Is this MLM business worth a look?

September 12, 2009 8:51 AM

Does anyone have experience/views on this particular MLM, ShopToEarn?

Like many, I view pyramid marketing with a lot of skepticism. But someone is urging me to take a careful look at this one (yes, there's clearly something in it for him) because he has done well with it in just a few months. I'm not a sales guy, and I would be embarrassed to push something like this at a party or with co-workers, so is it really something worth pursuing? Not looking to become a millionaire but every little bit helps in this economy.

posted by terrier319 to work & money (11 comments total)

" I'm not a sales guy, and I would be embarrassed to push something like this at a party or with co-workers"

This right here says to me that even if this outfit is legitimate (and MLM is rarely legitimate in the sense that you get paid for the work you do), you're not going to excel doing sales work. Why not just pick up some side work or a second job, and save yourself the many horrors of trying to turn your friends, family, and co-workers into customers?
posted by majick at 9:04 AM on September 12 [3 favorites has favorites]

No. Stay far away.
posted by dfriedman at 9:08 AM on September 12

$349 to join, $99 more just to join the referral program. You don't even plan on using that properly, so you're basically locking yourself in with a handful of online retailers with dubious "cash back" amounts and fudging with numbers like sales tax which most of us don't worry about for online shopping anyway. You're paying money for the privilege of not shopping around for better deals.

You'd get more use out of $349 by burning a pile of shredded dollar bills.
posted by Saydur at 9:10 AM on September 12 [1 favorite has favorites]

It costs $448 to "buy in" to the business. Is that a good use of your money in tough times? Your "business" is essentially a website with links to major retail websites, from which you get a percentage if people go to them through your site. (1) Why should they come to your site in order to then go to Home Depot? (2) Most of the retail sites will allow you to be an affiliate by linking from your website without any fees, or any involvement with a 3rd party like STE.

Here's a website with more info.
posted by The Deej at 9:14 AM on September 12

Also: Don't believe that the other person has "done well with it." I've been the target of recruitment of many MLMs, for some reason, and every single person claims they are doing GREAT and I can do GREAT as well. Closer examination has shown that it has always been exaggeration or a downright lie. There is something about the MLM mentality that causes people to think it's ok to lie to people, including friends and family members, if it means getting them into their downline.

Please, stay far away from anything MLM-based.
posted by The Deej at 9:18 AM on September 12 [1 favorite has favorites]

The only way to make money with ShopToEarn is to get other people to buy in. Even if your friend is doing well (and I'm skeptical), he's doing well because he has found lots of suckers, not because the business offers anything of value after taking one's money.

Also, the "business" is basically just a collection of affiliate links. If you thought you could make money on that, you could set something like that off for free, or <>
I do think "ShopToEarn" is a perfect name for an MLM, though--"make money by doing a lot of shopping!"
posted by substars at 9:34 AM on September 12 [1 favorite has favorites]

there's clearly something in it for him

Almost certainly, there is everything in it for him; the business model is clearly overwhelmingly dependent on recruitment charges and referral fees rather than the affiliate links. It might be legal, I guess, but it's still a pyramid scheme in all but name.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 9:37 AM on September 12

don't know what happened there, but I meant to say that you could set up a bunch of affiliate links for free, or close to free.
posted by substars at 9:42 AM on September 12

I'm not a sales guy, and I would be embarrassed to push something like this at a party or with co-workers

Setting aside all other questions, I think this is proably the biggest reason you shouldn't consider dropping the money on buying into this thing. The summer after my freshman year of college I took a job selling Electrolux vacuum cleaners - definitely not MLM, and definitely a good product, but I don't know what I was thinking; I knew when I started that I wasn't any kind of salesman, and that I'd be uncomfortable knocking on doors and trying to sell people $600 vacuum cleaners they probably didn't need. I lasted about a month and was spectacularly bad at it. My parents and grandparents, bless them, gave me some business, but that was all.

RE: the "selling stuff to people and then trying to get them to sign up to boost your downline" aspect of these companies, I was subjected to a stealth Amway pitch by a guy 11 or 12 years ago and I'm still pissed at him (after exchanging business cards somehwere, he contacted me implying he was looking for some web design work, I agreed to meet with him, and he showed up with his wife and dragged out the Amway detergent and pamphlets.) But even without resorting to a bait and switch like that, you would probably find yourself annoying a lot of people.
posted by usonian at 11:12 AM on September 12

If you look at slide 3 here, it says you can earn about $170 a month just from cash back on your own shopping needs... But $120 of that is actually savings from buying gift certificates at Restaurants.com ($200 in gift certs for $80), which has nothing to do with this scheme. They are basically lying to you here, and I would bet elsewhere as well.
posted by misskaz at 11:20 AM on September 12

This is a great way to lose all your friends. I find it easier to just quit associating with my "friends" who are involved in MLM programs than to either 1) talk them out of it, or 2) convince them I'm really not interested. Do you really want to make money by hard-selling your friends?
posted by northernlightgardener at 12:42 PM on September 12 [1 favorite has favorites]