Multi-Level Marketing Company Threatens Blogger Who Writes Critical Post
from the just-because-you-don't-like-it,-doesn't-mean-it's-illegal dept
Over and over and over again, we hear stories of companies that simply dislike what others are saying about them online, and send over threatening legal letters with no legal basis. These cease-and-desist letters are mostly designed to scare users into giving in, because there's no law against someone criticizing you or saying something bad about you (assuming it's not untrue). The latest, sent in by Davis Freeberg involves the Everyday Finance blog. The blogger there was approached by a company called "Shop to Earn," which offers a multi-level marketing (MLM) system. The blogger wrote a post about it, which Davis Freeberg describes as "well balanced," though the blogger explained the weaknesses of the system and why he chose not to participate.So what happens? Yes, of course, Shop to Earn got upset and sent Everyday Finance a legal nasty-gram demanding the posts get taken down. As Everyday Finance notes, it's likely this had something to do with the fact that the posts had made it up the Google search results list. The blogger at Everyday Finance tried to adjust the post, taking out things like the phrase "fatal flaw," but Shop to Earn said that wasn't good enough and Everyday Finance needed to take down the entire site. This is, quite clearly, bullying through cease-and-desist. It's about trying to shut up a negative review of their business model because they didn't like what it said.
And, it appears that Shop to Earn isn't just focused on the blogger at Everyday Finance. The company has also sent cease-and-desist letters to other blogs, which were also extremely critical of Shop to Earn's program (though, that link is also quite well-balanced, pointing out the key flaws to Shop to Earn's program). Apparently, Shop to Earn seems to think that any review of its program that is negative is somehow libelous, and will threaten bloggers with legal action. What it may quickly learn is that (a) someone giving you a negative review and pointing out the obvious flaws of your program is not defamation and (b) trying to threaten bloggers into taking down their site will simply call much more attention to all of those negative reviews.
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Filed Under: cease and desist, defamation, everyday finance, mlm, multi-level marketing, streisand effect
Companies: shop to earn
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Why do people give these emails any sort of credibility at all? Email, besides being a completely insecure medium, is also very easy to forge.
I have my server configured to respond to legal-looking emails with a message that email is not an appropriate way to deliver legal notices, that the message has been deleted without being read by a human, and that they are welcome to send a certified letter to my registered address if they are certain that their request is lawful and appropriate.
Make the slappers at least do some real work if they want to terrorize you!
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Re: Cease and Desist Emails
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 21 OF THE CPLR, SENDER DOES NOT CONSENT, AND HEREBY RESCINDS ANY CONSENT GIVEN OR IMPLIED, TO THE SERVICE OF PROCESS OR PAPERS BY ELECTRONIC MEANS.
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I like the way you think!!!
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Is Shop to Earn a scam?
I heard Shop to Earn is a scam Who knows but they suck as a company if they can't take some simple criticism without legal threats.
Someone might say that Shop to Earn is a scam and they could possibly, however minuscule the chance, be wrong, or Shop to Earn might just have a "fatal flaw" that they can't compete without an attorney.
How's that do you guys at STE? Them google ratings are gonna catch up to bite you in the ass as will the Streisand Effect.
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Sue me!
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Re: Shop to Earn
A friend I have know for over 30 years just killed himself because of the Shop to Earn scam. He was an intelligent man just trying to make ends meet after he lost over $1 million in real estate investments.
Try to sue me because STE killed my friend. Assholes
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Thanks for your support!
I agree that email isn't really the "right" way to send a legal notice, but it was a threat and I do believe the emails really came from Gerald Nehra (who does represent STE).
Nehra's point was clear: Use the easiest possible method to bully bloggers to get the desired outcome. And for many bloggers, this tactic works. That's why I think it's so important to stand up to it.
Hopefully, lawyers will think twice before doing things like this in the future. And if they still do it, I hope that bloggers will read our posts and learn that they don't have to give in to these scare tactics.
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Article at Pink Truth site
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Thanks for the Support from Everyday Finance!
The silencing of critics via these tactics could have a severe impact on the consumer experience in America, as many Google search results land you on a biased sales-pitch related site. It's important to have balanced/critical reviews out there.
So, thanks for your support and please forward, bookmark, post about this; do whatever you can to raise the awareness of this issue.
Dan at EverydayFinance
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Going around banging the a Lawsuit Gong just makes you into a bully, and no one likes to do business with a bully.
This all reminds me of the Al Yankcovic song "I'm gonna sue ya!"
