Have you thought about how to become a member of Young Living, but wondering is Young Living essential oils legit? Or how do you make money with Young Living and is Young Living a pyramid scam? So what is Young Living about and what is Young Living MLM? You may be wondering if Young Living will be your escape from the 9 – 5 grind.
This is not a Young Living oils review, but looking at the compensation plan of Young Living instead.
What Is Young Living About?
- Overview of what is Young Living MLM
- Young Living Products
- The Young Living business opportunity
- How to become a member of Young Living
- Compensation Plan of Young Living.
- How do you make money with Young Living?
- How much can I earn with Young Living?
- Is Young Living a good way to make money?
- What I like about Young Living
- What I don’t like about Young Living
- Is Young Living a pyramid scam?
- My opinion on Young Living
- Alternative to MLM and my #1 Recommendation – click here if you want to see it now
Young Living is an essential oil MLM. I can already tell you that if you are looking to make a stable income, then Young Living is probably not a smart choice.
The chances of making money with Multi Level Marketing (MLM) are slim. So why chase a narrow and difficult path, when you can work in affiliate marketing and your own business, and see rewards as a successful affiliate marketer.
MLMs will happily lie and deceive to recruit, as we have seen with MLMs like Herbalife, Avon and Amway. They’ll talk about the ‘income opportunity’, share examples of their top sellers, and flood any review site with false testimonies from ‘happy reps’.
Young Living products are also available on Amazon, making it even harder for distributors to sell directly to customers.
Overview of What Is Young Living MLM
Young Living is a Multi Level Marketing (MLM) company that sells essential oils. It was founded by D. Gary Young and Mary Young in 1993. It is based in Lehi, Utah, but works globally. They have farms all around the world to ensure the essential oils come from trusted sources.
You are promised that as a Young Living brand partner, you will find more than just essential oils, it is a lifestyle. There is the potential to earn free products and transform your financial future.
Before and after starting Young Living, D. Gary Young faced many legal challenges, which include these:
- He was arrested and fined in 1982 for practicing medicine without a license.
- Promoting misleading health cures and having his Young Living Wellness Centre closed down in 1988.
- Being fined in 2000 for the death of a farm worker in a distillery.
- Lawsuit in 2005 against fraudulent medicine practices after causing near fatal kidney failure in a patient.
- Filed a lawsuit against doTerra in 2007, after firing 3 employees that set up the rival company. Accused them of stealing trade secrets. The case was dismissed and Young Living had to pay doTerra $2 million in legal fees. You can read more about doTerra in this Related post: Is doTerra a pyramid scam?
If you like essential oils and would like to sell them, you can do so through Affiliate Marketing, where you are not limited to promoting the products from just one brand or company.
Young Living Essential Oils Products
Young Living makes a very vast range of essential oil products. These include singles, blends, dietary essential oils, animal scents, massage oils, diffusers, weight management, and much more.
Essential oils are derived from plants and provide several health benefits, including these: 
- Aid digestion and boost energy.
- Offers natural remedies.
- Can improve skin conditions like eczema.
- Improves focus.
- Help to reduce depression and relieve stress.
- Can aid insomnia and other sleep disorders.
Essential oils are also blended with CBD and you can read more about the combined benefits in this post. What is the best cannabidiol oil: Mission Farms review.
The Young Living reviews often look at the products, but here we will concentrate on the compensation plan of Young Living. So what is the Young Living business opportunity?
The Young Living Business Opportunity
There are 2 main ways of how do you make money with Young Living:
- Sell the products and earn a commission.
- Recruit new members and earn bonuses.
As a brand partner you get 24% discount off the retail price of products.
- Through the Essentials Rewards (ER) loyalty program, you can earn rewards and free products.
- You can take advantage of unique promotions.
- If you partake in the essential rewards loyalty program, you can also benefit from reduced shipping costs.
- Start recruiting and building a team, and you can earn extra commissions.
There are 10 ranks in the Young Living compensation plan namely Associate, Star, Senior Star, Executive, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crown Diamond and Royal Crown Diamond.
Before we look at how much you can potentially earn, let’s look at how much does it cost to join Young Living. 
How To Become a Member of Young Living
Like with most MLM’s, you have to pay to join them by buying a starter kit.
The kits include product samples and business building materials.
The Basic starter kit is $45, with Premium kits that go from $150 all the way up to $265.
You can sign up without a starter kit, but it is recommended that you do purchase a starter kit. Thus, it will enable you to introduce others to the Young Living business opportunity and lifestyle.
