The Verve Energy Drink Scam- Fooling Young People To Join?

Posted by in MLM Companies | 24 comments

verve_energy_drink_scamA lot of people are calling it the Verve energy drink scam. It’s a product of the MLM company called Vemma. It’s supposed to be a healthy energy drink. I’m a little bit confused and puzzled. Could this be another scam pyramid scheme that’s aimed at getting youth to join? Or is it actually providing a good opportunity for people to make good money and reach their financial dreams and goals? Is this even something good to put in your body? I’m just going to be as real with you as possible and give you my review and unbiased opinion on this whole thing. I do know how to work from home and could show you how to build a home based business from the Internet, so I know a thing or 2 about the biz opp industry.

 

Is A “Healthy” Energy Drink Even Possible?

caffeineIt’s no secret that most energy drinks out there are loaded with caffeine and sugar. It’s also no secret that people, especially youth, love them. They taste pretty good and give you that buzz that gets you going. I’ll have to admit I like those Monster drinks. I know, I know. But could there possibly be such a thing as a healthy energy drink? Well that’s the pitch of the Verve: a healthy alternative to energy drinks on the market that is loaded with vitamins and supplements. It’s got 80 mg of caffeine. That’s about as much as 1 cup of coffee. That’s really where the “energy” is coming from I believe. Is it healthy? I don’t know. You be the judge. But let me explain this whole “Verve energy drink scam”.

Selling The Dream

mlm_recruiting_The reason why most people join Vemma to market the Verve energy drink is because they think they will make lots of easy money. Lots of young people are joining in hopes of distributing this energy drink to friends to eventually make millions of dollars. Prospects are usually invited to some kind of meeting where they are shown how they can make truck loads of money working “part-time” over the course of just a few months. Of course, the truth is, you’re going to have to work your freaking butt off bugging friends, family, and eventually strangers to join your energy drink business. Your sponsor or team leader will try to convince you it will all be worth it. 

So, what’s really happening here is people are being shown the income potential of selling these Verve energy drinks and recruiting others to do the same thing. This is called referral marketing, or multi-level marketing. Most people in the mainstream refer to these things as a “pyramid scheme where the guy at the top makes all the money”. I am now seeing it all over Facebook. Some of my FB friends are tagged in photos with their Vemma team leaders and what not, and also see out-of-nowhere inspirational quotes. Hey I know these people! When did they get all into self-help and motivation?! Well, that’s what these MLM business will do to you. Definitely not a bad thing though.

It’s going to cost you about $500 to get into business and become a distributor. This isn’t even including all the other costs that will be involved such as ordering product the following months, marketing tools, meetings, motivation material, gas traveling to events, etc. 

I was reading a comment in a forum of an upset father who says his son has been trying this “Verve energy drink scam” for 9 months now and says his sons is out and about every other night or so, doing meetings and travelling here and there, trying to recruit people and has only 20 people in his downline. He hasn’t made a single dime.

I Actually Think Vemma Is A Good Thing 

I actually had my breakthrough while being in an MLM business (Amway). Because I associated with people who preached success, positive thinking, and prosperity, this opened my own eyes to what I was capable of doing. It’s not a bad thing to be in Vemma. The worst thing that is going to happen is you’re going to have lots of fun, learn a lot of new and exciting things, and hang around believers and dreamers. I got to hang around millionaires, some were very young, and people who started with nothing and now are living the life. They started from the bottom and now they’re here. 

But be careful. 

That’s all I’m going to say. It is so easy to get stuck in this mindset of getting ready to get ready. You read the books, listen to your upline, attend the rallies, but if you’re not actively going out and recruiting new people every week….you’re WASTING your time.

I Think You’re Limited

Would I really call Vemma out on marketing a Verve energy drink scam business? No. It’s not a scam. Can you make big money doing this? Yeah. But very, and I mean very few people do. I’m going to say about 99.9% of people never really reach their dreams and goals in the multi-level marketing industry. But it’s really not much different than any other MLM company out there such as Amway, Mary Kay, Herbalife, Monavie, and tons of others. It’s going to come down to you being able to convince and recruit lots of lots of people, and teaching them to do the same thing, consistently. 

Affiliate Marketing Online vs Vemma (MLM)

Make Money OnlineI know a lot of people, especially the younger crowd (20 somethings; 30 somethings) take a look at an opportunity like Verve because they want to make more money. You’re on your phones and Internet all day anyway. Why not use it to build an online business and make money? That’s what hit me. That’s what I did. That’s when I left the MLM biz, and started my own online business. Doing affiliate marketing online is pretty simple, cheap, and you literally have 100% control of how much you want to earn and when you want to work. 

