Avorel Review: $40-$10,000 straight-queue Ponzi scheme
There is no information on the Avorel website indicating who owns or runs the business.
The Avorel website domain (“avorel.net”) was registered on the 13th of December 2011, with a “Mark Brown” listed as the domain owner.
Further research reveals Brown answering Avorel customer support queries using the “appollotrading.com” domain.
The Appollo Trading website has recently been redirected to “gohostit4me.com”, also registered to Brown.
A Google cache listing for the Appollo Trading website, dated 11th of May 2015, reveals the following:
Appollo Trading Limited is a family run business based in Cannock, Staffordshire with a vast range of experience in various markets and industries and was incorporated into its current form in 2011.
We have built up an excelent (sic) reputation over the years for good service and fair prices and we intend to keep up that reputation .
Mark Brown
Managing Director
This is in line with Avorel’s Terms and Conditions, which states:
Your use of this website and any dispute arising out of such use of the website is subject to the laws of the UK.
Services listed on the now defunct Appollo Trading website include web design, domain name registration, search engine optimization and “prepaid credit card with cashback” services.
I wasn’t able to find anything concrete on Brown’s history in MLM, suggesting Avorel might be his first MLM venture.
Read on for a full review of the Avorel MLM business opportunity.
The Avorel Product Line
Avrorel has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market affiliate membership with the company itself.
Once signed up, Avorel affiliates can then purchase matrix positions. Bundled with each of these positions are a series of advertising credits, which can then be used to display advertising on the Avorel website itself.
The Avorel Compensation Plan
The Avorel compensation plan sees affiliates purchase $10 to $10,000 matrix positions, with commissions paid out once enough subsequent positions have been purchased.
Matrix Commissions
Avorel use four straight-line queue configurations in their compensation plan:
- 5×1 – every 5 new positions purchased generates a commission for the position at the top of the queue
- 6×1 – every 6 new positions purchased generates a commission for the position at the top of the queue
- 10×1 – every 10 new positions purchased generates a commission for the position at the top of the queue
- 20×1 – every 20 new positions purchased generates a commission for the position at the top of the queue
Commissions paid out are determined by which queue an affiliate purchases a position in as follows:
- Feeder queue (size unknown) – positions cost $10 and pay out a $25 cycle commission
- Starter queue (5×1) – positions cost $40 and pay out a $120 cycle commission, $10 to the recruiting affiliate
- Stage 1 queue (6×1) – positions cost $75 and pay out a $250 cycle commission, $20 to the recruiting affiliate
- Stage 2 queue (6×1) – positions cost $200 and pay out a $850 cycle commission, $50 to the recruiting affiliate
- Stage 3 queue (10×1) – positions cost $500 and pay out a $2100 cycle commission, $100 to the recruiting affiliate
- Stage 4 queue (20×1) – positions cost $1000 and pay out a $7500 cycle commission, $200 to the recruiting affiliate
- Stage 5 queue (20×1) – positions cost $5000 and pay out a $35,000 cycle commission, $1000 to the recruiting affiliate
- Stage 6 queue (20×1) – positions cost $10,000 and pay out a $75,000 cycle commission, $2000 to the recruiting affiliate
Note that the Avorel website states that affiliates must ‘keep positions open in lower lines to be able to join the next lines up‘, however no further specifics are provided.
Referral commissions are paid when recruited affiliates purchase queue positions, paid out down four levels of recruitment as follows:
- Feeder – no commissions
- Starter – $4 on level 1, $3 on level 2, $2 on level 3 and $1 on level 4
- Stage 1 – $12 on level 1, $7 on level 2, $4 on level 4 and $2 on level 4
- Stage 2 – $20 on level 1, $10 on level 2, $7 on level 3 and $3 on level 4
- Stage 3 – $50 on level 1, $25 on level 2, $15 on level 3 and $10 on level 4
- Stage 4 – $100 on level 1, $50 on level 2 and $25 on levels 3 and 4
- Stage 5 – $500 on level 1, $250 on level 2, $150 on level 3 and $100 on level 4
- Stage 6 – $1000 on level 1, $500 on level 2, $300 on level 3 and $200 on level 4
Recruitment Commissions
Although Avorel do not disclose how much paid affiliate membership is, the company does advertise commissions paid out of affiliate fees.
These commissions are paid out using a unilevel compensation structure, capped at four levels of recruitment.
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 go on to recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team. If any level 2 affiliates go on to recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.
As mentioned previously, Avorel cap payable unilevel levels at four, with commissions paid out as follows:
- Business Associate (at least $3) – $3 on level 1, $2 on levels 2 and 3 and $1 on level 4
- Business Manager (at least $5) – $5 on level 1, $4 on level 2, $3 on level 3 and $2 on level 4
- Senior Business Manager (at least $10) – $10 on level 1, $8 on level 2, $6 on level 3 and $4 on level 4
- Group Manager (at least $40) – $40 on level 1, $20 on levels 2 and 3 and $10 on level 4
- Group Director (at least $250) – $250 on level 1, $100 on level 2, $80 on level 3 and $50 on level 4
Other than qualifying an affiliate to receive recruitment commissions, it is unclear what other benefits paid Avorel affiliates might receive.
Also and although not clarified, it is assumed lower fee paying affiliates are unable to collect full commissions on higher fee paying affiliates (unless they themselves “upgrade” their membership).
Joining Avorel
Affiliate membership with Avorel is either free or paid.
Free affiliates can only earn matrix queue commissions. Paid affiliates earn both matrix queue and paid affiliate recruitment commissions.
Avorel do not disclose paid affiliate membership costs on their website.
Conclusion
How things are going over at Appollo Trading I have no idea, but they can’t be doing too great if Mark Brown is launching a Ponzi cycler scheme to supplement the “family business”.
With nothing being marketed or sold to retail customers, Avorel is a simple eight-tier Ponzi scheme.
Queue positions required to be filled at each tier are funds required to be invested before a ROI is paid out, with Brown keeping what’s left sans referral commissions (both purchase and cycle).
And make no mistake, that’s a sizable amount of coin. Stage 6 sees affiliates buy in for $10,000, with $200,000 in additional deposits required to pay out $75,000.
An additional $4000 is paid out in referral commissions, leaving a whopping $121,000 unaccounted for.
Where does that money go? Well, unless I’m missing something obvious here, straight into Mark Brown’s pocket.
Large sums of money are also unaccounted for in the lower tiers of the queue cyclers too.
The recruitment side of the business meanwhile sees Avorel affiliates pay membership fees, seemingly for no other reason than to qualify for commissions when they recruit others who do the same.
This recruitment-driven incentive component of the Avorel compensation plan drags the opportunity into hybrid Ponzi pyramid territory.
Both components of the compensation plan rely on constant recruitment, with recruited affiliates only pumping so many funds into the scheme.
No new funds in the cycler queues will see them stall, with Brown pocketing trapped funds pegged to stalled positions.
No new funds being paid in membership fees means no recruitment commissions will be paid out either.
Simply put, if recruitment of new affiliates slows down Avorel collapses.
At that point anyone with funds still trapped in the system loses out, with this mathematically guaranteed to be the majority of participants.