At the time of joining, you also have the option to join the Young Living Essential Rewards (ER) Program. This is the auto shipment program where you can choose new products each month, and benefit from reduced shipping costs.
Essential Rewards (ER) members can also earn Young Living product credits and free oils. Earn more rewards, the longer you are a member. You are encouraged to set up a 100PV ER order each month to ensure you receive all the possible commissions and earn the most points and free products.
The starter kit is not the only cost though. To remain “active” each month, you also have to gain 100 PV (Point Value). What this means in reality, is that you have to spend an extra $100 on Young Living products every month. Until you are selling enough essential oils, you will have to fork out this money yourself.
If you do not buy any Young Living products for 12 months, your membership is canceled.
Compensation Plan of Young Living
Most MLM companies have a very complicated compensation plan, and Young Living is no exception. The compensation plan has a 3-level approach:
- Create a foundation.
- PV = Product value and in the US is the same vale as the $ price. Thus, 100 PV = $100.
- OGV = Organization Group Level and is the sum of PV ordered in your down line each month.
Earn 8% commission on the sales of those that you sponsor (your personal recruits) and 5% on the people that they sponsor. For the next 3 levels, you earn 4% commission, so you earn on 5 levels.
- Build your business by sharing the experience with others. Start adding members to your team and build on your foundation.
- Become a leader as you lead others to success and take your mission globally.
How Do You Make Money With Young Living?
There are 8 ways to earn money with Young Living:
- Retail customer earnings: You make 24% commission or retail profit every time somebody buys essential oils through you.
- Starter Kit bonus: When you personally recruit a new member, and they enroll with any of the Premium Starter Kits, you receive a $25 one-time starter kit bonus.
- Fast Start bonus: Any orders that your recruit places within the first 3 months, will earn you a 25% bonus on the PV of the order. (up to $200 for each). If you recruit also recruits a new member withing the first 3 months, you earn 10% on their sales. (up to $80 for each).
- Rising Star bonus is a bonus where you can earn shares of Young Living’s monthly commissionable sales. As you move up the ranks from Associate, to Star, to Senior Star and Executive, you place new recruits in “legs” under you. These “legs” need to have varying Organizational Group Volume (OGV). To earn the Rising Star Bonus, you need to have 7 “legs” across your down line. You also need to be enrolled in the Essential Rewards (ER) program, and together with that, place a minimum 100 PV order every month.
- Unilevel Commission is the backbone of the Young Living compensation plan. You get paid commissions on the PV of your recruits after your first 3 months. Earn between 4% and 8% on the PV of your down line, depending on your own rank. Once again, you have to be enrolled as a ER member to earn this commissions. And of course you also need the minimum 100 PV every month.
- Generation Commission is a powerful bonus that you can earn when you achieve the rank of Silver. You are now a “generation”and can earn an additional percentage of your personal group volume. Also earn another additional percentage of your recruit’s group volume, if they also achieve Silver rank. Your rank will determine the number of generations in which you can be paid.
- Generation Leadership bonus is a reward with shares of the company’s monthly sales. This bonus is given to those that achieve the highest Young Living ranks.
- Diamond Leadership bonus is at the same level as the Generation Leadership bonus in that it is given to those at the highest rank levels.
So now the million dollar question is, how much can I earn with Young Living.
How Much Can I Earn With Young Living?
How much you can earn will depend on the size of your down line. The US Income Disclosure statement for 2020 revealed that 88.1% of members are at the Associate rank and earned an average $3 for the year. Yes, you read correctly, that is Three Dollars per year.
The next rank is Star, with 8.5% of members at that level, who earned an average of $248 for the year. Even the highest Star member only made $3,171 for the year. That is just over $274 per month, before paying tax and expenses!!! And the average time to reach this level is 15 months.
So let’s be realistic. Can you make money with Young Living? Yes you can, but it is doubtful it will keep you in coffee for the year, never mind pay any bills!
Young Living also points out that these average earnings do not include any expenses incurred by members. These would be the expenses to run your business. So it would include travel, petrol, telephone, internet costs, rent, advertising, product samples, training and any other miscellaneous expenses.
When looking at all members, including the highest rank of Royal Crown Diamond, the average annual income was only $283 during 2020. 
The income disclosure statement only include “active” members. An “active” member is somebody who actually placed at least one order during the preceding 12 months.
Young Living disclosed that 56% of members that joined Young Living during 2019, did not make a purchase during 2020. Furthermore, 70% of those that joined during 2018, made no purchase during 2020. So you can see that the drop-out rate, as with most MLMs, are very high.
