Sh8pe Club Review: Pay-to-play gaming autoship recruitment
Sh8pe Club sometimes refer to themselves as “Shape Club”, “Shape Entertainment” and “Sh8pe Entertainment”. For the purpose of this review I’m referring to the company as “Sh8pe Club”.
Sh8pe Club identify Paul Michael Baber as CEO of the company. Beyond that no actual information about Baber is provided.
The Sh8pe Club website domain (“sh8pent.club”) was privately registered on the 14th of March, 2016.
In his Facebook profile, Baber (right) cites his location as Queensland, Australia. Sh8pe Club however claim to be ‘operating under a Government License issued by the country of Costa Rica‘.
Throwing a third location into the mix, Sh8pe Club also provide a “registered office” address in Gibraltar.
Both Gibraltar and Costa Rica, as far as the MLM industry goes, are shady locations for incorporation.
The Gibraltar address provided by Sh8pe Club actually belongs to Fidelity Corporate Services. With Baber based out of Australia, it appears Sh8pe Club exists in both Costa Rica and Gibraltar in name only.
As far as I can tell, Sh8pe Club is Baber’s first MLM venture as an executive.
Read on for a full review of the Sh8pe Club MLM opportunity.
The Sh8pe Club Product Line
Sh8pe Club run Sh8pe Play, a gaming platform the company provides access to slots, table games, a sportsbook and lottery through.
According to the Sh8pe Play website,
this site is operated by Altitude Management Inc. N.V., Orionweg 10C, Willemstad, Curaçao and payment processing services are provided by Altitude Management Limited, Suite 1698, 28/19 Vincenti Buildings Strait Street, Valletta. VLT 1432 Malta (EU).
Third-party games appear on the Sh8pe Play website. Sh8pe Play explicitly state they are not ‘connected to or approved by any of the companies, organisations, brands or any other bodies that are related to any of the games used‘.
The Sh8pe Club Compensation Plan
The Sh8pe Club compensation plan pays affiliates to generate gaming activity through the company’s gaming platform.
Most of the Sh8pe Club compensation plan however is based on affiliate recruitment.
Gaming Commissions
Gaming Commissions are paid on gaming activities by gaming customers.
Sh8pe Club pay gaming commissions down three levels of recruitment (unilevel):
- level 1 (personal customers) – 20%
- level 2 – 10%
- level 3 – 5%
Recruitment Commissions
When a new Sh8pe Club affiliate signs up, the affiliate who recruited them is paid a commission.
How much of a commission is paid out is determined by how much the newly recruited affiliate spent on their membership:
- recruit a Bronze affiliate ($99) and get paid $20
- recruit a Silver affiliate ($199) and get paid $40
- recruit a Gold affiliate ($299) and get paid $60
- recruit a Ruby affiliate ($999) and get paid $180
- recruit an Emerald affiliate ($3999) and get paid $400
- recruit a Diamond affiliate ($6999) and get paid $700
Residual Commissions
Residual Commissions in Sh8pe Club are paid out via a binary compensation structure.
A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, split into two sides (left and right):
The first level of the binary team houses two positions. Subsequent levels of the binary are generated as required, with each new level housing twice as many positions as the previous level.
Positions in the binary team are filled via direct and indirect recruitment.
Residual commissions are paid as positions in the binary team are filled.
Each position filled by a recruited affiliate generates BV, based on how much a Sh8pe Club affiliate spends on their membership:
- Bronze – 25 BV
- Silver – 50 BV
- Gold – 75 BV
- Ruby 250 BV
- Emerald 1000 BV
- Diamond – 1750 BV
A “cycle” is triggered when 200 of generated BV on one side of the binary team is matched with 400 BV on the other.
When a cycle is triggered, a Sh8pe Club affiliate earns a commission.
