Conligus
Conligus is a hybrid auction company that relies on an independent network of distributors for its growth. As they state outright, network marketing is a “people's business” and they make no bones about an almost total emphasis on recruiting over product. Perhaps I'm revealing the Verdict a bit too soon, so let's back up and examine things a bit first.
The Company
A rather new venture (they launched in late 2014), Conligus's focus for 2015 is on growth. In fact, the Conligus website states that their mission is:
“To create a global force of entrepreneurs that share our philosophy to share the wealth”
To aid in encouraging growth of their network, Conligus is big on insisting they share the wealth in unique ways. They say that even new members will earn money during their first month. In their opinion, Google and Apple should share their wealth, too.
In their words, everybody involved gets to share in the wealth and the only thing one needs to do is follow. Also, that takes a leader who inspires people. Yup, it's the stuff of network marketing…but does Conligus have the right stuff?
They seem to think so. Claiming to sign up one person per minute, Conligus is making the big push for membership and growth in 2015. They have offices in flashy important cities like London, Dubai, and Bangkok. Corporate offices are located in Valletta, Malta. In case you don't know where that is, it's an island in the middle of the Meditteranean Sea, south of Italy and directly east of Tunisia.
That info matches what you'll find on their Whois domain registration, and thank you Conligus for making that public and not hiding behind private domain registration.
Alas, four months into 2015, the “Conligus Top Achievers” section on their website is full of Lorem Ipsums Un” …which is placeholder material that comes with a website template. In other words, 9 months into their big push for members, they haven't found any top achievers worth noting.
Should Apple and Google still be taking notes?
The Product
Auction items are listed on the Conligus's auction website at a current rate of one per day. The items list for no less than 5000 Euros (around $5,300 USD at time of publishing).
The auctions can be found at http://www.hybridauction.com, which was down for maintenance at time of publishing. Hmmm…..
Auction items include the following exciting goods and services:
- Sky diving in Dubai
- Flying “to the edge of space”
- Ice Hotel in Sweden
- Gold bars
- Apple products
- Rolex watches
- European, South American, and Asian travel
A hybrid auction works on a voucher system. There are no price reserves, and every auction starts at one cent. There's a timer on each auction. As bidders place bids, the timer starts again. If the timer runs out, the last bidder gets the product. The maximum price is 9% of retail price. That means you will never pay more than the retail price. Bids cost money, which is where the fun begins.
The Compensation Plan
In Conligus you don't need to sell…you give away stuff and this is called power sampling. Distributors will be giving away virtual coins, which can in turn be used on the reverse auction site run by Conligus.
People who receive the virtual coins may join the venture and become “distributors” themselves. What do you get for your efforts? It's hard to say, really. The Conligus compensation plan is maddening, it's so hard to understand. Here are some key details:
- You must purchase a member package and/or refer customers for at least 165 Euros ($177 USD). That makes you a Pro member and you earn 1 share. Get someone else to become Pro and you get another share.
- 10% of Conligus customer volume goes towards shareholders…so the more shares you have the more you'll earn as the company as a whole does better.
- Retail bonus from personal customers is retail price minus wholesale price.
- Get bonuses when the free coins you give out are used.
- Sales volume bonuses and team bonuses and more bonuses.
The Verdict
As usual, the real story behind the value of a compensation plan is told in the first few levels of rewards. In other words, we're concerned with what the base layer of members can earn, not the top tier of elites. With Conligus, it seems pretty thin at the bottom, unfortunately. That's not to say you can't earn income, but it's a steep uphill road.
