Over the past few years I’ve been asked several times to join a wide range of money-making ventures. These include Amway, WorldVentures, Organo Gold Explocial, and Paycation. Persons involved promise a life of luxury while having you do little to nothing and being your own boss. I’ve been invited to meetings, the purpose of which is withheld until I am actually there! Yes, I have attended, mostly out of curiosity. A recent increase in the request to have me join this venture has resulted in this post.
An old co-worker messaged me on a social media platform recently. We worked together but had never really had a chat. I was excited to hear from her and we caught up on our current states. She requested my contact and we continued the connection for a couple of days. I thought she was such a nice person to make the link. Talk about links, her intentions were made clear when she sent me a video link and pleaded for me to watch. I knew it was coming based on the change in the direction of the conversation. The video was password protected so I had to request the password before viewing. As soon as I opened the video and heard some guy talking about a better life and ditching the nine to five I knew it was a pyramid scheme multi-level marketing (MLM) plot. I hastily rejected the request to be at the top of a pyramid of my own. She decided to call me then had her team leader drop in on the call. Her determination to have me be apart of WorldVentures did not exceed my stubbornness, it was simply not my thing. I have not heard from her since then.
What is WorldVentures?
WorldVentures is a multi-level marketing company that offers discounted vacations to its members. Essentially you can travel the world at a low cost and you have the option of recruiting persons in order to receive monetary benefits. In a nutshell, there are two categories; Gold and Platinum memberships at a cost of 199 USD one time fee with 50 USD monthly payment and 299 USD one time fee with 99 USD per month respectively. Signing up four persons will waive the monthly fee. If persons you sign up, recruit others, you also benefit.
Here is why it isn’t for me.
- “The overwhelming majority of MLM participants (most sources estimated to be over 99.25% of all MLM participants) participate at either an insignificant or nil net profit.” (Reports from the FTC).
- Mathematically speaking, there is not enough persons on earth to facilitate the perpetuity of this business. This is just laughable.
- “Companies that use MLM models for compensation have been a frequent subject of criticism and lawsuits. Criticism has focused on their similarity to illegal pyramid schemes, price fixing of products, high initial entry costs (for marketing kit and first products), emphasis on recruitment of others over actual sales, encouraging if not requiring members to purchase and use the company’s products, exploitation of personal relationships as both sales and recruiting targets, complex and sometimes exaggerated compensation schemes, the company making major money off its training events and materials, and cult-like techniques which some groups use to enhance their members’ enthusiasm and devotion.” (Wiki)
- The information about the details of how the company works is not clearly outline on an official website. I spoke with a high level associate who gave me a website from which I would get more information. The website failed miserably in that regard, judge for yourselves; https://www.worldventures.com/en-us/ .
- A sponsor is apparently needed in order to join this program. Reinforcing ‘the pyramid’.
I personally know a few persons who have made money from this…..venture but most do not and I don’t believe it is sustainable. It is apparently NOW legal for the company to operate in Jamaica so it isn’t a scam. Hopefully being now legal is not a result of a hand or two being squeezed.
Join at your own risk but based on my assessment……I strongly do not recommend it.
– Aldeam Facey 2018