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Zyia Active Review: My Thoughts as a Former Rep

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission when you make a purchase using my affiliate links.

Curious about Zyia Active and their clothing? Here’s an honest Zyia review and look at my experience with the company and clothing as a former rep.

photo of woman working out with text overlay "zyia active review"

Hey friends! We’re going to start adding more fitness/healthy living posts back into the regular rotation of posts, so we’re taking a bit of a detour from our regular recipes to bring you this Zyia review.

I joined Zyia as a rep earlier this year to help provide more income for my family, but I decided it wasn’t a good fit for me and I stepped away from it a few months ago.

The purpose of this post to give my readers a completely honest look at my most recent foray into direct sales and my thoughts on the Zyia Active product and company.

I also noticed that a lot of Zyia “reviews” online aren’t actually objective reviews but more like sales pitches. So I wanted to write an actual review based on my experience and the experience of others I’ve talked to.

I am no longer financially affiliated with Zyia Active, so this review is not sponsored in any way or written by a current rep. This post contains affiliate links for other clothing brands.

Please note: not all of the photos in this post are of actual Zyia products, some are stock images.

photo of woman running with text overlay "zyia active review"

Here is a table of contents for this post to make it easier to navigate!

Why I originally joined Zyia Active

I’ve always been skeptical of MLMs and direct sales companies, so Zyia was only the 2nd one I had ever joined. When I first saw Zyia clothing, I decided that this was one of the things that I would love to sell, and I was interested in making more money.

Currently this blog is my job since I stopped personal training, and while it makes some money, I’m always looking for ways to add solid income streams to my website to help support my family.

Which brings us back to Zyia.

The clothing was cute and the quality seemed pretty good from what I was able to see. I bought a muscle tank (the one in the photo below) before I joined and tried on some other items from a friend. The items I tried on at the time were good quality and seemed to fit well, although my muscle tank was small on my hips and I had to exchange it for a bigger size.

zyia kettle moon muscle tank
My Zyia muscle tank

Plus they release new clothing items every Wednesday, so there was always something new to share and promote.

I didn’t think at the time I signed up that there were very many reps in my area, but it turned out that there were quite a few and my town was nearly saturated already by the time I joined (more on that later in the post).

Why I stopped selling Zyia activewear

1) I wasn’t confident in quality consistency

While some of the pieces of clothing I had from Zyia were amazing quality, other items I wasn’t sure about. One of the biggest complaints was see-through leggings, and that worried me since I wanted to be confident in the quality of the clothing I was selling and promoting.

Before I had joined, I talked to a former Zyia rep that had let me know about some of the quality issues with the clothing, so I was mostly aware of this going in as a rep, but I had hoped that they had worked through this issue by the time I joined.

I struggled with telling my customers about the high quality clothing that was sold by Zyia (many items are good quality), but I didn’t want to hide from my customers if their choice in leggings were potentially see-through.

zyia active twist back tank with bomber bra
My Zyia twistback tank and bomber bra

Granted not all of the leggings were this way. The black light n tight leggings were thin but not see-through. But with each new release of leggings, my big question was always “are these squat proof”. I’d wait to hear from other reps or customers who bought new leggings to see how they were before promoting them.

Some of the different batches of the same style and color of leggings would be see-through and some wouldn’t be, so they must have had different quality batches even within the same style. I felt that there needed to be more quality control in that area to ensure the leggings were all the same quality regardless of the batch.

That said, I believe that most of the Zyia products are good quality. One of my favorite pairs of joggers currently is from Zyia (my black Unwind Joggers from my starter kit) and they fit well and are made well.

2) Irregular sizing

Another thing that I was concerned about was that not all the clothing had regular sizing. Some of the legging styles were true to size, some were quite small, and some were loose fitting, even though they were all designed to be snug like workout leggings should be.

I found that most of the shirts and tanks were pretty narrow on my hips as well, so I had to order up a size (or 2 sometimes) to fit on my hips and then they were baggy on my bust area.

woman doing sit ups

I noticed this particularly with muscle tanks, where the arm holes were quite large and awkwardly placed when I got a size larger that fit my hips.

Considering I don’t have a particularly large butt or hips, this was disappointing. I feel that other brands fit much better on my average frame, like Under Armour or prAna.

Related posts: All about percussion massagers (and a review on a couple brands).

3) The prices are high

Considering the unpredictable quality of Zyia clothing, I felt that the price for Zyia was too high, especially considering that not all of their leggings are squat proof and some of the sizing could be off.

Some of the other clothing brands I’ve promoted are higher priced as well, but they are consistently high quality and have some “perks”. For example: GoLite is made from recycled plastic bottles; prAna uses fair trade and often organic cotton and recycled materials, and has regular sales; Under Armour has competitive prices, regular sales, and supports our military and first responders.

I am a budget conscious shopper, and I always look for good deals, so initially it was very difficult for me to be okay with the prices of the Zyia clothing, but I got a discount so I was fine with it at first. But buying clothing regularly at those prices can add up, and even though I could write those off as business expenses, it cuts into profits.

group of people cross country running

Many activewear brands like Under Armour, Reebok, Adidas, etc. will regularly have sales on their clothing or offer personal trainers a discount, but Zyia rarely does sales. They do have markdown/clearance items, but reps don’t get full commission on sales of those items and the sizing/colors are extremely limited.

Related fitness review: Cubii Desk Elliptical review

4) I made very little profit

Zyia does seem to take care of their reps and they offer nice bonuses regularly, but even with bonuses and the amount I spent on gift cards for party incentives and the cost of the starter kit, it didn’t make sense for me financially to continue to be a rep for Zyia.

Like other MLMs, it’s difficult to earn more money if you do not sign up reps under you. The name of the game is recruiting, and if you don’t believe in your product fully and aren’t comfortable being “salesy”, that can be very difficult to do.

I watched this documentary on Vice about a popular MLM and it was eye opening. While reps are not required to buy clothing or keep an inventory of Zyia clothing in order to sell it, to be successful in an MLM you are expected to buy the product and use it yourself. And that can get expensive, even with the rep discount and hostess credits reps can earn through sales.

Considering that my area was saturated, I was not a salesy person (I wasn’t willing to cold message anyone), I was putting more time into my blog, the cost of the starter kit, the regular costs of party prizes, and the costs of buying new Zyia items regularly, it didn’t make financial sense for me to continue selling Zyia.

my old zyia business cards
My old Zyia business cards

We often get what we put into things, if we work harder we get more money usually. It’s the law of reaping and sowing that I firmly believe. However, regardless of what promises are made to new reps, most people do not make a profit with MLMs.

Consider this study by the AARP Foundation: according to their research, 47% of MLM reps lose money, 27% break even, and only 25% report making a profit. Considering that 91% of reps say one reason they join is to make money, there are a lot of reps who don’t make the money they thought they would.

And that was the main reason I joined Zyia: for additional income for my family, and I didn’t want to keep putting money into it if it wasn’t going to pay off. So I stopped sooner rather than later to cut my costs and stop putting money into it.

Check out our ACE Health Coach Certification Review if you’re looking for a fitness certification

5) My area was oversaturated

One of the other reasons I decided to stop being a Zyia Active rep was that my immediate area was oversaturated. It doesn’t appear to be oversaturated nationally, but since our proximity is close to where it was founded (Utah), our state had a lot of reps, and my town had a bunch as well.

When I’d host an online party of mostly local people, I had hardly anyone participate because they had already either hosted a party, just participated in a party, or sold Zyia themselves. In a town of about 30K people, we’ve got at least 10 Zyia reps that I know personally, and our markets overlap.

One of the limitations of MLMs is that because recruiting is heavily pushed, it can be self-limiting: an oversaturated market means reps are less likely to find customers and make money. Market saturation might even be reached with only 10-20 distributors (source).

Some of my other concerns:

  1. Returns are not free unless there is a defect
  2. Returns/exchanges take a while, sometimes it would be several weeks before you hear anything back about returns. I had to contact customer service about a return 4 weeks after they had received my return package because I had not heard anything back from them. Not all returns took this long, but some did.
  3. The starter kit price is high (mine was $419.75 after taxes and shipping). You are able to return unused portions of your starter kit if you quit being a rep up to 90 days from receiving your starter kit, so this does help recoup some costs if you find it’s not for you. $400+ can be hefty, especially if you’re unsure of making a return on the investment.
  4. My Facebook account was regularly getting frozen by Facebook for scheduling Zyia party posts. We were encouraged to schedule our Facebook party posts ahead of time, but scheduling posts for parties, sharing my link, and sharing photos from Zyia were all triggering Facebook to strike my account as having possible spam activity. I was getting my account frozen or locked out several times a week. Getting my Facebook account shut down would damage my blogging business which brings in a good income. This was not unique to me, either. My uplines had their accounts regularly shut down, as did many other reps. We were always looking for work arounds, and I decided not to jeopardize one of my blogging traffic and income streams.
woman doing chaturanga on a yoga mat

Tips for buying Zyia Active products

If you want to support your friends and family who are selling Zyia Active, make sure you ask your rep a few questions about the items you’re looking at before buying:

  1. How does the item fit (true to size, runs small, etc.)? A lot of reps will offer this info anyway, but if they don’t, be sure to ask to save yourself unnecessary returns or exchanges.
  2. Are the leggings squat proof? Like I mentioned earlier, not all of the legging styles or even batches within the same style are squat proof, so make sure to ask about each style or new release. If your rep hasn’t tried the items personally, the reps have Facebook groups where they can crowdsource and ask about other people’s feedback on the fabric and fit.
  3. Do the fabrics breathe? I have the Zyia Bomber Bra that I still love and think is very cute, but the fabric doesn’t breathe very well when I sweat a lot in it. If you are a heavy sweater or will be using the items only for workouts, ask about the breathability of the fabric.
  4. Is the Zyia item meant for leisure or workouts? Not all of the Zyia products are meant for heavy workouts (like their knit casual leggings), so check to make sure that the item you get will work for the activities you plan on using it for.

Since every item is often different, even if you own a piece of Zyia clothing, still ask your rep about quality, fabric, whether leggings are squat-proof, etc.

Some of my favorite fitness clothing brands

Here are a few of my favorite fitness clothing brands. I don’t tend to branch out a ton and try new brands very often, so these are my go-to’s usually.

These might seem boring, but they are solid companies with great customer service and they work for me!

Under Armour: the Under Armour clothing seems to fit my body shape the best over the years, even after having kids, surgeries, and weight fluctuations. I can always find good deals at their outlet stores and on their website and my kids love their stuff too.

prAna: as I mentioned before, prAna is committed to fair trade and sustainability in their clothing and accessories, so they use recycled materials, fair trade raw materials, etc. They take really good care of the people who supply the materials and manufacture their products.

They also have an excellent fitness trainer/teacher discount program (up to 40% off) of their products, and I’ve loved pretty much all of the products I’ve gotten from them over the years!

Vie Active: So far I’ve only gotten 2 items from Vie Active that were sent to me as a gifting from the company (a bra and leggings), but I love the leggings they sent me. The leggings they sent to me are very similar to the Zyia Light n Tights: they are high waisted, have pockets on each side, and are slightly compressive to keep everything in.

Even though they were similar, I preferred the the Vie Active leggings to the Zyia Light n Tights because the Vie Active material is thicker and is much more forgiving for cellulite, panty lines, lumps, and bumps.

