Club Asteria, a new internet program gaining popularity in 2010, appears to have drawn a rather diverse international crowd. At first glance the program appears to offer a MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) based commission incentive to its promoters, combined with a unique rewards program using points or award values known as “Asterios.” This leaves many careful prospects wondering if the Club Asteria utilizes a legitimate rewards program or a ponzi scheme, pyramid scam, etc.
First of all, we must examine the value of a Club Asteria membership. Club Asteria does allow individuals to sign up for a free membership and test drive some of the benefits, along with their own back office. Members are encouraged to sign up for Silver memberships at $9.95 per month and Gold Memberships at $19.95 per month. These levels allow members to access more products and services, and further supplies them with additional “Asterio” credits, of which members can earn a profit from at the end of each week.
Some examples of products offered to Club Asteria members include a traffic optimizer, website creation tools, shopping mall with rebates and rewards, and various e-books. Therefore, upgraded (or “paying”) members are receiving products / services for the membership price, which would appear to satisfy the first and most important step in weighing “legitimate programs” vs. “pyramid schemes.”
However, one caveat that should not be overlooked is the true VALUE of the products and services themselves; i.e. do Club Asteria members feel that these products and services are worth the price tag attached for “upgraded” perks, even if the referral incentive did not exist? The United States FTC often uses this as a basic litmus test, whereas the concept of a “fair price” is rarely the biggest concern. Consumers typically determine the true value of such memberships / fees, and therefore, a general consensus of what is “fair” can be somewhat difficult to determine.
Here are two questions that should be asked by prospects and current Club Asteria members:
- Would anyone pay for these products / services if the business opportunity and rewards were not attached?
- Are current members using and accomplishing anything with the products / services they are paying for?
The next crucial examination revolves around the payplan. Club Asteria claims they distribute 75% of their revenues toward commissions and rewards for their business affiliates. The basic explanation on the “Commission” segment of the Club Asteria website implies that 45% of revenues are paid as direct commissions, and another 30% is divided between Gold Members and Silver Members, with a total weekly commision cap of 10%. The amount distributed to each member’s account depends on their accumulation of Asterios.
What exactly is an “Asterio“? Think of it as credit system designed to keep track of individual member’s participation and level in the Club Asteria program. Weekly distributions are then made to Club Asteria members in proportion to their Asterio count. Asterios can be earned as members purchase additional programs and services offered through their affiliates. At first glance, Club Asteria’s explanation appears to account for a sustainable reward system, which shares similarities with MLM models incorporating profit sharing pools and team bonuses.
However, the “Asterio” concept requires a very important warning. The rewards dispersed to Asterio holders must be less or equivalent to all revenues obtained by member purchases in Club Asteria; otherwise, the model would have ponzi scheme characteristics similar to Sophisticated Ponzi schemes, such as the common “Autosurf” concept (though, in this case, not requiring any surfing or web viewing). This does not appear to be the case with Club Asteria; unfortunately, outsiders do not have access to full data regarding the specific allocation of revenues. Therefore, members should simply exercise basic caution and keep an open eye out for any abnormally high rewards that are attained in excess of product / service revenue.
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FINAL OPINION:
Given the current information about Club Asteria at this time, I will neither be recommending it or discouraging people from participating in it. I do not see any major red flags that would immediately condemn it as a dangerous scam. The full Club Asteria membership cost is relatively cheap, but the price vs value of the products / services members are urged to purchase remains in question.
Hopefully, we’ll hear some opinions from current Club Asteria members and other industry analysts. As more information is presented in the future, PSA hopes to provide additional updates and articles.
Attributes to “Regarding Club Asteria Scam” – Ponzi Scheme Alert, All Rights Reserved. 2010.
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- Mr. Ryz
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16 comments
Nadine says:
July 8, 2010 at 7:38 pm (UTC -5)
This is good. Theres not much info online about club asteria. I seen it ads online and heard that it’s not hard to make 1000 dollars a month in it. I think will join as free memberhsip then upgrade if it looks good from inside. Thanks for review I will be careful! :Nadine
Doc Rours says:
July 9, 2010 at 12:40 am (UTC -5)
By what you described, I’m not impressed. How many internet ventures sell the same traffic optimizer and ebook junk?
I’ve seen too many of them, this is nothing really special. These products are things most people could find on the internet for free, if they are willing to look. I can almost guarantee you 99.9999% the ebooks are recycled collections that have been resold dirt cheap for years.
This is all set up to make people pay for asteria credits, which isn’t going to make anyone rich. Sorry to say it, but this is just network marketing with a small and meaningless twist. If I was going to join network marketing companies, I’d sign up for a product with growing sales in a cruddy economy. This internet traffic and ebook pack is a waste of time.
sadique says:
July 26, 2010 at 3:11 am (UTC -5)
This is wonderful business, I making 1500usd more per month. Don’t believe above like comments. This business former and director is our great and most famous person ANDREA LUCAZ(World bank directior.)
Andrea Lucas, CEO and Managing Director of Club Asteria:
* Harvard graduate, PMD, MBA, CPA, CMC
* Former Director of the World Bank
* Managed 400+ projects for International Finance Comp
* Negotiated funding for China, Philippines, Russia, and others
* Joint ventures in Hungary, Austria and Czech Republic
* Chair Person Asian Development Consortium Inc.
