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A 2008 study published in the “McGeorge Law Review” reveals how ACN reps earn income. Reps receive a commission ranging from 0.0025 percent to as much as 10 percent on sales of phone and Internet services. They also receive a percentage of the sales made by other sales reps that they have referred to the company. This downline commission amounts to just one percent until you reach the seventh level of referrals, when it increases to six percent. The McGeorge study estimates that an ACN rep who relied on sales commissions alone and did not recruit others would have to sign up 417 customers just to earn $1,000 per month.

Montana’s Office of the State Auditor reveals in a 2008 legal document that ACN reps pay $499 a year to serve as team trainer reps, which enables them to earn income from commissions and referrals, rather than just commissions alone. This document includes ACN publications claiming that team trainers earn $3,000 per month. They also claim that those who recruit two other reps, who also recruit two more reps each, who then sign up 20 customers, will earn the original rep $11,000 per month.

The 2008 study in the “McGeorge Law Review” states that the only earnings information released by ACN indicates that reps in Canada make more than $500 per year, as of 2006. ACN clarifies that this refers to active reps only, which means that the rep earned money and acquired new customers. Those who did not earn money, or who acquired no new customers, are not included in ACN earning releases.

A 2008 legal document released by Montana’s State Office of the Auditor indicates that the average ACN rep earns less than the $499 fee required to join ACN. In 2008, 91 citizens of Montana paid a total of $61,741 in joining fees to ACN. Only two of these individuals earned more than $500 in income, with one earning $700 and the other earning $696 for the year. These 91 ACN reps earned a combined total of $783 in 2008 in commissions, with all remaining earnings tied to referring other reps.

In 2009, 312 people in Montana paid more than $230,000 in fees to ACN. These 312 people combined earned a total of $16,615 for the year, with just $900 of this amount paid as commission for sales. The rest of this income came from referrals.

Based on this information, the state of Montana filed a temporary cease and desist against ACN within the state in 2008. These filings accuse ACN of functioning as an illegal pyramid scheme.

While some people make a living with direct sales opportunities, the median annual income for all direct sales positions is just $2,400, according to a 2009 article in “USA Today.”