The intent of this Shop To Earn review is to perform a 2009 update on the ShoptoEarn/ShoptoEarth business model, share my unfavorable experiences and those of friends/visitors to my blogs (favorable or unfavorable experience) and to revisit what’s changed at STE since my last posts in mid-2008. I was initially approached about joining Shop to Earn/Shop to Earth in 2008 and underwent some soul-searching and quickly decided it wasn’t for me. Loyal readers jumped all over me as well for even considering it. While I had a blog with a fair amount of traffic and an extensive social network which would have facilitated quick signups, I just didn’t feel like it was the right way for me to earn money and I passed. I actually lost sleep over the implications of signing people up for something that I didn’t believe in, and I also felt kind of skeevy trying to hype this thing to friends and family and just determined that it wasn’t for me. Some people can do it, I couldn’t. So, I passed.
Subsequently, I started thinking more about the business model and inherent flaws. My initial thought was, “Is Shop To Earn a Scam?” and while I wouldn’t classify ShopToEarn a Scam, several factors left a bad taste in my mouth. I did a post on Shop to Earn shortly following my decision and in it, I highlighted several red flags and concerns I had with the model, the way the program was being administered, the lack of transparency and legitimacy in the program, as well as findings from my contacts that were current members and my experience in calling in to teleconference/webex-type meetings. I was especially concerned over the mathematical quirk that I felt would lead to unbalanced legs and difficulties in achieving actual payments due to the way the pyramid was structured to favor more and more new members on the outer leg (of which you’re on the guy’s above you and above him, etc.). At the time, there was nothing in the way of an FAQ or actual examples as to what happens under different scenarios like a completely unbalanced left-right leg situation. Evidently, they’ve been explaining things in more detail since it seems like some of the commentors have more answers and actually agree on the mechanism of payment, etc.
Anyway, I posted my concerns, along with my thoughts on the junk that was being peddled through the Shop to Earth part, of which you had to spend $100 a month for things with little to no value to me personally. Therefore, breakeven was over $1000 a year, most of which coming from signing up new suckers. I quickly started receiving threatening cease and desist emails from the general counsel of Shop To Earn. While I had replied with multiple inquiries into what in my posts were actually deemed inaccurate or defamatory, rather than render a useful response or help set the record straight (as I always offer to immediately correct any errors or omissions), he just upped the ante with more aggressive legal threats. This is great…He actually demanded that I take down my entire website due to one article out of hundreds that discussed the STE business model. Talk about bullying tactics? I had a site with hundreds of posts and at the time, 1 dedicated to Shop to Earn – and he demanded that I relinquish the entire site – because he said so. I did get some legal advice which basically indicated that they had no case and no reasonable court would look favorably upon their tactics, but as I wasn’t really interested in a cyber-pissing match and covering multi-level marketing schemes isn’t a core theme for me, I ended up removing the majority of my analysis since it wasn’t worth the aggravation, but there’s no liability in me relaying historical fact here, as well as other independent data which can’t be misconstrued as “disparaging and libelous references to ShopToEarn”. (original cease and desist post)
2009 Update on ShopToEarn
As I had anticipated, there are evidently a few unhappy members who were unable to resolve their complaints with Shop To Earn and as such, the Better Business Bureau currently lists ShopToEarn as a big fat F. Now, granted, in reading the report, the number of complaints actually seems to be rather low and it isn’t clear what other criteria earned the F, but I’ve investigated multiple outfits before for various reasons and they’re usually either unrated or a C or better. This is the first time I’ve come across an F in something I was considering.
UPDATE 6/3/09 – A Reader pointed out that they are now rated a B-. At the time of initial publication, STE was an F.
Interest in STE Dwindling?
As I had also predicted, it appears as though interest in the Shop To Earn business model is dwindling. The way MLMs usually start up is a bunch of hype and cheerleading from initial members where they brag about making $10,000 a month, all the members in their downline, etc. The high member signup fees entice newly registered members to draw even more new members to the party and so on. What ultimately ends up happening is when the music stops, someone’s left standing. I don’t know when that is any more than the next guy, but for an independent analysis of keyword search trending for interest in ShopToEarn, I like to use this method via Google Trends to both guage consumer interest in a good or service and sometimes correlate that with stock market investments as outlined here.
Google Trends shows a pretty significant decline in the search for keywords related to ShoptoEarn.
Going Down?
As you can see, following the launch in mid-2008, the trend reached a peak of about 12.5 by fall and has since continued a downward trend, now less than 5.
Do you want to be on the downward slope of an MLM?
Comments are welcome. As I had done at EverydayFinance, I accept rational, objective and reasonable comments from both members and critics of Shop To Earn/Shop To Earth. I delete cheerleading and grandiose claims. There are plenty of outlets from members on that stuff; this is meant to be a legitimate dialogue on the business model to assist prospective members in determining whether this is an appropriate venture for them.
Bullying Tactics from Anonymous Shop To Earn Members
Based on the comment stream below, you’ll see several posts from members that are obviously being fed complete nonsense in some sort of forum or other higher-ups that are tracking any dissenting opinions on the internet. The claims are actually quite laughable. For your viewing pleasure, here are some of the claims and a factual rebuttal. I can’t fault an overly enthusiastic newbie who just drank the Kool-Aid for coming here and trying to defend the mother ship too much. I do question the motives and tactics of people who claim to be “website owners” in this wonderful new technology platform that can’t even articulate how Google Adsense ads are served up – they’re either ignorant or they’re lying – both of which are unfortunate.
