Just imagine if you are someone who loves to shop for clothes online and you found an opportunity where you could make money selling clothes yourself online. Perhaps Matilda Jane MLM could be the key to making this a reality. In this Matilda Jane MLM review, we will look into this possibility and see if it can be a reality. We can dig deep inside to see if this is a great deal or a big flop.
In order to really succeed with the Matilda Jane MLM, it would be great if you knew a lot of women such as yourself, who loves to shop for clothes online, or have kids, since that is the target market with this particular niche. The prices of the products are competitive, but they may be out of reach for families that are struggling or who have very little disposable incomes.
What is Matilda Jane MLM? 
Matilda Jane is an MLM (multi-level marketing) company founded in 2006 by Denise DeMarchis. They’re home base is in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The product is clothing targeted to women and younger girls that include accessories and products for the home that are relevant to their clothes line. Their product line is quite large and updated.
How Does Matilda Jane Work?
Matilda Jane products are sold through distributors known as Trunk Keepers. Like a lot of other MLM type of companies, you make sales by hosting a party. The host of the party would qualify for a gift. Sales from the party are sent directly to the company to be fulfilled and shipped directly to the customer. So, if you are interested in making money directly from the sale of the products, this may not be the best way to earn online income in my opinion.
See My #1 Recommendation for Legit Affiliate Training
You see, the Matilda Jane compensation plan is based on, what is known as CSV (Commissionable Sales Volume). This is the total dollar value of all goods sold by a particular Trunk Keeper. It is what is left after all customer refunds and sold outs. Plus, they don’t include discounted items, platinum items, or any other types of sales including, but not limited to sample kits, and/or personal orders.
Matilda Jane does have a pretty up-to-date product line. For example, in the video below you can see a new product line for
2020 that is aimed at younger kids. This is a pajama line of products
and also shows some bedroom accessories as well. The video show just how
diverse their product line really is:
Can You Make Money With Matilda Jane?
It may be a bit difficult to make money with Matilda Jane for a variety of reasons. The main one is the compensation plan itself. This is how the compensation plan actually works.
A Trunk Keeper receives a base commission of 20% on their total CSV. Plus you can receive a 5% bonus based on the current selling season. This sounds pretty good and is a fairly high commission rate, however, you have a few requirements to meet before you can even qualify:
- You must sell a minimum of $8000 CSV and have 4 full months of “Active” status during that particular selling season for you to return the following season as a Trunk Keeper.
- You need to sell a minimum of $1500 a month to be considered “Active” as a Trunk Keeper.
Another reason that it might be difficult to make money with Matilda Jane MLM is that you are competing with the main website for sales of their product line. People and simply go to the main website and place an order. These products can also be purchased from other competing websites such as Amazon or EBay.
So, like similar MLM companies, the only real way to produce an income with the Matilda Jane MLM is to recruit people into the business. This, of course, requires good recruiting skills and the ability to work in groups of a lot of people who are interested in promoting the product line. Plus, your new recruits would also have to learn these skills as well.
Pros and Cons of Miltilda Jane MLM
Pros:
- Good Commission rate
- 20 % commission rate with a 5% bonus is good for this particular niche. Especially for physical products.
- Available in Canada and the US
- This give you a fairly large customer base to choose from. You are not limited.
- Free training
- The company offers personalized training for their Trunk Keepers.
- Very large product line.
- There is a huge variety of products to sell. From womens clothes to little girls clothes. Plus, a large selection of accessory items that are relevant to their product line.
Cons:
- High start up cost
- This is where the rubbers meets the road. You have to purchase a starter kit at $1600! Not only that, but you are required to purchase a seasonal kit every time a new line of clothes comes out. This is similar to other MLM’s where you have to purchase products in order to sell them. Unlike with Affiliate Marketing where you typically do not have to purchase products at all.
- Monthly sales targets
- You have to sell a minimum of $1500 a month in order to be considered “Active”. Not only that, but you have to produce a minimum of $8000 CSV and have 4 full months of “Active” statuse during a particular selling season to return to the following season.
- You are not allowed to post ads
- Unlike affiliate marketing, you are not alowed to post ads on Facebook. Plus, you cannot create your own ads.
