CANADIAN DISTRIBUTORS

Are you looking for a Canadian perspective on your Youngevity business?  Wondering what is different for those of us north of the border?  You’ve come to right place!  Hi, my name is Lisa Branch and I live outside of Calgary, Alberta and have been involved with Heritage Makers and now Youngevity, direct sales companies founded and based in the US, for more than 10 years.  My objective is to give you the big picture of running a Canadian based Youngevity business, highlight some differences to be aware of, and give you some practical tips in areas including pay cheques, banking, and taxes.

To begin, I would like to reassure you that all the basics of the business are the exact same as our American counterparts.  “The Simple System,” an effective training system and business plan found on www.teamfusiontraining.com is borderless and works for people everywhere.  Our team FB group is all inclusive and you’ll “meet” distributors from nearly every province and state.  All the business brochures are accurate and applicable for Canadians.

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SETTING UP SHOP

Setting up shop.  Your replicated distributor website is YOURNAME.youngevity.com  You also have a shopping site at YOURNAME.buyYGY.com 

There are no .ca domains.  All the prices are in United States Dollars (USD).  There is not an option to see prices in Canadian (CDN) or pay for products in CDN.  Because of this, I opted to get a USD credit card.

 For a great article on choosing a USD credit card that is right for you, I recommend this review: http://www.creditcards.ca/credit-card-news/editors-choice-top-us-credit-cards-1280.php I also chose to use a USD bank account.  Lastly and most importantly, I chose to call in to YGY Support and asked them to change my default payment option in the Back Office from “Canada Check” to USD.  For me, I like that all my business transactions are in one currency and I’m not losing money with inferior exchange rates supplied by the bank or credit card company (they always take a few percent) as I pay for products or deposit cheques.  Even if you do not opt for a USD credit card or bank account, I highly recommend having your cheque changed over to USD.  At the time of this writing, the USD is very strong and you could be looking at a 15-20% increase when you convert your cheque into CDN!

Q: Do clients become concerned when they see prices are in USD?
A: Generally, no.  I am upfront about the currency and let them know that their products are coming from the US and assure them that there is no duty when items cross the border.   If they understand the value and quality of the products and you have piqued their desire, this usually overcomes the slight difference due to currency exchange they will see on their credit card statement.  I point out, in a fun manner, that sometimes it’s a few dollars more when the Canadian dollar is low and sometimes they’ll “get a discount” when the Canadian dollar is strong.

Q: What are my options for getting paid?
A: Speaking from a Canadian perspective and experience, HyperWallet is a great option for receiving your commissions and bonuses from Youngevity.
 
To get started, go to www.youngevity.com and login via the Business Center Login.  This is what we call your Back Office.
 
Click on Profile>>Edit Bonus Account Information and choose HyperWallet as the Bonus Payout Method.  Initially nothing will appear to happen, no confirmation email.  About the 10th of the month, you will receive an email from HyperWallet/Paylution to set up your account at the Paylution Pay Portal and add banking info to transfer to.  http://ygyi.paylution.com
 
Logistics
Once your account is all set up, you’ll receive an Account Load Notification email on the 15th of the month from Paylution saying that money has been loaded into your account.  I still get paid in USD.  You can then log in to your Paylution account and choose how much you want to transfer to whatever bank account(s) you have saved.  It takes 1 business day for the money to arrive in your Canadian bank account.  I use a USD Canadian-based bank account.  I transfer it all, but you also have the option to order their prepaid VISA card and put some of the funds there.  There is a one-time fee for ordering this VISA, but I don’t remember what it is since I did not get one.  Their customer service (do not call Youngevity Support, but rather Paylution Support) was really friendly and helpful when I have called.  1-877-546-8220
 
Fees
Youngevity usually deducts $2.50 in check processing fees, and this is reduced to $1.50 with  the HyperWallet payout option.  There is a $1.75 monthly Paylution account fee and $1/transfer to get your funds to your bank account.
 
Final Thoughts
Yes, there are a few more fees with the HyperWallet option than with receiving a physical cheque in the mail.  For me, I live in a rural area, we don’t even get mail delivery on Tuesdays, so my cheques always take a long time in getting to me.  I would rather have it in my account on the 16th for an extra $1.75.  Plus, depending on your bank, there may be a hold placed on all or a portion of your cheque deposit.  When it gets deposited from Paylution, there hasn’t been a hold on any portion of the deposit.
 
