Is Valentus a Scam? It’s Shocking

Valentus Review

Someone offered you a solution to lose weight simply by drinking their premium coffee? Could it really work, or is Valentus a scam?

That is what we will uncover here.

Welcome to my Valentus review.

If someone has promoted Valentus coffee to you, then it is very likely you have heard of how life-changing their business opportunity is too. Drink to your health and wealth. Why not?

But can it really replace your 9 to 5 job while giving you the freedom to work from home or anywhere, or is it going to land you deeper in debt?


In this article, we will first take an objective look at Valentus products, and whether there is any scientific basis for the health claims they are making.

Then we will also dig right into the inner workings of their network marketing business model, to see if you even stand a chance to profit out of it.

Do stick around, because I will also reveal something shocking that happened with their UK office. You will be able to see for yourself how much (or how little) integrity the company has, from the way they handled it.

Without further ado, let’s dive right in now.



Valentus Review Summary


Product: Valentus

Creator: Dave Jordan

Product type: Weight loss coffee and other nutritional supplements being sold through MLM program

Price: $20 activation fee to become a distributor, starter pack from $59.95 to $499.95, along with minimum monthly purchases of at least 50BV or 100BV each month (depending on how much commission had been earned)

Scam / Legit? : Legit

Recommended or not? : Not recommended

Valentus is a relatively new MLM (multilevel marketing) company, selling weight loss and nutrition products with the new age health junkie in mind.

Priced exorbitantly, the main way for a distributor to make money is to keep recruiting people as his or her downline, since the products are too expensive. There is no real demand for its products. Distributors struggle to make sufficient retail commissions (here’s how you can boost your retail sales, something they don’t even teach you).

Its UK distributors have become victims of the compensation plan since the authorities announced in April 2017 that the weight loss coffee is illegal there.




What is Valentus


A brief background of Valentus


Dave Jordan was previously involved in some MLM companies, prior to setting up his own.

In 2014, together with his wife, Joyce, they founded Valentus, which means “prevail”, signifying superior strength, power and influence.

With his huge number of leads from his prior MLM experiences, he started his mass recruitment to help him sell his functional beverages, as well as the business opportunity it supposedly offers.

In April 2017, his UK branch got into trouble with the authorities, which announced their weight loss coffee to be illegal there, throwing its UK distributors into confusion and helplessness. I will elaborate more on this later.

In May 2017, Valentus’ coffee supplier claimed that Valentus owed them $3.18 million dollars. A confidential settlement was later reached for this case.

But this document related to the case is very interesting in that it was revealed each box of coffee costs $6. Whilst Valentus is selling it to its distributors at $59.95 per box. So you go figure.

There have also been allegations of this company running a pyramid scheme.

In its very short history so far, I must say it has seen quite a bit of action.


Valentus Product Line


Here are the main health products, mostly in the form of beverages:

  • SlimROAST coffee, which is its signature weight loss coffee, available in 4 flavours: Italian, Optimum, Brazilian, Cocoa. It is touted to control appetite, regulate sugar and fat absorption, promote brain health and focus, elevate mood, and act as an antioxidant.
valentus slimroast
  • Prevail Energy drink – gives you a healthy boost of energy without the harmful artificial stimulants
  • Prevail Trim – a proprietary formula with natural appetite suppressants and ingredients to help detoxify your body
  • Prevail Immune – packed with antioxidants from the most nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables extracts
  • PrevailMAX – a nutritional breakthrough for your cells, it delivers a rapid increase of internal blood cell pressure to speed absorption of the nutrients in food and supplements. At the microscopic level of your human cells, you will feel more energy and ability to focus like never before. Wow.
valentus prevailmax
  • Prevail K-9: yes, this is for your pets’ cells, another breakthrough so your dog will feel more energy (I’m not sure I would like that) and an abundance of health like never before. But, spray in whose mouth, did they say? See what I underlined in red in the picture below.
valentus prevail k-9
  • Breakthrough AM/PM – a 12 day cleanse, using two simple formulas designed for morning and night, this will provide an optimal environment of digestion, detoxification, and elimination.
  • Prevail Keto Creamer – offers a sugar free addition to your daily cup of coffee, it delivers healthy fats to enhance your ketosis and helps you feel better than ever.
valentus keto creamer

That’s quite a good variety of nutritional beverages, serving different functions.

