This is another business to jump on the bandwagon of selling paparazzi-type Jewelry.
Let’s take a look, and see what has gone wrong in such a short time, after only establishing this business back in August of 2021, and find answers to the question…
Is Belle and Bling $5 Jewelry a Scam?
It is hard to say for sure. But there are certainly a lot of complaints that indicate a very lackadaisical attitude to processing orders and payments.
- There are no adverse reports on the Better Business Bureau website, at the time of this report. (3/3/2022).
- One site that does have a raft of complaints is Scampulse. Some, of which I will list in this review.
Let’s see who owns Belle and Bling, and how it operates.
To get a real understanding of this company I had to sign up as an affiliate.
There is a lot of vagueness about this company… like it is not set up properly.
In the unlikely event, you buy something after reading this, I might (most likely not), get a commission.
Put it this way, I am expecting nothing.
Who Owns Belle and Bling
There is so little information available it is not worthwhile making a business profile.
Jennifer Lynne is one name that appears, and someone called Laura Lowe, who manages orders.
Together they have a private book of faces page with 2116 members (March 2022).
41 of whom, joined in the past week.
Their Facebook page states:- For information on orders, please contact us using the chat option on our website.
There is a snail mail contact address in Ozark, Alabama, in the privacy policies section of their website.
The Belle and Bling Website.
Their website looks to be a basic Shopify theme. Nothing wrong with that, there are probably hundreds of similar sites all over Shopify.
So it must fulfill all the demands set by Shopify for having a store on its platform. So far so good.
The drop-down list also includes an affiliate sign-up and a network-building link with a commission structure (Screenshot below).
Obviously a simple structure.
How do you get to Level 1?
I have no idea. There is no mention of sales targets anywhere I could see on the site.
But it seems to be based on sales value.
The policies page has a lot of easy-to-understand rules, but no information on the cost of a starter kit.
To earn money with this, you would need people to be making big, big-dollar purchases.
The affiliate commissions are even more ambiguous.
Apparently, if you order something from my affiliate link I get 45%. 😲
Ok, so I get about two bucks from $5 spent. Shipping is free for orders over $50.00 and $5.99 for anything below that. Take out my commission and it doesn’t leave a lot for running costs and purchasing new items does it?
All this is beginning to raise the question…
Is it a Pyramid scheme or legit?
It doesn’t fit the definition of a pyramid scheme from what I can see, and I have looked at a few MLMs
I try to be careful with my words when writing these reviews.
However, I think by the end of this review you will agree there is reason to be highly skeptical of having anything to do with Belle and Bling!
They have products to sell. As for the money side of it (if this scam business actually meets its payments), there is not a lot left for anyone to actually benefit in any meaningful way.
To be honest it is a mess.
Buying $1.00 items and dropshipping them for $5.00 is usually not sustainable. Transaction costs, advertising costs, costs for labeling, and website hosting will eat into your profit, leaving you with not very much.
Ok, maybe there is some change left over from postage. Maybe!.
So it is definitely not a pyramid scheme.
A look at the payouts below, and you will see there is so little money at the end of the trial, it is more like a battle for crumbs.
Why is Paparazzi Jewelry so cheap?
Simple answer: Companies buy in bulk, import it, pay the import duties, then spread the cost over a few hundred items.
The leading manufacturer of paparazzi, or bling-type jewelry is (supposedly), China.
India and Thailand are the 3rd.and 4th. largest buyers of semi-precious stones in the world.
So it is reasonable to assume they also have a substantial paparazzi-type jewelry industry.
I have bought cheap jewelry from Thailand and it is top-notch quality.
Where Belle and Bling buy their jewelry from I do not know.
I do know that a minimum order from one Thai factory is about $800.00 US .
Could this be the reason they are having problems fulfilling orders?
Relying on affiliates and network marketing to build up enough sales for an $800 order, or even a $400 order can be challenging in this sort of niche.
Even if they were getting sizable orders it only takes one or two orders for some items shown on the website and not in stock, to throw the whole system into chaos.
As we will see in the complaints, this may be the reason this business is performing so badly.
The pricing of any jewelry fluctuates with metal prices.
Maybe what they once bought for 50 cents has gone up to $5.00.
Who knows?
Another scenario could be problems with her supplier.
If she has people making her own designs, then it may just not be working out.
But to me, the items are white-labeled and sourced from existing designs available in China.
Anyway…
In a reply to one of the complaints, Jennifer mentions she has 4 brick and mortar businesses. So…
How did Belle and Bling get so many complaints in such a short time?
Selling paparazzi jewelry is one of those impulse buys.
