doTERRA is one of the most famous essential oil MLMs out there, with products that continue to be popular. The oils are promoted as being high quality, to the point that they may offer health benefits, while also smelling nice.
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While I’m not personally convinced about the benefits of essential oils, I do enjoy the scents myself. It’s also true that some smells do have the potential to help people relax and de-stress, or to energize them, depending on the smell that is chosen.
Regardless of my own opinion, many people buy essential oils regularly. There’s certainly a market there that you can target. The question is whether you can make money. More specifically, is doTERRA a good way to take advantage of this field. After all, the oils from doTERRA aren’t cheap.
Two Ways To Make Money With doTERRA
There are two distinct ways to earn with doTERRA. The first, and most obvious, is to sell the products. While you’re unlikely to make a lot of money this way, product sales can be a way to earn a little extra income or to offset your own purchases.
The other angle is to recruit others and build a team. Team building is a more complex process, especially as you need to recruit people, manage your team, and still make sales. Still, the income potential is higher.
In this post, I examine both of these areas in-depth, then consider whether doTERRA is realistic as a regular source of income.
Make Money From Product Sales
doTERRA’s main product angle is essential oils. This includes single oils and a variety of blends. The price varies considerably depending on the specific oil or blend. The list below highlights just a handful of examples.
- Citrus Bliss: $24.00 retail
- AromaTouch: $37.33 retail
- Deep Blue: $44.00 retail
- Deep Blue Roll On: $78.67 retail
- TerraShield: $14.00 retail
- Blue Tansy: $133.33 retail
- Lavender: $30.67
- Lemon: $14.67
The variation seems to be linked to the specific essential oils used. This isn’t too surprising, as some plants will be rarer or more expensive than others. There may also be complexities in sourcing them or in the extraction process.
Even so, doTERRA oils do tend to be more expensive than similar oils that don’t come from an MLM. I’ll come back to the significance of the price difference a little later on.
The selection doesn’t stop there. DoTERRA has various other items, including personal care products, supplements, accessories, and diffusers. Most are linked to essential oils in some way or another. The variety may help sales, but honestly, most of the products will only appeal to people who are already interested in essential oils.
Essential Oils Sell!
Despite the fact that I don’t personally believe in the ‘healing power’ of essential oils, I do actually use them in my house! Surprising, right?
I enjoy the different smells and prefer them to using candles which can be a fire hazard and often have too strong of a smell. I don’t use this particular company’s products, but I do see how they can be useful, and actually fun to collect and try. My favorites so far are lavender and peppermint, but some of the blends sound really interesting!
Blending oils? Sounds super fun too!
What that means is that if I, a skeptic, actually buy this stuff, that there’s going to be a pretty good size market out there to potentially purchase your products. “Natural healing” is a highly debated and popular topic online as well. What’s more, interest in essential oils has remained fairly consistent for the last few years
Another thing I like about doTerra’s products is that people really understand and can make use of them. So many times with ‘health and wellness’ MLMs, you find that the products themselves are hard to understand. I just reviewed another product with a healing patch that clearly had no health benefits other than a placebo.
These oils are easy to understand for the average consumer. They smell good. Some help you relax, some help you focus, and others have other things they do.
I also know that some people are making money with this program. Of course, these folks tend to be very dynamic sellers and natural leaders. They have large teams that they motivate to go out and recruit and sell.
So there are people actually earning good money with doTerra, but I personally believe they are in the minority. I also believe that the majority of people earning with this company are not earning full-time incomes – and are either breaking even or barely turning a profit.
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The Challenge of Becoming A Seller
Actually selling products is one of the most challenging aspects of any company like this and with doTERRA, it’s harder than most other companies. For example, companies like Avon and Amway sell a range of different products that appeal to a wide audience, but that’s not the case with doTERRA.
Instead, the majority of doTERRA’s product line is related to essential oils in some way or another. This really limits the potential audience to only people that currently use the oils or are interested in trying.
To make matters worse, you still have to contend with competition from other distributors and from other places that sell essential oils (and there are a lot of companies doing this).
When comparing the same type of oil, it’s clear that you can get similar products on Amazon at a deep discount. Some of this price difference is due to the MLM model. Companies like DoTERRA have to pay their consultants and this cost gets passed onto their customers.
Is there a product-based reason for the difference? That depends on who you ask. DoTERRA representatives would say that doTERRA oils are of higher quality, but doTERRA provides little proof that this is the case.
