Can you build a business promoting SeneGence International beauty products and the opportunity? Or, is SeneGence just another MLM selling a dream and taking your money?
Product: MLM Business Opportunity
Website: senegence.com
Opinion: Not Recommended.
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A SeneGence International Review.
This review focuses on the SeneGence business opportunity and whether it is a genuine chance to build a profitable business.
Known for their most popular product LipSence, SeneGence is a multi-level marketing company in the cosmetic niche. Their trademark products are said to be more durable than most cosmetics. However, there are complaints online that some of the products irritate the skin.
While the company might not ring a bell initially, you may have seen them on social media.
Remember those women online using their finger to wipe their lips after applying lipstick? They were SeneGence distributors.
Meet Joni Rodgers-Kante.
Many people are unaware that the company was founded in 1998 by Joni Rodgers-Kante. As a former successful Mary-Kay consultant, she understood the ropes of MLM, which is why she was inspired to create SeneGence.
Read Why Affiliate Marketing is Better Than MLM
Due to Rodgers-Kante’s crystal clear vision as well as the increasing popularity of social media, the current LipSense-mania trend continues to reach new heights. Based in California, the company proudly employs 80 full-time workers in more than 12 countries worldwide.
$55 Gets You A Lot of Paperwork.
If you want to be a SeneGence distributor, you must first pay a $55 signup fee. In exchange for your $55 you’ll receive marketing and training materials, but no products.
Essentially, you are paying SeneGence International for the privilege of selling their products.
That’s insane. There are thousands of companies that will PAY YOU to sell their products.
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Product Kits.
The best way to obtain some products is to purchase one of the kits. The Lip Kit is $95 and includes select lip product whereas the Glamour Demo Kit is $295 and includes a sampling of the best-selling products.
The company’s flagship lipstick is not the only long-lasting product they offer. The company has formulated all of their cosmetics to last longer than other makeup products on the market. Such long-lasting products include ones for the body, face, eyes, and lips.
While the company’s makeup is most known for their long-lasting qualities, many people enjoy these products because they are semi-permanent and water-resistant.
Expensive Products.
Given the many impressive qualities of these products, it’s not surprising that the cosmetics are expensive.
If you are going for the Kylie Jenner look, which is also known as the infamous bloated lip trend, you are going to have to invest a lot of money upfront as a distributor.
Product Discount.
One of the only advantages to joining this company is that you are eligible for a pretty hefty discount on the products. The discount is so incredible that it’s the only reason why some people join.
Depending on the amount of product that you sell, the discounts can range between 20 percent to 50 percent.
Along with obtaining a generous discount, some people also choose to join the company because of the high commission rates. For example, if you sell at least 750 PV per a month, you receive a 50 percent discount, which ultimately equates to a 50 percent retail profit on your sales.
Pay to Play?
The company’s compensation plan isn’t all good though.
Whether you intend to consume/resell the products or not, the company’s compensation plan states that its affiliates must purchase product to earn commissions.
After learning this information, I would be extremely wary about joining this company as per the FTC, this “pay to play” business model is strongly indicative of a product-based pyramid scheme.
Recruit Five.
In addition to purchasing product, at the core of the SeneGence business model is a requirement that affiliates must recruit five others who do the same. Based on this fact, the company may fit the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) definition of a pyramid scheme. The SeneGence business opportunity is essentially flawed.
Even if the company offered a refund policy, I would not recommend this business opportunity.
But if you are still into trying the SeneGence products after reading this detailed review, it may be worth joining the company for the discounts.
Very Few People Succeed with MLM.
As a business opportunity though, remember that very few people succeed with multi-level marketing.
Unless you are already a pretty well-known beauty blogger or a YouTuber with thousands of loyal followers, hitting it big with a company like SeneGence is virtually impossible.
Not Recommended.
To be completely clear, I do not recommend this business opportunity. However, if you find value in the products it might be worth joining for the discount.
Another Angle on SeneGence International.
Regardless of the product, Multi-level Marketing is more about capturing a market with the promise of making money rather than providing a realistic business opportunity. SeneGence is a classic example of how this angle works.
Cosmetics and looking beautiful are infinitely popular with women. Purchasing cosmetics can get expensive in a hurry and SeneGence products are thought to be costlier than most.
How can a woman justify spending so much money on non-essentials? She tells herself it’s a business opportunity.
