Max International Review: Glutathione?
Max International launched in early 2007 and market products focused on ‘glutathione’ distribution to the body.
Max International was originally founded by three founders – Steven K. Scott, Fred Ninow and Gregory Fullerton, however only Scott remains with the company today.
Ninow left Max International in 2010, eventually going on to launch Ocean Avenue in late 2012. I’m note sure when Fullerton left but today he’s with Savi Health, credited as a co-founder on their company website.
Steven K. Scott (right) meanwhile has a long history of television marketing, specialising in brand awareness and marketing campaigns through The American Telecast Corporation.
Taken from Scott’s website (“stevenkscott.com”),
In 2007 a meeting took place that was to radically change the course of Steve’s life. He met Dr. Robert H. Keller, a renowned research scientist and medical doctor.
Dr. Keller, an immunologist, oncologist and hematologist had authored more than 100 articles that had been peer-reviewed and published in various medical journals and chapters to more than 75 medical textbooks.
But the night they met at Chuck Norris’s home, Dr. Keller showed Chuck and Steve his clinical studies on a patented breakthrough nutritional formula that was proven to significantly increased cellular production of Glutathione, one of the cell’s most important protein chains.
Dr. Keller had been using the product with his patients for more than ten years and had seen phenomenal outcomes.
Steve funded a new company to take Dr. Keller’s nutritional breakthrough to the world. The company was named Max International.
On the executive side of things Max International is headed up by co-CEOs Joe Voyticky and David Bagley.
Voyticky comes from a corporate law background and doesn’t appear to have an MLM history prior to Max International. Ditto Bagley, who comes from a nutritional sciences background and apparently “co-founded a nutritional company”.
On their website Max International advise that they are based out of Utah in the US.
Read on for a full review of the Max International MLM business opportunity.
The Max International Product Line
Max International’s product line is based on promoting ‘glutathione’ production in the body.
Co-founder Steven K. Scott writes on his website,
Glutathione (GSH) is the primary protector and detoxifier of the human cell. It is literally the cell’s first line of defense and even reduces inflammation at a cellular level.
Dr. Keller had been using the product with his patients for more than ten years and had seen phenomenal outcomes.
Max International’s flagship product is Max GXL, which is sold in a “30 day supply” bottle for $85.
MaxGXL’s unique NAC(N-Acetyl Cysteine) formula is powered by a proprietary blend of glutathione supporting ingredients.
Other products Max International market include
- Cellgevity (cell nutrition) – $97 for a 30 day supply
- Max ATP (performance drink) – $85 for a pack of 15 single-serve drinks
- MaxN Fuze (cellular defense) – $92 for a 30 day supply
- Max One (immune system) – $92 for a 30 day supply
- Meta-Switch (weight loss) – $89 for a 30 day supply
- Visible Solutions (skincare) – $239 for a Visible Solutions “System” (replenishing cream, “youth recovery” serum and “one minute wonder” cream)
The Max International Compensation Plan
The Max International compensation plan pays upfront retail commissions, residual commissions via a binary and offers a series of performance based bonuses.
