Is Worldventures A Scam?(A Pyramid Scheme EXPOSED!)(REVIEW)

It’s likely that you have come across Worldventures through an email list, on social media or got it recommended by a friend or family member.

Is Worldventures a scam? The reasons why you’re here is because you have want answers right so, that’s what I’m going to provide for you within this Worldventures review.

First and foremost I must commend you for actually doing a bit of extra research before committing to joining Worldventures. For all you could have known, the product could be a major scam so the fact you’re here right now, researching whether or not that’s the case is a pretty smart move on your part.

To be fully transparent with you, I am personally not a member of Worldventures so I can assure you that I will not attempt to sell you it unless of course it’s worth investing in.

What I will aim to do is provide you with an unbiased 3rd party look at Worldventures that will hopefully help you to make the best decision you can in the end.


PRODUCT NAME: Worldventures

OWNER/S: Wayne Nugent, Dan Stamen (co-owner) and Josh Paine (WorldVentures’ CEO).

TYPE OF PRODUCT: Travel MLM

PRICE: $199.95(one-time) + $26.99/month – $299.95(one-time) + $99.99/month

SUMMARY: I believe that Worldventures definetly has the characteristics of a pyramid scheme and has even been exposed as such in multiple countries so it’s a hard for me to legitimise it. It also has characteristics of a scam with the lack of paying members their commissions, even up to the hundreds of thousands.

According to their own data, becoming a successful affiliate for the company is slim to none with only around 4% of all members making decent income whilst 80% of all members fail to even make $500 to cover their membership fees.

There’s really not much going for the company so, I highly recommend skipping it because there’s a very good chance the company may go under for its poor business practices and I really don’t want you to sink with it.

FINAL RATING: 1/5

RECOMMENDED: NO


WHAT IS WORLDVENTURES?

Worldventures logo

Worldventures is a MLM company founded all the way back in 2005 and is a company that focuses on having individual working for them in the travel niche. A few similar MLM’s I’ve reviewed that also delve into this sector within MLM’s include inteletravel, ibuumerang, traverus and of course there a fair few others I’ve not personally checked out.

The owners of Worldventures is Wayne Nugent, Dan Stamen (co-owner) and Josh Paine (WorldVentures’ CEO).

So what are Worldventures main offers, well according to the company they are :

  1. Discount travel packages for you to enjoy cheaper holidays
  2. A way to make “easy money” by sharing this opportunity to others

Clearly the company puts a lot of emphasis on easy money eventhough the reality is that most will fail with the company (I’ll explain why later).

Moreover, although Worldventures isn’t really regarded as a pyramid scheme in every country out there, there’s still a handful of countries that have declared it as such (I’ll discuss this a little as well) so, just from that alone, it should be clear where I stand with this MLM.

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WORLDVENTURES PRODUCTS

Worldventures is a travel based company meaning what they offer aren’t physical products like Mary kay or Avon but simple travel packages such as resorts, discounted flights and so on.

In order to get access to these discounts, you’ll need to become a member of the company. In order to get access to the discounts you’ll need to pay a monthly membership fee. This membership will allow you to access the company’s DreamTrips software in which you can earn points that’ll contribute towards a discount on travelling costs.

There are multiple different membership levels within Worldventures all of which have their own benefits (according to Worldventures) which I’ll discuss below.

1. The Regular DreamTrips Membership

The regular memberships has 2 major costs to it. The first is a one time fee of $199.95 and afterwards you’re required to pay a monthly fee of $26.99.

This membership gives you access to the basic rights on collecting DreamTrips points, redeeming DreamTrips discounts and also the opportunity to make money as an Independent Representative by sharing Worldventures’ services to others.

The regular membership doesn’t necessarily the most expensive costs I’ve seen when it comes to starting up a MLM business but neither is it cheap. The first year will set you back around $497 whilst subsequent years will be $324 per year.

2. DreamTrips Gold Membership

The second membership level is Gold and this memebrship does cost a fair bit more than the regular offering. You’re required to pay the same one time fee of $199.95 but this time the monthly fee increases to $49.99

The additional benefits of getting the Gold membership include add-ons like Airport transfers, flight accident insurance, Airport parking discounts, etc…

The first years costs around $750 whilst subsequent years will be $600 per year. Again it’s cheaper than a lot of other MLM start up costs but, it still is quite expensive.

