A Shop To Earn broker left this as a comment last night on one of our ShopToEarn / ShopToEarth threads. I think she has some important insights, so I’m republishing it as an article so more people will see it.
Are you thinking about getting involved with STE? Are you wondering if ShopToEarn is a scam or a fraud? Could it really be as easy as they’re making it sound with their push to recruit just two people? Check out what this broker has to say…
I am a Broker with Shop To Earn and I would like to tell you all about my experiences so far with the company. I joined at the very end of July 2008. I didn’t really know anything about the company but joined based on trusting the person who signed me up and taking a chance. It took me awhile to fully understand how things work and by then my 2 week chance for a refund had come and gone.
I am hoping by posting my experiences on here I will help those of you who are thinking of joining and those of you who don’t understand how it works. Also, if I am wrong about something hopefully someone will let me know. These are my personal feelings and experiences….
I was led to believe that all you needed to do was sign up 2 Brokers (and buy $100 worth of earth products) in order to start receiving your SCORE commissions (this is when your points add up to cash). What I wasn’t told (but read in my back office after I had enrolled) was that not only do you have to sign up 2 but in order to keep your SCORE (point) commissions those 2 you sign up have to also sign 2 up and spend $100 through their earth web site. Basically, your points mean nothing until those 2 Brokers you sign up sign up 2 Brokers of their own.
In STE documentation it states… You can only SCORE as many times in a day as those who you persoanlly refered that are qualified. So if you sign 2 people and they are not qualified (meaning they signed up 2 Brokers/spent $100 on earth products through their own site) your not making any money on your points. I am not sure but I hope that all of the points I am accumulating will turn into cash once I am able to sign up 2 Bokers and get them qualified……
As of now I have only signed up 1 Broker (and they have not signed anyone up) and if I don’t sign up 1 more Broker by the end of this month (October) my points I have accumulated will be flushed and they will keep being flushed every month until I can find 1 more Broker to sign up. Actually last month (September) my points should have been flushed due to this but STE gave all of us an extra month. So, even if I do sign up 1 more Broker this month my points mean nothing yet because I still have to have the 2 Brokers I personally referred sign up 2 so I can SCORE.
As of now, I have like 225 points on my left and like 1265 on my right. I have 9 people in my business. Since like I said I only signed up 1 Broker (200 points) all of the other Brokers and points came from people above me.
I do think this business will work if everyone could sign up 2 people. Unfortunately I am having trouble even doing that. There are people in my upline who have signed up 30+ people!! I wish I could…. The $100 you make from signing someone up is not a freebie in my opinion either. You are responsible for training and helping that person. That takes time and effort. People who are signing up people just to get that $100 and not helping that person are selfish.
You do make money off of recruiting initially so I can see how that turns people off but the whole point is to change your shopping habits and shop through your website. If we all did that, all the time, not only would we earn cash back on our shopping but the points generated from everyone’s shopping in your business could easily add up to a lot of money.
I can see how it can work. I believe it’s a good idea. Unfortunately for me I can’t get anyone to join so the best I can do is earn cash back on my own personal shopping (you get this no matter what, weather you qualified your position or not).
The points I do get from those above me signing people up under me me will disappear every month until I sign up 1 more so I won’t be making any money off of referals. In the STE slide show (you can view it on their website) shows how much money you can make in 12 months off of people signing up- almost $200,000 (if everyone signed up 2, etc..). However, once I sign up 1 more Broker (and get my 2 to sign up 2) I can start keeping my points and eventually they will add up to cash.
Also, I think a lot of money will be made by everyone’s shopping if my business grows to about 8000 Brokers. The residual income off of all of them spending $100 on earth products and shopping in general can net you around $9000- BUT that’s if everyone is shopping and doing the monthly minimum which we know they all won’t be. I mean I haven’t spent the $100 minimum on earth products and I have only received 3 points total for my shopping so no oe above me is profiting hugely from me yet.