I had gotten my Vie Active leggings about the same time that I had gotten my Zyia starter kit and I compared the 2 leggings and the Vie Active ones were much better quality and had a smoother fit.

I felt that the Zyia legging material was too thin for me, and showed a lot of flaws. I eventually sent back the Zyia leggings and kept my Vie Active ones. They are still one of my favorite leggings that I’ve ever owned!

A few thoughts about MLMs

Joining an MLM or direct sales company is a very personal decision and I won’t judge people for making that decision for themselves. I do not however believe that MLMs are good business model, and I wanted to share my thoughts on Zyia activewear and a few thoughts on MLMs/direct sales companies.

As I mentioned before, the prices from MLMs can be quite high, and often much higher than retail products that are of equal or higher quality.

Examples: Shakeology from BeachBody is $129 for a 1 month supply, when I can get an excellent and comparable shake product from Orgain, Owyn, or Vega for around $30-40. Color Street nail strips are $13 for sparkly ones and I found nearly the exact same pattern of nail strips from Coconut Nail Art for $4.50.

friends having coffee

The high prices with MLMs are strategic for encouraging customers to 1) host a party to get better prices, and 2) become a rep to get their own discount.

While there is something to be said for supporting your friends and loved ones who are selling these products, my family’s financial wellbeing comes first, and that means spending our money wisely and more often than not avoiding purchasing from direct sales companies.

One other thing I have noticed about a lot of MLMs and direct sale companies is that the reps can be very overprotective of the brand. If a customer complains about the quality of the product, the rep will often rationalize it away as customer misuse or mistake instead of acknowledging that the product is flawed.

This is frustrating to me, and probably very frustrating to a lot of customers. So if you are a rep for a direct sales company, make sure you are objective when it comes to your customer’s concerns, they appreciate it 🙂

Additional resources about MLMs

If you’d like to learn more about MLMs, their history, and some really interesting information about how the FTC has brought cases against various MLMs over the years, listen to the first season of The Dream podcast.

I first learned about The Dream podcast from a reader commenting here (thanks Chris!) and listened to the first season and loved it. If you’re a Christian, just ignore the occasional jabs at religion and Christianity that pop up during the podcast (it’s sprinkled throughout, but not overly pervasive).

It explores lots of interesting information about MLMs: their history, why women typically gravitate towards network marketing, what the difference between MLMs and pyramid schemes are, etc.

Really informative and eye opening! Listening to some of the clips from the Amway leaders replayed on the podcast reminded me of the stuff we heard from Amway tapes lent to us by friends who tried to get us to join in the 90s. Really overbearing and condescending, but those are topics for another time.

Here are a few things that constitute a pyramid scheme, so you are able to see moving forward what types of businesses to avoid. Regular businesses are not pyramid schemes in spite of a hierarchical organization structure that they might have. And MLMs have to meet certain guidelines in order to not be considered a pyramid scheme and brought up on charges by the FTC (such as not forcing reps to carry inventory or ensuring they have a refund policy for reps).

As I mentioned earlier in the post, the Vice video about LulaRoe was incredibly interesting and exposes some of the holes in this type of business model, especially if the company is requiring inventory and not offering refunds. The Dream also has a bonus episode about LulaRoe that is informative as well.

Here’s a list of the things I linked to on network marketing earlier (and some extras) to make it easier to find in one spot:

I also recently found this informative and very detailed article from the FTC “The Case (for and) against Multi-level Marketing” (2011) chapter 7 written by Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D., Consumer Awareness Institute.

Jon M. Taylor mentions that:

“Our studies, along with those done by other independent analysts (not connected to the MLM industry), clearly prove that MLM as a business model –with its endless chain of recruitment of participants as primary customers – is flawed,…. Worldwide feedback suggests it is also…. harmful to many participants. This conclusion does not apply just to a specific MLM company, but to the entire MLM industry. It is a systemic problem.”

Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D. “The Case (for and) against Multi-level Marketing” (2011)

It’s worth noting Jon. M. Taylor’s article that “this conclusion does not just apply to a specific MLM company, but the entire MLM industry. It is a systemic problem”.

According to Jon’s research, low success rates with MLMs are not the result of bad MLMs, but every MLM company has this problem since it stems from the central business model.

Since the law of attraction has come up in the comments and is taught heavily by many MLMs, here’s an interesting take on the law of attraction (LOA) by a psychologist, “The Truth About the Law of Attraction” on the Psychology Today website, written by Neil Farber M.D, Ph.D., CLC, CPT.

High incomes are the exception in MLMs, not the rule: a look at the numbers

Also an additional note about income: I mentioned earlier that this AARP study shows that most MLM reps either lose money or just break even. So while we probably know people who are successful in MLMs, that is not the standard or even the average in this industry.

Let’s break this down using actual numbers.

This is a look at the numbers and for people interested in joining an MLM for the income, not necessarily for people who are joining MLMs as hobbies or just for fun.

Consider the 2019 income statement from Beautycounter: over 80% of their 44,000 Beautycounter reps are on the lowest level (Consultant) and earn an average of $46 a month (the top 25% of Consultants make $138 a month).

So based on their average earnings chart:

  • 36,168 reps earned an average of $46 a month with Beautycounter (82.2% x 44,000 reps)
  • 1,232 reps were at the Manager level making an average of $672 a month (2.8% x 44,000)
  • 220 reps were at the Senior Director level with incomes averaging $4382 a month (0.5% x 44,000).
  • Only 88 people were at the highest tier of Managing Director (0.2% x 44,000 reps)
Average income chart from Beautycounter

Their statement also notes that “On average, new Consultants spent $440 at the time of enrollment in 2019.” If you made an average of $46 a month as a Consultant, that initial expense of $440 would take 9.6 months to earn back (aka break even).

If you were in the top 25% of Consultants, you made an average of $138 a month. It would take you just over 3 months to break even if you spent $440 on products.

A bit lower down in their 2019 income highlights, it says “the average total annual income for all U.S. Consultants was $2,060“.

Beautycounter typical expenses for reps

Let’s suppose a rep spent 10 hours a week working on their MLM. That’s a very reasonable 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. That time would include parties (online and in person), outreach/networking, attending training webinars and watching training videos, filming videos of new products, social media posts, etc.

10 hours a week is 520 hours per year, which equals $3.96 an hour if you made $2060 for the year.

That is just income, not profit, which takes into consideration things like party supplies if you host in-person parties, incentives for online parties (like gift certificates), money spent on product from the company, etc. If you divide your time by your profit and not just income, the hourly rate is even less.

As an example: if you made $2060 in revenue, but you spent $300 in product for the year, as well as $200 for materials for in-home parties and $100 for incentives for online parties (such as gift cards and discounts, which are out of the rep’s pocket), your profit for the year would be $1460.

Your average hourly rate based on the profit would be $2.80 an hour if you spent 10 hours a week (520 hours) working on your MLM.

In order to make a liveable income and a reasonable hourly rate for your time, recruiting downlines is imperative to move up income levels. This is by design.

While companies and reps might like to share the best case scenarios of earnings with their companies, people need to realize that those high-earning cases are exceptions and not the standard or average.

I encourage anyone who is in an MLM to consistently track income, expenses, and time spent on their venture and track profits (not just income) and then divide that by the time they are spending on their MLM to calculate their hourly wage.

This helps to put into perspective your actual profits and whether MLMs are a worthwhile investment of time and money for each individual.

The article for the FTC by Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D., Consumer Awareness Institute, has more insight on potential income and profit with MLMs:

“Of the 350 MLMs I have analyzed for which a complete compensation plan was available, 100% of them are recruitment driven and top-weighted. In other words, the vast majority of commissions paid by MLM companies go to a tiny percentage of TOPPs (top-of-the-pyramid promoters) at the expense of a revolving door of recruits, 99% of whom lose money. This is after subtracting purchases they must make to qualify for commissions and advancement in the scheme, to say nothing of minimal operating expenses for conducting an aggressive recruitment campaign – which (based on the compensation plans) is essential to get into the profit column.”

Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D. “The Case (for and) against Multi-level Marketing” (2011)

Some people love working for their MLM companies, and that’s great. Some people aren’t in it for the money, and participate for the social aspect and not the money.

But since a majority of people join MLMs to actually make money, people need to be aware of the realities of income possibilities with MLMs.

When recruiting new reps, uplines need to be up front about what the incomes and profit margins really look like.

February 2024 update: Truth in Advertising (TINA.org) just released the findings of their latest yearlong investigation into 100 MLMs and found that 98% of them were misrepresenting potential incomes in recruiting.

More MLM income disclosure statements

Like Jon Taylor mentions in his research on MLMs, the limited earning potential is industry-wide and not limited to just BeautyCounter.

It is not a legal requirement for MLMs in the US to disclose their average incomes for reps, so not all of them are even available online to look at.

Zyia Active doesn’t have an actual income disclosure that I can find (as of March 2021). They have a list of ranks, commission percentages, etc. but not an actual income disclosure statement.

If you’re curious about the earnings for other MLM companies, here are some more income disclosure statements from popular MLM companies in a variety of verticals:

If you’d like to see more income disclosures, Mike at Make Time Online has a good list of income disclosure statements for MLM companies and a list of companies that do not provide them.

He has also included a table with percentages of reps who lose money for each company that has provided disclosure statements based on the info in their disclosures.

The Make Time Online list isn’t fully complete, though, since there are a few who didn’t make it onto the list of companies that won’t provide income disclosures. But it’s a good central location for checking out over 60 MLM income statements!

Regular businesses are not pyramid schemes

One thing I briefly touched on earlier is that regular businesses are not pyramid schemes.

I see a lot of reps calling regular businesses a pyramid scheme based on the “pyramid” shape of a business structure (a few managers on top, with many workers on the “bottom”).

This is inaccurate and reveals a very flawed idea of what actually constitutes a pyramid scheme.

A pyramid scheme is called a pyramid scheme based on the need to recruit downlines to actually make money. Just because a legitimate business has a hierarchical management structure that happens to resemble a pyramid-type shape does not make it a pyramid scheme!

Here is the FTC’s definition of a pyramid scheme:

“Pyramid schemes now come in so many forms that they may be difficult to recognize immediately. However, they all share one overriding characteristic. They promise 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. Some schemes may purport to sell a product, but they often simply use the product to hide their pyramid structure” FTC statement on pyramid schemes

Pyramid schemes are defined by recruiting downlines to earn more money. Regular businesses usually do not need to recruit downlines. And regular businesses rely on sales, not recruiting, to generate a profit.

Regular businesses make their money solely on providing goods and services and do not recruit downlines. The shape of a business’ management and employment structure has nothing to do with the factual definition of a pyramid scheme, and calling a regular business a “pyramid scheme” based on hierarchical management structure is inaccurate.

Every good organization’s employment and management system is structured this way (like schools, our military, Fortune 500 companies, successful mom and pop stores, etc.) to help divide responsibility among more than one person for a more successful business.

This ensures the business/school/military runs successfully so it does not all fall on one person to do everything. This hierarchical management structure does not make a regular business a pyramid scheme even if it happens to be shaped like a pyramid when drawn out on paper.

You do not have to pay a joining fee to get a job at your local coffee shop, and even though you have a manager, you are not their “downline”.

The FTC also notes: “If a plan purports to sell a product or service, check to see whether its price is inflated, whether new members must buy costly inventory, or whether members make most “sales” to other members rather than the general public. If any of these conditions exist, the purported “sale” of the product or service may just mask a pyramid scheme that promotes an endless chain of recruiting and inventory loading.

