Arbonne International

Over and over again, I was told Arbonne is not a scam- list reasons here. I went to a party, and really enjoyed the day of relaxing and the products. I decided to host a spa night myself. That bought me some time to research the company. Though I found tons of information about why Arbinne is the best company ever (And *** like that) I did find some red flags.

At my party, she mentioned more about becoming a consultant, and it did intrigue me, I work a lot of *** hours, it's be great to have family time- so on. So I agreed to listen in on the call then meet for coffee the next day. The whole time, I had thus terrible feeling in my gut about the business. So I met for coffee, asked her a million and one questions I had, each question she answered were basically praises of Arbonne -RED FLAG- how is it with my research it says one thing, yet you tell me the opposite- with a 'everything you read on the Internet isn't true' apparently everything you hear from a person is true though right?? I degress.

She basically told me I was going to do this, made a call to her uptime, scheduled dates for my parties, and called it a day. I did go home that night, and work. I planned out my strategies, made a list of everyone I knew, wrote my 'why's' and wrote a script for calls.

The next day, I had agreed to go to a car presentation. The woman who signed me up agreed to drive me, which turned into a bit of a nightmare in itself- but that has nothing to do with Arbonne, so I won't get into that. I came right from work, wore casual clothes, and was not told to pack a lunch- I figured, as I'm told they are on the way to be a billion dollar company- they'll have it catered (they did not by the way, and I bought my own lunch).

When we walked in, we walked past the Merceades and once we got upstairs, they said how many white Mercedes were outside, but really, there were 4, 3 of which were relatives to each other. I was very underdressed, everyone had a going- out dress on, heals, jewelry- they were dressed to impress. We sat through training first, which I won't lie- was inspiring! It was basically motivational speaking with pauses to talk about how great Arbonne is. I heard the phrase that makeshift cringe a million times- 'the best copy-cat wins' ew. So we took a break, and cane back for the presentation. The CEO came, I was really grossed out by how everyone was praising her... It was very much like how a cult worships the leader... The presentation had a lot of 'break downs' on how to make Arbonne work for you- this is supposed to be a celebration, but it's clearly a recruiting event. The woman who received the car, her sister gave a speech about how she used to have these 'gross' facial piercings, but now- she's a lady... No, she just lost her individuality.

I was very inspired after the event. I got home, and planned some more then went to bed. All night I couldn't sleep. The realities (with glitter brushed off) were running through my head. The next day at work, I was having anxiety attacks, the only way to calm down, was to say I wasn't going through with it.

Here is why it's a scam... First of all, it's not about the products at all. You make little to nothing off of them, it's all about recruting people. Now- I know my family and friends would want to support me, help me get started. They would buy lots of stuff, spend lots of money to help me out, but I wouldn't see any if it. To start, it's $80 which in my situation, isn't disposable. Next you have to buy the kit for $300, or use commissions from the first parties to buy your products. Then purchase the rest out of pocket. You make close to nothing from sales, the money only comes when you have people under you, and they have people under them- so on. My friends and family wouldn't be helping me and my business, they would be helping Arbonne, and the Arbonne business.

It's a bunch of ***. Don't do it... I got a free coffee and trip to Chicago out of the deal, plus anxiety attacks and temporary loss of sensibility (which quickly cane back) if it sounds too good to be true- it usually is.

BTW- most of my concerns from research were net with a. 'They must be from a bad upline' the upline doesn't matter when the company works this way. I am not out any money, I'm really not scorned in anyway- this is not a hate post, it's just informative. Do your research and know what you're getting yourself into!

Well just over 5 months ago I was sucked into signing up for arbonne. I was given my golden bag and rather enjoyed the products, then the smooth talking consultant comes back to retrieve her bag and talk all about how you can earn extra money and how being your own boss is amazing, gives you the financial freedom you need, blah blah blah absolute ***!!!!! I thought I was a smart women, I went home did my research on the company, asked my sponsor a million and one questions prior to signing on and even came up with a budget for what I would like to invest financially into this business...well it seems my sponsor thought that amount was far too low so now i'm currently in quite the mess because the women ended up paying for the rest she " considered" reasonable to invest to get my personal qualifying volume up to par. ( makes me vomit just thinking about it)

Anyways about the company........they do these recruiting sessions with the NVP which is where they stuff a million vulnerable individuals (mostly women lets be serious) in a room and discuss how great arbonne has been for them and their friends and go on with their pathetic excuse for a power point presentation and talk about the massive cheques they keep getting in the mail for selling products we already need and use on a daily bases.....blah blah blah. I find it most hilarious that they do these recruiting sessions generally in the evening so usually right after work and yet they don't offer you a drink or a appetizer....NOTHING yet they are making $250,000 + a year. Oh and lets not forget they also hound you right afterwards to discuss the presentation and to sign on the dotted line. So not only are you starving but you must fork over a minimum in most cases $2,500.00 which will conviently be placed your high interest credit card.