- Purchase, Purchase, and then Purchase some more
- As a Trunk Keeper, you have to continually purchase a new trunk at the beginning of every selling season. At whatever price they decide on for that particular season.
Is Matilda Jane Legitimate?
The Matilda Jane MLM program is technically a legitimate program. It is not considered a Pyramid Scheme since they do have a product line and make money from it as well as from recruiting. The problem is, companies with this MLM type of structure seem like they are legitimate and easy to make money from. For example, earning a 20% commission rate on a good product seems like a good deal. However, you only make money when you meet all of their criteria and sales targets.
When you consider those requirements and then realize the only way to truly earn is through recruiting, we are getting close to the tipping point of being a Pyramid Scheme. Not everyone will be able to meet the $1500 a month sales target and certainly not the $8000 CSV requirement to be fulfilled in a season. This seems very difficult to do in my opinion.
Final Thoughts
During this Matilda Jane MLM review, we covered a lot of details regarding the pay plan, product line and whether you should become a Trunk Keeper for this MLM company. These types of companies are really good at making their product line look appealing and easy to sell and how easy it would be to get others to do the same thing. “Duplication is the key” they say. Until you find out how difficult it really is to duplicate.
What they fail to tell you is how much work you actually would have to put in order to make a decent amount of money. Not to mention the high start up costs associated with the company.
One of the main issues I have with this program is that at first glance a 20% commission rate for selling a popular line of products seems easy enough. In the Affiliate Marketing world, this would be a great commission rate and would be fairly easy to do. However, with the Matilda Jane products you are not really offering your potential customers anything exclusive because those customers can also purchase directly online at other sites, such as Amazon, and you do not make a penney with they do this.
With affiliate marketing you have the ability to make an income when someone visits a popular sites like Amazon. Especially if you can get your hands on the right training.
If you are truly interested in earning great commissions (like 20% and more) and you would like to create your very own business the right way then check out my #1 recommendation on how to build a passive income online. You will get a huge amount of support, training, a free website and access to a community of over 2 million people. You also get access to live chat 24/7 where successful people are always willing to help you every step of the way.
Not only that, but you will also get a personal coach to help you meet your income goals and help you get all the training needed to earn those affiliate commissions along with a proven path to passive income streams that others are successfully doing. Not to mention the mentor ship available from the founders of the company. This is the way you can sell any product or within any passion or niche you have an interest in. Whether it be clothes online or any other passion you may have.
Matilda Jane MLM
$1600
Pros
- Great Product Variety
- Available in the US and Canada
- Free Training
Cons
- High Start Up Costs
- Monthly Sales Targets
- Purchase, Purchase and Purchase
Your article on the Matilda Jane MLM is really interesting as it is not something that I believe would be good for me. I like the detailed information that you have gone into which equally also made my decision about not doing this type of marketing a lot clearer.
I like the way you show how the program works and what the earning potential is and how the commission works which is very educational.
I then like the way you have linked in affiliate programs and how effective that is.
Thank you
you are very welcome Imelda. Thanks for visiting my site.
As soon as I got to the part where you talk bout how customers can go to Amazon for the same thing, I knew this business was not legit. No one can compete with Amazon anymore…their stock literally just hit an all time high 2 days in a row. They are an absolute giant in the e-commerce industry and are wiping out independent sellers that actually offer unique products, let alone identical ones. Thanks so much for offering this review – hopefully it helps others stay away from this MLM as well 🙂
Thanks for the feedback Martina and I am glad you enjoyed my Matilda Jane MLM review and learned something from it. As you can see there are better alternatives to earning an income online rather than trailing down the MLM rabbit hole. Affiliate marketing is really where it’s at.
I think that 1600 dollars for a starter kit is quite high indeed. although there appears to be some value for it. But most people want to start out at a price point that is more reasonable. A high price like this can send them away.
The monthly sales target is another issue, we are supposed to make working from home a comfortable thing and not to place pressure on people.
Hi Kirkman, I totally agree with you. $1600 is quite high, especially since you are also challenged with the sales targets. This Matilda Jane MLM review is meant to warn people who may be considering it and thinking that it is an easy way to make an income online.
