Max International: Just another miracle pill scam? [Review]

maxScience-based products are today’s miracle pill…

Throw the word “science” around enough, and you’re automatically legitimized.

So you have to wonder if Max International’s glutathione wonder-pills are just another miracle pill scam.

There really is a whiff of snake oil and phony doctors, but we’ll let you decide one way or the other.

Max International is a wellness network marketing company founded in Utah offering health products that increase glutathione production in the body. Glutathione is real and it really does keep your body healthy and young, but is it enough to sustain an MLM?

Here’s what you need to know.

FAQ

1. What does Max International sell? Max International calls themselves the glutathione company. They sell scientifically-proven supplements that are safe and effective for weight loss, skin treatments, and better health and wellness. To achieve this lofty goal, they look to glutathione, an antioxidant that exists inside every one of the cells in the human body.

2. What are Max International’s most popular products? Cellgevity and Max GXL are their top two products. Cellgevity is designed to help your body produce its own glutathione, providing 12 nutrients that give your body the nutrients they need to do so. Max GXL has an N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) formula that helps your body maintain its levels of glutathione. Together, they help your body defend against harmful influences such as free radicals, chemical toxins, and heavy metals.

3. How much does it cost to join Max International? To join Max Associates, you’ll pay a one-time enrollment fee of $49. That gives you sales materials, a welcome brochure, and a USB to help you get started. You’ll also pay an annual fee of $25 to maintain your virtual office with the company. What’s not clear is whether there’s any cost beyond this initial investment. (There usually is, and we dug up some of the “hidden costs,” which you’ll see in our review below.) But we don’t like that Max doesn’t give full disclosure before talking to a distributor about joining.

4. Is Max International a scam? Not likely. Glutathione is a legitimate health supplement, and Max International is selling real glutathione products based on scientific research. Now, are you likely to get rich as a Max International distributor? Again, not likely.

5. What is Max International’s BBB rating? A+

6. How long has Max International been in business? Since 2007

7. What is Max International’s revenue? $300 million

8. How many Max International distributors are there? About 7,000

9. What lawsuits have been filed? In 2008, Max International sued Solution X Technologies for trademark infringement. [1] In 2010, Tripharma sued Max International for patent infringement and trademark dilution. [2] In 2011, Max International settled a with Melaleuca, who accused Max International of poaching employees and encouraging them to breach contracts. The settlement was $1.2 million. [3] In 2017, former CEO Peter Nordberg was found guilty of tax evasion for two years. [4]

10. Comparable companies: PhytoScience, 4Life

Turns out, Max International’s med cred might actually be somewhat legit, but there are definitely better ways out there to earn passive income and gain financial independence.

Click here for my #1 recommendation

Either way, here’s the full review on Max International.

Overview

Max International – or “The Glutathione Company” – was launched in 2007 by three entrepreneurs and direct marketers: Steven K. Scott, Fred Ninow, and Gregory Fullerton. They’re headquartered in, of course, Utah.

Less than a decade later, Scott is the only original founder who’s still around. The other two seem to have moved on and launched other companies already. Clearly, they really believe in the vision and goals of Max International.

Scott’s founding story starts back in 2007 when he met Dr. Robert H. Keller, who is supposedly a renowned research scientist and medical doctor. On Scott’s website, he claims that Keller is an immunologist, oncologist, and hematologist, and has written over 100 peer-reviewed articles.

They met at Chuck Norris’s home (LOL, sorry, can’t hold in the laugh on that one), and Dr. Keller whipped out some studies he’d been doing on a new nutritional formula that increases Glutathione production with phenomenal results for the user’s health.

This Dr. Keller sounds pretty incredible – dude is like three doctors in one. And according to his Curriculum Vitae, his education and training is actually legit. He got undergraduate and Masters degrees in Biology from Fordham University and then went on to get his MD from Temple University. He’s been a faculty member at the Mayo Clinic, University of Wisconsin, and Medical College of Wisconsin, among other places. [5]

Unfortunately, the company has come up against a handful of lawsuits in the past. They had to pay a $1.2 million settlement in 2011 to Melaleuca for poaching Melaleuca’s sales reps. In the same year, they came under fire for supposedly infringing upon patents that Tripharma held in one of their products, but this claim hasn’t been proven.

Max International’s mission is “to empower people to build a legacy of significant change in their lives and the lives of others.”

How much does Max International cost?

It costs $49 to become an independent distributor for Max International. There is also a $25 annual renewal fee.

Product packs vary in price based on how much product you want to keep in stock. The larger ones give you access to some extra FastTrack bonuses.

  • Personal Pack: $130-$179
  • Professional Pack: $549
  • Premiere Pack: $999

You also have to hit 100 PV each month to stay qualified.

Products

Max International sells nutritional products based on the concept of increasing the body’s glutathione production.

According to Steven K. Scott, glutathione is “the cell’s first line of defense and even reduces inflammation at a cellular level.”

Max International has fully disclosed all of their product ingredients, and they’ve posted a number of independent studies and clinical trials to back the health benefits they claim.

Their flagship product, Max GXL, costs $85 for a 30-day supply. Other products include a performance boosting drink, an immunity boosting supplement, a weight loss program, and skincare products.

