Purium was founded in 2004 by David Sandoval and Amy Venner.

The company is based out of Utah and began in 1993 as a small green foods manufacturing facility. Produce was grown locally in Sandoval and Venner’s privately owned farm.

According to a blog post on the Purium website, the facility initially manufactured private label products for a “huge international company” (I wasn’t able to find a name).

Just when they had finally turned a profit, that company (their biggest client) bailed and left them struggling. They were in a desperate financial situation.

At that point they knew they needed to put 100% of their effort, focus, and determination into creating their own brand.

That brand was Platinum Health Products, which was later renamed to Purium.

Of the two Purium founders, Sandoval appears to be much more in the public eye. The Purium website credits Sandoval as sole owner and founder of the company.

Venner does have a “MillionMom” page on the site, but it reads more like marketing than a corporate bio.

Sandoval (right) serves as Purium’s CEO. So the story goes;

Twenty-four years ago David Sandoval was like many of us, working a sedentary job, eating a conventional diet and watching his family members suffer from cancer, diabetes and obesity among other illnesses.

He knew he needed a lifestyle change and set out on a relentless mission to find the answers he needed to turn his life around.

“I was your typical businessperson eating a rather conventional diet. Although I was chronologically younger in the photo on the left my biological markers for aging (blood pressure, heart rate etc) were much worse (older) than they are today.

In other words, I am biologically younger today than I was 20 years ago.

I did a 180 on my eating habits and that created a 180 for the rest of my life. Today I am thinner, healthier and happier than I was back then and feel like I haven’t even reached the prime of my life yet.

I’m in my 50s but I expect to live another 70 good years.”

Amy Venner serves as Purium’s President.

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

The Purium Product Line

Purium market a range of products targeting weight loss, fitness anti-aging and nutritional supplements.

Our mission at Purium is simple – we want to help you eat better, age more gracefully and live longer.

In other words look, feel and perform like a younger person.

There are too many products to cover individually here, but full retail pricing is available via a catalog on the Purium website.

Of note is that Purium claim all of their products are

100% NON-GMO and we believe that Purium is the only Network Marketing Company that can make this claim.

The Purium Compensation Plan

The Purium compensation plan pays affiliates when they sell Purium products to retail customers.

Residual commissions are paid out via a unilevel compensation structure, along with a significant number of performance-based bonuses.

Purium Affiliate Ranks

There are eighteen ranks within the Purium compensation plan.

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

  • Member – sign up as a Purium affiliate
  • Associate – qualify for MLM commissions (50 PV a month)
  • Builder – recruit at least one MLM commissions qualified affiliate and have a total monthly downline volume of 300 GV
  • Consultant – recruit at least two MLM commissions qualified affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of 1000 GV
  • Director – recruit at least three MLM commissions qualified affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of 2500 GV
  • Executive – recruit at least four MLM commissions qualified affiliates and have a total monthly downline volume of 6000 GV
  • Diamond – maintain at least 100 PV a month, recruit at least six MLM commissions qualified affiliates (three Consultants or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 15,000 GV
  • Green Diamond – maintain at least 100 PV a month, maintain at least six MLM commissions qualified affiliates (three Directors or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 30,000 GV
  • Blue Diamond – maintain at least 100 PV a month, maintain at least six MLM commissions qualified affiliates (three Executives or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 50,000 GV
  • Black Diamond – maintain at least 100 PV a month, maintain at least six MLM commissions qualified affiliates (one Diamond and two Executives or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 75,000 GV
  • Red Diamond – maintain at least 100 PV a month, maintain at least six MLM commissions qualified affiliates (two Diamonds and one Executive or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 100,000 GV
  • Crown – maintain at least 200 PV a month, recruit and maintain at least twelve MLM commissions qualified affiliates (one Blue Diamond and two Diamonds or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 150,000 GV
  • 2-Star Crown – maintain at least 200 PV a month, maintain at least twelve MLM commissions qualified affiliates (two Blue Diamonds and one Diamond or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 200,000 GV
  • 3-Star Crown – maintain at least 200 PV a month, maintain at least twelve MLM commissions qualified affiliates (three Blue Diamonds or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 300,000 GV
  • 4-Star Crown – maintain at least 200 PV a month, maintain at least twelve MLM commissions qualified affiliates (four Blue Diamonds or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 400,000 GV
  • 5-Star Crown – maintain at least 200 PV a month, maintain at least twelve MLM commissions qualified affiliates (five Blue Diamonds or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 500,000 GV
  • Royal Crown I – maintain at least 200 PV a month, maintain at least twelve MLM commissions qualified affiliates (three Crowns or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 750,000 GV
  • Royal Crown II – maintain at least 200 PV a month, maintain at least twelve MLM commissions qualified affiliates (three Crown Diamonds or higher) and have a total monthly downline volume of 1,000,000 GV

The specific rank requirements of recruited affiliates for Crown to 5-Star Crown affiliates are waived if 50% of their qualifying GV comes from any one unilevel leg.