How much of a commission is earned is based on how much the affiliate themselves spent on their Sh8pe Club affiliate membership:
- Bronze – $25 a cycle
- Silver – $45 a cycle
- Gold – $65 a cycle
- Ruby – $95 a cycle
- Emerald – $125 a cycle
- Diamond – $150 a cycle
Diamond ranked affiliates who max out binary commissions at $100,000 a week are given the option to create a new binary team position on top of their previous one.
This effectively permits an affiliate to earn double commissions on generated binary team volume.
This process repeats itself each time a Diamond ranked affiliate maxes out a binary position at $100,000 a week.
Matching Bonus
The Matching Bonus pays Sh8pe Club affiliates a matching commission on binary commissions earned by their downline.
The Matching Bonus is tracked 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.
Sh8pe Club cap the Matching Bonus at nine unilevel levels.
The Matching Bonus is paid out as a percentage of residual commissions paid to unilevel team affiliates as follows:
- Elite 4 – 5% matching bonus on level 1 (personally recruited affiliates)
- Elite 5 – 5% on level 1 and 4% on level 2
- Elite 6 – 5% on level 1, 4% on level 2 and 3% on level 3
- VIP 7 – 5% on level 1, 4% on level 2, 3% on level 3 and 2% on level 4
- VIP 8 – 5% on level 1, 4% on level 2, 3% on level 3, 2% on level 4 and 5% on level 5
- VIP 9 – 5% on level 1, 4% on level 2, 3% on level 3, 2% on level 4, 5% on level 5 and 2% on level 6
- Platinum 10 – 5% on level 1, 4% on level 2, 3% on level 3, 2% on level 4, 5% on level 5 and 2% on levels 6 and 7
- Platinum 11 – 5% on level 1, 4% on level 2, 3% on level 3, 2% on level 4, 5% on level 5, 2% on levels 6 and 7 and 1% on level 8
- Platinum 12 – 5% on level 1, 4% on level 2, 3% on level 3, 2% on level 4, 5% on level 5, 2% on levels 6 and 7 and 1% on levels 8 and 9
Rank Advancement Bonus
There are twelve affiliate ranks within the Sh8pe Club compensation plan.
Along with their respective qualification criteria the are as follows:
- Elite 1 – generate 600 BV in binary volume in your first month
- Elite 2 – generate 1200 BV in binary volume in your first month
- Elite 3 – generate 2400 BV in binary volume in your first month
- Elite 4 – generate 6000 BV in binary volume a month
- Elite 5 – generate 12,000 BV in binary volume a month
- Elite 6 – generate 24,000 BV in binary volume a month
- VIP 7 – generate 50,000 BV in binary volume a month
- VIP 8 – generate 100,000 BV in binary volume a month
- VIP 9 – generate 200,000 BV in binary volume a month
- Platinum 10 – generate 400,000 BV in binary volume a month
- Platinum 11 – generate 800,000 BV in binary volume a month
- Platinum 12 – generate 1,600,000 BV in binary volume a month
Note that no more than 70% of the required BV can be counted from any one affiliate recruitment leg (unilevel).
Rank Achievement Bonuses upon qualifying for the above ranks are paid out as follows:
- Elite 4 – $500
- Elite 5 $1000
- Elite 6 – $2500
- VIP 7 – $5000
- VIP 8 – $10,000
- VIP 9 – $20,000
If a Sh8pe Club affiliate qualifies at the Elite 4 to VIP 9 rank within their first 90 days, they receive double the Rank Achievement Bonus for the appropriate rank.
- Platinum 10 – $75,000 plus a “business class overseas trip for seven days for 2 people” if Platinum 10 qualified for 8.5 months in a calendar year
- Platinum 11 – $200,000 plus a “first class overseas trip for seven days for 2 people” if Platinum 11 qualified for 8.5 months in calendar year
- Platinum 12 – $500,000 plus an “all-expenses paid annual exotic holiday to the value of $50,000” if Platinum 12 qualified for 8.5 months in a calendar year
Note that the cash component of the Rank Achievement Bonuses is only paid out if the qualifying rank is held for two consecutive months.
