Bonvera launched in February 2016 and operates in the health and nutrition MLM niche.

While Bonvera discloses it’s headquartered in Kansas, the company fails to provide executive details on its website.

There is a “Our Leaders” link, however when clicked visitors are redirected to a “leader’s thoughts” blog.

Posts on the blog are authored by Bob Dickie. Further research reveals Bob Dickie goes by Robert Dickie on his social media profiles.

On his LinkedIn profile, Dickie (right) cites himself as co-founder and CEO of Bonvera.

Dickie’s provided location is Knoxville, Tennessee, which didn’t make much sense considering Bonvera’s website states it’s headquartered in Kansas.

The answer is in Dickie’s LinkedIn profile, which states;

the company went through an ownership and leadership change in 2018 and relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Dickie appears to have been appointed CEO of Bonvera on or around May 2018.

Prior to Bonvera Dickie was President of Crown Financial Ministries.

Crown, founded in 1976, is a global NGO focused on personal-finance policy and education that has taught or equipped more than 50 million people in more than 104 nations.

As far as I can tell, Dickie has no prior MLM executive experience.

 

Update 14th January 2019 – Scott Johnson has written in to inform us that Robert Dickie has a non-executive MLM history with Amway.

Robert Dickey has plenty of MLM experience. He headed up the tool scam company owned by Orrin Woodward while he was in Amway (Quixtar at the time), and Dickey’s father was the official Woodward organization preacher who eventually had a falling out with Woodward.

Dickey was forced to disclose some individuals who made disparaging remarks against Amway in a landmark free speech lawsuit when Woodward broke from Amway in 2007.

/end update

 

Read on for a full review of the Bonvera MLM opportunity.

Bonvera Products

Bonvera combines their own branded products with “partners” and “affiliate stores”.

Bonvera’s own branded products include Phyzix, Phyzix MD, Thrive, Luebella and Kutano.

Phyzix is an energy drink available in Acai Berry, Tropical and Zero varieties.

Phyzix is sold in a box of twelve 355 ml cans. Acai Berry and Tropical retails for $36 a box and Zero at #33.

Phyzix MD is a range of over twenty nutritional supplements.

Thrive is a coffee range (organic decaf, ground and whole bean varieties) that retails at $15 for a 12 oz bag.

Luebella is a personal care range consisting of an anti-aging serum ($46.29), day/night cream ($62.49/$56.29) and revitalizing facial cleanser ($28.79).

The Luebella range is also available as a “Skin Care System” for $187.49.

Kutano is a “memory and focus” supplement that retails at $37.49 for a bottle of 60 capsules.

If you want more specific information on any of Bonvera’s branded products, the company provides a full catalog on their website.

Bonvera’s “partner companies” appear to be individual agreements with third-party merchants.

At the time of publication listed merchants include Zeva (nutritional supplements), BluePay (financial services), QuilBed (bedding) and Marketplace Select (organic, natural and specialty food products).

Bonvera’s affiliate stores appear to be standard fare offered through Commission Junction’s affiliate program.

The Bonvera Compensation Plan

Bonvera’s compensation plan combines retail customer requirements with a sales volume based commission rate.

Residual commissions are paid out through bonus pools, in addition to several performance-based bonuses.

MLM Commission Qualification

To qualify for MLM commissions, a Bonvera affiliate must generate 100 PV a month and

  1. enroll and maintain at least five active retail customers; or
  2. enroll and maintain at least two Smart Shoppers.

PV stands for “Personal Volume” and is sales volume generated by sales to retail customers and a Bonvera affiliate’s own orders.

An active retail customer is a non-affiliate customer who has made a purchase of Bonvera products in the last month.

A Smart Shopper is a retail customer who, in exchange for a $19.95 annual fee and monthly order commitment, receives a discount of up to 20% on products ordered.

Retail Commissions

Bonvera pays retail commissions based on GV.

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

Based on monthly GV production, Bonvera affiliates earn the following retail commission rates:

  • 100 GV a month = 4% retail commission rate
  • 750 GV a month = 8% retail commission rate
  • 1500 GV a month = 12% retail commission rate
  • 2500 GV a month = 16% retail commission rate
  • 5000 GV a month = 20% retail commission rate
  • 7500 GV a month = 24% retail commission rate
  • 10,000 GV a month = 28% retail commission rate

Note that retail commission rates are calculated from month to month.

Differential Bonus

Bonvera affiliates can earn the difference between their retail commission rate and that of their personally recruited affiliates.

Up to 28% of PV is paid out, meaning if a Bonvera affiliate is in a higher retail commission percentage bracket than someone they’ve personally recruited, they earn the difference.

E.g. if a Bonvera affiliate is generated 5000 GV a month, they qualify for a 20% retail commission rate.

This affiliate recruits a downline affiliate, who let’s say only generates 750 GV a month.

The recruiting affiliate earns the difference between their retail commission rate (20%) and that of their downline (8%), which comes to 12%.

Note that there is still a further 8% on the PV to pay out. In this instance the system will search further upline for higher retail commission rate qualified affiliates (either 7500 GV or 10,000 GV a month).

If a 7500 GV a month affiliate is found, the system will pay out 4%. It will then continue to search upline for a 10,000 GV a month affiliate, who will receive the final 4%.

If a 10,000 GV affiliate is found first, they’ll receive the remaining 8%.

Note that no Differential Bonus is paid out on PV generated by 10,000 GV a month affiliates.

National Bonus Pools

Bonvera offers affiliates a share in sixteen rank-based National Bonus Pools.

The pools are made up of commissionable sales volume not paid out elsewhere in Bonvera’s compensation plan.