This comment Thread – Comment #24 takes on some of the outrageous assertions out there about my blog, my motives and who knows what else. Topics span the notion of my trying to “bait and switch” people into some other MLM with ads elsewhere on the page (it’s called Google’s contextual ad placement of which I have no control – the ads only pop up because this is an MLM article – offended by the company you keep?) to… get this – an allegation (I don’t know if this is true or not, but it was posted here by an anti-Darwin commenter) that the Federal Authorities have been contacted in the context of banking licenses in an attempt to retaliate against me personally – will these people stop at nothing to quell dissent? Talk about desperation? And stupidity. Because some mortgage company bought some ad space on my blog, one of these baffoons thinks I need to have some sort of banking license? Try checking out “the internets” dude. Ads are everywhere. Do I need to own a car dealership to put a Honda ad on my site? My god, what is so damaging about my opinion that would force such retaliatory behavior?
Update 4/11/09
To address doubts in the comment section from STE advocates over the validity of the data presented on the entry page Google Trends chart, I downloaded the raw data in both the Relative Scaling (top chart) and Fixed Scaling (bottom chart) and unless I’m missing something, I interpret this as a DECLINE in both relative and fixed search traffic for the term “shop to earn” through Google over the past several months. This to me, puts to rest any doubt over whether the search volume for “shop to earn” is accelerating or decelerating.
Now, the question is, “Does search traffic = Interest/Signups”? It is my opinion that there’s no reason aggregate human behavior changed over a few months from a) researching an MLM outfit on the internet before forking over hundreds of dollars up front plus the ongoing fees and commitments to b) deciding not to check it out on the internet and sign up with no further internet research. By the way, again last month, Google’s share of the U.S. search market increased as its growth outpaced that of the market overall, according to new statistics from Nielsen Online putting to rest any doubt over Google’s relevance.
If Online Shopping’s Your Thing…
Regardless of whether STE is right for you or not, you’re obviously doing a lot of spending with your credit card. If you’re not getting cash back for your purchases, you’re leaving money on the table. I rely on cash-back credit cards for as many expenses as I can and NEVER carry a balance (that’s the catch!). But, by doing so, we get back hundreds of dollars per year in tax-free income for doing nothing but carrying less cash around and exercising discipline. The Discover More Card is actually the 2008 Consumer Reports top cash back card and is worth checking out.
Additional Reading, if for nothing other than the shear entertainment value, and of course, points raised that I didn’t rehash here:
Fraud Files: How Not to Handle Criticism, STE Broker Earnings Watch, Threats Against Bloggers
You All Disgust Me: Litigious Bastards
Tech Dirt: just-because-you-don’t-like-it,-doesn’t-mean-it’s-illegal dept
White Collar Fraud: STE Bullies Bloggers
Great Legal Marketing: Handling Criticism
Related posts:
- Business Development Companies – Excellent Overlooked Investment Strategy
- Advanta 11% Yield Investment Notes – Going, Going, Gone!
- Haverhill Home Staging Course – Have You Been Had?
- Going Out of Business Sales a Scam or Worthwhile?
- Advanta Freezes Credit Cards – High Yield Notes in Jeopardy?
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wow. my head hurts after spending about 3 hours reading all the comments, the STE tour and other info from my recruiter.
Like many on here, and even some who founded and are part of the leadership of STE, i was part of an “environmental” company in the 90’s, the eventually got shut down. I, with several members of my family invested well over 10k in that company. So excuse me for being a bit snakebitten and shy about getting started in another MLM. I swore I never would again.
But there is something about this business model that does attract me. As far as the required $100/mo from the green store, since the nearest natural store to me is about a 30 mile drive, I would save about 2 gallons of gas (@30pg) and about 1.5 hours of time. So even if I pay an extra 10-20% for a product, I am saving in gas + time + my carbon footprint, which is why I was drawn to this company in the first place. This does not even include any cash back I may get. Not a bad deal really. As others pointed out, many of us belong to Sams, Costco or other stores that charge membership fees to shop there. And unless you buy in bulk frequently, you may never realize your savings over your initial investment. Scam? nope, just a way for some to utilize a different way of shopping that may meet their needs.
I do have some questions and am not fully confident yet about joining. Again, many of my loved ones and friends remember clearly what happened with the last ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ that we were involved in. While I do not regret that experience and learned alot about business, the environment, people and motivation, it was a business where the time and money invested were much greater then the return, at least in tangible amounts.
I’ll bookmark this page and if/when I join, I will keep you up to date with as unbiased of a posting as I can
Best of luck to those in STE and for those opposed, relax….MLM’s aren’t for everyone, just as sales isn’t, being a lawyer isn’t, being a financial advisor isn’t, etc. We all have are own calling and gifts. But remember this, if your chosen field was for everyone, then everyone would be doing it and what fun would that be!
[Reply]
I believe I posted on 08/25/2009 and your previous earnings showed $7,351, which we know is very inflated and doesn’t show TRUE earnings. Now at the date of 09/13/2009 your total earnings are $7,376 and you have’nt made your monthly $100 purchase from ST Earth. A total of $25 in about 19 days? Again, you haven’t met your monthly requirements.
[Reply]
Hey Mr. “Wake up” you really have no life at all. You have nothing better to do but to track a stranger’s part-time business? Maybe Capt. Steve was sailing all month and didn’t feel like working on STE? That’s the beauty of STE . . . no one is asking anyone to quit their day job. Its there for you whenever you feel like shopping or referring. Why don’t you track my site: /nygiants ?
I am FULL-TIME with STE . . . which by the way . . . working STE full time takes about 6-8 hours a week! Love this business.
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Is this the only STE web portal you’ve ever had? For every person that makes money from this there are 8-9 that make nothing at all. That’s a fact! You had 27 referrals on this portal alone. Yeah, it’s not about recruiting??? HA!!!!
Now, why would someone open multiple web portals joe? Why would someone post on a website multiple time under multiple names how great this company is. Remember getting called out for that joe?
[Reply]
Mr. Wake up:
What is your point exactly? You do not make any decent points at all.
