Free Mart Review: Kooky products, medical claims & no retail
Free 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.
Listed 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):
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.
With the owners having 40 years MLM experience, I’d say these guys have indeed mastered how MLM works.
They designed Free Mart accordingly with all the pertinent elements for its duration.
Free Mart website:
I always love the ‘combined years experience’ horseshit. like every interaction was unique and there was never any overlap in experiences.
if they have 40 years experience then they both have 40 years experience and that’s it. bullshitting jackasses.
Hey, SOMEBODY has to take the product out of big boxes and put it in little boxes to send to customers.
yah, well, right.
John used to be in my JTL upline. I quit their program over a year ago. I cannot imagine John can really believe that his new program wreaks ANY credibility.
Another huge problem from an MLMer point of view is that 88% is paid out in residual commissions for physical products? That isn’t sustainable … unless the products are jacked up so high as to be way over what one would ever expect to pay for comparable products.
55% paid out on level 8 and 9? The entire plan is upside down! Very few will ever see any residuals on level 8 and 9. THAT is why they “can” pay 88%. The balance that may ACTUALLY get paid out is (88% – 55%) only 33% for levels 7 and above to level one.
Most people won’t get past the first 3 levels. That gives them a “whopping” 4% total on all three levels in residual income. I cannot believe anybody would be so stupid as to fall for this.
I’m a network marketer, and even I can see the idiocy of this. I think any “dumb MLMer” can figure this one out. John, what were you thinking? No retail? Insane comp plan?
First of all, I appreciate you bringing light to the mlm industry, which truthfully is filled with a lot of trickery, fraud and deception. And even if you try to make Free-Mart out to be a scam or a company designed to hurt its members, I am not offended by anyone else’s opinions.
The beauty of free-enterprize is that only those who choose to join Free-Mart will join. There is no enticement and all products are sold retail.
I admit that we are doing everything upside-down from traditional mlm and if we fail, you will say “I told you so” and that’s still okay. I believe it is time that somebody tried to do something outside of the “mlm-box” and that is what we are doing.
If we succeed, it will likely be by such huge proportions that traditional mlmers will not understand why.
So now that you have said your piece and I have said mine, why don’t we both just take 3 steps backward and watch what happens before either of us get more egg on our face than we already have.
In the meantime God bless you for your efforts to prevent a lot of ill-informed people from getting hurt by signing up for a “FREE MEMBERSHIP” in the Free-Mart Buying Club that pays referral commissions (cost of advertising) to anyone who refers another Free-Mart Member who makes a product purchase.
Hey John, thanks for stopping by.
Your words. BehindMLM merely pointed out the lack of retail sales constitutes a chain-recruitment pyramid scheme.
Before you crap on about having products, know that product-based pyramid schemes are alive and well today too (see FTC litigation against Vemma).
1. Recruiting affiliates only get paid if their recruits spend money, that’s enticement.
2. Affiliates purchasing product != retail sales.
No need. Recruitment schemes die when recruitment slows down.
Sorry to break it to you, but your “no retail” MLM business model isn’t new or revolutionary.
It’s interesting how after so many years of knowingly working in companies in which the average person has little to no chance of earning any substantial or meaningful income in, some people decide “Enough is enough. We’re going to finally set it up so the little guy can finally make some money after we told everybody for many years that anybody can make a solid income in this industry.”
They could’ve helped many folks by telling them their chances of success in the industry were slim and none. And slim was last seen packin’ his bags for a one way trip to Neverland.
I am a member of Free-Mart
(Ozedit: Offtopic derail attempts removed)
Please explain to me what i should understand is wrong in the following
Free to join
No kits to buy
No autoships
No need to ever buy products to be paid on 9 levels
Get paid when members you intoduced buy
they buy if they want to
i am dealing with experienced marketers who think it is a great company
After reading your comments i should join witch company???
After all i certainly don’t want to scam anybody.
So with your vast unbious experience i am sure you can guide me to better pastures
Hoping to be be finally guided by a honest person like you.
warm regards
Guy
The Misguided
Without retail, in MLM this constitutes a product-based pyramid scheme.
Quit being a lazy-ass and do your own due-diligence. Those looking for a handout make the worst MLM marketers.
yes i am a free-mart member.
88% of retail price IS a lot but How about 88% of BV ( yes oz BV ) wich is 66% of retail price
umm 33% left +12% of BV i wonder how they will ever survive.
There are no wholesale prices, it is all retail.
There are no retail customers in Free Mart. You buying products as an affiliate is not a retail sale.
Big fat fail there.
Then you’re not in a MLM, are you?
In a MLM you’re supposed to SELL stuff. What are you selling, if there’s no wholesale for you?
Is it not wonderfull to have people buy your products.
because when they are informed they want them instead of having to sell it to them. they are buying as a member.
Ever hear of commissions?profit sharing? does it really matter what you call it?
How about admitting you were wrong on the 88% commission.
Anyway this is my last post,so go for it,there won’t be areply
Sure. But in MLM you need to have retail customers buying your products, otherwise it’s a product-based pyramid scheme.
Blahblahblah… no retail in MLM = product-based pyramid scheme.
Nope, but the universal term for no retail in MLM is a product-based pyramid scheme, so let’s stick with that.
“88%” didn’t appear anywhere in the review. How about you stop bringing up strawman nonsense?
No worries and best of luck with the scamming.
