If you’re wondering whether Usborne Books is a scam, pyramid scheme or legitimate business opportunity, this Usborne Books review is what you’re looking for.
Usborne Books in a nutshell
I can only think of two reasons why you’re reading this Usborne Books review. You either want to know whether you should purchase books from them or you want to know if the business opportunity is right for you. In any case, you have landed in the right place.
It is not uncommon that people look up companies when consultants approach them to talk up the potential of a business opportunity. If you can relate to this, I want to commend you for taking some time to do your homework on the company first before taking action.
In this review, I will be telling you some things about the business model that Usborne Books consultants would not want you to hear.
I appreciate the time you have spent here already and I completely understand you might be unable to sit through this long review. If that’s the case, please stick around for a minute and go through the following point-form summary of some important things to know about the company:
- Usborne Books is a company that sells children’s books
- The general consensus about the company is that the books are good but the customer service sucks real bad. There are way more negative reviews than positive ones about the services of this company.
- The company operates a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) business model
- To become an independent consultant, you will have to invest in a starter kit
- This could either be a consultant mini kit for $75 or a consultant kit for $125 plus tax and free shipping.
- There are no sales or inventory requirements to remain a consultant
- However, since the opportunity is heavily reliant on hosting parties, consultants find themselves purchasing a lot of inventory to use at these parties.
- Consultants make 25%-30% commissions on product sales
- Based on the extent of the training they offer, this is not a work-from-home opportunity.
From the look of things, Usborne Books is a good company that sells nice books. The product is also such that you could make a lot of sales by going from person to person.
I have seen some complaints about their shipping times and overall customer service but other than that, I think you could be successful as a consultant. If you would like to amplify your sales even more, you can follow the exact system I use to make money online.
Pros
The books are good
I have not bought any of their books, so I can’t confirm this, but the popular feedback on their books is positive.
A company having great products is always a good thing.
The prices are reasonable
Product prices should always be among the first things prospective consultants should look at when they are looking to join a business opportunity. If they are ridiculously high, you can forget about it. You are set up to fail before you even get started.
Fortunately, the prices at Usborne books are reasonable and competitive.
There is a huge market for the products
Children need books and this is never going to change. As kids grow older, they are going to need age-specific books and this is exactly what Usborne Books provides.
Parents are looking for books for their kids. People who do not have young kids anymore have kids in their lives they would get a book for.
This gives consultants a huge market pool to make sales to.
It is cheap to become a consultant
On the face of it, $75-$125 to become a consultant is among the lowest prices around to join an MLM opportunity. I say “on the face of it” because there is more to the story and I will talk about this in the cons section below.
However, paying $75-$125 with no monthly recurring costs and no inventory purchase requirement is kind of a good deal.
Cons
Reliance on hosting “parties”
Maybe it’s just me but I find the marketing method of hosting parties a tad bit out-dated and traditional.
The extent of training Usborne Books gives you is to host a party and invite your friends, family, coworkers and neighbours, market the products and then make sales during these parties.
When you have invited all of your friends and family, you will now have to keep your fingers crossed and hope these people are willing to host a party themselves and invite their own friends.
If this doesn’t happen, your only option would be to start inviting strangers. I just feel this whole “party” thing is a terrible method of building a business and the sole reason a lot of people fail with MLMs is the inability to find consistent leads.
By the way, most people don’t fall for the party trick anymore. There are way too many MLMs using the same method that when you tell people to come to a party, they already know what you’re trying to do.
How do I know this? A good fraction of the MLM reviews I have written on this site came after I was invited to a party or trunk show!
Being a consultant could get expensive
Purchase a consultant kit or mini kit for $75 or $125 and you are a consultant. It is cheap to become a consultant but is it really cheap to remain one, though?
Since Usborne Books do not teach better techniques, consultants who want to have a real crack at making money from the opportunity will try to do so by hosting parties.
These parties are supposed to be a showcase of products. How do you think you would host a party to tell people about the awesomeness of Usborne Books and not have some on hand to show them?
