The MLM Blog is getting a big increase in traffic over the last couple of days related to the Arbonne Chapter 11 Bankruptcy rumors. Web traffic is an interesting phenomena and usually fairly accurate. When a lot of people are searching for a particular topic, news on the topic is usually not far behind. My guess is that some new announcements have been made to some of the key Arbonne leaders regarding the situation.
We will keep you posted with new developments as they come in. Meanwhile, if you want to read some of the (over 240) comments on the subject, click here: Arbonne Discussion.
There is no doubt about it. ARbonne is having problems and they have brainwashed the consultants to not know anything about it. They are pumping up all these great products coming out in 2010. They give products to the teenagers and solders-which is a great tax wrtie off and a good way to get rid of old inventory. The founder’s vision is gone and now they are all scrambling to keep it alive. They are firing people left right and center. How can a CEO from MacDonalds know what to do with a skincare company and has no experience in the Direct Selling industry too.
I think it was a matter of time. The product is overrated, to expensive and it is made out of the country.
I tried selling the product and most people would say, I have to feed my family before buying this product.
The woman that got me involved in it is unrealistic, she didn’t want to hear what my friends are going through.
Went back to Mary Kay, better product and more reasonably priced
Please don’t continue to spread false rumors. Arbonne is still an exremely profitable company and the debt left by greedy wall street types is being handled. The active consultants were all notified about the financial process, and it is also posted on the Arbonne website. Let’s move on to more important issues!
LOVE the biz..love the people…love the products…never doubt this company…we did let wall street come in and they did do some things ..but we are back to the ARBONNE way and loving life!!!!! If you dont beleive it your loss..not for everyone but everyone involved is beautfiul wonderful people.Proud to be a part of this company!!
Shaorn, are you on drugs? Can I have some too so I can numb the pain and be in your world. Please… I need to believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will smoke some and then watch the Secret…… What you think about you bring about. YOu are denying and denying. which in turn brings more denial. Your credit card company loves you too!!!
I work at a contract vitamin manufacturer that makes products for Arbonne and other MLMs. They all deserve what’s coming to them; they are unscrupulous bastards who regularly lie to us, try to nickel-and-dime us to death, and finally steal our work and take it to another (lower-price, lower-quality) manufacturer. People need to wake up and see what kind of “ethics” these folks practice.
I am an Arbonne Consultant. I hate the fact that people are ‘under-rating’ our product. They work and they are awesome. As to the above comment, If you were an actual consultant that did the business you would know that we are made in the US but formulated in Switzerland. Also, Please note the ingredients in our products, what you may possibly be using now I would not put on me!! Arbonne is going to be stronger than ever. To the vitamin guy above, your business since has been shown due to your use of words. Our products are not low price- low quality. We are high quality. About the tax write-off, I guess you do not give things to other places for write offs on your taxes? I bet you do.
Christina,
I don’t see anyone underrating Arbonne’s product. In fact, everyone I have introduced to Arbonne overwhelmingly likes the product. They think it works. They are pleased with their results. They just think it is TOO EXPENSIVE. I will tell you why that is. When introduced to Arbonne, prospects see this:
1 – Arbonne can be purchased at a 20-35% discount any day of the week by paying either $29 or $109 sign-up fee (and giving up your SSN). On a RE9 kit, that is a $60-105 discount.
2 – In addition, if they host a party, for every $250 in sales, Arbonne will sell them product for 80% off ($100 for $20).
3 – In addition, if they personally buy $150 in RV of product (which actually costs $120 or $97.50 if they are a PClient or Consultant, respectively), they can choose one product of their choice up to $100 RV free (100% discount).
4 – And further, new PClients or Consultants can buy one RSVP ($700 product for $350, 50% off) in their first two months. Additionally, myself and all of the people I signed up were emailed an offer to purchase ANOTHER RSVP ($700 product for $350, 50% off) almost immediately after ordering the first RSVP as a “business-building bonus.”
5 – And then for new PClients or Consultants, the “Twice as Nice” promotion means if they buy $150 RV of products in their second month (again, actually costs $120 or $97.50 if they are a PClient or Consultant, respectively), they may choose another free item from a selected list (100% discounted).
Given the many opportunities to buy a HUGE RV of product at a 20%-100% discount, and that the products last a significant amount of time, the chances of retail price re-orders are slim.
Why would anyone buy any Arbonne product at retail when that kind of “stock-up sale” is possible at any time, for anyone? It does not make sense to even the most simpleminded person that paying retail value is a good deal compared to paying less, sometimes significantly so. If Arbonne can give away products at 80% and 100% discounts and STILL PAY COMMISSIONS, then what idea does that leave the consumer with? That the products could possibly be overpriced?
