Is it really the amazing opportunity that people say it is? Or is Solle Naturals a scam that is just going to be a waste of time and money?
In this review we'll be going over what exactly Solle Naturals is, the products, quality concerns, the business opportunity and compensation plan, earnings disclosure, pros v cons and more.
Let's begin...
Overview of Solle Naturals
Solle Naturals is a Utah-based MLM company, founded by Greg Halliday, Jordan Peterson, Lon Hudman, Cory Anderson, and Kendall Bird, that is based around alternative and herbal medicines. They have quite a large lineup of products, all centered around the idea that the body and mind must be nourished for optimal health.
Much of their brand is based around a "special class of herbs" that they call adaptogens... which are herbs that have a normalizing affect and help people adapt to stress. At least one herb that is classed as an adaptogen is included in each of their products.
Overall the company isn't that large or well-known, but this certainly isn't a bad thing and it's good to see such a focus on product quality.
Besides the products, the MLM (multi-level marketing) side of the company provides a business opportunity that anyone can join as a "Specialist" and earn money promoting products as well as recruiting in other Specialists.
Products
Solle Naturals is all about healthy and natural products, as you can imagine. They have quite a long lineup of products and they are all...
- Plant sourced
- Gluten-free
- Soy-free
- Non-GMO
- No artificial ingredients
- MSG-free
- Nut-free
We aren't going to cover ever single product that they offer here because that would take too long, but we'll go over quite a few of their best sellers so that you can get a good idea of what we are looking at here. These range from essential oils, to protein powders, to fiber powders, pain creams, and a lot more. Most have quite extensive blends of herbs, as you will see.
Solle Vital - $43.95
Solle Vital is formulated to protect, energize and strengthen the body, as well as help balance mood. It contains Multiphyllin Prime Chlorophyll Blend, SativaMin Plant Trace Minerals and AdaptAble Balanced Adaptogen Blend... all of which are made-up names for the different blends included (Solle Naturals loves to make up strange names and trademark them).
This product comes in powder form in little packets (30 per box) and can be added to cold beverages, teas, etc.
The herbs included here are: alfalfa extract, nettle whole herb powder, spinach leaf powder, mulberry fruit extract, avena sativa seed extract, burdock root extract, nettle leaf extract, dandelion root extract, eleuthero root extract, schizandra fruit extract, astragalus root extract, ashwaganda root extract, jiaogulan leaf extract, and rhodiola root extract... WOW that's a lot!
SolleFlex PI - $31.95
SolleFlex PI comes in capsule form and is formulated for bioavailability. The herbs contained in this concoction include Chinese scullcap extract, boswellia serrata, curcumin, magnolio bark, myrrh gum, noni extract, and grape seed extract.
There are 30 servings included in each bottle.
AdaptAble - $29.95
As the name suggests, AdaptAble is all about the adaptogenic herbs, which consist of eleuthero root extract, schizandra fruit extract, astragalus root extract, ashwaganda root extract, jiaogulan leaf extract, and rhodiola root extract.
Additionally it contains eleuthero powder and St. John's wort extract.
This product comes in capsule form for easy supplementation (also 30 servings per bottle here).
Solle Essentials - $18.95 - $29.95
The Solle Essentials product lineup come in small 5ml dropper bottles and consist of essential oils. There are different blends that are intended for different purposes.
The different blends include:
- Balance - designed to restore a balance of energy, which can improve sleep, mood, etc.
- Lift - formulated to boost mood and positivity.
- Calm - formulated to help relieve stress and promote calmness.
- Clarify - consists of anti-inflammatory blend to promote cellular health.
SolleFlex AC Cream - $21.95
SolleFlex AC is a 3oz tube of cream that can be used for aches and pains. It absorbs quickly and doesn't leave any oily residue.
The formulation includes a heck of a lot: arnica montana flower extract, MSM, olea Europaea leaf extract, passion flower extract, witch hazel leaf extract, aloe vera gel, water, jojoba seed oil, argan oil, calendula officinalis flower extract, chamomile flower extract, safflower oil and more.
SolleThrive - $49.95
This is a nutrient-dense green powder drink mix that consists of sprouts, probiotics, enzymes, herbs and fruits.
The herbal blend includes ginseng powder and extract, yellow dock powder, red raspberry leaf powder, purple lapacho powder, mimosa bark extract, holy basil extract, ginkgo biloba extract, sasparilla powder and extract, hawthorne berry extract, licorice root powder, rosemary extract, and ginger root extract.