If you think that you are selling arbonne products think again!!! This entire business is NOT one bit about selling it is about finding "builders" which means finding friends and family to hound to invest their hard earned cash into, so that inturn they too can hound people into multiplying the pyramid. After doing just one party when i first started i was excited but after selling a couple thousand dollars worth of product and being even further excited for my commission cheque to only find out that majority of the products sold were considered " business aids" and when you sign up preferred clients ( which they want you to do since it looks better and they pray that this person will convert to consultant status) that you only get a pathetic 15% profit on. And before you even begin to receive that lovely excuse of a commission cheque you have to maintain a 150 pqv which means you basically need to fork even more of your hard earned cash into the company to receive this bonafide cheque. These are all the little things they DON"T mention at these "recruiting sessions" which by the way they call DA Meetings in arbonne lingo. Also they expect you to invest a minimum of $2,500.00 for a whole lot of *** you don't need to " start your own business". Luckily I didn't invest that much but I invested enough. They also make you print off these prospecting folders they tell you to do it at work....yeah full colour and about 500 sheets since they want you to have enough for every single person at the party!! Well I work in a small office so that wasn't going to happen....$100 dollars later everything was printed and what a load of ***!! Oh and don't get sucked into purchasing the business cards they are awful and another poor investment on your part. So basically you have now spent $2,500.00 on products you don't need, plus around $100 for prospecting folders that you will hand out and get right back, plus $75.00 for business cards, plus your gas, plus your time = setting yourself for failure.

The one and only way to make money in this business is to hound every last person you know to purchase product and pray to the gods that they will also fork over their hard earned cash. I too only wish that they had these blogs that i am seeing today up here about what kind of business this company is running. These sponsors think they have hit the jacket when they finally get you to come on board and trust me they turn to *** when you are unsure or want out. Also from analyzing majority of the groups of arbonne families around me every last one of them that is actually making a decent coin off this are ALREADY wealthy!!! they ALLL have husbands that are very well off....these are stay at home moms that literally have nothing better to do with their time since they have maids and nannies which were already in the mix prior to signing onto arbonne. I feel sorry for the young girls just like myself that get sucked into the dream of wanting to make some extra cash when in the end i'm out a *** load of money!! Another few pointers they don't point out at these " recruiting sessions" with no food or drinks is that you really have to keep in perspective your time and money. You have to waste gas recruiting people, dropping off the gold bag, picking up the gold bag, hosting parties all over the city, going to these DA meetings.....its A LOT!!!! They are all liars that say it takes just a few hours of your time. Thats a load of *** I can't even tell you how much money I am out just from the gas and photo copies alone. All in all DON"T do it!!!! The products are digustingly overpriced for what they are, so good luck finding people that can even afford them. They specify all natural but i got a rash from quite a few of the products and i've done multiple allergy tests and none of the " natural" ingredients have I ever been allergic too in its original state. SO Beware!!!! And learn from everyone that is posting on this website. The arbonne community that is going to comment that I am a just a bitter women that didn't make money at this because i'm lazy or whatever excuse you may want to come up....save your breath! I am merely pointing out simple facts and I am rather angry what has happened to myself and others in the same situation. The only thing I actually got from this entire experience is that I will NEVER in my life do a MLM company and the biggest lesson of all trust no one! You must look out for yourself and yourself only since everyone is only in this for themselves so why bother wasting your time and money trying to get already wealthy people richer.

I truly hope that this reaches others!

Cheers

The LIES from the "top 1%" of Arbonne!!

The first thing they do is embellish and even invent details about their personal stories. It's actually sick.

They talk about "service" and "helping people" but they do far more harm than good...they are predators, plain and simple.

