Is Pink Zebra a MLM? Legit or Not?

Pink Zebra: The Basics

• Company: Pink Zebra
• Owners: Tom & Kelly Gaines
• Products: fragrances, candles, lights, and home accessories
• Website: pinkzebrahome.com
• Cost to Join: $129 – $199 for start-up kit + shipping and local applicable taxes and $11.95 per month for a Pink Zebra replicated website

We are sure that wherever you are in the world, you have encountered a Pink Zebra once, twice or perhaps, multiple times. Not some kind of rare equine with pink stripes, the Pink Zebra is considered as a multi-level marketing (MLM) company dedicated in selling their fragrances, candles, lights, and home decoration accessories. It was founded by a couple, Tom and Kelly Gaines.

 Like a fairytale, Tom and Kelly met at the candle factory where they both used to work and decided to start their own business. From there, their business was founded and in 2011, Pink Zebra was expanded by the couple by employing the MLM business model. So, does it answer your question that Pink Zebra is a genuine MLM? Well, let us dig deeper and scrutinize more things in detail.

The Pink Z Products in Glitters and Sparkles

The good thing about the Pink Zebra is that it is well-known for the products it is selling – one characteristic of a legitimate MLM company. Does it confirm the answer to your question? Shush! Not yet! Let’s continue. The products of the Pink Zebra might sound like another bunch of mainstream crops in the market: fragrances, soaks, candles, lights, and home decoration accessories. Nevertheless, the innovations injected in each product seem like an allure among people that the company somehow gained its popularity. In its first six years, the Pink Zebra ranked as the third largest candle manufacturer in the United States.

One of the most remarkable signature products of the company is its scented candle named “Sprinkles”. Yeah, like the stuff on your donuts. I know that you might be wondering for answers for what makes this candle special. I mean, are there other reasons that could make a candle special besides letting it waste away as it consumes itself with fire? Well, the Pink Zebra found out a way to make the market go gaga over its candles: by letting them design and make their own candles. Genius, you might say. But, hey, who the hell would buy raw candle materials and spend dollars just to have fun molding candles? Surprisingly, some people would! But don’t feel surprised, the Pink Zebra promises that it uses the best of the best materials in the production of its candles which includes eco-friendly responsible dyes, perfume blends of natural and manmade ingredients, and their so-called “Soft Soy” which is a proprietary blend of eco-friendly soy wax and dependable food-grade, paraffin wax to capitalize on the best performing components of each. I don’t know what that means but it sounds fabulous so… Ooohh!

Promising “the best of the best standards and regulations from around the world”, the Pink Zebra also prides itself with their unusual yet attractive home décor accessories including Simmering Lights, Accent Shades, Warming Shades, Simmer Pots, Just-Add-Soaks, and Glimmer Glass. The products range from $5 - $65 which some deem affordable compared to other products being sold by other MLM companies.

With these incredible products, you might think that selling it to the market sounds simple and easy, right? Well, we’ll see about that after a few more reads.

How Do I Become a Pink Zebra… Consultant?

Well, if you are planning to be a part of this company, getting started could be easy since there are at least 79,000 Pink Zebra consultants in the US alone. They are all more than eager to find a recruit. Nevertheless, if you want to have it the easier way, you can directly apply online on the Pink Zebra website. There are also other replicated company websites that are owned by various Pink Zebra consultants so it wouldn’t be hard for you to find a way to apply.

However, just like other companies using independent consultants to distribute and sell their products, Pink Zebra would require you to purchase a starting kit before being considered as an eligible member of the group. Oh, red flag! Does it raise a red flag? Err… Personally, we don’t think so. Despite the fact that it does sound like a scam by forcing people to buy products in order to qualify as a member, we don’t think so. Instead, it appears like a good strategy to help the consultants to familiarize themselves about the products that they need to promote. With this rule, Pink Zebra doesn’t just profit from the new consultants buying the products but it also manages to educate them of the PZ items.

The Pink Zebra enrollment kits are in two choices: the Starter Kit that costs $129 and the Deluxe Kit that costs $199. These contain product samples, product catalogs, brochures, order forms and other business tools that would aid you in your business. Consultants are also charged $11.95 a month for the Pink Zebra replicated websites that they could also use to sell the products to possible customers. To remain as an active Pink Zebra consultant, on the other hand, you need to meet the minimum amount of $150 retail sales volume during a rolling six-month period.