As an example of this, the FTC successfully sued AdvoCare in 2019 for running a pyramid scheme. Even though they sold products, AdvoCare made deceptive earnings claims and encouraged their reps to do the same, which is one hallmark of a pyramid scheme.

I highly encourage anyone interested in learning more about what constitutes pyramid schemes to read up on the FTC website’s articles! There are a lot of articles as well as press releases for lawsuits against companies like AdvoCare.

There is also a press release from April 2020 about letters written by the FTC to several MLM companies about false claims their reps are making related to c – v – d*.

*I won’t type it out fully since some advertisers don’t like showing ads on posts mentioning it, and since advertising makes up a large portion of our blog income, we’re keeping advertisers happy 😉

Flexible alternatives to MLMs

Since we’ve had several people asking about or mentioning low-overhead alternatives to MLMs in the comments, here are some other flexible work options with low overhead.

This is not meant to be a side-by-side comparison of MLMs and alternatives. It just offers a list of other good options for earning consistent income with a flexible schedule outside of MLMs.

  • Etsy shop (overhead is very low, especially if you are creating digital or printable items)
  • Selling food products or craft items out of your home (this will depend on your location if licensing is needed for food sales, you’ll need to check for laws in your state).
  • Blogging: it takes time to start earning money with a blog, but some people are able to begin earning money on their website after 6 months of dedicated work. Information about running a successful website is available for free online, and blogging can be an great source of income even if you don’t have huge amounts of traffic. Hosting at the beginning is inexpensive, about $10-15 a month to start.
  • Virtual assistant (VA) for bloggers, online companies, or local small businesses.
  • Freelance writing: in most cases, you don’t have to have special training for this if you have good basic writing skills and you’re ghostwriting or writing for small websites that don’t require specific expertise. If your writing needs improved, the internet is full of free and excellent advice for improving your writing skills and writing speed.
  • Delivery, like GrubHub, Doordash, or grocery delivery. Some people start their own grocery shopping and delivery services in their own towns so they set their own rates. Pay is reasonable and hours are flexible (GrubHub pays about $11/hour + tips).
  • Various local odd jobs. When my children were small, I did whatever small jobs I could get my hands on: freelance writing for a website, office cleaning on the weekend for a local chiropractor office, as well as dictation/transcription for that office. Ironing for a friend who didn’t have time, tutoring at our local college right after I graduated, cleaning my dad’s welding shop and his welding trucks and running errands for his business, yard work for neighbors, babysitting, etc.

Notes about my post and our comment policy

Our comment policy: active recruiting for Zyia or other MLMs is absolutely not allowed in the comment area! Any comments trying to recruit reps will be deleted. Contrasting or dissenting viewpoints are welcome as long as they are respectful. Rude or abusive comments will be deleted.

Please note that it is my website policy and my goal to respond to every comment I receive on my blog regardless of the post.

If you do not want a personal response from me to your comment, or you dislike seeing my responses to others in the comments, please consider this before adding a comment of your own.

If you do not like seeing my responses to comments, please know that it has been my personal website policy since 2011 and this policy has not changed since writing this post.

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155 thoughts on “Zyia Active Review: My Thoughts as a Former Rep”

  1. Thanks so much for the honest review. I really appreciate it. Lately a few of my friends started selling it on insta and iv never heard of it before. I highly recommend listening to the podcast The Dream i think youll like it. MLMs are the worst.

  2. Thank you for your response.

    Generalization is the crux of your argument. I would be delighted to read any study that actually talks about well run vs. poorly run MLMs. I believe there are very bad examples of MLMs just as there are bad examples of conventionally run companies.

    I am sorry you were burned by a bad example of an MLM, just as I would be sorry if you started a business of any kind that failed. Starting any new business comes with risks. I would imagine if research were to be done on new businesses in their first 5 years, the failure rate would be astonishing.

    I wanted to address one of your accusations:

    “Also, comparing a small business to joining an MLM is not really an equal comparison. When you join an MLM, you are not a business owner, you are an independent contractor for a larger company. You do not own the company you work for. When you start an Etsy shop or a blog, you actually own the company you are working for.”

    I’m not sure who this was addressed to, but I most definitely did not make this comparison. I agree that you do not own your own company when you join an MLM. However, an UA employee is most definitely not receiving profit sharing at the levels of the company that you referenced in your argument.

    Have a great day!

    • Hi Stephanie, I’m not sure why you are saying that the crux of my argument is “generalizations” when I gave very specific examples of typical earnings for MLMs (BeautyCounter earning statements from their own website), studies addressing how many people actually make money with MLMs (the AARP study), as well as specific examples of alternatives to MLMs that are available to people looking for flexible income options. There are no generalizations in my post or my answers to you.

      The statistics about incomes for MLMs are for all MLMs, not just good or bad ones. They all run on similar structures, so regardless of how good or bad an MLM is, the statistics still say that 91% of reps do not make money with them (this is across multiple MLMs and reps). Jon M. Taylor’s post for the FTC mentions that his conclusion that MLMs are unprofitable “…does not apply just to a specific MLM company, but to the entire MLM industry. It is a systemic problem.”

      As for me being “burned” by a bad example of an MLM, Zyia isn’t really a bad example of an MLM at all (nothing like Amway, Herbalife, LulaRoe, etc.), and my story is not unique. There are many stories of people who joined MLMs and did not make money or ended up in more debt. Just listen to The Dream podcast where people share some of their own stories, people also share their stories online or in the anti-MLM groups on Facebook (those groups are often over 50K+ and 100K+ strong, and many of them are people who used to be in MLMs and most lost money).

      According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more (source). So the 5 year failure rate of small businesses is around 45%, that’s still better than the 91% of reps who make no money or lose it in the AARP study.

      My statement about comparing MLMs to small business ownership directly answers your question about alternatives to MLMs with a “same statistical backup” which I took to mean “similar overhead” and you mentioned “startup cost” which are both only things that business owners are responsible for, not employees. Since you mentioned startup costs and overhead costs, it seemed reasonable to assume you were wanting to compare MLMs to small business ventures with low overhead or low startup costs. Reps very often call themselves small business owners of their MLM. Me mentioning that it’s not a good comparison is not an “accusation” at all. There is no accusation there, it is a statement in response to you mentioning startup costs in your initial comment. I’m unsure why you’d call that an accusation.

      You said in your most recent comment that “Starting any new business comes with risks”, that seems to imply you are comparing MLMs to small businesses?

      You also mentioned the failure rate of businesses. But if you are acknowledging that MLMs aren’t small businesses, why try to compare the failure rate of MLMs and the failure rate of small businesses? If you acknowledge that they are not small businesses, than it is not practical to compare their failure rates or rates of risk with those of small businesses (even so, the failure rate of small businesses is still better than MLM statistics as mentioned earlier).

      I also never said that Under Armour employees have profit sharing with their company nor did I imply that. I don’t think you read that comment correctly. I said that the wages that Under Armour employees make is better than the average $3.96 per hour that some MLM reps make, and that the $3.96/hour average MLM reps make is only revenue and not profit (so their rep estimated hourly rate is even less considering expenses). That is not the same as saying Under Armour employees are sharing in profit of their company, and the comment was never written that way.

      You seem to be offended by my response, which you have several times misread and mischaracterized. I’m sharing well researched facts and truth, I am not responsible for people’s feelings of offense. My comments are not “generalizations” and “accusations” and it is unfair to mischaracterize them as such simply because you are offended by them.

      Have a great day!

  3. Hi Sarah,

    Thank you for your blog post. I found it very informative. I do have a few questions: I see you have made the decision that MLMs are not the way to earn money, but have you considered that many people do not join these companies for this purpose? Some join to give them a small project that is simply fun!

    Have you identified a business model that has better success rates with the same kind of startup cost? It is fine to say you don’t enjoy the business model, but to suggest that this is not successful, you might want to compare it to something with the same statistical backup. Just my two cents.

    I also wonder if you have done any research into the companies you do support? Does Under Armour pay its employees a fair wage in your opinion?

    Thanks again for your researched opinion on MLMs.

    • Hi Stephanie, thank you for your questions. Here are some answers:

      1) I recognize that some people join MLMs for side projects to keep themselves busy, like hobbies. According to the AARP study that I linked several times in the post, 91% of study respondents said that making money was a motivating factor in joining an MLM. So the info in my post is speaking to the 91% of people who are joining with the hopes of making money. Only 9% said they were only joining for the discounts (hobbyists). So while people do indeed join just for hobbies/discounts, that’s not true for 91% of people who join MLMs. Also, issues about the quality and pricing of MLM products affects every type of rep, not just ones interested in making money.

      2) I’m not sure what you mean by “same statistical backup”? I have identified business models that are similar in overhead that I have mentioned to other commenters here. People can open Etsy shops with very little overhead, especially if you are selling digital products like printable planners, ebooks, etc. Being a VA (virtual assistant) costs nothing besides a computer (which most people have anyway) and internet. Same with freelance writing. Blogging can be a good way to earn money with very low overhead, it sometimes takes time to start earning money on a blog, but it can be an extremely good source of income.

      That being said, you seem to be suggesting that we need to compare MLMs to other business models in order for our arguments here to be taken seriously. However, our criticisms of MLMs as a business model are still valid even if we do not make a list of alternatives or side by side comparisons against other businesses models in the post. But since several people have mentioned this, we’ll add a note to our post listing some good alternatives.

      Also, comparing a small business to joining an MLM is not really an equal comparison. When you join an MLM, you are not a business owner, you are an independent contractor for a larger company. You do not own the company you work for. When you start an Etsy shop or a blog, you actually own the company you are working for.

      3) Yes I have done research into the companies I do support. Companies like prAna are fair trade, so even their overseas laborers are paid a fair wage for their area and are ensured healthy working conditions. Under Armour does pay its US employees a fair wage. A quick Google search shows that Under Armour stockers make an average of $11.42 an hour, their sales reps make an average of $10.85 an hour, and they provide benefits as well, including discounts on clothing. At the very least, these companies are paying the US minimum wage ($7.25/hour), which is still better than the average $3.96 an hour we mentioned in the post that some people are earning through MLMs as revenue, not profit. Under Armour employees are not required to invest money to be employed there, they also don’t have to pay for monthly website fees, meet minimum monthly sales quotas, or recruit friends and family as downlines.

  4. Great article and so much great information. I was considering joining, but glad I read your article a few weeks back!! Thank you for saving me. Also there is a new company called Love Her Shop that is selling the similar Zyia items but nothing over $35. I bought some and are identical to the light and light and were $25!!

  5. Hi thank you for all your information on ZYIA.
    I was actually looking to see where the name derived from if it was from a different culture etc. but you gave me so much more information than I really appreciate and I’ll go back through your blog as well. Yes we do have a dear friend in our circle that is now selling this product and I have been in Amway for years but I like the Amway products for health and wellness and a couple of other items so I stayed with that that’s the best quality that I can locate right now that I find is higher than what else is offered out there especially in the Triple X tablets. I too prefer her not to push sales other than when people ask me. Thank you so much and I look forward to reading more on your blog merry Christmas

  6. PLEASE DO NOT DRINK THE ZYIA KOOL AID. AS A Former Rep, I can 100 % attest that this company is a complete scam. I wasted thousands of dollars. REPS will only tell you what you want to hear. I lost valuable friendships and precious time.

