Prosperity People Systems "Opportunity"

I was up late last night and learned about a supposed "business opportunity" by Prosperity People Systems (PPS). It seems to be a version of a pyramid scheme that says you can make money without selling or a website of your own. No the first time I've seen or heard that. The way that you make money with PPS is by bringing people into the system and you get all or part of their payment to get into the system (more on that in a bit). It doesn't mean that you couldn't make any sales on your own or do your own marketing, but the strange part is that you aren't selling anything. ANYTHING!

Well, technically, depending on which of the 5 levels you purchase, you get products that are supposed to help you profit from the system, but that's it! Other than marketing stuff (a step-by-step marketing plan, how to make your ads sell like crazy, proven traffic methods, webinar workshop videos, etc), there is no product or service being sold. When it comes right down to it, people are paying purely to buy into Prosperity People Systems to then get other people to buy into it as well who get other people to buy into and so on. I don't know about you, but this boggles my mind!

If or when you join, there are 7 things that you get, regardless of which of the 5 levels you purchase, to help you in your goal of enticing people to join PPS. Other than that, each level comes with something different, except for the Diamond level that comes with the 7 basics plus everything from the 4 lower levels. The 5 levels are Bronze ($500 plus a $167 admin fee), Silver ($1,500 plus a $257 admin fee), Gold ($3,500 plus a $347 admin fee), Platinum ($7,500 plus a $447 admin fee), and Diamond ($11,000 plus a $547 admin fee). Supposedly, these are one-time fees and you'll never pay another dime.

I mentioned earlier that you make money by bringing people into the system and you get either all or part of their payment. After joining, you get your own website and anybody that joins from your website is now under you in the pyramid. (By the way, you cannot join from prosperitypeopleystems.com as it requires that you join under somebody.) For example, if Bob's website recruits Jim, all or part of what Jim pays goes to Bob. This is because Jim could pay for a level different from the level Bob purchased. So, in this example, let's say that Bob bought into the Gold level at $3,500 but Jim goes Platinum at $7,500. Since Bob is at the Gold level, the most he can receive is the Gold amount of $3,500 from Jim. $7,500 minus $3,500 is $4,000. Bob will not get that $4,000. Instead, that $4,000 goes to whoever recruited Bob. If that person has either Platinum or Diamond, they get the whole $4,000.... otherwise, they will get either $500, $1,500 or $3,500 and money continues going upward.

Now, it could have gone the other way for Bob. In this second example, Bob is still at Gold. But this time, let's say that Jim purchases Bronze, Silver or Gold. In this scenario, Bob gets to keep all of what Jim paid because it's equal to or less than what he paid to get into the system.

In both examples Bob makes money, but I can't get over the fact that this is like people paying to be part of a club/group, but nobody gets anything out of their membership other than money from getting other people to join the club/group.

It could be said that Diamond is best (you get every possible marketing offering and there is no chance for money to go past you to the person who recruited you), but I know few people that have $11,000 (plus the admin fee) at their disposal regardless of whether or not they would be financially devastated if they don't bring in anybody. Anybody who doesn't buy in at the Diamond level does have the ability to buy into a higher level at a later point if they so desire, which allows you to increase how much you can make from those underneath you in the pyramid, but you would never be able to stop promoting and marketing. There is only so much that someone can make from the levels of people below them and new people would constantly need to be brought in to keep the money flowing.

The only person (or people) who stand to truly benefit the most from this is/are the person/people who receive the admin fee. They may have levels of people below them, which may still be a source of income for them, but the fees will never stop coming in as long as people keep joining. I would love to know how the individual(s) who started PPS got this thing off the ground and turned it into whatever it is today.

I don't know how long Prosperity People Systems has been in existence, nobody knows who own or sits at the top of the pyramid created by PPS and I have no idea what the future holds for PPS. I can't say that I don't see the appeal because it would seem that there are people that will buy into this, but it just makes no sense to me. There seems to be money that can be made, but the money one earns is made by getting people to buy into a system that exists solely to get more and more people to buy into the system.

I have come across other pyramid-based companies (just many others have), but there tends to be an actual product. Selling a product means that you can get to a point where you have enough repeat customers and can actually reach a point where you financially don't have to continue marketing and selling, but you could if you so desired. And, in addition, you could have one or more levels of people below you that are also selling the product and you get whatever percentage of their sales. But this is the first one I have seen that isn't truly selling something.

This company could probably last for some time since I think they're only in the thousands (at the top of the member site that I visited, it lets you know that there are over 1,015 members) in regards to how many people are already in the system and there are billions of people in the world... but I think it will eventually come to a point where it's no longer profitable because there is no one left to market to anymore. They will inevitably reach a point where there aren't enough people left to join and/or they run out of people willing to join their system.

I am not a lawyer and don't know the legality of PPS, but if you think this sounds like an awesome and lucrative "business opportunity," then that is your opinion and I hold no judgment against you. I won't share the link to the member's page that I visited (I'm not here to promote anyone), but if this is something that you want to pursue, go for it if you can find a member's website. I can honestly say that if I had money to lose I would maybe give it a shot purely out of curiosity but I'm not sure how much time, if any, I would devote to it. (I wonder if a member could make any money from this scheme by doing absolutely nothing.) As of right now I don't have the money for even the lowest level and most likely won't pursue this even if I could.

In the end, I see the appeal, but I will stay away. I leave you to come to your own opinion/conclusion.