‘Getting old sucks' goes the saying, and there is nothing we can do about it. But many people wish and hope there is something that can slow down the inevitable and, at the same time, reduce the ‘side effects' of aging. So it comes as no surprise that these wishes are exploited by ‘quacks' proclaiming to have found the ‘Fountain of Youth' and created a product (or products) able to slow down the process of aging.
One of the companies offering these kinds of products is LifeVantage and is the subject of my review today.
What Is LifeVantage?
LifeVantage Corporation is a publicly traded (Nasdaq:LFVN), science-based company, dedicated to helping people reach their health and wellness goals through science-based solutions to oxidative stress. Founded in 2003, LifeVantage develops nutraceutical products, including Protandim, that leverage the company's expertise and that are intended to deliver significant health benefits to consumers.
LifeVanage is lead by Dave S. Manovich, Executive Vice Chairman, and the company's mission statement reads:
“LifeVantage Corporation is a company dedicated to helping people achieve their health, wellness and financial independence goals. We provide quality, scientifically-validated products and a financially rewarding network marketing business opportunity to customers and independent distributors who seek a healthy lifestyle and financial freedom”
What Is The LifeVantage Business Opportunity?
It's your typical MLM where sales of the products are made by distributors. Distributors also get paid for recruiting others into the business opportunity. It's a business model that LifeVantage recently switched over to in recent years. A while back you could have bought their products in health food stores and even off the shelves of some grocery chains.
Obviously, the sales through regular distribution were not strong enough to satisfy stockholders, so LifeVantage decided to pull their products of the shelves and go the route of network marketing through a force of independent product partners.
If MLMs give you the “heebie jeebies”, then you may want to consider My Top Free Work At Home Recommendation!
LifeVantage Complaints
Like every company LifeVantage has complaints against their company. But these complaints cover the products and the business opportunity. We've laid them out here for you to consider so you can make an informed decision.
It's an MLM
Most people complain about MLMs with good reason because they're usually characterized by the following traits:
- You're required to place a monthly order (no matter if you need the product or not) to stay “active” or earn commissions.
- Qualify and maintain active status every month to participate in the ‘pool of commissionable sales'
- Recruit new product partners (Preferred Customers) like Lucifer collects souls of ‘The Bad”
- Understanding a convoluted compensation plan.
Nevertheless, reading the complete compensation plan, and understanding it, requires at least a 4-year college degree; better yet a PHD. This is one of the many reasons why I turned to My #1 Free Work At Home Recommendation: Wealthy Affiliate.
Protadim Does Not Work As Claimed
To fully understand this statement we have to take a look at the ingredients Protadim is made off:
- Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) extract (225 mg)
- Bacopa (Bacopa monniera) extract (150 mg)
- Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root (150 mg)
- Green tea (Camellia sinensis) extract (75 mg)
- Turmeric (Curcuma Ionga) extract (75 mg)
LifeVantage is billing Protandim as an Nrf2 activator, but numerous researches show that all 5 ingredients, by itself, are Nrf2 activators. Therefore, the claim that ‘only THEIR invention (Protadim)‘ is the correct antioxidant and Nrf2 activator able to slow down the aging process is untrue.
Yes, they have received ‘patent status‘ on their concoction. However, the patent office is NOT conducting any tests, rather they're just making sure that a patent has not been granted already on identical products.
They lied about WHO invented Protadim!
A certain Paul Myhill recreated a 100% herbal version of a previous LifeVantage product that failed. Mr. Myhill did so without any medical background, degree or respectability in the industry. LifeVantage solved this problem by hiring a well-known and well-respected scientist, Joe McCord.
Dr. Joe McCord accepted stock option worth millions of dollars and lied to the world that he was the inventor of Protadim. The lie didn't hold up though. Mr. Myhill posted an open letter on April 13th, 2012 on Facebook, saying…………
“LifeVantage's communications are downright false, misleading, and perpetuate an ongoing fraud – one that the SEC and FTC should be made aware of”.
He also posted a letter, for further proof, from McCord himself, saying that he couldn't take credit for inventing Protandim, because “it was so close to its final embodiment prior to the beginnings of our association.” However, not long after, Mr. Myhill took down the FB post. One could speculate if he was bribed or threatened. Who knows?
LifeVantage claims NOT to pay for Protadim Studies!
On LifeVantage's Science page, there is this quote:
Apparently, this is another outright lie, especially when LifeVantage disclosed several cases where they did pay for research. Why is that important, you ask? If I would offer you $100,000 for your research study, would it be 100% unbiased even if your findings would prove that my product DOES NOT WORK?
LiveVantage Canine Health Product is A Blatant Scam
It seemed like a brilliant marketing strategy to prey on people that love their dogs. I cannot understand why they expect people to spend $30 to $100 bucks a month on a product that is unproven to be totally safe for their animal. Particularly in light of one study that says……….
“The manner in which LifeVantage and its distributors are marketing Canine Health is extremely deceptive and irresponsible. The company made initial claims about the therapeutic efficacy of the product based on a study which by all appearances was so critically flawed as to be worthless….”
LifeVantage Products are Insanely Expensive
A one month supply of Protadim pills cost you $40 (Preferred Customer price) and contains 30 pills, each 625 mg. ONE LifeVantage pill cost you $1.33.
