is floresta legit or scam? Reviews and complaints

Is Floresta a Legitimate Business Opportunity or Just Another MLM Scam?

Multi-level marketing companies, also known as network marketing, have long been controversial. While some are legitimate businesses, many others have been labeled as pyramid schemes. Floresta is a relatively new MLM that has been generating a lot of buzz both positively and negatively. In this in-depth review, I will examine Floresta’s business model, compensation plan, and other factors to determine if it represents a genuine opportunity or risks being a scam.

Floresta’s Business Model

Floresta describes itself as a digital marketing firm that allows individuals to earn money by selling marketing packages and recruiting others. Associates can purchase a starter package ranging in price from $25 to $500, providing various digital products and training materials. Floresta promotes affiliate marketing as the path to profits.

Associates are encouraged to build a “downline” by recruiting others and earning commissions from their sales. They gain additional ranks and bonuses based on recruitment volume. This heavy focus on recruitment is concerning, as truly success requires selling products or services, not recruiting alone.

Floresta talks a lot about passive residual income through building a team. However, the compensation plan relies almost entirely on new recruitment and lacks solid product sales, which calls into question the sustainability. Passive income is also a stretch, as recruitment-driven structures require constant effort to maintain and expand.

Compensation Plan Critique

Let’s examine Floresta’s compensation plan more closely to assess its validity as a business opportunity:

• Ranks are achieved primarily through recruitment volume rather than personal sales, suggesting the focus is more on recruitment than products.

• Commissions are paid via a unilevel structure, where associates earn a percentage of the purchases their recruits make, as well as those made by people recruited further down the line. However, without robust product sales, commissions rely too much on new recruitment.

• To qualify for bonuses at higher ranks, associates must maintain certain purchase volumes from their downline on a monthly basis. This creates pressure to constantly expand recruitment even if the quality is lacking.

• Earnings projections are based on hypothetical network growth but don’t reflect realities of recruitment saturation or ability of most to achieve executive ranks. Very few reach the income potentials advertised.

• Products have limited market demand and functionality for attracting significant outside customers. Relying on the downline as the market is not sustainable.

• No transparency into withdrawal policies, expenses, refunds, or financial statements to verify claims of profitability for most members.

Income Potential is Overstated

Floresta publications tout individual success stories claiming to earn tens of thousands per month. However, income disclosures are not legally required for MLMs. The reality is that the overwhelming majority of MLM participants earn very little or lose money when expenses are subtracted.

Some key facts that refute exaggerated earnings potential:

• MLM income averages from third-party data show over 99% of participants lose money when factoring in costs of participation and effort invested.

• Building a large downline network through recruitment takes considerable salesmanship, time, money, and networking skills that not all can achieve at scale.

• Market saturation happens quickly as the downline expands, meaning new recruits have fewer prospects to recruit themselves.

• MLM earnings are largely top-heavy, with a small percentage at the executive levels earning the bulk. Positions at the top are limited.

• Any business with an opportunity open to everyone requires differentiation, but MLM structures face challenges attracting customers beyond the internal market.

• Residual income claims don’t consider ongoing work required to maintain the downline as people come and go constantly over time.

Regulatory Action and Legal Issues

Some additional warning signs about Floresta’s legitimacy include:

• Lack of clarity around compliance with FTC guidelines on illegal pyramid schemes where recruitment outweighs retail sales.

• No disclosure of return/cancellation policies, suggesting a risk of members becoming stuck with unused product.

• Promotional videos use deceptive income claims which are strictly prohibited in many places due to their unrealistic nature.

• Regulators in multiple countries have taken legal or warning actions against certain MLM programs for operating as illegal pyramid schemes.

• Lawsuits filed against some MLMs for misrepresented business opportunities and unlawful multilevel recruiting practices. Associating with risky firms raises questions.

So in summary, while Floresta appears to be structured legally as an MLM, its compensation plan and lack of viable products raise sustainability issues. Its recruitment-focused model and earnings deceptions present red flags of an opportunity likely to disappoint most participants.

Is Floresta a Legitimate Opportunity?

After examining Floresta’s business model, compensation plan, income claims, regulatory environment and common MLM issues, my conclusion is that it does not represent a viable business opportunity for most people and carries signs of a potential pyramid scheme.

Some of the legitimate concerns include overreliance on recruitment over product sales, lack of transparency, unrealistic earnings promises, absence of disclosure policies, and risk of enforced purchasing.

While not definitively illegal, the structural emphasis is more on bringing in new members than building a customer base. Combined with deceptive income representations and unclear compliance, this suggests high risk of participant losses with very few substantial winners.

Therefore, unless clear and convincing evidence emerges otherwise, I cannot recommend Floresta to the average person seeking a legitimate work-from-home opportunity due to the likelihood of financial loss and unmet expectations. More sustainable alternatives exist without the risks that accompany unproven MLM programs.