And the other ingredients are sprouted flax powder, hemp flour, alfalfa sprout powder, sprouted chia powder, sprouted amaranth powder, quinoa sprout powder, watercress powder, lactobacillus sporogenes, aronia powder, monk fruit extract, mulberry extract, and bromelain.
There is a lot going on here and this nutritional shake mix provides good sources of omegas 3, 6 and 9, as well as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fiber.
Each bag of powdered mix contains about 21 servings.
CinnaMate - $39.95
CinnaMate is designed to enhance digestion and sugar management, which can improve energy and focus.
The proprietary herbal blend it contains consists of yerba mate extract, nopal cactus fruit powder, cinnamon bark extract concentrate, banaba leaf standardized extract, and thyme extract concentrate.
This powdered blend comes in small packets (30 servings per box) that can be easily mixed in with beverages.
SolleComplete - $31.95
SolleComplete is their protein powder/meal replacement product. This comes in a bag and consists of 15 servings.
Each serving provides 18g of pea protein along with a long list of herbs, extracts, and more... some of which include astragalus root extract, green tea leaf extract, rose hips fruit extract, gingko biloba leaf extract, ginger root extract, apple fiber, blueberry fiber, horsetail herb extract, lactobacillus sporagenes, and more.
There are different flavors available, such as natural and Dutch cocoa.
SolleMaca XD - $34.95
This is their sexual wellness supplement and is supposed to boost sexual stamina in both men and women.
There are 30 servings per bottle and it mostly consists of different types of maca. The ingredients include yellow maca root and root extract, red maca root, black maca root, capuacu juice powder, cordyceps sinensis extract and damiana leaf.
GoodFibrations - $31.95
This product, as you can guess, is all about providing good fiber... and it also provides "adaptogens", fruits, and herbs.
The ingredients consist of psyllium husks, psyllium seed powder, red raspberry seed and leaf powder, cranberry seed powder, black raspberry seed powder, apple fiber, blueberry fiber, slippery elm bark extract, marshmallow root extract, ginger root extract, pear fruit powder, and lime juice powder.
There are 16 servings per bag and each serving provides 6g of dietary fiber... a decent amount but nothing major.
Product Packages
And then, besides just single products, they also have a wide array of product packages that you can choose from. These will be particularly interesting for those looking to get involved in the business opportunity because they are much more expensive and much higher commissions can be earned selling them.
GoodTract 14 Day Cleanse & Whole Body Detox - $130
This cleans package includes GoodFibrations, Solle Vital, FasTract, and Amitox. It is designed to cleanse the colon and detoxify the entire body.
Users are supposed to aim for 3 bowel movements per day!
And this is just to give you a little idea of what the product packages are like. Others include:
- Solle Immune Package - $112
- One of Each Product Package - $876
- Bella Health Package - $159
- SolleFit Premium Workout Package - $110
- 4Ward Thinking Package - $290
- Holistic Weight Loss Package - $380
- FasTract Detox Cleanse Natural - $235
- Family Package - $1,280
Product Concerns
Are the ingredients proven to work?
A lot of the ingredients included don't have the most concrete evidence proving their effectiveness for their intended use here, but what they do have is hundreds and even thousands of years of use in traditional medicines.
Solle Naturals provides quite informative PDF documents that give information on the uses of certain ingredients, research that has been conducted on them, and more. Below is a list of some of these resources broken down into different categories based on the purpose of their products:
- PDF for the Clarify products
- PDF for the Calm products
- PDF for the Lift products
- PDF for the Balance products
Can you trust the product quality?
Of course it doesn't really matter what the ingredients are if they aren't of good quality.
Fortunately it seems that Solle Naturals really cares about quality. However, it would be nice if there was some 3rd party quality testing done here. By the looks of it they only do their own in-house quality testing, in which they call SolleCertain... which means a product is ensured to be pure and potent based on 10 different measures they take, such as selecting good suppliers, randomized testing, etc.
It's also worth mentioning that everything is manufactured in the US. This doesn't ensure quality but is nice to see because it means the products will be held to higher standards and subject to more regulation than say... products coming from China.
Overall Opinion On The Products: They are a bit pricey without a doubt, but overall things look good. They tend to get good reviews on marketplaces like Amazon (although not many reviews exist) and also have a lot of high ratings on their Facebook Page (but of course you can't always trust these 100%). It is obvious that SN puts a lot of effort into creating these different formulations with long lists of ingredients.
