Skinny Body Care Review: Weight loss MLM with sales
A quick visit to the Skinny Body Care website doesn’t reveal all that much.
You’re presented with a bunch of login screens, a recently enrolled list on the side and not much else.
There’s an enticing ‘free tour’ option at the bottom of the page, but without a referring member ID, you can’t do that either.
Apart from a few policy pages, there’s not really any information on the company itself, its products, the compensation plan, who’s running it or what Skinny Body Care is about.
All this despite an official company launch just a few weeks ago.
With a bit of digging around however it’s not all that hard to get a snapshot of the Skinny Body Care business and that’s exactly what I had to do in order to review the company.
Read on for my review of the Skinny Body Care MLM opportunity.
The Company
Skinny Body Care is owned and operated by a one Mr. Ben Glinsky (photo right).
Glinsky has a bit of a mixed history spanning offline real estate, MLM lead generation (Pro Builder) and running various other MLM companies before Skinny Body Care (MyWorldPlus, ProWealthSolutions, Home Wealth University)
Whilst Glinsky’s previous MLM ventures seem to focus mostly around wealth creation through lead generation, his last company, Rejuvenate Worldwide, was Glinsky’s first foray into the nutrition side of MLM.
Skinny Body Care appears to be a continuation of a nutrition based MLM that Glinsky started with Rejuvenate Worldwide.
In prelaunch since late 2010, Skinny Body Care has just officially launched as of a few weeks ago.
The Skinny Body Care Product
Skinny Body Care’s flagship and only product is a capsule based formula called ‘Skinny Fiber’.
As the name suggests, Skinny Fiber is designed to help you lose weight and claims to do this by suppressing your appetite before a meal.
Additionally Skinny Body Care also claim that Skinny Fiber will
- reduce fat absorption
- flush ugly toxins
- gently boost your metabolism
All of this is purportedly achieved via Skinny Body Care’s primary ingredients, of which there are three, Caralluma, Glucomannan and
Caralluma, known as a ‘famine food’ in India grows along the side of the roads there and is used as the primary appetite suppressant and fat blocker in Skinny Body Care.
Although consumed in India for centuries, in a recent clinical trial
50 overweight individuals were given either a placebo or one gram of extract each day for 60 days.
Compared to the placebo group, individuals receiving the extract showed no significant change in body weight, body mass index, hip circumference, body fat or energy intake; however, both appetite and waist circumference were reduced.
Additionally,
there is no independent evidence to suggest that the amount of extract found in products (such as Skinny Body Care) is sufficient to obtain the same results as the clinical trial.
The FTC cautions against the use of such “miracle diet” products.
I’m not entirely sure how you maintain your body weight but lose weight circumference, but I guess if you’re marketing something called Skinny Body Care then it probably doesn’t matter.
Glucomannan comes from the root of the Konjac plant and is a well-known dietary fibre.
Used in Skinny Body Care, the company claims that the Glucomannan dosage in the Skinny Fiber capsules ‘will expand to 50 times its size in your stomach‘. This in turn helps to suppress hunger cravings.
Finally, some plant called ‘Chá de bugre‘ from Brazil makes up the third primary ingredient of Skinny Fiber. Chá de bugre is used in Brazil as a natural energy boosting alternative and is consumed in a tea.
I don’t know how effective thee three products are combined, but Skinny Body Care seem to have taken a rather shotgun approach to weight loss by combining three random weight loss ingredients and hoping for the best.
Dosage is two capsules 30 minutes before lunch and dinner with a glass of water and Skinny Body Care is priced $59.95 for 120 capsules (30 day supply).
The Skinny Body Care Compensation Plan
Update 4th October 2016 – The compensation plan analysis in this review is outdated.
On October 3rd, 2016 BehindMLM published an updated Skinny Body Care review. /end update
The Skinny Body Care compensation plan revolves around a 3×8 forced matrix which is tied into various membership levels. Additionally there are also several bonuses tied into the plan as well.
Here’s a detailed run through of the Skinny Body compensation plan;
Business Volume
Business Volume (BV) is a point value awarded to a product purchase from Skinny Body Care.
1 bottle of Skinny Fiber (a one month supply) is equal to 50 BV. This is the monthly minimum volume required to remain active as a Skinny Body Care distributor and participate in the compensation plan.
Membership Levels
There are a total of seven membership levels within the Skinny Body Care compensation plan, each carrying with it various qualifying criteria. Starting with Bronze right up to Royal Crown Diamond, here are the applicable membership ranks and their accompanying qualifying criteria;
- Bronze – Have 3 personally recruited active distributors or preferred customers each with a minimum 50BV monthly spend.