Promise ????
Thanks for your hard research.
But after being in several MLM businesses, this is a refreshing change, to me. I have brought people into other organizations, and they had autoships requirements to earn commissions.
After not being able to make the autoships or wanting to, they stopped paying my commissions, even though I did the work of bring that person in.
They aren’t doing this is Free-Mart. They are actually paying you, and rewarding you for helping build the organization, with no strings attached or gotchas.
And on response to the recruitment pyramid, those are when you get paid for recruiting. You get paid at Free-Mart when the people you referred make a purchase and the people they referred on down 9 levels.
Only get paid on commissions from people who make a purchase. Therefore, it is not a recruitment pyramid.
It’s the fairest mlm business I have ever seen. Have you seen one fairer? And which one or ones would that be? (At the risk of being called lazy)
And as far as the products go, I’m looking forward to trying some products that have the potential to help me with some issues like arthritis. Because I wouldn’t dare try those drugs that I see being advertised on TV that the FDA have approved, that have disclaimer at the end like may destroy your immune system, or have been known to cause Cancer.
I’ll keep you posted on the results of my trial.
And as far as no retail. That’s all it is. There is no wholesale. Free-Mart is a retail membership club. Membership is required for making purchases. (Like Costco or Sam’s Club.)
The only differences are, it’sfree to be a member at Free-Mart. And they give you commissions when memberes you referred, make prchases) They reward you for referring, when the people you referr, make purchases. We don’t make money for reffering or recruiting directly, so this is not a recruitment pyramid.
And thanks for letting Free-Mart know about the disclaimer. I noticed they do have that on the website now.
I noticed several bits of false information in the blog, since they have updated the website. Do you ever update your blog so you can let people know the facts?
This is a product-based pyramid scheme.
In MLM you need retail, without it you’re just paying commissions on recruitment.
Review is clearly date-stamped. I do update reviews if there’s significant changes made.
As far as I can see, Free Mart still has no retail – which is the biggest compliance issue they have.
So you admit they are paying you to recruit affiliates.
Are you recruited by one such affiliate too? Did you buy something and thus help your upline get promoted? Do you expect people you recruit to help you get promoted too?
The plan itself has some decent aspects, however the payplan is a joke and is the reason why people get put out with MLM as a business model.
99.9% of the people joining this will never reach levels 8 & 9 and that is where the money is in the payout.
Also they are selling a bottle of water for 43 dollars, if it is more than one bottle someone let me know because it does not tell you how many bottles of their healing water you get for 43 dollars.
Advice to the owners, pay on less levels, higher % per level, keep no autoship option, be more transparent on your website, and many other items that could make this a viable program, but selling water for 43 dollars is a big time joke, 32 bottles of water at Walmart cost 3.98 and will hydrate a person very well.
Louisiana law recognize personal purchases by affiliates as retail sales so does Oklahoma and several other states.
The FTC don’t. End of discussion.
(not to mention you provided no sources for your claims)
where is your proof it is a pyramid scheme? everyone who purchases product pays retail nobody makes money onless product is sold to an end user.
I know the state law in Louisiana because I live there according to mlm watchdog.com the problem is an emphasis in recruiting not product marketing to end users.
with free mart no one gets paid unless an end user buys something the company is a buyers club where all members pay retail for the products.
unlike SAMs it is free to be a member the other states were mentioned in mnmbj oz that is the source if you want to look it up look through all the past issues. Or Google mlm state laws they are somewhere online.
That is the problem the ftc has with vemma nutrition not freemart I want to be clear.
If freemart emphasized recruiting like Vemma nutrition instead of marketing to end users I would have ran the other way.
vemma is about to go the way of holiday majic coscot interplanetary or dare to be great. Holiday Magic is studied as case law in product driven pyramid schemes.
Now, now, Oz, don’t be so hasty. 🙂
Actually, what the law *actually says* is it does not recognize payment to participants based on sale of products destined for resale or consumption (even if it’s participant’s personal consumption) as “compensation” when it comes to definition of a pyramid scheme.
“Retail sales” was not mentioned.
Actual law cited as per Jeff Babener of MLMLegal:
NOLINK://www.mlmlegal.com/la.html
What Mr Babener did not mention: any MLM company and/or organizer with any downline in Louisiana is required to update Louisiana Department of Justice of any changes to their downline situation regarding Louisiana residents… if they want to do ANY business in Louisiana, and pay a registration fee as well.
ag.state.la.us/Shared/ViewDoc.aspx?Type=3&Doc=399
TL;DR — any MLM company that does NOT register with Louisiana has a good chance to being declared illegal pyramid scheme within the state, or at least attract more regulatory attention than it needs.
Free Mart has no retail sales commissions and pay affiliates to recruit new affiliates. Emphasizing recruitment is all they do.
Meaning there is no retail and everyone is an affiliate.
Affiliates getting paid to recruit affiliates in MLM = pyramid scheme.
you are misusing the term ‘buyers club’ in an effort at psuedocompliance.
people join a buyers club to avail products at a discount. freemart is not offering any discount to its members.
even a buyers club Must Have Retail.
why are people joining the club to buy the products if no one is buying them at retail?
without retail there is no way of ascertaining whether members are purchasing the product to earn commissions, or for for their inherent value.
i would love to see how many retail customers there are for freemarts ‘vodoo’ products.
please don’t abuse the term ‘buyers club’, it may incite me to kick your ass.