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Re: MLM being legal
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cause and effect
Shop-to-Earn, meet Barbara Streisand;
Babs, let them know what to expect.
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The Oldest Blog Attacking Scams - How To
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Legal bullshit
They love to bluster about suing anyone who is critical to them.
These threats are as good as their product: - ALL HOT AIR
Even their company lawyers recently abandoned them anyway!
So if ever Mr Robert Fitzpatrick of Perfect4U rants about suing anyone - just say "Bring it on Buddy"
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Banned from Post
Words don't teach, life experience does. However, I also can 'accept' someone else's 'opinion' without having to agree or berate someone else. My choices are my choices and just because it either didn't work for someone else, or someone else even had a bad experience, you know what to look for and they educated you further. But the choice remains your own. (If you can effectively think independently)
I've witnessed comebacks on behalf of the Blog hosts display nothing but crude and prejudicial remarks on whether the poster spells 'correctly' or 'guestimates' their level of education, which to me, amplifies the prejudicial exclusion of more than half the human race. Not being great at typing is hardly a reason for crucifixion. (did I spell that right?)
In any event, without going off topic... Yes blog hosts can choose which information is appearing on their site, which to me indicates a 'scam ' in itself, as they are refusing the one thing they indeed clarify their reason for their words justified. (Free Speech) As far as this attorney goes, he did simply what is recommended to do to simply interrupt unwanted behavior. You must put it in writing, and that, he did. And according to our US government, it is legal and binding proof of communication. An actual threat? Hardly. Simply documentation of conversation.
Simply stated, when this blog host deleted my post and posts on questions why it was deleted, they essentially exercised the same thing. If a blog is supposed to 'inform' people, it should present both sides and not be prejudice to the other. Can this be an ego issue?.
Those that wish to participate in blogs where the host's purpose and mission is to 'inform', they should stick to the facts. Those that throw knives and cut things up without ever having had the 'taste test', can rarely have credibility with what they are talking about. There are many blogs out there that serve different purposes...this one clearly does not offer the chance for 'everyone's' comments, other than the host themselves. It should simply state: "Comments from those I choose"
For those that are interested...read my post that was deleted. And make up your own minds. (fancy that!) Either way, I appreciate criticisms as well as agreement. There is inherent value in both. If not, that's ok too...I won't lose any sleep over it. My intentions get out there everyday without the help of others.
Perception is everything...but don't take my word for it.
MY POST:
>Hi there...
I came upon your site because I Googled shoptoearn to find a friend's STE site. I think it was the word 'sucks' in the title of this blog that caught my attention. Quite good psychological advertising on the part of the blog host! Naturally, as most, we are conditioned to fix on the negative.
So I'd just like to share some insight. There are a lot of opinions and perspectives here, both for and against STE and MLMs in general. I don't judge either way. Such as the world turns. Without the duality and diversity, we would cease to be. Its just the way contrast serves us all.
Without the negative, there could be no birth of the positive. But what I have experienced in reading these posts and being an 'informed' Universal Law Expert, (goes beyond MLMs I'm afraid, but inclusive), is that some people here are attracting exactly what they are focused on. If you look for the negative in something, you will no doubt find it. Same goes for the positive.
And whatever direction you are focused, expands. That's why I find sites like these and statistics so amusing, yet useful. You get exactly what you are looking for. If you think about it, typical decision making is taking pros and cons, weighing them out and hopefully, choosing the right direction. Trouble is, most of us spend our time still focused on the negative, even when we find something positive. We start to scrutinize every little detail until we've lost the bigger picture.
Our biggest detriment to ourselves is how we most often rely on the opinions of others, taking away from our own natural guidance. The most important part is that it should come from yourself, not a consensus of what everyone thinks. So many of us live our lives thinking we have to live up to some set of rules or standards outside ourselves. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have an internal guidance system of our own that can steer our own direction, if we only listened to it.
So much time spent looking for more validation for each cause. So much judgment thrashing about. If we could just take a moment, take a breath and realize the energy expended on being righteous, wanting to be right, reacting, judging and defending could be far more useful if we'd just pay attention to where we want to go. If you just followed your own voice, you'd all be much happier in your experiences. Realize that there is tremendous value in diversity, but another's point of view is irrelevant if you focus in the direction you, yourself want to go.
Some think it is their duty to warn people of the dangers and all the things that could go wrong. (Much like our western medicine, mass media, education, politics, etc.), and their intentions can be well meaning and in some cases it serves us well. But to remain there is in one's own insecurity that fosters the negativity, while they try to get others to join them. But what they don't realize is that in focusing in all that negativity, they'll remain there.