Business Opportunity
Now let's talk about the business opportunity.
As a MLM company Solle Naturals does not sell any products in stores. Instead they rely on an independent sales force to do the marketing.
Anyone can join the opportunity as what they call a Specialist (this is what they call their independent distributors) to earn money. The only requirement is that you have to pay $100 to join, which will provide you with product samples, a success workbook, a Solle website to refer people to, and more.
Compensation Plan
The compensation plan, which is shown above, can be difficult to follow. It's a bit confusing, and like most MLM comp plans is filled with ranks, bonuses, and of course lots of levels.
Below are some key terms that you'll need to understand in order to understand the comp plan.
- QV (Qualifying Volume) - This is equal to the dollar amount spent. So if you buy a product that costs $100 then you get 100 QV.
- OV (Organizational Volume) - This is the volume of products purchased and sold in your entire organization, which includes you and those recruited in beneath you.
The 2 Main Ways to Get Paid
There actually a lot of ways to get paid, but they can all be placed under 2 main categories
- Retail Commissions
- Recruitment Commissions
1) Retail Commissions
These are the commissions that you earn when you get new members to buy Solle Naturals products. Here we are talking about people that are purely customers and don't join the business opportunity.
When you get a new customer to join you will get a 25% commission on their purchase... pretty simple.
Additionally, there will be commissions paid to your upline (the person that recruited you in and people above them), up to 4 levels from your customer sales.
2) Recruitment Commissions
And now this is where the compensation plan get's confusing. This is where the MLM part really comes into play and this is where most of the focus is at... recruiting and earning money from your recruits.
There are 12 different ranks and your earnings will depend on this:
- Specialist - This is where you start out.
- 1K Solle Pro - Need 1K of OV (organizational volume) to qualify for this rank. This is the volume of products that you and people you recruited in sell.
- 2K Solle Pro - Need at least 2K of OV
- 3K Solle Pro - Need at least 3K of OV and 1 Solle Pro in your organization
- 5K Solle Leader - Need at least 5K of OV and 1 Solle Pro in your organization
- 7K Solle Leader - Need at least 7K of OV and 1 Solle Pro in your organization
- 10K Solle Leader - Need at least 10K of OV and 1 Solle Pro in your organization
- 15K Solle Leader - Need at least 15K of OV and 1 Solle Pro + 1 Solle Leader in your organization
- 25K Solle Elite - Need at least 25K of OV and 1 Solle Pro + 1 Solle Leader in your organization
- 50K Solle Elite - Need at least 50K of OV and 1 Solle Pro + 1 Solle Leader in your organization
- 75K Solle Elite - Need at least 75K of OV and 1 Solle Pro, 1 Solle Leader, + 1 Solle Elite in your organization
- 100K Solle Elite - Need at least 100K of OV and 1 Solle Pro, 1 Solle Leader, and 1 Solle Elite in your organization
They call their compensation plan a SmartPlan because the commissions adjust each month based on how you and your organization are doing.
SmartPlan
How it works is like this: You will get paid down 7 levels in your organization and the percentage of commissions you get paid is based on the Organizational Volume (OV) per level. It's nice because the highest commission percentage payout you get will be on the level that has the highest OV, the second highest payout will be on the level with the 2nd highest OV, and so on... starting off at 10% commissions and going down to 3%...
- Highest Level - 10%
- 2nd Highest Level - 7%
- 3rd Highest Level - 5%
- 4th Highest Level - 4%
- 5th Highest Level - 4%
- 6th Highest Level - 3%
- 7th Highest Level - 3%
This is good because it maximizes earnings.
- Note: When you recruit someone into the business they become your level 1, and when those level 1 people recruit people in the new recruits become your level 2... and so on.
The levels you will be able to earn commissions from will depend on your rank. At the beginning rank of Specialist you will only be able to earn commissions from level 1, which are the people that you directly recruited in. Then when you move up to 1K SollePro you will be able to earn on levels 1 & 2, which consist of your direct recruits and the people that they recruited in... and as you can see this continues until 7 levels.
Bonuses & Other Ways to Earn
And then there are the bonuses, in which you can earn money from both recruitment and customer sales.
High 5!: In the yellow section of the table above you can also see the High 5! bonus, which ranges from +2% to +5% and starts at the rank of 2K SollePro. This is a little bonus commission that get's added onto what you are already getting.