But of course we can’t just take whatever they claim. Let’s explore whether there is even any scientific basis for these health claims.


Do Valentus Products have scientific backing?


I’m not the expert here, so I will point you to this experienced dietician’s review of the Valentus SlimROAST coffee. It certainly does not look very promising.

The conclusion? Valentus SlimROAST has ZERO research proving it works.

Don’t be fooled by talk about proprietary blends and/or ingredients. No one is hiding the world’s best-ever weight-loss secret.

The Bottom Line:

Want the same effect of SlimRoast? Get a Starbucks and eat a balanced diet. Then, smile because you saved money and didn’t buy SlimRoast.

Wow. So much for the bed of roses that Valentus is trying to sell to the world.




Valentus Business Opportunity


How to become a Valentus Independent Representative


Valentus calls their distributors IRs (Independent Representatives). To become a qualified distributor, you first pay a $20 activation fee, which you do not have to renew annually.

Then you buy a starter pack, which ranges from $59.95 to $499.95.

  • Basic $59.95 – 1 box (50BV)
  • Starter $129.95 – 3 boxes (100BV)
  • Advanced $199.95 – 6 boxes (150BV)
  • Business Builder $499.95 – 16 boxes (400BV)

Following these upfront costs, every month you have to fulfill a minimum of 50BV in purchases.


How to make money with Valentus 


Let me spare you (and actually myself, too) the convoluted compensation plan that Valentus has. If you are really interested to learn the details, they have it on their website, you can check it out.

My take on compensation plans of all MLM companies, in general, is that it’s a conspiracy to hide from you how most of the profits of the company are going right up to the founders and the top level executives, leaving very little for the distributors at the bottom ranks, who actually make up the foundation of the entire business.

In very simple terms, there are 2 main ways to make money with Valentus:

  • Recruitment commission: this is the part that always kills much of my brain cells. My simple mind understands it this way – the more people you recruit into the company as your downline, forming your team, the more you earn, and the more you get to advance through the ranks.


Why Valentus may not work for you


The root of the MLM evil starts with exorbitant pricing (notice how Valentus does not openly show its product pricing on its website?).

Which, in the case of Valentus, is way too much over the top. I will never in my life pay $60 for a box of coffee.

So with this kind of pricing, there is no real market demand for it. Hence artificial demand is created through the incentive structure: reward people to buy the products.

In the name of qualifying for earnings, distributors are made to pay to enter the game. And keep on paying, month after month, with the promises of higher potential as you bring in more people to be exploited by them.

Distributors have to fork out their money, to buy the far future hope of starting to recoup their losses and profiting from this. It may take years of working full time, promoting and selling for the company before this happens.

What does not make sense to me is how distributors are made to pay the company to promote them.

A multi-million dollar company… where does it get all its sales from? Not from the open market. It comes from the pockets of its distributors, believing they are in this for a life-changing opportunity.

I’m so glad I only set one foot through the doors of an MLM company (not this one), and saw enough to get the hell out of there.

Many others are not so fortunate because the hype from the rah-rah parties and conferences the leaders organize paint such a rosy picture that it is so easy to get sucked in.

Although I would usually say there is a higher rate of success when you join an MLM company in its infancy stage, since you may get to climb the ranks faster, as recruitment may be easier before the market gets saturated, I’m not going to say this with Valentus.

In fact, I can sense that this company puts making money as its main objective, and it can veer dangerously towards being a pyramid scheme, if it is not careful.

So I will not recommend anyone to join them.

And here are some details of what happened with their UK office, as promised early on in this article.


What’s with the UK Saga?


Apparently, the UK law does not allow weight loss products with ingredients that are not proven to promote weight loss.