Max International Affiliate Membership Ranks
There are eleven affiliate membership ranks within the Max International compensation plan and, along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- Associate – sign up as a Max International affiliate
- Bronze – generate a minimum 100 PV a month, personally recruit at least two affiliates (one in each binary side) and have a weaker binary side generating at least 2000 CV a month
- Silver – generate a minimum 100 PV a month, personally recruit at least four affiliates (two in each binary side) and have a weaker binary side generating at least 4000 CV a month
- Gold – generate a minimum 100 PV a month, personally recruit at least six affiliates (three in each binary side) and have a weaker binary side generating at least 16,000 CV a month
- Platinum – generate a minimum 100 PV a month, personally recruit at least eight affiliates (four in each binary side), , have at least 1 unilevel legs with a Gold ranked affiliate in it and have a weaker binary side generating at least 32,000 CV a month
- Diamond – generate a minimum 200 PV a month, personally recruit at least eight affiliates (four in each binary side), have at least 2 unilevel legs with a Gold ranked affiliate in them and have a weaker binary side generating at least 80,000 CV a month
- Double Diamond – generate a minimum 200 PV a month, personally recruit at least eight affiliates (four in each binary side), have at least 3 unilevel legs with a Gold ranked affiliate in them (with at least one on either binary side) and have a weaker binary side generating at least 160,000 CV a month
- Triple Diamond – generate a minimum 200 PV a month, personally recruit at least eight affiliates (four in each binary side), have at least 4 unilevel legs with a Gold ranked affiliate in them (with at least one on either binary side) and have a weaker binary side generating at least 250,000 CV a month
- Crown – generate a minimum 200 PV a month, personally recruit at least eight affiliates (four in each binary side), have at least 5 unilevel legs with a Gold ranked affiliate in them (with at least one on either binary side) and have a weaker binary side generating at least 400,000 CV a month
- Double Crown – generate a minimum 200 PV a month, personally recruit at least eight affiliates (four in each binary side), have at least 6 unilevel legs with a Gold ranked affiliate in them (with at least one on either binary side), have a weaker binary side generating at least 400,000 CV a month and a personally recruited affiliate tree (unilevel) generating at least 2,000,000 CV a month
- Triple Crown – generate a minimum 200 PV a month, personally recruit at least eight affiliates (four in each binary side), have at least 7 unilevel legs with a Gold ranked affiliate in them (with at least one on either binary side), have a weaker binary side generating at least 400,000 CV a month and a personally recruited affiliate tree (unilevel) generating at least 4,000,000 CV a month.
In the above qualification criteria, “CV” stands for Commissionable Volume and is a point value equal to the wholesale dollar amount of products purchased.
“PV” stands for “Personal Volume” and is sales volume generated by an affiliate’s own product purchases or those of their preferred customers.
A personally recruited affiliate tree tracks an affiliate’s personally recruited affiliates and their personally recruited affiliates (down a theoretical infinite number of levels).
This is done using a unilevel structure, with personal recruits going on level 1 directly under the affiliate.
If any personally recruited affiliates recruit affiliates of their own they are placed on level 2. If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth.
Retail Commissions
Max International define retail commissions as affiliates buying ‘product at wholesale and sell(ing) them at retail’. Under this model, an affiliate pockets the difference between a product’s wholesale price and whatever they charge the customer.
This is not true retail as revenue into the company is sourced from affiliates.
Online retail is available on non-autoship retail orders, providing the customers places the order online and orders directly from the company (true retail).
Max International also offer retail commissions on the purchase of product by preferred retail customers, who get a discount in exchange for placing a standing monthly product order.
Preferred customer retail commissions are paid out at a rate of 25% of every preferred customer order, in addition to a 50% Personal Volume (PV) bonus on the dollar value of the order.
Fast Track Bonus
Max International’ Fast Track Bonus is paid out when a recruited affiliate joins and purchases a “Product Pack”.
- Personal Packs ($130, $150 and $179) – $15 to $60
- Professional Pack ($549) – $75
- Premiere Pack ($999) – $150
A Double Fast Track Bonus is available if an affiliate recruits at least three new affiliates in a month who purchase either the Professional or Premiere Pack. As the name suggests, the Double Fast Track Bonus pays out double the standard Fast Track commission rate on the Professional and Premiere Packs.
The Double Fast Track Bonus is not available on the purchase of Personal Packs.
Binary Commissions
Residual commissions in Max International are paid out using a binary compensation structure.
A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of two binary teams:
Commissions are generated within these two teams, with affiliates paid 10% of the Commissionable Volume (wholesale dollar amount of volume generated) their weaker side generates that month.
This volume is matched with the stronger binary side, with unused volume carried over the next month (capped at 250,000 volume points). Binary commissions in Max International are capped at $25,000.
In order to qualify for binary commissions, a Max International affiliate must personally generate at least 50 PV a month and recruit at least two affiliates (one on either side of the binary) who each generate at least 50 CV in product orders each month.
Matching Check Bonus
Max International pay a matching bonus on binary commissions earnt by an affiliate’s personally recruited affiliates, payable down on up to seven levels of recruitment.
Commissions payable on the first level are capped at $12,500 a month per affiliate.
