Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council Recommends PartyLite Discontinue Salesforce Member Earnings Claims

703.247.9330 / press@bbbnp.org

McLean, VA – December 21, 2022 – The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DSSRC) of BBB National Programs recommended that PartyLite Worldwide, LLC, a multi-level marketing company, discontinue certain earnings claims made by salesforce members on social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. 

The inquiry into PartyLite, which markets candles, home décor, and home fragrance products, was commenced by DSSRC through its ongoing independent monitoring of advertising and marketing claims in the direct selling industry. 

The earnings claims that formed the basis of this inquiry include:

• “unlimited income potential”
• “…earn unlimited income by becoming a PartyLite consultant for only $12 today!”
• “You decide how much you want to earn. The Sky’s the Limit. A few hundred dollars can become a few HUNDRED THOUSAND dollars!”
• “Be your own boss, earn unlimited income, great trips and meet lifelong friends.”
• “I was able to earn some wonderful trips to places like Hawaii x 2, Aruba, a few cruises & one of them was a Mediterranean cruise & many other places!!”

As stated in DSSRC’s Guidance on Earnings Claims for the Direct Selling Industry, some words and phrases commonly used in earnings claims can carry a particularly high risk of being misleading to consumers. Such words and phrases include claims such as “financial freedom,” “full-time income,” “replacement income,” “residual income,” and “career-level income.” Furthermore, earnings claims must be substantiated and representative of a level of earnings that can be generally expected by the audience. 

When DSSRC opened its inquiry and informed PartyLite of its concern that these types of earnings claims can lead a reasonable consumer to conclude that salesforce members can earn significant career level or replacement income from the PartyLite business opportunity, PartyLite did not contest DSSRC’s concerns. Instead, PartyLite took steps to have many of them discontinued.  

Though PartyLite is making good faith, ongoing efforts to have all identified claims discontinued, some claims remain available to the public. DSSRC will continue to monitor the remaining posts to ensure that PartyLite is successful in its attempts to have all challenged posts discontinued or modified according to DSSRC’s recommendations. 

All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For full text of DSSRC decisions, visit the DSSRC Cases and Closures webpage.