You can literally build an online business in ANY passion of yours. I know of someone who is absolutely KILLING it in the zen/yoga niche. If you have an Internet connection and can do simple research, you can absolutely create a phenomenal online business that makes lots of money. I should know. I’m able to generate 6 figures from doing affiliate marketing online. The crazy thing is, it’s not complicated. It’s actually pretty darn simple. Of course, it requires some hard work, but anyone can start making money from home if they just put in the effort. 

P.S. Make sure you check out the #1 affiliate income opportunity if you're looking to make money the right way...

24 Comments

  1. Hi, it’s been awhile since you wrote this article. I will not get into details here but just say MLM is by far the most poorly trained industry on earth — not even close. As generic trainer and MLM leader Dale Calvert says, 99 percent of distributors have had bad terrible leadership or no leadership at all. You should Google Dale and watch some of his videos. You will see that 25-30 percent of distributors — these are the ones who are willing to learn a duplicatable system — can earn five- to seven-figured incomes if they are trained correctly.

  2. What makes it a Pyramid Scheme is that you make money recruiting, not selling. When the company profits from internal sales and not sales to unaffiliated customers, that’s a huge red flag.

  3. I would never drink vemma. It has sucralose, an insecticide in it. Poor kids drinking this garbage should get their money back.

  4. TO ALL.
    Multi Level Marketing is a unethical way to get rich quick. I do business for myself and i love money but from honest human being with a concious i would never get into a MLM business. I also have lost respect for anyone that gets into this type of business. Here is a perfect example. Before Vemma was known in my city “Sudbury” a old friend from highschool sent me a msg on facebook asking me how i was doing. We had a little chat and i thought of this as a nice gesture until he dropped the bomb. He asked me to get together for coffee to catch up and since he knew i loved money he wanted to pitch a new business that was just starting up in Sudbury called VEMMA. My initial feeling was “ohh well he thought of me for a new business idea, since he knows i have had success already”. That was until i realised it was a MLM and for him to make money he needed me to sign up. I told him i wasnt interested and i havent heard anything from him since. I did go for coffee and he barely spent anytime asking me about the few years we havent seen eachother it was purely recruitment. Plus for me to sign up i had to buy a 500$ Vemma pack. So i left the meeting thinking “these guys dont want the best for you, only for them.
    PS : TO ALL Vemma MLM wanna be business men and women,
    I am NOT the only one to think you are Dishonest and Unethical. EVERYONE that is not easily influence by them and has a head on their shoulders loses respect for everyone that takes part in MLM like VEMMA.

    PLease just rethink you decisions and business models. Do something that will have a positive impact on poeple.

  5. I joined Vemma about 3 years ago. Actually, a few months before the “YPR” launched. That is the young ones with the energy drink campaign. I joined for the part time money and the products themselves. I am with Vince on this. You can make some massive income with MLM. I made really good extra cash with Vemma. But, there are a lot of better ways to do it. I am still in the business, however, it is only for the product consumption. I have toured their factory and seen what all goes into this product first hand. To answer the question, “Can there even be a healthy energy drink?” Absolutely. The caffeine in the Verve is a plant sourced caffeine. It is not a man made chemical and has had no chemicals added to it. “America’s heart surgeon” drinks it daily as well. I do think that it is a great way for students that are being loaded down with debt in this economy to learn to earn in a different way. Most likely, at least 50% of them will move back home to parents and not be able to get a job in their specialty and have huge debts to pay back for their education. If this verve business is set up the right way, they all can win. Unfortunately, they are not being told how to do it that way. Bottom line, it is not a scam. The product is great and the pay plan is too. The people that are uneducated enough to say only the company makes money in MLM, probably works for a company. You know, the 9-5 kind of prison. They get NO tax advantages except their mortgage. Who do they think is making all the money there? At least their are some that are willing to take a few risk in this life. That is what it is really all about! LIVING! Thanks Vince!

