Is Young Living A Pyramid Scheme? | A Nuanced View On The Business

You’re probably reading this to get to the bottom of the Young Living pyramid scheme allegations.

You were likely approached by a Young Living distributor who introduced you to an exciting home business opportunity.

You were promised the moon.

Easy riches.

Freedom.

A dream lifestyle.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. But it’s important to see the nuance, so I’ll cut right to the chase.

Is Young Living a pyramid scheme?

Are the Young Living scam rumours true?

Is it a bad company?

No, no, and no.

But the truth is a bit more complex than that. The truth is, building a Young Living business is not easy.

In fact, it can be very difficult. 

But it’s often represented as an easy way to quit your job and retire in a very short period of time.

Most other Young Living reviews are written for one of two reasons:

• They tell you that Young Living is a scam, but they have a much better opportunity that you should sign up for
• They tell you that the Young Living business is the dream that you’ve been longing for, and you should sign up under their name

I will do neither.

I have no affiliation with this company. But I want to accurately represent this business so that you can move forward and make the decision that’s best for YOU.

Before we get into the details of how the Young Living business works, let’s look at how it all started.

Young Living | The History

Young Living was founded in 1993 in Riverton, Utah by Gary Young.

Gary Young became infatuated with alternative medicines after suffering a back injury in the 1970s. This is where the inspiration for Young Living came from.

Young also ran a research facility in Springville, Utah. The facility was closed after settling a lawsuit in 2005. He then relocated his facility to Ecuador to continue practising medicine.

Young Living’s COO David Stirling was concerned about the questionable medical practices of Gary Young. 

In 2008, Stirling was fired from the firm.

Stirling went on to start the rival company, doTerra.

Young Living filed a lawsuit against doTerra, alleging theft of trade secrets. They lost the suit in 2017 and were ordered to pay doTerra’s legal fees, to the tune of $1.8 million.

Young Living headquarters was moved to Lehi, Utah in 2014 in order to expand operations.

In 2015, Gary Young stepped down as CEO of Young Living and was replaced by his wife, Mary Young.

Gary passed away in 2018.

To this day, Young Living is still privately owned by Mary Young who is continuing her role as CEO.

Young Living Products

You can find many Young Living reviews that talk in detail about the products.

But you came here for information about the business opportunity, so that’s going to be our primary focus.

If you decide that the Young Living business is for you however, you will be selling these products. So let’s briefly go over what you’ll be selling.

Young Living sells primarily essential oils. 

Their flagship products are essential Tea Tree Oils derived from the Melaleuca plant, known for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. 

The video below shares more about the most well known Young Living Products.

Note: I am not affiliated with the Young Living business, so views and opinions in the video do not reflect my own.

In addition to essential oils, Young Living also sells various vitamin supplements. They have many different types of supplements designed to address the following:

• Daily longevity
• Digestive wellness
• Targeted vitamins
• General nutrition
• Masculine health
• Feminine health

They also sell various personal care products such as skin, hair, dental care, and makeup. 

In total, the Young Living product line consists of hundreds of products under several exclusive YL brands including:

• NingXia
• Thieves Home
• Nature’s Ultra
• Bloom
• ART
• Einkorn
• KidScents & Seedlings
• Savvy Minerals
• Slique

Let’s briefly cover a few common questions that people have about the Young Living products.

Are Young Living Oils Legit?

Here’s a video describing how to use essential oils:

The science behind the use of essential oils is mixed and not very well established.

While there appear to be quite a few benefits, many major claims remain largely unsubstantiated.

As outlined in this HealthLine article, the use of essential oils is safe, but more scientific studies need to be done in order to verify substantial health benefits.

Is Young Living FDA Approved?

Technically no. 

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) does not classify health and wellness supplements and essential oils under the “drug” category. 

Therefore, the FDA does not technically regulate these products.

However, Young Living has been under scrutiny from the FDA for exaggerated claims in their marketing. 

Some of the messaging that Young Living was using in their marketing was congruent with drug advertising. 

They claimed that their products could potentially cure illnesses and diseases such as the Ebola Virus.

In the end, Young Living agreed to address the marketing violations cited by the FDA.

Young Living Products Reviews

Reviews for the Young Products are quite positive for the most part.

But, as you can see on SiteJabber.com, there are many Young Living complaints and negative reviews to be found.

These negative reviews appear to be mostly related to poor communication and inadequate customer service.

