Is Melaleuca a MLM?

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Is Melaleuca a MLM?

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Updated: April 2026 Oleksandr Honcharov, CEO at FlawlessMLM Is Melaleuca a MLM? This is a debated topic. Melaleuca officially describes itself as a "consumer direct marketing" company and rejects the MLM label. The company argues that its model focuses on customers buying products directly from Melaleuca — not on recruiting distributors to build large sales teams. However, critics and industry observers point out that Melaleuca's compensation plan has multi-level elements, including commissions earned from referred customers across multiple levels. The Case For and Against Why Melaleuca says it is not an MLM: Customers order products directly from the company website, not from distributors The focus is on customer acquisition, not team recruitment There is no requirement to carry inventory Melaleuca emphasizes that most of its revenue comes from product sales to consumers, not from business opportunity enrollment Why some consider it an MLM: Melaleuca's Marketing Executives earn commissions on their personal referrals and on the purchases of customers referred by people they enrolled There are multiple levels of commissions in the compensation plan Advancement through ranks requires building a team of referring Marketing Executives The structure functions similarly to other MLM compensation plans Whether you call it an MLM or not depends on your definition. If "MLM" means any compensation plan with multi-level commissions, then Melaleuca qualifies. If you define MLM more narrowly as a system focused on recruitment and team building, Melaleuca operates differently from most. Definition: Melaleuca calls itself a consumer direct marketing company, not an MLM. However, its compensation plan includes multi-level commission elements, making the classification a matter of debate. Is Melaleuca a MLM? It depends on who you ask. The company's model is customer-focused, but the multi-level commission structure shares features with traditional MLMs. Judge for yourself based on the compensation plan.

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