Compensation Plan: Pink Z Maze

Well, here we go. We know how everyone hates all compensation plans. You hate it, we hate it, everyone hates it. We all just despise how these companies cover their compensation plans with glitters and sparkles and BS just to make it more appealing to unwitting people being eyed as possible recruits. Well, don’t take it all on Pink Zebra. There are lots, I mean all, of companies on the same business that do this. They lead people, especially those new to the field, into a maze and confuse them to make them believe that their future in the company offers better financial stability in the future. Obviously it isn’t.

Just like other compensation plans, PZ’s could be quite confusing for people. So, let us try to dissect it and have a better understanding of this stuff. Here it goes.

According to Pink Zebra’s compensation plan, the company compensates a consultant in six different ways.

• Minimum Base Commissions – Any consultant is entitled to earn 25 percent commission from all retail product sales he or she makes.
• Enhanced Personal Commissions – From the 25 percent commission offered as a minimum base commission, a consultant could have an additional of 5 or 10 percent commission depending on the retail sales volume he or she would be able to make per month.

$1 – $899 per month              =         25% commissions

$900 – $1999 per month            =         30% commissions

$2000+ per month                       =         35% commissions

• Sponsoring Bonus – Since Pink Zebra technically runs as a MLM, do expect that recruiting other individuals to be a part of your team is a thing. Why? Because acquiring new recruits means more commissions! This is where Sponsoring Bonus plays its part. By making them members under your downline, you are entitled to 7 percent commission of the total sales volume of those consultants you personally recruited.
• Team Level Bonuses – The Pink Zebra is using a unilevel pay structure. Thus, all individuals that you personally recruited, no matter how many recruits they are, would be placed under you. They will be your Level 1. As we know, you benefit from them through Sponsor Bonus. Yet, your Level 1 consultants could bring you more joy by recruiting new individuals and putting them under their “own team”. Those new recruits placed under “your personal recruits” would be named as your Level 2. This could continue and your downline could prosper to more levels if you have great leader-recruiters under you. With this, you would receive 3 percent commission monthly from the total sales volume made by the consultants under you. You could benefit from this bonus down to the fourth level if your downline prospers.
• Mentoring Bonus – A Pink Zebra consultant would start to receive this bonus upon reaching the Executive Manager status. This bonus is calculated as 2 percent of all the group volume under you. It includes the sales volume of all downline team members you have down to the next individual who’s also promoted to Executive Manager status or higher rank.
• Generation Bonus – This bonus offers great compensation for anyone. It promises 3 percent commission from a group volume but achieving it sounds quite hard, if not impossible. To enjoy this compensation, you need to be promoted to Director status. Not that easy, though! You also need another Executive Manager under you to be promoted as a Director. This Director under you would be your 1st Generation. With this, you would be receiving a 3 percent generation bonus on that Director’s personal group volume. To grow your second generation, your 1st Generation Director should be able to produce another Director under him. The latter would then be your 2nd Generation. But in order to profit from this, you need to be promoted to Executive Director status to get a 2 percent bonus on that 2nd Generation Director’s personal group volume. What if that 2nd Generation Director managed to produce another Director? Then, the latter would be your 3rd Generation. However, you would only be eligible for this 2 percent bonus if you would be promoted to Presidential Director status. This process would continue and you would be paid to unlimited depth in each generation until another Director or higher rank is hailed.

This sounds good right? Well, of course! Only, how many of the Pink Zebra consultants enjoy those bonuses? To enjoy those perks, you need to reach certain level. with this, let us see the advancement of levels in Pink Zebra that would help you to be eligible for the bonuses mentioned.

1. Consultant
2. Executive Consultant
3. Manager
4. Senior Manager
5. Executive Manager
6. Director
7. Executive Director
8. Presidential Director

Red Zebra Flags

Okay, here we are. We know how amusing Pink Zebra’s compensation plan is. We know how sweet it is to earn commissions from other’s work and to think that you could earn from various levels deep is truly amazing. Yes! BUT (I really want to put extra stress on that word) let us put everything in reality. Let us all be realistic and stop the idealistic lure of this pink company. Let us first have its Income Disclosure Statement of the Pink Zebra. This is where a huge red flag should smack you on the face – real hard. Let’s have a look.

Boom! I know that you have a lot of questions being juggled in your mind right now. Okay, let’s start. As you see from the 2015 Income Report published by the Pink Zebra, an average consultant made $842 in the said year. Those figures directly oppose the glitzy storytelling of each consultant trying to recruit you. No one can live a life with such an amount for an entire year and, no, it can’t provide you with sufficient and stable income. The figures being presented by the Executive Consultant and Manager status tell the same.

Don't be fooled with the presented chart above. The chart plainly highlights the possible income of the said levels BUT FAILS to provide the actual numbers of consultants that reach the said levels. Who knows how many consultants reached the Director and Executive Director rank? If there is one thing clear about this chart, that is the fact that no one even reached Presidential Director status despite the fact that the company has been running for quite some time now.

