MoneyBox TV Review v2.0: Ponzi canned, now ad-revenue supported
When MoneyBox TV launched late last year, it’s business model was undoubtedly a Ponzi mess.
MoneyBox TV affiliates were investing up to €8148 EUR on the promise monthly ROIs of up to €1070 EUR, which advertising revenue was obviously not covering.
Two weeks after BehindMLM published our MoneyBoxTV review, the company threatened legal action.
We found an article on your site that describes in untruthful way the company Moneyboxtv and the CEO.
With this we hope to not have to resort to legal action for defamation against you and would like you rectify the many statements do not correspond to the truth.
I responded by breaking down the research published in our review. A week or so later MoneyBox TV again denied they were running a Ponzi scheme.
The Moneyboxtv system don’t give a passive income: the ROI that you speak about is totally untrue and not present in our compensation plan.
We regularly sell decoders that can generate earnings variable depending on use.
In also that you wrote on Mr. Di Sabato is not the truth, for so before moving on to a lawsuit for defamation international, we ask you to change or remove the article about Moneyboxtv and Mr. Di Sabato on your website, within 7 days from today.
The above was sent via email on October 1st, 2015. The same day I sent the following reply with an attached image, taken directly from MoneyBox TV’s compensation plan at the time:
Please do not waste my time with your lies. See attached.
Just because you hide your Ponzi ROIs in your official compensation plan does not mean they’re not there.
In the above image, the second last column from the right shows the ROIs MoneyBox TV affiliates were being paid (invested amount is second column from the left).
MoneyBox TV didn’t respond to my email.
Nine months later, on July 6th 2016, MoneyBox TV CEO Simone di Sabato sent me an email;
I am writing in order to ask you to delete the negative article you published a year ago about my company Moneyboxtv and about myself.
I would like to inform you that meanwhile my company grew and it has already opened franchising shops in Italy.
The Set Top Box price is 249,00 euros and each user is able to buy 10 set top boxes maximum.
Considering all these important implementations, I am asking you the immediate removal of the article. If you want to write a new article about Moneyboxtv I will be glad to supply any information required.
I replied that I don’t remove reviews, as they are date-stamped and accurate at the time they were published. I did however request a copy of MoneyBox TV’s current compensation plan in English.
Di Sabato didn’t respond to my email personally, but I did receive a copy of the compensation plan yesterday from “Team Moneyboxtv”.
Today we revisit MoneyBox TV and review whether or not the MLM opportunity has actually changed.
The MoneyBox TV Product Line
MoneyBox TV’s product is the same as it was at launch, although the price has been reduced by €100 EUR.
For €249 EUR you get an Android set top box that
display(s) advertisements to our users, while they are watching TV, a DVD or a film on the Internet, surfing the Web, working, playing, listening to music, using the TV.
The system resizes the TV program, displaying two advertising
banners in the blank space of the screen.After 15/30 seconds the banners disappear and the TV program will be in full-screen mode.
Users are also able to click ads via their TV remote and shop, all of which generates revenue for MoneyBox TV.
The MoneyBox TV Compensation Plan
The MoneyBox TV compensation plan pays affiliates to sell MoneyBox TV units to retail customers.
Commissions are paid out on the sale of MoneyBox TV units as well as revenue generated through their use.
MoneyBox TV Affiliate Ranks
There are thirteen affiliate ranks within the MoneyBox TV compensation plan.
Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- Basic – sign up as a MoneyBox TV affiliate
- Senior – recruit three affiliates
- Advisor – recruit and maintain at least three Senior ranked affiliates
- VIP – recruit and maintain at least three Advisor ranked affiliates
- Executive – have and maintain at least three VIP ranked affiliates in your downline
- Manager – have and maintain at least three Executive ranked affiliates in your downline
- Top Manager – have and maintain at least three Manager ranked affiliates in your downline
- Premium Manager – have a downline generating at least €500,000 a month
- Executive Manager – have a downline generating at least €1,000,000 a month
- President – have a downline generating at least €5,000,000 a month
- Top President – have a downline generating at least €10,000,000 a month
- Premium President – have a downline generating at least €50,000,000 a month
- Executive President – have a downline generating at least €100,000,000 a month
Retail Commissions
MoneyBox TV are paid a 10% commission when they sell MoneyBox TV units to retail customers.
On sales made within an affiliate’s first 30 days, this commission is doubled to 20%.
Residual retail 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):
If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, 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.
MoneyBox TV cap payable unilevel levels at ten, with commissions paid as a percentage of MoneyBox TV units sold to retail customers by affiliates in a unilevel team.
How much of a percentage is paid out is determined by what level of the unilevel team a MoneyBox TV unit is sold on.
- level 1 (personally recruited affiliates) – 5%
- levels 2 to 10 – 2%
Note that how many unilevels a MoneyBox TV affiliate can earn is determined by their rank:
- Basic – level 1 only (personally recruited affiliates)
- Senior – levels 1 to 4
- Advisor – levels 1 to 5
- VIP – levels 1 to 6
- Executive – levels 1 to 7
- Manager – levels 1 to 8
- Top Manager and above – levels 1 to 10
Matching Bonus
The Matching Bonus allows MoneyBox TV affiliates to earn a match on retail sales generated by their downline.
The Matching Bonus uses the same unilevel compensation structure as residual retail sales, capped at four levels of recruitment.
- level 1 (personally recruited affiliates) – 10% match
- level 2 – 15% match
- level 3 – 20% match
- level 4 – 25% match
Note that in order to qualify for the Matching Bonus, an affiliate must generate at least €1000 EUR in sales each month.