Mentor Match: This is another bonus that you can start earning at the Solle Leader 5K rank. Here you will earn a percentage check match of the bonuses that all your personally recruited Solle Pros have received.
Infinity Bonus: The SmartPlan pays you down the first 7 levels of your organization... and this bonus then pays you beyond that point. This is a 1% bonus of all the commissionable volume in your entire organization after the 7th level (you must be at the rank of Solle Leader 15K or higher to get this).
SolleQuick Bonus: This is a bonus paid for the recruitment of new members and/or specialists and is also paid to 2 levels of the mentor's upline. Payouts can be as much as 45%
HD Override: This is more for stores/shops that are looking to sell Solle Naturals products. It is a rebate that ranges from 28-32% and increases as monthly order volume grows.
- 28% commissions for 1000/mo order volume
- 30% commissions for 2,500/mo order volume
- 32% commissions for 3,500/mo order volume
SolleDriven: Just like most MLMs, here is Solle Naturals' car bonus. This is reserved for the higher ranks and ranges from $250 - $1,000/mo.
SollePrime: This is a $100 bonus given out unlimited times when you either a) enroll 1 specialist or 2 members + you have 2 personal recruits that have at least 150 QV.
Is Solle Naturals a Pyramid Scheme?
The question has to be answered... is Solle Naturals a pyramid scheme?
It is a MLM and all MLMs have pyramid-like structures of some sort... but this doesn't make it a pyramid scheme.
The difference between a pyramid scheme and a legit MLM is the revenue that comes in from real customers vs recruits.
Solle Naturals does sell real products but there is some concern that they could lean a little too much towards the pyramid scheme side of things since they don't seem to require Specialists to meet any quota for regular customer sales.
The compensation plan definitely favors recruitment of Specialists a great deal more than bringing in regular customers, but this is just the way most MLMs are.
So, to answer the question... no they aren't a pyramid scheme.
Earnings Disclosure
How much do Solle Naturals' Specialists actually make?
Unfortunately they don't disclose this information. But, based on the general extremely high failure rates that MLMs have, with an FTC report stating that 99% of MLM participants lose money, it would be a good guess that the earning statistics aren't too good.
The reason MLMs are notorious for having such high turnover rates has largely to do with the pyramid structure they have in place, which funnels money from the bottom to the top... thus making things increasingly difficult for those at the bottom and only allowing a small percentage to achieve high ranks.
MLMs that do disclose earnings disclaimers, like Mary Kay, doTERRA and Young Living, etc., never show a very pretty site. It is ALWAYS the case that only a small percentage achieve high ranks and earn good money.
Pros v Cons
Pros
- Good product quality
- Natural ingredients
- Large product selection & variety
- Business opportunity provided
Cons
- Products are pricey
- MLMs are difficult to be successful with
- Lack or transparency (no earnings disclosure)
Is Solle Naturals a Scam?
No, this is not a scam. Yes, sometimes Specialists can get a little carried away with their recruitment tactics and this can come off as scammy, but the company itself is not a scam in any way.
Conclusion - Worth Joining?
Whether Solle is worth joining or not is completely dependent on your situation.
As with any MLM opportunity, we strongly suggest only joining if you genuinely like the products. Not only will you find that selling products and recruiting people in is easier if you like the products, but you also won't burn-out as easily.
But don't quit your day job. There certainly aren't guaranteed earnings and it's best to get a feel for things before making any income projections.
Alternatively, if you don't want to share commissions and annoy friends/family trying to recruit people in, you can check out the Wealthy Affiliate program to learn affiliate marketing (which can be done completely online).
Please leave any questions or comments below. We like to hear back from our readers 🙂
Thanks for sharing your honest thoughts!! I disagreed with a couple things as you only need 5 people max in your direct downline to get to even the highest ranks with Solle and most other MLMs are require much more. As far as income goes it is definitely there with Solle if you are willing to put the work in.
All MLM’s are pyramid schemes. Pyramid scheme are illegal, MLM just found a loop hole to the law by actually selling a product. But it’s the same old scam.
Everything is a pyramid depending on how you look at it. Most startup businesses fail for one reason or another. The thing to watch out for is that you really have no control of the compensation plan or whether or not the brass will sell or change or file bankruptcy. At the end of the day, there are 3 ways to get paid, W-2 income, 1099 income, or K-1 income. Don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed.
There was an error here. Solle Naturals DOES do third-party testing. It is confusing in their wording, but you can ask for the documentation and they will give it to you.