Is The SimplyFun Direct Sales Opportunity Worth It? – Review

What Is Simply Fun?

SimplyFun is a direct sales MLM company that sells educational toys so that kids can actually have fun learning, which is something that is all too often overlooked and ignored in our standard educational systems.

It's all about learning through play, and sharing "the gift of play".

This particular MLM opportunity is different from host however. It doesn't seem to attract the typical prospect that is just looking to make money from home, but rather brings in more consultants that are joining to become part of what they consider to be a meaningful movement.

Direct Sales & MLM Explained:

• This company uses a direct sales and MLM business model. What this means is that, instead of selling products in retail stores, they rely on a workforce of independent distributors (aka consultants or Playologists) to do the marketing and sales... directly... which is why it's called "direct sales".
• The MLM, or multi-level marketing part of it comes into play with the recruitment aspect of the business model, in which distributors are encouraged to recruit in new distributors beneath them via financial incentive. 

The company was started back in 2004 with basic board games, but then in 2008, after seeing the educational potential here, they launched a new line of educational games and this is what really propelled them forward to where they are today.

To hear from Patty Pearcy (the CEO of SimplyFun) herself, you can check out this short 2 minute video:

SimplyFun is not accredited with the BBB, but does have an A+ rating and is also a member of the DSA (direct selling association). 

They are headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and can be contacted at:

• Phone: 425-289-0858
• Fax: 425-289-0865
• Email: info@simplyfun.com

Products

SimplyFun has over 100 unique brain-stimulating games for young children, teens, and even ones that are for whole families to play. Games are offered for people of all learning levels, including those with special needs and autism.

Math games, reading & writing games, vocabulary, focus & self control, problem solving, demonstration games... they have plenty of games in a range of different categories.

There is absolutely no way I'll be diving into all that they offer here, because this post is focused on the business opportunity, but to give you a little better of an idea of what they offer, here is a small sample of some SimplyFun games...

And for an even better idea of what this place has to offer and the uniqueness and creativity that their games bring to the table, here is a short video I found on Youtube of some popular games they have...

Business Opportunity

Anyone can join the business opportunity, as long as you have at least $39 to purchase a starter kit, as I'll go over next.

However, this type of business is definitely not for everyone. It isn't easy and if you aren't passionate about the products you will be selling and aren't a people person then this probably isn't for you. 

How It Works

In a nutshell, what you will be doing if you join as an associate (aka "playologist") of SimplyFun is selling products and recruiting others into the business, which will join your "team" and help make you money.

You will be able to make sales both online and offline.

1. You can refer people to the replicated website (you are given) to purchase products, which you will earn commissions from.
2. You can purchase products at wholesale prices and then sell them at retail prices, thus earning the difference. (Associates (playologists) often sell products at parties and events.)

Getting Started

In order to join, like every MLM out there, you will first have to purchase a starter kit. They have 2 options available, one that is $39 and the other $129.

These will provide you with a guide to the business, a training tool, business supplies and more to help you get your SimplyFun business up and running.

The $39 kit

• All About Play training tool
• Training guide
• Business supplies (including a replicated website)
• 1 tote bag
• Up to 8 SimplyFun games at a 50% discount (optional)

The $129 Kit

• 10 of their best-selling games
• All About Play training tool
• Training guide
• Business supplies (including a replicated website)
• 2 tote bags

*The $39 business kit is only $39 if you don't purchase any of the games at a 50% discount, which is optional.

And, also like just about every other MLM out there, this place really pushes to get new members to buy the more expensive $129 kit... with the incentive being that you are promoted to the rank of Builder just by purchasing this (more on ranks soon).

Compensation Plan

I've seen the business opportunity promoted as a way to earn commissions of 25 - 42%. A rate of 25% commission is the base and associates will be able to earn up to a 17% bonus on top of that.

The 4 Ways to Get Paid

There are 4 ways to get paid within the comp plan. These include:

1. Personal sales commissions - The commissions you earn from personally making sales to customers.
2. Personal Bonus - This is a bonus that can be as much as 10% of your personal sales volume--and the amount you get depends on your sales volume for the month.
3. Personal Sponsoring Bonus - This ranges from 2-4% depending on your rank. It is a bonus that comes from the sales of your recruits.
4. Team Bonus - This is easily one of the most lucrative parts of the compensation plan. Here you earn from the sales of people you recruited in, people they recruited in, and so on.

I'll go into detail on all of these in a bit. First I think it's important to cover the different ranks...