3. DreamTrips Platinum Memebrship

This is the highest memebrship level and of course it’s by far the most expensive memebrship level Worldventures offer. Also keep in mind that this is the memebrship your direct up line as well as Worldventures want you to buy because it has the “most value” out of the 3 levels.

The Platinum membership actually requires you to initially pay a one time fee of $299. 95 and the a monthly recurring fee of $99.99

The benefits to getting this level include DreamTrips Platinum experiences (basically better services), upgraded Trips (e.g. Hotel room upgrades, SPA discounts…), mergency evacuation service and the ability to book in advance.

At the asking price of this membership, I really don’t see very much benefit to going for it but, it is what you will likely be upsold on (very hard) so do keep this in mind if you’re serious about joining. The first years costs on the Platinum membership will be a very expensive $1400 with subsequent years costing you $1200.


HOW DO YOU MAKE MONEY WITH WORLDVENTURES?

As is the case with pretty much all MLM businesses there are 2 ways to make money with them, Worldventures being no exception.

1. The first method is by directly selling the product to other individuals and in return make a commission for the sales

2. You make money through your recruits and downline, by getting residual income by following and meeting certain criteria as well as make money through bonuses and incentives due to meeting company set goals.

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COMPENSATION STRUCTURE

Worldventures has a very long compensation plan meaning if you’re serious about joining the company you really need to look into it and study the plan.

But before we move onto the contents of the compensation plan, I first want to let you know of all the 11 affiliate ranks within the company and the criteria to qualify for them :

  • Active Representative : sign up as a WorldVentures affiliate and continue to pay affiliate fees (does not qualify for MLM commissions)
  • Qualified Representative : sell at least four DreamTrips memberships to retail customers and/or recruited affiliates
  • 1 Star Representative : sell at least six DreamTrips memberships to retail customers and/or recruited affiliates (placed three on both sides of the binary team)
  • 2 Star Representative : sell at least twelve DreamTrips memberships to retail customers and/or recruited affiliates (placed six on both sides of the binary team)
  • 3 Star Representative : sell at least twenty-four DreamTrips memberships to retail customers and/or recruited affiliates (placed twelve on both sides of the binary team)
  • Senior Representative : sell at least sixty DreamTrips memberships to retail customers and/or recruited affiliates (placed thirty on both sides of the binary team)
  • Director : sell at least one hundred and eighty DreamTrips memberships to retail customers and/or recruited affiliates (placed ninety on both sides of the binary team), and have 140 retail customers and/or recruited affiliates in your unilevel team
  • Marketing Director : have at least four hundred retail customers and/or affiliates in your unilevel team (no more than two hundred counted from any one leg), and have earned at least $6750 over the past three calendar months
  • Regional Marketing Director : have at least nine hundred retail customers and/or affiliates in your unilevel team (no more than three hundred counted from any one leg), and have earned at least $15,750 over the past three calendar months
  • National Marketing Director : have at least one thousand eight hundred retail customers and/or affiliates in your unilevel team (no more than six hundred counted from any one leg), and have earned at least $31,500 over the past three calendar months
  • International Marketing Director : have at least three thousand eight hundred retail customers and/or affiliates in your unilevel team (no more than one thousand counted from any one leg), and continue to earn at least $31,500 over the past three calendar months

The fact that there are so many different ranks shows how much Worldventures wants you to recruit but, that’s just how most modern MLM’s are so I can’t call it for being a ponzi scheme and what not for implementing the ranking model.

As for the compensation plan, there are 6 different main ways to benefit through the plan.

Weekly Bonus

The weekly bonus is only available for members who rank between a Representative and Regional Marketing Director.

This bonus is paid out using a binary structure where you have 2 legs whilst you’re at the top of the pyramid. The first level of this structure will be made up of only 2 downline members, one on the left and another on the right.

The pattern of each of the members only being able to recruit a left and right leg member continues on as such for theoretically an infinite number of levels. So level 2 will have a maximum of an extra 4 recruits, level 3 will have 8 etc.

This bonus is calculated based on the sales credits that are generated when retail customers and recruited affiliates first sign up for DreamTrips memberships.

You get paid upto $50 if you’re able to generate 1.5 credits on both of your binary legs. Retail customer credits can also be balanced on each leg in order to maximise the bonus payout in the end of the week (keep in mind that every sixth ‘upto $50 bonus’ is paid out as a $50 travel credit)

If you qualify for the $50 bonus, that will be classified as a cycle. If you manage to achieve 3 or more cycles the amount that you initially would have made will double. However, this bonus on top of the bonus won’t apply for National Marketing Director ranks or higher.