    Amy

    • Hi Amy. Thank you for your honest thoughts and feedback. You know, the whole caffeine debacle goes back and forth. Some studies say it’s good, some bad. At least the Verve energy drink doesn’t have a bunch of sugar. But honestly, you can get just as good energy drinks nowadays in the market, and for cheaper. I do know a thing or two about this business model. I was actually in Amway and we had a similar “healthy” energy drink product called XS. I think the owner of Vemma is an ex-Amway rep himself if I’m not mistaken. I’m thinking you made the really good extra cash short-term, and because of the sale products rather than building a downline. THAT’s really what it’s about. Building a downline and hustling as many as your friends and family under you. And quite frankly, this business is not for everyone, yet it is marketed in a way like it is. Like any business, you are going to have to spend to get things going. You’re going to need to order product for yourself, purchase marketing materials like brochures, business cards, packets of info, etc. Not to mention the cost of gas, going to and fro your weekly meetings, then the big events different Vemma teams out there have, costs money. Buying a ticket to a big conference, staying at a hotel, and all that jazz. I should know. One of my buddies got recruited and flew ($$) to San Francisco for this big rally event. All this costs money. And if you’re not constantly going out there recruiting people (like 99% of the reps aren’t) and building big downlines, then it’s going to cost you. If you’re a college student, most likely you don’t have much income…yet. I do think it would be a great learning experience and MLM is where I got my breakthrough when I realized I can become an entrepreneur and succeed. It just doesn’t have to be MLM, which over the years has become more and more difficult.

  6. You all are looking at this wrong. Who cares about the product? The product makes it legal, that’s it. I am going into this with a totally different view! I got my 6 people. Now I’m helping them get 6. If you want help with this I am here. I have a great way to promote this. Its not about having meetings and promoting verve or any other vemma product. Its about the business. Don’t be the guy/girl that says I’m putting in my vemma order do you need anything? That’s annoying when I see that on Facebook. Let me help you. I truly have a much easier way to do and BTW vemma has the best compensation plan.

    • Well that’s kind of the point that many people make and why many says it’s a scam. You said it yourself “who cares about the product?”. It’s all about hustling as many people as you can into a downline. You’ve got to understand this doesn’t sit well with lots of people and it’s on the borderline of a pyramid scheme just like all MLM’s. Sure, it’s legal, but the promotion of such opportunities often times are way misrepresented. You will find the flaunting of fancy cars, yachts, mansions, etc. all to entice people into believing that this is their ticket to riches. The reality is, just a minute percent ever reach any decent income, not just in Vemma, but just about all MLM’s. I think you’re better off starting your own business whether it be offline or online. But it should be in a niche you are passionate about.

      By the way, it’s been a few months. How are things going?

  7. Hello Vince! Pls I need to get more information on internet marketing . Am just looking for a more honest means of making more income than MLM. Thank you!

  8. I’m not going to say great review because just like the guy above “Steve”
    Said its ALL about what you put into it. Look I see you are an affiliate guy
    You’re just steering people away from any mlm to go and buy into your deals
    You are promoting.simple as that. Tons of people are making tremendous money
    In mlm but the masses never will make it in ANYTHING because there just aren’
    Any free lunches out there if you want to be rich you gotta pay the price.

    • Hey Rick…thanks for you honest opinions and comment.

      Yes. Absolutely. I am an affiliate marketer who refers people to places online I think would really be of help. Maybe like you are now, I was also in MLM at one point and quite successful…I know the current mentality of a member…tend to be very loyal and hardcore about it. I’ve been there. Done that.

      MLM is quite controversial. Even mlm giant “Herbalife” is currently under investigation. I’m not totally against it, but I realized I was hustling people into a downline and really nothing else.

      You are very limited in the ways you can make money in mlm. It comes down to either selling the product itself for a quick profit, which is like having any other sales job out there…..or recruiting people under you and motivating them to be “active”…which requires you to really become a dynamic, charismatic personality. Not many people are meant for this.

      I myself have seen much better results finding a niche you are passionate about, online, and essentially exploiting that niche by generating revenue through a website, ads, links, etc. The competition is low, and you have a much better chance at “making it”…I’ve made 10x’s more money online than MLM…and I had 30+ in my downline at one point.

      I have referred many mlm seekers into Internet marketing, and have seen them personally become much more successful at generating an income from home, than ever before. You truly get to work on your own time, don’t have to attend weekly meetings, and the cost to run an online business is minimal.

      These are just my opinions. If you wish to stick to the MLM route, I do wish you the best of luck!!

      Cheers,
      Vince

  9. heads up young people when you work you get paid never and i mean never work and not get paid wake up the only person making money with this crap is the company making the crap

  10. Great review!
    I went to a meeting yesterday and I’m really interested to join there. I don’t want to make real money with it, but I think, it could be a nice side job. I’m just doubtfully because of the ingredients. What do you think about the product?