Starter Pool
The Starter Pool is made up of 5% of Sh8pe Club’s company-wide revenue.
New Sh8pe Club affiliates can qualify for a share in the pool each week by
- recruiting two affiliates who each have signed up for $49 a month autoship and
- generating at least 600 GV a week (minimum of 200 GV on the weaker binary side)
Starter Pool shares are capped at $125 a week. Sh8pe Club don’t state how long the bonus is pad out for to new affiliates.
Global Leadership Pool
Sh8pe Club take 5% of all gaming profits each month and put them into a Global Leadership Pool.
VIP 7 and higher ranked affiliates earn shares in specific rank pools as follows:
- VIP 7 – one share in a 2% pool
- VIP 8 – one share in a 1% pool
- VIP 9 – one share in a 0.5% pool
- Platinum 10 – one share in a 0.5% pool
- Platinum 11 – one share in a 0.5% pool
- Platinum 12 – one share in a 0.5% pool
Car Rental Rewards Program
VIP 7 and higher ranked Sh8pe Club affiliates qualify for a monthly rental car as follows:
- VIP 7 – receive a rental car to the value of $1000 a month
- VIP 8 – receive a rental car to the value of $1300 a month
- VIP 9 – receive a rental car to the value of $1850 a month
- Platinum 10 – receive a rental car to the value of $2200 a month
- Platinum 11 – receive a rental car to the value of $2500 a month
- Platinum 12 – receive a rental car to the value of $3000 a month
Note that to qualify for the Car Rental Rewards Program a qualifying rank must first be held for three consecutive months.
Also note that the Car Rental Rewards Program
may be accumulated over a calendar year and be redeemed as an annual cheque payment for your mortgage, boat or caravan payment.
Rebate Bonus
Sh8pe Club collects a commission for gaming activity that takes place through their gaming partners.
A percentage of this rebate is shared monthly with Sh8pe Club affiliates as follows:
- Elite 3 – a share in 20% of the rebate
- Elite 4 to 6 – a share in 10 of the rebate (10% at each rank)
- VIP 7 – a share in 25% of the rebate
- VIP 8 to 9 and Platinum 10 to 12 – a share in 5% of the rebate (5% at each rank)
Joining Sh8pe Club
Sh8pe Club affiliate membership is $49 a year plus the purchase of one of the following affiliate packages:
- Bronze – $99
- Silver – $199
- Gold – $299
- Ruby – $999
- Emerald – $3999
- Diamond – $6999
The primary difference between the above packages is income potential through the Sh8pe Club compensation plan.
Conclusion
The problem with Sh8pe Club is that the majority of the MLM side of the business has nothing to do with the gaming platform.
Sh8pe Club affiliates sign up for $49 and then purchase a package that could run them several thousand dollars.
The more a Sh8pe Club affiliate spends on a package, the higher their income potential through the compensation plan.
This is clearly pay to play and is typically frowned upon by MLM regulators.
The rest of the Sh8pe Club compensation plan sees affiliates paid to recruit other affiliates who also buy packages.
In order to qualify for MLM (binary) commissions, every Sh8pe Club affiliate is required to sign up for monthly autoship:
You must be a fully qualified Bronze Club Member or above, with an active monthly auto-bet to earn binary income.
Auto-bet is $49 (15 BV), $99 (30 BV) or $149 (50 BV) a month.
None of this has anything to do with marketing or selling gaming services to retail customers of the Sh8pe Play gaming platform.
The only components of the Sh8pe Club website that are tied to gaming are the 3 level deep gaming commissions and rebate bonus.
The majority of the Sh8pe Club website focuses on affiliate recruitment, which it follows will be the primary focus of Sh8pe Club affiliates.
Sign up as a Sh8pe Club affiliate, pay a package fee plus monthly autoship and get paid to recruit others who do the same.
This focus on affiliate recruitment makes Sh8pe Club a pyramid scheme.