Some seem like they have thumbs down, then turn them up and down again because a negative thought has infiltrated them from something they heard from somewhere else., but still look for validation because they find it difficult to listen and trust themselves to do anything without some outside validation. Give me a reason this, give me a reason that....until eventually, they talk themselves out of something they truly wanted or wanted to experience. Yes, it is all part of the learning process. But words and opinions don't teach. Its life experience that teaches. And each life is free to choose its direction.
Others move ahead and find all the positives they can reach for, despite the seeming obstacles that lay in front of them. Who is more powerful? The ones that feel good while doing what they do. Because nothing matters more than the way they feel.
I have been in several MLMs over the past 30 years; each of them held tremendous value for me and others. Both the good and the bad. No one could judge those experiences other than ourselves having lived through them. I appreciate every step I took and every fall I had. The positives far outweighed the negatives just in the experiences I lived...and sometimes I made decent money, other times not. But I received far more than that, I learned a lot, enjoyed my life and was surrounded by people that enjoyed theirs.
So, If you choose to join an MLM or join a corporate structure, do so because you are aligned with what makes you feel good. If others think what you do is not a good thing, it is their problem, not yours. You were not born to serve them, nor them to serve you. If something doesn't feel right to you, make sure it is you that is feeling it, and not someone else that put it there.
Each of us has an inherent gifted talent and it is up to no one but each of us to decide to use it. No one is holding you accountable for using it or not . You're inner being won't join you in one negative thought, what makes you think that you were put here to prove anything to anyone?
Nothing stays the same forever, so live your lives the way you intend. Jump in with both feet and enjoy the ride, if you so wish to live your lives to the fullest, OR stay stagnant in the negativity that will bring you down each and every time. Its Universal Law.
And for you positive folks out there...this site serves its purpose and is valuable. Negativity can only make you stronger in your positivity because the minute you touch it, you've created a stronger, better reason to breed more positivity. And it will serve you to breed more and live it.
Tracy - if you love what you do, continue...there will always be an audience you are serving and attracting for wherever people choose to be. Everyone else, realize no one can deter you from where you are determined to go. Prosperity has many different meanings for many different people. But there is more than enough to go around for everyone.
In closing, I want to say I appreciated reading these posts and have expanded as a human being just by being here in the moment with you folks.
Thank you each and every one of you.
P.S. I wanted to check out STE for my cousin who has had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since the age of 5. He is now 32 and nearly crippled. But he is looking for an opportunity to help others...help them focus on their strengths and talents to be the best they can be, and to excel and live prosperous lives. He loves talking to people and using the computer. He's on the right track and suffers not. But like each one of us, he wants to make a difference. One known benefit about STE; They will not judge him based on his condition or seeming limitations. I would never tell him STE wasn't the way to go. He is focused on what he wants, he will look for alignment there, find it, or not. But I assure you, he will make up his own mind. That's the best gift anyone could have given me.
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Re: Banned from Post
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Shop To Earn
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Great FREE Alternative that is easy to do
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Here's a little more detail:
Just take a minute to join. It's secure, fast and free.
Use their links to visit featured merchants and shop as usual.
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That's all there is to saving with BigCrumbs. They don't need your credit cards, bank accounts etc. Go ahead and try it. It's FREE. This is also a great painless way for organizations to raise money from their membership by shopping.
Please visit:
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Their members have already earned cash back on millions of dollars in purchases.
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www.Perfect4u.com and www.one-vision.com
This from criminals who have no respect for the law, both Fitzpatrick and Singh are banned from running companies in England for 12 years.
Singh is also banned from entering the US. (go figure it out for yourself)
It is true that their lawyers in Gibraltar recently gave up on them - This will not stop them using their name in threatening legal action though.
Like many of the big names they claim to have associated with their business. It is all false...
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Perfect4U.com and One-Vision.com ponzi fraud
Have the leaders finally been indited? They will be facing long terms for:
Not correctly registered as a company internationally.
Operating illegally, without licence, when banned from Gibraltar.
Using proceeds of crimes (previous failed companies) to set up these companies.
Not declearing their true business model when opening up in various states. (there are 26 US states that would not allow them anyway) but bet they have been daft enough.
Money laundering charges, both in the past and currently.
Fraudulant advertising claims.
Mr Fitzpatrick and Mr Singh, both in violation of their disqualified directorship bans in the UK.
No business address on the websites.
