Shaklee Scam Reviews - Do They Have a History of Complaints?

Although it was founded over 50 years ago, a question that I get asked all the time is, "Is Shaklee a scam?", and rightfully so. Although "only a few bad apples spoil the bunch", it's wise to check things out to make sure that any network marketing company that you're evaluating is both a legitimate business and that it produces a top quality product that you can stand behind as a business owner. Do they make the cut?

Reviews To See if Shaklee Is Legit or Another Scam

Headquartered in Pleasanton, California, Shaklee produces a wide variety of healthy and environmentally friendly ranging from  top qualiy vitamins and supplements, safe and natural weight loss, anti-aging tonics, personal and skin care, and biodegradable cleaning concentrates.   One thing that I found to be very impressive is that they were the first company to be certified "Climate Neutral" by totally offsetting their CO2 emmissions, while still being the #1 natural nutrition corporation based on total sales in the U.S..  Shaklee is a role model to show that a company can do well financially while at the same time not destroying the environment. Monsanto, however, is a different story...

Shaklee's Beginnings

The company was founded in 1956 by Dr. Forrest Shaklee after spending over 40 years studying vitamins and minerals and how they positively affect  the body.  The challenge that the company faced at the time was that taking dietary supplements wasn't very common in the U.S., so they helped pioneer the MLM business model to promote their products to people on a personal basis. Around 1962, Shaklee started manufacturing Basic-H, a biodegradable plant-based cleaning concentrate, which has remained one of their most popular products even to this day.

In 2004, the company was purchased by billionaire investor and current CEO, Roger Barnett, who has overseen Shaklee's current meteoric growth phase with their products being talked about on The Rachael Ray Show and even as one of Oprah's "Favorite Things". Would you say that shows they at least have good products?

Does Shaklee Have a History of Scamming Distributors or Customers?

In my experience with network marketing training, I've realized that most of the time when a person claims that a company is a scam, it's because they were a former distributor that didn't receive any real help beyond "go talk to everyone you know". Sure, talking about Shaklee or any other business with your friends and family is something that you should do, but I don't believe a company should structure its entire training program on recruiting your sister and next door neighor. Does that make sense?

Just to be safe though, I checked into the company reviews on the Better Business Bureau website to see if Shaklee has a past history of "scam complaints" or anything like that, and I'm happy to say that they currently have an A+ rating.

Is Shaklee a Scam?

Based on my experience and research, I would say NO. Here are a few things that I've considered:

    * Shaklee has been around for over 50 years. The real scams don't last anywhere near that long before they're discovered and shut down.
    * A pyramid or Ponzi scheme, like Bernie Madoff ran, collects money without a real product or service being offered. Shaklee sells real, tangible products and has even been the official nutrition sponsor for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team since 1980..
    * Shaklee products are used by NASA and have even been endorsed by people like Rachael Ray and Oprah who have entire teams that watch out for possible scams. Hey, they have to spend those millions of dollars somehow!
    * They're licensed to do business in 7 different countries (US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, & China), so it's unlikely that they would be able to fool 7 different governments. Would you agree?
    * Shaklee has spent over $250 Million on development and research for their products. They've published numerous studies in peer-reviewed scientific journals which outline the effectiveness of their products.

Shaklee Is NOT a Scam

To be fair, in order to be successful as a Shaklee distributor, or in any other home-based business for that matter, you have to learn how to market your business outside of your friends and family. This often neglected fact is, in my opinion, the major reason why some people think network marketing companies like Shaklee may be a scam. They dive into a business thinking they're going to make millions, and when their neighbor decides not to join right away, they run out of people to share their business with and end up quitting a few months later.

Here is the best advice I can give you right now: Find out how your potential Shaklee sponsor is going to help you effectively market your business (my preference is the internet, but there are many ways to meet people who are actively searching to join your business) once you've talked to your warm market. If they don't really know, then you might consider using a network marketing system to promote your business or even locating a different sponsor who can teach you how to market your Shaklee business effectively.