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Market America - Market America is a Scam

  • by   May 20, 2010
  • Review #: 182793
CompanyMarket America
Location Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Category Advertisments and Cons
Views2615
 

I was very interested in Market America.I was contacted by a person I know and they were very heavly invested into market america.

What I didn't like is when they constantly used the terms 'BV' and 'IBV'. BV are products that are available exclusive through the company and IBV are partner companies such as K-mart, Best Buy etc etc. To get initiated, you must put money down to purchase products. I was told I need '600 BV' to get started.

Well in my mind, what exactly is BV equivalant to in real life money. It is just over $1000. For these times where the economy is hard and jobs are not easy to come by, telling a person to spend $1000 on *** I don't need, and promising them it will sell, is a lot of money. Promise is nice and all, but if I dont hear the words "I guaranty you will sell..." is not very reassuring.

Again, remember, it is over $1000 you could be throwing away. So after the $1000 well spent, you have to purchase 50BV every month. 50BV equates to about $134. For me, I am a single man living on my own, I don't spend $134 a month on nutriants or supplments or shampoo or energy drinks.

Where this all went wrong with me is this and this is why I got upset. After I gave the individuals my credit card information for my initial $1000 down, this person CHOSE and DID NOT tell me about the 50BV I had to buy every month. He took my credit card information and used it so he could get 50BV added onto his score too. Again he fraudulantly used my credit card.

I report it and him to market america and nothing was done. This is a pretty good representation of how market America does business. It is a pyramid scheme. Please remember this, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

If you make money off of the person below you and also with the person below them, it is illegal. Also remember this,you go to work to MAKE money, NOT PAY money!. When I go to work today, I do not go to get a bill". I go to get paid".

Can Market America be profitable? Sure,. Any company can be.. But in the case of pyrimid schemes, you need to be the first few people to join;.

I looked at the top people making money in MA, guess who they are, JR (owner) and the 15 people who he got to join him'.

Save yourself the money and time and don't go and do not join this..People should not have to sell you the company, you should want to join the company and you should have to sell yourself to the company. 30c15f7

 
 
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c 'money flushing ny c 'money flushing ny
May 12  from New York City, New York
ask yourself this question why does this business work for some but not others--all things are possible if you work to make them possible
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Kenneth Kenneth
May 11  from Tampa, Florida
I am sorry for this persons unfortunate experience. He may have had a bad experience with a representative, but he does not know what he is talking about with regard to the company.

Yes, you do have to purchase 50 "BV" a month to stay active as a rep. You get to choose the products, so it equates to around $114 to $138 a month with the products that I choose, but it is possible to do it even more cheaplyThis figure includes the $20.00 monthly fee which provides for you two extremely high quality websites-your selling portal website and your "back office where you keep your records, can access training online and a number of other functions. However, each rep is required to sell a minimum of $200.00 every quarter in order to comply with federal regulations which by this requirement keep this from being a "pyramid scheme". As a fairly new representative, I have from the beginning found no difficulty selling the products. I sell more than that a month of just two products: OPC3 for humans, and the PetHealth version of OPC for pets. These two products work so well that selling them is just a matter of telling people about my experiences with them rather than actively "selling". ANY business requires an initial investment. This is not a "get rich quick" scheme. It is a business, and like any business, you have to work at it to succeed. But it is a business that if you do work at it, promises an excellent return on your work and investment. I am continually amazed... Show more
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unfranchise owner unfranchise owner
Mar 17  from Lawrence, Massachusetts
The person writing this blog does not know what they are talking about. First of all Market America is not multi-level marketing, it is called binomial vertical marketing which is a huge difference. Second, Pyramid schemes are in face illegal in the United States so if it was in fact a pyramid scheme the company would b shut down. Market America is a product brokerage company, so we are in the business of selling products to people. Yes there is a monthly requirement of 50BV which is basically two products or around $40, but if you cant sell 2 products a month, its not the business that doesn't work its you. Many people establish their Market America business with the hope they will get rich quick and not have to put any effort into it and those are the people who write blogs like this. Market America is a very simple business plan, you just need the determination to do it.
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Well Informed Consumer Well Informed Consumer
May 15 
Been to a few of these meetings, and it sounds nice, however, with very easy research you can quite easily go down the checklist of what an MLM is and what Market America is. This is not hard and any half whit and do it. It IS an MLM. MLM's do allow for some people to succeed, but over a period of time, it becomes impossible to make money due to over saturation of products. How unique and hard to find are these products that are BV when there are 20,000 people selling them? Let you in on a secret, THEY AREN'T!. This makes it barely skirt the pyramid scheme laws, and I emphasis BARELY.