My wife has a website yes, and my partner’s wife has a website too. So? But they are not as succesful . . yet . . . they are doing “just ok” . . . those sites are only making a mere $4k – $5k a month in residual income. That ONLY pays the mortgage or a college bill. They are not retiring next year…It will take and extra year or two for them. Check them if you like (I know you will ) /ecombrokers and /susanmarone Track them!
If YOU were making this kind of money . . . don’t you think you would have lots of referrals too? Am I NOT supposed to try and help my friends pay down their mortgage? save some money on shopping etc?
My original 27 referrals (mostly from last summer) have grown to over 6,850 people. It grows by 20-30 every day. I don’t know these people . . . these are just sharp people who don’t put any value in these silly blogs, and see that there is absolutely no downside at all to getting a cash-back web portal for $448.00 It grows like wildfire . . . are they all just stupid?
And yes 8 or 9 out of 10 will not make any serious money. BUT they all have an opportunity to at least break even. I can’t change the world Mr. Wake Up. Guess what, there are millions of people with their real estate licenses . . . recruited by the local agency . . . some make millions of dollars a year, some make a living, but 80-90% never make anything at all. They spend $1,000 to go to school and get a license and get biz cards and fail. They were sold a “dream” 6% commission for selling a house! . . . is that scam?
Same for people with their Series 7 Stock broker’s licensing, also recruited so that they can bring in their families retirement money,
80-90% of people fail at business too.
I refuse to be one of the failures and I serve to inspire anyone else that refuses to fail. It’s called leadership.
I have been blessed because I tend to succeed at whatever I put my mind to . . . Let me tell you, over the last 22 years, more than once I went into debt to start a business, then I had NO CHOICE but to work 85 hours a week to make it work or go broke. That’s what a typical biz takes.
But STE . . . OMG . . . I have NEVER seen a business model like this. I get to use the web to generate business 24/7 AND I can teach almost anyone to do it in a few hours. Brilliant.
Joe O.
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Mr. Zero,
Fact – You have MULTIPLE websites/portals. Why? I’ll answer honestly. You make your money recruiting people. It’s not about shopping mr. zero. I know people who’ve hit their one month recruiting bonuses and then open portals under the names of their JUVENILE child just to make more money from recruiting. If it’s about shopping zero then why are people doing this?
How much money have you made from shopping? ANSWER THIS QUESTION.
How much money have you made from recruiting? ANSWER THIS QUESTION.
That is exactly why Capt. Steve isn’t making a significant amount of money anymore. He reached his peak of recruits. Once he opens another site and recruits more, then he’ll make more money.
[Reply]
hey wake up:
You really are clueless about this biz. You obviously have never seen the 25 minute overview on h0w this all works and if you did, it must have went right over your head. And YET you keep pontificating and you really know nothing. If I am a ZERO . . . what are you? I am making serious money here in my sweat pants, driving my kids to school, going for a jog, having fun with my STE biz . . . you are wasting time on the web talking about a biz you’re not even involved with. Do you even know how the point system works? clearly not.
Here’s one last attempt to explain how wrong and mis-informed you are.
You said ” sign up your juvenile child just to make more money from recruiting ” Who would buy a site for their kid for $448 just to make the $100 training bonus? that makes no sense at all. Do you realize that when you sell the STE product, which means someone you know decides to buy their own “cash-back web portal”, you only get $100 ! Some people buy their kids a web portal just to have for future use. Kind of like buying a mutual fund and having it grow. In 5 or 1o years there could be 100’s of thousands on one leg and all the kid has to do is grow the other. I wish my parents got me involved in AMWAY in the 1970’s. I’d be a multi-millionaire today.
To answer your questions directly.
HOW MUCH HAVE I MADE FROM ‘RECRUITING’ ?
You obviously can see my site has made over $190,000 since last summer and you can also plainly see that I referred 27 people. So with the $100 referral fee, out of the $190,000 I made a mere $2,700 in showing this business to others and them deciding to buY their own web portal. This is so clear to see. So how much of my income did I make from selling people their own cash-back web portals? ( you call it recruiting . . . whatever). LESS THAN 1.5% of my $190,000
NEXT QUESTION:
Shopping? more simple math . . again, if you knew how this works… You can plainly see that on my site /nygiants . . . all transparent info, that I personally saved over $960 in the first 8 months of 2009 just buying things from my favorite stores. So that’s over $120 a month in pure savings for a $448 investment I made last year (btw it’s only $119 to renew ) That $960 does not include all the money I saved in 2008.
But for 2009, this $960 in real cash back also generated some 960 points too!! It’s the shopping points that make this work so well.
So, for my biz . . . .with 6,850 people in my business all shopping and conservatively saving, let’s say just a mere $25 a month . . . on their own portals (not $120/month like me ), let’s stick with just $25/month average. And let’s assume, like you suggest, that 80-90% of the people aren’t business minded and don’t refer hardly anyone if at all, that’s ok. HOWEVER there’s no denying that if you did buy yourself a cash-back web portal for $448 you will surely be hell bent on getting your money back no? . . so everyone is shopping at Staples, Home Depot, Nordstroms, Macys etc and getting their cash back – this is what is happening every day. So lets say these people only save $25/month which is only $300 a year and actually fall short and don’t make their $448 back. Again, I am trying to be realistic here.
So that’s 25 points a month x 6,850 brokers = 171,250 points a month . . . generated just from shopping. – not recruiting. Divide that number by 4,800 points that it takes to score the $550. That equals 35 scores a month! so again, simple transparent math will tell you that 35 x $550 = $19,250 a month IN RESIDUAL INCOME JUST IN SHOPPING ALONE . . . and my site /nygiants has been doing exactly that.
I answered your questions with clear and transparent math that is reflected on my own site. Please have an intelligent response or no response at all.
Onward!!
Joe O.
[Reply]
Hey brainiac,
It’s not signing up the juvenile for a $100 bonus. It’s called reaching the 10 person in 30 days on one account and starting up another to reach that 10 person bonus.
