Team National: Is Team National A Pyramid Scheme?

• What Is A Pyramid Scheme?
• Team National And Pyramid Schemes
• Is Team National A Pyramid Scheme?

To put it simply, Team National is a members only savings club. Members receive discounts on a wide range of products in 20 different industries. Team National follows the classic network marketing structure, whereby reps earn commission by selling the membership packages and by growing a down-line. However, like many other network marketing companies, Team National’s glistening reputation has been tainted by vicious accusations of being a pyramid scheme. Who’s to be believed: Team National or their critics?
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Before we can decipher whether Team National is or isn’t a pyramid scheme, we need to firstly fully understand what a pyramid scheme is. The term gets thrown around a lot, used incorrectly, and interchangeably with the term “multi-level marketing” (MLM). The two are different things; pyramid schemes are illegal whereas MLMs are perfectly legitimate companies.

The official definition of a pyramid scheme is a company that promises “consumers or investors large profits based primarily on recruiting others to join their program, not based on profits from any real investment or real sale of goods to the public.” In other words, there is no actual product to sell. Reps are rewarded for simply bringing in new reps into the pyramid. However, the company can still be classified as a pyramid scheme even if it does sell a product, as the product is often used as a disguise. Warning signs that a product is being used to mask an illegal pyramid scheme includes inventory loading and a lack of sales outside the pyramid to the general public. Does Team National fall into this category?
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Team National reps earn commission by selling membership packages. The existence of a product, and sales based compensation immediately diminishes speculation that the company is a pyramid scheme. But, could the sale of a product be a cover up?

Team National offer two types of memberships: lifelong, and 2 years. Once a consumer has purchased a lifelong membership, there is no need to buy the product again, and so the rep has no option but to sell the membership package outside the pyramid. The two year membership does present an opportunity to resell within the pyramid, however the rep would need to wait 2 years before making a second sale, so presumably they will also have to sell outside of the pyramid to generate a good income. This, again, squashes ideas that Team National is an illegal pyramid.

The nature of the product also does not allow for inventory loading. With other companies, the rep may be required to buy, for example, a health drink, in bulk and then sell it on to the end consumer. This doesn’t exist with Team National, as the rep doesn’t buy a batch order of memberships to sell on.

Distributors earn commission from sales, but also earn recruitment based compensation. Reps earn a bonus for signing up and developing new distributors, and also receive compensation based on their down-lines’ sales. This practice is standard across all legitimate network companies and is a perfectly valid form of payment.  So whilst reps are earning commission from recruitment, they are also earning from selling an actual, genuine product.
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No, Team National is not a pyramid scheme. Team National follows the classic multi-level marketing structure, and is a legitimately operated company. It is easy to see where the confusion stems from, but consumers need to be aware of the distinct differences between a pyramid and a MLM before making accusations against Team National. So make sure you know the facts, and you can be rest assured that Team National is not a pyramid scheme.
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