Skip to main content

Last July, we told you about the FTC’s settlement with Herbalife, which made the multilevel marketing company not only restructure how it does business, but also pay $200 million to people who lost money trying to run an Herbalife business. Today, we mailed checks to about 350,000 of them.

Are you thinking about a multilevel marketing (MLM) business opportunity? Every year, many people join MLM plans – and many also leave. Before joining any MLM company, do some research. Your time and money are too valuable not to. Here are a few things to consider:

  • Can you realistically see yourself selling to your network of friends and family? Selling is work, and not everyone is good at it.
  • What about the product? Would people you know buy it repeatedly and consistently? Or would they only buy it once as a favor? Can people buy comparable products for less?
  • What will it cost you to run this business? You might get pressure to buy a lot of product – in fact, people have lost a lot of money buying more product than they can sell. Also consider things like gas, shipping and packaging costs, sales aids, trainings, and your time. Does that math add up for you? Lots of people leave multilevel marketing programs without making any money, and many lose money.

If the person who recruited you into the business tells you not to worry about selling because you can make money by recruiting others – walk away. In a legitimate MLM program, you need to be able to make money by selling the product, not by recruiting others to join and buy the product. 

So, what about the money back from the Herbalife settlement? Well, the settlement covered people who worked with Herbalife between 2009 and 2015. If you were an Herbalife distributor who paid at least $1,000 to Herbalife during those years, but got little or nothing back from the company – and we were able to locate a valid address for you – you should be seeing a check. The check is a partial refund of the money we estimate you lost while trying to run an Herbalife business.

If you get a check refunding some of the money you lost in Herbalife, cash it. If you have questions about why you didn’t get a check, learn more on our refunds page. Thinking about whether a business opportunity is right for you? The FTC has resources for evaluating business opportunities, including MLMs.

Search Terms

It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.

The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

Michael C
January 11, 2017

Please make these rules/regulations for all MLM's (Primerica, Anway, NuSkin, Mary Kay) Herbalife is just one of them. They need to be stop. Thanks!

LLH
January 18, 2017

In reply to by Michael C

Another one that should be looked at is Life Vantage. They do the same thing.
Herbman
January 25, 2017

In reply to by Michael C

They should also look up Ambit Energy and melaleuca
EnergyLife
April 11, 2017

In reply to by Michael C

Hi there. I am stunned to hear this about Herbalife. I joined Herbalife in 1993. What about the rest of us in the UK who spent lots of money, but made nothing like myself? I am still a member but due to the fact that I lost a lot of money, I only use it for myself now. I attended a lot of Seminars, gave up my precious time, saw how rude people can be in those seminars (if you were not part of their downline and you tried to get help from them). I could not attend anymore. I only use the product now for personal use.
Jystana
November 06, 2019

In reply to by EnergyLife

same thing happened to me- lost over $30K. Herbalife is NOT at all what they tell you it is. Even with the "new structure" they have implemented, it's still a scam. I hope someday, someone will take down the company and maybe just MAYBE I might see some of my money back.
AmberRobb
January 10, 2017
I want my money back
ScamLife
January 11, 2017
You guy's didn't go far enough. Should've shut them down for good in the USA.
MONILOVE
January 12, 2017
i sent in a claim and never heard back anything
Ivanramo
January 17, 2017

In reply to by MONILOVE

You should be recieving a check pretty soon i just got mine.
Barb
January 17, 2017

In reply to by Ivanramo

I never sent In anything this was a total surprise to me
rc100
January 12, 2017
Thank you for your informative post about Herbalife; btw I'm testing the reCAPTCHA on the site.
shopper01
January 13, 2017
Is th refund money legitimate?
jess0319
January 17, 2017

In reply to by shopper01

I'm wondering the same? Did you find out for sure if it was legit?
easoto50
January 14, 2017
and where is my money I needed it bad
js200
January 14, 2017
Considering the money I spent to join Herbalife as a Supervisor, and the amount spent buying leads for their products the check I received is very minimal this is not to down their products by no means. I'll like to Thank the FTC For your effort to protect the consumers, with all the marketing scam today we need much more attention from the FTC. THANK'S
2Good2BTrue
January 14, 2017
I got my check today and I am thrilled because I was not expecting it. Kudos to the FTC for the great job they have done! Hopefully, other companies and their participants will learn from this.
Taken for a loop
January 23, 2017

In reply to by 2Good2BTrue

I heard about this last year but never thought I would receive anything. I spent over $2500 and just received my check for $384 a little more of my money would have been nice but I'm happy I've received this.
Dontloosemoney
January 14, 2017
I spent over 3,000 and only got a small refund. How was the amount of refund determined? This is the first I've heard of this.
FTC Staff
January 17, 2017

In reply to by Dontloosemoney

The FTC used Herbalife’s records to determine who would get a refund and the how much the refund would be.

In general, the FTC is giving partial refunds to people who ran an Herbalife business in the United States between 2009 and 2015, and who paid at least $1,000 to Herbalife, but got little or nothing back from the company.