You should know about this since you have multiple portals and I do mean MULTIPLE. Why zero?
I’m sure at some point you were a car salesman. I certainly give you credit for trying to put a spin on every number out there.
[Reply]
Hey Wake up:
go back to bed . . .
You just can’t admit that this is a wonderful program that helps people save money and make money. YOU ARE HOPELESS.
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You’re way off. I admit that if you recruit the heck out of people and open multiple accounts, AS YOU HAVE, you can make money.
You can’t admit that you have other accounts you’re not mentioning. Shame, Shame, Shame!!!!!!
Any of the money you’re saving can be done on similar websites that do the same thing for FREE. As the author put in the article you spend a lot of money and unfortunately a lot of people that got involved can’t afford it. They listen and in hopes of quick money, get buried worse than they were before joining. I’m not denying that you’re making money. You’ve recruited an unusual amount on all your accounts. You’re DEFINITELY in the minority. The number that shows how much you’ve earned is not exact either but I’m sure you’ve done well. AGAIN, YOU’RE IN THE MINORITY.
Why would you get so upset, zero, when all I simply did was point out how much an STE member has made in a nearly three week period?
[Reply]
Wake up:
You still have no idea how this works. And you are calling me a liar by saying that my numbers are inflated. They are not. My wife has an account and my biz partner’s wife has an account too. BUT those profits are not included in my $192,000 (which btw grew about by almost $2,000 last night).
You say there are people that get involved that can’t afford this? None of my people are that way. Maybe in your lower socio-economic neighborhood, but not mine. My issue is having people ONLY spend $448 and then do not take it seriously. If they spent $448,000 on a SUBWAY franchise, they would actually get more involved.
There are literally millions of Americans people spending well more than $448 a week on just cigarettes and beer . . . they can’t afford that either AND they are costing all of society big money as we provide healthcare and unemployment coverage. I can’t change the world…but I have already helped scores of people make an extra $3k or $7k a month to help with their bills during these tough times.
This is a business opportunity, and I along with thousands of others, have proven that it works. YOU are nothing but a whacko with no life picking on a random guy that turned $448 into $7,000 and saying he’s been fooled.
You are a very sad person looking to crush the hopes and dreams of others.
[Reply]
These are your hopes and dreams? What a life!!!!!! Don’t forget about your other account that wasn’t in your wife, aunt, uncle, (whoever you want to claim it to). I know about your multiple accounts. It’s not to hard to figure out.
Here’s an example of your car salesman tactics and fudging the numbers……. This one guy didn’t turn $448 into $7,000. Don’t forget the annual fee, don’t forget those hidden charges for deliveries (it doesn’t show that on the accounts pages), how about those other hidden costs $5 to have your money sent to you????? He’s spent nearly $1,300 on STE products alone; doesn’t that come off the profit? How about paying your taxes on this income at the end of the year?
Also, it’s been three weeks and he’s still at only $25 for the month. YAHOO!!!!!!!!
I live a very comfortable life and am fortunate enough not to live in a “lower socio-economic neighborhood”. It sounds like your appauled by the unfortunate people that do. There’s a shocker!!!!
Millions of Americans that spend more than $448 a week on beer and cigarettes doesn’t make it right. There are also those that spend that amount on crack, heroin, oxy, etc. Your comparing that to your dream. You sir are a classless person who only cares about your upper economic self.
When this thing finally gets shut down, it may take a while because unfortunately that’s the government, I will send you a personal email and tell you I told you so.
[Reply]
Dear Wake Up:
I am an expert at determining what makes people tick . . . you leave lots of clues about yourself through your ignorance. For you to actually mention ” $5 a month to receive your money . . . what about the taxes? . . . and shipping costs!!! . . . ” simply proves to me and whoever may actually read this, that you are a small-time, small-thinking simpleton living check to check. Angry at the world and trying to make others miserable too.
On another note… I dont think there are more than 3 or 4 people actually reading this stuff anyway!!! LOL
[Reply]
It’s actually your inability to conceptualize that it’s not one small thing it’s the totalitly of all things. But, I’m ignorant? Those dollars add up, PERIOD. $5 here, shipping there, taxes at the end of the year. It adds up, that’s my point. Just like when you open numerous portals. You hit your 30 days a lot quicker. I already know of two other portals that you have/had that you haven’t spoke about. In addition to the others you’ve pointed out. I wonder why you have so many different accounts? I hope you keep up on your taxes!!!!!!!! Your funny Joe. See I did call you Joe and not that other “0″ name. LOL!
Hey, we do agree on something. I don’t think many people are reading this either despite the fact that the moderator did a great job on the original article.
[Reply]
Dear Wake up:
You know . . . maybe you’re right . . paying taxes on a six figure residual income AND getting whacked for $5 a month is surely adding up fast. Thanks for pointing that out. Maybe I should contact Shop to Earn and kindly ask them to please stop sending me this money every month?
Dear STE:
On behalf of my myself, my wife and my business partner, please immediately CEASE AND DESIST from funding our Citibank VISA debit cards with the approximate $30k per month that you have been doing since the beginning of 2009. This total in excess of $360,000 since last summer has been a true burden. The month of March 2008 was particularly aggregious as it suprassed $50,000. I am also simply tired of having to buy $100 worth of healthy products like granola bars, coffee, shampoo, steak, shrimp as well as the many eco-friendly cleaning products my wife now loves to use around the house. I am also worried that I will not be able to write all of this off and may have to pay taxes at the end of the year . . . and that $5 monthly accounting fee should be cut in half!!! how dare you!
If you disregard this letter and proceed to send the $32,500 this September 21st as planned, I will have no choice than to have you speak to my hired blogger attorney “Mr. Wake Up” he knows everything about everything and you will NEVER win this arguement.