- Silver – Have at least 3 Bronze members in three separate recruitment legs of your matrix or 10 personally recruited active distributors or preferred customers each with a minimum 50 BV monthly spend. Silver members must also generate 600 BV in total team volume per month.
- Gold – Have at least 3 Silver members in three separate recruitment legs of your matrix or 50 personally enrolled active distributors or preferred customers each with a minimum 50 BV monthly spend. Gold members must also generate 3,000 BV in total team volume per month.
- Platinum – Have at least 3 Gold members in three separate recruitment legs of your matrix or 100 personally enrolled active distributors or preferred customers each with a minimum 50 BV monthly spend. Platinum members must also generate 10,000 BV in total team volume per month.
- Diamond – Have at least 3 Platinum members in three separate recruitment legs of your matrix or 300 personally enrolled active distributors or preferred customers each with a minimum 50 BV monthly spend. Diamond members must also generate 50,000 BV in total team volume per month.
- Crown Diamond – Have at least 3 Diamond members in three separate recruitment legs of your matrix. Crown Diamond members must also generate 150,000 BV in total team volume per month.
- Royal Crown Diamond – Have at least 3 Crown Diamond members in three separate recruitment legs of your matrix. Crown Diamond members must also generate 100,000,000 BV in total team volume per month.
Fast Start Bonus
As a Skinny Body Care member, for each new member that you bring into the company you are paid a Fast Start Bonus. This Bonus is a one time commission paid out at $25 + $5 in overrides (starting at $1 at Bronze membership and increasing up to $5 if you’re a Diamond).
The override component of the Fast Start Bonus was a bit confusing for me to get my head around (the explanation table could be designed better) but I think I’ve got it.
Here’s the table Skinny Body Care use to illustrate the Fast Start Bonus overrides;
From what I understand, to work out your payment you first establish the generation of the member being enrolled. The override pays out infinite levels deep on your matrix and up to five generations so going along the top, work out which generation you’re calculating the bonus on.
Then, work out what membership level the member who did the recruiting is at. This is your starting box. To calculate the commission, you simply work down depending on your own membership rank.
For example, if I was a Diamond member and one of my Platinums enrolled someone who was a fourth generation enrolee to me, my start box would be the ‘4th Generation/Platinum Overrides box’ (highlighted in green).
Now because I’m a Diamond, I can go down one box (the diamond row with the relevant box highlighted in red) and my total commission winds up being $2 ($1 + $1). If I was a Platinum member myself, I’d only be eligible for a $1 commission and if I was a lower rank still, I’d be ineligible for any override commission.
3×8 Forced Matrix
At the heart of the Skinny Body Care compensation plan is a 3×8 forced matrix and this is where you draw the bulk of your commissions from.
A forced matrix means that anyone who joins Skinny Body care under you is placed underneath you in a matrix. You can also get spillover from your upline as they fill up their own matrices.
A 3×8 matrix is 8 levels deep with each leg spreading out 3 additional legs underneath it. Starting with you at the top, as you start to fill your matrix it will begin to look something like this;
Depending on your membership rank, various commissions are paid out on specified levels of your matrix as you fill them.
Levels 1-3 pay out a 2% residual commission, levels 4-6 pays 3% and levels 7 and 8 pay 2%.
In order to be paid out on all eight levels of your matrix, you have to advance in membership rank. Becoming a distributor unlocks levels 1-6, reaching Bronze unlocks level 7 and reaching Gold unlocks level 8.
Infinity Matching Bonuses
Paid out on those you personally sponsor, the Infinity Matching Bonus literally pays out a matching percentage of those you personally recruit to Skinny Body Care.
Tied into your membership rank, the Infinity Matching Bonus pays out up to 7 generations deep. Here’s the company table detailing the Infinity Matching Bonuses payouts (click to enlarge if you’re having trouble reading);
Like the Fast Start Bonus table, it’s a bit confusing to understand at first but the general idea is that you work out which generation the person you’re wanting to calculate the Matching Bonus on. Members you directly enrol are your first generation, and so on and so forth.
Then, depending on your own membership rank you simply work your way across.
For example, if you were a Diamond member and wanted to calculate the matching bonus of a second generation silver member in your team, you’d go to the box I’ve marked with a green dot.
Given that you’re a Diamond member, you then go across till you reach the Diamond Column (red dot). All the percentages inbetween are what you are paid out (20%, 12%, 8% and 5% totalling a 45% match).
Leadership Pools
Skinny Body Care offer their members Leadership Pools which pay out a monthly commission depending on their membership rank.
Made up of 5 cents of every dollar that the company brings in, each qualifying member (meeting the minimum personal volume requirement of 50) receives one share in the pool.