    • Thank you for sharing that Stacy! I’m interested in hearing more about your experience, could you share some more about it? Were you pressured to spend thousands of dollars by your uplines?

  7. A friend just sent me a text to support her on Small Business Saturday. I live on the East Coast and have never heard of Zyia, that’s when I went looking for reviews and found yours. I’ve sold for a few MLM’ and Direct Sales companies that were not profitable but the last DSC that I sold from 2009-2014 was a profit maker, with or without a down line. The down line just enhanced the paycheck. I got tired of schlepping clothes and is the reason I stopped selling. I still continue to wear the clothes today, because the quality is just that good and they look great on… truly price peer wear. 😂 My down line and up line are still going strong today. Quality of the product is important because it’s what sustains the business. Selling what I call butts into chairs is not a sustainable model. Clothes are never cookie cutters, so it is important to know sizing of each piece. Also, not everything is meant for every body. Thank you for your perspective, as I will support my friend today and try the product out. Btw, There is a difference between an MLM and Direct Sales. Zyia is actually Direct Sales. An MLM can only be purchased thru a rep i.e. Mary Kay, Avon. A Direct Sales company allows you to order directly from a website.

    • Thank you for sharing, Mason, however I do need to offer a correction to your statement on direct sales. According to this article, the difference between Direct Sales and MLMs is that MLMs rely on recruiting downlines and direct sales does not recruit downlines but only relies on selling products (https://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-direct-sales-multilevel-marketing-20952.html). According to that, the difference between those 2 models has nothing to do with access to website orders but has everything to do with whether recruiting is involved in the income methods. Pretty much all MLMs and Direct Sales companies have websites now and the ability to order online. And based on that definition of direct sales and MLMs, Zyia is an MLM, not a Direct Sales company, because they have a recruiting level program.

      Also as I’ve noted in a few other comments, it is not common for uplines and downlines to be making lots of money. So it’s great that your friends are making plenty of money with MLMs, that is not the case for everyone who joins an MLM. Making lots of money is not the average or the standard with MLMs. For example: Beautycounter’s income statement says that over 80% of their reps are at the lowest level (Consultant) and they average an income of $46 a month. That is just income and not profit considering expenses and time (https://www.beautycounter.com/ids). So those cases of great earnings are nice to hear about, they are not typical or even average for the industry.

  8. Thank you for this post. I have a friend doing a party and I wanted to support her but I’m very budget conscience. I am willing to pay for a good quality product. I started adding things to my cart but just felt sick as it quickly added up. I was looking for reviews on their clothing when I came across your post. It was exactly what I needed!
    Also, I love your honesty on MLMs. I’ve been heavily involved in one in the past and never made any money. The time it took wasn’t worth it. I always felt pushy and manipulative trying to get people to buy the product. I did like the product but I felt if someone said no then that was it. I don’t like people bugging me after I say no do why would I keep bugging them? I always felt like a failure when I didn’t meet my sales goal. And there were some things they weren’t as transparent as they should have been. After an introductory period, you have to pay to use their site. And just other stuff that made me scratch my head.
    I was pressured to recruit and recruit and recruit. I did recruit a few people but started to feel scuzzy about it because I wasn’t enjoying it and felt like I had to gloss over some things in order to get them to join. But that’s how I was convinced to join, the negative stuff was glossed over.
    It was a 🎢 of emotions. Happy and excited when I could book parties and made some money. Depressed and moody and feeling like a failure when I didn’t make sales or get hostesses.
    I finally stepped away but it was still a struggle because I thought I was missing out on all these money making opportunities. I started it to make a little extra money for my family but I never even broke even. I was also already working full time and pregnant with my third child. I was stretched but I kept getting pep talks on how I could do it and it would improve my family’s finances, I just needed to put in a bit more effort. I thought there was something wrong with me or that my friends didn’t care about me because they weren’t buying or hosting for me. It definitely took a toll.
    MLMs are very slick and definitely know what they are doing. They have an answer for everything. In sorry for this rambling, long post. It was obviously something I needed to get off my chest. And thank you again for your honest review.

    • Hi Hol, thank you so much for sharing your story! It’s not rambling at all, I enjoyed reading it 🙂 Your story sounds very much like the ones I have heard on The Dream podcast and in some of the Facebook groups I’m in. I can relate a bit to that feeling of missing out when I’d see people posting on social media about all the money they made from their direct sales company, but I know that they are skipping some details like how much they actually had to spend into the company and the big pressure to recruit (and the fact that you can’t earn a good amount of money without recruiting). I’ve only joined 2 MLMs ever (Zyia being my second one) and in both cases I was super-aware of my time spent vs. income and my net profits, I realized quickly that my idea of using it as a sort of affiliate program on my blog wasn’t going to work, I had to actually recruit people to get a decent income, and that didn’t sit well with me, especially knowing that the quality was really hit and miss. I’m glad you found us <3

  9. I agree and disagree with some of your statements. As an MLM rep (not for Zyia), being pushy is not the way to go. You will cause even your family to he your enemy with this strategy. The MLM model however, is actually a great model if you are willing to put in the work, not expect get rich quick, have a product you believe in, and have a team that trains and motivates. If you have all these things you will be successful. Learning the correct way to market yourself and your business is key. The issue is people assume overnight success and then get frustrated when that doesn’t happen, because that’s not the reality. I have yet to see any type of business model that has immediate success while the business owner sits there and does nothing. I also have not seen a business model (other than MLMs), where you can start your own business for as little as $50 and grow it to 6 figures or more. (When you do it the right way and have all those things in place I mentioned above). As far as pyramod schemes go, those are truly illegal and so any MLM who is in business is not doing anything illegally. The pyramids get shut down pretty quickly. So if you are in an MLM and reading this, and having second thoughts because of this article, don’t let naysayers dissuade you from what you want in life. We all have to work hard at our dreams and the business routes we go in order to do this are all different. And that’s ok. Like anything in life, what works for one may not work for another. Just be sure to do what feels right for you and your situation, and be sure to have a product YOU believe in and that you have passion and fun with what you do. Mindset may not be everything, but it is a huge part of success or failure.

    • Hi Jen, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree that to each his own, and what works for some people doesn’t work for everyone. But I am not going to cover up the fact that statistically MLMs are not a good business venture for the average person. In response to a few of your ojections:

      1) Even if you are putting in the work, I still would not call MLMs a great business model when at about 75% of participants either make no money or lose money according to the AARP study on MLMs (some stats even go up as high as 99% of reps make no money or lose money). Saying that all these reps making no money or losing money as a result of them not willing to put in the work doesn’t add up. Of the 25% that does actually make money, only 0.05% makes $100,000 or more (the 6 figure mark you mentioned). It is rare that anyone makes 6 figures in MLMs, and if they do they MUST recruit huge teams under them (which incidentally is a trademark of pyramid schemes).

      I challenge anyone who is involved in an MLM to keep track of their expenses, as well as taxes if they are paying self employment taxes, and divide their net income by the hours they spend working the business to determine if it is a viable income option. Most people come to find that end up making minimum wage or less unless you are in the higher levels of an MLM (which as I mentioned above is a small percentage of reps).

      2) As for pyramid schemes, take a look at the history of MLMs. They originated as dressed up pyramid schemes, then added rules to keep the FTC from calling them pyramid schemes over the years after various lawsuits. MLMs are closer to pyramid schemes than you’d like to admit, especially if the majority of sales income comes from a rep’s own purchases or the rep’s downlines (that’s called a closed system).

      When the whole point of an income stream is not to actually sell products but to constantly recruit new members into your downlines, it dances on the line of a pyramid scheme according to the FTC (please check out the FTC’s info on their case against AdvoCare: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/10/multi-level-marketer-advocare-will-pay-150-million-settle-ftc-charges-it-operated-illegal-pyramid. MLMs are only separated from pyramid schemes by a few rules that the FTC has forced the MLM industry to adopt in order to avoid being called an illegal pyramid scheme.

      A couple really good tips from the link I added above from the FTC:

      The case offers lessons for both business opportunity sellers and potential buyers.
      Sellers: Before stating or implying that people will achieve certain earnings, be sure you have competent and reliable evidence to back up your claims. And remember – unusually successful earnings by a handful of people do not support a general money-making claim.
      Entrepreneurs: If you’re tempted by a sales pitch that says you can make lots of money selling products to people you know or building a “team” or “downline,” talk it over first with an accountant, a lawyer, or someone else you trust – who is not affiliated with the company.

      Whether people want to participate in MLMs is their personal choice, and yes some things work for other people and not for everyone. But I’m not going to hide the fact that the statistics and legal history of MLMs does not support their effectiveness for the average person. Those are facts, the facts don’t change because it makes someone angry. Having fun and loving products is fine, but those things do not guarantee that someone will make a good income selling an MLM product.

      I’ll gladly wear the label “naysayer” if it means that I’m speaking the truth and saving my readers time, money, and frustration by being honest.

      P.S. I mentioned in another comment that there are several other business models that require little overhead but can generate a liveable income (like blogging, Etsy shops, etc.). MLMs are not the only option for people to work for themselves with less income!

  10. I’ve had two separate issues with Zyia’s leggings. The first pair I noticed a hole by my hip. The fabric didn’t even overlap, it was side by side with stitching holding it together. I had them just a little over 90 days and Zyia only wanted to refund me $15! I didn’t feel that this was acceptable and I had only worn them a few times and washed them in a delicate cycle. Leggings that cost $75 should last longer than a few wears. They then gave me a $69 credit. Then another pair of leggings the stitching started to undo. Theses leggings I’ve owned about a year and cost $75! They only wanted to refund me $20. Zyia obviously does not stand behind their product. I really liked their leggings but unfortunately I will not buy them anymore. I have leggings that have lasted a lot longer from Old Navy! So disappointed!

  11. This was quite helpful, my sister recently got involved and invited me to buy some from her face book party and it sent up red flags for me. Like why don’t they have a normal online store? Why does there need to be a host and why is it so expensive? so I tried to look up corporate and investor information and got lots of pro brand spam basically and that’s very suspicious, if your product is good you don’t need so much pushing the market will often pull it. Not something I want to get to involved with I’ve seen MLMs bring disaster to people close to me and am thus pessimistic and will be watching this one closely so its good to see an honest not sales pitchy or scornful look at the brand.

    • Thank you Michelle! One of the reasons I wrote this was because when I had considered signing up early on I couldn’t find much for objective or honest info about Zyia anywhere, so I wanted to fill the gap and give an honest review. It’s so frustrating when everything I found were basically sales pitches and not real reviews.

  12. I wish I would’ve read this review before I made my first (and only) Zyia purchase! They DO NOT pass the squat test, the butt is see through when I bend over, I’m constantly pulling them up and I’ve washed them once and they are piling up in crotch already…. way too expensive for all this to be happening. Not impressed!!!

  13. Would you say it’s worth it to sign up solely for the discount if you like the product? I am not salesy either and would only want to sign up for the discount and if I wasn’t required to sell a minimum amount of product.

    • I’ve had a few people ask about this so I should probably add a section for it in the post. If it’s worth it for you depends on if the money you’re saving is going to offset the website fees each month. I don’t believe there is a way to be a rep without paying for the website fees, so that’s $15 a month which ends up being $180 a year which will cut into your rep discount savings.

      I personally didn’t feel like it would be worth it for me to stay with Zyia just for the discount since the rep price is close to what retail price on those items should be when compared to other brands. I can usually get better prices on other brands with better customer service so it didn’t make sense for me to stay just for the discount. Plus the monthly website fee digs into those savings.

