First of all, I decided to review this company because I wondered myself how you can make selling jerky a MLM business opportunity.
With the many MLM companies to choose from, I’m thinking this is unique enough to take a closer look at. It’s always smart to do your own research before signing up with any company.
I have no connection with Jerky Direct. I just want to give you my unbiased opinion of the company, after my own research.
With the straight facts, I’m going to help you determine if Jerky Direct can be the right business opportunity for you or anybody else.
Table of Contents
What is Jerky Direct
Jerky Direct is a MLM company in the food industry. It was founded in 2016 by Daniel Jay.
They have a BBB rating of A+, but are not accredited by the BBB. This can be considered good or bad, in the sense that there have been no reviews or complaints received by the BBB.
Despite being on a couple of different lists for good MLM’s to join in 2021, there isn’t much information available on the opportunity.
One big red flag that can be found about Jerky Direct is that it is actually a relaunch of a failed business.
The MLM actually closed in June of 2016, but a group of distributors, led by Daniel Jay, stayed together and relaunched it by the end of 2016.
What are Jerky Direct products
Hmm, you should be able to figure out that they sell beef jerky products. Their products are high quality, developed with fresh ingredients by their own Master Jerky Maker, as they say.
They have 2 different styles of jerky, packaged as, two 2.5-ounce bags, that sell for $21.75. They have a thicker or thinner cut style.
The Midwest Fresh thick cut flavors are:
- Original
- Peppered
- BBQ
- Smokin Hot
- Southern Style
The Southern thin cut flavors:
- Original
- Mesquite
- Teriyaki
- Smoked
- Srirachi
- Hot Chile Lime
The funny thing about the Jerky Direct jerky, is that it’s hard to find any information on what actual consumers think of the product. So you can’t really be sure if it’s good or not.
You can say that it’s expensive though! Even if it’s the most delicious jerky ever, $21.75 for 5 ounces of beef jerky is more than I would want to pay!
What is the Cost to Join
They have a membership fee of $15.95 and you must also purchase 1 package of product at $21.75.
What is the Compensation Plan
Here’s where this company is just a bit different than most MLM companies. The compensation plan is actually simple and easy to understand.
You earn commissions from your sales and your recruitment’s sales. Payout is given 7 levels deep. They divide it into: Direct Commissions, Recruitment Commissions and Residual Commissions.
Payout as follows:
- Direct Commissions – Money paid based on your personal sales. It will be $5 on each package you sell, no matter the package size, retail or affiliate.
- Recruitment Commissions – You will get $5 per product pack that your personal recruit purchases.
- Residual Commissions – Money paid on sales that people you recruited made. You may earn up to a 40% commission with your first level recruit sales.
You will earn a 5% commission on your level two and level three recruits. If you have level four recruits, your commission bumps to 20% on their sales. With level five and level six recruits, it’s back down to 5%, but level seven bumps back up to 20%.
It is a bit mixed up, but not as confusing as many MLM companies
It is a unilevel structure that pays seven levels deep. Basically, each product pack sold generates a $5 commission that is split up between all 7 levels of a particular team.
There are a couple of notable payout oddities that need to be pointed out:
- They offer the opportunity of a replicated website to sell their products, but the commissions earned from online sales is lower. It actually works out to less than 50% of the commission you would make with a face-to-face sale. Sure you can reach more people, but for substantially less commission.
- However, usually the main income potential with MLMs is in recruiting people. The bigger the team you can build, means more people selling products to benefit you.
- When you sell to a customer, you make $5, but if they become an affiliate, you will only make $2 from a sale to them. Now ideally if they join and build a big team, it’s fine, but if they join, but don’t work to build a team, when they purchase from you, you’ll actually be making $3 less than selling to just a retail customer. This is one MLM where you could actually make more by simply selling to them, rather than recruiting them.
You can study their detailed compensation plan here.
What is the Earning Potential
I’m not quite sure if there’s great earning potential here, in my eyes. Obviously people are making money with this, but with making only $5 max on any sale, it will take an awful lot of sales to generate what I would consider acceptable income.
PROs & CONs
Pros:
- Inexpensive to start
- Simple product that is USDA certified
Cons:
- Expensive product
- Has questionable history, had to be relaunched
- Contact available only through Facebook page
- No income disclosure statement available
Final Thoughts
At least it’s not a scam. Jerky Direct is a legitimate business, with a legitimate opportunity to make money for anybody who wants to get involved. However, I cannot recommend this opportunity to anybody.
My first concern is getting involved with a company that was relaunched from a failed business.