Perhaps all the SeneGence business opportunity is meant to do is provide logical justification for an emotional decision.
Nothing wrong with that, except if you expect to make money you will probably be disappointed.
The Distributor is the Customer.
Because most people who join an MLM for the business opportunity never break even, they end up being captured customers forced to pay for over-priced products. I suspect this is true with SeneGence too.
SeneGence Complaints.
By far, the greatest number of complaints I found online about SeneGence related to stocking issues. Apparently, in the past some distributors sold products that were not available at the time.
Other complaints have to do with how the business opportunity is structured such as the following complaints I found on SiteJabber.
“My upline recommended I put all my stock purchases on a credit card… Yes, they actually recommend you go into debt to buy their product. …You have to purchase stock or get a SeneGence approved website, which costs $300…. This company is crap. …start your own business. You’ll make more money.” (Diana S. SiteJabber)
“I felt scammed getting into this business. …Do it if you just want the discount, otherwise don’t waste your money. Every time I see someone new sign up I cringe… Wish I’d never started with Senegence…” (J.D. SiteJabber)
The Last Word on SeneGence International.
If you love the SeneGence products that’s one thing. If you join thinking you’ll have a profitable business, that’s something else.
The problem with MLMs is the best you can hope for is to build a business inside their company. Ultimately, the company controls everything about your business.
You aren’t in business for yourself. You’re an unpaid employee.
MLM is a highly inefficient business model. It’s lousy for the people at the bottom and pure profit for the few people at the top. You can learn more about MLM in my article The Heartbreak of MLM.
A Better Option.
There is a market for cosmetics and I believe there is a growing need for women to help women look their best.
However, MLM is the least efficient way to meet that need.
Injecting multiple levels into your business makes it unnecessarily complicated and expensive.
The MLM business model is outdated by several decades. It started in the 1940s when most homes didn’t even have a TV.
The internet has changed everything.
Now everyone has direct access to the global marketplace. With a few marketing skills you can have your own global business. You can sell anything you wish directly to your customers. And, you don’t have to share your commission with multiple layers of upline.
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A Business You Control.
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With the proper training and support, you can start and maintain an affiliate marketing business on a shoestring.
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Related Articles:
Why Affiliate Marketing is Better than MLM
How to Evaluate an MLM Company
Is MLM a Scam?
If you found this article helpful or have experience with SeneGence International, please leave a comment below.
Thanks for doing such an in depth review. Senegence is an interesting company, the costly pay to play and a no refund policy ought to keep anyone who dose their due diligence away from this. Love your recommendations as well, affiliate marketing is the way to go nowadays. I hallucinate that Sengence offers support to their “distributors” but do you know how much? Do they offer any training or courses?
Hi, Mepen!
SeneGence International does offer training, but what they call training I call emotional love fests. It appears to me that the training is less about succeeding with their business model and more about keeping distributors excited and emotionally hooked to the company so they continue to order product.
MLM is an outdated and inefficient business model. Affiliate marketing will soon be a $7 Billion industry and is continuing to explode. The online opportunity is huge and growing. As an affiliate marketer, anyone can make as much money as they want from the comfort of their home. Why would they settle for something as archaic and costly as MLM?
Thanks for stopping by,
Gary
I totally agree with your review. There are plenty of MLM like SeneGence. You have to pay some fees to join and after that forcely persuade people that this product is ultimate and the best. But the products often are overpriced and sometimes do not meet even the supposed quality of the product or the same consist products cost less.
I noticed that in some markets even MLM are totally full. Everyone heard, everyone tried and everyone does not want to try it anymore. It happened with Amway products in some small countries.
Have you heard or can say something about Amway or GNLD (Neolife) MLM?
Thanks for another informative article about MLM business.
Regards
Tomas
Hi, Tomas!
Indeed there are plenty of MLMs like SeneGence and you’re right, often the quality of the products are not up to par. Most MLMs contract out the manufacture of their products. The quality usually isn’t anything more than you can get in the store.
I think women have been conditioned to pay a lot for cosmetics, so I’m not sure price and quality are relative in the makeup niche.
I once paid $10 for a can of shaving cream from an MLM rep. It did not perform any better than my $2 can of Barbarsol I got at WalMart. The only difference I could see was the $10 can made money for several layers of the rep’s upline. That’s called an inefficient market.
