An unfortunately common marketing tactic among MLM promoters is hiding company names from potential recruits.

The primary objective with this technique is preventing consumers from conducting independent due-diligence into the company.

While it’s not unheard of for MLM companies to unofficially incorporate the deceptive strategy into their marketing, it’s rare for it to be officially sanctioned.

Enter 7K Metals and its The Vault marketing funnel.

In short, The Vault is a company-run private FaceBook group set up to funnel consumers into 7K Metals.

There is of course nothing wrong with that but the deception lies in how 7K Metals utilizes The Vault to deceive consumers.

The Vault is a key piece of a new strategy to help new people see the value of gold and silver quickly. The process begins by sharing a new 1:47 pique video designed to drum up interest.

After people watch the video, they are invited to join The Vault on Facebook, which is full to the brim with comments and testimonials from others who are reaping the benefits of precious metals.

The Vault also provides two guides—one with videos and another with articles—designed as educational tools for building a solid understanding of what real money is, how people can get it, and how it helps build legacy.

People who see the vision are then primed to join the 7k family. But part of the beauty of The Vault is that group members won’t even hear the name “7k Metals” until they have realized the value of stacking metals; in fact, existing members are asked not to mention 7k at all.

“The Vault is purely a community to talk about gold and silver,” said chief sales and marketing officer Blake Davis.

If The Vault exists to “prime people to join 7K Metals”, then clearly it is not just “a community to talk about gold and silver”.

And that’s further confirmed by how 7K Metals pitches The Vault to its promoters;

Learn more about this new process by joining our Monday-night calls. Chamberlin will provide training on this new system and how to leverage it as you build your 7k business.

The Vault is a marketing funnel. A recruitment tool. A way for distributors to build their 7K Metals business.

Luring consumers on the premise of just “talking about gold and silver” when the actual intention it to rope them into 7K Metals is deceptive and, dare I say it, predatory.

Section 5(a) of the FTC prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce”.

Again, creating a FaceBook group to use as a marketing funnel isn’t deceptive. 7K Metals pretending otherwise to deceive unassuming consumers into participating in the group is.

“Deceptive” practices are defined in the Commission’s Policy Statement on Deception as involving a material representation, omission or practice that is likely to mislead a consumer acting reasonably in the circumstances.

Ditto not being upfront about the group’s association with 7K Metals and explicitly prohibiting group members from mentioning or discussing 7K Metals.

7K Metals is a precious metals themed MLM company co-founded by Zach Davis, Josh Anderson and Richard Hansen.

BehindMLM first reviewed 7K Metals in 2016. Based on 7K Metals’ business model, we concluded it was an autoship recruitment scheme.

BehindMLM revisited 7K Metals in 2018;

7K Metals does its best to create the illusion of retail activity, without actually paying commissions on retail sales.

In a legitimate MLM company, retail customers are just that. They purchase products and have nothing to do with the compensation plan.

In 7K Metals the illusion of retail customers is used as a “fear of loss” marketing tool.

In effect, 7K Metals hides generated commissions behind a monthly paywall.

Seeing as there’s no true retail within 7K Metals compensation plan, affiliates cannot qualify for commissions via retail sales.

This creates a closed-loop of affiliate money funding 7K Metals’ business model, which in MLM is indicative of a pyramid scheme.

As of October 2024, SimilarWeb was tracking ~38,000 monthly visits to 7K Metals website.

47% of 7K Metals’ website traffic originates from the US, followed by 33% from Germany and 22% from Canada.