Is “It Works!” a Scam? (A Pyramid Scheme that Doesn't Work?!)

Is “It Works!” a Scam? (A Pyramid Scheme that Doesn’t Work?!)

Welcome to my It Works review!

Chances are, you've just seen a "before & after photo" on Facebook of how someone can lose weight is just 45 minutes by applying a "magical wrap" around their belly from this company called "It Works!".

does it works really work

Or maybe one of your friends or family members has just introduced this awesome product to you.

No matter how you came across "It Works!", I must Congratulate you for taking your time to do your own research before buying into any "seemingly good" product or business opportunity.

That's the way to avoid scams and find the legitimate way to make money online!

To be completely transparent with you, I'm not associated with It Works in any form.

So, rest assured that I'm not here to pitch or sell anything to you.

Instead, I'm here to provide you with an unbiased 3rd party review on "It Works!"

Does "It Works!" really works? Or is it a scam? A pyramid scheme?

Here's the truth...

It Works! Review Summary

Product Name: It Works!

Founder: Founded by Mark & Cindy Pentecost in 2001

Product Type: Skincare, Health & Nutrition MLM Company

Price: $99 to start + various monthly recurring fees up to hundreds of dollars

Best For: Women who are good at networking and recruiting

it works review

Summary: The good news is that It Works is a legit company. There are real people succeeding and making money with them. Unfortunately, more than 97% of the people fail to make a profit. And I would say it is a "pyramid scheme in disguise". (Let me prove it to you in my full review below)

Rating: 20/100

Recommended: No

More...

What is "It Works!"?

As you can see from their animation above, It Works is a health & wellness Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) company focusing on selling their skincare product called the Ultimate Body Applicator.

It Works was founded by Mark & Cindy Pentecost back in 2001.

Currently, it has expanded all around the world including Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Spain, Germany, Ireland, UK, New Zealand and Canada.

It Works Product Line

It Works products

Like I've mentioned, the Ultimate Body Applicator is their flagship product. It is more widely known as "That Crazy Wrap Thing" as you can see from the picture below:

it works crazy wrap

It's called "That Crazy Wrap Thing" because it claims to help you tighten, tone, firm, reduce cellulite and improve skin texture all within 45 minutes. 

It can be applied over several body parts, including your stomach, legs, arms, back and buttocks.

So, does this thing work?

Let's take a look at a video demonstration:

As you can see, yes there is a little immediate visual effect from people who've tried it.

But the truth is that there's no clinically proven long term benefits!

In fact, those results are just temporary.

It's impossible for you to lose weight or improve your skin condition by just wrapping the thing on your body for 45 minutes.

I'll prove to you in just a moment.

Let's take a look at other things in their product line:

  • Body - This include their flagship product, the Ultimate Body Applicator ($59), defining gel ($45) and fab wrap ($5)
  • Skin - Facial cleanser, toner, lip & eye cream, anti-aging cream, etc.
  • Greens - Just a product line of nutritional supplements for different purposes
  • Lifestyle - Shakes, energy drink, protein powder, and more supplements
  • Ketoworks - A keto diet product line with products like keto coffee, keto creamer, keto energy, etc.
  • Essential Oils - Lavender, tea tree, lemon, diffuser, etc. (See Young Living & doTERRA)
  • Packs - Wrap pack, skinny pack, fit pack, etc. (Different product packages for different people)
4 figure monthly passive income
Jerry Huang, Founder of Smart Affiliate Success

I'm Jerry!

I Created My Own 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income at just 21 Years Old!

How to Make Money with It Works?

Just like any other MLM companies, there are 2 main ways for you to make money with It Works:

  1. Sell their products and earn retail commission
  2. Recruit people to build your downline teams to earn various bonuses & override commissions

But before that, there are some requirements you need to be aware of in order for you to be eligible for commission...

How to Get Started with It Works?

First of all, there's a $99 Business Builder Kit which every distributor has to purchase if you want to join It Works.

This Business Builder Kit consists of a pack of the wraps, tiny samples of the gel & catalogs.

Once that's done, you're now considered as a "Wrapreneur", one of the terms they use to describe their distributors.

However, that's NOT the only cost incurred...

As a Wrapreneur, you'll be given a website of your own to promote It Works products. But there's a $20 monthly website fee.

