Do You Bake? Review: Food base mixes

I’m not really sure why, but the “our company” section of the Do You Bake? website has information about “Crave It”.

Crave it launched in 2015 and is apparently a “sister company” of Do You Bake?.

Launched just in 2015 A new Sister Brand to Do You Bake? , endorsed by the pros & available only through our network of Ambassadors. Shop for Crave It products and Do You Bake? products in one place!

Other than a “love of food” and identification of “Jenn” as co-founder of Do You Bake?, there’s not any specific information about the company up.

The Do You Bake? website domain was privately registered in February 2010, with Do You Bake? launching a few months later.

“Jenn” is Jenn Williams (right), who lists herself as “owner” of Do You Bake? on her LinkedIn profile.

I couldn’t find any information on Do You Bake?’s other co-founder(s), ditto anything MLM specific pertaining to Williams.

What she did before Do You Bake? (MLM or otherwise) is a mystery.

Read on for a full review of the Do You Bake? MLM business opportunity.

The Do You Bake? Product Line

Perusal of the Do You Bake? 2015-2016 catalogue reveals a series of recipe mixes.

• beer bread + flavor infusers ($3.95 to $7.75)
• dips (~$5)
• assorted flavored cheese balls (~$5)
• spice blends (~$7)
• salt-free seasoning blends (~$8)
• bread mixes ($7.75 to $8.75)
• pizza base and topping mix ($7.95 to $9.95)
• meal mixes (eg. Sloppy Joes for $7.50, Homestyle Chicken ‘n’ Biscuits for $8.50, Classic Bakes Mac ‘n’ Cheese for $7.75 etc.)
• soups (~$10)
• marinades and sauces ($8.50 to $10.50)
• dessert toppings ($5.95 to $6.95)
• slow-cooker bases ($6.95 to $8.95)
• cookies (~$8)
• cakes and brownies ($6.95 to $8.50)
• snacks (granola and nut mixes for $5.95 to $7.95)
• waffles and muffins ($7.25 to $8.50)

Gluten free and pet treat recipe mixes are also available. Full catalogues are available on the Do You Bake? website if you’re interested in specific mixes offered.

Note that what’s on offer changes from season to season, with the above a reflection of Do You Bake?’s winter offering for 2015-2016.

At the time of publication, the next listed catalogue is for Summer 2016 in June.

The Do You Bake? Compensation Plan

The Do You Bake? compensation plan rewards affiliates generously for generating retail sales.

Residual commissions are paid out via a five-level deep unilevel compensation structure.

Do You Bake? Affiliate Ranks

There are ten affiliate ranks in the Do You Bake? compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:

• Ambassador – generate up to $50 in PV
• Bronze Ambassador – generate and maintain $51 to $100 in monthly PV and recruit three affiliates
• Silver Ambassador – generate and maintain $101 to $200 in monthly PV, maintain three recruited affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least $500 GV
• Gold Ambassador – generate and maintain $201 to $300 in monthly PV, recruit and maintain five affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least $1000 GV
• Team Leader – generate and maintain $301 to $500 in monthly PV, recruit and maintain seven affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of at least $1500 GV
• Ruby Team Leader – generate and maintain $501 to $700 in monthly PV, maintain seven recruited affiliates (1 must be a Team Leader) and have a total monthly downline volume of at least $3000 GV
• Director – generate and maintain $701 to $1000 in monthly PV, recruit and maintain ten affiliates (2 must be Ruby Team Leaders) and have a total monthly downline volume of at least $6000 GV
• Diamond Director – generate and maintain $1001 to $1500 in monthly PV, maintain ten recruited affiliates (2 must be Ruby Team Leaders and 1 a Director) and have a total monthly downline volume of at least $15,000 GV
• Vice President – generate and maintain $1500 or more in monthly PV, recruit and maintain twenty affiliates (1 must be Diamond Director and 2 Directors) and have a total monthly downline volume of at least $30,000 GV
• Platinum Vice President – maintain $1500 or more in monthly PV, recruit and maintain forty affiliates (1 must be Vice President and 2 Diamond Directors) and have a total monthly downline volume of at least $60,000 GV

PV stands for “Personal Volume” and is sales volume generated by an affiliate’s own purchase of product and retail orders.

GV stands for “Group Volume” and is PV generated by an affiliate’s downline (directly and indirectly recruited affiliates).

Retail Commissions

Retail commissions of up to 37% are paid out on product orders made by retail customers.

