Royal Prestige Review

Posted in MLM Reviews

Royal Prestige, originally founded in 1959, is a division of Hy Cite Corporation.

Royal Prestige’s products include a line of housewares ranging from cooking equipment to air and water filters.

The company’s headquarters is in Madison WI.

According to Dun & Bradstreet, Royal Prestige has 350 employees and has annual sales of $15.8 million.Its independent sales force is estimated at 2.2K. The company’s website, however, boasts $100 million a year in sales and states that it has 200 employees.

Royal Prestige Products

Royal Prestige’s products include cookware, accessories, cutlery, a juice extractor, dinnerware (including fine china), flatware, glassware, water and air filtration systems. Extended warranties are offered for up to 50 years.

Its signature products are without a doubt the cookware line. Its stainless steel, aluminum-based cookware – offered in 5-, 7-, or 9-ply, offers greaseless, waterless cooking and even temperature distribution at all heat levels. A special valve whistles to let you know when the ideal temperature has been reached. And each product is stackable for easy storage as well.

Royal Prestige Opportunity and Compensation

Royal Prestige’s compensation plan is a closely guarded secret. No information exists on its website. In order to obtain Royal Prestige opportunity and/or compensation plan information, a would-be distributor has to download an “intake form,” fill it out, and send to an employee at the company’s headquarters. The company offers three ways to send the form in: mail, email, and fax.

Further Web research failed to turn up any information on the compensation plan, including any past or existing distributors.

However, the company does post extensive information on its insurance plan, including “health, life, vision, dental, and more”!  The insurance is offered through PRO Insurance Managers, Inc., a national insurance broker, which has been in existence since 1951 and is endorsed by the Direct Selling Association. It offers a PPO plan instead of the more common HMO. Of course, there are still premiums to pay based on distributor’s unique situations.

Our Recommendations

According to several Web reports, Royal Prestige uses the home party plan as its primary marketing method, indicating a possible weakness in the online world.

While Royal Prestige’s products were generally considered to be high quality in years past, more recent (albeit unsubstantiated) accounts from Royal Prestige customers indicate burning and sticking problems with the cookware as well as handle breakage.

Incidental accounts also refer to a significantly higher price than what could be found on the shelves of department stores.

The fact that the company keeps its compensation plan, prices, and other information from the public domain raises questions that have no easy answers.

Needless to say, it is very difficult to ascertain whether becoming a Royal Prestige distributor would be a profitable venture or not. Perhaps that’s why there are only 2K distributors instead of 20K, even after more than half a decade in business.

In fact, Royal Prestige appears to lack a comprehensive Internet strategy that can help its distributors overcome traditional obstacles that sink 97% of MLM businesses that operate solely offline.

Given the secrecy surrounding the compensation plan, the surprisingly low numbers of distributors after several decades in business, and the prevalence of complaints about the products themselves, Royal Prestige might not be the best choice for a new (or experienced) distributor. Especially when so many more proven, successful options – with better Internet strategy and better products – abound!