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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Final Review
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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Candice
I’m not sure how much advice I would deem valid from someone who starts a handful of their responses by saying “Duhhhhh.” Honestly though
Nathaniell
Everyone writes differently. I type casually, as I speak. Would you rather I type in iambic pentameter?
Dana
It’s like amway or Avon and there’s no such thing as their “certified, blah blah blah “ claims . They don’t even grow or have an interest in the crops where these oils are derived! Just because you are paying a fortune for an oil, doesn’t mean it’s any better .
CC
Wow, I thought your article and your commentary here is great. You seem like a very logical person, many commenters obviously are not. I have a 10 year hotel massage therapist background, so I have used EO way before most people even knew what they were in 2004. Actually, people who use EO constantly, can get sick by it, get skin rashes, lung/breathing issues….I’ve seen it happen multiple times w coworkers of mine ( even ones who only use Doterra). Its evident to me, so many Doterra sellers, are completely new agey, fake, nice/aggressive and brainwashed. I had a friend try to recruit me this year, with someone else on a groupchat. I felt like they were just trying sell me, by relating to me, the stranger pretending to be buddy buddy, but it was obvious they wanted me to join to make money for THEM ! Now this same friend, is constantly pushing EO, on all her social, putting it on her baby it is so annoying it never stops. During this time too, I have seen her talked about getting multiple colds/ sicknesses even though she douses herself in this everyday. She just blindly pushes it on anyone and everyone , while speaking about “god’s medicine “, and the spiritual aspects constantly it’s really sickening. Too much of anything, is really a bad thing.
Nathaniell
Thanks CC. You are right that many MLM people will just push their products without a thought to REAL information about the product or their brand.
But my opinions aside, I do think essential oils do have some uses, and are a great product to sell to the right audience (like yourself or your clients), which is why I set up this page, to help people begin to market them correctly and effetcively!
Kerry
The above link is provided scientific studies of oil quality. The cheaper the oil the more synthetic fillers are included which are definitely not good for your health. The potency and smell of a pure doTERRA oil compared to cheap crap is very evident.
Nathaniell
Looks like it’s owned by doTERRA. Sounds pretty biased, huh?
Sharon
I’m an RN boy against Eastern medicine for some things but This isn’t rocket science. My friend holds 2 jobs while getting to sell this tries to sell me the same line. It’s easy to find pure oils without the alcohol base in them, or synthetic perfume. Even some grocery stores sell top brands and its easy to find out which brands are good and bad. DoTerra is a pyramid scheme just like all the others. And the mark up on your pills is ridiculous.
Patty Toohey
Great info here…I have been in several mlm businesses and it’s all about recruiting builders. Pricing is inflated so everyone in the heirerchy get a piece of the pie. I would like to offer a variety of quality products at fair prices in an online environment. I’m a retired sales professional and not into the hustle anymore. Haven’t read far enough to se what Nate’s offer is but something like affiliate marketing sound’s much more appealing to me than mlm. Thanks for sharing.
Dana
. There is nothing scientific to suggest these oils are better OTHER than their own claims. I buy Starwest Botanicals all organic at resale (I have a legitimate resale license), and I pay SIGNIFICANTLY less for a product that I know is the same or better. As long as they are cold processed, undiluted and organically sourced, I cannot imagine how the products could differ.
Larry Severson
I’ve spent considerable time on your site today. Have been considering joining the essential oils craze. My heart is in affiliate marketing though I have not received the success that I am seeking within it just yet. If I join your team with Wealthy Affiliate how long before I should start seeing results for my efforts if I’m able to give it full time attention? I am a very experienced online marketer and have made thousands of dollars working for clients. Just haven’t built mine own network yet and that is where I want to move my talents to. Thoughts?
Nathaniell
Well, I don’t have a “team” because this isn’t network marketing. I do offer support while you go through your training though! (just so you’re clear on what to expect).
There is not timeline of when to expect results. There is no “expectation”. Like any other business, profitability depends on how hard you work, and for how long. Many people see traffic coming in after 3 months of work, but those are often the people that work for a few hours per day on their website. Dedicating just an hour a day is a good start, but results may take longer..say six months or more…for just traffic.
Sales is another story. Making significant income is yet another step to consider.
There are so many variables that it would be unfair to say that if you join the affiliate marketing training you can expect to see $X after however much time.
That being said, it took me about 2 years to quit my job and do this full time, and I’ve been doing it for about six years now. Best decision I ever made!
elilyl
It is not an easy decision to start with oils, but you need to start using them first for you, to see the benefits, and then to offer them to people…how u can sell something you dont know how good it is, right….? .I started recnetlly and think to make a website too
Twlle
Hi, I found this article really insightful- far more educational & understandable in comparison to the DoTERRA website. I signed up a week ago, have payed almost $50 for a brochure and was still left clueless as to what the actually hell I am doing or supposed to do- so thank you for research & writing as I actually now have a great concept of what I should be doing.. Or avoiding. Either or! Heck I love my essential oils, so no doubt I will benefit in one way or another from having created membership.
Nathaniell
Thanks for the comment Twlle! Having your own website can certainly help you market your essential oils more effectively!
Naomi
Why dont u seek help from ur upline? It has never cost me $50 for brochures. I have only ever paid 1 month for my oils so its cost me almost nothing compared to what it would cost to start up another business. This blog is completely biased and not well researched. For a start doterra is science based as all the oils r independently tested in a SCIENCE lab of Johns Hopkins University the 3rd largest Medical University in the world. They r tested on purity and the effects they have on the cells in the body. There is so much information provided by doterra and they have loads of videos on this plus the co impact sourcing. Doterras founders started a charity before they even took a pay cheque for themselves so it is a very amazing company. They dont spend time writing blogs against other companies like this one has done. U have joined a great opportunity. If u want to earn money u will but like everything it takes work. Good luck i hope u do amazing.