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

GV stands for “Group Volume” and is sales volume generated across a Purium affiliate’s eight level deep unilevel team (9 levels for Crown or higher ranked affiliates).

Retail Commissions

Purium pay affiliates a 15% commission on retail product orders.

If an affiliate has a 50 PV or more monthly autoship, the retail commission rate is increased to 30%.

Affiliates who are also licensed/certified health professionals and who also purchased at least 500 BV of product when they signed up earn a 45% retail commission.

MLM Commission Qualification

To qualify for MLM commissions a Purium affiliate must generate 50 PV a month.

Recruitment Commissions

When a Purium customer recruits a new who affiliate who signs up with a Get Started Enrollment Pack (any of the three), they receive a $50 commission.

  • $75 is paid out on the recruitment of up to two Gold Enrollment Pack affiliates a week
  • the first Platinum Enrollment Pack recruited affiliate pays a $150 commission, a second in a week pays $150, a third and fourth pays $200 each and a fifth or more pays $250 each
  • the first Launch Enrollment Pack recruited affiliate pays a $250 commission, a second in a week pays $250, a third and fourth pays $300 each and a fifth or more pays $350 each

First Order Bonus

The First Order Bonus is a commission paid on the first order placed by recruited affiliates and retail customers.

The First Order Bonus is 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.

Purium cap the First Order Bonus at four levels. How many levels an affiliate earns the First Order Bonus on depends on their rank:

  • Associate – 25% on level 1 (personal retail customers and personally recruited affiliates)
  • Builder – 25% on level 1 and 5% on level 2
  • Consultant – 25% on level 1 and 5% on levels 2 and 3
  • Director – 25% on level 1 and 5% on levels 2 to 4

Residual Commissions

Like The First Order Bonus, residual commissions in Purium are also paid out via a unilevel compensation structure.

Purium affiliates can earn a percentage of downline sales volume within their unilevel team.

How many unilevel levels a Purium affiliate can earn on is determined by their rank:

  • Associate – 5% on level 1
  • Builder – 5% on levels 1 and 2
  • Consultant – 5% on levels 1 to 4
  • Director – 5% on levels 1 to 5
  • Executive – 5% on levels 1 to 6 and 3% on level 7
  • Diamond – 5% on levels 1 to 6 and 3% on levels 7 and 8

Infinity Bonus

The Infinity Bonus is a generation bonus that allows a Purium affiliate to earn beyond eight unilevel levels.

Starting at the Green Diamond rank, a Purium affiliate earns a 2% Infinity Bonus on one generation from level 9.

At the Green Diamond rank, a generation is defined up until another Green Diamond or higher ranked affiliate is found in that leg (after level 9).

Blue Diamond and higher ranked affiliates earn a 2% Infinity Bonus on two generations.

At the Blue Diamond and higher ranks, a generation is defined up until another Blue Diamond or higher ranked affiliate is found in that leg.

Matching Bonus

A Matching Bonus on residual commissions is available down four levels of recruitment.

How many levels a Purium affiliate earns the Matching Bonus on is determined by rank:

  • Diamond – 10% on level 1
  • Green and Blue Diamond – 10% on level 1 and 5% on level 2
  • Black and Red Diamond – 10 on levels 1 and 2
  • Crown and 2-Star Crown – 10% on levels 1 and 2 and 5% on level 3
  • 3-Star Crown to 5-Star Crown – 10% on levels 1 to 3
  • Royal Crown II – 10% on levels 1 to 4
  • Royal Crown II – 10% on levels 1 to 3 and 20% on level 4

Rank Achievement Bonus

The Rank Achievement Bonus is a time-sensitive bonus that rewards Purium affiliates for qualifying at certain ranks.

  • qualify as a Consultant within three months and earn $50 ($50 also paid to the direct upline)
  • qualify as a Director within four months and earn $100 ($100 also paid to the direct upline)
  • qualify as an Executive within 5 months and earn $200 ($200 also paid to the direct upline)

A $500 Rank Achievement Bonus is paid upon qualification as a Diamond (no time-limit).

Lifestyle Bonus

The Lifestyle Bonus is a monthly bonus paid to Diamond and higher ranked Purium affiliates.

