Is Pure Romance a pyramid scheme? Or a reliable source of income?

Welcome to my Pure Romance review!

As you’re looking through any adults’ stuff online, you may have come across with a company named Pure Romance (Uhmm… sounds enticing already).

When we hear about MLMs, we might immediately associate it with health and wellness or technology, but Pure Romance is entirely different from the rest.

You might also notice that they also offer a business opportunity.

You might have become interested and wanted to know if you really can make money with them.

If you’re searching for answers, then you have come to the right place.

In this review, I will help you determine whether Pure Romance is a good investment or not.

So is Pure Romance a pyramid scheme? Or are they a legitimate business?

Let’s begin.

What is Pure Romance?

Pure Romance is an MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) that specializes in selling adult products and sexual health education.

It was founded in 1993 by Patty Brisben.

You can read Patty Brisbens’ story here.

I won’t be explaining their products any further since our focus is their compensation—whether it’s a good source of income or not.

The Pure Romance business opportunity

Complex and almost incomprehensible compensation plans are the MLMs. And Pure Romance is a prime example of that.

It’s a forty long page that seems like you’ll need a financial expert to decipher the whole thing.

But you don’t have to worry about that because I have summarized them for better understanding.

In general, the business opportunity of MLMs only runs on two main income streams. It is as follows—

• Retail Commissions – it is the income from retail sales.
• Referral or recruitment – it is where most of its income streams are based. You earn commissions and bonuses as a result of recruiting new consultants into the network.

MLMs make their compensation plans as complicated as possible to evade potential new recruits from asking too many questions.

And then, they completely save their selves by just showing you how much the potential earnings would be.

It’s a bit shady but effective. So, in this case—is Pure Romance a pyramid scheme? Well, not really, which I will be explaining in the later chapters.

Pure Romance currently rewards eight ranks—

• Consultant
• Advanced Consultant
• Senior Consultant
• Director
• Advanced Director
• Senior Director
• National Director
• Executive Director

And commissions and bonuses come from various sources, which I will discuss in the next section of this review.

For simplicity, I have summarized the compensation plan and only pick out the important points so that you could understand it more clearly.

What are its income streams?

In this section, we’ll take a look at how each income streams work.

And in the latter section, I’ll explain why you shouldn’t join MLMs, and why it’s better to search for other investments.

Retail Commissions

It’s a basic feature you’ll find in any MLMs. It is where the consultant earns through retail sales—either purchases made by your lower network or retail customers.

Unlike most MLMs, the percentage commissions of Pure Romance depend on your rankings.

The percentages are as follows—

• Consultant – 40%
• Advance Consultant – 40%
• Senior Consultant – 50%
• Director – 50%
• Advanced Director – 53%
• Senior Director – 55%
• National Director – 55%
• Executive Director – 60%

So that means if you managed to sell $500 worth of merchandise, then it would give you about $300 commission once you reached the Executive Director position.

Does it sound dandy?

Before you get all excited, remember that recruitment is the bread and butter of MLMs.

It means that you have to create a large network to advance in rankings.

Not only that, but you have to make sure that every consultant under your network must remain active.

Additionally, you have to ensure that they are purchasing at least $200 worth of Pure Romance products.

Free Product Bonus

It’s a 5% bonus a consultant earns on product purchases they spend monthly. The minimum purchase should be $1,000 a month.

You don’t earn any cash, as the term implies, you only get free products.

For example, if you achieved the minimum requirement of $1,000 a month, then it should give you a $50 worth of free products.

Override Bonus

As I mentioned, recruitment is the bread and butter of MLMs.

Override bonus is a commission based on how well you have managed your lower network.

The consultants’ income is derived from the sales volume of their personally sponsored consultant—either through personal purchases or retail sales from customers.

The commission percentage is depended on their rankings, which they could earn for up to four levels deep.

The commission percentages are as follows—

• Consultant – it appears that there are no override bonuses for this rank.
• Advanced Consultant – 2% on their first and second level network.
• Senior Consultant – It’s a 2.5%  commission on their first and second level network.
• Director – it’s a 3.5% commissions on their first and second level network. And then 1% on their third and fourth level.
• Advanced Director - 4% on their first and second level network. And then 1% on their third and fourth level.
• Senior Director – it’s a 5% commission on their first and second level network. And then 1% on their third and fourth level.
• National Director – it’s a 6% and 5% commission on their first and second level network, respectively. And then 1% on their third and fourth level.
• Executive Director – it’s a 6% and 5% commission on their first and second level network, respectively. And then 1% on their third and fourth level.

