ShopToEarn reports that it has 45,000 “members.” I am interpreting that to include website owners, business builders, and brokers. Of those members, 10,000 of them, or 22% will be paid a commission on November 21st for October activity. That means 78% of people have earned no commission (despite claims that everyone can make money in STE!)
$7 million is being paid to the 10,000 members, for an average payout of $700 each. Obviously some will get much more than that, and some will get much less than that. We now see brokers getting paid an average of $163 per week from Shop To Earn and Shop To Earth.
Where are the massive earnings that STE members have emailed me about? This “business” is supposed to be so easy and so lucrative. So many claims are being made of thousands and thousands of dollars being earned. This is the key to financial freedom for so many. But I don’t know anyone who can live on $163 per week! That’s less than minimum wage!
Really? 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 claims from brokers that it’s so easy.
Now you’re sitting at home thinking to yourself, “I’d like to make an extra $700 a month. That sounds great!”
Except your chances of doing that are very slim. Look at the numbers: 78% of people made zero in commission. And of the rest of people who did make commission, there are likely 1% or 2% at the top of the food chain who made the bulk of the money, and the rest of them made far, far less than $700 for the month.
The people at the very top, taking almost all the commission money paid out, are almost always people who got in very early. They get their commissions based upon the failure of people far down the chain… people who invest their money but can’t ever turn a profit.
That’s the sad reality of most of these companies. Most will never earn back their initial investment.
As a corporate representative of Shop To Earn and Shop To Earth, I am intrigued by the comments on this blog.
*** Link spam from PR firm removed. This site is not STE’s personal advertising space. ***
I have been contacted by a broker of this company. Your insight and writings are very interesting and informative. I will list your blog as a place for future information.
This is truly uneducated writing, and certainly not objective insights. There are people who simply make it their life’s work to tear people down for even looking at an “MLM” business, including this one. You can’t convince THIS type of person – one who hides behind his computer and has small thinking – of anything, so I don’t write this for them. For decent thinkers, use your head. If CNN.com and all other websites who currently get commissions from you purchasing from THEIR site (i.e., ad dollars and affiliate commissions), doesn’t it make sense that if there is a way for consumers themselves to get the commissions back (10% at Starbucks, 6% at Macy’s, 15% back at TurboTax, and so on), that we’d want to promote that?? I wasn’t born yesterday – this concept is not new – but the idea that one can “easily go do this themselves” is ridiculous. For nearly 100% of the people, it’s not feasible. Could I take time to get my own affiliate program going? Of course. But I’m internet savvy; however, do I WANT to take that kind of time when it’s READY MADE for me NOW? Of course I choose option B.
This option – Shop to Earn – works for those who simply don’t have the time, money or wherewithal to go figure the details of putting together their own site from scratch and having to then find buyers too. IF ALL I GOT OUT OF THIS WAS COMMISSION BACK FROM MY OWN PURCHASES I WOULD BE HAPPY. Earning money from other people’s purchases is just icing on the cake. This is a common sense business that works for smart people like me. If you’re scared of your shadow, then don’t do it. Respectfully, this is for entrepreneurs, not the fearful.
This old fashioned thinking about MLMs is SO yesterday (or shall I say 20 years ago. I don’t think Kiyosaki is an idiot – do you? He wrote an excellent book on MLMs. Let’s get a grip folks; life is changing, don’t be afraid to embrace it. Let’s join the 21st Century.
[…] to tell the truth about STE and the flaws in its program. I’ve been more than happy to expose how little money people are actually making from this scheme, and the fact that the vast majority of people will lose money with […]
I am looking at potential business opportunities like STE and I find the data that you have posted very disturbing. Do you have reference material to site? I would be interested to review the source of your data. Thanks.