Someone tried to get me to join last Tuesday. The offer came from Chad (not his real name), a smart computer engineer I've known since high school and the last person I'd expect to fall for a blatant scam.
He called around 10 PM while I was working on some homework. He said he had met with an old friend of his and that this friend had a nifty business opportunity that I would be interested in. Thinking that someone needed a website designed or some quick programming done, I went up a few floors to meet with them. That's where things started to smell a bit:
"Hi there," said the young, khakied and polo shirted guy, "It's good to meet you, Brett. Chad has told me a lot about you."
"Well that's good, I suppose," I said while sitting down in the folding chair across from Chad and the khaki fellow. "So what made you call me? Are you looking to hire for a job or are you recruiting for your company?"
"Neither, Brett. I was just telling Chad here about a unique business opportunity and he mentioned you might be interested in it as well. We're looking for sharp individuals who are driven to make it. If you don't like our offer, that's cool. Just say so and we will stop wasting your time. On the other hand, if it does appeal to you, we can go on to the next step right away. So tell me, Brett, how would you like to make an extra $2,000 while at school?"
By then alarm bells started going off. Conversations that jump right to the temptation of money can't be good. "Well that would be nice, but it'd depend on what I'd have to do for the $2,000," I said warily.
"Take Chad here. He is going to start his own business. In a few weeks he will take a trip to our business success seminar to meet millionaire after millionaire. Isn't that right, Chad?"
"Yup!" He said smiling brightly.
"Hmm... So you sell businesses?" I asked.
"We'll wait until my business partner shows up before getting into the specifics."
"Ah. Do you have a business card?"
"Yeah I think so... Let me find it." He began rooting through his bag and pockets, eventually handing me a worn and wrinkled card with his name (Douglas), a clipart compass logo, and the words "Private Franchising" below the company name.
"So do you have a website?" I asked.
"Um... nope." he replied.
By then I knew something was certainly amiss. Douglas' "business partner", another young guy in khakis, had arrived, so I decided to sit it out and see exactly what was going on. We went to the floor lounge for the full presentation.
Content aside, those guys were amazing presenters. It was absolutely beautiful business doublespeak: they said they would cut out middlemen by making their clients middlemen; they said their clients make money selling products online while they themselves made money recruiting and by selling their "business services"; they said people can buy everything online while citing Walmart, a traditional bricks-and-mortar merchant, as their primary example to emulate.
After I got past all the contradictory statements, I learned that both presenters worked for or contracted with (it's not exactly clear which) a company called . It didn't take long for me to get fed up with the presentation. I had my suspicions and it didn't take long to confirm them back in my dorm.
Quixtar is basically Amway, updated for the internet. The way it works is this: the individual business owners like Chad do their best to sell items online using Quixtar to distribute and deliver the goods. The sellers get a (small) cut of whatever they manage to sell. Meanwhile, Quixtar sells kits and admission to seminars meant to help the business owners improve their businesses. Then people like Douglas recruit additional business owners and take a cut of whatever the new recruits make. It is the perfect example of a company based on , i.e. a pyramid scheme.
I find it amazing that Chad, a smart, internet-savvy college student got taken in so easily. I called him up soon after I left and gave him some of the information I had found. His voice told the story; he had gotten tempted by the promise of money. I told him to get out of the deal as fast as he could and tell Douglas that it was despicable to try and fleece college students. I hope no one else fell for it.