free-mart-logoFree Mart operate in the supplement MLM niche. The company does not provide corporate address details on its website.

The Free Mart website domain registration lists a residential address in the US state of Utah, which is likely where Free Mart is being operated from.

david-crookston-john-austin-cofounders-free-martListed as co-founders of Free Mart on their website are David Crookston and John Austin (left and right respectively).

As per their respective Free Mart corporate bios;

David was introduced to network marketing at the age of 17.

After 40 years of working programs that do not work for most people, he decided to start his own company based upon the principles of honesty and integrity.

John began his network marketing career in 1964 at the age of 14.  During his 51 years in the industry he has been Master Distributor of two companies and top money earner and recruiter in others.

He was co-owner of a company in the mid-nineties and has been a Consultant to the industry for the past 16 years.

For someone who claims to have “worked programs for 40 years”, there is a remarkable lack of information about Crookston’s MLM history available.

A Google search for “David Crookston mlm” returns seven results.

One of the result returned lists Crookston as a “leadership member” of Engage Global. Engage Global launched in 2014 and market a “Military Micronutrient Formula” supplement they claim “provides proven benefits”.

On his LinkedIn profile John Austin claims to be a “certified nutritionist, health researcher and author”.

MLM companies John Austin has been an affiliate of include Joy to Live (caterpillar corpse coffee) and Global Currency Reserve (failed cryptocurrency).

On the Free Mart website, David Crookston laments that after

having earned top positions in different companies, he learned that most compensation plans are not distributor friendly.

Whether or not he’s referring to Engage Global is unclear.

Read on for a full review of the Free Mart MLM business opportunity.

The Free Mart Product Line

Products listed on the Free Mart website include:

  • Precious Minerals – “provides key minerals that are essential for replenishing minerals that may be lacking in the earth, plants and animals”, only available for purchase by Free Mart affiliates (no pricing provided)
  • Crystalline Gold – “may help relieve pain, inflammation, digestive disorders, addictions, circulatory problems, and depression”, retails at $48 for a 0.6 lbs bottle
  • Crystalline Magnesium – “essential for bone, protein and fatty acid formation, making new cells, activating B vitamins, relaxing muscles, clotting blood, and forming ATP (energy the body runs on)”, retails at $48 for an 8oz bottle
  • Crystalline Silver – “known to kill all viruses, bacteria, yeast, mold and fungus, 100% of the time”, retails at $48 for an 8 oz bottle
  • Chocolate Plus – “calm you, satisfy cravings, feed your brain, helping you to focus, and lift your spirits”, retails at $54 for a 2 fl oz bottle
  • Gem Therapy Necklace – “functions to assist in balancing the body’s natural frequencies by stopping energy interrupters and by re-establishing the flow of positive and harmonious Vibrational Energy throughout the body” (actual product description), retails for $48 a necklace
  • Shiaqga – “one of the most powerful weapons in fighting against illness and disease”, retails at $36 for a 2 fl oz bottle
  • Nature’s Nutrients – “one of the most nutrient-dense food sources on the planet”, no retail pricing provided
  • Free Mart Nano Cards – “provides an abundance of Far Infrared Rays (FIR) and Negative Ion Technology”, no retail pricing provided
  • NVIRO All-purpose Cleaner – “an all organic, bio-friendly soap, cleanser, detergent and degreaser”, no retail pricing provided
  • NVIRO Shave and Shower Gel – “an all organic, earth-friendly, health-friendly body wash, shampoo and shaving gel”, no retail pricing provided

The Free Mart Compensation Plan

The Free Mart compensation plan sees affiliates paid when recruited affiliates purchase products.

Free Mart Affiliate Ranks

There are five affiliate ranks in the Free Mart compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:

  • Member – sign up as a Free Mart affiliate
  • Diamond Member – recruit one affiliate who makes a product purchase
  • Double Diamond – recruit at least three affiliates who make a product purchase
  • Triple Diamond – recruit at least six affiliates who make a product purchase
  • Ambassador – recruit at least nine affiliates who make a product purchase
  • Global Ambassador – recruit and maintain twenty-seven affiliates who purchase products each month
  • Crown Ambassador – recruit and maintain fifty-four affiliates who purchase products each month

Recruitment Commissions

When a newly recruited Free Mart affiliate makes a product purchase, 50% of the commissionable volume is paid upline.