As for how much an affiliate can make with Worldventures, it will be capped depending on your rank :

  • Qualified Representative to Director – $2000 a week
  • Marketing Director – $5000 a week
  • Regional Marketing Director – $10,000 a week
  • National Marketing Director – $20,000 a week
  • International Marketing Director – $25,000 a week

Residual Commissions

The residual commissions utilises the same binary structure as the weekly bonus but these commissions are paid out on the residual sales credits generated from monthly membership sales instead.

For each 1.5 credit match generated each month, affiliates receive “up to $15”.

As for the potential of the residual commissions, that’ll be dependant on the rank of a member :

  • 3 Star Representatives earn $8 per 1.5 credit match cycle, capped at $150 a month
  • Senior Representatives earn $10 per 1.5 credit match cycle, capped at $500 a month
  • Directors earn $15 per 1.5 credit match cycle, capped at $2000 a month
  • Marketing Directors earn $15 per 1.5 credit match cycle, capped at $5000 a month
  • Regional Marketing Directors earn $15 per 1.5 credit match cycle, capped at $10,000 a month
  • National Marketing Directors earn $15 per 1.5 credit match cycle, capped at $20,000 a month
  • International Marketing Directors earn $15 per 1.5 credit match cycle, capped at $50,000 a month

Bonus Binary Team Positions

Members can qualify for an additional binary position if they earn $25,000 a month from their existing position. Binary team positions are used to calculate the Weekly Team Bonus and residual commissions too.

Wings And Wheels Lifestyle Bonus

This bonus is a three-tier bonus where WorldVentures members can receive up to $1000 a month.

  • Tier 1 ($200 a month) – sell and maintain four DreamTrips membership to retail customers or recruited affiliates and generate 1600 GV a month
  • Tier 2 ($500 a month) – sell and maintain five DreamTrips membership to retail customers or recruited affiliates and generate 4000 GV a month
  • Tier 3 ($1000 a month) – sell and maintain six DreamTrips membership to retail customers or recruited affiliates and generate 10,000 GV a month

You should know that the Wings and Wheels Lifestyle Bonus stops at the Regional Marketing Director rank.

Dream Car Bonus

If you manage to reach the Regional Marketing Director rank or higher, these members will be able to qualify for the DreamCar Bonus.

The DreamCar Bonus is paid out monthly according to a members rank:

  • Regional Marketing Directors receive $1000
  • National Marketing Directors and International Marketing Directors receive $1500

Dream Home Bonus

If a member manages to reach the International Marketing Director rank, they’ll qualify for a $3000 a month DreamHome Bonus. Also, this DreamHome Bonus must be put towards a supplied finance agreement.

There’s a lot of information to take in when it comes to this plan so, if you’re serious about joining this company, I’d definitely recommend checking the official compensation plan document out by clicking here or watching the video below to get a better understanding.


THE NOT SO GOOD THINGS

You Must Recruit To Succeed

It’s very apparent to me that Worldventures wants you to recruit lots of members into your teams and structure in order to succeed.

This isn’t very surprising considering most other MLM’s in the industry ask you to do the same. However, the major problems here is that the majority of money that you’ll make as an affiliate for the company won’t be through commissions on sales that you or your team makes but, from the membership your recruits buy in at.

Think about it for a second, how often do people go on holiday? Once a year, maybe 2 or 3 times but definitely not enough to warrant making a full time income through just retail commissions.

Therefore, you will need to recruit a huge amount to succeed with the company. You will need to get a ton of other Representatives of the company to sign up for the membership, and they’ll do the same until your team is able to supplement your income.

In fact, Worldventures has this mantra called “refer 4 pay no more” which means they know the core premise of the company isn’t the travel discounts they can offer. It’s the recruitment aspect of it and of course, through the recruitment aspect of it, simply by getting 4 members you’ll be exempt from paying your monthly fees.

If you’re great at recruiting, whether face to face or through a lead generation system online, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to make it with the company but, even if you could do that, Worldventures has been labelled as an official pyramid scheme in multiple countries already so doing business with them will be a huge risk on your part anyways.

Therefore, even if you do have the skills, I’d recommend against joining Worldventures and recruiting other unsuspecting individuals into this scheme.

Decalered A Pyramid Scheme In Multiple Countries

Worldventures, in 2014 was declared a pyramid scheme in Norway, in 2015 Malaysia declared it an “illegal business”, in 2018 Rwanda issued a pyramid scheme warning for the company and not too long ago in June of 2019, Tawain also filed pyramid scheme charges on the company.

