Is It Works a Scam? (A Pyramid Scheme in Disguise)
WFHR EditorLast updated: November 4, 2022
Have you found any before and after images of someone applying a magical wrap around their waist on social media? It’s possible you came across It Works – a company that claims you can lose fat using a revolutionary method (without the old-school hard work).
Is it even possible to shed some pounds doing nothing? Does such a magical wrap exist at all? Some call it a scam, some a pyramid scheme, and some even consider it legit.
Doing some research can take you far. It can help you steer clear of scams and also assist in finding legitimate products that work. In this It Works Review, we will reveal everything you need to know. Let’s get started and debunk all the hype surrounding this product.
What Is ‘It Works’?
It Works, also called It Works, is a health and nutrition multi-level marketing company. It was founded by Cindy and Mark Pentecost in 2001.
Over the years, the company has expanded its reach and now serves Canada, the UK, New Zealand, France, Germany, and a few more countries.
Here’s a quick animated video that highlights how the program functions:
The Products
The company offers a dozen of unique products.
The ‘It Works!’ Product Line
Out of these, ‘That Crazy Wrap Thing’ is their flagship offering. It also goes by the name Ultimate Body Applicator. As per the company, the wrap can help you tone and tighten your skin texture in less than an hour. To be precise – within 45 minutes.
Here’s the Ultimate Body Applicator in action:
You can use it not only on your stomach but also on your arms, legs, back-side, and hips. With it, the difference is clearly visible after the first usage.
However, there are no long-term benefits to using the product. The results are anything but permanent. There’s no way you can use a wrap and shed the extra pounds or permanently tone your skin. Following are the various products the company has to offer:
Body products:
- Fab gel ($45)
- Fab wrap ($5)
- Crazy wrap ($59)
Skincare products:
- Facial cleanser
- Lip and eye cream
- Anti-aging cream
- Toner
Lifestyle products:
- Shakes
- Protein powders
- Energy drinks and other supplements
- Tea tree, lemon, and lavender oils
- Wrap pack, skinny pack, and fit pack (for different sizes).
Keto diet:
- Keto creamer
- Keto Energy
- Keto coffee
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It Works – Income Potential
You can definitely make some dough with the It Works platform. Here are the various ways:
- Earn a commission promoting It Works products as a distributor/affiliate.
- Recruit people under you, build a downline, and earn override commissions.
However, there’s a process in case you’d like to get started:
The Onboarding Process
To become a distributor, you need to get the Business Builder Kit, which is a $99 one-time purchase. The kit includes a few wraps, get samples, and a catalog.
Once you receive your package, you’ll now be considered a Wrapreneur, a fancy term the company likes to use to address its distributors. You will also be allotted a website that you can use for your promotions, which will cost $20 per month.
Apart from the website, there’s a $35 annual renewal fee as well. According to the company, you need to qualify for the commissions. You have to maintain a healthy monthly auto-ship and sell products worth at least $400 per month in total.
Even if you exclude your promo expenses, the cost of running all this will cost you thousands per year, which is simply outrageous.
It Works Compensation Plans
Here are the highlights from the It Works compensation plans.
- You can sell the products to retail customers and earn a percentage of the sale. The difference between the retail and the wholesale price of the item is your commission.
- Acquire loyal customers for additional perks. Loyal customers are the ones who subscribe to a quarterly plan. Get a $120 cash bonus for signing up for four of these monthly.
- If you’re good at recruiting, build downlines. Not only will you advance in ranks for building a huge team, you’re also eligible to receive bonuses and override commissions from the work your team members put into promoting the system.
Things You Should Consider
The company It Works is legit, but that doesn’t mean it’s a no-brainer if you want to join as a distributor/promoter. Here are a few things you need to consider:
#1 Has Characteristics of a Pyramid Scheme
Some people absolutely hate the program and could bash it all day long, and then there are some ardent supporters. After taking everything into consideration, It Works cannot be considered a pyramid scheme.
Success plan offered by the company
As is evident from the succession plan, there are a few requirements:
- Purchase the Business Builder Kit, set up auto-shipment, and boost your kit.
- You need to get 4 people to subscribe to a 3-month subscription plan with the platform.
- You must build your team (aka recruit) and earn override commissions.
The program does have real products, but it heavily relies on recruiting. Everything stated above has something to do with recruiting. You just can’t get a handful of sales with the company and advance in ranks; you must work on building your downline as well.
Many companies do this and use physical products instead to stay under the radar. However, they’re all about recruitment in the end, and that’s the bread and butter of pyramid schemes.
#2 Mediocre Products
It’s apparent most of the products are based on pure hype, and there’s no scientific study on how they actually perform. As per the company, the wrap is all about herbal detox and not much else.
A dermatologist while an interview with WebMD even said there’s no clinical evidence of wraps purifying or detoxing your body in any way. It will also be unethical if the companies make some bold weight-loss claims, which they don’t. A lot of independent promoters mislead people, though.
What some experts say is that because you have a wrap on your body, the sweating causes you to lose some water weight from your body, which is just temporary. It’s not really fat that you lost.
Here’s one of the customers who used multiple wraps – 4 of them, and the results were poor.
#3 ‘Not So’ Loyal Customer Program
Signing people up for a 3-month subscription plan is not a cakewalk. As a new distributor, you’re supposed to bring at least 4 loyal customers to the website.
There’s nothing wrong with the main website; they even make things clear on their terms page. However, the distributors rely on misleading people just to get some sales and reveal everything but the ugly truth. You need to pay an additional $50 if you want to cancel your loyal membership.
There shouldn’t be a cancellation fee, and $50 is just ridiculous.
You need to ‘pay’ to cancel
The company doesn’t have glowing reviews on Better Business Bureau either. As of this writing, a little short of 500 complaints have been registered on the platform.
#4 Ridiculously Expensive
It’s ridiculously expensive to get started as a Distributor for It Works. This is how most MLM scams operate; you need to pay just to be able to promote a specific membership level or a program in general.
Buying an inexpensive gym membership for a couple of months is much better than $59 on some useless wrap that won’t get you results. Not only is that a lot more natural, but also long-lasting.
With MLM programs, over 90% of people struggle to make a dime since they don’t fancy recruiting. It works is all about selling products via social media, unlike other programs. If you’re really looking forward to learning recruiting and network marketing in general, take a look at My Lead System Pro.
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Final Words – Is It Works a Scam?
No, It Works is not a scam; it cannot be considered a pyramid scheme either. The company is legit, offers tangible products, and is all about health and nutrition. However, it’s their business opportunity that isn’t the most appealing for many reasons.
Since the wrap isn’t some magical one-stop solution to end people’s problems, it won’t be very ethical to promote it, nor will it make for a fantastic purchase if people buy it. Recruiting isn’t for everyone, and if you’re not a huge fan, you certainly won’t enjoy this.
With multi-level marketing programs like these, most people struggle to make a dime, and it’s only a select few who make a living out of it who’ve been at it for a while.
Not to forget the ridiculous business costs and the requirements, it’s one business opportunity we cannot recommend to our readers. You can definitely do a lot better with other opportunities.
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You’re also never married to a product in any way. Since you don’t have to pay to promote the system, you can always switch between different products. You can even ditch the ones you don’t want to promote at any point, as there’s no risk involved.
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Definitely check it out if this piques your interest.
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