Welcome to my Traveling Vineyard review.
One of the things that we are going to take a look at is to see if the Traveling Vineyard opportunity is a scam or not.
I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to join a company that can be shut down due to non-compliance issues or bad business practices.
We are going to do this by taking the time to research and review the information about the company, the products, and the compensation plan to see how everything works.
The last section of my review is where I will share my final thoughts, recommendation, and rating about the company.
Now, I understand that some of you are visiting my review to learn more about the business opportunity but also want to learn how to make even MORE money with it.
This is why I included a resource to get a Traveling Vineyard marketing system to help you build it online! (details below)
With that said, let’s dig in and see what we can learn about it.
What Is Traveling Vineyard? Review Intro
After taking a look at the company website I learned that Traveling Vineyard is an MLM company that offers wine as its product.
Because it is an MLM company, you can join the company as an affiliate member to earn money by selling the product to customers and also by building a downline of other affiliate members through the opportunity it provides.
The niche that I would say the company is in would be wine sales.
Company Overview
The company is based out of Massachusetts in the United States.
The CEO of the company is Rick Libby which he has coined himself as the “Chief Grape Stomper”.
Libby had an idea back in 2001 when he was working for Geerlings and Wade which is a direct marketing company that is also in the wine niche.
In 2005 Traveling Vinyard had taken off by simply sharing wine at home parties and grew from a dozen affiliate members to 1,000’s by 2005.
Libby had left the company when the company was having great momentum due to a leadership change that affected the business model that affected the aspect of the part of the direct sales of it.
The new leadership took out the MLM model to the equation which left all of their affiliate members without a multi-level business model which drastically reduced their commissions.
The company calls its affiliate members “Wine Guides”.
Libby spent 5 years doing other things when he heard that Traveling Vineyard was going through a bankruptcy filing.
He took a huge risk and took all of the money that he had saved along with some investors and took a chance by taking the company over.
He re-structured the compensation plan back into a direct multi-tiered MLM business model because he knew that was the only way to get the company back on track.
If he can make all of their Wine Guides back on track and start making real money with the opportunity that it once provided but better, the company would thrive.
Here is a quick statement from Libby that was taken from the website:
“By November 2010, Traveling Vineyard was back in business. Today, we’re proud to have more than 2,500 happy and satisfied independent Wine Guides in nearly 40 states who love their home-based businesses.”
That is all of the information that I have about the company, let’s continue to the next section.
Another great review: MyTV4Me Review – IPTV Scam? Compensation Plan Details
What Products Does Traveling Vineyard Offer?
In this section of my review, I am going to cover the information about the products that Traveling Vineyard offer.
As mentioned before the main product that Traveling Vineyard offers is wine.
Their wine varieties include a wide selection of white wines, sweet wines, red wines, with various degrees of flavor profiles just like any great wine supplier would offer.
The company also offers wine accessories that are also commissionable.
The company has a catalog of products that offer individual wine bottles, themes, and collections along with related items which actually makes it easier to shoot around for your favorite flavor profile.
Individual wine bottles start at $16.99 which is not that bad compared to say a Total Wine price.
The wine accessories include things like:
- Corkscrew – Sells for $15.99.
- Stainless Steel Wine Cubes – Sells for $24.99.
- Tote Bag – Sells for $2.99.
- Wine Saver – Sells for $14.99.
The shipping cost for a 6 bottle order is $12.95, but when you become a preferred customer or a customer that is on an auto-ship order, you will be given a discount on all of your product orders.
That is all there is to the products that Traveling Vineyard offers, let’s continue to the next section.
Another great review: Xsinergia Review – Scam or Legit? Compensation Plan Exposed
How Does The Traveling Vineyard Compensation Plan Work?
In this section of my review, I am going to cover the information about how the compensation plan works and how you can make money with the Traveling Vineyard opportunity.
There are 2 main ways that you can make money with the Traveling Vineyard compensation plan which are:
- Retail Sales
- Referral Sales
Retail sales can reward you with a decent income, but you will have to continue to sell to sustain your monthly income which usually reaches a peak at some point. (in my opinion)
The way to go is to build a team of like-minded people that want to become affiliate members and then duplicate your recruiting efforts.
The bigger your team grows, the more opportunities for higher commission percentage tiers you can qualify for along with bonus commissions and additional rewards.
This is how all the top earners in any MLM company build their MLM companies.
With that said, the company doesn’t provide any information on its website about the compensation plan model and how it works.
However, there are affiliate members that have been sharing this information on social media which is where we gathered much of the information that I am about to reveal to you.
If you are an affiliate member and I get any of this information wrong due to misinformed affiliate members or outdated information, let me know in the comments below so I can update my information.
Getting Started
In order to get started and qualify for commissions, you will need to generate at least 250 PV (personal volume) per month to stay commission qualified or 500 PV in a 2-month recurring period.