Giving those kinds of discounts (even at a loss) does not promote the high-end image Arbonne wants to project. Any dummy can figure in their mind “Hey, if they can sell that RE9 Set to me for $195 instead of the $298.50 retail, and still pay multiple levels of commissions and overrides, still give Mercedes allowances, still run their company, and still make a profit, then how ‘high-end’ or ‘exclusive’ is it really?”
I had a prospect come in at Consultant, buy everything she could on the special offers, then never continue monthly RV orders or recruiting. Why would she? If you follow the trail of breadcrumbs on Arbonne’s site, even Consultants who lose their status can buy it back at any time for $80 – a small investment to be able to buy again at a 35%-100% discount. When she runs out in 8 months or a year, she can re-pay that $80, re-establish her 35% discount and replenish her products. All of this is all just fine with Arbonne the company. Arbonne will probably let her do another RSVP if she re-establishes as a Consultant.
As you can see, Arbonne the company, in its desperation, devalued its own product. Oil of Olay is not telling their consumer that they paid $9 to manufacture and market that $70 wrinkle cream but that it is ~worth that $70~ for no legitimate reason. Arbonne is.
I don’t think Arbonne is an evil company. I think they were dumb and greedy. They monetized the consultant with puppy/REsults and that momentum could not be maintained. Now they’re caught short.
Hey Kathy…well organized and thought through remarks. I agree with you except for one thing that it critical to understanding, in my humble opinion, why Arbonne is in financial trouble…You said “the puppy/REsults….could not be maintained..Now they’re caught short.” That’s not accurate. The Results approach could have been maintained but it suddenly, in 2006, wasn’t SUPPORTED. As long as the home office was behind it and supported it, it worked…It was no more front loading that somebody buying the makeup kit or sample products in order for people to try at home parties. The “kits” were purchased so that prospective clients could have their own “private” party at home with the product for 3 whole days. It worked like a charm. People loved being able to see their skin change nearly in front of their eyes but certainly within 3 days…The kits were always out if you were working the business. If they were sitting on the counter next to one’s butt on the couch then no of course it wouldn’t work. It was a GREAT system and largely responsible for taking annual sales from 25 million to over 800 million in 5 years. Up until that point, Arbonne grew at what…maybe 3-4 % a year…Sales rocketed with the Results system. Mgmt had presentation slides showing a 164% growth in sales in one year!! What happened was that as the consultant base rose to over a million people eventually the two systems collided and as you so eloquently stated above, why would somebody want to pay retail if they could get it for 65% off? The Results system was cutting into the other system’s profit….So, the in-fighting began and corporate removed their support and that has lasted until the very moment that Bankruptcy became the primary concern. It’s measurable. From the moment that somebody wrote the letter and put Stian’s name on it saying that the Results approach couldn’t be done, sending shockwaves in to the group that was doing it, sales began to fall…It wasn’t greed that took Arbonne under it was PRIDE…And, it wasn’t Harvest Partners, it was 9 out of the Top Ten NVP’s. They threw their weight around, management cow-towd, and they lost 1/2 Billion dollars in annual sales…PRIDE comes before the FALL. ..
There was old mgmt, then new mgmt and now present mgmt…Everybody wants to blame one or the other but one thing has been consistent….one person knew exactly what was going on at all times, was intimately familiar with every detail of operations..One person knew they were preparing for Bankruptcy last year….One person was assigned to love you and more than any other person let you down….RITA…She knew…she KNEW !!
and never said a word…..Do you feel the love?
This reorganization is not a happy time for anyone involved with Arbonne. And it does not have to mean Arbonne cannot bounce back and be greater than ever.
It will require courageous leadership and vision….long range vision for the challenges will be significant short term.
Arbonne if the leaders choose can have history on it’s side.
Ps. I am not an Arbonne distributor..I am a competitor. And I for one am dam glad Amway, Herbalife and Nuskin field leaders held fast and grew through their challenges. God knows what or who might have taken their place.
Christina – If you knew how cheaply the vitamins are made, and how heavily marked up they are by the time you “consultants” buy them, you’d be amazed. My company is barely staying afloat because the MLMs keep demanding that we cut our prices. Arbonne is probably not as bad as the others (I won’t name them here), but the MLM business model is a crooked one. Why do you think so many people quit the business? There are only a few people at the top who really prosper.
When I’m no longer employed at my current company, I’ll share some juicy stories with this blog.
Just FYI – EVERYTHING you purchase, no matter what it is or where you buy it from, is marked up astronomically – it’s just how consumership works! And BTW – “nice things aren’t cheap and cheap things aren’t nice and we wouldn’t want it any other way!”
