wikaniko-logoThere is no information on the Wikaniko website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The Wikaniko website domain “wikaniko.com” was registered on the 13th of February 2008. Paul Hughes is credited as the domain owner, with an address provided in Newcastle, England.

Google Maps shows that the address provided is in the middle of a residential area.

In addition to Hughes, the names Trevor and Karen Blake feature on Wikaniko promotional material. In the material, the Blakes are credited as “The Wikaniko Team”.

Information on Hughes and the Blakes are sketchy, with most of the information on Wikaniko available online being affiliate marketing material.

Update 3rd February 2015 – Trevor Blake informs me that his name does indeed appear on the Wikaniko website contact page. I verified this myself and found Karen and Trevor Blake, Kate and Andrew Mitchell and George Hawley listed as Wikaniko’s Directors.

No further information about any of the above individuals is provided. And there’s also no mention of Paul Hughes or his role within the company. /end update

One particular thread over at the forum Downsizer caught my attention, shedding some light on those running the company:

It would seem that the Wikaniko MLM scheme was set up just over a year ago by a couple called Trevor and Karen Blake, who have already done very nicely on the proceeds of a similar MLM operation, Telecom Plus (run by a canny fellow called Charles Wigoder, who is 612st on the Sunday Times ‘Rich List’ as a result), and by a chap called Paul Hughes.

Telecom Plus (Utility Warehouse) is a utilities-based MLM company in the UK, and are still in business today.

From the looks of it Hughes and the Blakes do have some MLM experience as affiliates, but Wikaniko appears to be their first venture on the management side of things.

Why there’s no information about Trevor and Karen Blake or Paul Hughes on the Wikaniko website is a mystery.

Read on for a full review of the Wikaniko MLM business opportunity.

The Wikaniko Product Line

With an inhouse storefront branded “EcoWarehouse”, the theme over at Wikaniko is “green”.

Wikaniko was formed to assist everyone to gain a better understanding of the ‘green’ word.

We like to think we are personally doing our bit to help the planet. We use our own products (many of these products have been sourced for Wikaniko because we ourselves found out how good they really were) and we bring the products to you at the keenest prices.

There are far too many Wikaniko products to individually list, however the company’s website does an excellent job of cataloging them all along with retail pricing.

Most of the products Wikaniko market are third-party sourced, however the company does maintain its own brand of products covering personal care and household goods.

The Wikaniko Compensation Plan

For reasons unknown Wikaniko do not provide a copy of their compensation plan on their website.

A copy of Wikaniko’s compensation was sourced from a Wikaniko affiliate for the purpose of this review.

Update 3rd February 2015 – Turns out the plan is available, it’s just incredibly difficult to find.

I checked and the source documents are the same as provided to me by a Wikaniko affiliate, so consider the analysis below accurate. /end update

Wikaniko Affiliate Ranks

There are seven affiliate ranks within the Wikaniko compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:

  • Distributor – sign up and generate at least 36 PV a month
  • Qualified Distributor – maintain at least 36 PV a month and have a downline generating at least 100 GV in monthly sales volume
  • Direct Distributor – maintain at least 36 PV a month, have a downline generating at least 1000 GV a month and recruit and maintain at least two Qualified Distributor ranked affiliates
  • Team Supervisor – maintain at least 36 PV a month, have a downline generating at least 4000 GV a month and recruit and maintain at least one Direct Distributor and two Qualified Distributor ranked affiliates
  • Team Manager – maintain at least 36 PV a month, have a downline generating at least 8000 GV a month and recruit and maintain at least one Team Supervisor and three Direct Distributor ranked affiliates
  • National Supervisor – maintain at least 36 PV a month, have a downline generating at least 20,000 GV a month and recruit and maintain at least one Team Manager and three Team Supervisor ranked affiliates
  • International Distributor – maintain at least 36 PV a month, have a downline generating at least 40,000 GV a month and recruit and maintain at least four Team Manager and one Team Supervisor ranked affiliate

Note that PV stands for “Personal Volume” and includes an affiliates own personal purchases and orders made by their retail customers.

GV stands for “Group Volume” and is the sales volume generated by an affiliate’s downline.