If you tell others you get your money back do not be vulgar.
making terroristic threats will land you in prison so will assault and battery unless you can prove they are voodoo or prove psudocompliance do not make the statement.
I forgive you for you know not what you say.
terroristic threats?? that is kickass funny, bwahaha.
YOU prove your products are not ‘voodoo’, by selling them at retail!
when you say freemart is a ‘buyers club’ where everyone pays ‘retail’, you are twisting the meaning of the term ‘buyers club’ in some lame halfassed attempt to appear ‘compliant’.
if you skunk around throwing buttsilly ‘psuedocompliance’ legalese, you may incite me to kick your sillybutt.
go cry to mama.
You do save money. No sales tax is collected.
The products are sold to end users.
End users aren’t necessarily retail customers. Product-based pyramid schemes sell products to “end users”.
Ultimately if you’re not selling to retail customers in MLM, you’re probably doing something you shouldn’t. As far as Free Mart goes, 100% affiliate revenue = product-based pyramid scheme.
Products are sold to the ultimate consumer.that puts the plan in compliance holiday magic was a product based pyramid shut down by the federal trade commission because it, like vemma, emphasized recruiting instead of moving product to the ultimate consumer. Free mart is not holiday magic or vemma.
End users include retail customers.
what is the differentiation between retail customers and affiliates?
In FreeMart 100% of the end-users are affiliates so there is no retail.
In that sense FreeMart is near-identical to Vemma pre-FTC shutdown.
There is a way to save money when you refer members who buy products you get 10to50% of the price paid back to you.
depending on the number of members reffered by you who make a purchase at retail if you make money if you make money 80% gets sent to you 20 %goes into a product wallet.
If you make $1000, $200 goes into your product wallet if you use that for product purchases there is no out of pocket costs.
I did not say wholesale buyers club.
End users include customers and affiliates. You have the option of telling others and making money and getting a rebate from the retail price, or you can keep your mouth shut and not earn rebates and overrides or you can be both a customer and an affiliate.
End users don’t always equate to retail customers. Therein lies the problem.
FreeMart generates no retail sales revenue, which in MLM equates to a pyramid scheme.
Whatever.
So long as you get paid… right?
Best of luck with the scamming.
A retail sale is made when you move product to to the ultimate consumer.
I do not scam if I did God would sentence me Hell and thanGehenna for all eternity I did learn free mart is located in Wyoming. I will find out where in a few days.
The attorney free-mart hired was an appellate court judge and has certified it legal and he will defend it if attacked in court or by the federal trade commission.
David Crookston was forced out of free-mart. If you need the exact location I will give it in a few days. i will try to get you the name soon but I cannot promise I will be successful.
So prove them wrong. Can you?
Seems that you can’t. So either you’ve NOT educated yourself properly in terms of MLM law, understood what is the real business model of Free Mart… or you just can’t admit to yourself you picked the wrong horse.
Now the question for you is… what will you LEARN from this?
Would encouraging retail without forcing it help improve freemart’ s reputation they could join the buyers club and participate in th pay plan or buy retail as a customer.
the pay plan is better because of the long term residual income the retail option could be set up on a separate website for that to work free-mart would need to deliver lithe products to the customer like they like they now do with the members and will need to take care of customer service issues as they come up.
optional retailing is good because it adds an additional source as well as new members the company can give them the opportunity to join at checkout or they can join free like they do now.
I plan to suggest that option to John Austin if enough people tjoined through the option available now or the 1 I want to suggest we might get the wild medical claims toned down.
False. An ultimate consumer could be an affiliate and that is certainly not a retail sale.
I don’t get what you just said. Please explain.
The problem is Free Mart has been setup ass-backwards with no retail focus.
You can add an “optional” retail option, but it’s unlikely to generate any significant revenue when current affiliates are focused on recruitment.
Retail volume qualifiers would guarantee minimal retail sales, however you’d probably lose a large chunk of your affiliate-base “we never signed on for selling products!”
That is why I did not say mandatory retailing. Putting retail quotas into affect would discourage retailing.
Giving someone the option of retailing with a separate website could give the customer who wants to upgrade to buyers club member for free and gives the customer the opportunity to determine whether the products are kooky or not for themselves while they decide if want to join.
Product is moved internally in freemart why not market it outside? Oz do you want optional retail or not?
When product is sold inside freemart and optionally out everyone will benefit. Optional retail also will keep the ftc away.
Using the product to market the opportunity is classic product-based pyramid scheme.
Retail customers are interested in the product only, not joining the business as an affiliate.
Retail quotas mean affiliates who aren’t generating retail sales (and are focused on recruitment), don’t get paid. Worked wonders for Vemma.
Optional retail is pseudo-compliance if everyone ignores it.
The probability of it being ignored when it’s added to an MLM opportunity that was founded and built on 0% retail is high.
yes, encouraging retail would certainly help.
but you must establish a clear demarcation between members and retail customers ie a clear and healthy retail margin.
if freemart is then able to generate good retail sales, no one will complain. so you have to make sure that your retail price is competitive and compares to other similar products.
Freemart is relaunching. I migh be able to get optional retailing launched.
I am a founder with freemart I can also find out where in Wyoming free mart is located.
David Crookston the scammer was booted from freemart and John Austin is mulling criminal prosecution for him. dont want to say much might get sued.