Wow – You may be happy paying $140 for a jar of powder that cost only $6 to make (for a certain Texas MLM that shall remain nameless). If that’s your idea of “consumership,” then you can have it. You’re probably the kind of person who has no problem buying expensive designer clothes that were made by 13-year-olds in El Salvador for 10 cents a piece. You wouldn’t want it any other way, and your way of thinking rules the world today. Sad.
I only wish I could get my lenders to let go of my personal debt and invest in me like they are doing in Arbonne. The financial investors recognize that Arbonne is a good bet going forward and that’s exactly why they are exchanging their debt relationship with Arbonne for a piece of the action. I applaud Arbonne’s New CEO Kay Nappier who knows how to play ball with the big boys to take Arbonne to that Billion dollar company that it is going to become through this financial restructuring plan. .
I am SO happy I got out when I did. I am thrilled that I was smart enough to stop the hemorrhaging of my credit card. I have been a consultant for 2 years. I started up the ladder to D.M. and quickly realized that I was being encouraged to advance at my own expense. But here is the interesting part; before I heard a word of chapter 11, I saw the attitude that comes along with Arbonne. I attended NTC last year and realized that they were all drinking the cool-aid. My up-line is impressive and I rubbed my humble elbows with some big money makers. (Nice people and nothing against them, but what % of us do they make up?) What really turned me totally off was my RVP spending a weekend at my house to “train” us newbies. She was rude, pushy, and critical of anything I had in my house that did not say Arbonne. I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist. I went back to school when I was 40 and worked hard to earn my degree. I have never been shown such disrespect as I was from this RVP because I was not willing to totally forgo my career and training and jump on her Arbonne train. The general attitude of the higher ups is, do this our way or hit the highway. Translate: “Make me some money, honey.”
…and by the way, the products are good. They do what they say they will. Are they over priced? YES THEY ARE OVER PRICED!!! If they can afford to offer the discounts of up to 85% off, and still make a profit, they are just plain greedy when they establish their retail price point.
how exactly did you make money with Arbonne? It was by recruiting, making people buy into the company to get a good deal, and then hoping that they would “see the light” and start recruiting their friends so they could get a good deal. Not such a good business plan. A good plan involves recruiting people who would like to learn how to sell the product for profit, and selling the product for profit. The beauty of direct selling, is offering a quality product to the market place in an at home atmosphere with out the middle man markup. Of course it’s a for profit industry. It has to be. Why would any one not want to make a profit. That is driving reason why most people go to work every day. I choose to have a direct selling career, because I want to be in control of my time and finances. I don’t want to punch a clock and only make someone else rich. I have the ability to make my own future. It doesn’t matter what company you work for, you need to be responsible for your own actions, including your credit card. I am grateful to have found Jim Rohn as my mentor. I am also grateful to be with the #1 direct selling company. It matters who is at the helm. If you’re not happy, it’s a choice, find it.
I could not agree more , Laura. My happiness is my responsibility, as is my credit card. My point was that I was encouraged to put my happiness and my credit in someone else’s hands. After NTC, I saw the writing on the wall. I am happy for anyone that loves not “punching a time clock or making someone else rich”, but you are most definitely making someone else rich, even as you are earning a living. I also know that to really make it to the top of any company, you are spending a lot of time away from home and when you are home, you should be on the phone. It reminds me of the old, “stay at home mom vs. the working mom debate”. I respect anyone who can make their life work. I don’t care how anyone chooses to do so. If I choose to punch a time clock at my hospital and take care of seriously ill people, and it makes me happy, please don’t judge me for that. I enjoy my work and that’s all that matters to me. The plus side, in my opinion, of punching a clock is that I know what I have earned and not a penny of it is going to an up line….unless you count the federal government. : )
Oh Laura, I forgot to ask you. What is the #1 direct selling company? I honestly do not know.
I think that Avon is currently # 1 in sales. Doesn’t mean that it is the best opportunity to make money. Amway is # 2 if I’m not mistaken.
I want to ask the person above who wrote thatvthe company put a stop to the results approach how they know this. I recently ended my arbonne career. I have been with the company for over two years and was an Area Manager. My team in New York still uses and promotes the results approach and our NVPs have trained on this in front of corporate as recently as last year. I feel lied to and betrayed by Arbonne and my upline and I am embarrassed that I’ve promoted the company for so long:(
Were you with the Demayo, neal or green team. I know they were using it but I think the majority were using parties. I guess ARbonne wants whatever works. Perhaps they are front loading again.