I don’t know about you but, to me this implies the company isn’t all that reliable or trust worthy. Do you really want to work in an institution that’s literally been regarded as a pyramid scheme in multiple times countries?

Yes I understand it isn’t declared a “pyramid scheme” every where in the world but, even if a few countries have labelled it as such, it doesn’t add very much credibility to the business opportunity as whole and I’m sure you agree with me that.

Not Paying Members Their Commissions

This is a big problem that many members have faced. The companies inability to pay their member’s commissions on time where in 2018 so many of their affiliates left the company due to the lack of being paid their commissions.

In fact one individual named Carlos Rogers failed to receive around $100k of his unpaid commissions (https://behindmlm.com/mlm/choosing-a-business/how-much-does-worldventures-owe-affiliates-in-unpaid-commissions/) which is absolutely ridiculous!

This is another big reason to not join this company. Their unreliability in paying their members, even as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars, is a huge red flag. So not only does it make it a bad business in general to partner up with, it makes it terrible MLM opportunity too.

Most People Will Fail

This isn’t very surprising to me but yes, the large majority of individuals who are affiliates of Worldventures will fail. According to their latest income disclosure statement that accounts for earnings from July 2018 – June 2019, 80% of all members earned less than $500 over the 12 month period.

Worldventures income disclosure statement 2018

As you can see, only the highest percentile within the company are making anything of value. In the income disclosure statement it states that the average income for the year was around $2.4k. In general that doesn’t seem all that bad however, it’s also stated that the median amount anyone made was $50.

Just to explain what this means, the median number is the number you find right in the middle of a bunch of numbers. For example, say Worldventures only had 20k members, the median number would be the number right in the middle so, 10k. Now take into account that this disclosure statement represents the US which has around 57k members.

What this is saying is that over 28k members were unable to even recoup a fraction of the yearly costs. In fact if we’re just looking for members who made $1k/month or more for the year, that only amounts for a little over 4% whilst $2k/month (A full time income) only amounted for a little over 1%.

So yeah, don’t expect to succeed with Worldventures because the chances of even making back your money is very slim let alone generating a full time income through it.


THE GOOD THINGS

It’s Been Around A While

Being around since 2005 makes the company a little more credible I guess. The reason why I say this is because the majority of companies tend to fail within 10 years yet 14, nearly 15 years later Worldventures is still around.

This adds a little bit of credibility to the company although not very much.

They Do Charity Work

There’s really not much else I can say as being good when it comes to Worldventures purely because they’ve already been exposed as pyramid scheme by multiple countries but, the fact they do give to charity is a nice gesture on their part despite their not so nice conning of others, to an extent.

Worldventures has their own charity called the World ventures foundation.

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IS WOLRDVENTURES A PYRAMID SCHEME/SCAM?

I believe that Worldventures definetly has the characteristics of a pyramid scheme and has even been exposed as such in multiple countries so it’s a hard for me to legitimise it. It also has characteristics of a scam with the lack of paying members their commissions, even up to the hundreds of thousands.

According to their own data, becoming a successful affiliate for the company is slim to none with only around 4% of all members making decent income whilst 80% of all members fail to even make $500 to cover their membership fees.

There’s really not much going for the company so, I highly recommend skipping it because there’s a very good chance the company may go under for its poor business practices and I really don’t want you to sink with it.


MY PERSONAL RECOMMENDATION

I personally will always recommend against using a MLM business model to make money, not because you can’t make money through it (you totally can) but, the system has always seemed shady to myself and is kinda synonymous with the likes of a pyramid scheme or scams (MOBE and Digital altitude).

Instead I prefer working with something created through ones own means and is ultimately dependent on yourself and your work ethic alone.

This method I’m talking about is affiliate marketing. 

The reasons as to why I recommend it over MLM based structures are because

– there is no need to recruit constantly

– it is a legitimate method that has been working consistently and continues to grow as more businesses want individuals to promote products

– and because it is free to start up, no unnecessarily large start up funds needed.

The service I recommend is Wealthy Affiliate. It’s free to sign up to and will get you set up and ready to start your affiliate marketing journey within minutes, as it did for me when I begun my journey.

If you have any questions that you would like to ask me regarding Worldventures, feel free to do so in the comments section below and I will get back to you as soon as I can. If you have your own thoughts about Worldventures and would like to talk about it, again feel free to do so in the comments below!

Thanks

Amhil

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