Why trendy Jamberry won’t lead to real money

There’s one thing pretty much every woman I know loves: manicures and pedicures.

Women will go out and easily drop a couple 20s to relax with a friend, a glass of wine in hand and their feet being massaged in a warm pool of water, and come out looking fresh. Jamberry seizes on women who enjoy being pampered because hey, who doesn’t? So have I been involved?

This video explains everything:

Make sense? Either way, here’s the full review on Jamberry.

Overview

Let’s say that one day, your friend Susan asks you and your pedicure pals to come over to her house for a manicure instead of making a trip to the salon. You say yes, and then spend your whole Saturday afternoon listening to a sales pitch for nail stickers that goes something like this:

For the same price as a manicure at the salon, you can spend 30 minutes in your bathroom trying to blow-dry nail stickers onto your nails while your kid screams at you from behind a closed door about his dirty underwear. Eventually, you’ll come out with stickers on your nails.

Then your friend Susan invites you to these sales pitch fake manicure “parties” every single Saturday for the rest of your life….This is basically Jamberry.

Okay, maybe not quite this bad. Let’s start with the basics.

Jamberry Nails was founded by two sisters who claim to be “revolutionizing” the nail-wrap industry.

Christy Hepworth, Lyndsey, and Keri Evans co-founded in Lindon, Utah in 2010 in their basement, just like the founders of every craft/beauty MLM ever.

According to Christy, “At the beginning, we did a couple of Groupons. We also went to an expo — made a little banner, and got a table and everything. Tons of people loved the product and placed orders. Then we were mailing out orders from the basement at all hours of the night.” [1]

By 2011 they were up and running with an e-commerce site and test products. They weren’t the first company to do nail wraps, but they broke into the game at the perfect time. Nail wraps were still fairly new in the manicure world and were pretty much just being used by nail artists in salons. Jamberry was one of the first companies to allow consumers to buy nail wraps directly online.

In 2013, the company had over 50 full-time employees and 7,000 part-time consultants.

Now, less than 4 years later, they have over 100,000 consultants across the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.

Their new CEO, Elizabeth Thibaudeau, has been in executive leadership at a number of MLMs, including Nu Skin for the past 20 years. [2]

How much does Jamberry Nails cost?
Starter kits for new Jamberry Nails consultants cost $99 plus shipping and handling.

There are no monthly sales requirements for being a consultant and earning a base commission rate on personal sales, but in order to be an “active” consultant and earn overrides and bonuses, you need to sell at least 200 PV per month.

Products

Jamberry sells nail wraps, which are basically nail stickers that you apply with a heat source. Their designs are printed on, so it’s not only possible to rock nail art that’s more detailed than your traditional nail polish can achieve, but you can also have custom designs printed.

The company sells over 300 designs and then some rotating seasonal designs that include everything from superheroes from the latest summer blockbuster to college football teams to holiday themed nails. You can also order custom designs on their website. In an interview with NY Magazine, the founders said that one of their most popular custom orders is nail wraps with ultrasound photos on them.

They also sell a Jamberry heating tool to help you apply the nail wraps, but you can just use a hair dryer. Nail wraps last 2 weeks on average for nails and 4 weeks on average for toes.

The nail wraps cost around $15-$17.50 for a sheet of 18 nail wraps, or you can subscribe to their monthly gift box program for $25/month and receive a box of surprise nail wraps that are valued at around $30.

The nail wraps don’t have the best reviews, scoring only a 2.8 on Makeup Alley with less than half (45%) of customers saying they would buy them again. A lot of customers commented that the wraps are a pain to apply, don’t look great, and are uncomfortable or even sticky to wear. [3]

Opportunity

There are 5 ways to earn with Jamberry:

1. Retail + Personal Sales Bonus
2. Level Overrides
3. Fast Start Bonus
4. Advancement Bonus + Matching Bonus
5. Generation Overrides

Commission on personal sales is 30%, which is industry standard. Consultants can earn additional bonuses that tack on 3-10% extra in commissions on personal sales for selling over a certain amount each month.

You can earn anywhere form 3%-12% on your Level 1 overrides. Higher ranks can earn 3-7% on their Level 2 overrides and 3-5% on Level 3 overrides.

Fast Start Bonuses are offered during your first three months as a consultant if you hold enough parties and make enough sales. They offer $75-$100 in product credit and a $100 Lead Consultant Advancement Bonus.

Advancement and Matching Bonuses are $100-$400 and are reserved for Lead Consultants and above.

Generation Overrides are reserved only for the highest ranking consultants – Team Managers – and they’re 2%.

Rank Advancement Bonuses are offered at Lead Consultant ranks and above, and they range from $50-$200.

Recap

Jamberry Nails is pretty wholesome when it comes to MLM, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be achieving “financial freedom” selling nail stickers any time soon.

At their commission rates, you’re getting $300 for every $1,000 you make in sales. Considering you’re selling nail stickers that cost less than $20, you’d have to have a LOT of friends willing to buy your stuff (like, over 50) every single month…just to make $3,600 a year.

That being said, it’s a fun way to make some side money and get some free product, especially if you’re into nail wraps.

But if it’s financial freedom you seek and you like automated ways to build passive income, there are better ways.

(and you can trash those old MLM habits, too)

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