Check this out, from UK’s Advertising Standards Authority:

valentus unacceptable weight loss claims


Yet again, another instance where Valentus’ weight loss claims on its SlimROAST coffee are unfounded.

It will remain illegal in the UK, for as long as it is making those claims.

And yet, even in the aftermath of the UK authorities dissolving the Valentus office there, uplines were still urging their teams to continue recruiting people into the business, giving the impression that they were only waiting for the company to get registered in the UK, and it would be business as usual after that.

On top of that, distributors were stuck with all their stock that they were not able to sell off.

Under such circumstances, you would expect a company which has a mission “to help people prevail in all aspects of their life” to stand up and do the right thing: take care of its distributors who have forked out their own money for the company.

Nope, nothing of that sort.

People had to fight for their refunds, a FaceBook group was formed by the UK distributors so they could find strength and advice to work out their issues, etc. It was a mess. One that the leaders in Valentus did not handle very well.


For those who thrive on the MLM program

Having said that, I recognize and respect that there are definitely people who thrive on the MLM structure, and are able to make a profit out of it.

You might be one of them, if you are an extrovert, feel energized from interacting with people, are resilient in the face of rejections, and know something about leveraging on the internet rather than relying solely on traditional selling methods.

If you are passionate about Valentus and believe it will work for you, check out one way to scale up your business with free online traffic, without bugging your family and friends:


An alternative way to a home-based business


I hope what you have read so far gives you a clearer direction as to whether or not Valentus is worth your time and money.

If you are considering MLMs because it gives you greater time and space flexibility to work from home, there are actually other better ways to do it.

In fact, to work your way up the ranks of any MLM company and even start recouping your losses from all the upfront investment that you had sunk in, it actually takes full time hours.

And in the beginning years, not only do you not get paid a single cent, you are in fact just throwing money down the drain, buying expensive coffee and other beverages that you normally would not buy.

Such a business model does not work for 99% of distributors (not a figure I plucked from thin air, this is actually from the website of Federal Trade Commission, FTC).

You might as well be gambling away at a casino, that’s still a better chance at making an earning (please do not really do that, I’m just joking).

Now, I want to show you this much better way to make money from home. No recruiting, no direct selling of products. You get to work your own hours, no boss to report to, you decide how much you want to work.

In this business model, you also promote products, but you do it totally online, and you are not restricted to promoting one company’s products. You can choose which companies and whatever number of companies you want to work with.

The best part is: there is zero upfront payment to the companies, since they treasure the fact that you are doing free advertising for them, by promoting their products.

You earn a commission when you bring sales to their virtual stores. This is a fair and transparent way of doing business, since the more sales you bring to the companies, the more they pay you.

You are not working your butt off for somebody’s luxury yacht and big limo. This is your very own online business.

If this sounds good to you, click on the button below to hop over to my other post, where I explain the method in much more detail, and you will get a clearer idea of how it all works:



Pros of Valentus


1. New company, potential for growth

Since Valentus was just founded in 2014, it is relatively new in the MLM industry.

This means many people may not have heard of it yet, so there is potential for growth when you try to recruit people into your team.


Cons of Valentus


1. Price is sky high

As you can see for yourself, Valentus is not transparent in revealing the prices of its products upfront, on its website.

It probably knows its price is way too high, and will scare people off?

But it isn’t exactly a smart move either, to try and hide the price from people browsing their site.


2. High upfront cost

As a distributor, the price you have to pay to play the game is very high.

The activation fee and a starter pack already sets you back by $80, and that’s the bare minimum, you only get 1 box of beverage for that.

The minimum monthly purchases of 50BV (that’s about $60 worth of products) may not seem like a lot, but it can add up fast.


3. Focus on recruitment

From the point of view of the distributor, this is a very bad business model because you do not get to make much earnings at all, until you climb a few ranks up, then you may have a chance of starting to recoup your losses made over the months or even years.

If it were a company that focuses on retail commission, with products that are not so out of reach for the masses, then you can actually start earning much sooner.