They appear to have a very difficult ordering system to navigate, and problems often don’t get resolved quickly or efficiently.

Is Young Living Really Worth It?

Considering the amount of negative reviews in terms of the customer service, I would probably stay away.

There are many alternative companies that sell similar products, of extremely high quality, and have excellent customer service.

In general though, people seem to have very positive experiences with the Young Living products.

This is probably due to the amount of research and development that goes into the products, which is also why Young Living is so expensive.

Here’s my personal opinion:

If I am paying premium prices for a product, then I also expect premium customer service in addition to the quality product.

Where Is Young Living Manufactured?

Young Living has farms located all over the world where they grow the plants needed for their products.

These locations include:

• North America
• South America
• Africa
• China
• Europe
• Australia

Are Young Living Products Really Safe?

In 2020, Business Insider reported at least 11 claims that:

Young Living customers experienced serious adverse reactions from the products.

After the FDA finished their investigation, they concluded that one case might have been caused by a possible product failure.

The others were determined to be caused by incorrect usage or allergic reactions.

Look…

If you hand out Tylenol or Advil or 100,000 people, a small percentage of these people will experience adverse reactions.

So I wouldn’t put too much stock in these claims.

Statistically speaking, the Young Living products appear to be very safe.

Why Young Living Supplements?

Young Living products appear to be of decent quality. I would not be concerned about taking them in the least.

They claim to be nature based and their plant based ingredients come from their own farms all over the world.

But in my personal opinion, there are better alternatives out there.

Young Living Lawsuit

In 2000, there was an explosion of a distiller at Young Living Farms in Mona, Utah, fatally wounding an employee. The OUSHD (Utah Occupational Safety and Health Division) fined Young Living over $10,000 for 7 safety violations.

Young Living was fined over $750,000 in 2014 by the United States authorities for illegally trafficking rosewood oil and spikenard oil. In addition to the fines, the company was put on probation for 5 years.

In 2019, a class action lawsuit was filed under the allegations that Young Living was an illegal pyramid scheme. The lawsuit was dropped in 2021 because the company did not meet the criteria to be considered a pyramid scheme.

The Young Living controversy is not unique to this company when it comes to pyramid scheme allegations.

Other similar companies such as Herbalife and Amway have been mired in these types of allegations year after year.

Young living uses a business model known as network marketing, also referred to as direct sales, multi level marketing or MLM.

Because of the nature of the Young Living business model and the widespread misunderstanding of network marketing, companies like these have a target on their back.

These types of Young Living scam or pyramid scheme allegations are inevitable and will certainly continue to happen.

We will talk about the difference between network marketing and pyramid schemes shortly.

Young Living | Better Business Bureau

Young Living is listed on the Better Business Bureau, but it is not BBB accredited.

There are well over 100 complaints registered on the BBB website.

The vast majority of the Young Living negative reviews on the BBB website are related to their customer service, which is consistent with all of the other review sites.

OK, let’s move on to the good stuff!

Is Young Living a legitimate company?

How Does Young Living Work?

Is Young Living an MLM company? 

As we briefly discussed already…

Yes it is.

So how does the Young Living business work?

A network marketing or MLM company like this one does not distribute their products through retail store locations.

The only way you can buy these products is through independent distributors.

This is a very efficient way of doing business.

Rather than spending millions on advertising campaigns and retail fees, Young Living passes the profits down to their customers or distributors.

The marketing and distribution of these products is done by independent distributors. This is sometimes referred to as buzz marketing, or word of mouth marketing.

So if you were to sign up for the Young Living business opportunity, you would get paid a commission every time a customer buys a product.

If a customer buys a product through you one time, their account is permanently linked to yours.

If they sign into their Young Living account in the future to buy more products, you would get paid a commission every time.

But the Young Living business side allows you to earn income in more than one way.

In addition to getting commissions from product sales…

You can also build your own sales team underneath you.

This is known as recruiting.

So if you recruit a business builder underneath you, you would get a commission every time your recruit makes a sale.

In addition to your own sales.

But let’s say that your recruit decides to build their own team.

You would earn commissions from that person’s sales too. 

If you build your organisation correctly and effectively, you could eventually be at a point where your organisation keeps growing without you putting in any additional effort.

If done the right way, this business model can provide a ton of leverage.

Imagine your income growing month after month without you putting in any effort at all.