The pills are a blend of the 5 main ingredients I have listed above. These are easily available on the market and you can get them even at Amazon. Buying these 5 ingredients there, one pill would cost you 40 cents. Adding up the milligrams, you would get a whopping 2090 mg by taking one of each pill per day. LifeVantage pills cost you 3 times more and you get only 1/3 of active ingredients. Enough said.
It is Very Difficult to Cancel the Monthly Order or get a Refund
Apparently there have been reports that LifeVantage has made it very difficult to cancel their monthly orders. This isn't a big surprise to me since their business model obviously depends on having reps stay active so they can use some of that money to pay other reps.
Extremely High Failure Rates of Distributors
All MLM companies have a high failure rate of their product partners. One reason is that not many people have what it takes to build and maintain a strong team of sales people. It also doesn't help if the products being promoted are over priced and of little value. That said, the usual failure rate is about 67%. LifeVantage however, has an extremely high failure rate of 92%.
They tried to ‘whitewash‘ this fact by announcing in their quarterly earnings report to the share holders, ‘that they were able to retain 57% of new Preferred Customer for the the last quarter‘. This equates to a failure rate of 92% for the year. Another reason is that many people realize after a short while that the product DOES NOT WORK as promised and simply quit.
Not Many Distributors Make Money
Let me tell you again, this is a typical symptom of many MLMs. Only very few folks on the TOP of the MLM are making lots of money, whereas the rest is making close to nothing. It is a well known fact that in MLM schemes less than 4% are able to make a liveable income and many folks don't break even. This is one of the big reasons I always turned away from MLMs and happy I found My #1 Free Work At Home Recommendation: Wealthy Affiliate.
Conclusion To My LifeVantage Review – Is LifeVantage a Scam?
I am hard pressed to report anything good about this company. LifeVantage products are obviously not what the company claims them to be. I could not find a single, independently conducted study that would confirm the efficacy of Prodatim. The handful of research studies I could locate, were obviously ordered and paid for by LifeVantage and are without any credibility. The creation of Protadim is shrouded in a cloud of lies and misconception. The products are grossly over prized, and according to some reports may even be harmful to humans as well as to their dogs.
The business opportunity is a bad one, to say the least. Considering the contras of the products AND the dubious marketing tactics, some of them borderline fraudulent, make it sheer impossible to build a sustainable business, even for people experienced in MLM.
So taking the products and the business opportunity into consideration, I wouldn't recommend LiveVantage. If you are looking for a business that doesn't force monthly orders on you and you want to work with products and companies you believe in you may want to consider My #1 Free Work At Home Recommendation: Wealthy Affiliate.
Unlike LifeVantage you have nothing to lose because it's FREE and you can work with companies like Amazon, Google etc promoting real products and services that you believe in and have probably used.
In any event, I hope you enjoyed reading my LifeVantage review and would love to hear your opinion. Chime in on your way out and let us know what's on your mind in the comments below. It's always great to hear from you and reps of these companies.
Until next time,
Eddy with a y
Hello Mr. Eddy with a y. Nice to meet you, as I’m referring to this same/similar blog of information located with our Nasdaq reports. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, afterall this is America. it’s obvious now that I am a proud distributor with LFVN. I love this company, what it stands for and is achieving by helping countless others achieve financial freedom. Why if nothing more, the personal growth and development acquired while building this business is worth the time and effort devoted to building your personal brand as a distributor. One thing’s for sure, as a LFVN Distributor, and any other company leaders or elites, goes around bashing other companies, persons, or products! Our high standards of integrity is company wide and company deep, one of the many many qualities I value and love about being with LifeVantage! Lastly Mr. Eddy with a y; I personally have found every product in the product line of LifeVantage to be of superb quality and intention of performance! In addition I thank God for His guidance to such a fine company with like-minded people! The vibe I’m getting from you is that you tried LFVN, and perhaps didn’t allow yourself enough time to grow into your business? Personally, I work at keeping myself coach-able, realizing that being coach-able will allow myself to evolve into the Professional Leader that I need to become to be successful in any professional field of study. The reality of immediate great success in any MLM company is magnified in those that possess “gifts or talents” in the skills of salesmanship; unless they are fortunate enough to reap the rewards of timing or being in the right place at the right time. It’s awesome to see that you have found your place in the world of working for yourself! But are you sure you want to build your business climbing up the backs of other NWM companies? Where are the other comments? How will I know if you’ve posted my comment? and not edited it? keep me updated…
Dettrea,
I get it you’re a rep for this company. If you’re happy that’s great. You definitely sound like you’re drinking the kool aid. But let’s not pretend that MLMs are right for everyone. And it has nothing to do with being coachable. Inherently most MLM products are overpriced and hard to sell. If someone has the choice with buying something less expensive with a brand they know in a store they shop, that’s where they are going to go. Furthermore I don’t like any business model where I have to chase down people. With my business model, people come to me. They are actively seeking solutions and visit my site 24/7. That’s a better business in my opinion. But to each their own. I’m happy you found success with this but it definitely doesn’t mean its for everyone. And to imply that there is something wrong with people who don’t like this model isn’t fair. But that’s my opinion. I wish you continued success.