How much of a retail commission percentage is paid out is determined by Do You Bake? affiliate rank:

• Ambassador – 20%
• Bronze Ambassador – 25%
• Silver Ambassador – 28%
• Gold Ambassador – 30%
• Team Leader – 32%
• Ruby Team Leader – 33%
• Director – 35%
• Diamond Director – 36%
• Vice President – 36.5%
• Platinum Vice President – 37%

Residual Commissions

Residual commissions in Do You Bake? are paid out 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.

Do You Bake? cap payable unilevel levels at five, with commissions paid out as a percentage of sales volume generated by each unilevel level:

• Bronze Ambassador – 1% on level 1
• Silver Ambassador – 2% on level 1
• Gold Ambassador – 2% on level 1 and 1% on level 2
• Team Leader – 3% on level 1 and 1% on levels 2 and 3
• Ruby Team Leader – 3% on level 1, 2% on level 2 and 1% on levels 3 and 4
• Director – 5% on level 1, 2% on level 2 and 1% on levels 3 and 4
• Diamond Director – 5% on level 1, 2 on levels 2 and 3 and 1% on level 4
• Vice President – 5% on level 1, 3% on level 2, 2% on level 3 and 1% on level 4
• Platinum Vice President – 5% on level 1, 3% on level 2, 2% on levels 3 and 4 and 1% on level 5

Joining Do You Bake?

Basic Do You Bake? affiliate membership is free. Free Do You Bake? affiliate membership comes with a 50% off one-time coupon on up to $400 worth of ordered product.

Alternatively, a prospective Do You Bake? affiliate can sign up with an optional Start Up Kit:

• Just A Taste Start Up Kit – $49.95
• Crave It Start Up Kit – $69.95
• Extreme Baker Start Up Kit – $185

Each Start Up Kit comes with an assortment of Do You Bake? products.

Note that after an affiliate’s first three months with the company, an additional $10 fee every four months applies.

Conclusion

I made the mistake of beginning my review of Do You Bake? in the afternoon. With dinner on the horizon, I found it extremely hard to concentrate after going through their catalog.

The finished food products in the catalog look great, but don’t they always?

Owing to the nature of Do You Bake?’s mix-based products, this is definitely a product-range you’re going to want to road test before committing yourself as an affiliate.

The prices seem reasonable for what you get (sauces and spice blends seem a bit expensive though), and generally aren’t prohibitive.

Finding a local distributor should be easy enough, or simply order through the Do You Bake? website itself.

On the compensation side of things Do You Bake? is pretty retail-heavy, which is great to see.

37% commission on the upper-end of the ranks is generous, with lower ranks stepping up incrementally from 20%.

Residual commissions are five-levels deep, with the unilevel team structure easy to understand. There’s no absolutely no complication here.

Those comparing Do You Bake?’s compensation plan to other companies might wonder where the typically offered bonuses are. Personally I think the high retail commission is the reason they’re absent.

Heavy retail at the expense of bonuses sounds good on paper, perhaps an existing Do You Bake? affiliate can let us know how it works in practice?

One thing I did notice was the potentially high-bar set for qualification of MLM commissions.

To qualify for MLM commissions in Do You Bake?, you’re looking at recruitment of three affiliates minimum. Otherwise no matter how much you sell, this is a single-level affiliate opportunity.

Granted you need a downline to earn residual commissions on, I still feel three might be a little high to set as a minimum. Two is typically required in a binary, with a unilevel only requiring one.

I’m not sure if it’d break the math behind the compensation plan, but I think reducing the minimum recruitment requirement for MLM commissions to one would be more attractive to new affiliates.

Recruitment could also be lessened overall in the Do You Bake? affiliate ranks. PV is adjusted accordingly, such that inventory loading is unlikely.

You’re going to have to generate retail sales otherwise you’re not hitting those monthly PV requirements for the upper ranks. Thus it follows that retail should be healthy for each affiliate, with the need to mandate recruiting of five or more affiliates unnecessary.

Otherwise Do You Bake? looks pretty solid. That is of course assuming their food-mixes live up to the beautiful presentation in their catalog.

Order some mixes as a retail customer, try them yourself and if you want to test the marketing waters out, prepare and serve up some Do You Bake? based dishes to friends and family.

Don’t let them in on your business opportunity plans yet, just see how they react to the food itself.

If it’s all-clear and you think you’ve got a shot at marketing Do You Bake? locally perhaps to a broader market, go for it!