Qualification for the sixteen National Bonus Pools is as follows:

  • Professional 1 (maintain two unilevel team legs generating 10,000 GV a month each) = a share in a 40% pool
  • Professional 2 (maintain two unilevel teams generating 10,000 GV a month each and one 2500 GV a month team) = a share in a 15% pool
  • Professional 3 (maintain two unilevel teams generating 10,000 GV a month each and one 5000 GV a month team) = a share in a 10% pool
  • Senior Professional 1 (maintain three unilevel teams generating 10,000 GV a month each) = a share in a 10% pool
  • Senior Professional 2 (maintain three unilevel teams generating 20,000 GV, 10,000 GV and 5000 GV a month respectively) = a share in a 5% pool
  • Senior Professional 3 (maintain two unilevel teams generating 20,000 GV a month each and one 5000 GV a month team) = a share in a 5% pool
  • Executive 1 (maintain three unilevel teams generating 20,000 GV a month each) = a share in a 5% pool
  • Executive 2 (maintain a unilevel team generating 20,000 GV a month and two teams generating 20,000 GV a month each) = a share in a 2% pool
  • Executive 3 (maintain two unilevel teams generating 40,000 GV a month each and one 20,000 GV a month team) = a share in a 2% pool
  • Senior Executive 1 (maintain three unilevel teams generating 40,000 GV a month each) = a share in a 2% pool
  • Senior Executive 2 (maintain a unilevel team generating 80,000 GV a month and two teams generating 20,000 GV a month each) = a share in a 1% pool
  • Senior Executive 3 (maintain two unilevel teams generating 80,000 GV a month each and one 20,000 GV a month team) = a share in a 1% pool
  • Ambassador 1 (maintain three unilevel teams generating 80,000 GV a month each) = a share in a 0.75% pool
  • Ambassador 2 (maintain a unilevel team generating 160,000 GV a month and two teams generating 20,000 GV each) = a share in a 0.5% pool
  • Ambassador 3 (maintain two unilevel teams generating 160,000 GV a month each and one 20,000 GV a month team) = a share in a 0.5% pool
  • Presidential Ambassador (maintain three unilevel teams generating 160,000 GV a month each) = a share in a 0.25% pool

Note that a “unilevel team” refers to a leg inside a Bonvera affiliate’s unilevel team.

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.

Whether higher ranked affiliates retain shares in pools they’ve already qualified in is not clarified in Bonvera’s compensation plan documentation.

Autoship Bonus

Bonvera affiliates earn a $25 bonus on any autoships they set up within their first 45 days.

Although not explicitly clarified in Bonvera’s compensation plan material, I believe both retail and recruited affiliate autoship orders count.

A matching $25 bonus is paid to the immediate upline for each $25 Autoship Bonus earned by an affiliate they’ve personally recruited.

Registered Customer Bonus

Bonvera pays a 50% bonus on sales volume generated by retail customer orders.

The Bonvera compensation plan doesn’t state whether this is an ongoing bonus or only applies to a retail customer’s first order.

Car Bonus

Bonvera affiliates can qualify for a $400 a month Car Bonus by meeting the following criteria:

  1. maintain a monthly autoship;
  2. have one unilevel team leg with at least twenty autoship orders in it; and
  3. maintain at least twenty or more autoship orders throughout the rest of their unilevel team.

The above criteria must be maintained for three months prior to qualifying for monthly Car Bonus payments.

Note that required autoships can either be retail customer orders or that of affiliates.

Partner Bonuses

If a Bonvera affiliate has one unilevel team leg that generates 10,000 GV a month and 2500 GV in the remaining legs, they qualify for a monthly $1000 Partner Bonus.

If a Bonvera affiliate has one unilevel team leg that generates 10,000 GV a month and 5000 GV in the remaining legs, they qualify for a monthly $1250 Senior Partner Bonus.

Joining Bonvera

Bonvera affiliate membership is $99.95.

There is also the option of signing up with a Starter Pack ($124.99) or Pro Pack (224.99).

The difference between the packs and standard Bonvera affiliate membership is bundled products.

Conclusion

Bonvera’s legitimacy as an MLM company hinges on its company-wide retail volume versus affiliate order volume.

To that end the requirement that all commission qualifying affiliates have either five retail customers manually ordering each month or two retail autoship customers, all but ensures the majority of revenue generated will be retail.

On the product side of things Bonvera’s range is large enough to offer variety but not large enough to be overwhelming.

You’re looking at mostly nutritional supplements and personal care, which can easily be compared to local offerings in terms of value.

Products can easily be evaluated on an individual basis, with Bonvera’s website providing full product information and pricing.

The partnered and affiliate stores are of lesser value, as these for the most part aren’t exclusive offers (affiliate stores definitely not, partnered stores maybe in some instances).

Still it’s a secondary marker to market Bonvera on, even if the products themselves have nothing to do with the company.

With respect to the compensation plan, autoship orders are important but not required. I get the sense most Bonvera affiliates are going to have a standing autoship order, but with the retail customer requirements that shouldn’t be an issue.

The bonus pool approach to residual commissions is interesting. Your basically earning on mostly your own efforts till you 10,000 GV a month in two unilevel legs.

I feel it might be worth splitting some of the Professional 1 pool into a smaller two-team 5000 GV a month pool, only because 10,000 GV a month in two teams is a bit of a steep ask as a bonus qualification opener.

Not a deal-breaker though but just something to keep in mind.

Other than that the only other critique I’ll give is the lack of executive information provided on Bovera’s website. That’s something easily addressed and should be sooner rather than later.

Bonvera is a pretty well-rounded MLM opportunity with a strong focus on retail. The bonus pool orientated compensation plan that’s rewarding for those who build a large base of customers and encourage those they recruit to do the same.

Good luck!