Is Trades of Hope a Scam? Or are they Legit? (A 2020 Review!)

Welcome to my Trades of Hope review!

You might have come across with Trades of Hope as you’re searching for a legitimate business you can engage into.

Their compensation plan might have aroused your interest and want to know more about how it works.

If this is your concern, then you have come to the right place!

In this review, I will provide an analysis of their business opportunity and help you determine whether it’s a good investment or should you search for other income opportunities.

So is Trades of Hope a scam? Or are they a legitimate?

Let’s find out…

What are Trades of Hope?

Trades of Hope are an MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) that specializes in selling women accessories and jewelry.

In addition, aside from doing business, they also appear aiming to help and empower women.

The company was incepted in 2011 by Gretchen Huijskens, Elisabeth Huijskens, Holly Wehde, and Chelsie Antos.

I also reviewed similar MLM companies that sell accessories and jewelry in the past. You can check them out if you like—Paparazzi Jewelry, Ring Bomb Party, and RevealProducts.com.

I will not discuss their product any further. Our main focus here is their compensation plan—is Trades of Hope a scam? Is it a legitimate source of income?

Let’s continue…

The Trades of Hope business opportunity

The hallmark of MLMs is their complex and almost incomprehensible compensation plan.

They’re so convoluted that it seems like you’d need assistance from an expert finance person to decipher the entire thing.

But those offered by Trades of Hope is a little different from typical MLM compensation plans.

They are pretty straightforward and composed of only one page. You can see the full compensation plan here.

According to the document they’ve provided, they currently reward nine rankings.

The summary and requirement per rankings are as follows—

Also, their compensation plan offers nine income streams, and it includes the following—

• Instant Personal Retail Commissions
• Personal Retail Bonus Commissions
• Rank-based Personal Retail Commissions
• First Level Commissions
• Second Level Commissions
• Third Level Commissions
• Team Bonus
• First Director Generation Bonus
• Second Director Generation Bonus

Now, let’s discuss each of them in the following section...

What are its income streams?

Instant Personal Retail Commissions

This bonus is applicable to all ranks.

The representative earns a 20% retail commission per retail merchandise sold.

Personal Retail Bonus Commissions

Personal Retail Bonus Commissions is a sort of part two from the previously explained income stream.

The only difference is that it only qualifies ranks starting from Qualified Compassionate Entrepreneur up to the National Executive Director – Compassionate Entrepreneur.

Trades of Hopes eligible for this bonus can earn from 2% to 5% depending on the personal volume generated as a result of the transaction.

The summary is as follows—

• A 2% retail commission percentage is applied to personal volume in the range of $500 to $999.
• A 3% retail commission percentage is applied to personal volume in the range of $1,000 to $2,999.
• A 5% retail commission percentage is applied to the personal volume above $3,000.

Rank-based Personal Retail Commissions

To become eligible for a Rank-based Personal Retail Commissions, the representative must be in the ranks of at least Advanced Compassionate Entrepreneur up to the National Executive Director – Compassionate Entrepreneur.

They could earn another set of a retail commission that ranges from 3% to 12%.

The summary of the commission percentage is as follows—

• Advanced CE – they earn a 3% personal retail commission.
• Master CE – they earn a 4% personal retail commission.
• Manager CE – they earn a 5% personal retail commission.
• Director CE – they earn a 7% personal retail commission.
• Executive Director CE – they earn a 10% personal retail commission.
• National Executive Director CE – they earn a 12% personal retail commission.

First Level Commissions

As the term implies, representatives that are qualified for this commission earns from sales volume generated from the first level.

To be eligible, they must be at least in the ranks of Lead Compassionate Entrepreneur up to the National Executive Director – Compassionate Entrepreneur.

Qualified representatives can earn from 3% to 7% First Level Commissions.

The summary of the commission percentage is as follows—

• Lead CE - they earn a 3% first level commission.
• Advanced CE – they earn a 3% first level commission.
• Master CE – they earn a 3% first level commission.
• Manager CE – they earn a 4% first level commission.
• Director CE – they earn a 5% first level commission.
• Executive Director CE – they earn a 6% first level commission.
• National Executive Director CE – they earn a 7% first level commission.

Second Level Commissions 

As the term implies, representatives that are qualified for this commission earn from sales volume generated from the second level.

To be eligible, they must be at least in the ranks of Advanced Compassionate Entrepreneur up to the National Executive Director – Compassionate Entrepreneur.

Qualified representatives can earn from 2% to 5% Second Level Commissions.

The summary of the commission percentage is as follows—

• Advanced CE – they earn a 2% second level commission.
• Master CE – they earn a 2% second level commission.
• Manager CE – they earn a 3% second level commission.
• Director CE – they earn a 4% second level commission.
• Executive Director CE – they earn a 5% second level commission.
• National Executive Director CE – they earn a 5% second level commission.

Third Level Commissions

Same as the two previously explained Level Commissions, the only difference is that representative earns commissions from sales volume generated in the third level.

