Izhak Ben Shabat and his brother Moty launched Seacret Direct in 2011 from Arizona, transforming their Dead Sea mineral skincare kiosk business into a multilevel marketing operation. The company's compensation model relies heavily on participants signing up for automatic monthly product orders, known as autoship.
The brothers built Seacret Direct after earlier ventures in ice-cream trucks and helicopter toys. They opened kiosks selling skincare products, forming the original Seacret company in 2005. Six years later, the business model shifted to MLM.
Shabat, who states he served seven years in the Israeli military, markets Seacret products as a solution for those seeking Dead Sea minerals. The company's offerings incorporate salts and mineral-rich mud from the Dead Sea. Products include mineral soap for $14.95, body butter at $49.95, and a magnetic mud mask priced at $249.95. Facial care items range from $49.95 peeling milk to a $279.95 moisture mask. The "Age Defying" line bundles multiple serums, creams, and masks.
The primary income for Seacret affiliates comes not from retail sales but from autoship. These automatic monthly orders power the entire compensation structure.
Seacret uses a binary team system with ten membership ranks. An affiliate reaches "Star" by recruiting two others. Becoming a "Star Builder" requires those two recruits to also achieve "Star" rank. "Bronze" demands either 25 autoship orders on both the left and right binary teams, or 4,375 "BV" (business volume) with eight orders on each side. "Silver" requires 100 orders on both sides or 17,500 BV with 30 orders. "Gold" needs 250 orders on both sides or 43,750 BV with 75 orders.
Ranks continue to climb from there. Each higher tier unlocks different commission percentages on retail sales, binary bonuses, and performance payouts. Autoship, however, remains the core driver. Without consistent monthly orders from a downline, an affiliate's rank collapses. Losing rank means commissions disappear.
This setup creates a clear incentive. Recruiters earn more money by signing new distributors than by selling products to outside customers. An autoship order from a personally recruited affiliate generates commissions. A customer who never becomes a distributor generates no commissions. The system pushes everyone toward recruitment.
Seacret promoted itself aggressively through YouTube and recruiting calls. Shabat used these calls to pitch the opportunity for building a team and earning residual income. This common MLM language often masks the reality that most participants lose money.
The company's reliance on autoship, rather than genuine retail sales, poses a central problem. When a business depends on distributors ordering products monthly just to qualify for commissions and advance in rank, it does not primarily sell skincare. It transfers money from new recruits to those higher in the chain.
In August 2020, various review sites published updated assessments of Seacret. These reports indicated the company's structure had drawn continued scrutiny. Seacret's compensation plan rewards recruitment and autoship volume, not actual product sales to customers outside the distributor network.