I can tell you that you will not make any sales.
The reality is, in order to have a real shot a making sales at these parties, consultants need to purchase and carry inventory. This way, the people present can have a look at what the books and if they like them, they will go ahead and purchase them on the spot.
In summary, it is not mandatory by rule to purchase inventory but consultants will end up purchasing them anyway.
If you choose not to follow the traditional party route, you will have to invest in yourself by taking digital marketing courses to leverage the power of the internet. This is my preferred method because your reach would be limitless but it’s still an extra cost that you didn’t anticipate before becoming a consultant.
Update: A reader graciously pointed out that consultants might be eligible for consignments. This means eligible consultants do not necessarily have to make payment for their purchases before they host parties. Here is the link to the guidelines.
Too many complaints
I can literally count the number of positive remarks about the service of this company on one hand. There are way too many negative reviews for me to ignore in this review.
I have read comments from many people saying customer service kept them on hold for over 8 hours! I have read comments from people saying Usborne Books shipped their orders 1-2 months after they were placed.
Before you start wondering how these things would affect you as consultant, maybe you should revisit the last point.
Hosting parties requires you to purchase products and if their customer service and shipping suck this much, it’s really going to affect your business badly.
Is Usborne Books a Pyramid Scheme?
No, Usborne Books is not a pyramid scheme scam. They sell real quality products and I have not seen anything to suggest that recruiting plays a huge role in the company’s operation.
The products are real quality, the prices are reasonable and there is a huge market looking for these products. These factors make it possible for consultants to be successful without having to recruit other consultants.
On top of that, Usborne Books does not pressure consultants to meet a monthly sales requirement nor directly force them to make inventory purchases. For these reasons, they are not a pyramid scheme.
Closing Thoughts
Even though Usborne Books is not a scam, I would think two or three times before becoming a consultant with this company. I would not be willing to take a chance at such gross incompetence. If they can treat their customers that way, I don’t see why they wouldn’t do the same to consultants.
On a brighter note, the company has been around for about 30 years. This means they are definitely doing something right as a company.
Anyway, if you have bought their books and you believe in the quality enough to promote it, the risk associated with becoming a consultant might be worth it to you.
If you would love to build your own successful online business without having to step out of your house, check out the system that allows me to do just that.
Usborne Books Review
Product Name: Usborne Books
Price: $75-$125 for a starter kit
Founder: Peter Usborne
Overall Ranking: 50/100
Thank you for your review. I’m considering working for Usborne after discussing it with a friend who is having some success as a consultant. I just wanted to point out that with Usborne, a consultant isn’t required to purchase inventory, and they can get books on consignment,
though there are guidelines one has to meet to be eligible:
http://consultants.myubam.com/consultants/ciabeta/pdf/inventoryguide.pdf.
Also, hosting parties is only one of the many ways to sell books. Sources within the company have stated that UBAM has done some work to fix the problems with timely shipping and receiving over the holidays. I do agree that this kind of program won’t be for everyone, though,
Thanks for the update Courtney. I appreciate it.
I agree that hosting parties is only one way to sell books and there are several other ways, like digital marketing. The problem is this would become an additional expense to the consultant because they will have to invest to get this training elsewhere. I did say based on the extent of the training, consultants would probably find themselves having to host parties.
I’ve seen some MLMs offer some digital marketing training, like how to set up Facebook Ads, but this still requires the consultant to spend some money. Granted, the consultant might make more than it cost for the ad but I would just like to put it out there.
To be fair, I think Usborne Books & More are a pretty decent company and I wouldn’t rule out increasing their ranking in the future. I just need to see far less complaints or far more positive remarks about their customer service first.
Hosting parties is not the only options. You can have book fairs where the organization earns free books, book drives where you donate books and Usborne matches 50% of all donations and the organization you donate to gets the books bought with the donations and free books from the 50% match, vendor booths, charity programs such as Cards For A Cause, reading programs such as Reach For The Stars. You can host local events, some Consultants host Storytime events, etc. As you can see, the options go way beyond hosting parties!