4. Not-so-good reputation

After what happened with the Valentus office in the UK, we now know the weight loss claims of its coffee have not been proven at all.


5. No income disclosure

Valentus has not made public any income disclosure. This spells “red flag” for me.

But it is trying very hard to protect itself. Look at this:

valentus no guarantee in income


Most distributors earn less money each month than they are paying for their products. To me, “most” is an understatement.

It is in black and white, made very clear to everyone.

“You should not expect to make a profit, as it is very possible that will not occur.”

There is no reason to partake in a business opportunity that does not benefit you.


6. Family and friends will shun you

In an attempt to sell the products and minimize your losses, you will have to push the expensive coffee right into the faces of those closest to you.

Pricey, and yet those are stuff that they do not need.



Is Valentus a scam?


No, Valentus is NOT a scam. It is still a lawful MLM business as of now.

In fact, I personally know of people who have lost weight effectively by drinking Valentus coffee.

At the end of the day, you make the decision based on how passionate you are about the company’s products, how well it has worked for you, and how it has added value to your life.

To convince potential customers to buy such expensive coffee, you need to reach out to those who are looking for it, instead of pushing it to people who do not need it.

Learn how this can be done:



Another home-based business model


I cannot recommend Valentus as a business opportunity.

It is an MLM at its core, made to work for its owners and the top ranks, not for me and you, just like most other MLMs I have reviewed, like doTERRA, Young Living, and Nu Skin.

If you are feeling exploited, feeling like you are getting nowhere despite working long hours, it is not your fault.

The compensation plan had you set up for failure right from the outset.

Instead of selling things to people who do not need them, you add real value when you show up to those who are actively searching for the products that you are promoting.

This way, you do not have to keep chasing after leads. With the infrastructure set up, your target audience will come knocking on your door (not the physical one, that’d be quite scary).

This is how I am earning my commissions. And this business model is called affiliate marketing.

It is neat and hassle-free, because I’m leveraging on the millions of existing products in the market, without having to create or stock my own products. There is no upfront cost to pay the company I’m promoting, or buy any goods.

I simply bring customers to the virtual doorstep of the companies that I like, and when a sale is made, I earn.

It’s as simple as that.

If this sounds good to you, let me show you the exact way that it can be done.

Click on the button below to learn more:


And for reading all the way to the end of the post, I believe you have it in you to make this work. Here is your FREE PDF Guide: 4 Simple Steps to Making Money Online. Fill in your details to claim it:


If you have any concerns or questions regarding this Valentus review, do comment below, and we will start a conversation from there.


20 thoughts on “Is Valentus a Scam? It’s Shocking”

  1. I was a independent rep for Valentus, I was put in a previous slot of another rep that had left the company. The high ranking Rep had many platforms he would use to attract new reps or experienced passed MLM connections to come in at a higher level than the first entry position. My portal was never cleaned out. My commission was paid to someone else for over three months, I never applied for direct deposit and I had a pay card that didn’t have any money on it that I had earned. When I questioned it I was attacked by my Upline and the President of the Company Dave Jordon, This was the second strike after a friend had joined the company and purchase the high priced entry level box of products. She was tripled charged and I immediately let the home office know, called direct to my upline and Dave and was assured it would be corrected. After three months or two I personally wrote a check back to my friend and so sad for her experience and poor rude customer service. I was told to forget about it and it was my fault for not cleaning out the cookies, when I don’t know what a cookie is. I could go on with more detail but the point is I was owned money that I never got paid for. They closed my account down without my permission. My upline tried to recruit my people away and bad mouth me to my brother without knowing who he was taking to. I reached out to several of the top leaders and they got all the facts and records to substantiate my claims and after they looked into they all got quiet and disapeared raving about Thank you Dave. The biggest joke out there. I found a celebrity influencer and Dave wanted to be the one to sign him up when he was my contact and recruit and when I signed him up he was mad and spoke ugly to me. He later offered product to a school sports program which was my husband team but refused to pay me my earned money. The products are illegal for high school and college athletes due to the banned stimulates for amatuer athletes. When I told Dave you can’t say these are natural products and save when they aren’t parents take you for your word giving it to 8 year old kids for practice like gatorade and it can cause heart attacks. LIke the energy drinks on the market banned in Europe and now showing more hazzards health issues. Valentus does have people making money at the top as the charge their downline to purchase marketing material that they benefit from. The have had so many scams from within of the top leaders and lawsuits for stealing the origninal coffee formula. If you want a company that lacks integrity and poor leadership built on a lie. Here you go. The coffee all of a sudden stop working for people that wanted refunds and very difficult to get and the expiration dates of products sent out was close to being expiration. Then the next best second coffee came out replace the first cofeee. LIe after Lie. There were many nice people there but to stand behind a liar and con artist as your leader is not something I was willing to do. I still have my check records and screen shots of my money being paid to another agent and yet I was never compensated for the refund or commission owed to me.