I also think that the earn $4100 in 30 days is misleading b/c they lead you to believe all you have to do is sign up 10. But you also have to help those 10 sign up at least 14 people total (so you can get the points needed to SCORE and so you can qualify your position so your points will equal cash as I explained above).
I had a lot of hope when I joined. I am a mom who wants to be home with her kids and give them a good life. After writing this I realize the friend above me who has made over $10,000 did so by recruiting. He got the $4100 in the first 30 days and he has hundreds in his business so all those 200 points for them joining caused him to make all that money. It wasn’t done on shopping yet….
I guess I feel now that it’s as much about recruiting (at least in the beginning) as it is about shopping. I didn’t want to get rich off of this (would have been nice) but just make some extra money so I could provide a better life for my family. I do believe however that if it was possible for everyone to sign up 2 and end up with over 8000 people in our business we could make a nice residual income off of everyone’s shopping down the road. I just hate some of the rules and think they are misleading to a lot of people.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading and wish me luck.
I have questions for you, I’m actually waiting to talk to someone about this program, but I won’t be if certian things won’t earn me money.
Thanks for this post. I wasn’t even truly at the consideration stage but had been sent an invitation by someone that I trust. Your candor is appreciated and my mind has been made up. Best of luck to you!
Just like to say that I have made my initial investment back and a bit of profit. So far I have signed up 6 people in 2 months and a few weeks. So people can make back thier money.
I would also like to point out that you do not have to get two people who get two people to earn commissions on scoring. You yourself if you are qualified to score that is you got two people and have $100 of business volume every month are able to score once a day. The more qualified people that you brought into the company the more times you can score in a day. But as long as you are qualified you can score atleast once a day.
In other words your information on this site is misleading. If you do not allow this post then you are truly not out for the truth. You just want to bad mouth the company.
My question to you really are all mlm’s scam? If they are then why are they allowed in the USA?
Problem History:
12/15/2008 10:33:00 AM / CUS
I want to know if I can received a complete refund or part of it from canceled my account, I tried several times to find somebody to join my business and I find none. Let me know how you can help me. Thanks.
This is the respond of ShoptoEarn customer service:
12/15/2008 10:38:58 AM / JCJ
Raphael- Per the Terms & Policies agreed to upon enrollment in ShopToEarn, there is a 14-day cancellation/refund policy. “I am entitled to cancel this Agreement at any time and for any reason with written notice to the Company. The Company agrees to refund in full from a resigning or terminating Business Builder(Independent Contractor) the Business Builder website purchased by the Business Builder(Independent Contractor) from the Company within 14 days, which is also known as the 14 day Right to Cancel.” You enrolled and agreed to these terms on 10/19/08 thus creating an opt-out deadline of 11/2/08. Since you are past the 14-day deadline, and we have posted the $100 Training/Referral bonus and 200 points up-line, we are unable to refund your account at this time. Please inform us if you still wish to have your website turned off.
This kind of business is good for some people, but for me was a waste of money, be very careful or you can lose your money in the same way I did. From this point I don’t recommend this business to anyone. By the way I’m a real affiliate, my ID is REMACH and I have have 3 months in the company. I’m going to copy this info in all the blog I find about this company.
Thanks, STE Support.
I AM A BUSINESS OWNER – I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE SALES PITCH OF SHOP TO EARN AND HAVE TO SAY IF YOUR GOING TO GIVE YOUR MONEY AWAY GIVE IT TO A CHARITY AND TAKE OFF YOUR TAXES.
I have no desire to be involved in an MLM business. However, what I do find unique within this business is my ability to sell my products online. Can anyone out there tell me if they have have any success as an advertiser/business owner and have they generated more people to their wesite or to their store?
As there are some major players on this site, there must be some validity to the whole thing, otherwise they would not advertise. Give me some of the pros & cons.
