AlfaDesigner Review: Custom tailored menswear
There is no information on the AlfaDesigner website indicating who owns or runs the business.
The AlfaDesigner website domain (“alfadesigner.com”) was registered on the 25th of April 2014, however the domain registration is set to private.
Further research reveals AlfaDesigner market mens wear from Alfa Worldwide (wasn’t too hard to put that together). Alfa Worldwide was co-founded by Boris Kodjoe and operates from a different URL (“worldofalfa.com”) to that of AlfaDesigner.
There’s no information on the Alfa Worldwide website revealing who Kodjoe’s fellow co-founders are. The domain registration for Alfa Worldwide is also set to private.
The AlfaDesigner Terms and Conditions does shed some light on the relationship between the two companies but fails to go into any specifics.
Alfa Distribution & Marketing LLC. (hereafter referred to as “Alfa D&M”) is hired by Alfa Worldwide Ltd. (hereafter referred to as “Alfa”) to manage operations of Alfa’s network distribution structure.
Records reveal Alfa Distribution & Marketing LLC was registered in Delaware in 2011, but who owns and operates the company remains a mystery.
As always, if a MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money.
The AlfaDesigner Product Line
AlfaDesigner market Alfa Worldwide’s range of clothing, mostly targeted at men.
Exquisitely handcrafted by our master tailors with great attention to detail, our custom-tailored products are a solid foundation for a classic yet modern wardrobe.
With a large variety of individual design options, and an array of high quality fabrics from which to choose, Alfa clothing makes your customers stand out from the crowd and communicates their individual style to the world.
Alfa Worldwide’s lines includes custom-tailored shirts ($45 to $99, mens and womens), suits ($235 to $415), jackets ($180 to $240), vests ($125 to $165), jeans ($89) and ties ($20 to $40).
The AlfaDesigner Compensation Plan
The AlfaDesigner compensation plan revolves around affiliates selling Alfa Worldwide’s range of clothing to retail customers.
Residual commissions are offered via a 5 level deep unilevel compensation structure.
Commission Qualification
In order to qualify for commissions, all AlfaDesigner affiliates must generate at least $200 a month in sales via their replicated website.
These sales can either be retail sales to customers or an affiliate’s own purchases through their website.
Retail Commissions
Retail Commissions in AlfaDesigner are paid out on the sale of clothing to retail customers as follows (retail pricing in brackets):
Shirts
- The white Alfa ($45) – $10
- The color Alfa ($59) – $12
- The Executive ($75) – $15
- The Presitge ($89) – $22
- The Legacy ($99) – $30
Suits
- the Navy ($235) – $50
- solid colors ($275) – $70
- patterns and stripes ($325) – $100
3-Piece Suits
- the Navy ($335) – $70
- solid colors ($375) – $85
- patterns and stripes ($415) – $100
Jackets
- the Navy ($180) – $36
- solid colors ($210) – $48
- patterns and stripes ($240) – $60
Pants
- the Navy ($90) – $18
- solid colors ($100) – $22
- patterns and stripes ($110) – $26
Vests
- the Navy ($125) – $25
- solid colors ($145) – $30
- patterns and stripes ($165) – $35
Jeans
- all fabrics ($89) – $20
Ties
- black tie ($20) – $5
- solid colors ($30) – $7.50
- patterns ($40) – $10
Unilevel Commissions
Residual commissions in AlfaDesigner 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):
If any affiliates on level 1 go on to 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.
AlfaDesigner cap payable unilevel levels at five, with how much of a percentage in residual commissions paid out determined by what level of the unilevel an affiliate falls on:
- level 1 (personal recruits) – 5%
- levels 2 to 5 – 1%
Joining AlfaDesigner
Affiliate membership with AlfaDesigner is $99 + $7.95 shipping.
Affiliate membership includes marketing materials, a measuring tape, measuring guide and fabric swatch books.
Conclusion
The legitimacy of AlfaDesigner lies with their affiliates attracting retail customers over self-qualifying themselves for commissions each month.