      But ultimately that’s up to you, I’d weigh the pros and cons to decide what is best for you 🙂

  14. I don’t know if you were ever able to sell your Zyia clothes, but there are various Facebook groups called Zyia BST (Buy Sell Trade) where people sell their Zyia clothes all the time for almost full price, sometimes with tags, sometimes without. Just thought I would let you know because I have found it very helpful! 🙂

  15. Thank you for this. Someone close to me asked me to host a party, and honestly? People my age don’t really use Facebook the same way other generations do. I’m 24, and people I met 4-6 years ago in college (aka a lot of my FB friends) aren’t going to respond to random group invites or messages.
    The person I’m hosting for said that people my age are successful at this and I’m not being as engaging as I should be. I wish reps for these things would take into consideration the composition of people’s friends lists and their social interaction comfortability before asking someone to have a party — then to go say it’s the host’s fault when the party isn’t as successful as it could be.
    Oof, this turned into a rant! But thank you for the honest look at Zyia that I haven’t quite seen elsewhere!

    • Those are really great points Alex! I know a some people on my friends list really only get on Facebook maybe once a week (or even less) and some people I messaged to join my party or groups are just tired of how many invites they get and don’t want to get another one. I know that I’ve started declining any group invites for network marketing products, I’m in so many already I don’t see the posts in any of them and I left a ton of them too.

      You make a great point that I see a lot with MLMs in general: if something doesn’t work out (whether it’s the party or the products), some reps blame the customer/host, which is really poor business practice in general. Thank you for stopping by and sharing that!

  16. Thank you for your honest review of the company. I really needed to read this today. I appreciate your candid advice and truthful information.

  17. My friend found your post because I was asking her advice on a business level on joining as a rep. I think I found my answer. No! I’m not a salesperson and I don’t think it’ll be the right fit for me. I’m nervous about getting out and it sounds like it’s trouble even though when I asked, I was told “it’s easy you just deactivate! “ it does all sound too good to be true and your post guaranteed that! Thank you!

  18. Thank you for your candid account! I had been considering becoming a rep but I think I’ll just support a friend having a party right now. If I was a full-time fitness professional I might think differently but seeing that I teach only two yoga classes a week and at this point can barely fit in going to a class myself, I think my current wardrobe does just fine. I have considered MLMs before but i just can’t bite the bullet. Sounds like that’s been the proper response. I’m a bargain shopper as well and I too believe in prioritizing where my family’s money is going.

  19. I feel that if you could get over your own limitations, you’d be successful. The majority of issues are mindset related. There are millions of people in the world, we have networks, friends, and a thing called attraction marketing that we use to build our businesses and brand online.

    You are right, you get what you give in this industry. And you attract what you think. Your insecurity and doubt was weaves throughout this whole document. I’m sure you manifested more doubt and insecurity as you went along.

    Believing is seeing. You need to believe in yourself and in your decisions. When you do you see the physical and tangible manifestation in your experience. Which is why mindset is the most valuable skill in network marketing that will push you through the limitations you have set on yourself.

    Perspective is everything. I’m not affiliated with Zyia in any way Either. But I am so done who believes in the power of network marketing and the power of positive thinking.

    • Hi Unknown, I was debating on just deleting your comment because it’s somewhat condescending, but I decided to leave it up so others could see the cliched sorts of motivational teachings they can expect to hear when they join an MLM.

      Funny thing, I was just listening to The Dream podcast this past week and your comment roundly confirmed everything they mentioned. Thanks for that.

      One of my biggest pet peeves with MLMs is that many MLM leaders and people like you always blame the reps for lack of sales even though MLMs are a poor business model and over 90% of reps in ANY given MLM end up failing at it, either making no money or ending up in debt regardless of how much work they put into it.

      I was fortunately one who decided to test it out paying close attention to the money I was spending vs. the money I was making and realized quickly it was not sustainable and I would not make much money at it without hounding people about joining (even then I’d only break even, and that was not my goal). It had nothing to do with my lack of “attraction marketing” or perspective, so give me a break.

      I’ve listened to tons of mindset and motivational speakers, so don’t insult me by assuming that I’m illiterate at marketing or have no grasp of mindset concepts.

      I believe proper mindset is essential for business and success, but I do not buy into “manifesting”, or the law of attraction (these are New Age concepts by the way). And you’re making a huge assumption by stating that I had insecurity and doubts based on my post. I went into my time with Zyia excited, motivated, and ready to work. My only insecurity and doubts about selling Zyia was my CONSCIENCE telling me it wasn’t right for me to sell other people leggings that were see-through. And also me not wanting to constantly pester my friends and family to buy or sign up under me.

      • Exactly Sarah, I wish people in MLM’s would see that they are hurting their personal relationships by pushing their shit constantly

        • I’ve seen that a lot unfortunately 🙁 I respect the network marketing reps that aren’t pushy, but too many really do get pushy and it damages relationships. I just talked to someone close to me a week ago who was upset because they were being treated badly by their upline because they weren’t making sales. They started crying and shared that they had mistakenly thought this upline person was a friend, they just ended up feeling used. It’s frustrating to see that happen to people I love.

      • Sarah, great response.
        I just read the useful post and started going through the responses and saw the anonymous response, sadly chuckled, and thought to myself: “well this proves exactly that trend of blaming the person, and how much BS is in that comment”. Thank you for replying to that.

        The difference between MLMs and Pyramid schemes is thinner than people think and I had some friends throw their financial future away with those. They always promote themselves aggressively and are typically very obscure on the mode of operations. My cousin recently invited my to a Zyia FB group and I’ve been trying to understand what’s up with the activity there, until I wound up googling and found lots of marketware and your post. I was suspicious before your post, and now my suspicion is confirmed. Thank you.

        • Thank you Anna! Listening to The Dream podcast really opened my eyes to so many of the similarities between pyramid schemes and MLMs. I was always skeptical of network marketing before, but learning more about the history of the business model and the litigation history with the FTC of multiple MLM companies helped me put a finger on why I had always been skeptical.

    • Hi Alicia! I like Under Armour, we usually try to buy it at their outlet shops when they have good sales. I like buying ASICS as well, usually on sale, and I find good deals on New Balance at Marshall’s, too. The North Face also has some nice workout clothes, as well as prAna. I’m pretty budget conscious so I’m usually looking for sales and browsing the sale racks first at sporting goods stores, so sometimes I find other brands I like that have a good sale. My absolute favorite pair of leggings right now is a pair of high waist pocket leggings from Vie Active that they sent me for free as a blogger. I think they are normally kind of expensive, but I really love them and the quality so I’d probably be ok with spending the money on buying another pair if I hadn’t gotten them for free (they also have sales too).

  20. If you want to go down a great rabbit hole about MLM’s, then check out the podcast The Dream. The whole first season is about exposing the MLM scam (the 2nd season about the “wellness” industry is great too). It should be required listening for anyone that wants to join an MLM!

    I won’t buy from, go to, or in any way take part in any MLM. Found your blog on a post about somone asking about Zyia and was curious. Enjoyed your factual post. Thanks

    • That sounds like a great podcast, I’ll have to check it out! I’ve always been wary of MLMs, I don’t like buying from them because they often use guilt tactics (“why aren’t you supporting your family and friends like you should?”), I don’t like how the business is structured, and I find the products are typically very overpriced for the quality. And thank you for the feedback on my post, there are a big mix of reactions to it and I’ve been accused of being mean and selfish for writing it 😉

  21. Hey! Thanks for your review on this. As someone who joined the company 2 months ago, it’s good to hear all of this information you have. However, I haven’t come across any of the issues you’ve mentioned in your post. Sure – some of the sizing is off but that’s how it is for every single clothing company I wear. I’m a small, medium or large in basically everything (lol).
    I’m curious when your most recent exposure to the company was? I’ve recently had 2 hiccups with 2 different orders but it was resolved by customer service within 1 hour both times. Do you think it’s possible you’ve had an unfortunately unique experience, or that the company has taken steps to resolve some of the issues you’ve highlighted.

    Curious on your thoughts, thanks for the transparency you provided!

    • Hi Barbara, it’s possible that they may have fixed the customer service issues, but I was not the only one who had these problems with very delayed returns and exchanges. As a customer before I even joined, my exchanges were fairly late, and when I joined as a rep, I saw feedback from other reps and customers that many of them also had those same issues because the customer service team at that time only processed returns on certain days of the month, not every day. If they have improved their returns and exchanges I am not sure, I haven’t ordered from them since last year. But at the time I wrote this, it was a problem many people had.

      As for the clothing sizing issues, I’ve always had great luck with sizing in other brands like Under Armour. I had seen reps mention that their sizing was so far off on a few items that the girls leggings one lady ordered for her daughter were 2 whole sizes smaller than normal. I’ve had better luck with sizing and fit with other brands, clothing from Under Armour for example doesn’t have those extremes in sizing differences. But again, they may have fixed things since I ordered last, I’m not sure since I haven’t ordered from them in a while. I’ve been invited to several parties since I stopped being a rep (I just got an invite last week) but I won’t order from them again, I’d rather spend my money on other brands with better consistency of quality and sizing.

  22. Dear Sarah,

    thank you for this informative and well-written article.

    I came across Zyia because a good friend (a young mom) is starting as a rep. I wanted to give her some neutral information about the business and MLMs in general, but I (tech-savvy) couldn’t find any business information on Zyia (what type of business is registered, LLC, etc. / who the actual owner – the investor is / a Wikipedia page about the business, etc.) which makes me even more skeptical about the whole business (others like LuLaRoe do have Wikipedia and online information).

    Now, do you have any more information about the business background of Zyia respectively can point me to an online source? I surely will send my friend this article, and the MLM Wiki, but would love to give her a bit more substance on who actually is benefitting from the business (the owner/investor of Zyia).

    Thank you in advance 🙂
    Andrea

    • Hi Andrea! Here is a link that explains more about the founder of Zyia (Erin Bradley): https://zyiaactive.com/erin-bradley/. There are a few more posts out there about her, but most of the other ones are salesy and feel like sales pitches instead of just info (I still feel like the links I shared are also kind of salesy, but have better info). I hope that helps!

  23. Hi, I just had a question. One of my friends hosted a zyia party last month. The rep is really nice, but I found a different rep I like better. As a customer can I switch reps? Or am I assigned to that rep? I know some MLM’s assign once you order from them. So wanted to check first.
    Thanks!

    • Hi Annie! I think you should be able to switch online if you order through the sale link for the other rep instead of the old rep. The reps usually have a direct link that you can order through that they get credit for the order, so I think if you use the new rep’s link it should work that way 🙂

  24. Hi! Thank you for your honesty. I personally love the Zyia products and I’m considering joining just for the discount. Any thoughts on this?

    • Hi Kassie! So I think that depends on a few things: 1) do you feel that even with the discount Zyia’s quality matches their price points? 2) Does the money you’re saving by being a rep offset the cost of the website fee each month (which is about $15 a month)? Ultimately that’s a personal decision you should make for yourself based on what you feel is best, but those are some things to consider. If you pay $15 a month for a year, that’s $180, so that will reduce the actual savings you’re getting when you use the rep discount. For me personally, it didn’t make sense for me to keep being a Zyia rep if I wasn’t earning a profit from the time I spent marketing it, but that was my goal, so it’s going to be different for each person.

