Is The Boisset Collection Wine MLM A Oui Or A Non To Join?

Bonjour! Do you love wine?  Well, I am not afraid to admit that I do and that is why this Network Marketing company caught my eye.  Holding wine tastings in your home is kind of a fun idea, especially if you can get paid for doing so, would you agree?  But is the Boisset Collection Wine MLM a oui or a non to join?  Can you make any real income?

First, let me mention that I am not affiliated with The Boisset Collection in any way.  My job is to research these network marketing companies and find out the truth so that you don’t waste your money on something that will not give you a decent return for your investment.

Let us see what The Boisset Collection is all about.

What is The Boisset Collection?

The Boisset Collection is a US-based, family-owned producer and importer of wines and they have created a multi-level marketing business selling wines and wine-related products, jewelry and fragrance.

Who is The Boisset Collection For?

Ideally, of course, you would have a great interest in wine in general, though you will receive training if you have no previous experience/knowledge.  This business opportunity would be targeting customers with discretionary income since these are luxury items.

Perhaps you envision yourself in your retirement as having little soirées of wine-tasting and getting family and friends to purchase these wines and related products with a view to them wanting more on auto-ship.

Brief Details and Price

website:  www.boissetcollection.com

owner/founder:  Jean-Charles Boisset

prices and what is included:  to become a Boisset Ambassador you must purchase one of the business starter kits.  They are:

• Go-Green kit – $42.00 – this does not include wine but does include access to training and online marketing tools only.  You will learn how to become a ‘wine influencer’
• Social-Lite – $149.00 – includes 3 bottles of wine and marketing materials and access to education and training.
• The Enthusiast – $349.00 – includes 6 bottles of wine, branded marketing materials, stemware and accessories to launch a tasting
• The Aspiring Somm –  $549.00 – This contains 12 bottles of wine for two tastings events, branded marketing materials, stemware, a 12-bottle wine roller (insulated) and professional tools and accessories

Cellar Suite: A technology platform that costs -$14.00 a month or $120.00 annually. This is included in all of the above starter kits on a 90-day trial basis.

Cellar Suite (which is required once you become an Ambassador) includes:

• A Personalized replicated website and online store
• Real-time sales tracking
• Customer reporting and back office
• Automated email and order notifications
• Marketing support
• On-demand training and tools

guarantee:  there is no income guarantee

rating: (out of 10): 3.3

My Review of The Boisset Collection

The Boisset Collection business opportunity is that you sign up as an Ambassador and purchase your business startup kit so that you can start promoting the products to customers and recruiting people you know to join your team.

company history

The Boisset Collection Ambassador program was founded by Jean-Charles Boisset who was born in Burgundy, France.  Company headquarters are in St.Helena, California.

Monsieur Boisset’s parents founded their family winery in 1961 and today, the family business includes wineries in France, California, England and India.

products

Of course, the primary item Boisset Collection sells is wine and there are many different types available with seasonal selections as well.  For a full viewing of all their wines, I suggest you visit their website, though I have to warn you, most of them are very expensive.

Boisset Collection sells many other products online, in addition to its wines. Popular items include:

• Baccarat Wine Glass Set – 2  for $380.00
• Riedel Wine Decanter – $425.00
• The Alchemy of the Senses Book – $395.00
• BFE Cheeseboard Swivel Set and Accessories – $40.00
• JCB Hand Soap – $30.00
• JCB Passion Ties – $85.00
• Enclave Black Leather Tote Bag – $49.00
• JCB Fleur De-Lys Cufflinks – $95.00
• JCB Natural Beauty Brooch/Necklace – $150.00

compensation plan

There are 8 ranks within the Boisset Collection:

1. Ambassador
2. Associate Ambassador
3. Senior Ambassador
4. Director
5. Senior Director
6. Executive Director
7. Senior Executive Director
8. Managing Director

Ways to earn:

• wine tasting event in your home or an office.  Typically 6-15 people participate and 5 wines are tasted.  People can join the “Wine Society Membership” as a customer and receive discounts and auto-shipping of the wines they want to their homes
• phone orders – call potential customers and let them see the products on their phones.  The Ambassador will recommend wines to try and they will then be shipped to customer’s homes.
• social media- such as putting an ad of yourself on Facebook sipping wine with a link to your replicated website.  The customer can then order directly online from your site.
• referrals-when a customer enjoys a wine they have purchased, they can recommend a new customer as a referral and that new customer can then place an order = commission for the Ambassador.
• gifts – customized gifts can be created and given at corporate events and so on that can drive traffic to the Ambassadors website
• recruiting others as Ambassadors – this is, of course, the way to generate any realistic kind of income with the MLM format.