If you are still unsure about what network marketing is and how it could be beneficial, you can read this article where we did a deep dive into MLM.

Young Living Business Presentation

I was not able to find the official business presentation for Young Living. 

Apparently, independent distributors host their own online events in webinar form to explain the business to their potential recruits.

So while Young Living doesn’t have an official presentation video, they do have this “income disclaimer” video on their YouTube channel.

You can watch it below.

There is a lot of income potential in the Young Living multi level marketing business.

But…

It is not easy.

And no matter what, it’s gonna take a serious commitment, hard work, and time.

So let’s talk about the Young Living business structure and how you would actually get paid.

Young Living Compensation Plan

So exactly what is the compensation plan for Young Living and how does it work?

The pay structure that this business uses is based on the Unilevel pay plan. The MLM deep dive article we mentioned earlier describes exactly how the Unilevel plan works.

But let’s do a brief explanation here…

When you recruit a new distributor into your business, they will be added into your organisation, also known as your downline.

You can recruit as many people as you want directly underneath you in your downline.

This means that you can build your organisation as “wide” as you want.

In the picture below for example, your downline is 4 wide.

You would earn a 25% commission on every single sale that you make.

If your downline directly underneath you starts to make sales of their own, you would earn 8% commissions on all the sales made by members in Level 1 of your organisation.

When your downline starts to build their own teams, those new members would be in Level 2 of your organisation, and you would earn 5% commissions on their sales.

Sales coming from Levels 3, 4, and 5 will earn you 4% commissions.

There are several ranks that you need to achieve in order to be eligible to earn commissions from members deeper in your organisation.

As a brand new distributor, you will initially be eligible to earn commissions from your personal sales only (25%).

Until you achieve a sales volume of 500PV. 

The dollar amount for 500PV will vary depending on where you are located in the world and what currency you are using.

The next rank above Distributor is Star.

As a Star Member, you will now be eligible to earn commissions from your Level 1, 2, and 3 sales.

8%, 5%, and 4% respectively.

The next rank is Senior Star.

As a Senior Star, you will be eligible to earn commissions from Levels 1 through 4. You will need to achieve 2000PV in order to qualify for this rank.

After that comes Executive, which is the highest rank you can achieve. 

All of the rank advancements are based on the volume of sales that your entire team makes, whether it all comes from you personally or someone else.

Except Executive.

In order to qualify for the Executive rank, you will need to achieve 4000PV in addition to having at least 2 legs of your organisation achieving 1000PV each.

This system incentivises you to train your team so that everyone will be working to make sales and grow their own organisation.

Ultimately, that benefits everyone in the organisation, including you.

Is Young Living A Pyramid Scheme?

The network marketing industry has received a ton of bad press over the last few decades.

From attacks by Wall Street on Herbalife, to actual illegal pyramid schemes disguised as legitimate network marketing companies.

All this has caused the general public to become very sceptical of these home based businesses because of a few bad actors.

So what makes Young Living not a pyramid scheme?

To understand that, you need to know the difference between an illegal pyramid and network marketing.

In an illegal pyramid scheme, you would be paying for a spot in a pyramid shaped organisation.

That’s it.

You wouldn’t receive any goods or services for your money.

The people near the top of the pyramid would receive a part of your entrance fee while the people at the bottom keep joining in the hopes of getting rich.

There are a few problems with this.

• It’s illegal
• It’s not sustainable

In a network marketing company like Young Living, you will get products in exchange for any money that you pay.

An illegal Ponzi or pyramid scheme doesn’t provide any valuable products. When people inevitably realise they’ve been scammed, they stop paying into the organisation.

And it collapses.

But a network marketing company is not that different from any other type of traditional business.

It’s just a value for value exchange.

Goods and services (value) are rendered in exchange for money (value).

The only difference is the way in which the products are marketed and distributed into the real economy.

Ultimately, it’s done by the customers.

Which gives the regular Joe or Jane an opportunity to build their own business by selling products that they already love and use.

There are many people who buy Young Living products regularly regardless of the potential business opportunity that is attached.

This is important to realise because it means that the vast majority of product sales comes from customers, NOT distributors.

It’s an important distinction for regulators. It means that the business can in no way be classified as a pyramid scheme.

Another Reason For YL Scam Rumors

Another reason for the Young Living scam allegations is just a result of the behavior of some distributors.

Many network marketing organisations have a “cult-like” attitude in them.