    • Hey Kassie! (and anyone else who may be reading this!) Although Sarah did mention some key points.. i feel like this is somewhat negative post, and i’m not trying to be rude! just honest! so please DON’T tank this the wrong way!! She created this post in October of 2019 – SO much has changed since then!!
      I am personally a ZYIA Rep and LOVE it! I would not change anything or leave this company for ANY of the reasons listed above. If you work the business right, you can work smarter – instead of harder!! I know this is something that is personal, and obviously can/will be different for everyone – but I personally made over $650 within my FIRST 7 DAYS in the company! I joined in May.. had my first party that hit over $2,000 in sales in ONE week, in June I double ranked and it has only gotten better since then! ..So i’ve been a Rep for about 3 months now, and I have not only purchased a new car, bought a home to flip and renovate and make my dream home.. but i have replaced my income from my 9-5 job, that I absolutely love and still work full time at!!
      My team and the “upline” are ONE OF A KIND incredible! Always available to answer questiond, always there for help and ALWAYS supporting us every single day to reach out goals and work TOGETHER to get there!! Maybe Sarah didn’t have the right support and community, or maybe ZYIA just wasn’t the right company for her and that is 100% PERFECTLY fine! it isn’t for everyone, although is technically is for EVERYone and everyBODYI 😉 do see a lot of things in this article that are true,but soooo much has changed since october of 2019.
      ZYIA is such an incredible company, we are NOT a pyramid scheme… the money is fair and the owners, Erin and her team are ALL about the reps, the customers and how they can make ZYIA a better company, “side gig” or even full time job for all of us!
      The money is there if you work your business, and it doesn’t have to be crazy stressful!!
      Yes… on Wednesday’s the site is slow – that is not a flaw in my eyes! that means that this company is HUGE, and only getting bigger and better!! This month, for EVERY sale ZYIA makes, they are GIVING back to 4 incredible organizations!
      Yes, some of the leggings may NOT be 100% squat proof, and they will tell you that in the description! That’s why we have the different types of leggings! These are ALL things that ZYIA has and is working on not only for us REPS, but the customers buying the incredible clothing!

      I just LOVE this company. It has TRULY changed my life in SO many ways.. and it has been life changing for so many others! I would hate for anyone to read this and think that everything listed above is what you will get when you Join or Host a party with ZYIA.

      There aren’t many companies out there that pay their reps up to 30% commissions!! Thats honest INSANE when you think about it! i could go on all evening… but I will just leave you with my thoughts, I consider myself a “go getter” and if i have my mind set on something, I will get there no matter what, and that’s what I continue to do with my team and their goals! I would Love to help YOU reach your goals, make that money and join us at the TOP of this incredible company! I just wanted comment and kind of give an “updated” response to this post.

      • Thank you for your input Brook. While this post was written in October 2019 (really not that long ago), many things haven’t changed and these points are still relevant. Also, commenters sharing their experience also updates the post so to speak. Also next to the publish date we have an “updated” date that shows when our post was last updated. We’ve been using this since before we posted this article and we added this to let readers know when we update our posts so they know they’re current.

        I removed your pitches for people to join your team from your comment. This comment area is absolutely NOT to be used as a recruitment area for Zyia. I’m fine with people respectfully disagreeing with my post, but using my site for recruiting will not allowed in any way.

        Also just to address a few points you made, that’s great that you are a “go getter” and love the company, but that does not mean that people who aren’t successful with this company (or other MLMs) aren’t hard working or self starting. As I have mentioned to another commenter, I already run a successful business and work hard, so implying that people who aren’t successful at MLMs are not “go getters” is an unfair and over-generalized misjudgement.

        Also I feel like all leggings should be squat proof, people don’t want to wear see-through leggings. I wouldn’t buy a pair of leggings for everyday wear even if I knew they were see-through. And yes Zyia usually notes in the new releases which ones are not squat proof, but why even do that? Why not just improve their products instead of releasing leggings they have to disclose as see-through?

  25. Thank you so much for the honest opinion. I was just at a friend’s virtual party and was being convinced to join as a rep. I’m never a big fan of being a MLM sales rep myself and I have no problem supporting a friend’s party so I wanted to make sure I’m in for something I can vouch for. I’m very glad I came across your page to see another point of view along with others’ posts. I’m always seeking for good quality workout clothing that fits well and has all the accessories (pockets, high-waisted, compression, etc.) that I’m looking for, so I was drawn to their light N fit category and got a couple pairs of joggers to try, just ordered and waiting for the merchandise to come.

  26. Thank you for sharing! I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Zyia, but they do have some cute and different looking styles. I buy from a few women i know now and then just to help support their effort. I also find the sizing to be inconsistent…to your point, for something of that monetary value, I expect it to fit right. I buy my leggings fro old Navy or Zumba (only on sale) so i really can’t personally justify paying upwards of $60 for a pair of bottoms I will absolutely ruin with sweat, however it seems fairly in line with other large athletic wear brands such as lulu lemon or Fabletics ( I really can’t comment on quality comparison because like i hinted at, I’m pretty cheap when it comes to work out clothes). I’ve bought a few pieces from Zyia that i thought were just too cute to pass up and i was backed with the knowledge that i was helping to support my friends….but I agree with a lot of what you mentioned in your post. i thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. it was well organized, easy to get through, and not heavily opinionated (even though you were giving your opinion haha). Thank you! : )

  27. Thank you for your post! My issue is that I can’t find compression leggings that fit me as well as the Zyia leggings. What other companies do you recommend now that you don’t use Zyia? I hate all the other ones I’ve found… they ride up in the cloths or fall down or the legs scrunch up!

    • Hi Audrey! I’m pretty picky about my leggings as well, so I do a lot of looking when I get some. The Vie Active high waist leggings are my absolute favorite of the ones I have, they are pretty similar in style to the light ‘n tights that Zyia has, but they are thicker and more compressive, and the waist is even better. With the light n tights I felt like the fabric was pretty thin so the seams dug into my skin a little causing a “puckered” look that I didn’t like, but the Vie Active ones don’t do that. The waistband is designed to hold things in but doesn’t roll or pinch. Our of all the leggings I’ve had, those are my favorite. I got them about the same time I got the Zyia leggings in my starter kit and they are super similar to the Zyia ones with the pockets and everything, but the Vie ones are way better quality and fit. They are a little spendy, but they have regular sales and the quality is so much better.

      I don’t really buy too much from places like Athleta and Lululemon so I don’t really know about those places. Zumba also had some nice leggings I used to have, I still have a pair of their capris that were a foldover waistband that are nice.

  28. Great article. I have purchased a few things (no leggings) and like that I have bought so far. However, one shirt was too small and I have now been waiting almost a month and still have not received the replacement. I find that to be very frustrating when they advertise over and over and over that if you don’t love it, you can return it.

    • Thanks for sharing that Velma! I still have one of their shirts that I like (the only one that fits perfectly), but I noticed the fabric is starting to pill 🙁 I hope you can get your shirt exchanged in a timely manner, it usually helps to reach out to customer service a few times to check on it.

  29. Thank you for a great article. I too am in direct sales, Matilda Jane Clothing. However, that is not what I am here for. I think Zyia’s biggest downfall is their lack of customer service.
    I purchased a pair of leggings from a friend’s party and received them within a week. They were way too small. I asked the rep to do an exchange who acted offended. She tried to get me to exchange them with her for some tanks. I repeated myself multiple times that I wanted leggings. She started the exchange on May 28th. I have been contacting one every two weeks. The first was to check on the status of them receiving my return as there is no communication. Then after threes weeks a reached out to see if she had an update. She didn’t even know what I was talking about so I had to screenshot her our conversation.
    During this time I reached out to Zyia only to be informed a few days later that they know have a new system to contact customer service and my tickets (complaints) would not be copied over and I would have to do a new one.
    Though my rep supposedly did the exchange ticket and the item I wanted was in stock (May 28th) I received notification from her that the item I wanted was out of stock. This time I asked for a refund and of course she tried to talk me out of it.
    I then get notification from my credit card app that Zyia has debited another $74.00 from my account. So right now I am out almost $200 without a piece of Zyia to show for it. I have tried speaking with the rep, but she has no updates. I have tried calling Zyia, but they are only doing submitted tickets right now through their new site. I have sent two tickets and still have not heard form them. I will never buy their products again. Customer service has ruined it for me.

    • Oh no, that’s terrible! I found that the customer service was very lacking, they didn’t have enough customer service reps in their department (at least at the time) and it took a while to get refunds and exchanges. Poor customer service stinks 🙁 I hope you can get your money back, don’t stop bugging them about it until you do!

      • Yes, I agree…I didn’t like that we have to pay for shipping back on returns if they don’t fit just to exchange since the sizing is so different on many products. That has been a big one for me.

    • Wow. Call your credit card company and do a charge back on both charges. Put a stop on them charging you anything else.

    • Amy,
      At this point, I would contact your credit card company and dispute the charge. Best of luck!

      Amy

  30. I too was disappointed in my order. I purchased leggings during the quarantine through a party. They took a long time to arrive (longer than others I know that ordered) and when I put them on I didn’t LOVE them. My panty line showed and they rolled at the top. I asked to return them but was told since they were on sale, no refunds. I contacted Zyia direct and they said if they are 50% off then they can not be refunded. Zyia looked into for me and found they were only 25% off so I could get a refund but to contact the rep. I did and the rep said, they can’t be refunded, only exchanged for something else. Obviously this rep doesn’t want me returning for a refund. I am very disappointed and will never order again from them.

    • That’s so frustrating, sorry you’ve had to deal with that 🙁 I suspect that the rep doesn’t want to do a refund because it would get taken out of their commission, which is another reason I don’t like MLMs much. I hope you can at least sell them to someone else so you can get your money back.

      I got a pair of Vie Active leggings about the same time I got the Zyia leggings in my starter kit and I love my Vie Active ones way better (I sent back my Zyia ones when I returned my starter kit). The Vie ones are similarly styled (high waist, light fabric, pockets on the sides), but the Vie Active ones are a bit thicker so they don’t show bumps through the fabric and the stitching doesn’t “dig” into my skin in areas where I’m soft lol. If you want a high waist legging, Vie Active is really nice, but a bit spendy (worth the money I think though). I’d look for their online sales since they have them frequently 🙂

  31. Great article, very factual and you shared your experience. I wanted to add, that Lululemon gives discount for sweat collective, and for first responders. Although items are pricey, the customer service is pretty amazing, and complimentary hemming for the perfect fit! Even if you aren’t in the market for activewear, I highly recommend going into Lululemon to compare the quality to so many of the names you mentioned. Thanks for the review, I’d never heard of this brand.

  32. I am hosting a party for a friend now and I just cringe. I have heard from people that the product seems expensive. I doubt anyone will buy but I just want to support her. I also heard from someone else they were already in 2 other Zyia parties and this particular person was from small town. I don’t know how to get out of this….

    • When I had hosted some parties, people said the same thing: it was expensive and the people who would have purchased were already doing a party or had just participated in a party 🙁 I guess if it’s not working out you can always tell the rep you’d like to just end the party if no one is participating.

  33. I loved this article. I too am a former rep and have found that this company is a complete and total scam. Too many people are falling prey to a giant Illusion. I truly believe that ZYIA is a pyramid scheme dressed up in MLM clothing. I recently found an excellent video on youtube exposing just how toxic this company really is. Thank you again!

    https://youtu.be/yWtmd-3ASPw.

