Vantel Pearls Review: Pick-a-pearl jewelry parties

Vantel Pearls was founded in 1990 by Joan Hartel Cabral.

The company operates in the jewelry MLM niche and is based out of Massachusetts in the US.

According to Cabral’s LinkedIn profile she graduated from university in 1982.

When asked what she did prior to launching Vantel Pearls, Cabral (right) stated in an interview with the Direct Selling Education Foundation;

I lived in Spain for 3 years. I moved there for the adventure, to learn Spanish and to enjoy the lifestyle.

It was in Spain that I started my first business. I opened an Aerobics Studio in Denia, along the coast.

My students found it very funny when I said “toque sus hombres” touch your men, instead of “toque sus hombros” touch your shoulders.

I instantly loved running my own business and inspiring others to believe they could positively impact their own lives.

After only 3 months, the Town Government endorsed my business and offered me a rent-free gymnasium.

According to the Vantel Pearls website, Cabral got the idea for the company in 1987;

My story begins in 1987 on a trip to Hawaii where I first saw Oysters containing colorful Pearls being opened before my eyes.

I brought the business idea back to Massachusetts and opened a small seaside store on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Looking for the flexibility to raise a family while running a business, I started Vantel Pearls Parties. Our success is a dream come true.

Read on for a full review of the Vantel Pearls MLM opportunity.

The Vantel Pearls Product Line

As the company name suggests, Vantel Pearls sell pearl jewelry and pearl-related products.

This includes:

• anklets
• “boutique choices”
• bracelets
• cage necklaces
• candles
• chains and extenders
• charms
• earrings
• extenders
• necklaces
• bridal jewelry
• rings and
• wine stoppers

Some of Vantel Pearl’s products include a sealed oyster, from which the customer must extract a pearl for setting in a jewelry piece.

One example featured on the Vantel Pearl website is a $49 “Heart Cage Pearl Discovery Kit”.

Inside the kit is a canned oyster and pendant. As per the above instructions, the customer opens the can containing the oyster.

The oyster, farmed and seeded with a pearl, is opened via a butter knife to reveal a pearl.

The pearl can then be set inside the cage pendant (no tools).

Full retail pricing for all of Vantel Pearls’ products are available on the company website.

The Vantel Pearls Compensation Plan

Vantel Pearls affiliates are paid to sell products to retail customers.

Residual commissions are paid out via a unilevel compensation structure, with additional performance-based bonuses also available.

Vantel Pearls Affiliate Ranks

There are eight affiliate ranks within the Vantel Pearls compensation plan.

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

• New Recruit – sign up as a Vantel Pearls affiliate and book three host parties within 35 days
• Consultant – qualify for commissions (see below)
• Star Consultant – recruit and maintain at least two commission qualified affiliates and generate $500 or more in sales volume in a month or have a downline generating at least $2000 GV a month
• Leader – recruit and maintain at least three commission qualified affiliates, generate at least $1000 or more in monthly personal sales and have a downline generating at least $4000 GV a month
• Star Leader – maintain three or more personally recruited commission qualified affiliates (one of which is a Leader), maintain at least $1000 a month in sales and have a downline generating at least $8000 GV a month
• Director – maintain three or more personally recruited commission qualified affiliates (one of which is a Leader), have at least one other Leader in your downline, maintain at least $1000 a month in sales and have a downline generating at least $15,000 GV a month
• Executive Director – maintain three or more personally recruited commission qualified affiliates (two of which are Leaders), have at least two other Leaders in your downline, maintain at least $1000 a month in sales and have a downline generating at least $25,000 GV a month
• Star Executive Director – maintain three or more personally recruited commission qualified affiliates (three of which are Leaders), have at least three other Leaders in your downline, maintain at least $1000 a month in sales and have a downline generating at least $35,000 GV a month

Note that an affiliate’s sales volume qualification does not include their own purchases.

“GV” stands for “Group Volume” and is sales volume generated by an affiliate’s recruited downline. GV does not include affiliate purchases made by the downline.

Commission Qualification

To qualify for commissions, a Vantel Pearls affiliate must generate at least $500 in personal sales over a continuous two month rolling period.

Note that an affiliate’s own purchase product is does not count towards this quota.

Retail Commissions

Vantel Pearls affiliates receive a base 25% commission on products they sell to retail customers.

• New Recruits receive 25% retail commissions
• Consultants receive 25% or 30% if they generate $4000 or more in monthly personal sales volume
• Star Consultants receive 29% or 34% if they generate $4000 or more in monthly personal sales volume
• Leaders receive 32% or 37% if they generate $4000 or more in monthly personal sales volume
• Star Leaders receive 33% or 38% if they generate $4000 or more in monthly personal sales volume
• Directors and Executive Directors receive 34% or 39% if they generate $4000 or more in monthly personal sales volume
• Star Executive Directors receive 36% or 41% if they generate $4000 or more in monthly personal sales volume

Residual Commissions

Residual commissions in Vantel Pearls 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.

