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Finding a Herbalife independent distributor is not difficult. There are lots of them across the globe. So, you have been approached to join a team is not uncommon. But it’s good you are enquiring if the Herbalife business oppurtunity is an excellent way to make money.
First, I must let you know that the Herbalife business oppurtunity is multi-Level Marketing. But sit tight, and I will show you how the it works. I will not stop at that, I will show you how to build your dream business by taking advantage of Herbalife and other multi-million dollar businesses across the globe.

Let us get started with the following bullet points.
- What is Herbalife all about
- How do you get sponsored by Herbalife
- How much does a Herbalife coach make
Table of Contents
What is Herbalife all about
Mark Hughes founded Herbalife in 1980. The company started with Mark as the sole distributor, but it has grown to an outfit with more than 1.9 million independent distributors. It has grown not only with the number of distributors but also in revenue. In 2020, Herbalife’s revenue grew to $5.54 billion and increased its presence across more than 94 countries.
The company started in 1980 with a meal substitute that would help reduce weight while supplying the body with other required nutrients in the right proportion and titled Formula 1. Formula 1 was a big success and helped them come out with other protein shakes, dietary supplements, energy boost drinks, and many personal skincare items. But worth noting that Formula 1 has remained the company’s cash cow. It is the primary source of not less than 30% of their annual sales.
Herbalife Independent Distributor – The Business Model
As an Herbalife independent distributor, your earnings will come from selling physical products and recruiting other herbalife independent distributors. Remember I told you it’s an MLM business from the onset. But it’s good I open up about how Herbalife independent distributors make money.
The process is a little complicated. Many folks just getting into the MLM business find it difficult to understand how it works.
But here is it.
The company has an established plan consisting of 11 stages as Herbalife independent distributors recruit others and buy products, moving up the ladder in the plan. The higher you grow within the plan, the higher your discount and commission earn on downline recruited.
The biggest challenge with Herbalife and other MLMs like Amway, Oriflame, Modere is not the signing up or registration. Instead, convince people to buy products and recruit them to your team. Unfortunately, uplines or sponsors do not educate their downlines on the best ways to approach the business. They do not tell them that more than 89 percent of new signups earn next to nothing in the first year, during not less than 90% throw in the towel within the same period. Instead, they paint a picture of achieving a flamboyant lifestyle with little effort.
Let us see how to sign up and get started with Herbalife. I will also show you how I have won the game with Multi-Level Marketing and digital marketing.
How to Sign up as an Herbalife Independent Distributor
To become a Herbalife independent distributor, you need the following steps.
- Start by searching the internet for a sponsor (A lot of Herbalife members on the internet will gladly sponsor you)
- Signup on to the Herbalife official website and click the apply online button.
- Input your email address and passwords to get started.
- Next, you will be requested to select if you want to join as a Preferred Member or Distributor. (I will explain the difference shortly)
- The Herbalife system will validate your information within some seconds.
- Next, you will be required to input basic information, which will include your Herbalife sponsor and personal details. Getting a sponsor is not tricky. You can research on Google to find top herbalife distributors or herbalife independent distributor near me. Else, to make it easy for you, contact Herbal-Nutrition or Goherbalife. They will be willing to sponsor you. All you need is their herbalife distributor number.
Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated to herbalife, herbalife-nutrition or Goherbalife. Neither do I earn any form of reward from the three companies for this review on herbalife independent distributor.
What is the Difference between Herbalife Member and Herbalife Independent distributor?
Herbalife gives every member a choice between registering as a preferred member and an independent distributor. While the preferred member purchases products strictly for personal consumption, the distributor buys the product for personal consumption and retail sale. The distributor also has full license and rights to participate in the Herbalife business model. That is, the distributor can also sponsor or recruit other distributors.
Let us see some of the benefits of registering as a preferred member:
- Opportunity to buy products that are taxed after removal of discount instead of buying at the retail price
- Access to Herbalife advantage program. With this, you can set an automatic order where you receive sets of products monthly.
- Do not need to attend meetings or training. As such, you do not commit to investing time in the business.
- You will have access to higher discounts related to the products you purchased.
- You will have exclusive access to new products announcement, unique recipes, fitness tips, and helpful meals via the bi-weekly newsletter (The Scoop).