MLM opportunities without retail often do.
The person who pays retail would not be a member but would have the opportunity to join free at checkout.
Those who cannot afford to buy cen still enroll on t the landing page.
If someone buys as a customer or a member you make money. if they buy as a customer or member money is earned either as retail profit or fast start bonus member is better price would be loewr.
I am trying to get optional retail you missed the point of the post.
Join what? In MLM retail customers can’t sign up as affiliates.
If they do, they cease being retail customers.
I will talk to John Austin about optional retailing. i I am trying to get it launched right this time.
Natures sunshine gives the retail customer that option they are a billion dollar company.
NS don’t pay affiliates to recruit affiliates (which is what Free Mart launched with).
Anything further on NS will be marked offtopic.
they would have the option to be buyer club members and benefit from the pay plan and the lower expense or they can pay a higher price and deal with headaches like sales tax when they become buyers club members. they become wholesale customers and both types are needed.
Making them affiliates and not retail customers.
Retail sales in MLM shouldn’t be a “headache”. If they are you’re doing it wrong.
I will suggest optional retailing. what happened before will not be repeated. want to see free mart launched right.
Sales tax is a headache not retail in mlm. I would suggest the company handle customer service deliveries sales tax.
as freemart does not have any compulsory purchases or autoship requirements, and you can sell freemart products without having to buy any first, it is fair enough to not have any mandatory retail requirements from each affiliate.
BUT, merely saying – we will encourage retail – is not enough. there have to be real retail sales which are a healthy percentage of the total sales volume. for instance if freemart is able to record 25- 30% retail sales, i don’t see the FTC knocking at their door.
so, Tc why dont you get your relaunch effected and come back in 6 months and give us your honest retail sales data?
make it more profitable for members to earn from retail than from recruitment in the early stages. this will encourage a culture of retail and establish your product value.
eg: a member should be able to make profit from a single retail which is equivalent to the sale of the same product to three downline members. this will encourage members to look for retail customers rather than just recruiting members.
The problem is you have a fundamental cognitive dissonance. People do NOT join buyer’s club (such as Costco) to “earn money”. People join buyer’s club to spend (and save) money.
People join MLM to “earn money”. You can’t have a MLM Buyer’s club. It’s like a “spending piggy bank”. It’s a meatball sundae: makes no sense.
I seriously recommend you read MLM law primer on what is a MLM and what to do BEFORE coming up with further scenarios. You should have contacted a real MLM lawyer and have them study the comp plan.
NOLINK://www.mlmlaw.com/law-library/guides-reference/multilevel-marketing-primer/#buying
Retailing is needed but it should bo optional and sufficiently i lucrative to encourage it.
freemart could be a billion dollar company with tens of thousands of products a million+affiliates with optional retailing.
If it is forced with quotas freemart affiliate t would leave in droves people join freemart because the company got rid mod the hoops making retailing mandatory would defeat the purpose of joining freemart and stunt its growth.
i disagree. a person can join costco and buy at wholesale, and then retail the products to friends, family and neighbors and ‘earn money’.
when a buyers club is set up as an MLM, then members have the option of selling at retail for profit, and selling to downline members [to achieve higher discount levels] and earn wholesale profit.
check out the FTC/DSA advisory, 2004, there is a whole paragraph on buyers club MLM.
What I meant is people do not join Costco SOLELY to earn money. It can be used to source products for retail, but a buyer’s club’s MISSION is to SAVE members money, not providing them with income.
Which no longer exist in the age of drop-shipping. Nobody want a garage full of products. Indeed, the term “distributor” is obsolete.
so we can both agree that a buyers club allows for both savings and earnings. A can join primarily to save, and B can join primarily to earn, which are both possible because of the discounts offered by buyer club memberships.
the MISSION of a buyers club is to provide DISCOUNTS, how members take advantage of this, is their own Personal Mission.
you dont need to store a garage full of products to sell to your downline.
everytime you convince a downline member to buy a product, it can be dropshipped to him and credited to your sales account. when you have accomplished a particular volume of sale, you get a deeper discount level, adding to your earnings.
dropshipping just means that distributors don’t have to pay for and stock products in advance which sets them up for loss.
Forced retailing =forced front end loading (Ozedit: Snip, massively flawed premise removed)
Retail customers can’t “front end load”. Fail.
@Tc
Do you understand why retailing a product to people not attached to the income opp is necessary?
If yes, tell me.
Reps can if forced to retail idiot.
That is why I will suggest optional retailing char I was not directing the idiot comment to you retailing is a good source of residual income as long as it is voluntary.
People join freemart because there are no hoops , The company was created under God’s law which supersedes mans law.
Didn’t K.Chang just say that before you did? and you quoted him saying it before you did.
hmmm
I guess it sounds like a pissing contest at this point.
Oh great, now we’re going to have a MLM “philosophical” discussion.
And therein lies the confusion.
In a buyer’s club, the member’s INTENT is a buyer/customer/consumer. He’s there to SPEND money, not to MAKE money.
In a MLM, the affiliate’s PRIMARY intent is to MARKET stuff to other consumers. He’s there to SELL stuff and MAKE money. If he had downline affiliates doing the same, he gets rewarded for THEIR selling as well. That’s the “multi-level” in MLM.