The Leadership Pools are split into 4 sub-pools as follows
- 30% to a Bronze member pool
- 20% to Silver member pool
- 15% to Gold and Platinum member pool
- 20% to a Diamond, Crown Diamond and Royal Crown Diamond member pool
Rank Achievement Bonus
The Rank Achievement Bonus is a one time paid out commission paid to members who achieve certain ranks within the Skinny Body Care compensation plan.
The qualifying ranks and their commission payouts are as follows;
- Platinum members receive a $1,000 payout
- Diamond members receive a $5,000 payout
- Crown Diamond members receive a $25,000 payout
- Royal Crown Diamond members receive a $100,000 payout
Joining Skinny Body Care
Joining Skinny Body Care as a distributor requires a one time payment of $10 as well as a $59.95 product purchase of a one month supply bottle of Skinny Fiber.
Thus the base cost for joining Skinny Body Care is $69.95 (shipping of your Skinny Fiber order is additional).
Conclusion
Skinny Fiber has a well balanced compensation plan that balances out recruitment with a strong sales commission.
Although it’s true that most of the commissions don’t kick in unless you bring someone into the company and the residual is tied into themselves bringing people in, it’s still possible to make a healthy residual income off the pure sales of Skinny Fiber (what your matrix residual is paid out on) and let your membership downline grow organically.
Simply put, the Skinny Care compensation plan as there’s no direct pressure to recruit new members (preferred customers can advance you through the membership ranks alone) and that’s somewhat of a rarity these days.
That said, the biggest challenge of the Skinny Body Care opportunity is going to be getting the required sales volume to remain viable in the business.
At the end of the day we’re looking at a $59.95 a month dieting product that an individual customer is only going to personally require a bottle a month of. They can of course purchase for other family members or friends, but it’s still always going to be one bottle per person a month.
Breaking down some of those membership BV requirements. At the third level of membership, Gold, you’re looking at a requirement of 3,000 BV a month which equates to 60 bottles of Skinny Fibre.
60 bottles isn’t too bad but remember you’ve got to find 60 customers/distributors to purchase the product first!
Working our way up, Diamond is 1,000 bottles a month and Royal Crown Diamond 20,000 bottles.
With one product and an effective capped BV per person (customer or distributor) a month… those are some pretty steep numbers.
Still, as far as a traditional sales model goes you pretty much can’t go wrong with something like this as far as the opportunity itself goes. Skinny Body Care are a product orientated company and their compensation plan and business model reflect that.
The only thing left to consider is the viability of the product, Skinny Body Fiber because If you can’t sell it, you’re obviously not going to make any money.
Without questioning the purported properties of the key ingredients or the product itself (I haven’t used it), what strikes me is that it’s a combination of known existing ingredients.
None of these ingredients are new to the weight loss industry so it kind of leaves me wondering what gives Skinny Body Care an advantage over its competitors. What exactly is the company bringing to the table that’s new and exclusive, something their competitors don’t have?
That question popped up into my head as I was researching their primary ingredients list for Skinny Body Fiber and I myself haven’t been able to answer it.
No doubt it will be something that your potential customers might ask you as a Skinny Body Care distributor too… and barring some great price difference between Skinny Fiber and its competitors (which I doubt considering the company claims 80% of the sale of each bottle of Skinny Fiber is paid out in commissions), I can’t really see an advantage in the product itself.
Compensation plan and business model wise Skinny Body Care look great, the weak point here I believe is the product offering. Still, if you think you’ve got what it takes to successfully sell Skinny Fiber in a questionably saturated and well established market then go for it.
If you can sell the product then you’ll undoubtedly make money with Skinny Body Care, whether you recruit people or not.
In MLM you can’t ask for much more than a truly sales based company and after going over their business model and compensation plan, I’ve got no problems in saying Skinny Body Care is just that.
Now if they’d only fix up their website so as to not be completely useless to people who weren’t referred by their existing members…
Update 4th October 2016 – The compensation plan analysis in this review is outdated.
On October 3rd, 2016 BehindMLM published an updated Skinny Body Care review.
I wonder if this guy actually had a MLM lawyer go over this comp plan. There are several parts, such as “Fast Start Bonus” that appears to be directly paid upon recruitment, that would qualify it as pyramid scheme.
The product is a bit expensive than I thought. $59.95 is roughly about 2700 Indian rupees. Very few Indians will be able afford to it. Once, ok, but every month, I don’t think so.
The product is not evaluated by the FDA. Besides, all those people saying that they have lost weight using Skinny Fiber are members who are trying to enroll new members or find new customers.