Retail Commissions

The sale of Wikaniko’s large product range to retail customers attracts a 33-45% retail commission.

Unfortunately however Wikaniko incorrectly classify affiliate purchases as retail sales:

Retail income is achieved by obtaining the products at wholesale and selling them at retail, earning 33% to 45% income on the products Commissionable Value (CV).

Note that only orders made by actual retail customers constitute retail sales (which is doable within Wikaniko).

What Wikaniko describe above is the reselling of product, and does not count as retail sales within the context of an MLM business opportunity.

In addition to the direct retail commission paid out on retail orders, Wikaniko also offer a percentage-based volume bonus.

How much of a percentage bonus is paid out depends on an affiliate’s total retail sales volume for that particular month:

  • 100 to 299 PV – 5%
  • 300 to 599 PV – 9%
  • 600+ PV – 12%

Residual Commissions

Residual commissions in Wikaniko are paid out using a unilevel compensation structure.

A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):

unilevel-commission-structure

In turn, if any of these level 1 affiliates go on to recruit new affiliates of their own, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.

If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.

Wikaniko cap payable unilevel levels at eight, paying out a percentage of the sales volume generated by recruited affiliates on any given unilevel level.

How many levels a Wikaniko affiliate is paid out on depends on their Wikaniko affiliate rank:

  • Distributor (no MLM commissions) – 5% on level 1
  • Qualified Distributor – 5% on level 1, 4% on level 2 and 2% on level 3
  • Direct Distributor – 5% on levels 1 and 2, 3% on levels 3 and 4 and 2% on level 5
  • Team Supervisor – 5% on levels 1 and 2, 3% on levels 3 to 5 and 2% on level 6
  • Team Manager – 5% on levels 1 and 2, 3% on level 3, 4% on level 4, 3% on levels 5 and 6 and 2% on level 7
  • National Supervisor – 5% on levels 1 and 2, 3% on level 3, 5% on level 4, 3% on levels 5 and 6 and 2% on levels 7 and 8
  • International Distributor – 5% on levels 1 and 2, 3% on level 3, 6% on level 4, 4% on levels 5 and 6 and 3% on levels 7 and 8

Joining Wikaniko

Affiliate membership with Wikaniko is £12.95 and then £3.50 a month thereafter.

Conclusion

Transparency is a bit of an issue over at Wikaniko, with the company website desperately needing an overhaul in the disclosure department.

Details of company management along with full compensation disclosure to the general public should be provided as soon as possible.

That aside, Wikaniko present a strongly product-orientated MLM business opportunity. There’s a robust product offering with a clearly identifiable theme, which makes identifying the target market for affiliates easy.

Whether the products themselves are marketable however is another matter entirely.

At the core of retail viability is Wikaniko’s markup:

Wholesale to retail mark-up (retail income) for a Distributors personal sales starts at 33% and can be as much as 45% according to the ID’s personal monthly volume.

When one considers that the vast majority of Wikaniko’s product offering is sourced from third-parties, it’s entirely possible that the products might be available cheaper elsewhere.

This is something that should be investigated by anyone considering marketing Wikaniko’s products.

If the products are indeed available locally at a better price, then you can certainly expect someone to bring this to your attention as you try to market the product line.

On the compensation plan side of things Wikaniko’s plan seems pretty straight forward. Minimum sales volume requirements aren’t extravagant but could be tightened up with mandatory retail volume quotas.

As it stands an affiliate can simply buy 36 PV worth of product each month and set about recruiting affiliates who do the same.

On a small-scale this is of course not going to be very profitable, but instituting retail volume quotas would ensure that retail sales are infact being made.

With that in mind, definitely check with a potential upline to make sure they indeed do have a solid base of retail customers.

And none of this “I buy product and resell it” nonsense either. Ask to see actual proof of retail customers placing orders with the company (repeat orders would be a bonus and demonstrate long-term viability).

The only other thing I’ll mention is that, from what I gathered, Wikaniko is only focused on the UK market. As such saturation might be an issue if a lot of affiliates in your area are marketing the company’s products.

That’s not necessarily a barrier for entry, it just means that you’ll likely have to get creative in your marketing efforts and customer acquisition.

Good luck!