BehindMLM first reviewed Mannatech back in 2011.

Key areas of improvement I identified were the headache-inducing complexity of Mannatech’s compensation plan, mandatory affiliate autoship and high start-up costs ($3800!).

A 2015 compensation revision saw Mannatech scrap the high start-up cost but overall retain a lot of what made the original compensation plan confusing.

A lot of the confusion in the plan stems from Mannatech’s use of non-standard industry terms, which requires someone trying to understand the compensation plan look up and keep track of ten to fifteen acronyms.

Issues identified in the 2015 revision include pay to play concerns with the All-Star qualification and direct recruitment commissions on affiliate packs.

On July 1st, 2017, Mannatech launched a new compensation plan.

It’s with great excitement and enthusiasm that we enter into a new era as Mannatech.

Developed in collaboration with Associate field leaders across the globe, this Compensation Plan has been specifically designed to reward you fairly and generously for the hard work you put into growing your business.

Read on for BehindMLM’s third Mannatech compensation plan review.

MannaTech Affiliate Ranks

There are nineteen ranks within the Mannatech compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria they are as follows:

  • Associate – sign up as a Mannatech affiliate
  • Silver Associate – generate at least 100 PV a month, recruit and maintain at least two active affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 300 GV (no more than 60% from any one unilevel leg)
  • Gold Associate – maintain at least 100 PV a month, maintain at least two active affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 750 GV (no more than 60% from any one unilevel leg)
  • Director – generate and maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least two active affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 1500 GV (no more than 60% from any one unilevel leg)
  • Silver Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least two active affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 2500 GV (no more than 60% from any one unilevel leg)
  • Gold Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least two active affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 4000 GV (no more than 60% from any one unilevel leg)
  • Executive Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least two active affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 6000 GV (no more than 60% from any one unilevel leg)
  • Silver Executive – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least two active affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 10,000 GV (no more than 60% from any one unilevel leg)
  • Gold Executive – maintain at least 150 PV a month, recruit and maintain at least three active affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 20,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg)
  • Presidential Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least three active affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 40,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg)
  • Bronze Presidential Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least three active affiliates, have a total monthly downline volume of at least 80,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg) and maintain at least 1 Leader Point
  • Silver Presidential Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least three active affiliates (two Gold Executive or higher), have a total monthly downline volume of at least 160,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg) and maintain at least 2 Leader Points
  • Gold Presidential Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least three active affiliates (three Gold Executive or higher), have a total monthly downline volume of at least 240,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg) and maintain at least 3 Leader Points
  • Platinum Presidential Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, recruit and maintain at least four active affiliates (four Gold Executive or higher), have a total monthly downline volume of at least 320,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg) and maintain at least 4 Leader Points
  • 1 Star Platinum Presidential Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least four active affiliates (four Presidential Director or higher), have a total monthly downline volume of at least 640,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg) and maintain at least 6 Leader Points
  • 2 Star Platinum Presidential Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least four active affiliates (four Presidential Director or higher), have a total monthly downline volume of at least 1,250,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg) and maintain at least 8 Leader Points
  • 3 Star Platinum Presidential Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least four active affiliates (four Presidential Director or higher), have a total monthly downline volume of at least 2,500,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg) and maintain at least 10 Leader Points
  • 4 Star Platinum Presidential Director – maintain at least 150 PV a month, maintain at least four active affiliates (four Presidential Director or higher), have a total monthly downline volume of at least 5,000,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg) and maintain at least 10 Leader Points
  • Crown Platinum Ambassador – maintain at least 150 PV a month, recruit maintain at least five active affiliates (five Presidential Director or higher), have a total monthly downline volume of at least 10,000,000 GV (no more than 70% from any one unilevel leg) and maintain at least 15 Leader Points

PV stands for “Personal Volume” and is sales volume generated by orders placed by an affiliate and their retail customers.

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

An active affiliate is one who meets rank qualification criteria and has purchased Mannatech products within the past six months.