In my opinion, MLM is not about the products other than as a hook to capture recruits. MLM is all about recruiting. The sales pitch about their magical products is just to entice people to join and to give the illusion that the MLM has a special advantage in the market. They don’t. MLMs are a marketing abomination.
In the real world, everything about commerce rewards efficiency. The more efficiently a company can deliver a product that people want or need, the more profit that company will earn. MLM is completely the opposite of all the laws of commerce.
MLM delivers an over-priced product to people who don’t need and don’t want it. Without constant heavy recruitment, an MLM collapses. Who wants to spend their time, energy and treasure on a house of cards that needs to be propped up every second? It’s insane.
Thanks for suggesting GNLD and Amway. I’ll publish something on them in the coming weeks.
And thanks too for stopping by,
Gary
I have had experience with MLM. Some good some bad. The one thing in common is that they seam to fall apart relatively quickly. (Amway and a few others excepted). I think the promise of quick money is the culprit. Any business requires time and effort. We all know that for every successful marketer there has to be a lot of people that lose big time. The thing that keeps me away is knowing that most of my down line would fail, I would not be able to sleep very well at night. Thank you for your scam review and for introducing affiliate marketing.
Hi, Robb!
You make a very good point. How can we in good conscious build a down-line when we know 95% of the people we recruit will lose money?
And, I agree, any business will require work and commitment, but MLM has such a dismal record that it would be easy to become disillusioned.
Thanks for stopping by,
Gary
This may have been one of the most eye opening reviews I’ve read when breaking down a company. Because the beauty industry is a huge market with expectations of growing even larger there are air of ways one can be duped into believing this is profitable.
It was important to read the way you explained how spending money to belong is described by the FTC as a product based pyramid system with no payout for the down lines. I wonder about the success stories behind these companies and are there any hired actors.
I’ve come across companies that pay for success stories and is their one of those. It seems like this would just be a better product as retail only with an affiliate program attached for those interested. Which is the way to go if you’re looking to sell product anyhow.
Thanks for sharing
Shannon
Hi, Shannon!
MLM has never been a good opportunity for anyone other than the few people at the top of the organization. That’s usually the founder and her friends. There’s a reason companies like SeneGence International promote their products with MLM. It forces the expenses of running the business onto the lower levels while at the same time funneling the profits to the top.
For most people, MLM is insane. It requires you to pay for the privilege of helping the company make money, you must share your commissions, and usually you have to alienate everyone who loves you. Affiliate marketing is a much better business model for most people and there is no risk in trying it out if you signup for the free training.
Thanks for stopping by,
Gary
I have read your website review of SeneGence which I had not heard of before, however the idea of paying an up front fee before you become a distributor I believe would certainly deter me from entering into any commitment to this Co. as you say, the main attraction seem to be in the substantial discounts of 20 % or more when you buy the products as a distributor .However, there seem to be an awful lot of groundwork and preparation involved in getting established as a highly successful distributor, before you reach the upper status of the high earners, which I feel would be very hard to acheive for those starting out in this sort of MLM. system.
Hi, Alan!
I agree. For most people, MLM is an impossible business model and very few people can make it a success. MLM evolved in the 1940s and 1950s long before the internet. It made more sense back then, but now that we have the internet people have access to every product imaginable. The only reason someone would shackle themselves to an MLM company like SeneGence International is because they were sold a dream.
Thanks for stopping by,
Gary
Thanks for sharing this article. I do my research on different businesses before I join. I still have to take time to learn how to be an affiliate marketer.
Hi, Roger!
Glad to help. You’re a wise man for researching businesses before you get involved. SeneGence International is expensive and the MLM business model is almost impossible for most people to win.
Thanks for stopping by,
Gary
Hey. Thank you for sharing this review. SeneGence seems to be a reputable company and the profit margin is great too. But paying a company to help promote their products? That’s not good mehn. Many Affiliate companies and top known ones will give Marketers opportunity to market their products free of charge. Like you have said, very few will succeed in MLM therefore building my own business and work at is the best option. No time to waste with these MLM.
Its usually the way with MLM, the products are very expensive and hard to convince anyone to buy.
What i find crazy is that they take a signup fee from you and don’t allow you to have any samples to even try them yourself so you have to pay to try the products and without trying them how can you really do a good job selling them!
I must admit I had never heard of SeneGence, a interesting read all the same!