Volume is split into five 10% payments, coded upline as per affiliate rank:

  • recruiting affiliate – 10%
  • Diamond bonus – 10%
  • Double Diamond bonus – 10%
  • Triple Diamond bonus – 10%
  • Ambassador bonus – 10%

When a newly recruited affiliate placed their first order, the affiliate who recruited them receives a 10% commission.

If that affiliate is Diamond rank, they receive an additional 10% bonus (20% commission total). If they are at the Triple DIamond rank they’d receive a 30% bonus (40% commission total).

Unpaid percentages roll up the upline to appropriately ranked affiliates.

Eg. If a Diamond ranked affiliate recruits a new affiliate who makes a purchase, they are paid a 20% commission with 30% remaining.

The system searches the upline for a Double Diamond or higher ranked affiliate to pay the remaining 30% out to.

If a Double Diamond ranked affiliate is found, they are paid 10% with 20% remaining. The system would then continue to search for a Triple Diamond or Ambassador ranked affiliate to pay the remaining 20% out to.

If a Triple Diamond was found, they’d be paid 10% and 10% would go to the first found Ambassador. If an Ambassador was found, they’d receive the remaining 20%.

Note that if an Ambassador ranked affiliate is the recruiting affiliate, they are paid the full 50% commission with nothing rolling up the upline.

Residual Commissions

Residual commissions are paid out on subsequent orders made by recruited affiliates. In Free Mart, these commissions are paid out via a unilevel compensation structure.

A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):

unilevel-commission-structure

If any level 1 affiliates go on to recruit new affiliates of their own, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.

If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.

Free Mart cap payable unilevel levels at nine, with commissions paid out as a percentage of sales volume generated on each level as follows:

  • level 1 – 1%
  • level 2 – 1%
  • level 3 – 2%
  • level 4 – 3%
  • level 5 – 5%
  • level 6 – 8%
  • level 7 – 13%
  • level 8 – 21%
  • level 9 – 34%

Global Bonus Pools

The Global Bonus Pools are two pools each made up of 1% of Free Mart’s company-wide sales volume.

Global Ambassador ranked affiliates receive one share in the Global Ambassador pool (1%).

Crown Ambassador ranked affiliates receive on share in the Crown Ambassador pool (1%).

Joining Free Mart

Affiliate membership with Free Mart is free.

Conclusion

The core problem with Free Mart is the lack of differentiation between retail customers and affiliates.

Everyone who signs up has access to the income opportunity, making them an affiliate. This in turn transforms the entire Free Mart MLM opportunity into a chain-recruitment scheme.

A fact Free Mart themselves don’t seem all that bothered about:

If you are inclined to earn a substantial income, go out and enroll 100 personally sponsored people.

MLM should be about product sales to retail customers, not commissions based on your recruitment efforts.

On the product side of things, there’s no denying Free Mart’s offering is kooky.

Gem necklaces that stop “energy interrupters” and reestablish “the flow of positive and harmonious Vibrational Energy”? Yeah, alright then.

Each to their own as customers, but within the context of MLM Free Mart have severe issues with compliance.

Here’s a brief rundown of how Free Mart themselves market some of their products:

  • Precious Minerals “increase(s) crop production like no other fertilizer or minerals known to man”
  • Crystalline Gold may help with mental fog, forgetfulness and low IQ, sleeping disorders, obesity, gastric and digestive disorders, drug and alcohol addictions, arthritis, hypertension, high blood pressure, muscle tension, arrhythmia and cancer
  • Crystalline Silver “kill(s) all viruses, bacteria, yeast, mold and fungus, 100% of the time”
  • Shiaqga is “one of the most powerful weapons in fighting against illness and disease”

None of these claims by Free Mart appear to be backed by FDA approved studies. Hell, there’s not even an FDA disclaimer on the Free Mart website…

In short, Free Mart is an FDA disaster wasting to happen. You cannot make the type of claims they are making about their products and not expect the FDA to take notice.

Throw in the lack of retail and chain-recruitment concerns, and Free Mart as an MLM opportunity leaves much to be desired.