Young Living does not guarantee any income or rank success.
Is Young Living a Good Way to Make Money?
No, I certainly do not think it is a good way. And yes, your earnings would depend on the effort and time you put in, but these average earnings are quite pathetic in my opinion.
You might notice that some members in the Platinum rank earned an average of $123,118 during 2020. But, that is less than 0.1% of members and, after nearly 5 years with Young Living.
The FTC did a study of around 350 MLM companies, and the shocking finding was that 99% of MLM members, actually lose money.
So even if you love essential oils, the reality is that you will find it a very big challenge to make money with Young Living. And you can buy the products on Amazon!
Most people cannot handle the frustration of having to recruit. It is one of the reasons why I gave up MLM, and started affiliate marketing. I worked for Usborne Books for about 10 years, so I know the frustration around having to recruit and fulfill minimum monthly sales volumes.
The uncertainty if your team would be placing orders, in order for you to earn override commissions, is not worth it.
What I like About Young Living
- Good quality natural essential oils.
- Charitable giving: the D. Gary Young, Young Living Foundation, work to empower underserved communities.
- If you do want to start an essential oils business, then it has a relatively low start-up costs of $45. (plus of course ongoing monthly costs).
- You can earn free products and rewards.
What I Don’t Like About Young Living
- 88.1% of brand partners make an average of $3 per year.
- You have to be recruiting to make money. Young Living, like most MLM’s, will encourage you to sell to and recruit family members and friends. So, there is the potential of harming relationships.
You can read more about how to avoid Multi Level Marketing scams here. - Young Living has run into problems with the FDA, due to product claims and controversy, as well as exaggerated income claims.
- Previous lawsuits.
- It is a MLM business model with the reality that 99% of distributors lose money.
- The Young Living reviews from customer, complain mainly about poor customer service and being charged for products that were not ordered.
- Ongoing costs are much higher than anticipated. To qualify for commission, there is a minimum 100PV (equals to $199) per month order that has to be placed. It is very likely that in the early stages of your membership, you will have to pay this cost yourself. In reality, this is the way that Young Living gets $100 every month, from each recruiter. Whether you have sold the products to a customer, or paying the cost yourself, you need it to qualify.
Is Young Living a Pyramid Scam?
Although Young Living has some dubious practices and have been fined in the past, Young Living is not a scam. It is a legitimate essential oil MLM company that has been operating for more than 25 years.
But, they are not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This is very unusual for a business that has been operating for 25 years.
A nationwide class-action lawsuit was filed against Young Living in 2019, accusing them of having created an illegal pyramid scheme. The compensation plan of Young Living places more emphasis and value on recruiting, than actually selling the essential oils. Read more about Pyramid schemes and Affiliate Marketing here.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued serious warnings to Young Living for unsustained health claims by some of their distributors. These claims were on social media, alleging that Young Living essential oils could cure everything from autism, to Parkinson’s, and even cancer and the deadly Ebola virus.
My Opinion on What Is Young Living About
The reality of how do you make money with Young Living, is to me not worth the time and effort. When you look at how to become a member of Young Living, you have to buy a starter kit. This means you are out-of-pocket before you have sold a single bottle of essential oil.
Recruiting is one aspect of MLM’s and network marketing that many people hate.
And make no mistake, if you are not actively recruiting and building a team, you will not make money with Young Living or any other MLM company.
Making a stable income with Young Living, is not that easy. If you want steady passive income, then I suggest the smart choice is to look at joining Wealthy Affiliate for FREE.
Young Living essential oils are also available on Amazon, where you can buy them as and when you need them.
Alternative and No. 1 Recommendation
Realistic passive income without MLM is possible, and this is where you will find it.
- Free to start (keep your credit card in your wallet when you start).
- You do not need any technical skills to start.
- There is a superb support network from thousands of other online marketers.
- You will learn how to get qualified free organic traffic.
If you have any experience with what is Young Living about, or question about the compensation plan of Young Living, then please them below and I will get back to you. 
Dear Line,
Thanks for the very useful article on Young Living. I like that you have provided various information about the product and also about the business opportunities in Young Living. I’m personally not familiar with essential oils and related products, but I have friend who will be very interested in the product and its business opportunities that comes with it. I will share this article with my friend. Thanks and great work!
Thank you and you are welcome to share.
In fairness, the FDA thing doesn’t bother me. Some of these government agencies can get a bit stringent in their standards, killing small food and drug startups.