But if a member’s primary intent is to BUY, not sell, s/he is a CUSTOMER, not a downline, and should NOT be counted in the genealogy. A downline is another affiliate, who’s also supposed to be retailing like you.
Member doesn’t have to stock products to suffer loss. He simply have to consume enough of his own stock, ostensibly for demo, partly to establish/affirm his own belief in the company and its products. (self-induced IKEA effect / ownership bias), enough so he can never make enough to break even, esp. after counting hours worked.
The counter-argument to that is… If he consumed the product, is it really counted as loss?
The problem again, is INTENT. Product not sold is product not making money. Isn’t? Whether flushed down the toilet, given away, or consumed, effect is the same: no profit for you, even though you paid for the product.
For “self-consumption” to make sense, it had to be limited to a REASONABLE amount one can reasonably consume, and it had to be accompanied by sufficient retail to show that the member is actively retailing product to qualify for commission instead of merely self-consume toward qualification. If there’s not enough retail activity, then the participant’s “volume” should not be counted as GV.
Unfortunately, what constitutes “reasonable” amount widely varies depending on the specific product.
By mixing both MLM and buyer’s club terminology, like “downline member”, one achieves “meatball sundae”… self-conflicting nonsense.
Now you are just trolling us. The whole point is discuss legality, and you’re here sprouting faith and religion.
If recruitment commissions are more attractive then retail sales, you’ll always be running a pyramid scheme.
Yeah, good luck with that if the regulators come knocking.
Free mart can track its sales to the ultimate user.
If genuine retail orders are being processed, you’d want to hope so. That should be standard in any MLM company.
(Ozedit: No retail in MLM = pyramid scheme. “Ultimate users” doesn’t negate the requirement for retail sales.)
I could retail if I did the free mart water could be $96 but you can save $48 as a member. I forgot to add shipping and sales tax.
If it’s more attractive to recruit affiliates than to sell products to retail customers, you’re doing MLM wrong.
Adding “optional retail” isn’t going to change anything.
A retail sale as made when the product is purchased by the ultimate consumer.
Why can’t it be attractive to to both?
A retail sale is made when an MLM company receives revenue from a retail customer.
The Vemma litigation made this perfectly clear.
Because it inevitably turns into a pyramid scheme.
There’s nothing stopping you from launching retail pseudo-compliance. Don’t kid yourself though, having retail commissions in an MLM compensation plan means nothing if no actual retail sales are being made.
Make the retail just as attractive and people will do both retail and recruit.. Nwm is about both recruiting and retailing.
This is not vemma.
This is MLM though, and without retail sales taking place you’re in a pyramid scheme.
Look, Free Mart as it stands is a pyramid scheme. If you relaunch it or whatever great, we can discuss the new compensation plan.
I think you’ve exhausted the pointless hypotheticals for now so let’s leave it there.
Sounds very much like the “bargain” phase in 5-stages of grief, doesn’t it?
in amway, the court found that only approx 25% of affiliates were behaving like distributors [ie primary intent to make money]. 75% were affiliates to enjoy the products at discount [and to retail if they chose to do so, without any compulsion to retail].
ih herbalife, the federal court in the bostick class action agreed that most affiliates had joined to consume the product at discount.
when there is no compulsion to buy a product and when merely buying the product will not qualify an affiliate for commissions, the court construes the ‘primary’ intent to be consumption.
hmmm, this seems to be the ‘preferred customer’ argument.
firstly there is no caselaw or FTC regulation requiring that an MLM should have a class of ‘preferred customers’.
secondly, specifically in a buyers club MLM, a discount member cannot be removed from the genealogy. this is because as the members primary intent is to save money on the product, the more members he introduces, will result in deeper discounts for him, helping him save more.
well, the FTC has served up this meatball sundae [buyers club MLM] in its 2004 advisory to the DSA. this advisory is still relevant as it was quoted in the burnlounge appeal order. the FTC has not retracted or revised this advisory.
the court order in the bostick class action also noted that herbalife ‘functions like a buyers club’ [not exact words], and the court did not say herbalife is a meatball sundae.
How do we know the water is even worth $48 let alone $96?
Who came up with that price?
Hey Oz, did you have to follow an affiliate link to look at the comp plan? I tried free-mart.com/compensation-plan/ and couldn’t access it without a login.
Additionally, I received an odd announcement popup/over which contained the info below. Did they have some issues with a supplier?
I think this might have been an opp I had to source the comp plan elsewhere. Or they’ve since thrown it behind an affiliate login.
Re. the notice, apparently there was a spat between the co-founders.
Oz DavidCrookston forced out for scamming free mart and its members he nearly destroyed free mart.
you have to log in to get the pay plan or read it on the site I will ask about that Monday.
As a scamming co-founder, CO-FOUNDER!!!!, I’d suggest he represents what FreeMart is. Duh, right?
Companies can change the embezzler was forced out may be prosecuted.
new products and services are coming New website is being created with the compensation plan and medical disclaimer there might be a new retail site as well.
If the company doesn’t, I will get a domain through free mart and retail some items myself the necklace will not be one of them. freemart got rid of it when John Austin forced the cofounder out. good riddance to Crookston and his dubious product.
Anyone who ordered the gem therapy necklace had rocks in head and needs it examined.
I don’t mind retailing just forced retailing my plan is to use some of the long term residual income to get a few extra items to retail.
when I do consulting I would be able to recommend the appropriate services like advertising and suitable items for my clients in the interview process for recruting members.