How many levels a Vantel Pearls affiliate earns unilevel commissions on is determined by their rank:

• Consultant – 2% on level 1 (must have a downline generating a minimum monthly $250 GV)
• Star Consultant – 6% on level 1
• Leader – 9% on level 1, 4% on level 2 and 1% on level 3
• Star Leader – 10% on level 1, 4% on level 2 and 2% on level 3
• Director – 11% on level 1, 4% on level 2 and 2% on level 3
• Executive Director – 11% on level 1, 4% on level 2, 2% on level 3 and 1% on level 4
• Star Executive Director – 13% on level 1, 6% on level 2, 3% on level 3 and 1% on level 4

Rank Achievement Bonus

Starting at the Director rank, Vantel Pearls affiliates receive the following one-time Rank Achievement Bonuses:

• qualify as a Director = $500
• qualify as an Executive Director = $1000
• qualify as a Star Executive Director = $2000

Note that new ranks must be maintained for three consecutive ranks before the Rank Achievement Bonus is paid out.

Monthly Total Sales Bonus

Starting at the Executive Director Rank, Vantel Pearls affiliates earn a monthly bonus if their downline generates the following GV targets:

• Executive Director and $60,000 a month in GV = $600 bonus
• Star Executive Director and $80,000 a month in GV = $800 bonus

Joining Vantel Pearls

Vantel Pearls affiliate membership is $99.

Conclusion

I’m familiar with pearl jewelry (not intimately familiar), but the whole concept of canned oyster jewelry was a new concept to me.

This lead me to researching whether the practice was widespread, which revealed canned pearl oysters can be had for $5 to $8 (eBay, Amazon and Etsy).

The jewelry appears to be where the money is in Vantel Pearls, with the canned oysters a marketing gimmick.

Imagine yourself at a Vantel Pearls Party!

You and several friends are gathered around a bowl of oysters. Each oyster contains the surprise of a beautiful, genuine pearl.

In this magical moment, when the first oyster is opened and your pearl is discovered, an emotional connection sweeps through the party.

Your friends will Love discovering their own special pearl, which can then be mounted onto one of our several beautiful jewelry designs. At a Vantel Pearls party, the fun is contagious!

I’m clearly not the target demographic for Vantel Pearls products, but if people do really get excited about extracting a pearl from an oyster themselves (and paying a little bit more for having it all organized for them), then I don’t see any harm in it.

The party marketing model is core to Vantel Pearls’ business model, with new recruits required to set up at least three parties within 35 days of signing up (what happens if they don’t isn’t clarified).

Having parties is central to the Vantel Pearls business model. You will notice that Vantel Pearls values the personally
sponsored recruiting process.

Personal sponsoring and meeting and forming new relationships including hosts and guests provides an opportunity to build your organization with personally sponsored recruits and is the basis for your continued success.

The parties serve as both a retail and affiliate recruiting platform, providing more of a personal touch to the sales experience over ordering wholesale canned oysters from China online.

Presentation is key here, with Vantel Pearls affiliates able to demonstrate polished marketing clearly at an advantage over their fellow affiliates.

On that note, it’s important to keep in mind that selling canned oyster pearl jewelry isn’t for everyone. It might be a good idea to see if you can tag along to one of your potential upline’s parties as a guest and get a feel for what goes on before diving in.

Moving onto the compensation plan, I think how Vantel Pearls handle retail sales volume is great.

Affiliate purchases don’t count towards personal volume or team volume, meaning it’s all retail sales volume.

If you don’t make retail sales as a Vantel Pearls affiliate, you’re not making anything – which is precisely the way it should be in an MLM company.

Affiliates are compensated with a 40% discount on purchased products. That’s a pretty good incentive (assuming the affiliate has an interest in pearl jewelry) but also might hint at large markups.

We are talking jewelry here so I guess MLM or otherwise, it comes with the territory.

Residual commissions are limited to four levels, keeping things tight and upline affiliates focused on a manageable team. This is inline with Vantel Pearls marketing strategy, which keeps everything personal.

All in all Vantel Pearls presents a solid MLM opportunity with a familiar product presented with somewhat quirky marketing.

I’d strongly encourage prospective affiliates to attend a few parties to gauge how Vantel Pearls and their products are received. On the compensation side of things however there’s nothing really to fault.

Good luck!

 

Update 16th July 2021 – Vantel Pearls has announced it is shutting down.