  • Diamond – $300
  • Green Diamond – $600
  • Blue Diamond – $1200
  • Black Diamond – $180
  • Red Diamond – $2500
  • Crown – $3000
  • 2-Star Crown – $4000
  • 3-Star Crown – $5000
  • 4-Star Crown – $7500
  • 5-Star Crown and higher – $10,000

Diamond and Crown Pools

The Diamond Pool is two smaller pools, each made up of 1% of Purium’s US sales volume.

Diamond (1 share), Green Diamond (2 shares) and Blue Diamond (3 shares) affiliates are grouped in one 1% pool.

The other 1% Diamond pool is paid to Black Diamond (1 share) and Red Diamond (2 shares) affiliates.

The Crown Pool is made up of 3% of Purium’s US sales volume.

Shares in the Crown Pool are allocated to Crown ranked affiliates and higher as follows:

  • Crown ranked affiliates receive 1 share
  • 2-Star Crown ranked affiliates receive 2 shares
  • 3-Star Crown ranked affiliates receive 3 shares
  • 4-Star Crown ranked affiliates receive 4 shares
  • 5-Star Crown ranked affiliates and higher receive 5 shares

Diamond Trips

Diamond and higher ranked affiliates receive one-time and annual travel-based incentives.

Diamond ranked affiliates go on a Diamond trip to tour

the Purium manufacturing facility and home office. Meet Purium Owners, Dave Sandoval and Amy Venner.

This trip for two includes a tour, Diamond training, special excursion, room, food and more! (airfare not included)

Blue Diamond ranked affiliates visit Sandoval’s private retreat for 4 days and 3 nights.

Purium Owner Dave Sandoval opens up his 160-acre Retreat so you can enjoy a complete wellness experience we call a “detox-a-vacation”.

Healthy food, stimulating activities and impactful education make this a Dream Trip you won’t find anywhere else.

This trip includes airfare, ground transportation, room, food, excursions and more!

Crown and higher ranked affiliates go on an annual “Crown Trip”.

Each year, we take qualifying Crowns to a different gorgeous locale offering world class fun, adventure, relaxation and education.

At the core of this trip is our mission to “make healthy cool” and what is cooler than spending 5 days/nights with likeminded entrepreneurs on a luxurious dream vacation? Includes airfare / 5 nights of lodging.

Joining Purium

Purium affiliate membership is tied to the purchase of an Enrollment Pack.

  • Daily Get Started Pack – $249
  • Daily Get Started Gold Pack – $398
  • Daily Platinum Pack – $549
  • Daily Launch Pack – $1049
  • Transformation Get Started Pack – $280
  • Transformation Get Started Gold Pack – $369
  • Transformation Platinum Pack – $549
  • Transformation Launch Pack – $1049
  • Athlete Get Started Pack – $280
  • Athlete Get Started Gold Pack – $429
  • Athlete Platinum Pack – $549
  • Athlete Launch Pack – $1049

The more a new affiliate pays for their Enrollment Pack the more Purium product they receive.

Conclusion

Purium gives off a strong health store vibe. The product line distinctly reminded me of what you’d expect to find in a local health store offering.

This appears to be deliberate. In a Purium marketing video, David Sandoval acknowledges deficiencies in the health and nutrition landscape.

I knew something had to be done. This fast-paced convenience driven society had stopped putting a premium on the quality of food.

And so I advised people, “Go to the health food store, seek natural alternatives.”

But when they did they found the same economic influences that were destroying the quality of food at the grocery store, had also permeated into the natural food as well.

Purium positions itself as an alternative, with emphasis retained on the quality of food and nutrition it provides.

What needs to be taken into account is this back story dates back to the early 90s. A lot of what Sandoval talks about might still apply today, but it definitely is much easier today to compare the competition.

Purium’s flagship products are their 10 day “transformation” courses. There’s regulator transformation and an “athlete’s” version, both costing $290.

Make no mistake, that’s a lot of money for a ten-day nutrition course.

Purium marke the regular transformation course as

the FASTEST, HEALTHIEST, SIMPLEST, LEAST EXPENSIVE weight loss program on the planet… and the weight loss is just a HEALTHY SIDE EFFECT!

Of the Athlete transformation course, Purium claim it

will literally flush out unhealthy cellular waste, fat deposits and toxins while increasing lean healthy muscle tissue and helping your body look and feel more vibrant, fit and toned than you have in years, even if you are an endurance athlete or fitness buff.

If one were to stay on either course for a month, it comes to $870.

To aid in marketing Purium products the company provide affiliates with gift cards. The more spent on an Enrollment Pack, the more gift cards received.

