Will Selling Jamberry Nails Products Give You Financial Freedom?

If you’re a regular on Instagram, or even eBay, you may have come across Jamberry products by now. In fact, it seems that as the economy improves, more and more Jamberry products surface on social media as well as selling platforms.

What is Jamberry Nails?

Started in 2010 by three sisters who wanted to curb the cost and time involved in a visit to the nail salon, Jamberry began as an economical and efficient solution to manicures and pedicures. The company sold products such as self-apply nail wraps, TruShine gel enamel systems (i.e., nail polish), and LED-powered nail heaters. Here is a sampling of the products that Jamberry offers:

These products are not available at retail stores; instead, Jamberry is a direct sales corporation that sells its products to independent consultants. The consultants, in turn, sell the products to individual customers.

As is the case with direct selling, consultants not only make money when they move product, they also earn “overrides” (i.e., commissions) on the consultants they recruit. Here is a breakdown of Jamberry consultant levels:

In this chart, the ‘legs’ are actually recruited consultants. Why would a consultant (C) want extra legs? Because extra legs equals extra commissions and rewards, as shown below:

Finally, consultants can also earn higher commissions if they push more product. The standard commission on Jamberry products is 30%. However, consultants who sell $3,000+ worth of product can increase their commission level to as much as 40%.

How do you get started with Jamberry Nails?

Jamberry consultants get started by ordering a $99 starter kit (plus S/H). The starter kit contains four nail wraps, 40 nail wrap designs, application tools, cuticle oil and a nourish hand crème. Once the items in that kit are tried and/or sold, the consultant can order more products from Jamberry, keeping 30% of the money as her own commission.

The full size sheets contain 18 nail wraps of different sizes, which can cover two full manicures. The wraps are individually cut, shaped and heated into place using either a regular hair dryer or the LED-powered nail heater.

Consultants are advised to move product by hosting parties. These parties can be performed at their homes, online (e.g., through social media sites) or via catalog (e.g., catalogs left at work).

While the business model sounds reasonable, and while at first glance, the 30% commission sounds high, here are some reasons why Jamberry Nails isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be:

1. The market is oversaturated. Search for Jamberry Nails products on a selling platform like eBay and you’ll find over 22 thousand listings for these products. Many product listings feature items going for less than their retail price on Jamberry.com. This is not good because it indicates that Jamberry Nails sellers are selling their items at loss.

For example, Jamberry Nails nailwraps are supposed to be sold at $15/sheet, netting the consultant $4.50 in commissions. However, this eBay listing certainly didn’t alot for that 30% commission:

2. The products may have a fungal issue. Search for the keyphrase ‘Jamberry Nails fungus’ and you’ll find a host of results describing a fungal issue that develops between the cuticle and the wrap. Other issues have included cracked nails (from overdrying) and nails that won’t grow.

3. The commission is too low. Jamberry Nails claims that it offers women a way to make a regular yearly income from home. Let’s assume a regular yearly income is $40,000. If you crunch the numbers, that means you’ll have to sell $133,333 worth of product each year or $11,111 per month. Given that the nail wraps retail for $15 each, you’ll need to sell 741 of them every month through those aforementioned parties. That’s a fairly tall order.

Conversely, many affiliate products listed on Commission Junction or JV Zoo offer a 50%, 70% or even 100% (on intro products) sales commission. With no S/H fees to worry about, these affiliate products are arguably more profit-generating than fake nails.

4. The product was a recession hit. Jamberry Nails made its debut during the last recession, when people couldn’t splurge on professional manicures and pedicures. But that was seven years ago. Nowadays, people are more likely to be employed or involved in a business- and they would rather have someone else do their nails.

Why? Because doing a proper mani/pedi with Jamberry Nails takes quite a bit of time and skill to master. Read through Beauty Judy’s review of her adventure with Jamberry Nails wraps and you’ll see why. Don’t forget that self-administered manicures can only be performed with one hand, which further increases their level of difficulty.

5. The product just isn’t that good. What initially attracts people to Jamberry Nails is the fact that there are hundreds of really ingenious designs to choose from and wear. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun stops. Many Jamberry customers report how they were disappointed with how their finished nails looked, with the wraps falling off in just days or even hours. Even when the wraps stayed on the fingernails, they often had bubbling and lifting at their edges. Filing the wraps to make them more even with the underlying fingernail only served to fray the plastic.

Should you start a Jamberry Nails business?

Before you sign up with this company and fork over $99 on its starter kit, buy a few wraps on eBay and see how they work with your nails. You might find that you love them…or you might find out that this product won’t adhere or takes too much time to apply.

If you can’t figure out and showcase your own product very well, you’ll have a hard time selling it to customers.

Otherwise, you should consider the compensation model that this company offers. Is a 30% commission sufficient for your needs and the amount of work you’ll need to put in? Can you really sell hundreds of nail wraps each month? And how will you deal with customers who want refunds or exchanges?

As with any MLM, recruitment of others is often the name of the game if you wish to increase your earnings and gradually do less work for your commission money. Are you prepared to recruit and tutor others? Will you be available to help them out if they run into a snag or customer issue?

Have you sold with Jamberry Nails before? Please let us know your experiences with the company in the comments below.