Regards,
Mr. Joe ZERO
[Reply]
You spend A LOT more than $100 a month dork. You have NUMEROUS accounts and you spend more than $100 a month on them. Your “alleged” money that you make is an exception to the thousands of people in this crap. I’m not saying your not making money. You’ve worked the system to it’s full potential. Open numerous accounts, scam (I mean recruit) people, etc.
Zero, you can look at some of your recruits and see that most (NOT ALL) haven’t made jack crap, unless they’ve recruited others. That’s the point!!!!!!! If it’s about shopping then why can’t you make your money back? THAT’S BECAUSE IT’S ABOUT RECRUITING. As you’ve put up these great numbers I know plenty of friends who’ve wasted a lot of time (probably near 20 hours a week) trying to recruit, attend meetings, paid for seminars, etc. and didn’t make a dime. All the time I tried to tell them it’s ridiculous. They now tell me, “You were right.” “You don’t know unless you try.” “Oh, I don’t want to talk about it.”
Zero, why don’t you post the portals your personally involved with and then I’ll add the ones that you’ve been so sneeky (I mean forgetful) to post?
[Reply]
Wake up:
You make no sense…I told you I have 1 portal with my biz partner /nygiants and my wife has one and his wife has one. We all help each other with training our teams and introductions etc. Yes all 3 made the 10 fast start $4,100 bonuses but that was the summer of 2008! you can only do it once per site. If you sign up 27 people, it doesn’t help for another $4,100 after the initial 10 . You only get a mere $100 per referral after that. You can’t hit the $4,100 again. Sorry to inform you of this.
Were you thinking that I kept making $4,100 for every 10 people? WRONG!
The total of $350k++ we amassed as a team of 3 is after that initial $4,100 x 3 sites = $12,300. The rest of the $340k has all been on others being succesful.
SO STOP TALKING ABOUT MULTIPLE SITES!
btw . . . I havent “recruited” anyone in a year! I also made made over $960 in cash back JUST FROM SHOPPING! Sorry, but the #s are plain to see.
OMG . . . you really have no reading comprehension and LOVE to see failure.
Are you happy that your friends failed? Is that what makes you tick? maybe if you were a little supportive of your “friends” they could have made it a success? Did you secretly wish inside that they failed. What if you knew me personally and I made it work . . .would you not sleep at night. WTF is your problem? were you beaten as a child?
Let me ask you this . . . If one of your “friends” decides to get their real estate license will you start telling them that its ridiculous? because they will spend money and time on seminars . . . and 90% of them probably will fail.
I’m done with you. Too negative!
[Reply]
HEY MR. WAKE UP:
I OWE YOU A DRINK!
SOMEONE NAMED TOM WAS SEARCHING THE WEB THE LAST FEW WEEKS LOOKING FOR A GOOD NETWORK MARKETING COMPANY. HE LOVED WHAT HE HAD BEEN READING HERE, AND JUST SIGNED UP WITH STE IN MY BUSINESS! I SWEAR ITS TRUE. HE LOOKED ME UP AND EMAILED ME . . . HE HAPPENS TO LIVE IN NJ, AND HE JUST LEFT MY OFFICE. HE WILL NOT SLEEP TONIGHT AFTER THE OVERVIEW I JUST GAVE HIM. HE WILL BE YET ANOTHER $10K A MONTH STE BROKER IN A SHORT WHILE.
CONGRATS TOM ON YOUR VISION! AND THANK YOU MR. “MIS-INFORMED TOTALLY NEGATIVE WAKE-UP GUY” WHOEVER YOU ARE!
LOVE THIS BUSINESS!
JOE ZERO
[Reply]
Well it’s been about 40 days and when we started monitoring it was at $7,351. It’s now up a whopping $52.00 IN 40 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!
LET’S MAKE SURE WE ADD IN THE $149 ON A PURCHASE AT SHOP TO EARN. $52 in 40 days minus the $149 you’ve spent makes it MINUS $97 over the last 40 days. HHHHMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!
[Reply]
I have two questions about the program:
Somebody stated that for every new shoppper there is a $100 commission paid to the person who recruited them. Is this only paid when the person signs up for their own portal, or is it paid when anyone uses their portal to shop? (I am assuming it is only paid when they set up their own portal and not merely shop–but I thought I would ask.)
Other question, how do you know what percent of the total you will ever get, i.e. if say Home Depot gives 5% then how many people get their cut before I get my money? Thanks for helping me to understand it!
[Reply]
Money bags..
You can call me anytime /nygiants
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you all realize JoeO is paid by STE to go on all the blogs trying to defend the program. If he was actually making as much as he claims all over the internet with it, he wouldn’t care who posts what about it, he’s got his money. in short, Joe’s just a phoney, it’s simple as that.
as for STE itself, i’ver yet to see any product from any of it’s affiliates that I haven’t been able to et cheaper directly from the affiliate itself. two of my credit cards also give me more ‘cash back’ than STE gives peoiple on purchase4s, and unlike ste’s ‘cash back’, I don’t have to pay income tax on the credit card’s cash back because it’s legit cash back, not an affiliate payment.
STE, and Joe (obviously), think no one has any clue how the internet and affiliate programs work. They thrive on the fact that people ahve no knowledge of this.. when in fact, more and more people are learning every day as computers and online shopping is more and more mainstream each day.
The fact of the matter is, if Joe was for real, and STE was anything it says it is, they wouldn’t care if people queestions it, post blogs about it being a scam, etc.. You don’t see major corperations going crazy when someone says they are crap. Their making their money and don’t give a damn what anyone says about them. The fact that STE needs to threaten people, and send minions such as Joe around to start arguements over it jsut proves it’s a crap company, taking peoples money, and scamming everyone. They’re affraid people might research the actual facts and not be interested in signing up (where all the money in these schemes is made).