    Reply
    • Hi Shaka, I’m sorry about your experience with Valentus.

      Thank you for taking the time to share your story here with us, so that our readers know. It’s much appreciated.

      Reply
  2. Yes I agree there are so called Pyramid schemes but not everything is a scheme. If you take a look around you you live in a Pyramid from our government to every job unless you told the home your own business but even there you build a Pyramid from the owner CEO supervisors managers and workers it is all a Pyramid. So in essence the definition of a Pyramid cannot always be bad.

    Reply
    • Hi Loren,

      Pyramid schemes are not about the shape of the organization, otherwise every business is a pyramid according to your misunderstanding of the term. You may want to refer to the FTC’s website for its proper meaning.

      Reply
  3. This is actually the most ridiculous thing I have ever read … your review is basically there to move people on to a business you’re part of ? and also as an independent representative myself for Valentus for 10 months now I can tell you that the products are not illegal at all .. in the U.K. we have a compliance structure to stick too, we are able to make romote and sell the slim roast coffee as that is available for re sale in the U.K. (more products to be confirmed for resale very soon) … all recruits are advised on this and if they do not follow this that is at their own risk as this could result in their account being shut down! We are also DSA approved … this means that our business has been confirmed NOT to be a pyramid scheme! And also anybody who signs up to this business is told how many sales they need to reach promotions… these promotions include a profit and then the further monthly order to sustain our rank is advised as 3 products per month … again, a profit is made! (And who doesn’t know 3 people that want to lose weight?) I also would like to refer back to the ‘Starbucks’ comment … 1 Starbucks a day costs more than 1 Valentus coffee per day (just saying) as for the rest .. yes the money is made in recruitment … this is network marketing and that is required (this is explained before anyone even signs up!) I don’t know anybody that is smashing this business that would say this is ‘easy’ a lot of work is put in yes … with the right mindset (which we give out a lot of free training on) this business could work for ANYONE … you’re the creator you of your own destiny and if you have a goal/dream you want to fulfil and have the mindset that it’s a MUST …. then the universe has your back and provides you exactly that! Anyway I’m speaking from personal experience … you’re giving a review on a company you’ve never been a part of ?

    Reply
    • Hi Laura,

      Thank you for sharing your Valentus experience with us here. It’s fantastic that this MLM business is working out for you.

      I am sharing my personal views that it is not for everyone.

      Yes, if you have a dream that you want to fulfill no matter what, then you will make things work for you. I really love this attitude of yours. It is the way to go, no matter what you choose to do in life.

      But I also want to point out the numbers that do not lie. The MLM structure is designed for the majority of participants to struggle and possibly lose quite a bit of money. It takes more than a strong will and positive attitude to do well in MLMs. I have been on the inside before, I know. Why put yourself in a disadvantageous position by choosing something that does not work out for 99% of participants?

      I have found something that works for me, and I don’t see anything wrong with showing people the exact path I took.

      Reply
  4. A partner of friend of mine has started to sell on Facebook so I started to look it and this article has been very helpful. She is native and doesn’t have a lot of money to be scammed by this coffee.