Ranks
In order to make more money with any MLM company, you will want to concentrate on your rank in the company.
The higher the rank that you achieve in the company is directly related to how much money you can earn with the higher ranks offering you more.
There are a total of 15 ranks that you can qualify for in Traveling Vineyard.
Here is a breakdown of all 15 ranks and the qualifications you will need to reach them:
- Wine Guide Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you just need to sign up as an affiliate member.
- One Star Leader Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 1 affiliate member, and also have at least 1 unilevel leg that is generating at least 250 PV. You must also maintain a personal volume of the 250 PV per month or the 500 PV every 2 months.
- Two Star Leader Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 2 affiliates members, and also have at least 2 unilevel legs with an affiliate member who has generated at least 250 PV in each of those unilevel legs. You will also need to generate at least 400 PV per month plus 1000 TV (team volume) per month.
- Three Star Leader Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 3 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 1 One Star Leader in your downline. You will also need to generate 600 PV and 1800 TV per month.
- Four Star Leader Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 4 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 2 One Star Leaders and 1 Two Star Leader in your downline. You will also need to generate 800 PV and 3500 TV per month.
- Team Leader Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 4 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 1 Three Star Leader, 1 Two Star Leader and 1 One Star Leader in your downline. You will also need to generate 800 PV and generate 5000 TV per month.
- Senior Team Leader Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 4 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 1 Two Star Leader and 2 Three Star Leaders in your downline. You will also need to generate 800 PV and generate 7500 TV per month.
- Director Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 4 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have two 2 Star Leaders and one Team Leader in your downline. You will also need to generate 800 PV and 5000 TV a month, and generate 10,000 GV per month.
- Ruby Director Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 4 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 2 Two Star Leaders and two Team Leaders in your downline, maintain 800 PV and 5000 TV a month. You will also need to generate 20,000 GV per month.
- Emerald Director Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 4 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 1 Two Star Leader, 1 Team Leader and 2 Directors in your downline. You will also need to generate 800 PV and 5000 TV a month, and generate 50,000 GV per month.
- Diamond Director Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 4 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 2 Team Leaders and 2 Ruby Directors in your downline, maintain 800 PV and 5000 TV a month. You will also need to generate 100,000 GV per month.
- One Star Diamond Director Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 6 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 4 Team Leaders and 2 Emerald Directors in your downline. You will also need to generate 800 PV and 5000 TV a month, and generate 250,000 GV per month.
- Two Star Diamond Director Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 8 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 6 Team Leaders and 2 Diamond Directors in your downline. You will also need to generate 800 PV and 5000 TV a month, and generate 600,000 GV per month.
- Three Star Diamond Director Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 10 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 8 Team Leaders and 2 One Star Diamond Directors in your downline. You will also need to generate 800 PV and 5000 TV a month. You will also need to generate 1,000,000 GV per month.
- Four Star Diamond Director Rank – In order to qualify for this rank, you are required to recruit and maintain 12 commission qualified affiliate members, and also have 10 Team Leaders and 2 Two Star Diamond Directors in your downline. You will also need to generate 800 PV and 5000 TV a month, and generate 3,000,000 GV per month.
From the rank of Two Star Leader and higher, no more than 50% of the qualifying volume can come from any 1 unilevel leg.
What I didn’t mention was what TV means.
This simply means Team Volume which is the volume that is generated from your team members in your downline down to team members that have the same rank or higher.
Only 1 team member that you will need to be ranked for any of the qualifications above has to be on its own leg. If there are 2 in the same leg, only 1 will be counted toward your qualifications.
Unilevel Compensation Plan Explanation
For those that are not familiar with how the unilevel compensation plan works, here is a quick breakdown:
- Level 1 – The first level of your unilevel compensation plan structure will only have your personally recruited members on it.
- Level 2 – The second level of your unilevel compensation plan will only have team members that your level 1 members personally recruited on it.
- Level 3 – The third level of your unilevel compensation plan will only have team members that your level 2 members personally recruited on it.
- and so on…
- Each personally recruited member counts for one of your single unilevel legs.
Hopefully, this explanation helps those that were unfamiliar with how the unilevel compensation plan works give you a better understanding.
Retail Commissions
The company will reward its affiliate members with 15% commissions on each retail product sale sold.
Personal Volume Bonus
The company also rewards its affiliate with a personal volume bonus each month.
This is directly related to your personal purchases each month from the company, and from all of your retail customer orders, including the retail customers that are on a monthly autoship order.
This is a 4 tier-commissions structure and here is how it works:
- When you accumulate $400 to $1249.99 PV the company will reward you with a 5% PV Bonus Bump.
- When you accumulate $1250 to $2999.99 PV the company will reward you with a 10% PV Bonus Bump.