Given the readily retailable nature of their product line and the $200 monthly sales quota, it doesn’t seem very cost-effective to self-qualify each month.
That said it does appear to be possible. Removing an affiliate’s own purchase counting towards monthly qualification would instantly alleviate this issue.
Other than that, AlfaDesigner seems pretty well thought out. It was definitely something I hadn’t seen before, so props to them for trying something new and you’ve got a simple compensation plan that focuses exclusively on selling Alfa Worldwide’s clothing range.
Information on who is running the company is something I’d recommend adding to the AlfaDesigner site ASAP, as it’s important to know who is behind an MLM company before joining it.
There doesn’t appear to be any major red-flags with the opportunity, so why management aren’t upfront about who they are escapes me.
A quick check with a potential upline to make sure they’re qualifying for commissions with retail sales, and if you think you can market mostly menswear then go for it.
One thing to keep in mind though might be the lack of repeat business when compared to say consumables. If a customer likes their initial order they might order more clothing, but it’s unlikely to be a regular thing from month to month.
Something to keep in mind as marketing effort isn’t something you can initially focus on and then get slack with once you’ve got a few repeat-customers.
Good luck!
Interesting idea, but doubt it will go very far. In the luxury clothing world, name recognition is key. And let’s face it, $300-400 suits and $90 jeans are luxury goods. Who’s going to buy a no-name item at that price?
I know they’re going for “custom-fitting”, and it may work for suit, but everything else? Nah. TrunkClub and such “personal stylist” sites got there first.
there’s an MLM for everything LOL
Actually, as MLM this is actually not that bad of an idea. There’s certainly the margins to sustain it. But then, I don’t buy $90 jeans. I buy $20 jeans from Costco or KMart.
The question here is, who pays for $90 “no-name” jeans or whatever else they sell? And that is a very personal question.
WHAT?
Reported to the SEC…
Wrangler Five-Star Jeans, $18.99
NOLINK://www.kmart.com/wrangler-men-s-five-star-premium-denim-jeans-regular/p-046VA57095012P?prdNo=5&blockNo=5&blockType=G5
Just for grins, apparently the most expensive pair of jeans in the world is $1.3 million. Why? it’s got **real diamonds**
NOLINK://www.therichest.com/luxury/most-expensive/top-10-most-expensive-jeans-in-the-world/
Interesting idea with clothing. I think that was the idea behind $200 qualifier as a means to keep repeat sales in the loop rather than from new customers.
Each member becomes their best consumer of the same said program. Nothing we have not seen before.
What will this turn into the suit of the month club?
Man… wouldn’t want to washing machine them once they got a bit old…
“Hey where’d my diamonds go?!?
FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU-“
I did consider that, but then how many suits can a guy have?
Surely that would only go on for a few months at best. And given the suits are custom tailored there’s next to no resale value too, so you’re really just going to wind up with a garage full of suits.
alfadesigner Caps unilevel commissions at 5 levels . residual commissions are only 5% [level one] and 1% [level 2-5]. meanwhile, retail margins vary from 20% to 30% . the program seems inclined to retail , almost like direct marketing .
great products and plan , even i wonder why the people behind it wont come out and take a bow !
Autoship.
Just have to donate the monthly suit to a local charity and get a charitable donation write-off.
Give enough suits and maybe get a photo-op from the community paper as an individual who “gives back to the community” (and can show you how to achieve the success you deserve.).
I’m having a hard time believing that folks who buy/can afford a tailored suit would be interested in buying them from a MLM distributor.
Maybe I’m behind the times.
I might have taken an interest if their slogan were…
“Only Rich Men Wear Alfa Jeans”.
residual commissions are very low in alfadesigner. an affiliate will have to create a WIDE team [20] under him to make good his monthly $200 autoship. making so many ‘direct’ recruits is not easy and is time consuming, as streets are not exactly spilling over with MLM lovers.
to make it in alfadesigner an affiliate will have to focus on retail . that’s where the good fast earning is.