    • Thank you for sharing this Kim! I watched the video and thought it was good, I usually remove links from comments but I’ll leave that one up so people can see it as well.

      • Thank you again. I had a feeling that adding in a link might be hit or miss. I just wish I had read your review (and watched the video above) prior to joining and saved myself some money! I poured my heart and soul into ZYIA and I just feel DUPED. Unfortunately though, their business model is working… Look how many people keep signing up and seeking out “promised dreams”. It’s really so sad.

    • Thanks for sharing that link! Omg it is exactly how I feel! I feel the micro aggressions to get reps are real! The stock issues and website issues also frustrates me! Wish I had done my research!

    • Just a heads up. All businesses are a pyramid scheme. In every one of them, it’s the person at the top that makes the money. Then you have your down line from there. The difference is, most companies don’t give the bottom guy any commission.

      • Not all businesses are pyramid schemes of some type. By definition, pyramid schemes are schemes that promise consumers or investors large amounts of money based on recruiting, not on actual sales of products to end consumers. A bakery for example is not a pyramid scheme: they do not run on recruiting, the upper level management does not earn based on the number of recruits below them, their employees do not work on commission, and they make their profit 100% by selling to consumers who are not recruits. Please read the FTC’s definition of pyramid schemes, regular businesses are not pyramid schemes: https://www.ftc.gov/public-statements/1998/05/pyramid-schemes

  34. Wow pull the reigns back ladies lets consider a few things here. I think its worth noting that people often blame the system for their lack of success. I have been in MLM for 10 years I have had my struggles but learning this business, like any other job, takes time. In fact, most won’t take the time, most just chalk it up to the companies doing, a scam or some pyramid scheme. I have found success in MLM or network sales because I treat it like a job. I am consistent, patient, diligent, honest and so it pays me like one. Another point I’d like to make is that not all brick and mortar stores/business owner are successful either for various reasons. With ANY company whether its ZYIA or Amazon someone is getting paid and there’s always quality, shipping,website issues along the way. There’s always obstacles in business. Another point you touched on is that you had to buy the clothes. In fact, you personally don’t have to buy the clothes you can sell $200 and still earn. So lets consider that you worked for Lululemon or Athleta or Walmart. Are you telling me you wouldn’t shop there or take advantage of the company perks or discounts? Also if you a traditional business owner how much do you think you would need to borrow to get yourself up and running? I inquired about opening up a cycle bar studio a couple years ago. Do you know how much I needed in assets $500,000! Yes! Any business owner has expenses. A $295 starter kit is nothing! In fact network marketing is the only model that I know that allows people to experience entrepreneurship with little investment. If you are hairdresser for example you pay thousands for your education and often have to pay for all your tools and products to get started and you don’t even have any clients yet! You can’t open a boutique with no inventory. Just my 2 cents.

    • Interesting that you’re pretty defensive about my post. It sounds like you work for Zyia and enjoy it, and that’s great, but that doesn’t mean that what I’m sharing is untrue because you don’t like what I’ve shared.

      Let me address a few things you’ve mentioned: some people are successful with MLMs, but not most people and the facts and statistics bear that out (I linked to some research on the topic, feel free to take your grievances to the researchers who did those studies).

      I never said in the post that reps had to buy the clothes, but if they wanted a successful business, they were encouraged to. People won’t buy from you if you don’t wear/use the products yourself.

      Your assertion that $295 is “nothing” is rather insensitive. It’s not nothing, that can be a lot of money for people who don’t have much at all. Is it less than creating a storefront business? Sure, but this post is not comparing in-store businesses with MLMs, we’re sharing an honest and objective review about the Zyia company and products. Also, most anyone starting a brick and mortar store gets loans and often has investors if they do not have enough of their own capital. But again, this post is not comparing MLMs to storefront businesses.

      I am also quite aware of how businesses are run and started: my father has owned our family business for over 30 years, I have been running my successful blogging business for almost 9 years, as well as having had my own small businesses and jobs since I was 8 years old. This website is a business, not a hobby, so I know full well the consistency, hard work, and mindset that is needed to grow and maintain a successful business.

      Network marketing is not the only business opportunity with very little overhead. People have created hugely successful businesses on Etsy creating handmade goods, artwork, and printables from their homes, no overhead needed except for materials (no materials even needed for those creating digital products like ebooks, planners, etc.). Bloggers like myself can make very good money working from home with very little overhead – you can pay for hosting for $10 a month to start, that’s even less than Zyia website fees. As a website grows, the overhead increases (hosting fees, etc.) but it’s still less than any storefront business as well. MLMs are not the only option for women wanting to start businesses who don’t have a lot of money to start one.

      • I didn’t find N.V’s post defensive, however you assuming that she works for Zyia isn’t fair either. There’s nothing in her post that is wrong AND it’s her opinion. You are correct that MLM isn’t the only online business for women, Or men. I would be interested in knowing how you get started in blogging as that’s something I would like to do. I just don’t know where to start.
        I also think you will forever be trying to defend your original comments. MLM’s aren’t for everyone that’s for sure. I think there should come a point in time that you do a closing summary on this topic. 🙂

        • Hi Brenda, N.V. made some statements about Zyia that Zyia reps would be familiar with (like having to sell $200 a month and the price of the starter kit) so I don’t feel that it’s unfair for me to assume that she’s a Zyia rep, or that she’s in an MLM of some kind at least. And while it is her opinion, since this is my website, I am at liberty to reply to each comment in a way that I see fit. The tone of my response to N.V. was in-kind to her comment.

          It is entirely possible that I’ll be forever defending my blog post because not everyone agrees with it and I have gotten defensive comments from angry reps (you haven’t seen some of them here because they never made it past moderation and got deleted). I make it a point to try and personally respond to every comment I get on my blog, regardless of the post, so I will always be responding to comments on this post and every post I write, and I won’t stop doing that because it makes some people angry or upset.

          I’m not clear what you mean by doing a closing summary on this topic? I won’t remove this blog post because I get a lot of mixed comments on it. But I will certainly turn off commenting on this post when I feel that the time is right for it.

  35. This is a great post. I so appreciate your honesty without redirecting people to your new deal which is what most blog posts do. I am in an MlM but not Zyia. I was looking it up because my friend joined and I was curious as to what she was selling..I am not salesy either so the high pricing is always a problem for me. I will pay for quality though but I, like you, have to BELIEVE in the product I am asking others to buy. Even then, I want them to be able to get it at a better price from me than the store down the street. Otherwise, what’s the point? Thanks again for an amazing post!

  36. I stumbled across your blog and as a fellow MLMer (but I never sign people up, so apparently I’m sucking ?) I have to say that this post is so well written! You were very straight forward and factual and it’s so hard to find posts that’s not full of someone’s opinion, sales pitch, or company bashing. Refreshing to see someone just say “hey it’s not right for me, but maybe still good for you” definitely staying up to read some of your other content!

    • I think that depends on whether you love their clothing, if it fits you well, and the discount is worth it for you. I didn’t feel like the quality was consistent enough for me to feel like the discount was valuable enough for me, but everyone is different. You will have to pay a monthly website fee that will cut into your discount a little bit.

    • The best way to “work” the discount as a rep is to purchase stuff at the regular price, receive minimum 20% commission back on what you’ve spent, and then after 3 purchases you earn items at 50% off, and free credit towards further purchases. Plus if you (and friends) spend at least $200/month the website fee is waived. This is what I do, it is worth it to me as I love the clothing and wear it ALL day, EVERY day. Lol.

  37. I have been a rep for just over half a year. I signed up through a friend of a friend who is excellent at selling and recruiting. Kuddos to her shes super nice and I dont know what it is but people are so willing to buy from her ?. Me on the other hand my sales have not been so great – I’m wondering if it was worth it. I do like some of the pieces I’ve bought, but the sizing is inconsistent. I’ve made quite a few returns for myself and a couple of customers which also adds up cause shipping is not cheap. There arent any reps that I know of in my immediate area. I live in a blue collar town and most of the people I know would rather buy their leggings from academy and walmart. There isnt anything wrong with that but I have a hard time justifying pushing 50-75 dollar leggings. I’ve a had a few months where I’ve made commission but I’m kind of ready to give up. I came across your blog looking for info on how to quit or cancel zyia?. Thanks for sharing your experience

  38. Question do you have to sell or purchase a certain dollar amount during a set amount of time?

    Thanks!

    • Yes, you have to sell $200 in merchandise each month in order to earn commissions for that month. If you are below $200, you don’t get a commission for that month, and it resets every month. My first couple months of sales were mostly my own purchases using the gift card that came with the starter kit. Your personal purchases count toward this amount if you do it a certain way, but they won’t pay full commissions on things like sale items.

      Also they won’t list reps on their “rep search” area of the website if they don’t get above a certain volume of sales. I found this out after I joined. I don’t remember what that threshold is now, but that meant since I didn’t meet that threshold, my name didn’t show up for people doing a search on the website for available reps in my area. Some of the other reps said this was to prevent people from showing up in rep search on their website who weren’t serious about their sales (like people who just signed up for the discount).

      • I just signed up this week for the discount but you can move your money to the next month if you don’t want to reset and use your rewards.

      • I really like Shakeology, but not the hefty price tag. Can you tell me specifically which shakes you mentioned above that are comparable? Thank you!

        • I’m not super familiar with Shakeology and the ingredients, but I think Vega shakes and Garden of Life would be comparable and they’re pretty affordable compared to Shakeology.

  39. I love this post and your honesty!! As a single mom who works full time and needs to support myself and kids on my own I need to be smart with my money so I can provide to my babes ! I don’t mind spending on quality if it lasts me years ! But I can’t afford to spend on things I’m tricked into and this was such a refreshing honest post that I wasn’t getting anywhere else!! Thank you for this, you saved me money that I can put towards pants I can have for ten plus years (my old Lulus going strong but my size is up right now 🙁 ) the pants I got in my larger current size last time did not last and I’ve been looking for a good investment. Thank you!

  40. Thank you for this post. I was just invited to an online party… and wondered if this product is as good as it states. I have some issues even with my lululemon leggings (while I still love them…) and was looking for some alternatives. This saved me some headache and disappointment.

    • You’re welcome Leanne! About the same time I got the Zyia leggings in my starter kit, I also got a pair of Vie Active high rise leggings and I compared the 2. The Vie Active ones are better, I really like them. I think they might be more expensive (the company sent me the pair so I didn’t pay for them), but they are a bit thicker than the Zyia light n tights and fit perfectly. Definitely a company to consider!

    • Honestly wish I came across this before I became a rep myself. So far, I’ve gained no profits, and there’s a TON of other reps just in my area that I didn’t realize until just a few weeks after I joined. I’ve gone to events and done plenty of parties that I worked really hard on, and no one showed up or bought. This was mainly because they were already buying from another rep in the area, so they didn’t want to buy from someone else, or they couldn’t afford it. If I had seen this before becoming a rep, I would’ve never joined, and I hope others see this post before they join too.

    • Not a rep, thinking about signing up. That’s how I found this forum. I have several pairs of Zyia leggings, my fav is the light an tight. To me they blow doors on Lululemon. Planning on eBaying my lululemon. I am very wary of this quality issue that has been mentioned a numerous times. Just my two cents.

  41. Thanks for your honest information. I was just invited to a party and wondered about the quality. If I’m spending $75 on leggings they better be squat proof. I’ll just spend a little more and go to Lululemon. Thanks again!!