They make income claims, which are completely illegal per the FTC.

They encourage the consultants under them to buy buy buy, which simply lines their own pockets.

They act like Arbonne products are amazing, when countless products have been recalled for contamination and other issues.

I could keep going but the bottom line is to STAY AWAY FROM ARBONNE, especially if you meet someone who says they are an Arbonne NVP. That Arbonne NVP is just a piece of trash sitting on top of a big pile of garbage.

Right Ladies and gentlemen.

Ex beauty therapist and makeup artist here with decent knowledge of skin science... because you know... that's important when you're advising and selling skincare and cosmetics to people.

Fact: If you are an independent consultant claiming that there is bat excrement in every other product but Arbonne, you should not be one.

Fact: If you are an independent consultant claiming that other companies use roadkill, you should not be one.

I'm not sure if other companies do use in their products but if you need to discredit another brand to sell the products then YOU SHOULD NOT BE A CONSULTANT... and you could possibly wind up in court for slander charges.

Fact: Do not tell customers/clients that the products are "self-adjusting" as though these skin care items can be universally applied to everyone's skin. That is rubbish. Everyone might have the same pH level but that's about it. A bit like implying that people with the same hair colour have the same personalities.

PCOS, pregnancy, age, diet, weight, illness (even a simple head cold!), allergies, climate, the list is endless. An endless list of issues that can change the outcome of a product when it's applied. Positive and negative.

Luckily, I've only had one client with a reaction to date but hey, they didn't turn around and call me a liar because I never spouted claims that Arbonne is a miracle product. There's no such thing. But they did get their money back and go on to try and buy something else that does work for them. Which leads me to the next fact....

Fact: Clients/Consultants need to know that just because something is botanically/naturally based, it does not mean the risk of reaction is non-existent.

A lot of Arbonne products contain citrus, just because someone can skull a vodka, lime and soda does not mean that their skin can handle it. Fortunately, that's few and far between but it can and does happen.

Fact: A lot of bad reviews come from clients who clearly have been dealing with misinformed and misguided consultants and then in turn they become misinformed and misguided clients.

Fact: A lot of bad reviews come from consultants who threw all their money into something believing they would end up filthy rich. If that's the headspace you're going in with then you should anticipate serious disappointment. Change your attitude, be logical and rational or don't get involved.

Fact: You're either a good salesperson or you're not. But do yourselves, your friends and family a favour, don't push it on to them and harass them because you'll end up with no friends, disgruntled and annoyed family members and no business. Let them decide on their own. Show them once, leave it at that and let them come back to you if they want to know more/buy more.

Fact: Above all, learn how to strike up a conversation with a stranger about Arbonne without making them feel like you want to suck money out of them. Focus on the social side of it and learn to have a basic understanding of human body language. Learn how to tell when someone is interested in the TOPIC and when they're not. If they're not, shut up, morph yourself back into a HUMAN BEING THAT IS MERELY TALKING TO A FELLOW HUMAN BEING ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN ARBONNE. Not every person is a client and that's ok.

At the end of the day, you are at the mercy of your clients/potential clients. They run your business, without them you don't have one. They are human beings with hearts, souls, feelings and thoughts.... not walking bank accounts.

Fact: Botanically based, yes. Natural ingredients, yes for the most part.

Pure? No. NO. NO. NO. Nothing is pure. The closest you're going to get to pure is growing a plant in the ground but even then it's exposed to whatever is in the soil and whatever is in the air.

Just because it's botanically based, does not mean that it hasn't been stripped back and turn into a chemical. Hence the term Botanically based.

Just because it contains natural ingredients, doesn't mean it can't be classed as a chemical or drug with a chemical or drug reaction... Marijuana ring any bells?

I do tend to agree that all of the above is a giant leap in the right direction for skincare and cosmetics.

Are they better for you? In my opinion, Yes. Anything without mineral oil, parabens, sulfates or ANY petroleum product is better for you.

Why did I get involved? Before I got involved I spent hours trolling the internet for information. I read the bad, the really bad, the good and the really good. I tried the products, I liked them, my skin liked them. I personally have noticed a huge difference using RE9 in particular.

I don't necessarily like what Arbonne as a company and it's IC's represent in terms of recruiting people based on big money, jewelry and a Mercedes.