I get that you don't make money in a pyramid shape, but the fact that they have to put a regulation on how much you buy so they are not classified as a pyramid scheme should worry anyone that can think for themselves.

However, if you are dumb enough to fall for this scheme, GOOD FOR YOU! Good luck! I will give you a dollar when I pass you on the street corner, on my way to a job I DON'T have to pay to work at.

BTW, I am staying anonymous so I can keep going to these meetings and prevent people I care about from being ripped off.
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ma distributor ma distributor
Mar 07  from Green Bay, Wisconsin
This person knows nothing about the business. Almost nothing he said was true. 300bv to start and 50bv is about $60 for opc3 and you don't do that until 60+ days in. And of course the longer you're in something, the more you should be making but the idea of a pyramid scheme? Any distributor can make what they want based on work. ALL distributors will get cut off from making money in each different business they own, but you can own as many as you want. The true pyramid is normal every day work, you bust your *** and the ceo, vice pres, distric managers, etc make more money than you for the same hours given. Hope this helps anyone who may wanna join
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Joe Joe
Mar 01  from Toronto, Ontario
Obviously we shouldn't listen to people who don't succeed in this business. This is just biased.
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Rbotm Rbotm
Mar 01  from Plattsburgh, New York
Quict your crying and make something of yourself. Its a business treat it that way. Your a baby :cry :cry
It is so easy to purchase things that you normally would on a monthly basis to hit your monthly transfer buy.
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ben ben
Mar 17  from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I absolutly agree with you !!! how can a grown man be complaining about this!! Im 18 years old and ive been in the business for about 2 months and have 5 partners!!
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Piplyr Piplyr
Feb 26  from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I make 3 grand a week as a pipeline worker.....I hear all these people sayin...I been at Market America for 2 years and I make a grand a week.....it took 2 years to make a grand a week??? A grand a week in this econonmy barely feeds and houses a single guy...but if married with kids or even single with kids a grand a week is garbage...so get a real job and don't waste your time on this ***.
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c c
Feb 24  from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The real story is you don't get paid if you don't do the work! People only cry when they don't get things handed to them. I love the company , the people and most of all the products. :cry
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yomama yomama
Mar 06  from Albany, New York
What a contradiction. MA say you need to spend time and effort to make it successful, but when you tell MA reps that you don't have time. they're gonna say you don't need much time for it or throw a question back like "you don't have time to make money?". if I have time to make money, I would work a second job.
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Landlord ripped off by market Landlord ripped off by market
Jan 29  from Silver Spring, Maryland
I had a tenant in Summerville SC who worked for market america, claimed on their application they made 96k/year. Yet, they were always late with rent and even skipped out on the last two months of rent after I had to evict them. I was considering trying to contact market america to report their actions to their company, but apparently the company is a scam so I'm sure they would not do anything to the deadbeat tenants I had!
If you are in Summerville, Ladson, North Charleston, Charleston, Mount Pleasant or other surrounding areas in SC, please don't do any business with anyone from market america asa I'm sure you will be scammed as I was!
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Anonymous Anonymous
Feb 07 
Think before you post something. Do you want market america to pay everyones rent. Show me one other company that will do that. I am a part time consultant with market america and they pay me more that my full time job. So i should say my 500 company job is a scam.
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crazyrabbits crazyrabbits
Jan 25 
It's true - the company is a huge sham. I realized this after being "poached" to attend a meeting up in Canada with a contact of mine.

It was clear when I walked in that the majority of people involved with the program are afflicted with Stockholm Syndrome - they'll defend the company to the death while swearing up and down that they're making tens of thousands each month. I walked into this meeting and passed people (after being told they were making upwards of $10,000 a month) who couldn't get a proper suit to wear and stood off by themselves in corners looking isolated and anti-social.