Herbalife Compensation
After your application has been reviewed and accepted by Herbalife, you have become a Herbalife independent distributor. The next thing is getting started with the business and earning some bulks. But you must understand your compensation plan and some important terminologies you will always encounter.
One of such terminologies is “Volume“. Volume is the basis for your product purchase, and it is one of the critical points in Herbalife’s sales and marketing plan.
Every product on the Herbalife shelf has a volume point value attached. So you begin to accumulate volume when you start ordering products. And these volume points are used to determine your benefits and other rewards. Simply put, volume is calculated every month. It is based on the products you buy and their respective volume. You must understand two types of volume under the Herbalife business model.
- Personal Volume is the volume accumulated on orders purchased with your Herbalife identification number.
- Downline volume is a little different. For non Supervisors’ downline Volume is based on purchases made by their downline directly from Herbalife. They are on orders whose discounts range between 25% and 42%.
For your sales volume to be credited in a particular month, you must place the order and make full payment within that month. Else the order must meet the conditions for add-on sales volume to be accepted within that month.
These conditions are:
- You must make the order no later than the designated order day of the volume month.
- You must also make full payment by the same last day of the order day of the month. If it is sent via mail, you must ensure the mail is stamped on the last day, and if it is via wire transfer, your transfer date must be on the same date.
- Herbalife must receive your full payment before the 5th day of the following month.
Now that you know the various volumes let us see the various levels for herbalife independent distributors and their corresponding forms of Herbalife member benefits.
Herbalife Levels
I have explained the concept of volume points because Herbalife’s business model and growth use the volume points. Distributors generally earn volume points, and their performance is evaluated based on them. Having understood the Volume points well, let us see the different levels in the Herbalife business opportunity.
- Distributor: is the entry-level for a Herbalife independent distributor. The requirement is simple. You will need to buy the Herbalife starter kit, also known as the international business pack. You will get forms, manuals, and product samples from Herbalife. One of the advantages of this level is that you can buy products at a 25 percent discount from the retail price.
- Senior Consultant is the next level an herbalife independent distributor will attain after the distributor. You need to make at least 500 volume points per month to attain this level. Some advantages are that you will earn discounts and commissions related to wholesale supply and retail.
- Success Builder: is the next level. You will need an accumulation of 1,000 volume points. You will enjoy both retail and wholesale profits.
- Qualified Producer: You will need to accumulate 2500 volume points within three months.
- Supervisor: this is the dream of every new Herbalife independent distributor. You need 4,000 volume points to enjoy the benefits accrued to a supervisor.
- World Team: To move to this level, you must accumulate 10,000 volumes as personal Volume points or earn 500 loyalty points. As such, it is a product of high strategic recruitment.
- Global Expansion team (GET): to qualify for getting, you need a higher level of mentorship. To attain this level an herbalife independent distributor must earn 1,000 royalty points consecutively in 3 months. On qualifying, you will earn an additional 2% bonus on your entire team’s monthly turnover. At the same time, your volume should be up to 5,000.
Note:
You do not have to go up through all the levels. You can pass to any level by meeting the level’s volume points and royalty requirements. You are already among the top earners once you attain the World team level. It shows you are also contributing to the bottom line.
It will only work if you are using the products, selling them, and actively recruiting daily.
Herbalife Member Benefits
- Retail Profit
As a member of Herbalife, you can buy products at a discount which ranges between 25% and 50%. Your discount will also increase as you buy more products, gain more volume, and increase in level. The minor discount you earn is 25% while the highest is 50%.
So the difference between your purchase price (discounted price from the company) and your sales price to your clients is your retail profit.
2. WholeSale Profit
As you begin to recruit downlines, you can also earn a profit on goods bought by your downlines. Your wholesale profit is the difference between the discounted price paid by your downlines and the price you will pay for the same sets of products.
It can happen if you sell products directly to your downline or if they make a purchase from Herbalife. If you sell directly to your downline, you can earn as much as 25 percent. But if your downline buys directly from Herbalife, Herbalife will pay the difference in percent to the qualified producer who should be you.
You must constantly recruit people and buy products to position yourself for these earnings. You must have moved to at least one level above your downlines to qualify for this earning.
3. Royalties
Royalties are for folks who have achieved the level of a supervisor. That means you must have spent a minimum of $3,000 and gathered less than 4,000 volume points. Worth noting is that you must also have recruited downlines, and your downline must also have been in the business of recruiting to qualify for royalties.