On top of that, there a $35 annual renewal fee.

Last but not least, in order for you to qualify for commission, you need to:

  • Maintain a monthly autoship of 80 unit volume per month (which is equivalent to around $100 to $120)
  • Sell 400 unit volume if products every month

If you calculate everything together, the cost of running It Works is at least $1.5K per year! (Haven't include the costs of hosting your "wrap parties" and other promotional campaigns)

$1.5K is a lot of money my friend. Most people who join It Works can't even make $1K per year!

It Works Compensation Plan

There are 3 main ways for you to get paid from It Works compensation plan:

  1. Retail Commission - This is very straightforward. You sell products to clients and earn a percentage of the retail commission. The amount you earn is the difference between the wholesale and retail price which varies depending on the product.
  2. Loyal Customer Commission - When you sign up loyal customers, they are automatically on a 3-month subscription which means you'll earn residual income as long as they continue to subscribe. Also, if you can acquire 4 loyal customers within 30 days, you'll earn an additional $120 cash bonus.
  3. Team Commission - This is where the multi-level commissions kick in. You can only earn real residual income by building strong downline teams. The more teams and downline members you build, the more override commissions and bonuses you qualify. Also, the more people you recruit, the higher you can advance in your ranks.

This is all the basics you need to know.

As you know, compensation plans for MLM companies are always complicated.

So, if you really want to study and learn the details, take a look at the video below:

(Take note! This compensation plan video is promoting It Works. I do not endorse this video. It's for education purpose only)

Tired of MLM? Check out my #1 Recommendation Here!

It Works Ugly Truths Revealed!

1. Pyramid Scheme in Disguise?!

I know this is a very controversial topic.

Critics and haters of It Works will claim that it is a pyramid scheme while their distributors will defend against it.

But let me show you the truth.

The truth is this...

It Works is NOT a pyramid scheme. But it is a pyramid scheme in disguise.

What do I mean?

Let's take a look at their so-called "Success Plan" for new distributors:

it works pyramid scheme

As you can see, there are 3 main steps:

  1. Join, Boost, Party - which is basically purchasing your Business Builder Kit, subscribe to their autoship and start organizing your "wrap party" to sell products & recruit people.
  2. Get More With 4 - you're required to sign up at least 4 people to their "Loyalty Customer Program", which is basically locking people in with a 3-month subscription
  3. Go Ruby - in this step, you're required to recruit at least 3 team members who are basically your downlines so that you can advance to Ruby rank and qualify for more commissions

Now, let me ask you...

Can you see everything that It Works ask you to do is all about recruiting people?

Yes, they have real products to offer and sell, that's why it's not a clear-cut pyramid scheme.

However, it's impossible for you to get rich if you solely rely on selling retail products.

Here's the truth...

You can't move up in ranks on sales alone. You must recruit people to distribute under you.

That's why It Works is a pyramid scheme in disguise.

It is the same for many health & wellness MLM companies, such as Jeunesse and LifeVantage.

Many MLM companies today are just leveraging certain product to avoid being identified as pyramid schemes while focusing on recruitment.

It Works is just one of the many examples today.

2. Useless Products

While there's a huge hype around "That Crazy Wrap Thing", like I've mentioned, there's no solid evidence or any scientific proof behind the body wrap which the entire business hinges on. 

In fact, Mark Pentecost, founder of It Works, has a really vague explanation towards the wrap.

He said, "It's herbal. Four or five things are going on. It's a detox using herbal, all-natural...detoxing the area and feeding the area. There's about five or six all-natural things happening there to tighten, tone and firm."

Basically, he just kept repeating that it's herbal, natural and detoxing.

In an interview for WebMD, Elizabeth Tanzi, a Washington D.C. dermatologist said: “There’s never been any real scientific evidence that body wraps pull out toxins or purify your body in any way.”

"If you wrap yourself in plastic, with or without the herbal lotion, you will probably sweat a bit more than usual & lose water weight.", said Dr. Bill Sukala, PhD, AEP, Health & fitness expert.

Another thing is that the company itself does not explicitly say the Ultimate Body Applicator will make you lose weight because that would be illegal but that is how majority of the distributors are promoting the product is a misleading way.

So, according to what experts are saying, it's most likely the temporary water weight loss that's cause the immediate effect on our body right after using the wrap.