Besides, the difference between the retail and the wholesale price is a good indication that doTERRA has a high-profit margin (it isn’t really a wholesale price anyway, as distributors don’t purchase in wholesale quantities).
Even if you aren’t impressed with the oils on Amazon, I would argue that there are other high-quality brands out there that don’t charge nearly as much as doTERRA. Simply looking for ones that aren’t MLMs would be a good place to start.
In the end, it doesn’t matter whether or not doTERRA oils are better than the competition. What matters is whether your customers think that they are. You will need to provide very good reasons for why they should pay such high prices for small containers of oil.
Making Sales
DoTERRA primarily uses a reselling model for sales. Under this approach, distributors purchase products first and then sell them to customers. Their income is the difference between the wholesale price and what they sell the oils for.
Distributors are able to choose the price that they sell the oils at, so the commission rate can vary. For distributors that sell at the suggested retail price, the commission rate will often end up at around 25%
One limitation here is that customers can see the retail and wholesale prices on the doTERRA website. Because of this, some may be resistant to paying the full retail price from a distributor.
Make Money Building A Team
The team building idea sounds simple. You’re getting other people to join the company and you then earn from the sales that they make. Of course, there’s much more to it than that.
For doTERRA, the team aspect uses a system called Power of 3. This is based on the idea of each person recruiting three others.
That graphic looks really sweet, but most people grossly underestimate how difficult it is to pitch a ‘business opportunity’ to people. Most folks are happy with their 9-5 job, or if they are not happy, they are too scared (or lazy) to do anything different. It takes a very unique and motivated individual to seek out and try business opportunities.
Because of this, the hard truth is that most of your friends, family, and coworkers are simply not going to want to join your team. Some might – but of those that actually do bite, only a small percentage will contribute to your monthly income.
What’s more, you’re not just trying to get people on your team. Making a decent income with doTERRA means that you need to progress through the company’s ranks. Doing so is where you get most bonuses.
The image below shows the beginnings of this system (the first five ranks). There are another seven ranks after this point.
New ranks give you the chance to earn from deeper levels in your downline. The percentages that you earn increase too. Of course, the requirements to progress up the ranks also grow. These get difficult fast.
You might notice something else interesting about the system. With doTERRA, you get higher percentage payments for the deeper levels in your downline. This is another reason for ensuring that the people in your downline recruit others.
But, as we’ve already discussed, recruitment is no easy feat. Most MLM members struggle to get the team size, performance, and structure that they need to progress very far at all.
Can You Generate Reliable Income With doTERRA?
The doTERRA Review
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Theoretically, multi-level earning possibilities are great and can produce a reliable income. This is certainly true for doTERRA, as the oils do sell and the company has been going strong for many years now.
But practically speaking, such approaches rarely pan out to be ideal.
The vast majority of doTERRA members just do straight selling of the oils (no recruiting) and do not make full-time incomes doing it. If that sounds fine to you, then this may be a good opportunity for you to try! However, for me and for many others, we will only settle for a full time, reliable income.
So how do you become a 'super seller' or top recruiter within the company? You need to look beyond your closest connections and stop looking at family/friends as potential sales targets.
One of the most critical approaches is finding ways to expand the people that you're marketing to. This includes finding people who are actually interested in essential oils, rather than trying to get newbies on the bandwagon. There are tools for doing so and the online environment can be a powerful approach. Even so, you need to take the time to plan and consider whether doTERRA is right for you.
MLM Critic & Author: Nathaniell
What's up ladies and dudes! Great to finally meet you, and I hope you enjoyed this post. I have to be honest though. I'm not a big fan of MLM. Tried it. Hated it.
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Leah
I’m a doTERRA rep. and have been using the oils for over a year and building a business. doTERRA has one of the most generous compensation plans out in the MLM arena not to mention the best oils. These oils ARE different than all of the rest and the proof will be published this month, Oct. 2016, by John’s Hopkins University. They have been exclusively studying doTERRA’s oils and their therapeutic value. Not only has John’s Hopkins been studying the oils but so has Duke University, and there are numerous studies published on pubmed.gov. Specifically, one study published regarding OnGuard and it’s ability to lessen the effects of the Flu Virus and shorten the duration. So I suggest you do your home work before publishing an unfounded opinion.
Nathaniell
Sure, I’ll do my homework and talk about studies from John’s Hopkins and Duke that have not been completed yet. I can definitely guarantee that the results (which have not been published yet) will be in favor of doTERRA. Ugh.
