You’re not seriously considering dropping $2900 into the Reverse Funnel System (RFS), are you?

You might say, “2,900? I thought it was $50!” You’d be wrong. $50 is just the “application” fee to see if you’re really serious. To see if you’re a “true entrepreneur.” To hear RFS’ promoters tell it, the $50 separates the men from the boys. $50 gets you to the cool kids’ table, but to really be in the club, you’ll have to fork over $2,900, and that’s just the beginning.

What is the RFS?
It’s an internet marketing system originally designed to sell vacation time through “Global Resorts Network.” RFS is supposed to make it easy, even for internet marketing newbies, to funnel lots of prequalified traffic to your own website. The system will teach you how to advertise all over the Net, at the most reliable locations, sending constant streams of traffic to your own site, where you will make the sale. Your site will be designed after one of tens of thousands of similar RFS sites, and the conversion rate (the percentage of visitors who buy your product) is supposed to be astronomical. You’re supposed to make at least $1,000 commission per sale. And you build a downline and make a commission on their sales, too.

That doesn’t sound so bad
$1,000 per sale? I’d recoup my money after three sales! Not so fast. Your first sale doesn’t count because it “qualifies” you, whatever that means. But even more problematic is this: You’ll be told that in order to really make the big money, you need to sell—wait for it—the RFS. Yeah, you can sell some vacation shares along the way, but the real winners will sell the business opportunity! Don’t you want financial freedom? Look at these fancy houses and cars! If the dream is big enough you can work your way to $35,000 per month!

In other words, you just bought a business opportunity in which you make money by selling the same business opportunity to as many dupes as you can.

All of this sounds very familiar
I don’t like to admit it, but I was in Amway back before it reinvented itself as Quixtar. Believe me, the business was not about selling Amway products. It was ALL about selling the “business opportunity” to others, building your downline, who would then sell it to others, and so on until you get a Ferrari and a pony that poops gold.

It’s the same concept at work in the RFS. Yes, there is a legitimate product—the Global Resorts Network vacation products. But that product is used primarily to grant legitimacy to the RFS “business opportunity” and helps defend it against those who would call it an illegal pyramid.

You said, “That’s just the beginning.”
That’s right. $2,900 will get you in the door, but then there’s a monthly charge of about $300 to access the magical kingdom system to help you build your business. And you’ll also have to do some paid advertising. Maybe a lot of it.

But enough from me. I’ve Tried That is late to this party, so let’s hear from folks who have really tried it. Gatorbyte was one of the early naysayers regarding the reverse funnel system when it exploded onto the scene in the fall of 2007. Go read his review and the incredibly informative discussion that follows it. Here are just a few excerpts:

I was in the RFS for 2 months and spent about 8k total, probably a little more….and what do you think I got out of it? Creditors calling me because I have no $$$$ left to pay my bills. … All they want you to do is buy leads from their sources and half the time the system doesn’t work properly. Instances of emails not being sent and even links being redirected to other members. Yes…thats very tricky huh, “place your banner here you silly fool while we recode to someone elses page”

It’s a complete scam. I speak from experience. I bought in, dropped probably $8k, got 17 paid $50 leads in maybe 5 or 6 weeks but none of them came through except 1, then I found out you don’t get paid on your first one because it qualifies your downline. … these guys won’t allow anything “negative” on the phone calls, they’re all a bunch of law-of-attraction marketers spewing from the empty into the void, not acknowledging the fact that they’re profiting off of other’s naivete. I got burned but I learned a good lesson — I will never do anything like this again.

I did a search on “reverse funnel system” on Google… And what I found amusing was that the first whole page or so of entries were all “shills” for them. They used several different domains to create “review” sites that give an opinion on the RFS and they always conclude (quite objectively!) that the RFS is wonderful and you should try it! And several of the sites used the same cut and paste text. If that doesn’t scream scam I don’t know what does. Trying to block as many of the sites with actual opinions as possible with their own BS ones. Hilarious.

From October 22nd through today (Feb 02, 2008), I have spent 10 plus hours, 7 days a week placing free ads and paid ads where the gurus “Say to do it”. I have invested my last $9,000 trying to achieve the sales claims that RFS presents. Every Friday morning I would listen to the call where some reps would say on air that they are making $60k + per month. Again, it would hook the anchor in and I would get in a frenzy putting more ads out that ever before. I have had over 13,000 people visit my site, and I have had over 1300 people opt in for more information.

I started in October 2007 by giving them $50. Then they wanted another $2995. Two weeks later another $299 and so on and so on and so on. I was layed off from my job at the end of October, so I took a chance and invested in RSF and the GRN. I had no idea how much it would cost to get started. It is now March 2008 and I have yet to make a dime. I am so far into this, I don’t know what to do. I want to bail, but then I lose it all and theres always that chance someone will buy into this….. I got involved in this knowing nothing and I was told there would be help. Well the person that got my commission keeps telling me I’m not working hard enough at advertising. I HAVE NO MORE MONEY…HOW CAN I ADVERTISE!

There’s a LOT more over at Gator’s blog, so if you want more information (including the good things about RFS as explained by one of its happy users), click over there to read it all.

Based on what we’ve learned, our conclusion and opinion is that, unless you have $5,000 you don’t know what to do with, stay far away from the reverse funnel system. I wouldn’t call it a scam, but uses misleading advertising and one of the oldest tricks in the book: the “opportunity” you just bought consists of selling the opportunity to someone else.

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