    Her FB posts are fake templates and all her “mates” from the company comment and say how great it is. Most will see through it I suspect.

    Reply
    • Hi David,

      I’m glad you found this post on Valentus helpful.

      I wouldn’t call the FB posts fake, they are probably some standard templates used by Valentus distributors, with well-oiled sales copies to get people to buy or join. And you’re right, her team mates are sure to be chiming in on how awesome the coffee is in helping them lose weight, or how fantastic the earning opportunity is.

      Reply
  5. I was a rep for Valentus in October 2018 to September 2019 , and in that time period , I never sold any products that I had because people thought it was too expensive and it was expensive even for me to get one product to use for myself.. I did loose weight and products work for me ..but I made the decision not too do it anymore and I went with another company called RevitalU sample first company and would be interesting if you did a review on that

    Reply
    • Hi Rachel,
      Thank you for taking the time to share with us your experience with Valentus. Yes, RevitalU is one of the companies I will want to review, do keep a look out for it.

      Reply
  6. Thanks for reveiw about valentus. It has really informed my decision about them.

    Please I would like to know if you have any reviews about Norland direct selling(MLM) and the efficacy of their products as well.

    Reply
    • Hi Ademola,

      I’m happy that this Valentus review has been useful to you.

      Sorry, I’m not familiar with Norland. I will take a look at its products and opportunity. If I do write a review about them, I will let you know about it.

      Reply
    • Hi i have just started like yesterday still waiting for product to arrive should i pull out before i go any futher. Because i dont want 2 be recruiting just selling
      I have tried this product for myself and I have lost weight but i am in the uk i dont qant 2 get in trouble

      Reply
      • Hi Olu,
        I believe that currently, there are some Valentus products that are legal to sell in the UK, not all.

        If you intend to just sell products, it’s not entirely impossible, but you need to be able to reach out to the masses. Internet marketing provides lots of potential and opportunities, but takes time to establish as an online business, while every month you have to meet the minimum BV requirement.

        Why not consider an MLM that does not require you to meet minimum requirements? Or even affiliate marketing, which does not require you to pay the companies that you’re promoting?

        Reply
  7. Not the first time I see or read about weight loss products using coffee, tea or other herbal sources. One key fact and point that mostly a lot of them fail to provide is the scientific evidence to back up their claims.
    Personally, in regards to weight loss using a certain coffee brand or so, is considered a scam to a certain extent, because naturally, coffee increases your metabolism the same for tea, so what would be the difference with these other brands? I believe here the scientific evidence would do.

    Reply
    • Hi Salim,
      Yes most MLM companies tend to hype up their products, they have to create some selling points for their overpriced stuff. Otherwise they cannot compete with equally great quality products sold off the shelves of supermarkets and stuff, as you rightly pointed out.
      Thank you for taking the time to share your views here, it is much appreciated.

      Reply
  8. Yes Joo, I would like the name of the dietician or your “source” for making the claims she made in the article. You should be able to back up your claims with the scientific evidence.

    Darrell

    Reply
  9. Thank you for posting this review. I was burned many years ago trying to sell Herbalife. It was here in the US. They got into so much for making false claims about how much a person can make that there was a lawsuit.

    Ten years after I stopped selling, I got a check from the FTC for about 1% of what I paid. The simple fact is that most of all MLMs are designed so that money is not made by selling but by recruiting. I even read that several MLM are supported by their distributors and not by actual customers. (Hence, the minimum purchase requirements)

    I am going to check out affiliate marketing that you are talking about; it sounds like a better way to make money from home. That is all I want to do anyway.

    Reply
    • Hi Dovey,
      Yeah it can get ugly when distributors try too hard to recruit downlines into their team, some can get carried away and paint a rosy picture even when they themselves are suffering losses. I’m sorry about your experience.

      Affiliate marketing is definitely a better route, in my opinion, and from my own experience. At least there is no one making us dig a hole in the ground for ourselves to climb out of.

      Reply

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