People see pretty things (bling), on Pinterest or other social media. “Ooh so cute and only $5.00” a few clicks and, a sale is done.
The money goes through, you get the receipt but no item.
It is an easy way to attract complaints.
There is a Bella Bling website on Etsy which is more about T-Shirts. So let’s not confuse the stores.
I have no proof they are related.
Below are a couple of complaints about Belle and Bling.
Feb 12, 2022
Scam? Or poorly put together company
Warning LONG READ AHEAD.
I joined this Company end of November, it was Free and my friend was doing it already, now typically we both do a thorough search of the company/ background/history/ comp plan you name it. This time all we really knew was it was a ground floor company that launched September 6th of 2021, you make 45% Commissions on direct sales, with a 45% discount on this incredibly GORGEOUS jewelry! Sounds too good to be true.. and it is.
The picture on the bottom Is how much money my team spent the 1st 2 weeks, can you guess how many women have received jewelry from November to Today? FEBRUARY 12th.
3.. that’s 3 women including myself. However I’m still waiting on packages from December.
Packages I put big money into, and was told (after placing the orders) that if you’re not shopping directly from Ready to Ship items ( a category I actually didn’t even see my first few orders) that you’ll end up waiting 3-4 weeks due to these being pre orders.
I wasn’t happy about that but I didn’t mind, I figured I’d have jewelry by early January to start selling for valentines day! ? .
As the weeks kept going by, not only did I have questions but my whole team, where we were constantly told to use the Chat service on the website. The only problem is that they do not answer these chats.
We began getting impatient and asking where the company was located, why are things taking so long etc. To be given every excuse in the book along with some shocking surprises.
This (company) is ran out of The CEO Jennifer’s House.
Only 3 women Work on these orders, Jennifer the CEO and her two .. friends?
While more women became impatient bombarding the chats with questions, 2 days later not 1 or 2 of them, but all 3 women (who do the sorting / packaging and shipping ) came down with covid.
God forgive me if I’m wrong in any way, I believe it was a lie to buy time, as do many other women. After waiting a few weeks with sympathy and patience .. they announced that in 3 days we’d have a shipping update to please be patient.
A week goes by with no update , we all start asking questions and they ask for another week.
Weeks go by and they update us that they’re on order #2800 (my downline and I all had orders past 3400)
Now every new company has its issues, but the attitudes from the CEO and the two ladies helping her (mainly the ladies helping her) is what scared me away!
In the leadership group chat where women would ask for help , updates , or help at all, we were threatened by Laura to have our accounts deleted for being negative!
Told we should have Jennifer’s back after all she has done for us !? And always sarcastic remarks like “What do you want Jennifer to do get a helicopter, fly out to the crates and pluck out your jewelry?”
I’m a respectful lady as most of the affiliates are! To be treated to poorly when my girls and I spend our hard earned money on a company blew my mind!
I do not recommend this company at all! You can also find the same jewelry on SHEIN and get it within a week.
Ok one more complaint, 3 is always a good number to go with.
• Jan 25, 2022
No customer service!!
This company I so poorly run and has no ethics. They take your money and you don’t hear from them again.
I placed two orders:
1. Oct.25th, 2021 #2425 (not received as of Jan 24 th, 2022).
2. Oct. 14th, 2021 #2245 which I PARTIALLY received on Jan. 13 th., 2022.
There was no explanation about where my other items were, or if they were coming. As far as I know, I paid the entire cost in October and don’t see any refunds. Oh, and did I mention the jewelry I got is complete garbage!
My earring broke as it fell out of the wrapper!
However, I gave them a chance and emailed them to let them know I didn’t get all my stuff but they never responded.
I have sent at least 6 emails starting in November 2021 but they never respond.
Crappy jewelry with no customer support. Stay far, far away from them!
Final Analysis
This business started using affiliates and network marketing as a way to generate sales.
The problem as I see it, is they are in a very competitive market and are not able to build value into their products.
Even though they have gone to the trouble of having their items “White labeled”
The photos and product descriptions on their website are very basic. Other Shopify stores have way better presentations with a focus on quality rather than price.
There is nothing new in Belle and Bling’s idea of having others do the marketing for you.
That is the way of MLMs and affiliate marketing.
It looks to be an unsophisticated operation, where once people pay for a product, the owners pay themselves first, then there is not enough to purchase anything from the supplier.
Let alone any affiliates or downline.
This one should be in my list of the 7 worst MLMs here.
With what seems to be an ever-growing portfolio of complaints, expect Shopify to close this store down. Sooner rather than later!
Thanks for reading.
Michael.