Leader Points are generated based on downline affiliate ranks:

  • Gold Executive = 0.5 Leader Points
  • Presidential Director = 1 Leader Point
  • Bronze Presidential Director = 1.5 Leader Points
  • Silver Presidential Director = 2 Leader Points
  • Gold Presidential Director = 2.5 Leader Points
  • Platinum Presidential Director and higher = 3 Leader Points

Retail Commissions

Mannatech pay affiliates a commission when products are sold to retail customers.

Retail commissions are calculated as the difference between the wholesale and retail cost of ordered products.

Power Seller Bonus

The Power Seller Bonus is applied to monthly generated PV.

The more PV a Mannatech affiliate generates in a month, the higher the Power Seller Bonus percentage applied:

  • generate up to 150 PV in a month = 5% Power Seller Bonus
  • generate up to 500 PV in a month = 10% Power Seller Bonus
  • generate 1000 or more PV in a month = 15% Power Seller Bonus

Retail Autoship Bonus

A $75 Retail Autoship Bonus is paid out monthly if a Mannatech affiliate has and maintains five retail customers on autoship of 100 PV or more.

Recruited Affiliate Autoship Bonus

A Mannatech affiliate who qualifies for the Retail Autoship Bonus is classified “AQ Personal Qualified”.

If an affiliate is AQ Personal Qualified, they can receive a $300 Recruited Affiliate Autoship Bonus if they recruit and maintain at least two affiliates who are also AQ Personal Qualified.

First Order Bonus

The First Order Bonus is a commission paid out if newly recruited affiliates purchase a Mannatech “Value Bundle” of products.

A 15% First Order Bonus is paid on Value Bundle orders made by personally recruited affiliates within thirty days of signing up.

Residual Commissions

Mannatech pay residual commissions via 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):

If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, 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.

Mannatech cap payable unilevel levels at seven, with commissions generated based on GV generated by downline affiliates within these seven unilevel levels.

How many levels a Mannatech affiliate can earn on is determined by rank:

  • Associate – no unilevel commissions
  • Senior Associate – 3% on level 1 (personally recruited affiliates)
  • Gold Associate – 4% on level 1 and 2% on level 2
  • Director – 5% on level 1, 3% on level 2 and 2% on level 3
  • Senior Director – 6% on level 1, 4% on levels 2 and 3 and 3% on level 4
  • Gold Director – 7% on level 1, 6% on levels 2 and 3 and 4% on level 4
  • Executive Director – 8% on levels 1 to 3, 6% on level 4 and 5% on level 5
  • Silver Executive – 8% on levels 1 to 3, 6% on level 4, 5% on level 5 and 4% on level 6
  • Gold Executive – 8% on levels 1 to 3, 6% on levels 4 and 5 and 4% on level 6
  • Presidential Director – 8% on levels 1 to 3, 6% on levels 4 and 5, 5% on level 6 and 4% on level 7
  • Bronze Presidential Director and higher – 8% on levels 1 to 3 and 6% on levels 4 to 7

Big Leg Infinity Bonus

The Big Leg Infinity Bonus is a monthly bonus percentage paid out on unilevel volume generated by an affiliate’s strongest unilevel leg:

  • Executive affiliates receive 1% on strongest leg volume from level 6 (capped at $200)
  • Silver Executive affiliates receive 1% on strongest leg volume from level 7 (capped at $400)
  • Gold Executive affiliates receive 1% on strongest leg volume from level 7 (capped at $600)
  • Presidential Director affiliates receive 1% on strongest leg volume from level 8 (capped at $800)
  • Bronze Presidential Director affiliates receive 1% on strongest leg volume from level 8 (capped at $1000)

The strongest leg in a unilevel team is the leg that generates the highest GV each month.

Side Volume Infinity Bonus

Whereas the Big Leg Infinity Bonus pays only on strongest leg volume, the Side Volume Infinity Bonus pays a bonus commission on volume generated in the other unilevel legs.