As you can see from the comment below, there are people who feel nothing after using their products:

it works review

3. "Loyal Customer Program" is a TRAP!

Loyal Customer Program is a 3-month subscription in which customers are automatically sign up to 3 months of autoship.

There's nothing wrong with this program. The problem lies in how distributors promote it.

Remember I showed you earlier on that one of the tasks for beginners is to sign up at least 4 people to the Loyalty Customer Program?

That's why many distributors fail to inform customers about the 3-month subscription. If you want to cancel the autoship within the 3 months period, you have to pay another $50 to cancel it, which is pretty ridiculous.

They do have this in their terms and condition but many customers seem to be unaware of it.

Just take a look at the number of complaints below. A lot of people are complaining that they're unable to cancel their autoship:

it works complaint
is it works a scam
it works scam review
it works scam

Also, look at the number of complaints on Better Business Bureau (BBB) It Works received:

it works bbb

At the time of this writing, they have a total of 398 complaints in the last 3 years.

Can you see why it's such a problematic program?

4. Expensive Startup Cost

I've calculated for you earlier on that the total annual cost of starting an It Works business is a minimum of $1.5K/year.

In essence, you're paying that money to be eligible for recruiting people and earn commissions in the process.

P.S. This program that has enabled me to generate a 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income at just 21 years old is FREE to get started and only cost $49/month fee to go full-time!

The products are pretty expensive too.

4 wraps cost you $59. But they're only giving you temporary effects.

Why not use those money to sign up for a gym membership and put in the work to improve your overall physique?

Isn't that a much more feasible option in the long run?

5. Most People FAILED!

Okay, this is the most shocking part for many people.

Like I've said in the beginning, more than 97% of the people don't even make a profit from It Works.

Here's the proof:

it works income disclosure

This is It Works income disclosure statement 2016 (I can't find any updated income disclosure. 2016 is their latest income disclosure.)

I've highlighted the 97% of people who made no profit at all because they make less than $1,000 per year which doesn't even cover their cost of running this business.

Another more shocking truth they revealed is that the average monthly income for all distributors in 2016 was only $179!

What's Good About It Works?

1. Leveraging Social Media

By now, you should already given up on It Works after seeing those pathetic income disclosure, right?

But anyway, I love the fact that It Works do most of their sales through social media, especially Facebook.

At least, that's different from many of the traditional MLM companies which still rely on face-to-face selling.

We're in the digital age. A lot of MLMs are losing out because they can't integrate internet marketing into their business.

So, if you want to build your network marketing business in today's digital world, I recommend you to use tools like My Lead System Pro to generate leads online for your business.

MLM companies like Now Lifestyle is having more advantage than those traditional MLMs because they're integrating internet marketing into network marketing.

That's the future of MLM my friend.

Is It Works a Scam?

No, It Works is not a scam, nor is it a pyramid scheme.

It's a legit MLM business opportunity where you can make real money by selling some "magical wrap".

But, I'm sure I've given you enough evidence to prove to you that this isn't the business opportunity you should spend your time and money in.

It's mostly about recruiting. So, if you hate recruiting your friends and family members, this is definitely not for you.

Also, it not only has a pretty expensive business cost, but it also has a really low earning potential as you can see from the pathetic income disclosure statement.

How I Make a Living Online...

I'm not a fan of MLM, not because it's illegal or not profitable, but because of all the restrictions and the expensive costs involved.

Instead, Affiliate Marketing is my top recommended business model for anyone to make money online.

The reason is simple...

  • You don't have to recruit anyone to make money
  • You have the freedom to promote any products you want and not being restricted to only promote the products from one MLM company
  • It's Free to get started

In fact, with affiliate marketing...

I've personally created a 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income Stream and become financially independent at just 21 years old without any College degree or working experience!

Through my own hard work, I went from a broke restaurant waiter to living my dream laptop lifestyle in less than a year's time...


If you want to discover the secrets of how I did it at such a young age, click here!

Jerry Huang
 

Jerry is a young aspiring Internet Entrepreneur who started his online business at the age of 18. He is currently a Full-time Affiliate Marketer at Wealthy Affiliate, a community to help anyone start their own online business without prior experience. He actually achieved Financial Independence at the young age of 21. Read more about his story here!

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