Thanks
I’m glad that I saw this post because I just heard of ShoptoEarn and was considering becoming a broker. It definitely makes you think that there is no such thing as a free lunch… unfortunately someone has to pay whether they know it or not.
Reading all of the blogs about STE make me wonder about people… Listen to most of you out there! Everyone seems expect a free ride or a get rich quick scheme.. The bottom line on STE is this… You must treat this as a business… That means you are the CEO and you need to have a plan to market, promote and recruit good people that have an interest to be self-employed as you….. Some people are just not cut out for MLM’s. It’s not easy and anyone out there that tells you it is will be the con-person to stay away from.. So, let’s say you didn’t work the business and didn’t recruit anyone… Use your broker website to purchase goods for you and your family! That alone would re-cop your initial investment of $480 in no time. For some you, a change in your way of purchasing (if you are not an avid on-line purchaser) will be worth it to take advantage of the cash back options…. At Christmas time alone I received $480++ in cash back options. To receive the cash back options on your purchases, you don’t even have to have one person signed up… So bloggers that are out to write negative articles about STE you should know your facts or at least tell the whole story:)
After reading your blog it’s obvious that you are just frustrated with your own efforts. You say you have gotten money back off of things you have purchased, what’s the problem? Any and all MLMs require you to recruit, shop and train! Shop to Earn is no different and you not knowing that shows you did not do your research on Multi-Level Marketing. When you find a MLM company that does not require you to shop, recruit and train please let me know.
I think it’s sad that your bitterness from your own efforts is going to negatively effect thousands of people and I think it’s even more sad that had you put that energy into your business it would have positively effected thousands of people, did you ever consider that? But yet you took the time to make a lengthy negative blog. Had you taken that hour to call 3 people and talk to them with some passion about your business you might have gotten your 2nd person.
So, anyone out there who does not WANT to put the effort into owning your own company just don’t do it. Don’t be negative and ruin it for everyone else. Because there are legitimate MLM companies out there! Do your research, find out the 10 red flags of a scam, decide if you have the time and energy for an entire year to put into it, be prepared to work hard and then make your decision. DON’T LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLE EITHER WAY! Then you won’t end up bitter and hurting others like this woman has.
Shop To Earn is a legitimate company, they aren’t ripping anyone off, people are getting paid per the company requirements and thousands of people are satisified business owners and customers. Like myself! I started in Jan ’09 and I’m not giving up because good things come to those who wait and work. I’m realistic and know it takes time and hard work. If STE isn’t for you, find something else that is! There are thousands of wonderful opportunities out there!
Good luck!
It’s seems that all of the folks that defend STE are bitter in their responses. If your making sooo much money and are sooo happy, why are your posts so negatively written. If it works for you, great!!! Be happy and share what worked for you with others. That’s what coaching is about. For the folks that it did not work for, you should not suggest that the business is a failure. It just wasn’t for you. The truth is that to get involved as a broker, you will have to outlay $400 plus dollars up front, put in a ton of time recruiting, put in a ton of time training others and spend $100 dollars a month in ST Earth products in order to keep your points and make any money. You can make a few bucks by the shopping to, but certainly nothing to retire on. You have to be really motivated to be good at any MLM. Good luck!!! and remember, it’s not for everyone.
What I do not understand about Shop to earn is the points that derive into cash from shopping on the websites. If the 8000 brokers spent 100 dollars a month on the earth products, that is 800K in bought. At 15%, if I am a broker in this particular business upline, that essentially means I will be given 80,000 points a month. From what I understand each point is about a dime so that means 8K in commissions for me. Right?
That sounds good until you figure that if I am one of the 8,000 brokers doing this then everyone’s commission is 8K. That means the commission paid out for 800K spent on earth products, is 64 million dollars.
Can someone explain that to me?
Thanks,
[…] Show me the money! Unless, of course, this broker is right about how hard it is to qualify for commissions under the “SCORE” system, despite […]