4. Production Bonus
It is another bonus you earn when you move higher. You earn a production bonus when you move from the distributor level to the GET team. It is usually between 2 to 7 percent of the total volume of the organization. The beautiful thing about this earning is that you ern on all the levels under neat you.
5. Cash Bonus
Herbalife distributes $500 across the board on reaching the Active world team. It does not include other noncash bonuses you earn at this top level.
6. Vacations
Like Forever Living, Amway, and other reputable MLMs, Herbalife runs several promotions annually. Many uplines take advantage of these promotions to encourage their downlines to make bulk purchases.
At the end of the promotions, the uplines gain the rewards, while a lot of the downlines are left with nothing.
7. Mark Hughes Bonus
It is a bonus shared amongst members at the top of the pyramid. 1% of the entire company’s annual revenue is divided among the top flyers. It can amount to as much as a whooping sum of $2,000,000. But most worrisome is that the top flyers have been a consistent set of people who have continually enjoyed this mouth-watering sum.
Although the company keeps emphasizing that they are not necessarily the best but ordinary folks like you, these are folks who most likely joined the organization as far as the 80s. They employed business methods that have been banned and are no longer applicable.
What I like About Herbalife Business Opportunity
There are some points I sincerely like about the Herbalife business opportunity. And many of these points make it better than other MLM I have reviewed. Below are some of the high points I have for Herbalife.
- Suitable Products: The products are good, and you see this in their reviews. They have a lot of positive reviews and very few negative reviews. So you can rest assured that with the right strategy and mindset, you can make money with this company.
- It is Well Known and Promoted by Celebrities: the name Herbalife is popular because Celebrities promote it well. If you are familiar with Cristiano Ronaldo, you know he endorses Herbalife. As an herbalife independent distributor you can include this in your promotion strategy
Herbalife has constantly gotten its products out in the market using celebrity endorsement and various sponsorship forms. It tells you you can also leverage this established good name and brand to build your empire.
- Long-Standing History: without miss words, the company’s long-standing History shows that it is not a scam. So you can relax and work at building your business.
- No Monthly Sales Quota: This is one unique thing about Herbalife. Unlike some MLM, where you must sell specific units monthly, you need not worry about Herbalife. There is no monthly target or sales limit. It means you do not need to accumulate products you do not have a genuine intention of buying.
What I dislike About Herbalife
Let us see some things I observed and disliked while researching the Herbalife business opportunity.
- Law Suits: It is common for MLMs to suffer lawsuits. Herbalife has had its fair share of law suites. It points to the fact that they may have some misleading claims that people are not happy about.
However, the company is an ongoing concern and keeps restructuring itself. The restructuring always affects both their policies and marketing strategies.
- Products Have High Retail Prices: Although the products are of high quality, they are overpriced. It is a common phenomenon among most MLM. The only exception to this rule that I have seen is Oriflame.
Compared to other protein shakes, Herbalife products cost almost 300 times other related products. The implication is that you will find it challenging to sell the products. So the concentration is on recruitment and not product sales.
How much Money Can You Make Working for MLM Herbalife?
Having seen how the Herbalife Business opportunity works, how much money can you make working for MLM Herbalife. To answer this question, let us evaluate the performance of US Herbalife independent distributors in 2014

Form the 2014 statement of compensation from Herbalife, 10,299 herbalife independent distributor who are sales leaders with downline earned nothing (ZERO). It reflects almost 15 percent of the 71,870 sales leaders earn nothing.
Let us break it down to make it easier
- 10,299 of 71,870 (14.3 percent) earned nothing.
- 41,399 of 71870 (57.6 percent) earned between $1 and $1,000
- 12,483 of 71,870 (17.4 percent) earned between $1,001 and $5,000
- 2,209 of 71,870 (3.1 percent) earned between $10,001 and $25,000
- 205 of 71,870 (0.3 percent) earned between
It shows that less than 3% of Herbalife independent distributors make more than the federal minimum wage in the US ($15,000). It is not different from all other MLM. A tiny percentage earns something reasonable.
Worst is that less than 0.3 percent earn above $250,000. It reflects that more than 97 percent of the herbalife independent distributors work for 3 percent of distributors ranking on top. But is there a way out
The best method to sell Herbalife for Profit
I know you are interested in selling Herbalife. That is why you have followed this article to this point.