Ranks

There are 4 different ranks within the SimplyFun comp plan. You will start out at the rank of Builder if you purchase the $129 starter kit, and then there is Master, Mentor, and finally Scholar.

The qualifications to achieve each rank are as follows...

• Builder
  • At least $500 personal sales volume on a rolling 6 month basis
    

*Personal Sales Volume is the volume of products that you sell personally

• Master
  • At least $2,500 in personal sales volume on a rolling 6 month basis
  • Need personal sales volume of at least $600/mo to get Title Bonuses
  • Need a personal team volume of at least $2,500/mo at least 5 out of the past 6 months

*Personal Team Volume is the volume of products that you sell + the volume of products that your "team" sells, which consist of recruits brought in beneath you.

• Mentor
  • At least $2,500 in personal sales volume on a rolling 6 month basis
  • Need personal sales volume of at least $600/mo to get Title Bonuses
  • Need at least 5 personal recruits
    • At least 3 of them must be Masters or Mentors
  • Need a personal team volume of at least $4,000/mo at least 5 out of the past 6 months
• Scholar
  • At least $2,500 in personal sales volume on a rolling 6 month basis
  • Need personal sales volume of at least $600/mo to get Title Bonuses
  • Need at least 25 personal recruits
    • At least 5 of them must be Masters or Mentors
  • Need a personal team volume of at least $10,000/mo at least 5 out of the past 6 months

As you can see, one of the main things you will have to do in order to move up the ranks is recruit others into the business, which is at the heart of every MLM. After all, MLM does stand for "multi-level marketing" and the way you form levels here is via recruitment.

There is a requirement that you need a certain number of personal recruits to reach the ranks of Mentor and Scholar, however, even at the Master rank it is pretty much required indirectly because you need a "personal team volume" that is fairly high and you will likely need a "team" of recruits to achieve it.

What's the point of moving up the ranks?

The point is to make more money of course.

As you move up the ranks you will be able to 'unlock' more of the compensation plan, as you will see.

The only thing that doesn't change as you move up the ranks is the base for personal sales commissions that you earn. The personal bonus, personal sponsoring bonus, and team bonus will all increase however.

1) Personal Sales Commissions

As mentioned, the base of this commission amount does not change. You will earn a flat 25% commission, but at the higher ranks you are able to earn larger bonuses, up to 17%.

So 25% is the minimum you will earn and 42% is the max you can potentially earn with all the bonuses.

2) Personal Bonus

You can start receiving the Personal Bonus at the rank of Builder when you have $600+ in monthly personal sales... and this starts out at 3%.

As you move up the ranks you will be able to max this bonus out at 10% when you have $2,000+ in monthly personal sales at the Master, Mentor, or Scholar rank.

This bonus comes from your personal sales volume.

Example: So if you are a Builder and sell $650 worth of products in a month, you qualify for a 3% Personal Bonus. 

3% of $650 = a $19.50 bonus

3) Personal Sponsoring Bonus

Here you will be able to earn a small 2 - 4% bonus from the sales that your recruits make.

• Builder Rank = 2% bonus on your recruits' personal sales
• Master Rank = 4% bonus on your recruits' personal sales
• Mentor Rank = 4% bonus on your recruits' personal sales
• Scholar Rank = 4% bonus on your recruits' personal sales

4) Team Bonus

The Team Bonus is where you can potentially earn some good money... if you are good at recruiting new people into the business.

This bonus is similar to the Personal Sponsoring Bonus because you are earning from the efforts of people recruited into the business beneath you, except this takes it a step further and allows you to earn down multiple levels. So not only can you earn from the sales that the people you directly recruit in make, but also from sales of those that they recruit in, and so on.

There are 4 different types of bonuses within this one Team Bonus area, none of which you will earn as a Builder. In order to earn from the Team Bonuses you have to be at the rank of Master, Mentor, or Scholar.

#1 - Bonus on Personal Team Volume - You will start earning 3% on the your "personal team volume" once you are at the Master rank and your personal team has at least $2,500 in sales volume. This bonus goes up to 7% if you have $4k+ in monthly personal team volume at any of the ranks (Master, Mentor, or Scholar).

#2 - Generational Bonuses - You will be able to earn generational bonuses at the Master rank, but only down 1 generation. Once you hit the Mentor rank you will be able to earn down all 3 generations and if you make it to the rank of Scholar you earn on all 3 generations with an increased percentage of earning.