Whichever method you choose to use to get paid, make sure it’s in USD, and enjoy another reward of having a Youngevity business!   

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PRODUCTS

Let’s talk about products.  There are two places you can shop and place orders.  One is your Business Center (also known as your Back Office).  When you go to Youngevity.com click on Business Center Login and once you are logged in to your account, look for the green shopping cart icon to place a new order.  The second place is the buyYGY.com site.  The websites are “smart” and will only show you products available for your country.  Currently almost every product available through Youngevity is available in Canada.  Here are the exceptions that I am aware of:

• Refrigerated items by Beyond Organics such as their cheese, Amasai milk and SueroViv 3-Day Cleanse

• The recent Energy partnership 
  

Note: Technically yes, you can order Our Memories for Life (OMFL) products on the Heritage Makers (HM) site as well, but I prefer to send people to the buyYGY site instead, so they can take advantage of free shipping with the Autoship program and also to look at some of the other product lines if they want to.  Don’t predetermine whether you think they will be interested in YGY’s other brands or not – let them decide for themselves! The only time I would order OMFL products from the HM site is if I were using my publishing points that are in my account from my CEO HM Mega Pak purchase or my Club HM Autoship.

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SHIPPING

YGY products are sent, as a default, by UPS.  They come from the warehouse in California.  Shipping is calculated at 8% of wholesale value (or $6.50 base rate for small orders).  If you live in a rural or remote area that does not receive UPS shipments, you will want to change your shipping option to USPS, or standard mail service.  I have found that my YGY products generally arrive in about 6 business days and I do receive an email with a UPS tracking number. 

Exception: I have noticed that MK Collab orders arrive by standard mail, not UPS, and thus take a little longer to arrive.  More details to follow on the MK Collab website, shipping, exchanges and returns.

HM and OMFL
If you are ordering custom Heritage Makers products from the heritagemakers.com site, multiple shipping options are available at check-out.  I tell my HM clients to give themselves 3 weeks for their projects to be printed and then arrive.  Projects are printed and shipped out of Utah.  Shipping is based on weight and dimensions and method of delivery.  Personally, I always choose standard mail as it is least expensive and I have found it to arrive a few days earlier than UPS Standard.  UPS Standard has a “base rate” price then increases based on weight.  It takes 9-10 business days to arrive and does provide a tracking number.  UPS Express is quite expensive as it is a 2-day service.  I once placed an order after hours Friday evening and had it in hand by noon on Tuesday.  That was fast! 

Be Aware, but not Concerned: On a few rare occasions, only a handful of times over the last decade I have been publishing with HM, my package has been stopped at the Canadian border and “assessed.”  This has delayed delivery and usually comes with a bill for GST and a brokerage fee.  Since we have already paid the GST, we can take a pic or scan the receipt and be reimbursed by HM for the GST.  The brokerage fee (which is about $5) is ours to cover.  Brokerage fees are already included in the UPS methods, which is why these options are always more expensive.

Insider Tip: even though OMFL products are also available on the HM site, do not mix the 2 product lines in your shopping cart.  The OMFL products ship out of the warehouse in California and the HM products ship out of printing facility in Utah.  You will be charged more for shipping if you try to combine them, than if you placed 2 separate orders.

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AUTOSHIP ORDERS

Save on Shipping!  A great way to save on shipping for YGY products is to take advantage of our Autoship program (HM custom publishing is excluded, as well as MK Collab jewelry and clothing). This program is fully available for Canadians in exactly the same was as it is for Americans.  When your Autoship order is $50 or more in Qualifying Volume (QV), you get FREE shipping!  Your Autoship profile can be changed every single month, as many times as you like.  I find it easiest to do with on the buyYGY site.  When you login and start searching or shopping you’ll see a button called “Add to Autoship”.  The only disadvantage to the buyYGY site is that it’s not always clear how much QV you have in our Autoship (as it may be different than the wholesale pricing listed).  For that reason, leaders may want to adjust their Autoship through their Back Office to better see their QV.  I was once 4QV short at the end of the month to qualify for my rank, due to my own miscalculation, and had to place a new order with shipping, to get my volume back up .  I double check every month now!