Hard Facts and Statistics about the Direct Selling Industry – Updated for 2015

Some legal case authorities claim that if a consultant announces that they are going to join another MLM company on Facebook then it’s protected under freedom of expression by the First Amendment. Therefore, a company cannot accuse a consultant of raiding their downline for distributors. Other courts and cases have suggested that consultants separate out their Facebook downline from those of friends and family.The Direct Selling Association released the MLM statistics for direct sellers for 2015. The numbers are riveting:

  • 2 million people were involved in direct selling in the U.S. during 2015.
  • Those people sold an estimated $36.12 billion dollars in retail sales, an increase of 4.8% from 2014.
  • 2015 revenues were higher than any other year in history.

In 2014, 18.2 million people were involved in direct selling. In 2015, that number increased by 11% to 20.2 billion people. Of those people, 28.2% were between the ages of 35 and 44. 24.9% were between the ages of 44 and 54. 20.5% of those involved were between the ages of 25 and 34. Women represent 77.4% of participates, while men represent 22.6% in 2015.

The direct selling industry continues to grow. In 2014, U.S. retail sales were $34.47 billion, and in 2015, that number increased by 4.8% to $36.12 billion. The highest sales in product group belongs to wellness products, at 12 billion dollars in 2015, around 10 billion in 2014, and roughly 9 billion in 2013. Services were the second major group of products sold with roughly 8 billion in 2015.

Geographically, the South held the highest sales at 35.7%. The West held 26.2%. The Midwest held 20.3% and the Northeast 17.5%.

Read the detailed charts for yourself at the DSA’s website.

MLMLegal.com is bustling with educational content for direct sellers and startup/existing MLM companies! Be sure to visit us often!

If you are interested in attending the Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company conference visit our conference page, view our speaker list, or get more details. All executives/owners of direct selling companies are welcome to attend. Call 800-231-2162 to register.

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