The gift cards have a $50 value and can be put towards Purium products.

Retail customers can use the gift cards to purchase products with. This knocks a bit off the 10 day courses but they’re still pretty expensive (in my opinion).

Newly recruited affiliates can also use the gift cards to get an Enrollment Pack discount, effectively making the cards recruitment tools.

Combined with a $50 to $350 recruitment commission paid out, this equates to chain-recruitment.

A deeper look at Purium’s compensation plan however is required before we draw any conclusions.

The primary danger of paying recruitment commissions in MLM (aside from it being the cornerstone of pyramid fraud), is that it typically encourages affiliate autoship recruitment on the backend.

A recruitment commission is a one-time payment, profiting residually keeps affiliates coughing up money – provided they can recruit affiliates on autoship under them.

Purium’s compensation plan has a monthly PV requirement to qualify for MLM commissions.

This is no abnormal and is pretty standard for the industry. Purium also has a monthly autoship program for affiliates, again pretty standard.

Here’s how the company itself however markets it’s affiliate autoship:

Back Up Order – A Back-Up Order is a monthly recurring order set-up by a Member which releases on the 21st of every month if a Member chooses not to purchase product orders totaling at least 50 BV by 11:59 PM Central time on the 20th of the month.

An active Back-Up Order of 50 BV or more automatically qualifies a Member to be a PLC Member.

Back-Up Order is just another term for autoship, and “PLC Member” another term for MLM commission qualified.

Referring to autoship as a “Back-Up Order” itself sets it up to be a fallback to qualify for commissions. Purium then go one step further and clarify that autoship is primarily there to make sure affiliates qualify for commissions.

With autoship an affiliate purchasing Purium product each month, this is a problem. It goes hand in hand with chain recruitment and is indicative of a product-based pyramid scheme.

Granted the Vemma and Herbalife busts for autoship recruitment are only recent still, Purium defining affiliate autoship as a commission qualification catch-all is just asking for trouble.

It creates the wrong mindset for new Purium affiliates from the get go, making it extremely likely they’ll go on autoship and just focus on recruiting others who do the same.

The Purium compensation plan contains an Income Disclosure Statement for 2015.

A footer below an income chart reads:

The income statistics above do not include Retail Product for selling products to personal Customers not registered with Purium.

For many Affiliates, this represents substantial additional income not shown on the chart.

This additional income may increase revenue, especially at the lowest rank levels.

To me this sounds like baloney. Purium obviously aren’t tracking this purported retail volume, otherwise they’d include it in their Income Disclosure Statement.

That leaves us with an assumption, which in my opinion has no place in a factual Income Disclosure Statement.

It’s worth noting that Vemma tried to pull this same defense with the FTC. It didn’t work because the company had no proof to back up its claims.

Purium provide no evidence to suggest affiliates are making large amounts of money in “off the books” retail sales volume. There is also no mention of retail sales volume tracking (Vemma at least had half-assed retail tracking, even if it was mostly superficial and months behind).

There are also no retail volume qualifiers in the Purium compensation plan, permitting an affiliate to rise through ranks on recruited downline autoship volume alone.

Pay to play is also a concern, with affiliates forced to purchase Purium products when they sign up. A “tear pad” detailing affiliate signup options doesn’t mention an affiliate membership not tied to the purchase of an Enrollment Pack.

The good news is you can easily verify whether autoship recruitment is taking place. Just ask your potential upline how they’re generating their monthly PV requirement.

Basic affiliate autoship options presented are for 70 and 100 PV. Purium make a point of stating on the tear pad that by signing up for either, affiliates are commission qualified.

100 PV will commission qualify a Purium affiliate up till the Crown rank.

The average annual income at the Crown rank is $148,714. Increasing an autoship order by 100 BV at that stage is thus little more than a minor business expense.

What you want to see is the monthly PV requirements being met by retail sales (ask for receipt proof).

If your potential upline is generating their monthly PV solely from their own monthly purchase of product, ask them why they aren’t making any retail sales.

Also ask how you are going to generate your monthly PV. If you’re told via autoship, there’s a good chance that entire downline (traceable up to corporate if you go high enough), are participating in affiliate autoship recruitment.

This is exactly what Vemma and Herbalife were busted for, with the FTC citing a lack of retail sales as evidence of a pyramid scheme.

If you find your upline is generating a healthy amount of retail sales volume, it’s probably a good idea to try some of Purium’s products yourself first.

The 10 day courses are a good bet (remember the $50 gift card discount), as this seems to be the bread and butter of the opportunity (at least product-wise).

Good luck!