Hi Simone,
Thanks for your input, but I never said hosting parties was the only option. I said it’s the primary option and the one recommended by Usborne books.
Overall, the company doesn’t care how you make sales so long as you actually make sales.
The majority of the activities Simone has mentioned requires a consultant to be certified (ERS), and that costs extra, and there are limitations that come with it. I am not happy with the fact that MOST consultants are more interested in the pyramid, they’ve lost the true value of being a book lady, its disappointing.
Actually NONE of these programs require an ESR. If you choose to do them inside of a school, yes, you have to do the Educational training, and yes, that does cost more. BUT the programs themselves can be done elsewhere as a regular consultant. Usborne goes above and beyond to protect schools and the children inside of them.
Hi Amedu,
I wanted to send along an update regarding the Customer Service portion of UBAM and the much needed, positive changes. In recent months they have completely overhauled their call in lines. Wait times are now typically under 5mins (usually only 1-2). As far as shipping, orders over the past few months are shipping within 24-48hrs, and arriving within 7-10 days after shipping (depending on location). Definitely welcomed, and positive, changes came from customer feedback! 🙂
Nice! That’s good to know. Thanks for the update Lacey.
I want to say that a lot of consultants now, if not most, host “virtual” parties, on facebook. In fact, they are given specific training on this (how to invite, what to post, etc.). This way, they don’t need inventory because they post videos and pictures that “showcase” the books for them. And people can “attend” from the comfort of their own home, or anywhere for that matter, and they can make orders via a link to the consultant’s website. It’s not exactly face-to-face, but it is really convenient for everybody. It’s actually quite popular for that reason, and consultants normally make very good sales. The only inventory I would say the consultant could carry are a few books she would use as raffle prizes, but even then that’s not completely necessary as she can order and send them from her website if she’d like to also.
Thanks a lot for the update Regina!
My missis has joined the scheme in the UK, i am in business myself and i find it hard to watch all profit going in to buying more and more inventory. For every book she sells, usbourne sell two, one for her and one for the buyer! Its clear that a larger inventory means a buyer is more likely to find a book they would then buy, so if you are on the ball your profit is constantly going in to stock. My issue is that the difference between stock cost and r.r.p isnt good enough for time spent. You may earn £4-15 per sale, and if you typically make one or two sales you may as well work in a local bar and not invest so heavily.
I think its a good scheme for someone who doesnt understand business and has nothing better to do, but any genuine entrepreneur would see the figures for what they are and look for a better deal in a better market. For instance a product you can sell at £75 seeing a £40 profit is far better in regards of time and effort. Making a few pounds here and there is too much like hard work
I suppose ones earnings can be significantly increased by ones downline and how they are performing. Presumably if you were lucky or skilful enough in recruiting good individuals who also recruited and sold well you would not have to sell a thing as you would be earning commissions from all in your downline. Can you tell me how many levels down you can go earning commissions. Also, what are the % on sales for each level below you.
Usborne isn’t like that. You can upgrade to a team leader and that’s a bit different, but you don’t make commission on people below you like many of the other companies out there. Usborne does have ways to promote and you can earn more that way, but they don’t push recruiting people to replace the need for actual selling. Yes, you do have to sell books to make a profit but NO! YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PURCHASE BOOKS AS A CONSULTANT!! Some people do, but that’s up to them. Usborne actually discouraged purchasing large amounts of books simply for having inventory. And for those that want to do sales in person you still don’t have to purchase the books up front!! They can be shipped to you at NO COST then you repay the company as you sell them.
Are you a consultant? If so I’m curious as to which country?
I know you’re not in Canada as it’s not run here how you have posted.
I find it interesting how the same company works differently in each country.
Have a blessed day
When you said it’s MLM, that’s a pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes sell real products, they’re still pyramid schemes.