- When you accumulate $3000 to $4499.99 PV the company will reward you with a 15% PV Bonus Bump.
- When you accumulate $4500 or more PV the company will reward you with a 20% PV Bonus Bump.
That is a ton of retail sales that you will need to earn $900 per month.
Anyways, let’s continue.
Recruiting Commissions
This is only paid out in your first 100 days in the business to help you get started and motivated.
The company has a 2-tier bonus structure.
The first tier bonus commission pays $100 to you when you recruit 1 affiliate member within your first 40 days as an affiliate member.
The second-tier bonus is a $100 wine credit.
This is offered in your first 100 days as an affiliate member.
This $100 wine credit is issued to you for every personally recruited affiliate member that you recruit in your first 100 days with Traveling Vineyard.
Fast Start Program
This bonus is similar to the retail bonus that I explained above, but an added bonus that you can earn as a new affiliate member.
This bonus only applies in your first 100 days after you join as an affiliate member of Traveling Vineyard.
Here is a breakdown of what you can earn from the fast start bonus that Traveling Vineyard offers:
- You will be rewarded with a $50 wine credit, coffee mug, and 50 thrive points for generating 500 PV within your first 40 days.
- You will be rewarded with a $75 wine credit, 1 testing set credit, and 50 thrive points for generating 750 PV within your first 70 days.
- You will be rewarded with a $100 wine credit, $50 merchandise credit, and 50 thrive points for generating 1000 PV within your first 100 days.
- You will be rewarded with $100 commission, $100 wine credit, and a silver bracelet for generating 5000 PV and also when you recruit 3 affiliates members within your first 100 days.
Residual Commissions
Residual commissions in any MLM company are the lifeblood of the company.
When people are earning commissions every month from their downline members, this usually relates to longer retention and more excitement.
Which is also directly related to bigger monthly residual checks.
The compensation plan model that tracks and pays out the residual commissions is the unilevel compensation plan which I explained above.
Traveling Vineyard uses only 3 levels to pay out these commissions.
The percentage of total sales volume that you can earn from and the number of levels are directly related to your rank in the company.
Here is a breakdown of what that looks like:
- Wine Guide Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will not qualify to earn residual commissions.
- One Star Leader Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you can earn 3% on level 1 only.
- Two Star Leader Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you can earn 5% on level 1 only.
- Three Star Leader Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you can earn 5% on level 1 and 3% on level 2.
- Four Star Leaders and Higher Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you can earn 5% on level 1, 3% on level 2 and 1% on level 3.
Early Promotion Bonus
Traveling Vineyard will also reward you when you reach certain ranks within your first 4 months after joining the company as an affiliate member.
As a bonus to your upline, (the person that recruited you), they will also receive this bonus commission.
Here is what you and your upline will earn once reach this rank within the 4 month time period:
- Three Star Leader Rank – When you qualify for this rank within your first 4 months in the business, you will earn a $50 commission.
- Four Star Leader Rank – When you qualify for this rank within your first 4 months in the business, you will earn a $100 commission.
Matching Bonus Commissions
The matching bonus is a leadership bonus that is paid out to Team Leader ranked affiliate members and higher.
Once you qualify at the Team Leader rank and higher, you will be able to earn a match from each of your unilevel legs down to a Team Leader ranked affiliate member or higher.
Here is what you can earn from this bonus:
- Team Leader Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 1% from each leg of your unilevel compensation plan.
- Senior Team Leaders and higher Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 2% from each leg of your unilevel compensation plan.
Generation Bonus
This bonus is basically an extension of the matching bonus commission pay.
You will be able to earn beyond the Team Leder ranked affiliate members in each of your unilevel compensation plan with this bonus.
The first Team Leader ranked affiliate member found in any 1 of your unilevel legs will be considered your first generation, the 2nd one found in any 1 of your legs will be considered your second generation, and so on.
This also pays monthly.
Here is a breakdown of what you can earn from the Generation Bonus:
- Director Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 2% on 1 generation of Team Leader ranked team members.
- Ruby Director Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 2% on the 1st generation and 1% on your 2nd generation of Team Leader ranked team members.
- Emerald Director Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 2% on the 1st generation, 1% on your 2nd and 0.5% on the 3rd generation of Team Leader ranked team members.
- Diamond Director Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 2% on the 1st generation, 1% on your 2nd and 3rd and 0.5% on the 4th generation of Team Leader ranked team members.
- One Star Diamond Director Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 2% on the 1st generation, 1% on your 2nd and 3rd and 0.5% on the 4th and 5th generation of Team Leader ranked team members.
- Two Star Diamond Director Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 2% on the 1st generation, 1% on your 2nd to 4th and 0.5% on the 5th generation of Team Leader ranked team members.
- Three Star Diamond Director Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 2% on the 1st generation and 1% on your 2nd to the 5th generation of Team Leader ranked team members.