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Hi Jerry:
You are great !! I love it !!! not sure where to start though . . . here’s some bullet points as I need to go pick up my son from school in a few mins . . .
I don’t ever check these blogs except when I get an email that there’s a new update.
- my ste biz has made over $380,000 since last summer . . . sorry but its a fact and even though no one really reads these blogs much anymore, the few that are in ste that do check in once in a while, who know the TRUTH . . . know its true.
- I don’t work for STE, I work for myself. Fact is when you are a “full-time” STE broker there’s not much to do! I just had $35,000+ hit my account TODAY and I don’t really know what to do with my spare time.
- you have a cash back credit card? GREAT . . . so do I and I use it when I buy things from my STE mall and get even more cash back . . . duh! and there’s no taxes on any cash rebates
- I love your comment “taking people’s money etc etc ” guess what . . . if you bought your own virtual cash-back web portal mall it would work as well as mine. I ALWAYS get cash back for every single purchase I make forever. However, with your small-minded cynical thinking you would never make a dime with STE as a business. OR perhpas you are another one of those people from a different MLM that is losing their entire downline to STE because it makes so much more sense?
Anyway, thanks for the laughs!
Onward
Joe O.
Morristown, NJ
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Two and a half months ago a challenge was given to an STE supporter to show us how much is really to be made after making the initial REFERRAL fees. I started monitoring their earnings which started at $7,351. It’s now up a whopping $75.00 IN APPROXIMATELY 70 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!
LET’S MAKE SURE WE ADD IN THE $240 IN PURCHASES AT SHOP TO EARN IN THE LAST MONTH AND 5 DAYS.
My math definitely shows no money being made. If you’re taking in less than you make it sounds like a losing effort. As I’ve said before the real money to be made is by continually recruiting. If you don’t and you keep buying overpriced products then only one business is truly making money and that’s the one selling EXTREMELY OVERPRICED PRODUCTS.
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Hey Mr. Wake Up;
There’s an ancient Buddhist philosphy that says (paraphrasing) “if no one accepts your challenge or insults . . . then to who do they belong?”
You offer a challenge to some stranger as if he cares and as if anyone is watching. You’re nuts.
I know you’re probably also monitoring my website too /nygiants and see that its making $500-$2,000 a day, every day…but we won’t go there. What you don’t understand is that STE works. Its not on trial. People do with it what they please. It’s a simply a cash-back shopping mall that can be a side business. You will also see on my site that I received $1,200 in cash back in 2009 from simply shopping and buying the stuff my family needs.
STE does not encourage people to quit their jobs and try STE full-time like so many supposedly “legit” non-pyramid companies do every day! The well-respected financial planning and insurance firms like Merril Lynch, Paine Webber, Northwest Mutual etc recruit 24/7, trying to get people to leave their full-time jobs, get licensed and then open up accounts and sell insurance to all their family and friends . . . 1-2 years later, 90% realize that they can’t make a living at it and they need to start over with something else. Meanwhile, the company used and abused that person. They made big commissions and opened up a bunch of accounts. Many of the family and friends keep their money at the firm because they can’t be bothered switching again AND THE PEOPLE AT THE TOP GET TO GRAB ALL THOSE ACCOUNTS ! By anyone’s defintion, is not this a scam? Why is this so acceptable? Doesn’t that set these poor gullible people back years with their family income and future?
Yet network marketing . . a part-time venture, gets bashed by some old school closed minded idiots.
But truth is…the tide is turning fast . . . network marketing is becoming mainstream ….why? because its a great business model where everyone wins and you get exactly what you put in. Love it.
Of all the MLM’s out there, I can NOT find a better biz model than STE.
Peace,
Joe O.
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It’s a shame that there are other companies out there that give our industry a bad name. Somebody mentioned our site, Cashbaq, so I wanted to clear the air. Cashbaq is NOT a scam. I should know… I’m taking a quick break from writing letters to send out with this month’s Cashbaq checks. We pay our members when they shop through Cashbaq at 3,000 online stores and services. We start you with a $5 sign up bonus and pay you by check or Paypal whenever your balance hits $10. It generally takes about 90 day for us to get final confirmation from the stores. we’re trying to speed that up.
If you ever have an issue, just contact us. Our customer service team will be happy to help. I hope I get to mail you a check and letter soon.
Casey (Cashbaq Team)
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Hello Casey,
I for one am a HUGE fan of Cashbaq and have mentioned it on many other STE blogs about. People that join this STE crap don’t understand that they could get easy money back through sites such as your by simply logging on and clicking the links. I just did the other day for the Entertainment book and will receive $6 (plus my other purchases) cashback in around 90 days. Another great part is that if you don’t get the amount necessary for payback in 30 days, it doesn’t get wiped off your account like STE.
When I first signed up I also referred two friends and received those sign up bonuses. The best part is it’s FREE, no catches!!!!!!!! I’m glad I didn’t have to spend $400+++ for a “BS business” that is free through your employers website. To you, I say Thank you!
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STE LIES TO ITS PEOPLE!!!
I WAS LIED TO!! BEWARE BEFORE YOU SIGN UP FOR THIS SCAM!!!
When I first got involved with STE last year, I was told many times that if I
“simply worked STE part-time for a few years . . . that I could earn enough money in residual income to cover my monthly mortgage payment.” WELL THIS CERTAINLY DID NOT GO AS I PLANNED!
I should have known! What new business, company orientation or job interview, would EVER make such a ridiculous claim? Imagine sitting for an interview tomorrow morning (if you could even find a place hiring today) and you are told, with a straight face, that if you…
“put forth consistent effort for a few years part-time, and simply follow the training program and our system, you can create a residual income/annuity/pension that will pay you up to $5,000 a month forever”
This is what was “insinuated” at my first Shortcut to Success I attended in Florida. Well it’s been exactly 18 months now and if you do the math, THEY WERE DEAD WRONG!