How many levels of recruitment the matching bonus is paid out on is determined by an affiliate’s membership rank:
- Bronze – 25% on level 1 and 10% on level 2
- Silver – 30% on level 1, 10% on level 2 and 9% on level 3
- Gold – 35% on level 1, 10% on level 2 and 9% on levels 3 and 4
- Platinum – 40% on level 1, 10% on level 2, 9% on levels 3 and 4 and 8% on level 5
- Diamond – 45% on level 1, 10% on level 2, 9% on levels 3 and 4, 8% on level 5 and 7% on level 6
- Double Diamond or higher – 50% on level 1, 10% on level 2, 9% on levels 3 and 4, 8% on level 5, 7% on level 6 and 6% on level 7
Note that despite the percentages above, Max International cap global commission payouts at 50% of the monthly generated CV. If the commissions owing exceed this percentage, the Matching Check Bonus percentages will be adjusted accordingly.
Also note that an affiliate’s Check Match Bonus commission cannot exceed the CV generated by their weaker binary leg ($1 = 1 CV).
Global Bonus Pool
The Global Bonus Pool is made up of 2% of Max International’s global CV. It is paid out amongst affiliates who’s weaker binary leg volume has grown when compared to the previous month.
For each 1000 CV in growth in their weaker binary leg when compared to the previous month, an affiliate is awarded one share in the Global Bonus Pool for that month.
Platinum and Diamond Pools
The Platinum and Diamond Pools are bonus pools paid out equally to all Platinum and Diamond ranked affiliates.
The Platinum Pool is made up of 0.5% of Max International’s global monthly CV, and the Diamond Pool is made up of 0.25%.
Note that Diamond ranked affiliates are paid in both pools.
Max Living Bonus
The Max Living Bonus is a monthly passive bonus an affiliate earns by maintaining an affiliate rank of Platinum or higher.
- Platinum – $500 a month
- Diamond – $750 a month
- Double Diamond – $1000 a month
- Triple Diamond or higher – $1500 a month
Joining Max International
Basic affiliate membership to Max International is $49. Several “pack” options are available to prospective affiliates however, raising the cost of participation from between $130 to $999.
Conclusion
Apart from likely having to explain what Glutathione is to potential customers, Max International appears to have a readily marketable product range.
I say appears because the near $100 pricepoint at the 30 day supply level might be prohibitive for products with which most people have never heard of the key ingredient before.
That said my first red flag is a distinct lack of retail orientation within the business model. For starters there’s Max International’s definition of retail:
Associates purchase products at wholesale for personal use or to retail to customers for a profit. When you buy a product at wholesale and sell at the retail price, you keep the difference.
This isn’t true retail so I’m not sure why Max International even mention it. Online retail is mentioned but it’s more of an afterthought, shadowing the affiliates must buy and then resell spiel.
This focus on affiliates purchasing products continues in Max International’s suggestion to new affiliates on how they should approach the business:
Your first step in qualifying for team Bonus commissions is to
obtain at least 100 PV a month.Enrolling in the Loyalty AutoShip program with 100 PV ensures you are an active Associate AND also provides you a consistent supply of product at a discounted price.
Rather than make sales, Max International simply suggest an affiliate buy their commission qualification volume themselves.
Step 2?
Your next step is to personally enroll at least two new
Associates into your Binary sales tree.
Recruit others who are then expected to sign up for autoship too. This is dangerous as it promotes a culture of autoship affiliate recruitment. That being the ignoring of retail and focus on signing up new affiliates and whacking them on monthly autoship, and then getting them to duplicate.
The problem here is that firstly it discourages retail activity, and secondly the motive behind the affiliate product purchase is thrown into question. Are they buying product based on an inherent value in the product or simply to self-qualify for commissions?
If one was to read between the lines in Max International’s suggestion above, the latter is definitely evident.
And on the subject of recruitment, there’s a strong element of “pay to play” introduced in the purchase of product packs by new affiliates.
Put simply, the more an affiliate spends when they join up, the higher their commission earning potential. An affiliate can effectively buy their way into Silver rank Check Matching and receive double bonus pool shares for life.
But only if at least $549 is spent.
Oh and the Fast Track Bonus is even worse. Yes it’s paid out on the purchase of products but honestly, how many customers are going to drop $500+ on a pack? These are clearly targeted at new affiliates.