I am also wary of a MLM that won’t provide an income disclosure statement. Though we already know most people don’t make money with MLMs, it’s slightly more reassuring to work with a company that will readily admit that it will be hard to make money. By not admitting anything, I think that’s a good sign you won’t make money.
Lastly, I always take issue with MLMs that have very expensive products. It’s very difficult to sell ANYTHING that is more expensive than the average product in a particular industry. If you’ve tried and like the products, maybe you can make it work.
I hope I’ve given you enough information to make an informed decision about joining this company. It is a legitimate company that offers a legitimate business opportunity to make money for anybody who wants to get involved. However, as I look at it, I cannot recommend this opportunity to anybody.
The products are expensive and it will be difficult to build a personal and reliable customer base. There are better and easier alternatives for making extra money.
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Hi, I love the idea of a MLM but I think it needs to be a product that requires to be repurchased each month. For example a part of a diet, or something that is used every day. Even though I love jerky I only get it a few times a year. I don’t think this is the best product to create residual income. I have to say that your suggested opportunity seems like a no brainer. I can promote as many or as few products I want. Seems brilliant actually! Can you tell me if it requires a lot of upsales? It’s frustrating to join a program only to find out that I have to spend hundreds of dollars just to hear the actual secret.
Thanks for posting a great review. I’m going to check out your recommendation further!
I agree with you that a good MLM product would be something that is used on a very regular basis. I’ve had jerky every now and then, which is why I looked into this as possible money-making opportunity. I do find affiliate marketing a much better alternative opportunity. It’s not a get rich sort of thing, nor does it require upsales, but with continued, consistent effort, will provide a very good income.
Thanks for breaking this down- I’ve always found the concept of MLM’s somewhat confusing, they tend to make things seem so complicated! But you’ve really simplified the process and I really appreciate a clearly informed unbiased viewpoint. I think you’re right, you need the commission to be worthwhile each time for it to be profitable time wise so I can imagine that choosing the right MLM is paramount! I think it also helps to be the type of person that really thrives on making sales this way for it to be sustainable. In this case I imagine it can be hugely rewarding and the continued challenge and success of it must be quite exciting! I do also think MLM’s work best with products that are used over and over again as once you’ve won a customer over, it’s a kind of investment and they will come back again as opposed to just having to get new ones all the time. Thanks so much for this review. You’ve provided some wonderful information and insight. This may seem like a silly question, but what does MLM stand for? (I just realised I’ve heard the term so much without really knowing what it’s short for.) Thanks for your knowledge and expertise 🙂
I’m glad I was able to give you a better understanding of this. By the way, MLM stands for Multi-Level Marketing. It is also called Network Marketing. It can be highly profitable, but it does require a lot hard work and effort.
Hi there, thank you very much for this review. I came across it accidentally. I have never heard about Jerky, it wouldn’t be my taste, because I am eating a healthy diet.
But what caught my interest has been that they produce high quality made from beef, and I have to admit that I first had to search about this kind of food to get an idea.
It sounds really like a very natural product. Now for affiliate, I would love to have some natural food-making companies to link to. However, after reading your review, I think I wouldn’t bother to join them. Thank you very much!
Like you, I discovered it accidently and decided to look more into it. I believe jerky is an acquired taste, so the thought of it being sold through MLM intrigued me. I don’t believe I could make a go of it, but wanted to point it out to others so they could consider this unique opportunity.
Thank you for your review. I think that the red flag you mentioned about this product being the relaunch of a failed project is serious enough and should lead to people stepping out. I found as well the commissions quite low. For those I wouldn’t even wake up out of my bed I think. Anyway, the Affiliate Marketing you mentioned seems to be much better and I think it is showing greater potential for people to earn. Thank you.
You’re right, the low commission probably isn’t worth getting out of bed for! Affiliate marketing can be well worth your time!
I was intrigued by the idea that someone would want to promote jerky through an MLM company. Thanks for the review.
If the product is really good, I don’t think that the price would be a deterrent, because I know when I really like something I will happily pay extra for it, and I know many others who do the same.
The fact that this company has failed once before is not a good sign, but it may have been because of poor management. Maybe the new management has a better plan, better payment structure, better resources…. they must have seen some potential in the business to make them consider that it was worth refloating, or maybe they just really like the product?
Having said that, I really don’t think it’s a viable way of earning an income, not a sustainable one anyway. As you mentioned, they are not willing to release any income information…. not a good sign! So I will be giving this one a miss.
I looked into it because I wondered how jerky as the product for a MLM company would be profitable. As I said, I think it would be difficult to make good money with this company, but wish those who want to try, good luck! Thanks for your input!