I will ask questions like how important are retailing and sponsoring. No retailing is no now money and probable pyramid, no sponsoring purchasing members is no weekly and monthly residual income.
Customer is negative client sounds better.
@T
If you wish to continue to comment stop changing your username.
I I’m looking into buying a domain and doing some retail. I will do as you ask.
I was answering a question about David Crookston and his kooky product only, please do not twist my words. that message is for Char.
T will be my username, that message is for you 0z.
Crookston does not represent free mart anymore.
When an individual is motivated by greed they do not want retail or residual income, nor are they satisfied with a partnership.
they want all the income for themselves so badly they become so obsessed with getting money the would destroy companies like free mart.
Free Mart was created to because the the CEO was tired of the trickery that is rampant in network marketing. retail is allowed you set your own prices that is why there are no retail prices on the website.
@T If FreeMart can’t show retail customer revenue entering the company, it’s a pyramid scheme.
If I buy a BigMac from McDonalds and resell it for $1 million dollars on ebay, that’s not $1 million dollars in retail revenue for McDonalds.
Affiliate purchases are affiliate purchases, retail orders are retail orders and in MLM they are entirely different things.
Retail or not these products are not interesting.
Start there if you really want to drive income.
Perhaps trickery IS network marketing. And knowing its history, why would any founder choose this method? Oh wait, the two go hand in hand.
And some food for thought. You said,
Easier said than done. We’d all be retired on residual from Amway if it was. Have you considered Amway? Some products are very nice and not so kooky. Does this suggestion sound ridiculous to you? Why?
Tc you sound like a decent guy with a lot of enthusiasm. Before you dive too deep, please read up on MLM in general. You could start here:
pyramidschemealert.org/are-all-mlms-scams/
Also, Oz and others here have been around a long time. It’s not negativity, it’s knowledge and most of all EXPERIENCE.
Did you double check Montana? How about Louisiana? That’s one (of several) states that requires MLM firms to register with the state DOJ.
Or perhaps John forced David out after a disagreement, and is now rebooting the scheme, thus a total separation of commission payment into “BD (before David)” and “AD (After David)”.
Then you shouldn’t be in the product selling business of MLM. Retailing products in MLM is not an option, it is a requirement. 51% of product to be exact.
And good luck achieving that btw. Hence the notion of MLM being inherently flawed…..which is why there is so much “trickery”…..and why the regular, honest guy isn’t rich from Amway et al..
So basically you want to retail the same exact products of freemart?
What would those prices be and will they signup as affiliates to buy them from you?
Call me confused yet why reinvent the wheel here? WHY not just get some decent products and host your own online store?
How many magic necklaces can you sell at retail?
i think I was en error about the disagreement between Mr crookston and John Austin for that I’m sorry.
I made a mistake. when it looks like theft I get boiling mad! I HATE fraud!
(Ozedit: Offtopic derail attempts removed)
Free-Mart is nothing more than affiliate plan that pays out the money in a pay plan. We don’t need to separate affiliates from customers because everyone is a customer.
This is legal and you know how I know we have an attorney that says so. Unless you are an attorney shut up.
Rick
In MLM this is a product-based pyramid scheme. You most definately need retail sales volume.
An MLM with zero retail sales is not legal as per the FTC and SEC. Both of which shit all over your attorney.
allegedly
An affiliate program like free mart is not multi level marketing but (Ozedit: No buts. Multilevel compensation plan = MLM opportunity.)
With enough money you can get attorney to say anything. Go look up Gerald Nehra, and how he blessed no less than THREE ponzi schemes as “legal”. Yes, ALL THREE were later shut down by US government. Nehra certainly had a MUCH more impressive resume than your attorney, esp. when it comes down to MLM law.
So, please, feel free to share your attorney’s resume AND share WHY your attorney decided FM’s legal.
Did you actually READ your comp plan? Seems you forgot to mention more than half of it, i.e. the multi-level part. Are you using the “3 blind men and elephant” gambit?
I’ve added the word ‘compulsory’.
I’m not sure you’re understanding the role retail to non-affiliates plays.
Here’s a brief scenario. Joe Scammer decides to bottle $5 water and put a $50 price tag on it. That leaves $45 worth of shuffle money to distribute.
Sam Affiliate is willing to pay $50 because he’s in the scheme and expecting some of that $45. The way to establish real value is to have a non-affiliate pay $50. Otherwise, all you have is Joe Scammer assigning an over-inflated dollar amount to cover up a Ponzi scheme; using a cheap $5 bottle of water as pseudo compliance.
Sales to non-affiliates proves it has real market value AT THAT $50 PRICE. If not, all it is is a money shuffling game.
Adding,
Without external sales, the scheme struggles to sustain payments to early affiliates who expect to be paid. If people don’t get paid, they leave. They get tired of paying $50 for a $5 product without reward. When recruitment dries up, so will the scheme.
Having a product with real value that people are willing to buy on its own merit, at fair market price, from outside the plan, insures viability.
This is why retail sales outside the system is required. All coming together now?
Will all of you guys stop trying to defend Free-Mart by all of your arguing, it is not profitable at all.
Instead just ignore these guys and instead why don’t you just post the incredible testimonies that are happening on a daily basis. Do you always have to be right?