* Published Author – “My Life Is a Mess But I Can Fix It”
Edgeling says:
August 7, 2010 at 3:44 pm (UTC -5)
Club Asteria is a pyramid scheme. They don’t generate any income from selling real products. Yes they will tell you they do but the only money that flows through is from club members buying silver and gold memberships.
That does not count as a product. What happens when Club asteria gets to large? That profit sharing amount dispersed weekly starts to get very small and people stop paying for silver or gold memberships. Then Club Asteria fails completely!
That is bound to happen. The first people in who recruited anyone they could find might make some good money. Most are just going to lose several dollars a week though. If you join now you cannot make a lot of money unless you recruit say 100 people and why would you want to recruit them into something that will fall apart?
People will be calling Club asteria a scam when the promotions simmer down. Take my advice now and save your money or buy a gold membership and lose money for many weeks.
It is your choice.
Greg says:
August 7, 2010 at 5:39 pm (UTC -5)
I have thought about joining club A, still don’t understand how we are paid though by weeks
Seems like you to have to buy membrship to make much of anything
Andrew K says:
August 9, 2010 at 1:59 am (UTC -5)
I have a free account but havent done anything with it yet. I guess they have nothing to do with investing which led me to join. Im not an hyip guy.
I think my uplines upline [2 up] makes $500 a week on his asterios but that takes lots of referrals. If you want to make that much you definitely need to be a good recruiter. I don’t think gold alone with get you there.
Karen says:
August 10, 2010 at 4:41 pm (UTC -5)
Asteria seemed like mlm to me. I am already in another so I really didn’t take too much time to learn the company plan. Now I search for Asteria and find this. I have to guess you need to recruit to earn a lot. I don’t think they scam anyone but many advertisings say you can make 1000.0$ a week. No way can everyone make that much.
sadique says:
August 17, 2010 at 11:18 am (UTC -5)
EVERY ONE COME TO JOIN……….MY REAL LIVE PAYOUT PROOFS.
Links Edited By: Ivory Emissary
Comments: Mohamed Sadique, you really need to stop spamming our blog with your club asteria links. We don’t appreciate comment advertising here.
sadique says:
August 19, 2010 at 1:41 pm (UTC -5)
club-asteria is great……i am making 450usd avg per week….
Mitch says:
August 22, 2010 at 4:15 pm (UTC -5)
Club asteria smells pretty fishy to me. So much talk about upgrading to pay 30 dollars monthly, then testimonies of those making so much money a week that I do wonder how this is different from redesigned network marketing?? These asterios seems like recruiting rewards…. So you don’t make a lot of money unless you recruit? That’s just plain ol network marketing at work there. Club asteria has all the buzz around it and the first big network marketers brought in a bunch of people and that earns them good money. That buzz probably won’t be around forever though. I think the time to make it big in Club asteria passed many many ….. many days ago.
greenwise says:
August 24, 2010 at 12:18 pm (UTC -5)
No sweat here. Im enjoying club asteria and earned 60dollars last run. I will earn more even next time so hope on board and you can do it too!
Jenee says:
August 26, 2010 at 1:19 pm (UTC -5)
No complaints here!!
I made $34.18 after pp fees for last month totals and that means i’m making profit at thsi point!
I cant’ wait for month 2 of club asteria!
For questions just ask me.
Mitch says:
August 27, 2010 at 1:42 am (UTC -5)
Hi Jenee and greenwise.
How many people did you need to refer in order to earn what you’re current making in club asteria? Ty.
Chiron says:
August 29, 2010 at 8:32 am (UTC -5)
Yeah i would like to know that to..
The person that told me about asteria says that with just being active, you get paid €400 per month, without doing anything extra in 1.5 years. If you want to increase, you have to referrer other people to asteria.
This €400 is pure based on the increase of your asterios, what can u guys say about that, and how much did you invest etc?
Thanks in advance..
Doc Rours says:
August 29, 2010 at 5:35 pm (UTC -5)
I know that I already shared my two cents last month about what I think of club asteria but I want to respond to this last comment specifically.
Chiron, listen to your gut. Something is very wrong with that picture isn’t it? There’s no such thing as a free lunch. You cannot get something for doing nothing.
Asteria wants us to believe we can start earning $400 or Euros a month by continuing to pay $30 every month to be active for one year? No that is not possible unless they are running ponzi scheme fraud.
I now notice that people are using the term “invest.” If asterios are being treated as investments and not rebates and sponsor rewards then its probably a ponzi scheme. I thought it was a pyramid scheme earlier but now I’m starting to see how the scam works more clearly.
Don’t waste money on this.
hem says:
September 1, 2010 at 3:56 am (UTC -5)
hello doc rours
actually asterios are not investments, many people here are making false comments, as per what is mentioned in the club, it is just a reward that the club is giving people for participating in the club. And they do make real money through business and it is not a ponzi scheme at all because you are not investing anything, the 20$ is just a membership fee. The club asteria is tapping into the global money transfer industry. This is not just another ponzi scam, it is an oppurtunity for people to get financial success, they are not promising millions, but only 400$ a week, and they didn’t mention it will happen overnight, they say you will need more than 2 yrs.
That sounds a lot more sensible than many programs running on the internet.