Most checks are between $100 and $500. The largest checks are more than $9,000.

keb
January 25, 2017

In reply to by FTC Staff

I made a business investment of USD3,345.62 into Herbalife and received a check from the FTC for USD371.75. 11+ US cents on the dollar invested by me. By the way; Hebalife added a 9.5% California retail sales tax on my business investment based on a retail product value of USD4,308.26. (I was told my my sponsors that My business investment into Herbalife was at the Supervisor wholesale distributor level which is not retail.) Continuing; If I would have sold Herbalife products at retail, not, I was required to add another 9.5% California retail sales tax on to the retail sales price. So Herbalife collected a 9.5% California retail sales tax (USD409.30) on my original business investment with Herbalife and then I was also required to collect another 9.5% California retail sales tax. Say what? I would be paying California, in this example, two 9.5% retail sales taxes. This is wrong. My business investment into Herbalife was not a retail transaction but a wholesale transaction and should not have been taxed as a retail transaction. What relationship does the USD371.75 FTC check to me have to do with my business investment of USD3,345.62 into Herbalife? How did you arrive, in my case, at damages of 11+ US cents on the dollar invested? . . . When does the USD409.30 owed to me for a tax I didn't owe California in the first place come into your calculations for damages? IF time, please advise. Thank you.
Please Reply I…
August 23, 2017

In reply to by FTC Staff

Hi Bridget Small-FTC. I received a check for $950.00 2 months past the expiration date of the check....due to an error in the mailing address...So finally receiving the check I have been trying to get answers, with no luck. The FTC has told me that someone may contact me within a month and I have been checking back with them and they state the same thing. Nobody is giving me a person to talk to, a number to call to get this taken care of. I am a bit frustrated as it is very obvious the money is issued to me, yet I am getting the run around. Please give me some guidance in regards to this manner. my email is . Thanks
FTC Staff
August 23, 2017

In reply to by Please Reply I…

Please make a copy of the comment you submitted here and send it to BlogInfo@FTC.gov.

bogus
January 17, 2017

In reply to by Dontloosemoney

hm they've must of given it to many other "satisfied" customer/members. 6 people i know of(and counting) that received money that still consume herbalife and were never complaining to begin with, hmm those FTC algorithms....
ChyNaRed
January 15, 2017
No one had called or reached me by mail that there was a class action against Herbalife, so imagine my surprise when I got a nice sum of money in the check I received today. I'm so glad, after all I put $3,200. into Herbalife from a savings account in 2010, I had over 1/2 of the product left that I never sold, so this is great. Thank you FTC.
LoveConquersAll
January 15, 2017
Thank you for the info. You're right, if I can't make money selling it then it's not worth it.
Dlee
January 15, 2017
Ya i lost about 6k, purchase items and tools to move forward and try to make money with it. I bought products to even went out to big mall event's to sale. It was not about us being to sale a product it was about them feeding off of a dream that wouldn't never come true. I would love to have all the money i spent back in my pockets. Its only far
pr800
January 15, 2017
Thank you very much for helping us learn about the refunds. This gave me faith to our government in preventing abuses by business operators.
joe
January 16, 2017
got mine
javier c
January 17, 2017
I INVESTED MORE THAN $3,000 THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS IN HERBALIFE GOT PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS WITH NO TRAINING, SOLD PRODUCTS AND ALL I GOT BACK ONCE A CHEK FOR LESS THAN $2 TWO DOLLARS I WOULD LIKE TO GET ALL MY MONEY bACK. THAT IS NOT COUNTING ALL PAYED ON GAS,EVENTS, MEETINGS, GAS AND TIME.
rey c
March 24, 2017

In reply to by javier c

JAVIER, I agreed WITH YOU. Invested more than $6,000. We just find out today about this mess. That's what I'm talking about. We want our money back as well...gas events, meetings and time. We even sold out of USA soil to family members in another country AND bought products in that country to sell over there and spend over $300.USD. Would love to see all my money back on that fat check with my name on it. See what would happens now.
Anything helps
January 16, 2017
How did the ftc determine how much money each person gets? Just curious I know I bought in for over $1,000 initially, so who or what determines if someone gets a $100 check or a "$9,000" check?
FTC Staff
January 17, 2017

In reply to by Anything helps

The FTC used Herbalife’s records to determine who would get a refund and the how much the refund would be.

In general, the FTC is giving partial refunds to people who ran an Herbalife business in the United States between 2009 and 2015, and who paid at least $1,000 to Herbalife, but got little or nothing back from the company.

Most checks are between $100 and $500. The largest checks are more than $9,000.

A.Vlll
January 17, 2017

In reply to by FTC Staff

Is there a way we can check to see if we are getting a check?
Sharon C
January 27, 2017

In reply to by A.Vlll

MY NAME IS SHARON C, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF I HAVE A REFUND FROM HERBALIFE. I HAVE BEEN SELLING FOR 7 YEARS.
guivas
January 23, 2017

In reply to by FTC Staff

where can I call or who can I call to see if I am eligible for a refund since I have a nutrition club for almost 2 years and had people under me that got checks and I didn't get a cent after putting quite the amount of money in to herbalife not saying the product doesn't work but for a business its not a good idea!
Martin
January 25, 2017

In reply to by guivas

I been calling and calling. Left messages and no answer or return call Curious why I didn't get one
David J
May 18, 2017

In reply to by Anything helps

I'm one of the distributors of Herbalife at that time. How will I know if I'm going to get a check? I lost $2300.00 is there any thing I need to do?
Michigan girl
January 17, 2017
My daughter recieved her check this past saturday for $332.00 so others should be getting theirs.
Zippets
January 17, 2017
My Boy Friend got his check January 14th 2017 who else has received theirs ?
sm2015
January 17, 2017
My question is if this is only for inactive members, there is no where that specifies this
dddd2010
January 18, 2017

In reply to by sm2015

I believe it is for only inactive members. I called and was told that I wasn't receiving a check because I am still an "active" distributor...
Barb
January 17, 2017
I received my check but it's a drop in the bucket met to what I spent I owned a store where can I see if I'm untitled to more
Aramis G
January 17, 2017
I invested over 4000 but now i live in a different address from the last time i invested on herbalife,what can i do to get a refund