With that said, I honestly don’t like these kinds of business models. I truly think that any company in the 21st century, should have a kind of business model that trains amateurs in marketing, and then selling their product, without straining their relationships. It’s a big price to pay for an achievement that is usually trivial at best.
The MLM business model is not one what works for me. I think it is outdated and only favors the few that are at the top. All the best.
Thanks for this Review of the Young Living MLM Scheme, Liné. This is a really good overview of how MLM really works and includes some great statistics. I have personal experience of MLM, too. The organization I was with before I joined WA had three MLM schemes that it called Anchor Offers and you were expected to join all three. After 2,5 years of spending more than I made, I decided to quit. Now very happy with Wealthy Affiliate and the affiliate marketing world.
Hi Jenni, I also gave up working for an MLM and started affiliate marketing. I hated the recruiting aspect of MLM, and if you are not constantly recruiting and building your downline, then you do not make any money. I am very pleased that I made the switch. All the best, Liné
I love how raw, straightforward, and honest you were. I absolutely do enjoy that approach. No need to make things look like something they are not. If this is not an option (smart choice) to escape the 9-5, then for many, looking for more information that will we all the information they needed.
That said, I was caught by the notion that it’s been around since the year I was born. I mean, that’s a lot of time. And they must be doing something right if they are still going. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard something along the lines of 2-3 years max for a typical MLM. Needless to say that 20+ is pretty good within itself.
That Royal Crown Diamond sounds busted. I mean, the potential to earn is definitely there. But I will agree. That recommendation of yours is so much better. 🙂
Some MLM’s have been around for many years. The products are often good, but overpriced, and Young Living is the same. The few that are at the top, can make a lot of money, but that is after many years. It is not realistic for a beginner or for anybody that needs to earn money.
I have gotten into the MLM’s several times before. Most of the time they do have great products, but you can’t just sell, they always want you to be recruiting, and that is a pain. I just recently got recruited into an MLM, and they are getting sneakier at the way they get you in. With this one you think you are just watching videos and you are actually signing up for something, you really don’t have a chance to decline. I tried to give it a shot, but they are so pushy with harassing other people. Any way, I really like your honesty and especially that you are promoting WA, because it is wonderful here! Great article!
Many MLM’s are very sneaky about the way in which they recruit, and many lie about the reality of the income earnings. To me MLM is an outdated business model and I am pleased that I gave up working for a MLM and started with affiliate marketing.
Great review article and quiet an informative one too. When is comes to multi level marketing, I have had my worst and certainly an experience that I wouldn’t want to endure again. That’s why I now prefer affiliate marketing. And considering that young living has recommendable products, despite their past. I would recommend being an affiliate marketer than using multi level marketing.
I worked for a MLM for about 10 years, and know how difficult it is to make passive income with the MLM business model. I am very pleased that I started with affiliate marketing, and will certainly recommend it to anybody that wants to make a living online. All the best, Liné
Hi Line’
I am hoping for a Passive Income! I have looked at several MLM programs, and it always resembles that ugly pyramid scheme. If a person were smart they would develop their own plan like this. I am not that smart though!
I am willing to work and take pride in what I do. I will have to check out your number 1 recommendation and see what that is all about!
Glad I didn’t try this one, I would like to make more than $3 a year on average!
Chad
Hi Chad, the MLM companies that I have looked at all have the pyramic structure when it comes to the compensation plan. If you are not actively recruiting, then you will not make money with them. All the best, Liné
I have not heard of young living but it seems to be the same with a lot of companies like this. You have to spend money to make money and unfortunately, you have to spend a lot of money and time to make enough money to order a tall drip coffee from Starbucks.
I worked for a MLM for about 10 years, and I know how difficult it is to make money with a MLM if you are not actively recruiting. The emphasis is on building a team, rather than on selling the product. And you often end up being out of pocket.
A business that leads to earning as poor as $3 a year does not deserve any bodies consideration. I have always known MLM to be a pay Peter rub Paul game. Affiliate marketing is sure a better way to go. It may seams difficult at the beginning but it is worth the effort and time invested into it. Top of it is finding a good platform like wealthy affiliate where you can learn the act and get encouraged.
I worked for a MLM company for nearly 10 years, and know how difficult it is to make money if you are not continuously recruiting. Affiliate marketing is a more realistic way of earning passive income.
Great article! MLM is something I have never really read about but it sounds interesting. I have bookmarked your article in case I want to back to it one day. It is very well written detailed. The images fit well to. I really enjoyed reading about MLM.I will share your article with anyone who I find is interested in young living or making money with young living. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for commenting and you are welcome to share.