In paying an incentive if a fixed number of newly recruited affiliates purchase the more costly packs in any given month, the question of why an affiliate might buy a pack (in addition to buying themselves commission qualification) goes out the window.
As a prospective Max International affiliate I’d be paying particular attention to how you’re approached about the business, watching out for any overbearing insistence that you join with a Professional or Premiere Pack.
Also be sure to enquire with your potential upline as to what their retail volume vs. recruited affiliate volume is like. If they don’t have any retail activity within their downline then that’s most definitely evidence of a recruitment scheme at work.
Worse still, it’s what you’ll likely find yourself having to do in order to generate any commissions within the Max International opportunity.
One thing I did like was the preferred customer incentive, which rewards preferred customers who convince three other people to sign up as preferred customers. Once qualified, this entitles the preferred customer for a free autoship order the next month.
For the affiliate, all PV generated by the orders are tracked to their account.
I thought this was a great way to drive retail activity within the opportunity, but sadly it’s dwarfed by the otherwise overwhelming encouragement to recruit new affiliates and place them on autoship orders.
I’d be extremely careful about who you sign up for in Max International, as how they run their business is going to directly dictate how you yourself are going to run yours. And the last thing you want is to be left holding the tail end of a recruitment spiral that will inevitably fall into decline.
Approach with caution.
I wonder how much effort Scott put into all of this.
You can go to Dr. Keller’s website and buy a 30 day supply of the same product under a different name direct from him for $49.95. Or, same product on autoship and it’s only $39.95.
robkellermd.com/shop_ogf.php
I suppose Scott’s counting on uneducated consumers or affiliates…
Jerry
Woo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutathione
You can get similar Glutathione supplements for less than half of Max’s price in most health stores like GNC.
What they don’t tell you is your body’s cells AND liver makes their own glutathione. These supplements are actually “precursors” of glutathione, provides ADDITIONAL MATERIAL for your cells and liver to make more… IF there’s a need for it.
Majority just comes back out via your urine (same as most other supplements).
I suppose most people would do better raising their own glutathione levels via common food sources and exercise.
The product may be geared more for those living sedentary lifestyles.
I was hoping this was a way to reverse aging, look 21 again, get rich at the same time. I’m heartbroken. 🙁
He’s counting on people who don’t use Google. 🙂 Just like folks who handed money over to “Jimmy Singh” even though he’s barred from multiple financial institutions and states since 2005.
“Why don’t Potential Scam Victims Don’t Use Google More?”
http://amlmskeptic.blogspot.com/2013/11/why-do-investors-or-participants-not.html
When I first saw this business, I got excited about it. Here was a breakthrough formula based on their patented” Riboceine” (not sure about spelling) that alleges to help the body produce more glutathione, something that could rewind the affects of disease and aging.
If it really works, and it can be shown with proven results, it sounds good. Throw Chuck Norris into the picture and it gives it a feel of legitimacy that is dizzying.
But the more I looked at the business model myself, and saw the word autoship, recruit, getting higher payouts based on how much you buy in at…I got a sinking feeling.
I have a question. Is it illegal to recruit? Or does US laws allow for a balance of retail and recruiting? If I tried this product, and it did for me what it claims it will do, and I go forth to proclaim it’s healing powers to the world to get them to try it, am I safe with making recruiting only a secondary concern?
The formula supposedly does not have the actual glutathione in it, the body produces that itself.
What they claim to have is a proprietary blend of mysterious medical things I can’t pronounce along with something called “Riboceine” This is what is suppose to help the body to produce more glutathione.
It’s not illegal to recruit. It’s illegal to recruit if you paid into the system and expect to get paid back by recruiting people WHO ALSO PAID INTO THE SYSTEM like you did. That’s a pyramid scheme.
Modern pyramid schemes have evolved into “pyramid selling” (also known as “product-based pyramid scheme”) where you buy products, and expect to get paid back by recruiting people who also buy products. There is no true retail, as all people do is buy just enough to “stay qualified”.
FTC do NOT have a clear-cut line on what proportion of recruiting vs. selling. While they have prosecuted only the egregious cases (where it’s documented that vast majority of affiliate income are from recruiting, often in the 90%+ range), they said they can only give general guidelines as they cannot give exact definitions lest the scams design a comp plan that is technically legal but is really a scam.