  42. Thank you so much I have read your thoughts and others comments. I have been debating the last 5 months to quit this ZYIA rep thing! I have not been able to make any profit. Many of the points yall have made are hitting me hard I figured I was just going crazy. I didnt jojn for the money i joined to push myself to get back out hiking I have 2 babies and the last one really did a number on me. It is hard everytime seeing my family or first thing anyone says to me is how is your buisness doing bla bla bla people dont want to spend the money and j dont blame them I am ALSO NOT A SALES PERSON! I love people and was hoping my online would actually help me out get coffee talk me through i chose someone who was a friend of a friend hoping to make friends in the process…. being a stay at home mom a veteran woman and I wanted the community that all the reps talk about…. not so much I am very disappointed and again thank you all for posting and mentioning your points!

  43. Purchased 3 pieces of clothes on Facebook as part of a party. HUGE mistake. Nothing fit. I am 5’6” and 105 pounds and a professional group exercise instructor. You would think small would fit. Nope, the bottoms were way too small and the bra huge. Returns are NOT free. The reps attitude and delay in responding to me for over a week made me cancel the order. Let’s see how long before I actually get a refund. Any advice on contacting the company for better service would be greatly appreciated.

    • Sorry that happened to you! I found that the clothes didn’t fit me great, too tight on my hips and loose around my chest and the sizing could be pretty inconsistent, too. It always bothered me that the returns aren’t free unless there’s a manufacturer defect.

      Hopefully your rep got your a return number and everything. The times I returned things it took a while to get my refund, I waited up to 3-4 weeks one time! My advice is to contact Zyia customer service by phone or email to check on your return status. They’re usually pretty good about getting back to you in a reasonable amount of time if you contact customer service directly, so if you’ve already returned the items, I’d contact them to get them to start the refund process sooner rather than later. This should help if your rep is not being helpful. I hope you get your money back! Keep emailing them or calling till you do.

  44. Hello & thank you for this post! I was seriously looking into this company & I feel confident you have saved me much time & money! I appreciate your objective comments and the straight forward truth. Blessings to you 🙂

      • I love Under Armour since they have great sales often and you can find their stuff in Marshall’s and TJ Maxx sometimes. I love looking through Marshall’s for workout clothes, sometimes they have some store brands that have nice designs that are less than $10. Marika can be nice, but the last pair of Marika capris I bought the fabric pilled 🙁 I like prAna, but their stuff can be expensive sometimes. I get a discount as a trainer, and they offer discounts and sales. Their clothing is also fair trade and often made of recycled materials and organic cotton.

        Target has some good fitness clothing that’s pretty affordable, but I haven’t tried some of those brands myself.

        If cost isn’t an issue, Vie Active has nice leggings. I have a pair of their leggings and a sports bra and I really love them! Hylete also has some nice clothing and they have coupon codes (I have a 15% off code as well). North Face is also another favorite of mine. I haven’t tried any of the new Ellie clothing items so I”m not sure how good those are, and I haven’t tried Fabletics either and their leggings have mixed reviews.

  45. I love this so much!! I have been against MLM’s for so long! They actually make me angry. I hate seeing people waste their money and get sucked into MLM’s. They are losing money but making the people at the top VERY rich. I’ve tried recently to go to a few parties and purchase a few products to support family and friends. I have a few items from ZYIA. But I don’t know if I can do it anymore! LOL I pretty frugal and just can’t justify buying expensive products when it’s so much cheaper somewhere else! Fantastic article

    • Thanks Emily! I’m pretty frugal too and I have a hard time justifying the prices, even when I had the rep discount. I keep getting invites to Zyia parties on Facebook, but end up declining all of them because I don’t want to buy it.

  46. Hey Sarah, really appreciate your honest and detailed review of this company as I was curious if it was MLM and what the quality was like. I have a small online apparel company here in Alberta which I work my butt off to ensure the quality is there and constantly deal with Zyia reps trying to comment on my paid ads to steal customers forcing me to block them. I’ve also done the MLM thing with some other companies and quit for the same reasons as you, especially when I couldn’t get behind the products anymore and wasn’t willing to lie to get buyers. It’s so hard to get honest reviews on any of them as most are click bait by reps looking to sell people their own products.

  47. Thank you SO much for this article! I just cancelled and stopped being a Zyia rep earlier this month for many of the same reasons that you mentioned. As with other MLMs that I’ve been lured into (never again! Ha!) I spent so much more time and money into Zyia than I got back. Plus I was never very happy with the quality for what you paid. Another thing that really bothers me about Zyia is that reps who are trying to recruit constantly say that there are “no quotas” but that is completely false…you don’t receive commission unless you’ve sold 200 PV worth of product which is ridiculous. I don’t regret quitting at all, and I honestly wish there were more reviews like this one to warn possible future reps.

    • I agree! When I did some online searches for honest Zyia reviews when I was thinking about joining, the only articles that came up were from current reps trying to sell their products and recruit. There weren’t very many at all (or none) that were completely honest about this stuff. Hopefully this will help really people get a balanced view of the brand. Interesting to note, I noticed that I typically only met my 200 PV by buying things myself, I didn’t really sell much since my area was pretty saturated already 😮 I don’t want to spend $200 a month on clothes each month just to make a little bit of it back!

  48. Hi there,

    As a former rep myself I really appreciate that you wrote this article. I am so glad I was not alone on this. I gave it a year but noticed after 6 months a big decline due to new reps as well. They would offer big incentives and I was not able to do that. I did make some income the first 6 months and almost made my return of the kit but then bam the decline.

    I also didn’t agree with the website fee. Even thought it wasn’t much, I believe that should of been included. I only say that because I do another MLM that I have for the past 4 years and I don’t have any website fees or any other extra fees for that matter.

    I did like most of the products I bought and didn’t run into see through issues with the ones I purchased but you could see lines (underwear). Anyway, I’m really happy you posted this.

  49. Zyia is very big at the gym I attend. Couple of the members are reps and I just want to scream everytime they come into the gym. I would say 50% of the leggings they are wearing are SEE THROUGH!! I just can’t fathom spending 75 plus dollars on a pair of leggings that are NOT squat proof like they state. I wanted to love Zyia but now I just want everyone to seriously bend over in the mirror before taking off the tags you would be so surprised!!!! I do have one black pair that I like, thin but not see through. And another pair I bought got runs down the legs the first time wearing them (I didn’t even wash them) So save your money!

    • The see-through leggings was the most worrisome part to me, I didn’t really want to buy a pair of leggings that end up being see-through then have to go through the process of returning it and getting the money back. I was watching a video of a lady going through new releases one day and she was holding the knit leggings up (not wearing them fortunately) and I could see through them as she was showing us the fabric. They were meant for casual wear and not workouts, but I was still quite disappointed that they were so see-through and I didn’t feel good about trying to sell them to anyone.

      Unfortunately, when customers would tell their reps that their leggings were see-through, some of them (not all of them) would tell them “you’re wearing them wrong”, “you got the wrong size, they’re too small for you”, “you need to wear nude undies with them” etc. It was really disappointing to see some of them blame their customers for the leggings being see-through rather than holding the company to task about the quality.

  50. Thank you so much for this article! Zyia is just starting in my area. My research started with your blog and have gone on to read a few others. I don’t mind paying for a good product as long as it is consistent! I don’t want to sell something to a friend or acquaintance not knowing if it is going to be what I said it would be! My daughters and I do CrossFit. If the product can’t pass the squat test EVERY TIME I can’t do it!

  51. Great Article. I am from Ontario Canada and joined for all the reason’s you did. I to have found out I am spending to much and the only way to make money is to recruit. I have actually started my own online eCommerce store due to getting frustrated with the amount you have to spend on workout clothing. So I have started my own store online. Its been a learning curve and haven;t gotten a lot of sales but the ones I have, my customers have been very satisfied. I believe all women should be able to feel and look good to stay healthy and having to pay such high end prices for good or decent active wear isn’t fair to us budget minded people. Thanks for this article as it actually made me feel better about not selling it anymore. I will continue to concentrate on my own store. Let me know if you want to look at it and I will get you a free item and I would just ask you for a review of my store after you purchase. Thanks again for the article. Tina.

  52. There are two things I LOVE…..DoTERRA and Zyia!! lol that being said, I hate MLM’s and I don’t sell, just use the discount. I completely agree with everything you said. I always wait to hear the review on the products before I buy, unless it’s something I’m familiar with, like the light n tights, bf sweaters, strappy bras, etc. I spend too much, but at least I’m not pretending to make money, right? haha

  53. Hi, i am a zyia rep now trying to get out and trying to get some kind ofa refund for my investment. I know I’ve lost the time, business card money and facebook and instagram ad money but i am trying to get back some of the $400+ kit money i invested on a fabrication.

    • I was able to get money back for my unused items from my starter kit, so probably only about half my items. If you look through your agreement terms they have a section in there about getting your money back for the starter kit. They’ll only refund the items from your starter kit that are unused and still have tags attached, and if I remember correctly you have to write a note with the return to let them know you’re closing your rep account.

      But you’ll be able to read through the exact details in your rep contract which you can find a copy of in your back office, if you can’t find it you can contact customer support and get the details from them as well. Good luck!

  54. I am watching a coworker and a really good friend of mine trying to sell Zyia. Her posts are so upbeat and then I see her at work and she has become a shadow of herself. She is not the same bubbly smiling friendly person i have know for the last 4 years. She has become antisocial always eating at her desk and always on her phone to the point that other coworkers are approaching me to find out if something is wrong with her. I feel like zyia is brainwashing her and am watching exactly what is wrong with social media…in her quest to make her business successful and maintain constant presence online she is no longer living in the here and now. I feel zyia products are overpriced and I would rather spend 100 dollars for lululemon or underarmour. I feel like the only socialization she is doing at work is with those individuals who have purchased items from her!

    • I’m so sorry to hear that 🙁 You bring up a really good point about being glued to social media that I hadn’t brought up. It’s hard for me as a blogger to step away from the computer and social media sometimes, and I know trying to sell Zyia on top of that was even harder for me to keep those boundaries with electronics in check. At night when I’d normally spend time with my family, I was doing Facebook parties and scheduling posts for Facebook parties. I felt like it was taking away from family time since hardly anyone can do online parties like that in the middle of the day. Plus I didn’t want my friends and family to feel like I was always trying to sell something to them.

      I hope your friend comes to realize that people still want to spend quality time with her in real life outside of her business <3

  55. I wouldn’t get into MLM for these very reasons you mentioned!! lol I loved this post. I’m thinking about starting a blog too but not sure where to start. Reading yours has helped me immensely. It’s not easy once you’re over 40! Stay healthy and happy!

  56. This is very thoughtful and well put together. Jumping into an MLM for anyone requires some serious research and thought. I am curious how much the MLMs profit from people that don’t continue past just a few months, by sale of starter kits and other sales aids. i have my own business and we do very well and we stay busy. There is a lot of time and energy expended in having your own business. I have seen some MLMs make it sound like you can get rich quick, but they aren’t telling you how much effort went into their work to get where they are today, approach with caution. Nice article Sarah.

    • Thank you, dad! It does seem like there is that “get rich quick” feeling about a lot of those MLMs. Owning a business is so much work, but so rewarding! I am lucky to have learned a good deal about running a successful business from a great teacher like you 🙂 Thank you for passing on your entrepreneurial spirit and know-how!

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