- Four Star Diamond Director Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn 2% on the 1st and 2nd generations and 1% on your 3rd to the 5th generation of Team Leader ranked team members.
Rank Advancement Bonus
The rank advancement bonus is rewarded to affiliate members that reach the rank of Team Leader and above.
This is a one-time commission.
Here is what you will earn when you reach the rank of Team Leader and higher:
- Team Leader Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn a $100 commission.
- Director Rank – When you qualify for this rank, you will earn a $500 commission.
When your personally recruited members reach the rank of Team Leader, you will also receive the $100 bonus commission.
As far as I know, this is the only rank that offers uplines a match for this bonus.
Also, there is not more information that I was able to find for ranks above Director for this bonus.
Elite Leader Bonus Pool
The Elite Leader Bonus Pool is a percentage of the profit that is made from the company-wide sales of the company.
This is paid out by the company, but take note that this is at the discretion of the company when they pay it out as far as what I gathered.
When you reach the rank of Ruby and higher, you will be able to earn from this bonus.
You will earn be able to earn shares by generating a certain amount of volume, recruiting a certain amount of affiliate members, and having a certain amount of total team volume.
There are different levels that you will be able to earn “shares” for this Elite Leader Bonus Pool.
The higher the criteria that the company has in place will mean the more shares and money that you will be able to earn from this pool.
This is all of the information that I have about how the compensation plan works and how you can make money with the Traveling Vineyard opportunity.
With that said, let’s continue.
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My Traveling Vineyard Q and A Section
In this section of my review, I am going to answer some of the questions that people may have when thinking about joining the Traveling Vineyard opportunity.
Is Traveling Vineyard BBB Accredited?
Yes, the Traveling Vineyard is accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
Here is some of the information that I found on the BBB about the company:
- The company has an A+ rating
- Accredited since 2012
Not every company that I come across has a listing with the BBB, and this is why I take all of the information that I find with my research to make my final rating.
Complaints
There are a couple of complaints that I found within the BBB.
They are mainly around the affiliate members not knowing the cost and discounts that you get as an affiliate member.
This is why you should really know how everything works and the pricing structure when you are going to want to sell the products in any MLM company.
Here is one of the complaints that I found:
I held a tasting two days ago. I spent $100 on food to pair with
the wines. I was told I needed to sell 10 bottles to qualify for
rewards. Then later was told I sold 10 bottles but was 2 bottles
short of free wine. Ok. Fine. But I had 3 bookings at my tasting. I
was told ea h booking was a half-price bottle of wine. The next
day when I went to close I was told it’s actually only 3 half-price
accessories. And, sorry, you can’t use your 10% discount unless
you order 3 bottles minimum. I’m absolutely disappointed with this
company. I was led to believe one thing and told another. I will
be telling my friends not to book tastings because this is not
right. I got nothing for all the sales orders my friends placed.
– Dana
What’s The Cost To Join Traveling Vineyard?
The minimum cost to join Traveling Vineyard as an affiliate member will cost $99.
You can also purchase the Success Kit they offer for $179.
There is also a monthly membership fee of $15.95 for the first 3 months after starting your membership.
To earn commissions as an affiliate member will require certain monthly volume requirements that you will be able to learn more about in the compensation plan section of this review.
With that said, let’s answer the question that many of you have been waiting for which is…
Is Traveling Vineyard a Scam or Legitimate Opportunity?
In my opinion, Traveling Vineyard is 100% compliant, offers a great business model, and is not a scam.
The company offers everything they need to in order to be a legal company in the United States.
Now, I don’t have access to the company’s financial books and can’t see what the customer to affiliate member ratio is, but other than that, everything looks good to me.
With that said, let’s finish up.
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My Final Traveling Vineyard Review and Thoughts
In the last section of my review, I am going to share my rating and final thoughts as a whole about the Traveling Vineyard opportunity.
I have taken the time to research and review the information about the company, the products, and the compensation plan.
I have also shared my thoughts on why I didn’t think that the company is a scam.
At this point, you should have a great understanding of what Traveling Vineyard is, how it works, what they offer, and how you can make money with it.
What are your thoughts about this opportunity at this time?
But here is the question…
Do I recommend joining the Traveling Vineyard opportunity?
If you like wine, and if you like Network Marketing, and don’t mind doing home parties and talking to your friends and family about your new opportunity then yes, I do recommend it.
I also think that it is a legitimate MLM company that will be around for a while unless the company makes changes to the compensation plan that makes it even harder for its affiliate members to make money with it.
With that said, I hope you enjoyed my Traveling Vineyard review.
If you found this review helpful, make sure to click on the social share button on this page to share it with others so that people can learn more about the Traveling Vinyard opportunity as a whole.
Thank you for your support!