As much as we want to explain the figures to you, we can’t. Do you know why? 

THAT.

IS.

THE.

ULTIMATE.

RED.

FLAG.

As you see, the figures shown above were published in 2015. That’s the problem: Pink Zebra is N-O-T publishing its annual Income Disclosure Statement. There are no clear numbers of consultants relishing the benefits of Director nor Executive Director rank. What if there are actually a lot of people enjoying the said ranks? Well, if that's true, that would be something any company would be proud to brag but, as you see, Pink Zebra seems to be quite in a shame showing the real figures about their business. Who cares? It is their right, alright? Well, that is actually a big problem. The fact that a company isn’t able to produce such information utterly means that something is being hidden. Something is off. And no matter how beautiful and eloquent the company’s mission or vision is, you can’t trust a company that can’t project transparency in public. No, you can’t. No, you shouldn’t.

Is Pink Z a Legit MLM?

From the presented information above, we can say that our friend, Pink Z, is a legit MLM company. We reiterate: a legal one. The fact that it sells a lot of products to the public confirms its identity as a legit company. However, despite that characteristic, some MLMs are still being accused of pyramid scheming. Well, no one can blame those accusers. MLM companies are using the pyramid system of pyramid schemes through recruitment; not just any recruitment but sucking away commissions from those at the bottom of the system. Is it illegal? No, it is not since the profit comes from the sales being made by the sold products.

Nevertheless, it is just a bit distressing to use such a system and see those at the bottom of the system sweating every drop of liquid out of their body as those at the top effortlessly gain commissions from the poor individuals’ hard work. MLM companies aren’t breaking laws but they are somehow, in some ways, shattering nature’s justice.

Should I Ride the Pink Zebra?

We all know that all MLMs are promising anyone a good life and financial freedom. Just hearing those powerful words coming out of a recruiting consultant’s mouth is plain bliss. We know. So, it is up to you. After all, Pink Zebra is a legit MLM, right? What could go wrong? What could be the possible catch? You want to know the catch? It is an MLM. Wait! You’re probably thinking that after confirming that PZ is a legitimate MLM ends the problem. Well, actually, it just presents another problem.

MLM, despite the possible big commission you could earn, also hides weakness. Since it is structured using the system of a pyramid scheme, there is a great chance of MLM falling into complete failure. According to the study conducted by Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D., Consumer Awareness Institute regarding MLM profitability, “the vast majority of commissions paid by MLM companies go to a tiny percentage of TOPPs (top-of-the-pyramid promoters) at the expense of a revolving door of recruits, 99% of whom lose money.”

The 15-year research covering 350 MLM companies stated that legitimate small businesses are 39 percent more profitable than any MLM companies since only 1 percent of MLM participants profit from the industry. Lastly, the study states that MLMs, in general, as a business model - with its chain of recruitment as primary customers - is “flawed, unfair, and deceptive”.

Balancing Act on Pink Zebra’s Back: Pros and Cons

Before we come up with your decision whether to ride this equine’s back or not, let us first have a short moment to weigh things.

Pros:

1. Pink Zebra products are absolute beauty! Well, no one can deny that PZ’s stuff could lure you into buying them. Not only that most of them are economical but because they are just simply attractive. The products also promote creativity among people. Oh, who could say no to candle scent mixing? Right, Dexter?
2. The items could be easily sold since they are products of beauty and great innovation.
3. You could get a lot of commissions especially that the pay structure in the commission uses unilevel. You could get commissions from various levels deep as long as the individuals in your downline continue to get promotion.

Cons:

1. I am being honest when I say that the products of Pink Zebra are all striking. However, no matter how attractive they are, there are also lots of innovative candle and home decor accessories in the market. Thus, there are lots of other competitions. To give you the list, here they are: Scentsy, Perfectly Posh, Pure Romance, MakeUp Eraser, PartyLite, GelMoment, Park Lane Jewelry, Gold Canyon, and Jewelry Candles.
2. PZ isn’t an open book when it comes to its Income Disclosure Statement. That is a red flag, a huge one. Every worker needs a company that is purely transparent not just to its customers but so as to its workers and to the public.
3. It is an MLM. I don’t need to reiterate the reasons why being an MLM is a downside. It is an MLM. MLM – legit or not – equates failure.
4. Since it is an MLM using the pyramid system of recruiting individuals, there is always a possibility of sources of recruits depleting. Hence, the failure of the entire system.

Conclusion: The Final Verdict