No body forced me to join Free-Mart but I did just because I wanted to. Every naysayer always criticizes natural products and the people taking them and sharing them but what about (Ozedit: Offtopic derail attempt removed).
My mother is 83 years old and has been taking 3 types of medication for her high blood pressure. It has come down noticeably and she says her skin in much more smoother than it has been since she has been taking the Free-Mart water.
If you must insist that it is a placebo effect, try putting some cut flowers in the water then you will shut up for good.
Free Mart seems to be fudging payment to affilates and reports coming in they are not honoring downline sales as agreed by them.
also requirements to get paid as they are asking for rather stupid things to be sent to them for a affilate to get what owed to them?
It seems unfair as they are doing things they preach against.
if you dont like free mart dont sign up. listen to all the people that its helped, how can they all be wrong?
give john and tom credit for even giving us there time every day to keep us all healthy we need to be a team now.
Because Free Mart’s compensation plan has/had no retail. That makes it a pyramid scheme, irrespective of however many people feel they’ve been “helped”.
You can sell the products at whatever cost you want to if you want to retail.
This is a network sharing program with a 9 level rewards plan.
Affiliate purchases aren’t retail sales.
It’s an MLM company without retail, otherwise known as a pyramid scheme.
The new free-mart has an emphasis on retail it has 9 generational reward plan. Shopfreemart is a multilevel affiliate program not MLM the company has a new website going live in a few days
9 levels = MLM.
And didn’t Free Mart already launch “a new website” a few weeks ago? Guess that flopped then?
Freemart is a multilevel affiliate program, not MLM.
The bugs on the site are being worked on when you saw shop freemart site it wasn’t activated then there were lots of bugs and glitches that needed to be fixed.
Legit question, are you daft? You know what “MLM” stands for right?
I think you might have taken one too many of Free Mart’s products there…
I did not use the word level or the term compensation plan neither does freemart. (Ozedit: Waffle removed)
Doesn’t matter. Multilevel compensation plan? Congratulations, you’re an MLM company.
MLM is multilevel marketing MLA is multilevel affiliate I did not use too many free mart products nor did I have too much wine nor did have cannabis setiva. (Ozedit: Offtopic derail attempt removed)
Multilevel anything is MLM. It stands for “multilevel marketing”.
You can label Free Mart’s compensation plan whatever you want for all it matters. By definition it is still MLM.
Free Mart is Not Paying People and it reported by several people they cannot get their earned commissions. They have said does it all matter if Its a MLM or a Affiliate program?
When a company holds back rightful earned money. They are commiting Fraud on the members that earned it.
One member said John the CEO, talks about taking incoming money to build a research building and product development.
Yet they ignore the money they owe memebrs that earned their money. Free Mart they said are dishonest. Pay your people FreeMart. Stop the corruption.
I left that @&$? company not only do they have no retail, but you have to jump through a dozen hoops to be paid.
For a network marketing company to be legal, retailing and leadership have to both be rewarded.
Free Mart is slow about everything. They have been promising a new website for months.
No One is buying products, to expensive many say. No published geneology on their web page after over a year?
Calls daily are down to the 35-40 range only. People are loosing interest because income is not being made for long periods of time.
This company is not working out as many have disappeared and gone. The future of Free Mart is waying in the balance.
Company life in a few months they will be gone for sure. Not having a strong attraction, and to many broken promises.
I did get paid from freemart. It takes time to create a new website. I have not heard a date for the new site.
There is a genealogy list it in the back office as far as cost as concerned you if you buy low cost items you get inferior items.
Those who want instant gratification are just like that thieving partner who tried a hostile takeover. Both are gone.
Website as being is being coded and tested and will not be released until it is glitch free.
As far as income is concerned it takes years to make a decent income in any type of network marketing whether it is multilevel marketing or multilevel affiliate programs or any type of conventional business.
I had people call and try to convince me to believe you can $10000 in 2 weeks. patience is a virtue people need to learn how to be patient it takes lots of patience productive effort and time for success.
in freemart I have been on the conference there have been 100+ people. if freemart had conference calls at night lots more would attend.
I do promote a 2nd company just in case freemart goes under.
I made a sale in freemart. it was for natures nutrients and pure silver concentrate.
Can anyone explain pyramid cause its usually shite talk, anyone who works is in a pyramid, freemart is now thriving since John took over, most mlm companies have too many hurdles to jump over just to get paid
people are just going mad that Jihn has seen through the mlm bullshit and decide on plan that actually pays you, no need for autoship, no need to qualify, you bring a person in you get psid, sinple.
They have conference calls now five nights week, fab testimonials.
Sure, there’s this guy Pat who commented on this article.
He explained it perfectly:
Getting paid to recruit in MLM = pyramid scheme. Sinple.
Oz is becoming a comedian. Too funny!
Pat you get paid when you bring in a member who buys a product. If you bring in a member who does not buy something you get nothing you only get paid when product is bought by the member of the shoppers club .
Tc, corporate structure is not what “pyramid scheme” means. The idea that shape equals name is a fallacy long espoused by screwballs.
Getting paid for bringing in a member who purchases nothing is headhunting that is illegal making money on someone who joins and buys products is legal.
If that member is an affiliate, in MLM that’s known as a product-based pyramid scheme.
PS. This isn’t a marketing platform so don’t post spam offers here.
Wrong, Tc. Read and learn, grasshopper.
Your interpretation is NOT supported by existing law.
