Is Sisel as shady as they sound?

These guys are old. They remember hair bands and spandex, and their 80s-esque logo proves it.

Sisel may have been around since the late 80s, but with some re-branding and marketing campaigns they’ve managed to stay relevant in the MLM space.

Does this mean I’m involved?

This video explains everything:

Make sense? Either way, here’s the full review on Sisel, which I stand by 100%.

Overview

Sisel was founded by a husband and wife team, Thomas Mower and Leslie D. Mower, in 1987 under the name “Images and Attitude”. Suuuuper 80s.

Fast forward to 1992 and they changed their name to Neways to keep up with the times. Still not working.

Now they’re Sisel, and they sell health and beauty products.

They’ve made it through the decades, but not without some bumps.

In the early 90s they marketed their products as containing safer chemicals than other brands, a marketing tactic that’s now par for the course but worked to give them a nice boost even back then.

But their claims were false, and after it was found that their weight loss products contained doses of chemicals that were actually unsafe (furosemide), they were forced to recall them. [1]

Then again, in 2003, the cute couple that started this booming health and beauty company was indicted for not paying income taxes (they skipped out on a whopping $3.2 million according to the IRS). [2]

Thomas Mower and Leslie Mower actual ended up doing time in federal prison after being charged with the crime. How’s that for a founders story?

So, they left Neways behind under new management to go sit in a jail cell. And what did they do when they got out? What any good MLM would do under pressure, of course – they rebranded!

Thomas Mower founded Sisel in 2006 with his son, secretly trying to recruit internally by luring Neways distributors over to Sisel.

Neways even won a court injunction against Sisel in 2008, requiring them to return all the distributor information they essentially stole from Neways. [3]

Mower seemed to be over the U.S. too, with all their laws and taxes, so he moved Sisel to Sarnen, Switzerland where it’s currently headquartered.

Sisel is still chugging along, but they’ve definitely got a shady history powering them through. Who knows how long that’ll keep them going.

Products

Sisel sells lots and lots of products, all manufactured out of a 400,000 square foot nutraceutical plant. The products are all be broken down into product lines.

Sisel Life

This is their line of lifestyle and home products.

• Ionic Air Purifier, a product that uses ionized ozone to clear the air of odors, smoke, and dust
• SupraH2 Ultra Hydrogen Generator, a water purification system that utilizes proton exchange membrane technologies
• SupraH2 Water Bottle, designed to keep your water charged with diatomic hydrogen
• Vibrant Laundry Detergent, free of harmful phosphates, borates, sulfates, and chlorine
• OrganiCleanse, an organic produce cleaner

Sisel Longevity

This is their line of nutritional and health products meant to restore, fight aging, improve energy, and generally make you feel younger and more physically able. It includes products such as…

• FuCoyDon, a potent, restorative liquid supplement
• Eternity, a nutrient blend meant to activate youth, health, and vitality
• SpectraMaxx, a vitamin and mineral beverage that fills gaps in our regular diet
• 4Restore, a supplement that enhances your body’s ability to exercise and lose weight
• The list goes on, and on, and on, and on…

Sisel Trim

This is their line of weight loss and dietary supplement products.

• SiselGREEN, a plant-based energizing supplement
• SiseLEAN, chocolate meal replacement shakes
• Forskolin, a natural weight loss supplement
• TransFigure, a supplement designed to fight cellulite

Sisel Beauty

This is their line of cosmetics and beauty products.

• Cleansers
• Anti-aging creams
• Moisturizers
• Face products
• Lip products
• Eye products
• Nail products

Sisel Kaffe

Their line of coffee, tea, and coffee-based supplements.

• Sisel Te, a low-glycemic, fat-burning, energizing iced tea
• Sisel Kaffe, premium Panamanian ground coffee
• Sisel Kaffe Weight Loss, their coffee mixed with weight loss support (how this works is not explained)

Opportunity

First of all, there are monthly auto-ship requirements, and while they start out low, you really need to buy-in big for the chance to win big.

• Bronze membership: 50 PV each month
• Silver membership: 100 PV each month
• Gold membership: 150 PV each month
• Platinum membership: 200 PV each month

There are 6 ways to get paid with Sisel:

1. Fast Start Bonus
2. Direct Commission
3. Master Check Match
4. Retail Commission
5. Rank Advancement Bonus
6. Luxury Auto Bonus

Their Fast Start Bonus is paid out daily, which is pretty rare. You get 5% on each person you sponsor up to four levels, but you’ve got to place a minimum order of 50 PV.

Their direct commission, or commission on your downline, is frankly pretty confusing. You can get paid all the way down to 10 levels if you hit Platinum rank, which is pretty good, but requires a minimum order of 250 PV monthly. [4]

You get 2% on your first level, 8% on your 2^nd level, unless you’re only a Bronze and then you only get 5% on your 2^nd level, 10% on your 3^rd level unless, again, you’re a Bronze and then you only get 5% on your 3^rd level, and it continues down in this overly-complicated way. Not sure what they’re trying to hide here. But basically, it goes like this…

• Level 1 – 2% for all members
• Level 2 – Bronze 5%, Silver 8%, Gold 8% and Platinum 8%
• Level 3 – Bronze 5%, Silver 10%, Gold 10% and Platinum 10%
• Level 4 – Bronze 0%, Silver 10%, Gold 10% and Platinum 10%
• Level 5 – Bronze 0%, Silver 0%, Gold 8% and Platinum 8%
• Levels 6 to 7 – Platinum 5%, 0% for everyone else
• Levels 8 to 9 – Platinum .5-2%, 0% for everyone else
• Level 10 – Platinum 1-2%, 0% for everyone else

Retail commission is less confusing – 20%. But it’s not that impressive, especially when you realize it’s only 20% commission on preferred customer purchases (those on monthly auto-ship).

Of course, they’ve got rank bonuses and car bonuses too, but who doesn’t?

In the end, this isn’t a terrible commission plan, but it is way too complicated.

Recap

So, they’ve got a way complicated commission plan that, in the end, is nothing special.

And they’ve got a way shady history that really makes you wonder what kinds of skeletons their founder is going to whip out of his closet next.

But they have a huge variety of products which, while generic, seem to be keeping them afloat. They’ve survived some pretty serious blunders.

—

As I’ve shown throughout this review, I’m far from a Sisel hater. But they’re still MLM and the MLM system is flawed.

If you like automated ways to build passive income, there are better ways.

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

via http://mlmcompanies.org/sisel/