My business’s monthly income has averaged $24,000 a month (not $5,000). In 2009 alone, it has averaged over $32,000/month.
So what else did STE fail to mention?
- They didn’t tell me that I would meet 100’s of great people and make so many new friends;
- they didn’t tell me that my title insurance business would be saved, that I wouldn’t have to lay off half of my staff like most title agencies did. The new contacts that STE has generated has literally saved my title business;
- they didn’t tell me that I would be thanked profusely by dozens of people that utilized STE to save their house and/or their marriage during the toughest economic period of our generation;
- they didn’t tell me that most people don’t follow through and do what they say;
- they didn’t tell me that a lot of people would get involved as Brokers, get all excited about the opportunity, and do nothing and never show up again;
- they didn’t tell me that I would grow personally, that I’d become a better person, a better father, a better husband, a better leader, a more environmentally aware consumer, and an innovator;
- they didn’t tell me that the business and the website would keep getting better and better, and as the Company continues to evolve, the business would become easier and easier;
- they didn’t tell me that I would be lying in bed on a Sunday morning (like today) and be inspired to start typing out emails to try and help people – even though I know with certainty, that most refuse to be helped.
PLEASE PAY ATTENTION AND DO NOT GET MIS-LED like I was!!!!
Did you know there are less than 10,000 people in the entire Northeast involved in STE?
Did you know that there will be people that won’t even hear about STE until 2011, 2012 & 2013 and some of THEM will retire as STE millionaires?
NO ONE GETS RICH AND RETIRES EARLY GETTING CASH-BAQ FROM THEIR OWN SHOPPING. BUSINESS OWNERS GET RICH!
Warm regards,
Joe Zero
shoptoearn .net /nygiants
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It’s awful funny that I know about 20 people that have tried STE and not one of them are millionaires. As a matter of fact none have become “rich” doing it either. I think we showed a typical person on STE in the numbers that have been updated on a member that was posting on here previously (Capt.). If you continue to open multiple accounts, recruit and recruit, then yeah you’ll make money. Your website you put up is hilarious too. I can’t believe people fall for that crap. HAHA!!!!
Wow, Bing . com is offering 20% cashback on Walmart purchases how about STE
Bing is offering 15% through ebay how about STE
Bing was offering 20% at Dell for three days last week, how about STE
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Keep going Wake Up I love it. My friend’s wife joined STE and tried recruiting me. I tried to tell them it was a scam and they would not make any money. Bottom line is an idiot is an idiot, they can’t be helped.
Joe O from Morristown prove how much you make via your tax return.
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Rich:
So you actually think your friend’s wife is an idot??? That’s nice.
Does your “friend” know what a crappy friend you are?
Joe O.
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Only one idiot out there…. It’s the one who doesn’t know how to spell idiot!
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So boring when you have nothing left but to criticize a typo.
I guess the case is closed. Shop to Earn works for people who are coachable and determined . . . just like anything else in life.
I have helped save dozens of marriages/homes by showing people how to make a few extra thousand a month during the worst economic crisis of our generation. In addition, thousands are now using more eco-friendly products helping save the planet and themselves. What have you done for the world lately except spread negativity and crush some hopes dreams of people seeking a better life?
Loser.
Anyway . . . hope you all have a great Holiday Season!
Joe ZERO
/ nygiants
/ ecombrokers
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Edit::
For Richie…
In the above comment we had a typo…or two..
“cookingt” should have been spelled, “cooking”
“Hand” should have been spelled, “had”
“as in, can only be had in the land of milk and honey…..”
Have a great day Richie Babie…or Richie Baby…..
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Hey zero,
I just received $45 cashback notice through bing for a $200 Macy’s order. How much would I get through STE!!!! LOL!
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That’s great Wake up!!
Now ask if BING will pay you another $438,000 so you can catch up to me and my STE biz.
You do not have an entrepreneurial bone in your body.
Joe Zero
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Joe didn’t you have additional websites (portals) as well as the two you just listed?
I made that money through Bing via Macy’s without spending a dime to join. No $500 fee to join, imagine that!
Entrepreneurial, bet you had to spell check that one.
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Hey Wake up . . . Yes.. As I always mention, my biz partner and I have 3 sites in total. We share a site and our wives each have a site. Which you just don’t understand is that it is MORE DIFFICULT to make money with multiple sites. We didn’t really know how to best do this when we first started. We made our ‘fast start’ $4,100 on each site, which made us over $12,300 the first month or so . . . but then it becomes harder to manage going forward. Yet we are still wildly successful just “showing” people how simple this really is.
So keep your $500 STE broker fee ( actually its only $448 ) and your $45 from Bing (a multi billion dollar conglomerate that couldnt care less about you or me or the environment) and remain a frugal, miser and ‘ small time’ loser.
Really . . . how do you compare $500 to what people are doing with STE? Again . . . its not just the six-figures plus I have made, nor the $1,000+ a day I make every day whether I like it or not, its the fun! I find this to be lots of fun . . . helping others pay for their mortgage or college.
I really dont see why you even would respond. Go away.
Joe Zero
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How about the thousands who’ve made “ZERO”?
Mr. Zero there’s a lot more people losing money than actually making money. That’s why YOU have to keep recruiting, IDIOT. Anyone desperate enough to recruit a youth league should be ashamed. I’m sure they’re making thousands of dollars too.
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Wakeup: I havent signed anyone up in months! That’s the beauty of network marketing. Work hard in the short term and the kick back forever.
With regards to a Youth league . . . again you are clueless. I donated the $448 website myself, 100’s of moms and dads are shopping on the league’s site and the league makes $$$ doing next to nothing.
You see if YOU were also successful you can start giving back and donating $$$ to great causes . . . but you’re not about positive energy. You like to stay mis-informed and try deflate people.
You only live once on this planet . . . why be so negative?