Plus numerous vilaltions of pyramid selling laws, despite how they try to dress it up (deceipt)
Finally our government seems to be acting strongly against pyramid / ponzi scams and other white collar crime in general.
Were they arrested in UK? Should not be a problem with current extradition treaties.
I will try to find out more, we have spoken to many victims worldwide and there are many more, but most are too embarressed to admit they were brainwashed and conned.
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lol
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www.One-Vision.com ponzi fraud
June 08 Closed down on the internet (Perfect4ucashback site)....
http://www.perfect4ucashback.com/
May 08 Closed down in Gibraltar...
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/columnists/article.html?in_article_id=440837&in_page_id=19&a mp;in_author_id=5
April 08 Closed down in the UK... http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/columnists/article.html?in_article_id=440571&in_page_id=19& ;in_author_id=5
Dec 07 Closed down in Ghana and Nigeria.....(Vision marketing)...
http://offshorecashcard.com/visionmarketingafrica/
Oct 07 Closed down in Sweden...
(Fitzpatrick and Singh steal money from the accounts, more info to follow)
Sept 07 Closed down in Botswana...
http://www.sundaystandard.info/search/search_item.php?NewsID=1969
May 07 Closed down in South Africa...
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=vn20060715080339293C972830&set_ id=1
The list goes back on back to the mid 1990s.....
and now
Now closing down in North America....
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LOL LAWYERS
MY PERSONAL OPINION IS ALL MLM IS A SCAM!
Shop to earn is no different.
If you have business savvy, you might succeed. ..but then again you would at many other money making opportunities.
STE has a SHORT term payment structure. Passive income long term is really not what it's made for but can be achieved.
How about this LAWYERS ...ill take my $30,000 ...smile on it and you can have it over my dead body when your MLM pyramid crumbles!
They're all the same, 90%+ will never make it happen, a few % of people will. The guy who made it, the fake posters on this form and others who "promote" STE are all making money so don't let them bully is.
These are all my PERSONAL opinions, but I think STE is interesting, but MOST OF YOU WILL FAIL!!!! The ones who wont are usually already successful or have that business savvy that it takes and VERY FEW ...let me say again ..>VERY FEW ...who comes from the pits make it to the top or even make enough to pay their bills.
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Not everyone can be successful at everything
It always strikes me as odd when people ask if something is a "Get Rich Quick Scheme" but then complain when they don't get rich! I think it is a great program taken at face value to SAVE and EARN.
The reason it is so upsetting when you trash a company is because your opinion is often read as fact by others and that makes it harder for them to weigh FACTS.
I have been involved with an MLM for ten years. I have a team of over 400 people all over the country. More than 1500 have passed through over the years. Some have been enormously successful - others not at all.
What I have found is that the level of your success is directly related to your efforts. I quickly replaced my full time salary working outside my home in an MLM only one day per week. Yes! I worked hours and hours at home! BUT...I was able to stay home with my children and work the hours I chose.
Those who were unsuccessful had MANY excuses...I have learned that some people make money and others make excuses. The people who succeeded often had two jobs and lots of kids or another story of some kind but they managed to succeed anyway. When asked about their experience with the company, they say "OH...THAT DOESN'T WORK"
I have seen MLM change MANY people's lives for the better, including mine! I bought a vacation home for my family and had lots of disposable income for the fun extras we enjoyed.
To just discount MLM because YOU cannot succeed at it is ridiculous! I couldn't be a doctor because I'm not trained to do it! I couldn't do a lot of other jobs because my personality is not suited to it!
Those who understand e-commerce and mult-level marketing see very clearly why this business model is successful. It is not that complicated. I've been involved with STE for only 6 weeks and already have over 50 enjoying the benefits. I have saved a couple hundred dollars on products I was buying in the stores anyway! Many people have already thanked me for getting them involved because they too have begun to SAVE money and EARN money!
Again....MLM has many benefits besides the financial - including lifelong friendships, increased self-confidence among others.
Just my two cents.
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Shop to Earn, Shop to Earth - Shop until you Drop
I have a friend who joined and tried to get me to join, but one reason I didn't was because of an old story I remembered about the guy who invented checkers and presented it to a king. The king loved the game so much he wanted to reward the guy who "only" asked him to put one penny on the first square, two pennies on the second square, four pennies on the third square... which the king immediately agreed to... that is, until the court treasurer tried to fulfill the task and found that the kings treasure was gone before reaching the 64th square.
This Shop to Earn relies upon each person finding two legs - people signed up underneath him, and in turn, those two must find two each, signed up underneath them - all the way down the line. In the end a whole LOT of people are going to be rather unhappy.