As with all pyramid schemes, once affiliate recruitment dies down Sh8pe Club will collapse.
Perusal of Paul Baber’s Facebook profile leaves me with the distinct impression that he alone isn’t up to creating a multi-jurisdictional money laundering pyramid.
Not to take anything away from him, but d’d be very surprised if Baber was acting alone without unnamed silent partners.
Despite the dollar references on both the Sh8pe Club and Sh8pe Play websites, a disclaimer on Sh8pe Play states that ‘all transactions are charged in Euros‘.
This suggests European banking channels, with the actual ownership and operation of Sh8pe Club likely based out of Europe itself.
Is anyone else having trouble getting the money they are owed from Sh8pe? They owe me many thousands of dollars.
They keep telling me they are sending it, and then don’t.
Deep down you already know what this means…
Hi Worried Sh8pe User and OZ,
Any day very soon, we distributors of Sh8pe all know that Sh8pe is currently upgrading its computer, software and website.
Sh8peRewards is very impressive now while still in Beta test mode. Exciting days, weeks and months are ahead in Sh8pe
@Bing
That’s nice. Are Sh8pe going to “upgrade” the pay to play and autoship recruitment components of its compensation plan too?
(Ozedit: Marketing spam removed.)
…so that’s a no then.
Let me rephrase my answer I gave, Ozedit removed my response to you OZ. I said that Sh8pe is now upgrading computer, website and software.
No need to “upgrade” Sh8pe Play nor the Auto Play. We now get 25% Instant bonus – only in Sh8pe Play
Right. So in other words Sh8pe still has compliance issues with autoship recruitment and pay to play.
A lot of the information in your review is now very outdated, as Sh8pe has evolved quite substantially since late 2016.
It would assist you and people reading this to have accurate information displayed.
There are no compliance issues to resolve to my knowledge. But a quick email or phone call should give you the information you need to update your review.
^^ Feel to point out what’s “evolved”. Nobody should have to call an MLM company to find out basic information, ever.
Sh8pe’s primary focus has shifted substantially over the past 3 months. As of April 15, the primary source of income will come from Affiliate Marketing revenue through the introduction of its’ new ‘MobPower’ and ‘Sh8pe Rewards’ divisions. Sh8pe is now positioning itself to become the world’s largest eCommerce platform.
While the other divisions are still very much alive and continue to bolster Sh8pe, the company structure has evolved nearly to the point of being unrecognisable from what it was at its inception.
The Compensation Plan is being updated to reflect these enhancements, and the Back Office is undergoing a similar overhaul prior to ‘MobPower’ going live mid-April.
Essentially, the Sh8pe you wrote about late last year is a far different company today than it was then. Your review is now very outdated and, as such, far from correct. As such, you would do well to update yourself and your readers.
And finally it appears Sh8pe is gaining attention in the press for the right reasons; take a look at this press release (Ozedit: Spam removed. Press-release != “press”.)
@Kirk
Not until the comp plan changes.
You should all be worried. Sh8pe doesn’t pay its bills. Looking very pyramidish at this point but go ahead Kirk, keep telling yourself that it is going to be okay.
You are correct they are constantly changing and changing suppliers too; I would imagine that has something to do with repeatedly getting cut off of services for non payment.
Convicted felons at the top of this food chain I am afraid.
I see that a year later still nothing has been paid. Another name change and from the sounds of it still investing money into the so called computer software.
I should buy shares in this IT company as they must be making a fortune!!!
They have a shopping platform that still isn’t 100% and more promises and lies have been told by the corporate team. The so called CEO of the company is also making promises and when he can’t fulfill his promises, he goes into hiding by not answering phone calls.
I think everyone who has made comments on this post knows who the real person is behind the scenes and pulling all the strings.
No credible updates on when the investors are to receive their money back … all they do is mention about how much Ebates is worth these days and how shape is in a better position in what Ebates was when they started.
To all of the people who are disgruntled atm, let’s get this message out there so they can’t rip off other people!!