Direct Selling in Colorado
Promoting a pyramid promotional scheme is a class 1 misdemeanor in Colorado, a state of 6,012,561 people in the Census Vintage 2025 estimates. This page covers that law, the state's small business base, recent labor figures and the Colorado Springs metro. It is a reference for direct selling team leaders and the companies they work with.
Section 6-1-105(1)(q) and the pyramid ban
Colorado Consumer Protection Act (pyramid promotional scheme provisions)[1]
The Act defines a pyramid promotional scheme as a program using a pyramid or chain. It lists contriving, setting up, operating, advertising or promoting such a scheme as a deceptive trade practice. A person who promotes a pyramid promotional scheme in Colorado commits a class 1 misdemeanor. This is general information and not legal advice.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Two offices can bring the same case
Colorado splits the job of enforcing this law. Under C.R.S. 6-1-103, the Colorado Attorney General and the district attorneys are concurrently responsible. A complaint about a recruiting plan can go to the state office or to a local district attorney.
The statute text reviewed for this page shows no separate registration for multilevel marketing companies. The excerpt also shows no direct selling exemption. A multilevel company selling in Colorado is measured against the general pyramid promotional scheme ban. The full statute should be checked before anyone relies on that reading.
The ban reaches past the people who design a plan. The listed conduct includes advertising and promoting a scheme. The criminal provision names the person who promotes one. If a plan is a pyramid promotional scheme, a team leader who promotes it is inside the scope of the statute, not only the company that wrote it.
Consultants and technicians lead the small firm count
The SBA Office of Advocacy counted 715,576 small businesses in its 2024 Colorado profile. Small firms make up 99.5 percent of the state's businesses. They employ 47.5 percent of Colorado employees, or 1.1 million small business employees.
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services has the largest count of any industry shown in the profile, with 122,056 small businesses. That sector covers work such as consulting, design and technical services.
An independent distributor in Colorado is one more small business in a state where small firms are nearly the whole count. Many people a Colorado leader talks to will already own a business. The largest group of them sells professional or technical services.
3,100.8 thousand at work in March 2026
BLS reported a preliminary civilian labor force of 3,227.9 thousand for Colorado in March 2026. Employment was 3,100.8 thousand. The number of unemployed people was 127.1 thousand. These are preliminary values and can be revised.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment put the state labor force at 3,275,600 in August 2025. The March 2026 BLS figure is lower. The two numbers come from different releases, so the gap is best read as a direction, not an exact measure.
BLS counts the unemployed as people without a job who are looking for one. In March 2026 that was 127.1 thousand Coloradans. Some of them will hear direct selling pitches. Under the state ban described above, those pitches should be about products, not about building a chain of recruits.
Colorado Springs gets its own BLS series
BLS publishes a separate labor series for the Colorado Springs metro. Its preliminary unemployment rate for June 2026 was 4.1 percent.
The statewide labor figures on this page are counts. The Colorado Springs figure is a rate. The two should not be set side by side as if they measured the same thing. The metro series gives a local reading for leaders who build teams in and around Colorado Springs.
Colorado Springs is the only metro named in the verified figures for this page. Plondo's city pages add local detail where a source supports it.
What federal and state agencies report
- State population, Census Vintage 2025
- 6,012,561[2]
- Small businesses in Colorado, 2024 profile
- 715,576[3]
- Small business employees in Colorado, 2024 profile
- 1.1 million[3]
- Small businesses as share of Colorado businesses
- 99.5 percent[3]
- Small business share of Colorado employees
- 47.5 percent[3]
- Small businesses in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, the largest industry listed
- 122,056[3]
- Civilian labor force, March 2026, preliminary, in thousands
- 3,227.9[4]
- Employment, March 2026, preliminary, in thousands
- 3,100.8[4]
- Unemployed persons, March 2026, preliminary, in thousands
- 127.1[4]
- Colorado Springs metro unemployment rate, June 2026, preliminary, percent
- 4.1[5]
- Colorado labor force, August 2025
- 3,275,600[6]
Changing companies quietly in Colorado
Leaders in Colorado Springs and across the state can look at other companies without word reaching an upline. Plondo's placement service is free and confidential, and it charges no placement fee. You decide which companies learn your name. Ask each one how its plan fits Colorado's pyramid promotional scheme ban before you bring a single person with you.
Apply confidentiallyCompensation records that hold up in Colorado
A company selling in Colorado needs records showing that commissions follow product sales. Plondo's commission engine can tie each payout to the order behind it. The back office keeps customer and distributor purchases separate. Replicated sites can carry state specific disclosures. AI employees answer distributor questions with approved wording, which matters in a state where promoters themselves can be charged.
See Plondo direct selling softwareFrequently asked questions
Does Colorado require multilevel marketing companies to register?
The statute text reviewed for this page shows no separate multilevel marketing registration. Multilevel companies fall under the general pyramid promotional scheme ban in the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. Check the full statute before relying on this.
What is the penalty for promoting a pyramid scheme in Colorado?
A person who promotes a pyramid promotional scheme in Colorado commits a class 1 misdemeanor. The Act also lists setting up, operating, advertising or promoting such a scheme as a deceptive trade practice. This is general information and not legal advice.
Who enforces the pyramid scheme ban in Colorado?
The Colorado Attorney General and the district attorneys share that responsibility. C.R.S. 6-1-103 makes them concurrently responsible for enforcement.
How many small businesses does Colorado have?
The SBA Office of Advocacy counted 715,576 in its 2024 profile. They are 99.5 percent of Colorado businesses and employ 47.5 percent of Colorado employees.
What was the latest unemployment rate for Colorado Springs?
BLS reported a preliminary rate of 4.1 percent for the Colorado Springs metro in June 2026. Preliminary figures can be revised.
Are any direct selling companies headquartered in Colorado in Plondo's directory?
Not yet. Plondo's directory lists no Colorado head office at this time. The state and city pages cover local figures and the state law in the meantime.
Does Plondo charge a Colorado team leader to find a new company?
No. Plondo's placement service is free and confidential, and it charges no placement fee.
Sources
- Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 6, Consumer and Commercial Affairs Open source
- U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates Open source
- SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024 Small Business Profile: Colorado Open source
- BLS Mountain-Plains Information Office, Colorado Open source
- BLS Mountain-Plains Information Office, Colorado Springs Open source
- Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Colorado Employment Situation, August 2025 Open source