    • signing up with the idea of just having it as a side job is what will help someone fail.
      Why is that? well, because you need to really devote yourself in this kind of thing to make it work and the idea of a “part time job” implies that it wont be something that will take a lot of effort/time/devotion as most regular part time jobs dont. Achieving success with this even on a small scale in the beginning does and will take a lot of dedication and its best to prepare for that before going in. my advice to anyone interested in this is to really think “do I have the time to devote to this? am I willing to put in all my effort and focus towards this even if it has to cut hours from my day job/family time/school work?” because the effort required is very similar to starting your own brand/company and people thinking of it as a good side opportunity are usually the first to fall once they realize this takes a lot more constant work than working part time at star bucks, for instance.
      I don’t mean to say that nobody should do it at all, just wanted to give people some things to really consider before assuming that this will be a good “side” opportunity because all the successes come from those who put in their all into it, in all aspects and those that cant afford to devote more than ‘part time” effort stand very slim chances of being able to break even and make a profit. Its a great opportunity but only for very few specific kinds of people and only for those of that group who come into it with big plans right from the get go and willing to work themself through no matter what it takes. As a party time job with minimal to medium effort though, there won’t be a very big profit at all and would be better off and making more getting a real side job for the amount of time u put in just to make that tiny profit that’s still less than you would get paid for same number of hours at minimum wage. People have to realize that of you want this to work for you, its an ‘all or nothing’ kind of thing and that’s exactly why so many fail in this.

  11. Nice review. I’m not a distributor, but I see a few around. I found it interesting when you said 99.9% of people aren’t successful in the MLM industry. That’s so true. But why mention it? 99.9% of people aren’t successful in anything. Im a business man and I’ve noticed that most people don’t commit their selves enough to life, health, relationships, or making money. People fail because there to concerned about the result. To sum this up, people join the gym and quit because they believe it doesn’t work. That’s not true. It’s not the gym it’s the the individual.

    • I agree completely with Steve. There is money to be made in these MLMs but they are not for everyone. If you truly think you can do it, then by all means, give it a whirl…what’s the worst that could happen? You’ll know first hand what you can handle. Expose yourself to the possibility of maybe doing something big, this maybe just a stepping stone to something better, you’ve got to start somewhere, right? I think all experiences are important, both good and bad ones add to your character.
      Just keep in mind that there is no getting rich quick, ti’s all hard work and dedication…so now the question to any College student is, how thin can you spread yourself? I mean, College is already supposed to be your primary focus, not becoming an MLM sensation..
      List your own Pros and Cons…see what you come up with.
      Ida Moralejo

  12. Yea nice review this reallys helps out thanks for this 🙂 Thumbs up

  13. This is brain washing young peoples minds. I got invited to a meeting about it, what happens when it dies out? you lose money. Everyone I spoke to did it for awhile and then just gave up because it was wasting their money. do not suggest to anyone.

    • I just signed up actually. Ive done a LOT of research on MLM (about four years of it) and what was the deciding factor for me is that they DO sell to stores and customers OUTSIDE of the people they recruit. Trust me I’m still very skeptical and if something feels sketchy I can bail anytime (cus there is no contract) I would say the key is to sign up with someone who is passionate and invest a LOT of time into it. Also someone who knows and believes in the product. He’s your guy that will find you recruits give you knowledge and sell the product to customers. But yes the above comments are right, without recruits your not gonna succeed. I’m more concerned about the legality of it all and yes its legal.

      • are you a representitive Kiara?

      • Hi Kiara. I am just following up on people who have joined Vemma. It’s been a while now. I just wanted to see how things are going with you. I know you joined and everything. I am really curious to see how things have panned out.

  14. Good morning/afternoon.
    I just got invited to these speeches were they promote the Verve energy drink. They did a really good job and they are asking for $150 here in San Antonio. The issue is that you’re saying we need to invest A LOT of time if we want to “see the results”. Due to the fact that I’m a college student, these time they are requiring is the biggest problem.
    Do you think it will be a waste of money if I choose to participate and don’t give it the amount of time needed? Or just the “magic” results will appear more ahead.
    Ps. Consider will try to invest any free time I have

    • dont do it it really is a scam your giving people money to sign up for shit thats not real then when you give them the money they wont call you back

      • It is not a scam due to the fact that it has a product it is a real business but is very limited

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