  • Silver Presidential Directors receive a 1% Side Volume Infinity Bonus, capped at $2500 a month
  • Gold Presidential Directors receive a 1% Side Volume Infinity Bonus, capped at $5000 a month
  • Platinum Presidential Directors receive a 1% Side Volume Infinity Bonus, capped at $10,000 a month
  • 1 Star Platinum Presidential Directors and higher receive a 1% Side Volume Infinity Bonus with no earning cap

Note the Side Volume Infinity Bonus is paid out on level 8 and deeper volume, regardless of qualifying rank.

Mentor Bonus

The Mentor Bonus rewards Mannatech affiliates each month based on the rank of affiliates they have personally recruited.

The Mentor Bonus starts at the Gold Associate rank as follows:

  • Gold Associate ranked affiliate = $30 Mentor Bonus
  • Director ranked affiliate = $40 Mentor Bonus
  • Silver Director ranked affiliate = $50 Mentor Bonus
  • Gold Director ranked affiliate = $75 Mentor Bonus
  • Executive Director and higher ranked affiliates = $100 Mentor Bonus

Note that the affiliate receiving the commission must be at the same or higher rank than the rank of the affiliate they earn the Mentor Bonus on.

If the affiliate receiving the commission is at a lower rank, they are paid the Mentor Bonus at the rate of their own rank.

Eg. If a Silver Director has personally recruited an affiliate at the Executive Director rank, they only receive the Silver Director $50 Mentor Bonus for that affiliate.

Leader Check Match

The Leader Check Match utilizes the same unilevel team structure used to pay residual commissions.

The Leader Check Match is a matching bonus, paid on the residual commission and Big Leg and Side Volume Infinity Bonuses earned by Executive and higher ranked downline affiliates.

How many generations of Executive and higher ranked affiliates the Leader Check Match is paid out on is determined by rank:

  • Silver Executive – 20% on one generation (capped at $250 per generation)
  • Gold Executive – 20% on two generations (capped at $500 per generation)
  • Presidential Director – 20% on two generations and 10% on the third (capped at $750 per generation)
  • Bronze Presidential Director – 20% on two generations and 10% on the third and fourth (capped at $1000 per generation)
  • Silver Presidential Director – 20% on two generations, 10% on the third and fourth and 2.5% on the fifth (capped at $1500 per generation)
  • Gold Presidential Director – 20% on two generations, 10% on the third and fourth and 2.5% on the fifth and sixth (capped at $2000 per generation)
  • Platinum Presidential Director – 20% on two generations, 10% on the third and fourth and 2.5% on the fifth and sixth (capped at $2500 per generation)
  • 1 Star Platinum Presidential Director – 20% on two generations, 10% on the third and fourth and 2.5% on the fifth and sixth (capped at $3000 per generation)
  • 2 Star Platinum Presidential Director – 20% on two generations, 10% on the third and fourth and 2.5% on the fifth and sixth (capped at $3500 per generation)
  • 3 Star Platinum Presidential Director – 20% on two generations, 10% on the third and fourth and 2.5% on the fifth and sixth (capped at $4000 per generation)
  • 4 Star Platinum Presidential Director – 20% on two generations, 10% on the third and fourth and 2.5% on the fifth and sixth (capped at $5000 per generation)
  • Crown Platinum Ambassador – 20% on two generations, 10% on the third and fourth and 2.5% on the fifth and sixth (capped at $10,000 per generation)

Note that generations in each unilevel leg are calculated independently.

Global Pool Bonus

Each month Mannatech place 1% of company-wide sales volume into the Global Bonus Pool.

Silver Presidential Director and higher ranked Mannatech affiliates can qualify for shares in the Global Pool, provided they have held their rank for at least three consecutive months and have either

  1. sold three Value Bundles (200 PV or more each) to personally recruited affiliates in the past month or
  2. have had a personally recruited affiliate qualify as a Director or higher in the past three months

If the above qualification criteria is met, Global Bonus Pool shares are allocated as follows:

  • Silver Presidential Directors receive 1 share
  • Gold Presidential Directors receive 1.5 shares
  • Platinum Presidential Directors receive 2 shares
  • 1 Star Platinum Presidential Directors receive 2.5 shares
  • 2 Star Platinum Presidential Directors receive 3 shares
  • 3 Star Platinum Presidential Directors receive 3.5 shares
  • 4 Star Platinum Presidential Directors receive 4 shares
  • Crown Platinum Ambassadors receive 5 shares

To arrive at a final figure, the base share values above are multiplied by how many Executive or higher ranked affiliates they’ve personally recruited.

