much less for mine about 22.50 a bottle so thats $3.22 a day. I still don’t see the scam here. I see other people opinions, but no real facts.
It’s berry juice. Pick one. Drink it. Make sure it’s acai if you really must. There are tons of them available at a fraction of the cost. Monavie has no proven advantages.
Seriously, I don’t care who you are, you can’t find all the berries and fruits used in Mona Vie at any store. Look, bash the MLM all you want. I really don’t care. But the product it’s self is the real deal. Too many people are getting positive results from drinking it. If you don’t like the business model of MLM that would be a fair opinion. Not everybody is cut out for that. But, the product has been scrutinized by the FDA and they have not found anything wrong with it. They say to make no claims. I don’t. It isn’t a drug, it doesn’t cure anything. But it does, scientifically, give your body what it needs to promote better health. Too many athletes are drinking it at this point for your proposal that you can get better stuff at the store. Wouldn’t they get the better stuff at the store if it was there? Yes. It has been passed by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Heres the proof….
Athletic Banned Substances Screening Program Results
Products Reviewed: MonaVie Active Juice, MonaVie (Original) Juice
Overall Analytical Findings:*
• MonaVie Active Juice: Pass ????
• MonaVie (Original) Juice: Pass ????
Categories of Banned Substances Tested:
• Beta Blockers: None Detected
• Diuretics: None Detected
• Narcotics: None Detected
• Anabolic Steroids: None Detected
• Stimulants: None Detected
• Masking Agents: None Detected
Banned Substance
Testing covers banned substances (parent drug and metabolites) representing the 2007 World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List, consisting of over 170 substances. The
substances tested are from the following six categories and are those that can be tested in
supplements (limited in comparison to what can be tested for in blood and urine).
• Stimulants and related compounds
• Narcotics and related substances
• Anabolic agents and related substances
• Diuretics and related substances
• Masking agents and related substances
• Beta blockers and related substances
Testing Methods
Screening involves one or more appropriate analytical methods, e.g., HPLC and GC, and
includes spiking and recovery of certain compounds to ensure proper extraction.
Confirmation of any detected banned substance is made by mass spectroscopy.
Passing Score†
To pass, a product must contain no confirmed banned substance at a “zero-tolerance level”—
defined by the recovery rate of a substance, as well as its limits of detection in a given matrix.
* Product tests performed by ConsumerLab.com, LLC, an independent laboratory not associated with MonaVie.
† Passing scores allow for specific margins of technical error associated with each analysis. ConsumerLab.com reserves
the right to disqualify a product at any time from passing its testing if it considers such product to present a safety risk
or to provide misleading or inaccurate information in its labeling.
I never said there was anything wrong with the juice. Just that you don’t have to spend that much on juice to get the vitamins and benefits. I don’t argue that it’s good for you. It’s just that there are juices that are equally as good for you and are found in the grocery store for a fraction of the price. (And I promise they don’t have any steroids in them!)
Tracy, that’s where we have to have our difference then. You cannot get a juice at the store that is as high in antioxidant value with as many different fruits in it for the variety your body needs. No one makes one, and for the 4 bucks a day it costs, there is no better value. 10-13 organic fruits a day would cost you way more and you probably couldn’t eat that many anyway. As for the business plan, just as in ANY business you have to work hard and there are no guarantees. For crying out loud it costs 39 bucks for start up, not several hundred thousand as in most conventional traditional business’s. There’s no guarantee you’ll succeed at those either.Trust me, I pay attention. You know that I do.
You can get plenty of antioxidants from juice in the store.
sigh…..we could all use a little brain cleaning now and again….Lets pretend that I’m from Missouri and “Show me.” Look, 4 ounces of Mona Vie gives you about (over) 4,000 ORAC value a day. Show me a juice at the store that for 4 or 5 bucks a day will do the same. I know that I’ll never sway you from your beliefs on MLM, but the juice is the real deal. If not, why are there so many who just consume it and dont sell it? A body is recommended to receive 5,000 Orac value a day. With proper diet along with the juice, a much healthier lifestyle is created. I can see that you are an educated person, highly qualified in your field, and I respect you highly for that. But it appears that in the case of the science behind this juice you haven’t really done your due diligence. The science is there, if you would like I could post it here for you or send you links. I love debate, but no one on here brings the facts to the table. I will.
Go eat a few prunes and you’ll get the same ORAC value or more. Better yet, have a salad for lunch with a variety of vegetables, and you’ll get the same ORAC value or more.
They are selling you magic potion that you don’t need. But nothing I can say will convince you how silly this is. Drink a little juice, have a little salad, pop a multi-vitamin from Target, and you’ll have what you need.
very good! The ORAC value per gram of prunes is high, about 577. And eating the variety of foods is the proper nutritional way. But I don’t know, you see, I do eat stuff such as that but it doesn’t seem to work as well as my magic elixir. The juice would be full od sugar and added water so that’s not all that great for you, the lettuce we would get here in so.cal would be full of crap from over fertilizing and bug sprays. I guess I could go to the organic store and pick some up for a buck or two more. But now that I think of it, it’s gonna cost me more to do it your way than to do it my way. And, it’s just a shot glass and I’m on my way. Hmmmmm, just to easy I guess. People do need this, you may not. You may take the time and the effort to create a lifestyle dinner or lunch or breakfast, but most don’t and never will. That’s where we come in, fast and easy and it tastes good. 4.50 a day and you can go kill your self at McDonalds and still have your daily nutrition from ORGANIC foods. Not supplements filled with chemicals. Go ahead if you want, but not me, I see the benefit.
you know, I was following some of the links posted here and some of your “highly respected” posters have been found to have been people other than who they say they are. In fact, they themselves have been touted as being scammers.
This post by: Joyce Lewis Says:
12 Aug 08 at 11:47 pm
with this link: http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=44032&highlight=monavie
actually has someone who knows this person and names them and their scam if you read the entire blog post you’ll see. I love the internet, you can be who ever you want!
Sorry, Charlie. You still don’t get it. All you have to do is eat a well-balanced diet that has a fair amount of nutrition in it and take a multivitamin and you’re good. No, a decent diet doesn’t have to cost a lot. You need to eat, right? Even if you take the magic juice? So just put forth a small amount of effort when you’re eating and take a vitamin and you’re good to go. No overpriced magic potion necessary.