Many folks fail to sell Herbalife and other multi-level marketing products because they use the wrong approach. They approach it with the mindset that their first sets of clients are friends and family members. While some carry the products, and it tags everywhere they go, trying to recruit everybody into their team.
If that is what you are doing, stop it. It is not going to work. One of the most challenging things is to build a team of people who are not interested in the products you sell. Your upline will ask you to write down a list of friends and family as potential clients. It is a list of people who are not interested in what you sell, so it will not work.
With the internet, there is no need for you to close the door of that product on just your friends and family alone.
And wait, don’t rush to Facebook and make a noise of your products everywhere. Many folks are already trying to find prospects using that old method. It is not going to be profitable.
I remembered my first encounter with Forever Living Products. I dashed to Facebook with the hope of selling my products and building networks. I started with the ALoe ver gel, created a page, and wrote about the product. I was frustrated and left the product. It did not work.
Why?
It is not the best approach to selling on social media. Most people on Facebook are there to connect with friends and family and not buy products. You get them annoyed, and they laugh over your enthusiasm.
It is why you see more than 50% of people selling Herbalife via mouth to mouth or via Social media platforms fail. So to make a difference, you must learn how to use Internet marketing correctly. I encourage you to stop listening to what your upline is saying and build your business.
The best way to sell any product is to create value, help people solve problems, and serve them.
Here is it.
You are going to be asking what problems your products will solve. That is, research the benefits of your products first. For example, Herbalife will
- Help the body get the best forms of nutrition
- Help the body reduce some pounds of weight
So the next thing is to pick promotion ideas that focus on this (NICHE). So if you love talking about weight loss, you will concentrate on creating helpful content concerning weight loss. As you build such content, you will begin to attract people who want to shed some weight.
Think of it, who is a better prospect? Someone is looking out to shed weight loss, or your cousin is looking out to drink a bottle of coke. Now you will be creating content to help people solve their weight loss problems.
It is too much work
I can hear you say it’s too much hard work. Talking to people around town without focus is much work with no result. Convert that same energy to creating content and building a blog.
Wait
Do not yell it at me. I have not said you set yourself as an expert. Be honest and let people know you are learning and discovering something new. It is that simple.
All it takes is time to learn about the problems people are facing with weight loss. Go ahead and offer tips and possible solutions to help them solve it.
Avoid mentioning the product -Herbalife.
Avoid talking about its ingredient.
Forget about the compensation plan or other benefits
Instead, focus on ideas, tips, and solutions you will easily find in the health industry, especially with weight loss.
People will find your content online and will see that you are helping. They will not see you as someone trying to push a product to them. You will be building trust and authority same time.
Trust and authority take time and effort.
Once you start building trust and you are perceived as one who knows what he is doing, you can start sliding your products in front of them.
You are going to present your products as a solution to their problems. This way, you will not only be selling Herbalife products or promote the herbalife independent distributor, but also building a business of your own. If you are new or you have a challenge building your blog. I have created a FREE COURSE on how to build a profitable website. It will help you get started fast.
In conclusion, the Herbalife business opportunity is a good source of income. But you must approach it or any other multi-level marketing business with the right approach; otherwise, you will follow after the rat race.
If you build your blog and follow the process I have outlined above, you will do the following.
- Creating your Uniqueness: having your blog and creating your unique content will make you stand out. No Herbalife independent distributor will be able to compete with you.
While others are running after each other on social media and creating a list of family members to market, you will be creating unique marketing funnels.
2. Creating Your Online Estate: yes, my business is my estate. I see Facebook shutting down people’s pages and Youtube saying NO to many Youtuber. But creating your blog is a lot different. No one can shut down your website.
Your website can attract an audience from various search engines, social media platforms, and other multiple outlets.
3. Creating Multiple Stream of Income: With your niche website, you can sell other products. With a weight loss website, you can sell Herbalife products, Forever Living products, and even sell exercise pieces of equipment for home gyms.
You can quickly build an email list from your website traffic and now work as a full-time entrepreneur. Below are some other income streams you can add to your business as you build your website
- Sell Amazon products
- Sell other Affiliate offers aside from Amazon
- Run Google Ads or other ads on your blog
- Create a membership program like coaching
- Create your products
The list of the advantages behind building your website is endless. It may look complex, but you have to start it out today. I employ you to take advantage of my free course on Building a profitable website to start today.