Incentives

The Mannatech compensation plan mentions “incentive compensation”.

Mannatech’s exciting incentive programs can result in awarding you cash, prizes or admission to special events.

You might even find yourself at an exotic location, accompanied by your Mannatech friends and business Associates!

No specifics are provided, the those curious advised to visit the Mannatech website ‘to learn how you can qualify to earn incentive awards‘.

I might be missing something but I couldn’t see anything about incentive compensation on the Mannatech website.

Joining Mannatech

Basic Mannatech affiliate membership is $49.99 a year.

If you wish to sign up with a Value Pack you’re looking at $149.99 to $249.99, depending on which products you purchase.

Conclusion

When I recapped my last two Mannatech reviews I groaned at the prospect of wading through another complicated mess.

The good news is Mannatech have upped their game on this front.

The current Mannatech compensation, although lengthy (36 pages!), is relatively straightforward to understand.

For the most part Mannatech have abolished their use of non-standard terminology, although a few examples still exist (Downline Point Volume instead of Group Volume, for example).

Overall Mannatech’s new compensation plan is pretty robust and wide-ranging on the type of commissions offered.

It’s a unilevel comp plan with an infinity bonus, supplemented by both retail and downline purchase incentive bonuses.

The focus on retail sales is generally strong, however the only instance retail is mandatory is for autoship related bonuses.

The core of the compensation plan sees Mannatech affiliates able to self-purchase their monthly PV requirement, which creates the potential for chain-recruitment.

Not helping is the ridiculous requirement for Mannatech affiliates to purchase product.

The compensation plan material defines an “inactive affiliate” as one ‘who has not ordered any products or bundles in the previous six months‘.

Monthly PV can be achieved via retail sales exclusively, but if a Mannatech affiliate themselves don’t purchase something every six months they’re deemed inactive.

Which means they don’t get paid.

Granted a purchase every six months isn’t too bad… it’s still pay to play. More importantly it encourages an affiliate to get it over and done with via monthly autoship, which could come at the cost of retail sales.

While the autoship bonuses are nice, they can be ignored. Which is a shame, as requiring five customers on autoship to qualify is otherwise a great driver of retail sales.

The Power Seller Bonus then becomes a personal rebate, as inexplicably it counts both an affiliate’s own purchases as well as retail volume.

A good starting point to evaluate whether your potential Mannatech upline is focused on retail sales, is to find out how they’re generating their required PV each month.

If the full amount is via self-purchase, you need to make sure they’re generating the same amount at least in retail volume each month too.

Ideally an affiliate only purchases product if they actually need it, but that would require only retail volume counting towards monthly PV.

Mannatech haven’t set up their compensation plan this way, and in any event there’s nothing wrong with affiliates purchasing product (provided there’s a healthy amount of matching retail sales going on too).

One particularly nice touch I thought was the use of Leader Points over straight downline rank criteria. Leader Points offers far more flexibility when building a downline, as opposed to only counting specific downline ranks and otherwise ignoring others.

Generally speaking Mannatech’s 2017 compensation plan revision is a significant improvement over their previous efforts.

One thing to watch out for going forward however is how high the current qualification criteria rises in early 2018;

In January 2018, there will be slight increases in qualification requirements (Personal Point Volume, Group Point Volume and active legs).

Personally I’d like to see a 40/60 split in required PV, based on up to 40% self-spend and 60% minimum retail volume. Such a change could even be implemented today without much drama, but I’m not running Mannatech.

If you can carve out a retail market and resist the temptation to pay your own PV each month and focus on recruiting others who do the same, it might be worth a revisit if you’ve evaluated Mannatech in the past.

Good luck!