I watched a speaker (one of the top sales reps, IIRC) talk about how this "is not MLM" and "an unfranchise", and most of the crowd (mostly comprised of Chinese people) clapped like lemmings while listening to this garbage. I was later introduced to a "top sales rep" who could barely speak English, and looked like she didn't even fit into the "crowd" that constituted her sales team.

I researched it, and the math doesn't add up - most of the people who do this will be operating at a loss (as they have to buy product every month, or risk their account going inactive), and there's no guarantee that any or all of their clients will remain as customers, forcing them to draw new people in as a conduit to drive the recruitment side of revenue up.

You can dress it up however you want, but any downline marketing is, by definition, a pyramid... Show more
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Razorzzz3 Razorzzz3
Jan 29 
I completely agree to the point! Most of them are Chinese, not trying to say the Chinese are greedy but in a way...80% are Chinese. They defend the company to the core. Any tiny remarks made are to be interpreted as negative. I've seen relationships break apart and people trying over time just to earn enough BV points. After couple of months they are so desperate they cling to anyone who are slightly interested. It offends me each time a colleague speaks about it. :( Its all the under the radar psychological words they use to get you to obey. I went to some of they're so called "seminars" each of them were hosted in shady places with a shill in the back cheering. The event were also NOT free! Everyone gets extra friendly and ask you to "act now" passive pressure is on when you go again. Just try to stay away from these "cult" like events.
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skeptical&polite skeptical&polite
Feb 13  from Queens, New York
80% of them were Chinese because they were targeted. Don't think just because they clapped that everyone approved unanimously and blindly. I clapped politely but kept my skepticism to myself until I could talk to my contact.

I went to one of these presentations under the impression that it was a social media-driven online shopping referral kind of thing. I love shopping online. I like sharing what I like with my friends and family. I was given the impression that if I share links to products I like with my facebook friends, and if any of them follow the link back and buy it, I get like an advertising commission. The presentation was a completely different kettle of fish from my contact's sell.

They all emphasize teamwork and helping each other, but the math is confusing and still doesn't add up to your advantage unless you're aggressive in selling their products and getting more "business partners." (And the speaker keeps talking about her friends and family as the business partners. That's a terrible idea all by itself. Always be careful when you do business with both.)

I'm not a sales or marketing type of person. I'm an admin person, pure and simple. I'm not even all that social. I'm mostly a loner, but the few relationships I have are too valuable and precious to leverage into a business opportunity.

Here are the details that stuck in my mind and in my notes:
*You have to pay either $129.95 or $99.95 to... Show more
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kyle24 kyle24
Jan 23  from Charlotte, North Carolina
I'm a professional coordinator with market America and I've been with them for about 2 years now. I make about a thousand a week which is pretty good money.
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piplyr112 piplyr112
Feb 26  from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
a grand a week is nothin bud.....especially when you consider all the marketing you have to do and all the gas you are burnin....trips, dinners,etc. etc. Yeah you can write it all off but you workin too hard for a grand a week
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msma msma
Mar 17  from Lawrence, Massachusetts
Everything you spend on this business including gas, food, trips, events, etc are a write off on your taxes. With market America you own your own business so you get the same tax benefits as any other business in the U.S. And how can you say $1,000 a week is nothing? That's more than the average family of two makes in the country.
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theoddsekirei theoddsekirei
Jan 02  from Boston, Massachusetts
Half of you commentors make me *** myself laughing, your all sticking up for this company and you can't do so without saying things like "unbelievable business opportunity" ... yes you need to invest money to make money, when your starting a business, but MA already exists and one of you posted that you make 25 thousand dollars a month though if that were true i'm sure you'd have better things to do with your time than to be making such an effort to defend your company from an online rant... Truth is people, Market america is a scam, a handful of people at the top are making a lot of money because they convinced a few suckers to buy some items, and then sell them again at a higher price... and then got them to find a few more suckers to do the same thing... thats exactly what a pyramid scheme is you can hide behind how awesome you think this company is all you want but at the end of the day it is a clear example of a pyramid scheme and a ripoff and i'll keep buying my supplements from rite aid
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