I have heard about Herbalife for many years and a friend once tried to convince me to sign up under her. But the more I’ve learned about MLM, I don’t think it’s the right fit for me. Although the products are good, I just think that asking friends and family to purchase products (or trying to recruit them) can become an issue. And then trying to branch out from there seems a bit much. Although I’m sure being an Herbalife distributor works for some, I think there are better ways to make money in the end. Thanks for all this information!
Although I was never a member of Herbalife, I like their products and have used some of them such as the milkshake supplement/meal replacement for losing or gaining weight. It was my friend who signed up as a distributor and I was getting my supplies from her.
I never asked how much she was making but she said it was good enough for her daily allowances while we were in College. This was years ago but I continued to use Herbalife products for several years.
Now that I am looking to make extra bucks, I of thought of joining this MLM but I do not know how it works. Thank you for this detailed review of Herbalife; I now have a clear understanding of how people are making money.
Since I have used their products before, I know how to sell them to people. But if I want to make the most of my membership, I need to recruit people into joining, right? I have to convince people to sign up which is something I am not good at, lol.
But I really like your approach to making money selling Herbalife products and other health supplements. Thank you for introducing a better way of making money and at the same time building a business of your own.
You welcome, I am glad you discoveres yourself
Herbalife! I haven’t heard about Herbalife in such a long time. I used to use this product many years ago with great results. I have never thought about becoming an independent distributor, though. Herbalife is an excellent product that has been around forever. I think becoming an independent distributor might be an excellent idea.
Hello, I heard about the Herbalife opportunity 5 years ago, when I talked about it with a friend of mine. She was A Distributor but she was struggling to make money from it. When I told her that she needed to get more training, she told me that it wasn’t the case and that she had to sell the stock that she had in her home. However she told me that the products were good.
Excellent post. I used to be a member of Herbalife, but it didn’t work, because I tried to sell the products to my friends and relatives. There are well-known MLM companies, but coming to WA and opening my own website. I’m starting slowly. Thanks for the explanations. All big companies make money like pyramids, and you explained this very well. But if you approach this work independently, you will be successful, maybe not immediately, but later yes.
WOW! You have presented a ton of information, which is great that you have laid it all out there.
I used Herbalife Formula 1 many years back, and I will agree that it is a great product and it does what it says it will do. However, I also agree with you that it is an expensive product and one I could not keep with long enough to really reach my goals, due to other obligations, and therefore quit using it. That is another problem with MLM is that when you market to family and friends, and you are limited, and they don’t continue consistently ordering, it makes it hard to remain as an independent distributor of many MLM products.
It’s great that you offered other solutions for those who are looking to become distributors without alienating their family and friends to be successful at it.
Excellent article; thank you for sharing “Herbalife Independent distributor: Best Way to make money with Herbalife”. The MLM industry is perfect for some and not for many. I think it’s a great way to make money, and there are plenty of opportunities like this one, but most people don’t know how to do it and give up. Thank you for sharing this post.
Have a great day
Regards
Vlad
Herbalife hasn’t been mentioned to me in a very long time. Years ago, I know someone who used to use this stuff successfully. However, I have never considered of becoming an independent distributor. It could be great and thank you for this article so I know more about it. It does look quite complex but I guess you just have to start somewhere.
Sur e you have to start some where, but I prefer my affiliate business to MLMs
You have in-depth knowledge of the organization; tools that will ensure your success and longevity as an Independent distributor.
I have friends who have been doing pretty well for themselves for many many years, but for some reason, I never felt the desire to wanting to be a distributor. The few products I have tried are really good, especially the tea and the shake…As yo mentioned, I find the prices to be highly overpriced and there are other competitors offering better deals.
It is also commendable that you are honest and open about the earning structure of the organization. I however find the lengthy information somewhat very daunting.
It felt like information overload. Don’t assume that because someone read your article to a particular point they are interested in selling the product.
Overall, a good informative, and detailed article and I wish you much success in your business.
Thank you Mazie
Herbalife sounds like an interesting MLM. However because I have little to no experience with these programs I would need to research and try some of their products. Would you have any suggestions for a starting point or an initial product to try? I love to workout and thought maybe some sort of post workout drink would be appropriate. You present a ton of information on Herbalife and its much appreciated. Thanks. Dave
You welcome Dave