I received an email about Impact Mailing Club today, and decided to take a closer look to find out if it’s legitimate or just another scam.
There seems to be some hype surrounding this right now, with a number of people promoting this on YouTube and social media sites.
They say this is a simple way for the average person to earn $500 to $1,000 just by mailing out postcards and letters.
Here’s what you should know before joining…
FAQ
1.) What is Impact Mailing Club? Impact Mailing Club is a new direct mail business opportunity where you pay to join at a certain membership level, and earn money recruiting others into the business who do the same.
2.) Who is running the show? There is no information on the company website (impactmailingclub.com) about who owns or runs this operation, and the domain was registered anonymously. So it is unclear who “admin” really is.
3.) How much does it cost to join? The startup cost is between $100 to $2,000 depending on which “level” you want to join at. Other costs include envelopes, stamps and mailing leads.
4.) How do you get paid? You get paid in cash directly from those who receive your letter or postcard, and return it with the money to join. You also receive cash from people your direct referral’s refer.
5.) How much money can you make? How much money you make depends on what level you join at and how many people you recruit into the system. The higher level membership you buy in at, and the more people you recruit, the more money you can make.
6.) Is this MLM? Yes, this is MLM (multilevel marketing) because you earn on multiple tiers when you refer people. Not just from the people you recruit directly.
7.) Are there any tangible products being sold? When you purchase a given membership level, you are buying the right to recruit others into the same system above all. You do get some initial mailing leads, which are technically products, but the bulk of the money goes towards member to member payments, which is a red flag.
8.) Is this a scam ? Some would consider this not a scam because you can theoretically earn money by following the system. However, the business model itself is not legitimate because it operates like a cash gifting pyramid scheme, which I will elaborate on shortly.
9.) Similar programs: Best Easy Work, Club Cash Fund, Automated Income System.
Impact Mailing Club Review
As of writing this, the Impact Mailing Club website looks like this:
So there’s no useful information on the site for people to figure out what they’re really buying into. Which is why I took to YouTube to learn about the opportunity, which led me to finding the official opportunity PDF an affiliate was using.
And this is where I was able to learn what this is all about. And in a nutshell, it’s all about chain recruitment and member to member cash gifting payments.
The idea is to “buy in” at a given membership level, and mail out postcards or letters, in the hopes that others will do the same. And if they do, you receive a cash payment directly from that new member, to your physical mailbox.
The fact that members pay members directly, means that this (by definition) is cash gifting. And since the only way you can earn those cash gifting payments by recruiting people, this is a cash gifting, recruiting scheme.
There’s also an MLM component, because you earn on multiple levels. As in, you receive cash payments from your direct recruits and those they recruit.
Direct mail recruiting schemes are not new, they’ve been around for decades and are similar to other recruiting schemes, except these are done via the postal system.
On one hand, you can technically make money this way if you can get people to send you cash in the mail. On the other hand, there are some serious red flags with this business model that make it unsustainable in the long term.
Read on to learn more.
Here’s How It Works
To get started, you first need to request more information from an affiliate, who will send you a letter with the exact steps to get rolling. Or maybe you’ve already received an email or letter in the post already, in which case you do not need to request anything.
Either way, the initial letter is a 3 page sales letter that outlines the costs and how much you can earn by taking part in the system.
The cost to join is between $100 to $2,000, with each higher level giving you more leads and a higher potential payout when you refer others.
Here’s a breakdown of each membership level:
Emerald Membership Level ($100)
Pay $100 total (plus 2 books of stamps) to qualify for $65 payments from your direct referrals, and $20 payments from their referrals, who join at the Emerald level. Receive 100 mailing leads.
Ruby Membership Level ($250)
Pay $250 total (plus 4 books of stamps) to qualify for $150 payments from your direct referrals, and $50 payments from their referrals, who join at the Ruby level. Receive 200 mailing leads.
Sapphire Membership Level ($500)
Pay $100 total (plus 4 books of stamps) to qualify for $300 payments from your direct referrals, and $100 payments from their referrals, who join at the Sapphire level. Receive 400 mailing leads.
Diamond Membership Level ($2,000)
Pay $100 total (plus 5 books of stamps) to qualify for $1,000 payments from your direct referrals, and $500 payments from their referrals, who join at the Diamond level. Receive 1000 mailing leads.
As you can see, the higher your membership level, the more potential money you can make by recruiting others into the same system.
And you must join at the level you want to earn at, or you miss out on those payments.
So for example, if you are at the Emerald level, and someone you’ve mailed to decided to join at the Diamond level, you would miss out on that $1,000 commission.
Which is why members are strongly encouraged to “go all in” with these systems, so as not to miss out on commissions.
Oh… and don’t ask me how many stamps are in a “book of stamps” (lol). But in addition to the membership cost, you need to mail your referrer some stamps, which increases the startup cost depending on the cost of the stamps and which level you join at.
What This “Business Opportunity” Is Really About
This “opportunity” is really about ONE thing- chain recruitment.
So when you purchase an Impact Mailing Club membership, you are really buying the “right to recruit others” into the same system.
And this is probably the biggest red flag.
Because legitimate companies sell real products to real customers, and their affiliates earn by promoting these products. This is how real, ethical businesses work.
You may receive some mailing leads upon joining. As in, a list of people who are apparently “interested in home business” that you can send promotional letters to.
But that is not the true purpose of this system, and it’s not where the bulk of membership money goes.
To show you what I mean, let’s use the example of “Bob” who joins at the Sapphire level for $500. Here’s where that $500 payment actually goes:
- $300 goes directly to the person who recruited Bob, who let’s say is Susan
- $100 goes directly to the person who recruited Susan
- $100 goes directly to “admin” (whoever is running this)
So out of a total $500 payment, only 20% of it ($100) goes to “admin” who is supposedly going to provide you with these leads.
Clearly, the bulk of the money goes towards member to member cash gifting payments. That is a fact and one that cannot be disputed by any logical argument.
As such, this is a direct mail, cash gifting scheme. And since you earn on multiple levels (your direct referrals and their referrals) this is also an MLM program.
To be clear, MLM itself is not a scam or pyramid scheme.
But it can be when the whole point is about recruiting people who recruit people, as oppose to earning commissions based on real product sales to real customers.
Legitimate MLM companies also pay their affiliates on multiple levels, but those commissions are based on actual sales of real products.
Conclusion
It is possible to earn at least some money with schemes like Impact Mailing Club. But the reality is, most people end up losing money with schemes like this in the long run.
Those who make the bulk of money are always those that join at the highest level, and who recruit lots of people.
So if you want to earn the big bucks, you’ll need to join at the highest level and purchase more and more mailing leads to attract new recruits. All of which can cost you a significant amount of money.
Either way, eventually the hype dies down with schemes like this, and recruiting slows.
When that happens, those who join end up losing their money. Because they cannot recruit enough new people.
This is when the affiliates promoting this, move onto the next “opportunity”. And whoever is behind this scheme is free to start over under a new name without consequence. Because nobody knows who they really are.
The reality is that there are far better, more ethical, and longer term ways to build a legitimate online business.
You definitely do not need to join a direct mail/ postcard marketing bizopp to create success online. Nor do you need to spend $1,000’s on memberships, leads and stamps.
What you decide to do is up to you. But I don’t make a habit of recommending something unless I believe it gives you the best chance of longterm success.