I wish I could get hold of a bottle of Skinny Fiber for free and use it to see if it really works. Only then I shall be confident enough to promote it.
Lastly, I must admit that the video presentation is good…..very good. I like it.
I was a distributor for Skinny Body Care from 6/2013-8/2013, it is, in fact, a pyramid scheme. They require that the distributor refer at least 2 customers through their company owned website at least once a month, also, I was selling the product on amazon, at a price lower than the $59.95 (required retail price).
So, here is the problem, the company offers a 30-day money back guarantee, they delayed all orders for 3 weeks so that by the time the customer receives the product and finds out that the product has many side effects, which include vomiting, severe headaches, body cramps, severe pain in extremities, etc… they will not get their money back because this has gone past the 30 day period from the point that they ordered.
Their policies and procedures also have statements that lead to fixed pricing and a small monopoly over the product, which again, is highly illegal. With this being said, it is a high risk company.
I made money off of their product, not from the compensation plan,but, from my own sales generated from ordering product at a bulk discount price and reselling on amazon. My distributorship of skinny fiber has since been cancelled by the company, due to “abuse” which was the fact that I was setting my own price on goods that belonged to me.
DO NOT get involved with Skinny Body Care, you will regret it!
Pinged for trying to sell retail? Ouch!
That’s bad MLM form indeed.
Today makes 3 years and SBC is as solid and vibrant as it comes. I am a huge fan of this site and you gave a fair and honest review unlike these paid “Endorsers” that will say anything good about anyone that pays them.
Well you called it and said it will be based on sales of product and not rep’s. I am proud to say were doing 75-80% customers and rocking.
As the guy mentioned above we do NOT allow the sales of our product on Amazon as it hurts other members and is pretty standard in the industry. He was not selling retail but was buying in bulk and selling on Amazon.
Anyways just an update on SBC and keep up the good work.
Not bad, except the product is still in that shady ground between woo and weight-loss supplement category. But, whatever floats your boat, man. 🙂
Being part of Skinny Body Care has changed my life and the lives of my entire family!!!! I am down 3 sizes…2 to go and now I make more in 2 weeks than it took me a year to make at the job I hated that really sucked all the life out of me and took me away from home 45+ hours a week!!
I am debt free and financially at the point my Husband has after 20 years as a New Philadelphia, Ohio Police Officer- ( He is just 44) We have purchased a home in Las Vegas and are living our dream. PAID IN FULL By earnings form Skinny Body Care!
This is the most awesome chance I have ever taken… very low cost to possibly get all your debts paid off like I did in less than a year! It is life changing and I hope to help as many as possible with their health issues and weight problem.
I almost feel guilty getting paid to do something that makes me so happy that I would do it for free!!!
We will normally not allow “testimonial” types of comments (we’re not that TYPE of website). Another reason is that some threads probably will be drowned in professionally written testimonials if we start to allow it.
“Testimonial” = “focused solely on personal experience”.
It will make it difficult for people to separate facts from fiction. It will be almost impossible for anyone to ask any meaningful questions.
It’s also how many MLM companies will TRAIN people to present the opportunity. This is not the right place to practice that type of training.
Since I believe your intentions were quite okay, I won’t ask any “troublesome questions”. I can accept the idea that your post “balanced the thread”, e.g. that it acted as a “counter weight” against post #3.
“Different function”
We’re actually quite boring, e.g. we don’t sell anything or recommend any opportunity. We’re generally more attractive to people who want to criticise opportunities than to people who want to recommend them. 🙂
We have a different function than most other MLM review sites. Most people here are “contributors” or “frequent readers” focusing on something specific (whatever that might be), e.g. we had several people from Brazil posting updates (“sharing information”) about an MLM Ponzi scheme shutdown.
“Continue in a next post”
I responded to your post because it indirectly can be useful, e.g. I can post a lot of additional info to it, of general interest to different groups of readers.
That will have to continue in another post.
Now in 2016 this company has additional products that include skin care. It was those products that interested me the most because I don’t have weight loss needs, but do require some help with my skin. So I am going to give this an honest try.
They also have a 2.0 powerline system that really catches my attention. I will hopefully be reporting back to this article to let you guys know how it goes. I feel pretty good about this one so far.
A simple question that I cannot seem to get answered.
As a pre-enrollee members are being placed “below” me in my downline supposedly. As an example I may have 112,734 pre-enrollees placed below me and 815 of which have placed a product order.
Does this mean that if I upgrade and become a paid member that I will earn a commission on each of those 815 people who have already placed a product order? The explanations I have received so far have been sketchy.
Only if they reorder. Commissions don’t pay out retrospectively.