Silver Snowball scam/pyramid scheme

Tysonboss1 said:

There seems to be a pyramid scheme which is growing very popular among get rich quick types called "silver snowball".

The way it seems to work is it costs you $42.50 to sign up and you get a coin worth $20, but when you sign up a further people for every 2 you sign up you recieve a silver coin.

for example.

1 person pays $42.50 ($20 goes to buying their coin, $10 goes to paying for half the value of the free coin the person that signed them up gets, and $12.50 go's to the founder for postage and profit)

So once a person pays $42.50 all they have is a coin worth $20, unless they sign up a more people, once they sign up 4 people they start to get a profit in the form of free coins.

However like any pyramid scheme this has to comes to an end, because if every body that joins signs up a further 4 people by the 17 level the amount of people needed in the system is well over 10 billion.

The worst thing is when it hits it's saturation point over half of the people involved will be out of pocket and the founder will be rich.

Below is the link to this clowns video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdqnT6wduQg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5RzWgz3WZA

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Tysonboss1 said:

There seems to be a pyramid scheme which is growing very popular among get rich quick types called "silver snowball".

The way it seems to work is it costs you $42.50 to sign up and you get a coin worth $20, but when you sign up a further people for every 2 you sign up you recieve a silver coin.

for example.

1 person pays $42.50 ($20 goes to buying their coin, $10 goes to paying for half the value of the free coin the person that signed them up gets, and $12.50 go's to the founder for postage and profit)

So once a person pays $42.50 all they have is a coin worth $20, unless they sign up a more people, once they sign up 4 people they start to get a profit in the form of free coins.

However like any pyramid scheme this has to comes to an end, because if every body that joins signs up a further 4 people by the 17 level the amount of people needed in the system is well over 10 billion.

The worst thing is when it hits it's saturation point over half of the people involved will be out of pocket and the founder will be rich.

Below is the link to this clowns video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdqnT6wduQg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5RzWgz3WZA

Click to expand...

riveroak said:

As a Silversnowball web owner I would like to refute the claim that its a pyramid scheme or a scam.
First, the definition of a pyramid scheme is where nearly all of the assets gos to the person at the top.
Second, the definition of a pyramid scheme is that you can never make more money than the person above you.
Third part of the definition of a pyramid scheme is that you get some thing of little value to market.
None of this applies to Silversnowball.
To start with, it only has 2 levels, so by a fourth definition its not a pyramid scheme.
To address the other 3 issues.
In silversnowball any individual can make more money, or acquire more silver coins than the person through whom they sgined on with.
There is no limit to how much the person under you makes.
That deals with the first and second points.
Third. You do get some thing of real value, a 1 oz silver coin every month, even if you don't bother to market your site as well.
And to address the issue of you paying more than the market price for the silver coin.
The extra money gos into the website, and hosting that you get when you join to run your business. And the general administration costs.
Yes, you don't get the coin at spot price, but nobody but futures traders do.
And your still getting the silver coin cheaper than through some dealers, and the coins are posted to you, so you don't have to drive into town to buy them.
And last of all. You will never run out of buyers, any more than a car maker, or washing machine maker will run out of customers. Theres just too many potential customers to ever worry about that. All the silver in the world would literally run out long before you get close to getting to a fraction of all your potential customers.

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riveroak said:

As a Silversnowball web owner I would like to refute the claim that its a pyramid scheme or a scam.
First, the definition of a pyramid scheme is where nearly all of the assets gos to the person at the top.
Second, the definition of a pyramid scheme is that you can never make more money than the person above you.
Third part of the definition of a pyramid scheme is that you get some thing of little value to market.
None of this applies to Silversnowball.
To start with, it only has 2 levels, so by a fourth definition its not a pyramid scheme.
To address the other 3 issues.
In silversnowball any individual can make more money, or acquire more silver coins than the person through whom they sgined on with.
There is no limit to how much the person under you makes.
That deals with the first and second points.
Third. You do get some thing of real value, a 1 oz silver coin every month, even if you don't bother to market your site as well.
And to address the issue of you paying more than the market price for the silver coin.
The extra money gos into the website, and hosting that you get when you join to run your business. And the general administration costs.
Yes, you don't get the coin at spot price, but nobody but futures traders do.
And your still getting the silver coin cheaper than through some dealers, and the coins are posted to you, so you don't have to drive into town to buy them.
And last of all. You will never run out of buyers, any more than a car maker, or washing machine maker will run out of customers. Theres just too many potential customers to ever worry about that. All the silver in the world would literally run out long before you get close to getting to a fraction of all your potential customers.

Click to expand...

riveroak said:

As a Silversnowball web owner I would like to refute the claim that its a pyramid scheme or a scam.
First, the definition of a pyramid scheme is where nearly all of the assets gos to the person at the top.
Second, the definition of a pyramid scheme is that you can never make more money than the person above you.
Third part of the definition of a pyramid scheme is that you get some thing of little value to market.
None of this applies to Silversnowball.
To start with, it only has 2 levels, so by a fourth definition its not a pyramid scheme.
To address the other 3 issues.
In silversnowball any individual can make more money, or acquire more silver coins than the person through whom they sgined on with.
There is no limit to how much the person under you makes.
That deals with the first and second points.
Third. You do get some thing of real value, a 1 oz silver coin every month, even if you don't bother to market your site as well.
And to address the issue of you paying more than the market price for the silver coin.
The extra money gos into the website, and hosting that you get when you join to run your business. And the general administration costs.
Yes, you don't get the coin at spot price, but nobody but futures traders do.
And your still getting the silver coin cheaper than through some dealers, and the coins are posted to you, so you don't have to drive into town to buy them.
And last of all. You will never run out of buyers, any more than a car maker, or washing machine maker will run out of customers. Theres just too many potential customers to ever worry about that. All the silver in the world would literally run out long before you get close to getting to a fraction of all your potential customers.

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Seminar speaker: "First, let me assure you that this is not one of those shady pyramid schemes you've been hearing about. No sir. Our model is the trapezoid scheme, guaranteed to give you an eight-hundred percent return...."
(sirens are heard, and he jumps out the window)

The Simpsons episode "I Married Marge" - when Homer attends a seminar entitled "Million$ for nothing."

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Junior said:

Maybe it's not a Pyramid Scheme...could be more similar to a:

Ponzi Scheme
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the scheme going.

(from Wikipedia)

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Ruby said:

Sure, this scheme generates cash flow - if you want to call it that - in the $42.50 initial payment, but all they get for that is a coin worth half that value and the right to onsell the scheme. There is no repeat business either - people are only going to outlay the $42.50 once. A few people always make money out of these things, but the majority don't.

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Tysonboss1 said:

Hi Ruby,

To be part of this sham you have to sign up and buy 1 coin for $42.50($20 actual value) every month from the person that signed you up. this then gives you the right to claim the free coins you get from selling $42.50 coin to the people below you.

For example I sign up and buy one coin per month for $42.50 from you then I sign up another 6 people who buy a coin every month from me so i cecieve 1 coin for $42.50 and 2 free ones from the 6 other fools.

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skc said:

http://emsrelto.blogspot.com/2004/12/trapezoid-scheme.html

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