Elizabeth Harwood
I would love to consult with you some time. I had a life alternating experience when I changed my diet 2 months ago and am now passionate about wanting to help other people out there. The idea of having a website that is multi faceted is exactly what I’m looking for. How do I get a coach though that would help me piece this together without falling down on my ass too many times.
Stacy
I hadn’t heard of this affiliate before. I will be checking it out. I am having success in MLM however multiple streams of income is ALWAYS smart.
Nathaniell
No reason you can’t promote BOTH! Double check with your MLM company because sometimes they are touchy, but with affiliates, they generally don’t care as long as your reviews/commentary are fair (at least based on your opinion).
Sarah
Have you researched the difference between doTERRA and other companies oils? You say they are just the same, but have you really researched that claim? I would encourage you to look into what Dr. Papas says about doTERRA and look into what pub med has published about essential oils. Also I have 3 friends who make over $5000 a month sharing doTERRA oils. It is work and it does take passion! I feel that most of what you have stated above is not true, it is a first glance opinion!
Nathaniell
Ya. I researched Papas and have links to support my claim that they are no different. I guess you didn’t read the article.
Are your friends making 5k selling the oils or recruiting more distributors? That’s KEY to understanding why I don’t support MLM.
But again, and again, and AGAIN…this article is my opinion. I don’t have an issue with essential oils, and have provided links to help people promote them, whichever company they support, whether it be MLM or affiliate marketing.
Read the article, follow the links, and think before you comment please.
Daniel
The doTERRA “business” is based on making quality products available to consumers. This is done by sharing the oils so that others can experience them for themselves. When consumers want the products, they can purchase them retail or they can purchase wholesale from their own account at a 25% discount. the Business is built upon the premise of word of mouth marketing. about 85% of doTERRA’s business is made up of wholesale customers. Only 15% actually are doing doTERRA as a business. Those who do doTERRA as a business only succeed by supporting their “TEAM” to be successful.
Affiliate marketing can work for those who aspire to making technology work for them and are not particularly invested in helping others through teamwork. Not wrong, just different.
If you are honest, your article is geared toward building your affiliate marketing/coaching enterprise rather than actual experience in attempting to build a doTERRA business.
Nathaniell
Duhhhh. I’m not trying to sell doTERRA or promote their products. I’m just trying to help people make money with essential oils. doTERRA may or may not play into their business. I thought that was clear.
KK
Unlike most people who think this article is about DoTERRA EO’s I realized that it is more about comparing MLM to Affiliate Marketing and using DoTERRA as a tag to get people to this page which is why I’m here. I’ve been with DoTERRA for 2 years and haven’t made any money to compensate what I’ve spent. I actually became allergic to the oils topically, even to the point where I can’t use coconut oil. I don’t know if the oils did it or something else, but that put a huge damper on my ability to sell a product or ask people to join the company when I can only use it aromatically. I saw no benefit from using the supplements or any of the oils internally. I have no personal testimony to use, so unfortunately this product didn’t work for me. I do use some of the other products for cleaning and I do have a few family members who have benefited from using them…just not me. I do have an amazing upline who has been very successful, however, outside of the typical host a party, write a blog, or advertise on social media there isn’t another way to market the business aspect in order to make real money…the kind that can replace my full-time job income. Plus most of my upline was either A) unemployed when they started so they had nothing but time or B) already owned a business and was able to share and sell oils and the business through their existing business. I have yet to meet someone who was able to work full-time, do DoTERRA and actually replace their full-time income without already owning a business and make a 6 figure + income. So now I’m stuck with all of these oils that I need to sell because I don’t use them and the internet is overloaded with DoTERRA EO’s, and how am I to sell them along with the hundreds of other people doing it? If nothing else, I just want to recoup some of the money I’ve invested since I have a lot of unused product just sitting there. That is what I’m trying to learn how to do…sell a product (mine just happens to be DoTERRA). Hopefully, your Affiliate Marketing system will help set me in the right direction because I have no idea what I’m doing.
Nathaniell
With affiliate marketing you’ll be able to market ANYTHING that works for you. You could even find a group of people that are allergic to essential oils just like yourself, and help them find products that produce similar results to what DoTERRA claims to do.
Christina R.
What oils do you have and what are their prices. Maybe I can buy some from you.
Kenike
If you are interested in selling your oils at a discounted price, I’d be interested. I am on the fence on whether I really believe in doterra, but I’ve tried it, and like it. My mom is older and ill and I’d like to use it with her. Please let me know.