But that's their incentives and I chose to tune that all out because it's not my thing. Although it is accurate, it does exist, it just takes time to get to that point.

But I do this my way, with absolutely zero ***

I went into this thinking hey, If I make $20 well that's $20 I didn't have before, either way this is going to be FUN.

I don't stand there preaching and telling people they need 12+ products for their faces and bodies because that's not true either.

Take what you like from what I've said, take it with a grain of salt, take it as gospel, all is fine.

But take some ownership for the good and the bad in whatever facet of Arbonne you've CHOSEN to get involved in. Whether you CHOSE to be a client or a consultant.

But to the clients who do come across a rogue consultant and have a negative experience through no fault of their own I can only apologize and ask that you don't tarnish all of us with the same brush.

Consultants... This is not about earning a quick dollar. Take the time to educate yourself.

Peace, Love and all that jazz xxx

I was an Independent Consultant and District Manager for 2 years until I woke up and literally ran away from this company. Arbonne reps will tell you half truths, blatant lies and huge exaggerations just to get you to sign up. You will only make it in this business if you are willing to lie and rip off all your friends and family and become an unethical, ruthless individual in the process!

For instance when I signed up I was unaware that I had to spend £100 every single month on Arbonne products to keep my ID and get paid. They didn't mention this at all during the opportunity presentation or when I was signing up. I was definitely not spending £100 a month previously on personal care and health and wellness products. The rep will mention a 'stat' that "the average family spends £70+ a month on products" - I challenge you to ask them to show you the source of such information as the reps often make things up and exaggerate facts.

In the opportunity presentation they don't mention that a business order costs £1,500 to start, they only mention to sign up for an independent ID costs £75. I was surprised after the presentation when they said that it would cost that much. Why not just be transparent and honest up front and mention the business order cost in the initial opportunity presentation? Another thing, the reps are very unethically, if you don't have the £1,500 they will suggest you take out a nought per cent credit card and use it to place the order. Why should someone get themselves into debt just to purchase luxury skincare products???

They keep telling you that Gordon Fraser is making £30,000 a month but let's be honest how many people in Arbonne are making anything close to this type of money? Only 5% of people in Arbonne are taking home the top earnings and the rest of the 95% are struggling to even make £50 a month. Ask your rep directly how much money are THEY MAKING per month and ask to see a copy of their Webstats or commission cheques as they will either avoid answering the question by telling you how much money the top earners are earning or they will say its not about how much I earn, it's about how much you're going to earn - again, ask the rep for evidence of earnings.

The compensation plan is POOR and is so complicated that even Albert Einstein himself couldn't understand it. Most people after spending thousands of pounds on orders will only receive a commission cheque of £10. You will be making a loss every month and it won't cover the monthly running costs.

The white Mercedes that you receive during a car presentation when you reach VP level is on hire purchase and you don't actually own it. If you don't reach your sales targets every month they take the Mercedes away.

They don't tell you that every month your volumes fall to zero and NOTHING from the previous month gets carried over.

The rep will tell you that the products are so great that they 'sell themselves.' That is an absolute lie as most of your friends, colleagues and family will tell you that the products are TOO EXPENSIVE and they will stick with the products that they are already purchasing from other stores.

They will tell you that you don't need to be a salesperson to be successful in Arbonne - that is a total lie as you have monthly targets to hit and you absolutely have to sell preferred client orders and ideal business orders to prospects.

Every week you are expected to call a premium 0845 number for an hour of training and the Leadership Academy and various training has a cost.

They will say that you don't need to have a lot of time to do this business as it fits around your life is also a lie - in order to make it work you have to eat, sleep and drink Arbonne by attending all of their endless events.

They expect you to hound your friends and family for orders and don't teach you practical skills, for example, how to market your business online or how to get hits on your website so that you don't have to bother them. I totally regret introducing this to my friends as I've fallen out with school friends over it and our friendships have never recovered from it. True friendships are priceless and shouldn't be jeopradized for the sake of Arbonne INC who are the real winners at the end of the day.

I could honestly go on and on and on. In closing if I could turn back time I would NEVER have signed up to Arbonne. It was a waste of time, money, resources and effort. Please run in the opposite direction of someone with a gold bag and don't allow your wives, partners, sisters, mothers etc to get sucked into their web of lies. There are several negative reviews from ex-consultants and customers and we can't all be wrong!