There’s a bit of misinformation here. The starter kit comes with the books you display for parties. The parties are done online and there are a lot of product videos that can be used as well. Consultants are not required to have inventory and are actually discouraged from making purchases simply for excess inventory. Purchasing a large number of books just to hit reward or leadership levels is actually against the rules. Also please keep in mind that you’re always going to find more negative reviews on something like customer service than positive ones because many people don’t go online to say that everything went as expected. People go online to vent. I have been a consultant with Usborne for 2.5 months and my experience with customer service has been great. When you follow protocol for submitting tickets and making calls everything runs smoothly and things are handled quickly. I also make sure I handle customer service issues for my customers. None of my customers deal directly with customer service. I am customer service for them! I do have one customer who has had some issues with getting her books in a timely manner BUT she lives in Peurto Rico and didn’t put in a valid address. The books were returned to the company and I have had to get them resent. So yes, it has taken an unreadonable amount of time to get her order but that’s not entirely the company’s fault. ALL of my other customer orders have arrived in about a week from the date of purchase. I’ve done several MLMs in the past (not for the money, mostly bc I prefer to get the products cheaper) and Usborne is SO different. It’s truly not just another MLM. I joined just bc I wanted to get a discount on the books for my two girls that I was planning to buy anyway. Here we are less than 3 months later and I’ve sold almost $6000 in books!! I’m not pushy, I haven’t spent tons of money on inventory (besides the books that I buy my girls, which again, I was planning to do anyway), and I am truly enjoying what I do. Obviously things like this aren’t for everybody, but Usborne really is different. You don’t have to have inventory, you can, but don’t have to sign people up under you, there are no fees or minimums or anything required to maintain your status. For me, it’s fun and the quality of the books are great.
My wife has ran her own Usbourne books biz for approx 4 years now. She has a team of people now and works serious hours building this up – days, evenings, weekends. She doesn’t stop.
Last year she sold £13,500 worth of books. She had to pay Usbourne £9,000 for the books and she bought and had £3,000 worth of expenses. (cost of fairs, postage, website etc). There will be more costs not accounted for so not much profit for incredible dedication and effort.
Usbourne organise lots of ‘positivity’ courses ( + I think she may have to pay to attend them?) – after these courses you cannot reason with them on the rational behind running this business – you are deemed ‘negative’. This seems to be a big part of the Usbourne strategy.
Recruiting other people into the scheme is a major factor to grow your team / downline.
You have to make targets to keep the team you killed yourself to build. (If you had your own real business this would not be the case. I think I would prefer a standard pyramid scheme).
The books are nice and children do like them. I think Usbourne sell them cheaper on Amazon.
Schools get some free books from having organised events – I would be interested to know the real numbers behind just how generous Usbourne actually are (the book markup).
Unfortunately the biggest expense to seriously trying to run an Usbourne business will be at your families cost.
I feel it is a real shame my wife did not just start her own ‘normal’ business where I am sure she would have thrived given how much amazing energy she has.
Megan – good luck to you. Our house is full of stock. I am pretty sure this is a MLM that just smells of innocent children.
Now I understand them I don’t think these MLMs should be at school fairs or community events given they are not what they seem.
I would like to point out that the customer care and shipping times have noticeably improved. The company renewed the storage facility and partnered up with UPS and installed a packaging system that allows them to ship the books the day after the order has been placed for the most part.
I have been a consultant for 3 years and an ESR for 2. I have never been pressured to purchase inventory or recruit other people. I make a good income some of which comes from online parties, some from home parties but the majority comes from vendor booths and book fairs at schools and pre-schools. I have only scratched the surface of the potential for sales in my area. As far as customer service, there were some terrible wait times prior to my joining but great efforts were made to streamline the warehouse shipping methods and increased customer service staffing. Now wait times on the phone average less then 5 minutes and books ship within 48 hours and are delivered within a week to ten days. When there are any shipping issues they are resolved with a simple support ticket within 24 hours.
I have explored other direct sales company and this one is up front. There are no hidden fees or surcharges, no quotas and no pressure.