I'm not going to get into great detail on this whole generation thing, but think of it like this: A generation is like a team that is beneath you. So you have your own "personal team" and when people on your team recruit enough people in they form their own team... which becomes your 1st generation. The 2nd generation is a team that then branches off of your 1st generation, etc.

#3 - Promoting Bonus - This is just a 1-time cash bonus of $250 that is given out for promotions.

#4 - Maintenance Bonus - This is a quarterly bonus given out that will be either $250 or $500 depending on if you are at the rank of Mentor or Scholar.

How Much Money Can You Make?

One thing I like about the opportunity they provide is that they don't misrepresent it. SimplyFun isn't advertising their business opportunity as some way to live your dream life and travel the world with financial freedome... they take a much more modest approach to it than some other MLM's I've looked into.

But anyways... how much can you make?

Well, let's first take a look at the retail commissions you could potentially make, which are 25% - 42% of your sales made.

Some of the most expensive products that SimplyFun sells are game sets, which include multiple games.

• Award Winning Family Game Set 
  • Retail Price = $169
  • Commission = $42.25 - $70.98
• Skill Challenge Game Set
  • Retail Price = $88
  • Commission = $22 - $36.96
• My First Games Set
  • Retail Price = $73
  • Commission = $18.25 - $30.66
• Building on Skills Game Set
  • Retail Price = $70
  • Commission = $17.5 - $29.4

As you can see, the commissions that you will be able to earn making personal sales aren't amazing.

A $70.98 commission is the most you will be able to make per single product sale (at this time anyhow)... and how many game sets like this are you really going to be able to sell?? It's not like these are supplements that people will need to buy more of each month.

That said, you only have to maintain a Personal Sales Volume of $2,500 on a rolling 6-month basis at most, which really isn't that much. If you break it down, this is only about $415 in sales per month on average, which is definitely achievable.

It's All About Recruitment If You Want to Make Big Money

If you want to earn good money here, then you can't just be running around all day trying to make personal sales. The compensation plan largely favors recruitment and building a team, so you are going to want to leverage this.

I wish I could give you some numbers as to what income level is possible, but with MLM opportunities like this the amount people earn varies greatly, and what it mostly comes down to is how large of a downline someone has.

Earnings Disclosure

Unfortunately SimplyFun does not provide any earnings disclosure so I don't know the average amount a distributor working for them makes. However, what I can say is that some companies do provide this and it is never a pretty sight.

Because of the pyramid-like structure a MLM has, there is always a very small percentage of people making loads of money at the top, and the majority of people making little at the bottom.

According to a study by the Consumer Awareness Institute rightfully titled "MLM's Abysmal Numbers", about 99% of people involved in MLM opportunities actually lose money... that is how bad the statistics are. 

In this study 350 different MLM's were looked at.

Pretty bad... but unfortunately this is the reality and you should know about it.

Mary Kay, Shaklee... it's the same story for every MLM.

Pyramid Scheme or Scam?

The business model does have a pyramid structure, as does every MLM, but does this make it a pyramid scheme?

The answer is no. The basic difference between a pyramid scheme and a legitimate MLM is the sale of real products. SimplyFun does sell real products obviously and I don't see this being one big recruitment scheme by any means.

Additionally this place is not a scam. Some people do call it such because of the recruitment aspect of the business, but this is all legal and legitimate.

Pros v Cons

Pros

• Flexible work
• Low startup cost
• High income potential
• Supports a good cause
• Quality products

Cons

• Few people will make much money

Conclusion - Worth Joining or Not?

I'm not going to tell you whether or not you should join because this is something you have to answer for yourself.

The only big downside, which is a major downside, is the fact that with MLM opportunities like this a small percentage of people make good money. However, there are also a lot of other reasons why this might not be a good fit for you.

The bottom line is that, while you aren't forced to recruit people into the business, if you want a chance to make good money then you will have to... and this is something that not everyone will be good at.

So anyways... I hope this post gave you a better idea of what you might or might not decide to get involved with. Some people absolutely love working as an associate for SimplyFun while others join and realize it's not what they thought it was.

Be sure to leave your opinions, comments, questions, etc. down in the comment section below. I like to hear from my readers 🙂

And before you go: you might be interested in this program I use to make money online, which I have been using since 2015.

The reason I mention it is because you are obviously looking for a flexible way to earn some extra income, which this is.

Also feel free to take a look at my top income ideas for making money from home if you have the time.

Take care.