magic-10-marketing-logoThere is no information on the Magic 10 Marketing website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The Magic 10 Marketing website domain (“magic10marketing.com”) was registered on the 20th of October 2015, with Gerald Ricks listed as the owner. An address in the US state of Utah is also provided.

gerry-ricks-ceo-joy-to-liveGerald Ricks (right) first popped up on BehindMLM’s radar as CEO of Joy to Live.

Joy to Live operate in the health and nutrition MLM niche, with Joy to Live itself owned by parent company “Elite Marketing Alliance, Inc.”

Further research reveals Joy to Live and Elite Marketing Alliance using the same Utah address as Magic 10 Marketing.

Prior to Joy to Live, Gerald Ricks appears to have been involved in the MLM company “AlivaMax” (launched in 2008).

AlivaMax sell supplements and although the company’s website is still active, today they appear to be a retail-only storefront.

Read on for a full review of the Magic 10 Marketing MLM business opportunity.

The Magic 10 Marketing Product Line

magic-10-silver-magic-10-marketing-productMagic 10 Marketing affiliate membership is tied to the purchase of Magic 10 Silver.

Our product is formulated in small batches under rigorous testing procedures to ensure the highest quality.

Magic 10’s silver utilizes a nano particle size at 50 parts per million (ppm).

Magic 10 Marketing’s compensation plan material makes no mention of commissions paid on retail sales of Magic 10 Silver.

The Magic 10 Marketing Compensation Plan

The Magic 10 Marketing compensation plan sees affiliates purchase bottles of Magic 10 Silver, with commissions paid out when they recruit other affiliates who do the same.

Residual Commissions

Residual commissions in Magic 10 Marketing are paid out via a 5×5 matrix compensation structure.

A 5×5 matrix places an affiliate at the top of the matrix, with five positions directly under them:

the-final-matrix-5x3-forced-matrix

These initial five positions form the first level of the matrix, with the second level generated by splitting each of the five positions into another five positions each.

Subsequent levels of the matrix are generated in the same manner, with the next level a multiplication of the previous level’s positions by five.

In a 5×5 matrix there are a total of five levels and 3905 positions.

A 60 cent commission is paid out per position filled in the matrix, with positions filled via the direct and indirect recruitment of new Magic 10 Marketing affiliates.

For each 60 cent commission paid out, attached is a $2 balance which is placed into an affiliate’s “e-wallet reserve”.

Funds are withheld in this account until $20 is reached for US affiliates or $25 or non-US affiliates.

Once either $20 or $25 is reached, another bottle of Magic 10 Silver is purchased for the affiliate. This in turn generates another 60 cent residual commission payout through the matrix.

Note that $22 is a month is also deducted from an affiliate’s e-wallet reserve in admin fees, so effectively an affiliate must generate a minimum $42 or $47 a month e-wallet reserve balance to generate a product order.

In this manner a Magic 10 Marketing affiliate is paid

  1. when new affiliates are recruited and
  2. when affiliates in their matrix generate $20 or $25 in their e-wallet reserve account (taking into account the deducted $22 monthly admin fee, which takes priority)

Note that if the e-wallet reserve account doesn’t generate $22 the admin fee is not deducted. Instead the balance accrues until $22 is reached.

An additional $20 or $25 must be generated for a product order to be placed that month.

Matching Bonus

In order to qualify for a Matching Bonus, a Magic 10 Marketing affiliate must

  • pay $2 a month in fees
  • recruit two new affiliates and
  • create an autoship order for two monthly product purchases

Once the above qualification criteria is met, an affiliate earns a 20% bonus override on commissions paid to affiliates on the first level of their 5×5 matrix.

The Matching Bonus also pays out on subsequent matrix levels, as per the following qualification criteria:

  • recruit four new affiliates and create a monthly autoship order for four product purchases =20% match on levels 1 and 2
  • recruit six new affiliates and create a monthly autoship order for six product purchases = 20% match on levels 1 to 3
  • recruit eight new affiliates and create a monthly autoship order for eight product purchases = 20% match on levels 1 to 4
  • recruit ten new affiliates and create a monthly autoship order for ten product purchases = 20% match on all five matrix levels

Note that each monthly autoship product purchase is $20 for US affiliates and $25 for non-US affiliates.

Autoship orders can also be paid out of an affiliate’s e-wallet reserve, provided the required monthly balance is generated.

There’s no specific clarification in Magic 10 Marketing’s compensation plan material as to whether the $2 monthly fee can be paid out of the e-wallet reserve.

Global Bonus Pool

The Global Bonus Pool sees 80 cents of every bottle of Magic 10 Silver sold placed into a bonus pool.

That bonus pool is then split into four quarters, with affiliates able to qualify for a share in each quarter as follows:

  • recruit 25 affiliates = 1 share in pool 1
  • recruit 50 affiliates = 1 share in pools 1 and 2
  • recruit 100 affiliates = 1 share in pools 1 to 3
  • recruit 200 affiliates = 1 share in Pools 1 to 4

Joining Magic 10 Marketing

Affiliate membership with Magic 10 Marketing is $20 for US-based affiliates or $25 for non-US affiliates.

Full participation in the Magic 10 Marketing compensation plan requires the recruitment of ten affiliates and monthly payment of $202 ($252 for non-US affiliates).

Conclusion

The “sell” to prospective Magic 10 Marketing affiliates is that they can join by purchasing a product, do nothing and still earn matrix commissions.

That much is true, provided they accept they will be paid peanuts (60 cents for every $20 to $25 paid in by subsequently recruited affiliates).

On the residual side of things unless Gerald Ricks is paid $22 each month first for each affiliate hoping to make a commission, passive affiliates earn nothing.

The core of the Magic 10 Marketing business opportunity sees recruitment required (indirect recruitment is required for passive affiliates to earn), with increasing monthly costs.

All up, full participation in the Magic 10 Marketing compensation plan requires a $20 to $25 upfront buy-in, recruitment of 10 affiliates and ongoing monthly fees of $202 to $252.

The problem with all of this is a lack of retail activity within the opportunity.

I did hear mention of affiliates purportedly buying product to “resell to retail customers”, but that’s mere lip-service.

Within the Magic 10 Marketing compensation plan there’s no mention of commissions tied to the retail sale of Magic 10 Silver.

Furthermore any resale of product by affiliates does not constitute a retail sale within the Magic 10 Marketing business opportunity. It’s external revenue which is neither here nor there.

All that’s required to earn in Magic 10 Marketing is an affiliate’s own purchase and then those of recruited affiliates.

This combines “pay to play” with elements of a recruitment-driven pyramid scheme.

When you force affiliates to purchase product, you’re essentially reducing the motivation behind the purchase to commission qualification. This is irrespective of any alternative reasoning you might come up with (pseudo-compliance).

Essentially, the product becomes incidental to the pay plan (otherwise known as a product-based pyramid scheme).

The pyramid nature of the business thus lays in the lack of retail within the opportunity, meaning funds paid in and out are overwhelmingly, if not completely, sourced from affiliates.

This means once recruitment of new affiliates dies down, so too will commissions Magic 10 Marketing pays out.

Basically you join Magic 10 Marketing on the premise of earning money for just buying a bottle of silver stuff, only realize you’re getting screwed unless you sign up for monthly autoship and start recruiting new affiliates.

Approach with caution.