Income disclosure reference

Expenses not included in MLM income disclosures

Many income figures are gross or before at least some expenses. This reference helps readers move from a company payment number to the question that matters: what is left?

Last reviewed: 2026-06-18

Short answer

Treat company payments as a starting number. Product, samples, fees, tools, events, travel, shipping, taxes, and time can change whether that number becomes profit.

This page reuses the existing company guide summaries. It does not estimate expenses or add numbers that are not already in the disclosure library.

Company	How the summary says the figure is reported	Expense note from the guide summary	Company guide
Amway	Before expenses	The disclosure does not by itself show each participant’s net income after product, travel, events, samples, training, websites, taxes, shipping, or other business costs.	Read guide
Arbonne	Gross, before fees and other expenses	Net income after expenses, since fees and business costs are excluded.	Read guide
Color Street	Still excludes other business expenses	The income-including-fees figure still excludes expenses such as advertising, samples, training, rent, travel, and telecommunication. The disclosure does not show full net income after all ordinary costs.	Read guide
doTERRA	Commissions, before expenses	Net income after expenses, since the figures are commissions and do not subtract product or business costs.	Read guide
Herbalife	Typical-month earnings, before expenses	The statement does not by itself show each distributor’s net income after all ordinary expenses.	Read guide
It Works!	Gross, before expenses	The disclosure does not show net income after expenses. Retail sales income and expenses have to be reviewed separately from company commissions.	Read guide
LuLaRoe	Gross profit, before inventory and other costs	Net income after expenses, which the statement does not provide.	Read guide
Mary Kay	Before expenses	Typical U.S. net earnings after expenses, because we did not locate a standardized U.S. income disclosure in the public sources reviewed. How much product consultants resell to customers versus buy themselves.	Read guide
MONAT	Gross, before expenses	The disclosure does not show net income after product, samples, shipping, renewal fees, events, training, taxes, travel, or other costs. Product resale profit or loss is not included in the disclosed gross earnings figures.	Read guide
Nu Skin	Monthly average sales compensation before expenses; retail markup not estimated	The summary states it does not represent profit, so it does not show net income after expenses. Retail markup income from product resale is not estimated in the summary.	Read guide
OPTAVIA	Gross, before the cost of products Coaches buy	The disclosure does not show what Coaches keep after the cost of the products they purchase, fees, and other expenses.	Read guide
Pampered Chef	Before expenses	Typical U.S. net earnings after expenses, because we did not locate a standardized U.S. income disclosure. How many U.S. Consultants recover kit, sample, tool, subscription, event, and travel costs.	Read guide
Plexus	Gross, before expenses	The disclosure does not show net income after all expenses.	Read guide
Primerica	Average payments, before personal expenses	The earnings statement does not by itself show net income after licensing, exam preparation, travel, technology, marketing, taxes, or other costs.	Read guide
Scentsy	Gross, before expenses	The disclosure does not show net income after expenses. It does not show the full effect of product, samples, parties, subscriptions, events, travel, taxes, or time.	Read guide
USANA	Net of some costs, before discretionary business expenses	The disclosure states it does not include expenses an Associate chooses to spend promoting the business, so it does not show each participant's net income after those costs.	Read guide
Young Living	Gross, before expenses	The figures are earnings before expenses and do not show how many members net a profit after product, events, and travel costs.	Read guide
Younique	Gross, global, before expenses	The disclosure does not show net income after expenses.	Read guide

What is not clear from the disclosure alone

A disclosure may name some excluded costs without showing what a typical participant paid. It also may not show taxes, unpaid time, unsold inventory, or costs paid before the person became eligible to earn.

Questions to ask before joining

Is this figure gross, net, or net of only some costs?
What product, fee, subscription, event, and shipping costs would I pay?
What did typical new participants keep after those costs?
What costs continue even if I earn nothing?

Sources

This page reuses the existing disclosure objects from the income-disclosure library. Source links and access dates live on the linked company guide pages.

Correction request

To request a correction, email corrections@boringanddevastating.com with this page URL, the specific text at issue, and supporting public sources.