Joe Zero
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Here is once again another BS response: “100’s of moms and dads are shopping on the league’s site and the league makes $$$ doing next to nothing.” REALLY???? I certainly don’t see hundreds of moms and dads ordering through the website. A fact would be, THAT ONLY A TOTAL of ELEVEN (11) PURCHASES HAVE BEEN MADE THRU THE WEBSITE SINCE OCTOBER 2008.
Since you’re showing as the contact person for that website, why don’t you go ahead and open up the blocked “My earnings” page for the little league website. Let’s see how much money you’ve poured into this fortunate organization.
So go ahead and prove me wrong on it zero. Unblock that earnings page and let’s see how much you’ve assisted the little league.
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I’m going to predict some “Major League” deflection folks. That’ll be from Mr. zero who has went on other websites slamming STE posting under numerous names.
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Hey Wake Up:
You really have no clue what you are talking about. STE grows every day, thousands of people are saving money as I type this blog . . . and you are getting nothing done. People like me DONATE cash-back web portals to non-profit organizations to help raise money and you think even that is BS???
All of my responses are truthful and informative. Yours are juvenile.
I need a break from your non-sense.
Joe O.
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Show the proof that “100’s of moms and dads are shopping on the league’s site and the league makes $$$ doing next to nothing.”
YOU SAID IT and it shows on the website that 11 purchases in over a year have been made. I’m not a mathematician but 11 is certainly far from hundreds isn’t it?
As I stated, we would see serious deflection and it’s exactly what we got from it. You won’t answer because you know I’m right. I’m sorry you think I’m juvenile but at least I’m not BSing about numbers and facts.
If you knew me you would definitely not believe I’m a negative person. I just hated seeing friends by into this crap. Most have lost money and a couple who recruited the heck out of people made money and it certainly wasn’t from shopping.
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Wow, reading this blog was really interesting, my brother signed up for “Shop to Earn” through a good friend. He wanted me to take a look at the marketing plan. It’s very well done, but not for me. I agree if you are doing a lot of spending with your credit card and not getting cash back for your purchases, you are leaving money on the table. We use the Discover Card for as many expenses as possible and pay off the full balance “every” month. We get back hundreds of dollars per year for carrying less cash around and exercising discipline. To compound our dollars, we also shop through a Rewards Mall, (it has over 1000 on line stores) that’s free, there are not set up fees etc. You have to take your hat off to the group that dreamed up Shop to Earn ~ they have a very good marketing model. We have all heard the saying; “the buyer beware” or with any contract, you need to read the fine print. The Devil is in the Details.
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Hi Deborah:
Not sure about the “devil’ comment. I know all the details of the ste contract…especially the commission schedule portion. I know everyone gets paid on time and accurately each month.
STE is a business for me. Typically with any business venture there is risk involved. Buying a franchise, signing a lease and personally guranteeing the lease, hiring employees and hoping that they don’t sue YOU if a co-worker looks at the them the wrong way. This is a huge undertaking. And we all know that most will fail and the person ends up in debt. When you compare $448 to buying even a small sandwich shop or starting a hair salon etc, this is a no brainer.
How many ” old fashioned” businesses can turn a profit in their first 3 months?how about the first year? STE can return your money back in hours. If you fail at the business end…well then just shop and get your cash back…no victims here.
There are lots of rewards malls all over the internet. They make their money by skimming some of the cash back (STE pays it all to us) and by the credit card usage fees they broker too. That’s ok. But its NOT a business. Realistically, probably less than 2% of American even know about cash back portals and even less use them effectively. Part of my business is getting paid to spread the word and sell cash-back ste webportals. The more that are sold the more money me and my team makes. We sell a “Mercedes quality” cash-back web portal for $349 . . . not everyone appreciates a fine machine…some want a hyundai….that’s ok…both will get you to the game on time. Both have a place in the market.
STE accepts Discover, so lots of people double dip. STE even gives cash back on gift cards so some people buy them, get 5% cash back, then use them on the website and get another 5% cash back. Most stores allow this and dont mind this double-dip . . . why? because on-line shopping is 50-70% more profitable for the retailer than brick and mortar.
Anyway… I will keep running my business . . . each month I do less and less and make more and more. Its been almost 20 months now.
When some skeptics ask me ” hey Joe, how’s that pyramid thing you got involved in last year? ” I respond, ” You mean Shop to Earn? yeah . . . I am almost done with that thing.” They get all smug and say, “hmm didnt work out huh?”. I say, “No, actually it worked out just as I planned … focus for 2-3 years and walk away with $150k a month forever and ever”
How much cash in a CD do you need to earn that every month?
livin’ the dream!
Have a great 2010!
Joe O.
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You had to go away because you were caught in another lie. Now you wanna come back and address Deborah who really sees the BS for what it’s worth? Your such a funny person. Once again, here’s the point I posted for you before, “I need a break from your non-sense.”
“100’s of moms and dads are shopping on the league’s site and the league makes $$$ doing next to nothing.” REALLY???? I certainly don’t see hundreds of moms and dads ordering through the website. A fact would be, THAT ONLY A TOTAL of ELEVEN (11) PURCHASES HAVE BEEN MADE THRU THE WEBSITE SINCE OCTOBER 2008.
Since you’re showing as the contact person for that website, why don’t you go ahead and open up the blocked “My earnings” page for the little league website. Let’s see how much money you’ve poured into this fortunate organization.
So go ahead and prove me wrong on it zero. Unblock that earnings page and let’s see how much you’ve assisted the little league.
It’s been nearly a month since I posted that and still no purchases from their portal. They must be so thankful to have you Mr. “0″. You’ve saved the league from going under and save HUNDREDS of moms and dads money for shopping there??????? If their shopping through it then STE is a bigger scam than ever believed. I mean the website isn’t getting credit for ALL those purchases. LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
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