Instead, they go by “what does the comp plan reward affiliates for?” and this one may be in danger as it seems to reward recruiting affilaites instead of selling products.
You didn’t do your homework very well. Only about 50% of Max sales are from Associates, the rest are either preferred customers or retail.
Cellgevity and MaxOne, created by Dr Herbert Nagasawa are the main products of Max International, not MaxGXL. Max is the most un-hyped, un-pushy MLM I have ever had anything to do with.
Cited source please.
There seemed to be some issue with losing exclusivity for MaxGXL. I called it as I saw it (the Max International website didn’t specify anything either way).
Max have obtained a far superior technology than that of Dr Keller’s from Dr Herbert Nagasawa
If you added up all the benefits of “superior” technologies and enhanced performance pills sold by mlm companies since the beginning of time, they would not equal the benefit of a single aspirin.
And another MLM claim to have invented a gas additive that allows gasoline to burn near absolute zero. So what? (Real story, go look up Syntek here on BehindMLM)
This is a scam and nothing more. I know personally someone who got extremely ill from this crap and actually someone who died from it.
Anyone who thinks this product is safe to use and actually does anything needs their heads examined.
Reading these comments is less intelligent than talking to my 5 year old.
Rather than crap reviews like this. As someone said go use google and go and see if the science backs up the claims from scientists not affiliated with this company.
Strangely there is even two that were published in 2015 to do with RiboCeine and wound healing (americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610%2815%2900135-X/abstract) and RiboCeine and high cholesterol (ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/4458) that was extremely difficult to find on google.
From both these peer reviewed published studies we also know the two compounds are d-ribose and l-cysteine, this one is for the idiot that can’t pronounce all those complicated ingredients or count.
For the irresponsible person that stated someone got extremely ill from it and someone died from it. Evidence please I doubt it but waiting with baited breath.
The internet is truly amazing and filled with people who think there is somewhere out there, that there is a get rich quick scheme and anything that requires some sort of hard work which most people don’t want to do and therefore fail at, is a scam.
Owning your own company and it being successful does not happen because you go to work at 10a and leave at 2pm. Joke comments. Get of your arses people and really give life a go and at least if you are going to write a review or comment on it spend at least 15mins increasing your knowledge so its factual.
Oh and by the way go to pubmed and search for glutathione. There should be more than a few articles that you can read on this awesome day to improve your knowledge of the subject.
Max may or may not have a good business who know, but from what I have just educated myself with today seems glutathione is pretty important for us and RiboCeine in those studies increases it. wow isn’t this what you said they said it does.
If you spent half as much time evaluating Max as you did researching Glutathione, perhaps you’d know.
This is a review of the Max MLM business opportunity. But yeah no it’s totally crap, says the guy who claims to have “no idea” about Max’s business model.
Take it from aus folks, clearly knows what he’s talking about.
Please do take this stupid review down.
The person who wrote it has no understanding of what Glutathione is and how the Glutathione Precursors at Max International work.
Yes, they are Glutathione Precursors and not “GLUTATHIONE” Supplements. Not even 1 product at Max International contains even 1mg of Glutathione.
If you have no understanding of the subject matter do not make comments as if you are an expert.
So who is trying to misguide the uneducated consumers?
I probably could have worded the first sentence of the product section better. Done.
Why you think that one sentence negates the entire review though is beyond me.
Sounds to me like Max International is selling glutathione “fertilizer” with no scientific backing?
I have been invited to the Max International by a friend and purchased 6 boxes of cellgevity after being told that it will help me in my tinnitus for 20 years.
I took the so called miracle pills (as told in most mlm companies and their products) religiously for 6 months but IT DID NOTHING to improve my tinnitus or health condition except pasding more yellow urine.
You can get better products at a cheaper price from some other online health food wholesaler than paying hefty price for such snake oil.
Considering what a Google search on “Amoako Tuffour Emmanuel” brings up, I can safely state that that person was a troll or a guyman, not a real identity.
While there is a real doctor named Amoako Tuffour in Ghana, the only – and I do mean ONLY – times his name is followed by “Emmanuel” is when it is a second, distinct individual being referenced.
Thanks for that. Cleaned up and will remove your comment in an hour.