Remember that for you to be able to reach its high paying features, you really need to recruit and keep them active. It’s not really about the products.

That’s how basically MLMs motivate their consultant to spend more and persuade your retail customers or lower network to spend more to advance in rankings and earn more income.

Also, take this thought into consideration—for those in the lower lines, you don’t receive your commissions in full because you share it with your upper line.

​It’s a red flag because you’re working your ass off, but it seems that as you’re working harder, the more income your upper lines are earning.

Directors Bonus

As the term says, it is a feature that specifically qualifies the directorship positions.

It’s a very long explanation, but the summary is that you’re supposed to earn more benefits as you enter the ranks of directorship.

If you’re looking for a better and more reliable source of income, then check out the following description—

How much will it cost me to join?

The basic membership fee is $199 up to $1,000 depending on the starters’ kit the consultant chose.

Of course, if you want to gain traction, you and your personally sponsored consultant should purchase the expensive ones.     

Can you make a reliable income from Pure Romance?

Success in Multi-Level Marketing is extremely rare because the business itself is flawed.

According to a study conducted by the Federal Trade Commission, it was found that 99% of people who join MLMs are more likely to lose money than gain any profits. (1)

This instance was elaborately discussed in detail in Jon Taylor’s book, “Multi-Level Marketing Unmasked.”

It was further explained that the reason why most MLMs fail to meet expectations because of two things—

Capitalization

Have you heard of the term Garage Qualified?

It is a special term used to describe MLM consultants that tend to purchase company products excessively just to reach or maintain a certain personal volume.

As a result, they end up running out of funds to meet the minimum monthly requirements. Thus, they eventually incur losses and then quit altogether.

Recruitment

For any consultant to earn a reliable and higher income, they have to improve their personal volume.

As mentioned, one way to do it is through retail sales. But you won’t go anywhere if you solely depend on retail sales.

Therefore, an MLMs solution is recruiting consultants and convincing them to join your network.

Recruitment is very similar to pyramid schemes. And it becomes problematic if you are unable to recruit sufficient people under your network.

New consultants would probably try to recruit their loved ones, friends, or acquaintances first.

Of course, there are no guarantees that all of them would sign up. Pushing the business opportunity would even cause annoyance and resentment among you and your loved ones.

The more challenging part emerges when you finally ran out of known people to recruit and try in selling the business opportunity to complete strangers.

It can be especially hard for people with no marketing or sales background. So as you can see, it is not for everybody.

If you’re looking for a better option, then you have to check out my best work-at-home recommendation.

Is Pure Romance a pyramid scheme?

No. Pure Romance is not a pyramid scheme or scam.

I believe that they are a legitimate Multi-Level Marketing that primarily sells adult products.

Some might say that MLMs are just a pyramid scheme in disguise. Although I’m with them to some degree, they are only distinguished because of legality.

Multi-Level Marketing is legal because you receive value in exchange for your so-called investment.

And these values you receive are in the form of retail merchandise that you can resell. As a result, it appears that the company is a direct-selling company.

Pyramid schemes are illegal and considered outright scams in most countries because it is extremely high risk.

In contrast to MLMs, you don’t receive anything for your investment. You only get a promise of high returns.

What I Don't Like About Pure Romance

Success is recruitment-based

As emphasized, you will need to create a large network to advance in rankings and earn a higher income.

Expensive products

The products that they offer are pricey, which would cost you a lot every month.

Poor customers’ ratings in the BBB

Despite obtaining an A+ rating, the company has a below-average rating in terms of customer ratings. (2)

They received a lot of complaints ranging from poor customer service to product quality.

Let’s take a look at them—

What I Like About Pure Romance

Positive BBB ratings

Pure Romance obtained a positive overall rating in the BBB.

However, we shouldn’t entirely rely on them in terms of background checking the credibility of a business.

This is because there are MLM companies that were rated A+ despite having backgrounds of malpractices.

It was well-documented in a CNN online publication titled—“Slammed by the Government, A-rated by the Better Business Bureau.”

Final thoughts

I hope my review has provided you enough information to help you in answering the important question—is Pure Romance a pyramid scheme?

Although Pure Romance is legitimate in the eyes of the law, I still don’t them or any MLMs for that matter.

Success is extremely rare that your chance of earning a higher income is slim.

Also, they may still be a pyramid scheme because they are more focused on recruitment than selling the actual products.

If you want a more legitimate way to earn income, then continue to the next section…

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Thank you for taking time off and reading my “Is Pure Romance a pyramid scheme?” article.

Until next time!

Peace!