Children's Products
Discovery Toys
Discovery Toys Overview
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- Founded
- 1978
- Est. Play Advisors
- 30,000
- Commission
- 25% - 34%
- Downline Commission
- 2% - 7%
- Startup Cost
- $75
- Products Sold
- Educational Toys, Children's Books, Games & Puzzles, Baby & Toddler, Special Needs
- Category
- Children's Products
- Home Office
- Lisle, Illinois
Discovery Toys has been mixing play and learning since 1978, when former daycare director Lane Nemeth turned her search for good educational toys into a home-party business. More than 45 years later the brand is still built on the same idea: toys that teach. The catalog runs from newborn rattles and Boomerings links to Measure Up! Cups, Stacking Owls, Marbleworks marble runs, logic games and picture books, with every item labelled by age and skill. Independent Discovery Toys Play Advisors sell it at in-person and online parties and through their own web stores. The company says there are no sales quotas, so each Play Advisor sets her own pace.
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Discovery Toys - Our Thoughts
Company Overview
Learning through play is the best way to describe what Discovery Toys is all about. The company began in 1978, when former early childhood educator and daycare director Lane Nemeth could not find good educational toys for her own child in the San Francisco Bay Area. She borrowed $5,000 from family, gathered a group of teachers and parents, and started selling learning toys to parents at home. That home-party model became Discovery Toys.
The business grew fast. Nemeth reported 2,500 consultants by 1982, and by 1997 the company was selling about $100 million a year when she sold it to Avon Products. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Eos International in 2001. Today Discovery Toys is privately run under CEO Jerry R. Salerno, with its office in Lisle, Illinois, and sells in the US and Canada. Marbleworks, first released in 1982, is still one of its best-known toys.
The product line is organised two ways: by age, from birth to eight years and up, and by skill, such as logic, motor skills, math, reading and social-emotional play. Each toy is labelled so parents and teachers can see what it is meant to build. The company also marks products that suit children with autism and special needs, and it donates toys to Toys for Tots.
As I often say the beauty of Discovery Toys is that we are truly a community of CEOs as each team member is running their own business and we at home office strive to provide the infrastructure to help them do it as best as possible.
Jerry R. Salerno, CEO — Discovery Toys website (discoverytoys.net), 2026
Starter Kit
Discovery Toys runs its enrollment as a monthly offer rather than a fixed kit. In October 2026 the opportunity page advertised a $75 investment, plus tax, that lets a new Play Advisor choose $150 in Discovery Toys products to use as samples and demo stock. The $75 also opens an online storefront, free for the first three full months.
There is an early reward as well: sell $500 or more in your first full month and the company adds $100 in free products. New Play Advisors also start on the company's Success Start Rewards Plan, which it describes as an easy-to-achieve jumpstart for the first months.
Two caveats. Enrollment cannot be processed for Hawaii, Alaska, APO/FPO addresses or US and Canadian territories. And because the offer changes month to month, confirm the current price and product credit with your sponsoring Play Advisor before you sign up.
Compensation Plan
Discovery Toys pays Play Advisors in two main ways. The first is profit on personal sales: the company advertises up to 34% on what you sell yourself. The second is team bonuses of up to 7% on the sales of Play Advisors you bring in and train. There are no monthly sales quotas.
Most sales still come from parties. A Play Advisor books a host, who invites friends to an in-person or Facebook party. Hosts earn free toys based on party sales, and when their friends book parties of their own, the host can pick half-price products too. Play Advisors can also sell through their personal online storefront.
On top of commissions, the company advertises incentive trips and recognition for top sellers. The exact rank requirements and team percentages change over time, so check the company's current compensation plan before you count on a number.
Pros / Cons
PROS
- A brand with more than 45 years of history and well-known classics such as Marbleworks and Measure Up! Cups.
- Products that sell themselves to parents, grandparents, teachers and therapists: everything is labelled by age and skill.
- Low entry cost. The advertised $75 enrollment includes $150 in products of your choice.
- No monthly sales quotas.
- A clear niche: toys for children with autism and special needs, a market few direct sales companies serve.
- Up to 34% personal profit is generous for the toy category.
CONS
- Toys are a seasonal business: sales peak around the holidays and birthdays and can be slow in summer.
- Many of the same kinds of toys are sold on Amazon and in big-box stores, so you are selling expertise as much as product.
- The company's websites are split across several domains, and some pages look dated, which can confuse customers.
- Enrollment is not available in Hawaii, Alaska or US territories.
- Team bonuses top out at 7%, so building a large income depends heavily on personal sales.
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