They make exaggerated claims about their products or how quickly you can earn a lot of money.

This is a problem for many people who hear about the business.

When somebody approaches you with a product or opportunity and they claim that it will fix every single aspect of your life, you will be sceptical.

And for good reason.

If it’s too good to be true, it usually is.

So why do these distributors behave this way?

You see…

It’s quite easy to get started with a network marketing business. The barrier to entry is very low, meaning that any regular Joe or Jane like me and you can do this.

And that’s great!

But it comes with a downside.

It means that the majority of people who are building these businesses are not trained professionals.

They are enthusiastic, overzealous, working class people who are extremely excited about their business opportunity.

And it causes them to push their business in an unprofessional way.

Which is where a lot of the Young Living scam rumors are born.

So is Young Living like a cult?

It can sure feel that way at times…

But it’s not really.

If you decide to move forward with this (and I’m not saying that you should), be sure to get good mentors and training.

This is a real business, and it needs to be built with professionalism.

How Much Money Can You Make With Young Living MLM?

Here’s the truth…

There are some people in this business making ridiculous amounts of money.

Like millions of dollars every year.

So while that is certainly possible, that is not the story for the vast majority of people.

The problem is, a brand new Young Living distributor often comes into the business with unrealistic expectations.

They feel as though they will recruit a few business builders right away…

And those builders will immediately go and recruit builders…

And they’ll be off to the races.

Bob’s your uncle.

Or something like that.

But building a network marketing business is actually extremely difficult.

You will need a very thick skin. Most people will be very sceptical and your offers will sometimes be met with ridicule.

This causes the vast majority of people to quit selling Young Living long before they have even a hint of success.

They quit out of pure frustration and disappointment.

But if you start your business with the right expectations and realise that it will take time, dedication, and really hard work, you could become a top earner.

If you want a deep, comprehensive guide on how to sell Young Living effectively, feel free to check out this guide.

How To Sell Young Living Effectively

Building a Young Living network marketing business is about more than peddling products to your family and friends.

See, the top earners in this business are people who have built huge organisations underneath them.

Meaning that there are hundreds or thousands of people in an organisation, all working in their own best interests.

And if you are one of those people with a large organisation underneath you, it means that every person in your organisation is generating income for you.

That’s really the key to long term success in network marketing.

It’s called duplication.

That needs to be your main focus.

You have to focus on building your business in such a way that the average person can duplicate.

So if you go out and learn how to do high pressure sales tactics…

You might make a lot of sales and recruit lots of builders.

But you will not create duplication in your organisation.

And in network marketing, this means you are leaving money on the table.

So here are a few tips on how to make money with Young Living effectively and create duplication.

Use The Tools Provided

Young Living will provide you with marketing tools to assist you in selling products and recruiting.

When somebody asks you a question about your business, you should always defer to the tools at your disposal.

Even if you already know the answer.

Look…

When you recruit somebody into your business, they will be watching you like a hawk.

They will be looking to you for leadership, and they will attempt to mimic what you’re doing in your business.

And when they can see that you defer to the tools, they will understand that they do not need to be an expert to succeed in this business.

Focus On Teaching

Network marketing is not really about selling and recruiting.

I mean that’s part of it.

Obviously.

But for long term success, it’s really more about teaching.

You want to keep your process as simple and dummy proof as possible, for 2 reasons.

• It’s easy to duplicate
• It’s easy to teach

When your organisation starts to grow, you must make sure that you’re there for your team members so that they can flourish in the business.

Which will lead to your flourishing as well.

Stick To The System

As we’ve discussed, you should stick to the system.

Don’t deviate.

If you do, your teammates will notice and deviate as well.

Which will have a trickle down effect in your organisation, and hurt what…?

That’s right.

Duplication.

Building A Young Living Business Online

The Young Living business plan does not actually have a good training system that is designed for the internet.

They focus more on traditional MLM processes.

I’m sure you know the drill…

• Make a list of 100 or more people
• Ask them if they’re open to a side income opportunity
• Host a home meeting

Listen…

These are fine ways to build a home business.

And you should follow the system that they teach.

Because remember the whole duplication thing?

But eventually, you will run out of people to talk to. 

And since we live in a digital world, you can use the internet to your advantage in this type of business.

How To Make Money In Young Living Online

Internet marketing can be a very powerful way to build your business. 

You can and should take advantage of it.

But remember to keep it simple.

