Is Market America a Scam? – Prepare to Take Risk

First of all, Market America (MA) should be proud that Wealthy Affiliate (WA) has chosen to benchmark against it, for that shows people do views MA as THE THREAT to be pitched against.
Thanks to whoever the Taiwnese lady mentioned, the writer of this article has a fairly good understanding but incomplete knowledge of the system and made very personal judgements of the MA business. I wouldn’t want to make any comparison as I do not bother to find out about the WA business, for a simple reason, i.e. if the writer has been involved in the WA business and has been making good (enough) money then he probably wouldn’t need to append that much time exploring other online business opportunities e.g. checking out on the MA business. That speaks for itself about how good or great that WA opportunity is, to me.
It is fortunate that the writer did see and understand that MA, being a company that has been in the market for 24 years, its business model is not a scam. I believe any scams cannot last for 24 years in the open market, for sure, because it would be exposed, condemned and even punished by the long arm of the law. Given that MA business is an Online platform, if it wants to quickly expand for making money, there is nothing that stops it from offering the scheme to the whole world at large, overnight, but it chooses to build business in a prudent manner, by setting up physical infrastructure, including offices and logistics to support its business partners and customers. After 24 years, it has only opened in 9 countries, though the plan is to open more new markets in the coming years.
The argument about sharing products from the Fast Starter Kit (FSK) package during sign-up with his sister is misleading. The products from the FSK could be shared or given to anybody at the discretion of the owner once purchased, but the Business Account created is only one Account, maybe the writer and the sister can form a partnership or company and join the MA business, all the rewards and compensations will be paid to that one Account, Thus, it is up to the writer to share it with whoever his partner(s) in this Account This is perfectly normal and fair, that when one franchises a business and pays for one franchising license, one cannot expect to have multiple locations and revenues.
The writer made the comment about RISK, which is a highly personal judgmental remark, because there is no yardstick for measurement of RISK, as it is relative (to the risk-appetite, the monetary investment, stability of the company etc.). But I feel a need to clarify on that remark, hence, though I am not interested in the WA, I took a glance at the WA website, in order to make slightly fair and informed comments on what has been written. Roughly, I saw that it is teaching people how to use the internet for marketing increasing visiting traffic etc. but it is not completely free. A premium member also need to pay some USD 359/year to operate the business. It only teaches techniques which are no guarantee or foo-proof of success. Members must still find their own suppliers, products AND spend money on SEO etc. and have to do a lot of works with the hope that it will increase traffic, hit rate, and eventually sales or business. That, when compared with the MA model is a big contrast (I should say there is no comparison) because in the MA business model, all businesses and products are sourced and taken care of by the MA Corporate, the franchisees only need to share it with their loved ones, friends and customers, and encourage them to shop via their own MA shop front/portal, to enjoy/reap the benefit. Moreover, it is about the ONLY true Online Shopping Mall business model (not pure retail shopping mall that does not provide any returns or income) that ranges products from partners of world renown brands of merchandises. The http://www.shop.com, MA’s USA website, featured more than 3000 partner stores with more than 40 millions SKUs of products. what does WA offers or provides?
I am also puzzled to see the statement that “Products are quite expensive” because In-house products are marketed at competitive pricing with competitive products in the market, and best of all, MA actual links consumers directly to the official websites of the retail partners e.g. Nike, Addidas, PUMA, etc. which means consumers are buying from the official online stores of these retailers, no mark-up is made in-between, so how is it more expensive?
It was fortunate that in the comparison table the write did not make the mistake on the training and coaching, without having a proper understanding on how MA operates. MA system does provide very systematic and close support at the local levels for individuals who are new to the business, with small groups of Coring sessions organized by the senior partners to hand-hold new partners and teach them about the basic skills etc. at no charge. The seminars and conventions are chargeable at nominal fees to defray the cost of organizing the event (venue, logistics, etc.) and not intended to be profit-making, and it is NOT a compulsory thing to be undertaken by all partners. Those who understand the usefulness of these more formal training sessions, and are willing and could afford to attend it, do so at their own will.
While I know and appreciate that MA is big and strong enough a business model as a threat to many other aspire-to-be competitors, I feel it is unfair and incorrect for the writer to give a biased personal view on the business model, let alone making comparisons with the WA business. I only wish this writer and WA well, and hopefully they can be more objective and honest with their comments, else it will make one (like me) think that if a company started with a lie, what more can I expect of them?

CENA, My apologies on the second post about daring you to post my reply, because I waited for a long time to see it after writing. You are indeed a gentleman, and I admire your integrity in hosting this site for a healthy debate. I actually saw no comparison between MA and WA, for it is of completely different nature, one is a Retail Shopping Mall (MA) while the other (WA) is teaching online business to operate more efficiently and effectively optimizing their business and returns.
Thanks for the opportunity for comments.