To be eligible, they must be at least in the ranks of Master Compassionate Entrepreneur up to the National Executive Director – Compassionate Entrepreneur.

Qualified representatives can earn from 1% to 4% Third Level Commissions.

The summary of the commission percentage is as follows—

• Master CE – they earn a 1% third level commission.
• Manager CE – they earn a 2% third level commission.
• Director CE – they earn a 3% third level commission.
• Executive Director CE – they earn a 4% third level commission.
• National Executive Director CE – they earn a 4% third level commission.

Team Bonus

To qualify for this bonus, the representative has to reach and maintain the ranks of Director Compassionate Entrepreneur or higher.

Representatives that are eligible for team bonus commission earns 1% based on group sales volume.

First Director Generation Bonus

For you to benefit from the First Director Generation Bonus, you have to be in the ranks of Director Compassionate Entrepreneur or higher.

Qualified representatives shall receive a 1.5% commission.

Second Director Generation Bonus

For you to benefit from the Second Director Generation Bonus, you have to be in the ranks of Executive Director - Compassionate Entrepreneur or National Executive Director – Compassionate Entrepreneur.

Qualified representatives shall receive a 2% commission.

How much will it cost to join them?

To become a representative of Trades of Hope, you have to avail one of their membership packages that will cost you as follows—

• Merit membership pack – it costs you $99.
• Mosaic membership pack – it costs you $99.
• All-in-one membership pack – it costs you $198.

The membership includes tools, products, and other paraphernalia essential to growing your business.

Is it a reliable source of income?

Success in Multi-Level Marketing is extremely rare.

According to a study conducted by the Federal Trade Commission, they found out that 99% of people who join MLMs are likely to experience losses than gain any profits as a result of joining their network marketing.

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

It was further added that most MLMs fail to meet expectation because of two factors—

Capitalization

Have you heard of Garage Qualified?

It is a special definition used to describe MLM representatives that tend to over-purchase company products for the sake of maintaining or reaching a certain level of personal volume.

They do so to improve their rankings in the organization and earn more benefits.

This can become problematic if they aren’t earning anything but still pretty much obliged to meet their required personal volume.

As a result, it will eventually lead to losses.

Recruitment

Recruitment is the bread and butter, or the lifeblood of MLMs to put a more accurate term.

Aside from their commissions and bonuses being derived from them, the entire structure will collapse without them.

Imagine this—if the representatives at the very bottom of the network are failing to recruit sufficient people under their network, they will not earn anything as a result.

To make matters worse, they still have to maintain their personal volumes.

As mentioned, it would eventually lead to losses and then cause the representative to become inactive and quit the business altogether.

This cycle will continue up to the next lower level and then the next and so forth and so on…

It will continue up until the network marketing structure finally collapses.

Here Is My Best Work At Home Recommendation For Newbies!

Is Trades of Hope a scam?

I did not find any reason to believe that Trades of Hope is a scam or a pyramid scheme.

I think that they are a legitimate Multi-Level Marketing that primarily sells women’s accessories and jewelry.

However, some of you might argue that MLMs are essentially a pyramid scheme that disguises themselves as a direct selling company.

Although I agree to some degree, they are technically different in regards to legality. MLMs are legitimate because they offer something of value in exchange for the payment of membership fees.

And these values are in the form of retail merchandise in which the representative can resell for profits.

On the other hand, a pyramid scheme is high-risk because you receive anything upon initial investment. What you get instead is just a promise of returns.

It is also for this reason that they are illegal and even banned in many countries like the United States, Japan, Albania, Italy, Germany, and France, just to name a few of them.

What I Don't Like About Trades of Hope

Success is recruitment-based

Your chance of earning a significant income is based on recruiting new members.

No BBB account

The Better Business Bureau or simply BBB is one way most people do to check the credibility of a business.

Not having one doesn’t immediately conclude that the business is fraudulent in any way, but it will definitely impact the decision-making of potential investors.

No income disclosure statement

There’s no way for us to estimate the potential income without the income disclosure statement.

The high monthly personal volume requirement

You need to maintain at least a personal volume of $300 to qualify for bonuses and commissions.

What I Like About Trades of Hope

Simple compensation plan

Unlike most MLMs, their compensation plan is relatively straightforward and consists of only one page.

Final thoughts

I hope my content has provided you the answer to this all-important question—is Trades of Hope a scam? Or are they a good source of income?

Although the company is technically legitimate, I still don’t recommend or any MLMs for that matter.

Your chance of earning any significant is low, and the risk of incurring losses is high.

Continue to the next section and discover how you can achieve financial freedom online…

Why I choose Affiliate Marketing over Multi-Level Marketing

If you are looking for a risk-free way to make a living online then Affiliate Marketing is the answer!

And here are some reasons why I highly recommend this business model!

Well, I guess that’s just about it!

Thank you for taking time off and reading my “Is Trades of Hope a scam?” content!

I hope to see you next time!

Peace!