Ambassadors can earn a 15% to 35% commission based on monthly sales performance from doing tasting events, phone sales, and social media marketing.

The main way to make money is by doing what they refer to as ‘sponsoring’ which is the recruiting of family, friends and your inner circle, into your ‘team’ so that you can make commissions from their sales and those they recruit… your downline.

Ambassadors are required to sell $1000.00 in personal sales volume of Boisset products each year and you are also required to pay the subscription to the Cellar Suite to remain active.

Additionally, you must sell $250.00 in personal sales volume monthly when you have team members in order to qualify to receive commissions from your downline.

You can view the entire compensation plan here.

Support for new Ambassadors:

• Can attend a tasting with a more experienced Ambassador
• A more experienced Ambassador can assist at a tasting
• Individual coaching from your team members

important note:  they do not operate in every US State and there are restrictions as to how much wine you can purchase in some of the states.

class-action lawsuit

On a disturbing note, a class-action lawsuit was filed against this company in 2015.  The lawsuit claimed that several Boisset California wineries contain very high levels of inorganic arsenic, in some cases up to 500% more than the maximum acceptable limit.

Ooh-la-la!

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• authentic products
• on-going training
• decent support network

Cons:

• restrictive depending upon which state you reside
• luxury products are not an easy sell
• cannot sell to restaurants or businesses
• MLM business model = high failure rate

Final Thoughts

The Boisset Collection website certainly looks very elegant and refined and this is how multi-level marketing companies seduce you into joining their programs.  They show you a ‘lifestyle’ with clever imagery of beautiful people socializing and tasting expensive wines in lovely homes so that you can imagine yourself doing the same.

The sad reality is that the MLM format is not conducive for you, at the bottom of the pyramid, to make an income.  You will have to invest quite a bit to get started as well because you have to have some of these wines and nice glasses and appropriately paired snacks to create the wine-tasting ambiance.

And of course, you will be asked to start selling/recruiting right away to your ‘warm market’ which means harassing family members, friends, and your inner circle.  This is a luxury item and could get very expensive very quickly for you and all your friends.  Just something to consider.

Plus, it is a fact that the MLM business model has a very high drop out rate and this has been well-documented.

If you have any thoughts of joining The Boisset Collection as an Ambassador, or in fact joining any Multi-Level Marketing ‘opportunity’, I strongly advise you to read my checklist and see if you feel you are the right kind of person for this type of business model.

Finally, that class action lawsuit does not instill a great deal of trust in the quality control aspect of The Boisset Collection.

This is definitely a NON to join, in my opinion.

Have you been involved as an Ambassador with The Boisset Collection?  It would be wonderful if you would share a little bit of your experience with our readers here in the comments section below if you have.

Here is a Better Alternative

The idea of selling wine and wine-related products is actually very interesting and appealing to many people (including me).  However, instead of being an Ambassador for someone else’s products and being limited to only their product range, why not start your own website and sell whatever you want in this niche as an Affiliate Marketer?

When Philip and I were looking for ways to generate some income online, we reviewed many so-called opportunities, including multi-level marketing.  We did not like the idea of being in somebody else’s ‘downline’ and being restricted to whatever they wanted us to sell.  We found a friendly Canadian company that has been around for 14 years that offers complete online entrepreneur training, tools, and support which has enabled us to learn this business and have fun writing and helping others like us.  It doesn’t cost a fortune, either!

This company, Wealthy Affiliate, is FREE to check out.  You can read all about it and come on in and give it a try right here.

Whatever you decide to do, I toast your success!

Merci,

Colette