You must have systems in place so that the people you recruit online will be able to easily follow along and duplicate your success.

We are not going to go super deep on how to do internet marketing here.

That’s a big subject and requires its own article.

But here are the 3 basic steps to an online business.

1. Build a Platform

The key to success online in Young Living or any other business is creating content for your target audience.

You need to figure out…

What type of person is interested in what you have to offer?

And then you need to create content for those people.

The object of your content creation is to become an authority figure, an expert in whatever topic you are discussing in your content.

You can use tools like:

• Facebook, Twitter etc
• YouTube
• Blogs
• Reddit, Quora etc

Whatever platform you decide to use, go all in.

Don’t try to master more than one tool at a time because you will become overwhelmed and burnt out.

2. Build a List

After you’ve started to build an audience, you need to capture them somehow.

The best way to do this on the internet is to build an email list.

But how do you convince people to join your email list?

Well, you have to entice them somehow.

Offer them a free gift, such as:

• A free video covering a topic that they want to learn
• An audio mp3 
• PDF report or eBook

It should be a very enticing offer that convinces them to give you their email address and receive emails from you in the future.

3. Provide Value To Your List

Once you have these people on your list, you should be providing as much valuable information to them as you can.

We all receive too many emails every day…

And if we get emails that don’t add value to our lives, we will either not open them or unsubscribe completely.

The people on your list should be looking forward to your emails, ready to open them and read every word that you write.

But at the end of the day, you’re still running a business.

You gotta make that cheddar, right?

So every now and then, you can sprinkle in an offer.

I would recommend to keep sales pitches to a minimum, but you have to have some in there.

80% value, 20% sales pitches is a pretty reasonable ratio that many online marketers use effectively.

Young Living Business Pros And Cons

I need to explicitly reveal my bias.

In case you haven’t noticed, I am a fan of the network marketing business model. I believe it’s as perfectly fair as fair can get. The incentives align perfectly.

BUT…

It’s not all good.

And we’ve talked about some of that already.

So what is wrong with Young Living? What are the negatives?

The Bad Of YL

Not everything about the Young Living business is good. While I like the business model as a whole, there are some elements of the business that I do not like.

• Bad reputation
• Cult-like attitude
• They lack online training
• Difficult to build successfully
• Can strain personal relationships

To be fair, these apply to almost every network marketing company out there.

The Good Of YL

There’s plenty of good things to be said for the Young Living MLM.

Such as:

• Low barrier to entry
• Can be done online
• Can be done part time
• No income cap
• Great tax advantages
• Travel opportunities
• Will produce personal growth and leadership skills

Young Living Success Stories

The Young Living business has certainly achieved a lot during its operation.

The video below outlines a few of those.

Reminder: I am not affiliated with YL and don’t endorse their views.

But man, these guys are quite good at creating good marketing videos!

Young Living Business FAQ

I think we’ve covered most of the questions that people ask about this company. 

Here are a few more that I received.

If your question hasn’t been answered after reading this, feel free to leave it in the comments section below and I’ll be sure to address it!

Young Living Review | Summarized

Many other Young Living business reviews were written to convince you to join the writer’s own business.

Whether that’s the Young Living MLM or some competitor.

They don’t even try to hide it.

So my hope is that after reading this article, you didn’t feel pushed or compelled by me to make any decision.

I just want you to have the facts so that you can move forward with conviction.

So that you can make the best decision for you and your family.

Here’s the question I tried to answer…

Is selling Young Living worth it?

In my own personal opinion, I think this is good company.

The products are OK, though their customer service could use some work.

The question you need to ask yourself is this:

Do you have a passion for health and wellness and/or essential oils?

If you answer “no” to that question, then this may not be the right opportunity for you.

The very first network marketing business I ever joined was actually a health and wellness MLM. 

I did OK at first…

But not great.

I only made a grand total of about 500 bucks.

The reason that I was not successful is because I simply didn’t have a passion for health and wellness.

I should say, the products were great. In fact, I still use them to this day, over 10 years later.

But I didn’t have enough passion to build a business and orient my whole life around health and wellness supplements.

But maybe you do have that passion!

If so, then I encourage you to reach out to the person who introduced you to the Young Living business and get started.

If not, then you should probably start brainstorming exactly what it is that makes you tick.

What are you passionate about?

Whatever that is, that’s probably what you should focus on.

Like Gary Vaynerchuk said:

Stop doing shit you hate!