Benefits:

A study done by nutrition faculty at Texas A&M in 2004 showed that glutathione production has the following benefits:

  • Antioxidant defense
  • Metabolism regulation
  • Cellular regulation
  • Anti-aging
  • Increased immunities and protection against disease [6]

Another study was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2011 in which 40 adult volunteers with acute or chronic disease were given glutathione supplements for 4 weeks. The study concluded that there were no differences in oxidative stress biomarkers between treatment groups, and measures of glutathione in participants were also unchanged.

Basically, the supplements had no significant effects on participants. [7]

Side Effects:

Some reported side effects of long-term glutathione consumption include:

  • Lower zinc levels
  • Wheezing
  • Unknown effects on women who are pregnant or breastfeeding [8]

Compensation Plan

Max International offers a pretty extensive 90-day training program, which is key to banking it with any MLM (see the full rankings). If you come in with no sales and marketing knowledge, and the company doesn’t take the time to train you (which most MLMs don’t), you’re not going anywhere.

There are nine ways to earn with the Max International compensation plan.

Retail Profits

Distributors make the difference between wholesale and retail price on personal sales.

Preferred Customer Bonus

These are extra commissions earned for customers that are on autoship.

FastTrack Bonus

FastTrack bonuses are offered on a weekly basis every time you personally sponsor a new recruit who buys their start-up pack.

  • Personal Pack purchases net you a $15-$60 bonus.
  • Professional Pack purchases net you a $75 bonus.
  • Premiere Pack purchases net you a $150 bonus.

Double FastTrack Bonus

If you sell three Premiere or Professional packs in a month to new associates that you personally sponsored, your FastTrack bonus doubles.

Team Bonus

Team bonuses are given out to you based on the sales performance of your downline in a binary structure. You get 10% of the commissionable volume that your weaker leg generates each month.

Unlimited Seven-Level Matching Check Bonus

This bonus offers up to 50% on the team commissions of anyone you personally recruited down to 7 levels.

Platinum and Diamond Leadership Pool

These are the high roller, livin’ large, penthouse-with-a-pool bonuses. If you can get all the way up to Platinum and Diamond ranks, you can start ranking in some pretty sweet bonuses.

Global Bonus Pool

This bonus comes from 2% of the company’s global CV and is given out to affiliates who have grown their team’s weaker leg as compared to the previous month.

Max Living Bonus

These are passive earnings that affiliates at the rank of Platinum or higher can earn.

  • Platinum: $500/month
  • Diamond: $750/month
  • Double Diamond: $1,000/month
  • Triple Diamond or higher: $1,500/month

Recap

Max International seems to be one of those rare nutritional MLMs that actually has real science and doctors backing their products, which not all companies can claim (hint: Vasayo). However, there really hasn’t been enough conclusive evidence to show that glutathione supplements do WONDERS for your health, especially to justify paying $85/month.

My guess is that most people are paying that just for the rights to resell products and recruit a team of affiliates – they want to get rich quick.

Look, I’ve been involved with network marketing for over ten years so I know what to look for when you consider a new opportunity.

After reviewing 200+ business opportunities and systems out there, here is the one I would recommend:

Click here for my #1 recommendation

Meet the Author

JP

JP teaches network marketers how to build a real business. Far from a hater, he still LOLs at 3-way calls and building "downlines". If you like Monday morning conversations with your kids by the pool, you might like this.

4 comments… add one
  • Wil Nov 4, 2017, 4:03 am

    The problem with this review is that it doesn’t grasp what Max International’s basic product (Riboceine) actually does, & consequently cites a study that is irrelevant to evaluating the effectiveness of that product.

    Typical oral glutathione supplements don’t work b/c the body cannot absorb the glutathione they supply at a cellular level. Riboceine itself is a novel molecule (the sugar ribose joined to the amino acid cysteine) that solves the problem by both being readily absorbed by the cells of the body and simultaneously supplying the precursor molecule (cysteine) that the body uses inside the cells to make glutathione. In other words, the riboceine-based supplements that Max International sells are not comparable to ‘oral glutathione supplements’ that try to provide an exogenous source of glutathione to the body, since their mechanism of action is to boost endogenous glutathione production (which they do quite effectively).

    • James May 15, 2019, 9:06 am

      Erm, evidence?

  • Vanderaerden John Dec 4, 2017, 1:12 pm

    It should not be first choice for inexperienced people. Products are way too expensive to keep taking them for long time and mgmt. isn’t interested in helping anybody other than the big kingpins (Diamonds and about) so the recluting have to be continous and intense to keep a minimum earnings.

  • Josh Mar 1, 2018, 2:07 pm

    I know someone who wasnt able to walk because of an issue with his muscle build up (sorry i dont remember the exact issue as it is my brothers friend) but point being, he wasnt able to walk to the kitchen, after taking a few products from max for a while he is now able to give presentations without showing any effects. I spoke with him for about an hour and only after did my brother tell me that he used to have said issue. Whether you believe me or not does not matter to me, but for me, thats plenty proof that it works. My brother will be studying the science behind these products, but id say its far from a placebo effect…

Leave a Comment