Buyer’s club is governed by laws that restrict what a member can do and how the club is organized. A buyer’s club member is a CONSUMER and is not in it to make money.
The fact that you claimed “only get paid” when other members buy means it’s not a buyer’s club. Look up “buyer’s club” laws, which is VERY different from MLM law.
I suspect you’ve been fed a bunch of baloney explanations by your upline.
Dude, your history of posting what you thought of as “rebuttals” is somewhat troubling.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Did you bother scrolling back, to Comment #25 back in 2016?
Enough said.
That all depends on who your source your products from.
I will take it that you are new to marketing and don’t know how these people gain an income this size in a few weeks if not days. It is very possible. That doesn’t mean the product is great or anything it just means they have more skill or more resources than you do.
And here you are fully focused on “Hunting” new members so they may or may not buy any products that happen to be on the site. Where is your RETAIL LEADERSHIP that you want rewards for?
So they’re diversifying their pseudo-compliance from crystal healing woo nonsense to domain hosting, Craigslist and basically anything they can knock up on their website from a template.
All of which will cost at least double the market rate because of the need to pass 50% commissions up the pyramid, plus the cost of administering the pyramid.
Meanwhile the only way people actually make money is by recruiting others into the scheme.
@Tc This isn’t the place for generic marketing spam.
What pyramid? There’s none with Shopfreemart you can market the enviro360 products and make $17 a sale after the first 3 the first 3 referrals will result in free products. you asked about about retail sales Terence B.
You need to look up laws on referral sales. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
NOLINKS://www.mlmlaw.com/law-library/guides-reference/multilevel-marketing-primer/#referral
wow theres some ago people here 🙂
Hey OZ hwen the guy previous;y asked you to name a better company I think he was saying that if you think free mart is no good well what company, if any is better.
i have trying many different companies in the past and in spite of the fact of put a lot of effort into them (one cost me my marrage i was working so hard on it) i had zero success.
for me the hardest thing was to convince people to paid a joining fee for the privilege of selling someones products. (i always thought a joining fee was a con.) and autoshipment, having to pay out more money when you werent making any ggrrrr.
so free mart with zero joining fees and no requirements to buy, sounds like to best thing since sliced bread to me 🙂
I don’t make personal MLM opportunity recommendations. I see it as a conflict of interest.
Take responsibility and do your own due-diligence. Going into business isn’t a decision that should be taken lightly, so don’t palm it off to others.
If those two criteria are deal makers, I’m afraid you’re in for a lifetime of chasing the golden goose
While you’re talking “free to join” and “no requirements to buy” people with experience in these matters see:
I was introduced to these products by my awesome Mother but I really didn’t join freemart to make money myself.
All I can do is testify to the fact that these products work… the hydration drops/happy water, siaga, copper, silver (awesome for cuts, colds and so many other ailments) gold…
Now this is miraculous as it helped with a node that appeared on my neck in 2017 & wouldn’t go away. Within 2-4 months after beginning the gold-cleansing regimen directed by CEO John it practically disappeared.
I swear by these products. Bottom line is to each his/her own but my God is faithful thanks to Mom’s and John’s intervention
Just asking. If retail is introduced would a registration fee not be required for joining.
If there is retail and no joining fee, why would customers buy retail when they could go directly to the website and purchase?
It’s up to Free Mart whether an affiliate fee is charged.
If retail customers are able to purchase directly from the website without an affiliate referral link, then Free Mart is competing directly against its affiliates. This isn’t good practice in MLM because naturally the company has an unfair advantage.
Hi OZ! I recently discovered your site and am reading through a lot of the past reviews. In reading this one, I decided to look up Free Mart and see if it’s still around. It is, under shopfreemart dot com.
Apparently they’ve come up with a way to try to justify affiliate purchases as true retail, under the ridiculous name of “Consumerpreneur”:
“ShopFreeMart™ is a new philosophy in Consumerpreneur Marketing™.
A Consumerpreneur is a person who consciously strives to improve their physical, mental and emotional performance by consuming quality nutritional products and who also enjoys the financial rewards of helping others do the same. Unlike cut-throat capitalism, Consumerpreneur Marketing™ is a caring sharing business built upon friendships, trust and appreciation.”
Also they’ve added some guy (with a doctorate in martial arts…is that even a thing?):
Seriously, wtf?
No such thing. FTC has to see retail sales by actual retail customers (non-affiliates) or it’s a pyramid scheme.
Stan Harris made a name for himself scamming people through the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.
When OneCoin collapsed he went back into obscurity with the money he’d stolen.
So Oz, what do you think of Nugen Coin? Coming out from Shop Free Mart owners? It’s been a long time since you commented on this company.
I wasn’t aware Free Mart had launched a shitcoin. Looks like it’s time for a review update.
I did punch it into Google and this came up:
You can probably guess how that’s going to go.
Email sent out from Roger Peppin about this…
The claim is that the shitcoin is the only one connected to a tangible product being clean energy…
Freemart members automatically got a nugen account…peppin claims he logged in to find 6k and a bunch of the shitcoins in his account…
A clean energy MLM shitcoin? We already went through this with Corsair Group…
NuGen Coins have my entire family in a frenzy. He definitely has a way of manipulating people.
I am glad I found this. Very concerned about them investing in this NuGen Coin.
Does anybody have more info on this Mr Austin or NuGen Coins?