When I found that link to all the retailers it was in hopes I could at least do some buying to help my friend meet his monthly $100 buying quota that he must meet each month. Unfortunately there is not much amongst those 52 pages of merchants that I want to buy. Coffee Cup Software? I own almost all of their products already. Auditions dance shoes? I don't dance. Becker Surfboards? Sorry. Chocolate Sauce? ...actually, lots of the sites would probably appeal to a young, upwardly mobile crowd with still lots to buy and good earnings.
Those who are members with sites and who have sold sites are known as "brokers" - but that means that they also have to find people willing to buy from their sites and so do the people they have sold sites to (the sites aren't really sites, just referral links to the portion of Shop to Earn's main site that they have signed up under to do referral sales). But there just isn't that much I need, and most of the companies featured aren't known to me. Recent college grads are being paid $8.50 an hour and still have to pay off student loans while credit is tight. I'm originally from NYC and while there may be a lot of money makers there and in the "other" big cities willing to try and buy from these vendors online - NYC's streets are already packed with a multitude of conveniently located shops already selling most of the same stuff. With a structure like this there are bound to be millions who will be hurt by it at the lower levels, and whether it's compared to AmWay or any other type of MLM scheme - what busy professional really has time to take time away from his or her business to set up recruiting meetings and make hard sell sales referral calls? Dynamic, extroverted, popular sales oriented personalities are needed all the way down the line to keep this moving - but face it, in the real world the majority of us just aren't that kind of people. Once the go-getters have only lame, agreeable couch potatoes to sell web site subscriptions to the whole thing collapses because the lamers won't get off their butts and sell, and they have no influence because they're virtual unknowns sitting in front of their TV sets all day doing nothing.
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MLM LEADERS WANTED NOW!
Email: dawnfd@live.com
Skpye ID: dawnfd
Phone: +441494670806
SMS: +447860952974
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ShoptoEarn cancel policy!!!
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What happened to Perfect4u or One-Vision or what ever your calling it now - is this the same scam, just another name used like b4?
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Good for you
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Shop to Earn
Someone please help me if I hear another cheesy STE sales pitch or ridiculous, factless justification of its practices from those who have swigged the KoolAid!
Kudos to the posts that have pointed out what's wrong and and fraudulent about STE and the lowbrow antics of their lawyer and leaders (aka:everything).
Being sucked into something like ShopToEarn is dependent on a pawn’s utter lack of critical thinking and common sense. The disinterest in truth that is required to waste one’s time and squander one’s principles for the sake of a pyramid scheme like Shop To Earn is both baffling and dangerous. Oh, and obviously, sleazy, too.
The best thing to do, IMO, is to avoid STE like you would exposing yourself to an oozing, pussy STD.
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shop to earn
Someone please help me if I hear another cheesy STE sales pitch or ridiculous, factless justification of its practices from those who have swigged the KoolAid!
Kudos to the posts that have pointed out what's wrong and and fraudulent about STE and the lowbrow antics of their lawyer and leaders (aka:everything).
Being sucked into something like ShopToEarn is dependent on a pawn’s utter lack of critical thinking and common sense. The disinterest in truth that is required to waste one’s time and squander one’s principles for the sake of a pyramid scheme like Shop To Earn is both baffling and dangerous. Oh, and obviously, sleazy, too.
The best thing to do, IMO, is to avoid STE like you would exposing yourself to an oozing STD.
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MLM Genealogy Leads
article. It is surely gonna benefit
a lot of people.
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shop to earn
Best of luck, Jennifer
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My experiences...
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Difference Between "MLM Scheme" And "Custom MLM"
multi level marketing is a pyramid scheme
but it can be true without any schemes
when multi level marketing considered as a pyramid with unlimited persons so, the pyramid system will fail
for ex: 2 make 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 .....etc the number of persones will reach all the persons in the world
by another side when multi level marketing considered as a pyramid with limited person and imited level so, the system success
for ex: 2 make 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 and then the tree will stop i mean all the persons after 1024 (Level 10) the person he had make 1024 didn't take commission on the persons 1025 1026 1027 etc
so, he take commissions from (level 0) to (level 10) and here is the detais:
you Level 0
2 persons Level 1
4 persons Level 2
8 persons Level 3
16 persons Level 4
32 persons Level 5
64 persons Level 6
128 persons Level 7
256 persons Level 8
512 persons Level 9
1024 Persons Level 10
---------------------------------
2048 Persons Level 11
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Shop to Earth Scam
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be careful
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