Thanks for the review. As a mom with 2 young children, I suppose I fit in with the Matilda Jane’s target market. In fact, I’ve been exposed to a few MLM type of opportunities in the past. What I found attractive is that, they are mostly products that I can touch and feel, the business concept is pretty easy to grasp. However, the reason I never went for it is that I never came across a line of product that I truly LOVE and believe in. Which is why I went with the affiliate marketing business and joined Wealthy Affiliate. Although it is not perfect, but it is a great platform to get me off the ground running.
Multi-level-Marketing is different to Affiliate Marketing. It will be helpful if you can explain more in details on how they are different…
Hi Chloe, and thanks for the feedback. Yes, MLM is definitely different than Affiliate Marketing. One of the main differences is the fact that most, if not all, MLM companies have some sort of payment requirement. Whether it be a one time payment, recurring payment, or a requirement of purchasing the products they sell. Whereas in affiliate marketing, you typically do not have to purchase the products that you are recommending. Another big difference is that MLM companies thrive on the recruitment aspect of the business. You are typically asked to recruit others into the business to ensure growth in the business itself. Whereas in affiliate marketing that is not necessary to earn an income.
Wow. $1600 cost. That’s steep. I am sure, I can build my own clothing business with that cost 🙂 Some people just put any price tag for their fame. Thank you for this honest review.
You are welcome Prav!
Hello,
Thanks for the review of Matilda Jane MLM, but it looks like this platform is not the best: too many cons and too few pros.
$ 1600 for a started kit- is way too much, especially considering the fact that one needs to sell a minimum of $ 1500 a month to be considered ” active” as a Trunk Keeper, especially during these days when the economy is down! It looks like you will lose money instead of making it. I think you are right, affiliate marketing is the way to go with this niche.
In my opinion, people like to buy clothes from cheaper retailers like Amazon, E-bay, or Wish.
Thanks for a useful review, it is good to know about this platform before diving in.
Thanks for the feedback Jpaliskis. Yes, you are right too many cons. Especially the start up cost, not to mention the requirements to stay active as a Trunk Keeper. Affiliate Marketing is certainly the way to go with this niche.
I’m personally not into MLM type of businesses (been there, done that, am NOT a sales person 😉 ), though some do offer quality products worth selling/purchasing. I think there are better ways to make money online, without having to spend a lot of money up front. For this kind of start-up money, you can open an Amazon business and sell your own product (and keep all the profit). Of course, that’s more work, but there is no pressure to sell a minimum amount of product nor enlist family and friends.
Nice write-up. I learned something new today. I had no idea MJC was a MLM company. Of course, I don’t pay that much attention to women’s clothing, either, so…
-Steve
thanks for your feedback Steve. Yeah, the MLM business model does require you to be a sales person with a lot of contacts. Plus, you are write, for that kind of money you can do a lot more on the online marketing realm. That is why I prefer to build my own website and go the affiliate marketing route. Less work and no real investment.
Maltilda Jane is really a good platform and the things I have heard about it are really encouraging. Though it is an mlm platform, it does, however offers a niche that is very different than most that I have seen. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Thumbs up to you. This maltilda Jane mlm review is a great read.
Thanks for the feedback Ella. It really is not a good platform though because it is very difficult to make money with them. Plus, the high start up cost is really difficult to justify. The women’s clothes niche and the accessories that go with it can better be dealt with through simple affiliate marketing. You can write about products sold on platforms like Amazon and other platforms that offer good commissions as well. Plus, with most affiliate programs, you do not have to buy the product in order to sell the product. there are plenty of good affiliate programs for beginners that can learn how to earn a great income online.
MLM is not my thing. It has never being my thing and I also noticed that most of these business models fall into niches like fashion, health and wellness and also travel. I would love to agree that affiliate marketing is better but I have not tried it yet. I did not think that the commission rates would be as high as you say. Can you actually find commission rates as high as 20% with affiliate programs? I think it may be a better way to make money than MLM. This business strategy is something I would definitely like to try. Thanks!
Hi Riley and thanks for stopping by. Yes, actually there are many affiliate programs that pay as high as 20% and even more actually. There are so many affiliate programs and a huge variety of niches. For example, I wrote a blog post on the best affiliate marketing programs for beginners that highlights the top three affiliate marketing networks where you will find many programs that are above 20% commission rates.