MoneyBox TV Unit Commissions
As discussed in the product section of this review, each MoneyBox TV unit has the potential to generate revenue.
This revenue is shared with MoneyBox TV affiliates through their ten-level deep unilevel team.
- MoneyBox TV unit owned by an affiliate = 60% commission rate
- MoneyBox TV unit sold to retail customer = 10% commission rate
- MoneyBox TV app distributed to an end-user = 20% commission rate
- Cashback earned through the MoneyTV Box by a retail customer = 20% commission rate
- any of the above done by a personally recruited affiliate = 5% commission rate
- any of the above done by an affiliate on levels 2 to 10 of your unilevel team = 2% commission rate
Note that how many app installs a MoneyBox TV affiliate can directly earn from is determined by their rank:
- Basic – none
- Senior – 1 direct app install
- Advisor – 5 direct app installs
- VIP – 10 direct app installs
- Executive – 20 direct app installs
- Manager – 30 direct app installs
- Top Manager and above – 50 direct app installs
Special Bonus Buy
MoneyBox TV reward the affiliate who has spent “the biggest total amount” through their app, with 1% of the entire cashback generated company-wide.
Although not explicitly clarified, Special Bonus Buy appears to be a monthly bonus.
Passive Sales
If a MoneyBox TV refers a third-party merchant to join the MoneyBox TV merchant network, the affiliate who referred the merchant receives 10% of all cashback amounts paid by that merchant.
A Matching Bonus on Passive Sales downline income is available to MoneyBox TV affiliates who have referred at least three third-party merchants.
The Passive Sales Matching Bonus is paid out down four levels of a MoneyBox TV affiliate’s unilevel team.
- level 1 (personally recruited affiliates) – 10% match
- level 2 – 15% match
- level 3 – 20% match
- level 4 – 25% match
Rank Achievement Bonus
When a MoneyBox TV affiliate qualifies at the Premium Manager or higher ranks, the following Rank Achievement Bonuses are paid out:
- Premium Manager – €5000 EUR
- Executive Manager – €10,000 EUR
- President – €50,000 EUR
- Top President – €100,000 EUR
- Premium President – €500,000 EUR
- Executive President – €1,000,000 EUR
Franchisee Opportunity
MoneyBox TV offer a franchise opportunity, which requires a franchisee to set up a fixed shop location.
Moneyboxtv enables the Franchisee to get a sure monthly income from the first month, not depending on the number of monthly sales, but based on Set Top Box on loan or sold during the previous months or years.
Moneyboxtv shop will be the reference point to book a hotel, to reserve a restaurant, to suggest shopping, health or beauty centres, etc.
The customer gets a consistent discount and the Franchisee earns a % on couponing or on making reservations.
From the sounds of it the shop location also doubles as a retail e-commerce kiosk.
To assist new franchisees, MoneyBox TV advertise a “save franchising fund”, which they claim is made up of 0.5% of all MoneyBox TV units sold and revenue generated.
This deposit will help Franchisee who may have difficulties
paying shop fixed costs.
In the event the fund isn’t claimed by franchisees, MoneyBox TV claim they will use 50% of the funds deposited on
holiday prize packs for the best Franchisees’ personal turnover within the year and the other 50% will stay in the fund, available for the next year.
Franchisee costs, if any, are not disclosed in the MoneyBox TV compensation plan material.
Joining MoneyBox TV
Affiliate membership with MoneyBox TV is free.
Conclusion
Whether in response to BehindMLM’s initial review or a soft-collapse, MoneyBox TV’s current compensation plan is a far cry from the ROI mess they launched with last year.
It’s more of a traditional MLM model, which pays affiliates to sell MoneyBox TV units to retail customers. Revenue is generated from these sales, along with advertising and merchant commissions generated through use of the units.
Traditionally MLM companies that seek to raise revenue through third-party advertising provide unrealistic expectations to their affiliates regarding this income.
To that end it’s refreshing to see no hyped up figures provided on either the MoneyBox TV website or in the compensation plan.
Realistically the units won’t generate much revenue, with user engagement likely being an issue. Would you pick up your TV remote to “click” on a displayed add during a tv show or movie?
As for shopping, I think most people will find shopping on a tv cumbersome, when a PC, laptop, tablet or even cell phone provide much more user-friendly experiences.
A good reference point to get some idea of how much revenue is generated by the MoneyBox TV units, would be to ask a potential upline what their average monthly revenue from the units themselves is.
If enough units are sold over time and used the company-wide figure will naturally increase, but overall I’m still skeptical it’ll be enough to sustain an MLM opportunity over the long-term.
The price of the MoneyBox TV unit also might be of concern, as it does seem to be overpriced from a purely technical standpoint (€249 EUR for a 2GHz, 1GB DDR 4GB eMMC HDD Android box).
Still, it’s great to see MoneyBox TV have restructured an obviously fraudulent business model and turned it into something potentially viable.
Whether they can make a go of an advertising revenue model however remains to be seen.
While it’s good they’ve dumped the Ponzi, this is actually not *that* much better, IMHO, of course.
The box is way overpriced, as the Android TV box have dropped into the $50 USD range (or about 50 Euros over there). Pay 250 Euros for a box that displays ads is just madness. People who buy this are obviously for the income, not for the box. (Remember, Amazon tablets with ads are 10% CHEAPER than without ads)
So basically, you’re really paying $200 for the opportunity and $50 for a crappy TV box that displays ads… and recruiting people to do the same with promise of making money by recruiting people after you… like you did to them.
That’s not MLM.