Is Pure Romance a Pyramid Scheme or Great Business Opportunity?

Pure Romance is a multi-level marketing company that was founded in 1993. As the saying goes… “Sex Sells” as this company’s priority is to provide consumers with adult products and sex toys.

Before I go any further I must state that I am in no way associated with Pure Romance or stand to benefit from you joining. As this is one of the more interesting opportunities within network marketing, I will provide this review to let you know whether or not Pure Romance is worth joining.

I was once a part of a multi-level marketing company called World Ventures and I have experience in this kind of business. I am in a position to share this review with you because I got involved with affiliate marketing. If you ask me, affiliate marketing is the best way to make money by promoting and selling other people’s products.

If you are not familiar with affiliate marketing I have written an article to educate people on the subject.

Pure Romance Review

Under the multi-level marketing (MLM) model used by Pure Romance, all products are sold exclusively through independent consultants at women-only at-home parties.

Pure Romance has drawn criticism over the years for targeting military spouses or women that may have trouble finding employment because their husband’s career may require them to move.

While they have drawn criticism like all network marketing companies, it has been around long enough to say they must be doing something right. A list of products that you can get through Pure Romance includes essential oils, shower gels, lotions, lubricants, vibrators, strap-ons, and more.

Compensation

With the way Pure Romance compensation plan is set up, it has more of a resemblance to a dropshipping business opposed to multi-level marketing. You simply earn from buying a starter kit which will cost between $159, $319, or $479. The starter kit will provide products at a wholesale price that you can resell on the retail market for a profit. The more you spend on the starter kit, the higher the discount will be. You can see in the image below.

You can also earn from building a successful team of consultants. Recruiting is a choice and is not required. However, when you invite other women to join the business and help train them to be successful, Pure Romance rewards you with a higher buying discount and monthly override bonuses

To continue getting their discounted kits, you will have to spend $100 every 60 days on their products at retail value. This will most likely be avoidable through recruitment. If you can sell the kits at a good rate, then dishing out $100 every 60 days to maintain your business may be the thing to do. For more details on their comp plan you can check out the video below.

Founder

Patty Brisben, a former pediatrician’s assistant, founded the company Slumber Parties in Loveland, Ohio in 1993. Her business used contract salespeople to sell sex toys, lotions, and massage oils by throwing parties at home. As the business progressed, it would eventually be renamed Pure Romance in 2003.

History of Growth

In 2000, the company had six full-time employees and had annual sales of less than $2 million.

Brisben’s son, Chris Cicchinelli, joined the company in 2000 and influenced his mother to expand beyond local sales into markets such as St. Louis, Missouri.

By 2003 the company had $30 million in sales, 3,500 consultants and was active in 46 US states and the US Virgin Islands.

Pure Romance expanded to South Africa and Australia in 2011.

Cicchinelli became President and Ceo in 2012 while his mother stayed on as chair of the company.  Around this time the company reported $100 million in annual sales and 75,000 consultants, building on the popularity of the recently published erotic romance novel 50 Shades of Grey.

In 2014 Pure Romance purchased Slumber Parties, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, based multi-level marketing company which sold similar products.

In 2016 the company purchased Passion Parties, which was another competing multi-level marketing company with a similar product line. That move expanded the company into the Canadian market.

The company reported $217.92 million in sales in 2017 and claims to have more than 30,000 consultants.

Should You Join Pure Romance?

As I stated at the beginning, I was once involved with Multi-Level Marketing and in a lot of ways, it can be similar to affiliate marketing. You basically buy into a membership to try and promote others to join and sell that particular brand’s products.

While it is not as transparent as other MLM businesses with pyramid systems, you dramatically increase your earning potential by recruiting others to join. Here is a look at the incentives you get from recruiting others.

With Affiliate Marketing you don’t even need to buy into a membership to promote other people’s products. If you have a social media presence and you have skills in online marketing then you can be an affiliate marketer today. If you do buy into a membership, it would be because you need a training platform to keep you up to date and provide the knowledge it takes to be a successful online marketer.

Another beautiful thing with affiliate marketing is that you are not limited to having one particular product you are putting all your efforts in for other people to buy…You can sell and literally promote almost every product that has ever been made with affiliate marketing!!!

Not to say you can not be successful with Pure Romance, but for Multi-Level Marketing companies, the chances of you being successful are slim. Top distributors remain at the top and the people all the way at the bottom are most likely to fail.

Getting on top will take a combination of luck, a social following, and internet marketing skills. I would say 1 out of the 3 might be enough.

Two of these are self-explanatory, but luck depends on when you join. For instance, new members in a particular state or country might attend one of the first gatherings to promote an MLM business and people start to jump on the opportunity. If you are one of the first people to sign up and subsequently sign up others at that gathering then you can be set from there.

You would have a healthy downline from the jump and being that it is relatively new in your area then your downline will promote it enough in that area until that area becomes watered down.

That is exactly why these kinds of business models are not good to consider because it will eventually become watered down in your area and then you will have to expand.

This is how Pure Romance has been around so long as it has expanded globally. 

Is Pure Romance a Pyramid Scheme?

Former distributors have complained about Pure Romance being a pyramid scheme, so….

Conclusion

While this may seem like a good opportunity, the marketing strategies people use in multi-level marketing is outdated and is a reason why many people fail. Instead of throwing parties and pushing for people to join or buy your product, it is much easier to sell and market online. Although these products are something many people are very well interested in, the thought of doing parties and promoting sex toys can be awkward.

When you represent a company and go around with its products demonstrating why it’s the best or one of the best products for you to get, it can be an easy conversation if you are promoting health and fitness or travel opportunities.

Now they offer a variety of products to sell, but if you’re in this business your gonna have to get some vibrators off.

Another thing is that there are complaints about the products being pricey. This might make this opportunity a hard bargain as the competition is steep for the kind of products they sell.

I don’t know if you can reduce the price within their terms of an agreement on how you market their brand, but if you are allowed to reduce the prices and truly market these products as your own then this may be worthwhile.

While you can make money strictly reselling their products, you will maximize your earning potential through recruitment.