Another multi-level marketing program (MLM) has been launched. It’s called the Resorts 360 Vacation Club and bloggers were quick to call it a potential scam. 360 Resorts was launched in recovery from major troubles in another MLM cruise called YTB Travel, when California Attorney General Edmund Brown sued them for “running a giant pyramid scheme.”
Travel and tourism generate more than $7 trillion a year. It is not surprising that home-based entrepreneurs want to take advantage of these profits. Some of the programs were total hoaxes. They paid people thousands of dollars and gave little or nothing when the actual value of the so-called products was analyzed. Not all home travel business opportunities are scams, some of them actually offer real value retail products in the travel market.
Now that Resorts 360 has launched, many are wondering if the program is another MLM scam or a real business. That’s a fair question.
Undoubtedly, there are some problems with the Resorts 360 Vacation Club, but is it a scam? While an MLM company does offer an actual product, the Vacation Club membership they sell falls short when compared to the memberships offered by competitors in the home business arena. Resorts 360 offers access to fewer resorts and members pay more for weeklong apartment vacations than their competitors. That doesn’t make it a scam, but it does put those hoping to make money from Resorts 360 marketing at a disadvantage.
Resorts 360 members get access to about 4,000 resorts while one competitor says they have over 5,000 products and another advertises over 5,400 resorts. Resorts 360 Vacation Club members get residential vacation weeks starting at $399. That means over $100 more than one competitor and $250 more than another. A member who only gets two weeks vacation a year can spend an extra $500 a year with the new MLM Vacation Club. Over ten years, that amount increases by $5,000.
With fewer options and more expensive vacation weeks, you’d think that 360 Resorts could, at the very least, claim a price advantage in the market, but that’s not the case. While their competitors sell memberships with lifetime benefits (100 years), the longest membership available through Resorts 360 is just one year.
Over ten years, Vacation Club benefits with Resorts 360 would cost $2,639 if renewed each year at the current rate and $5,616 if paid at the current monthly rate. Lifetime memberships with their competitors cost $2,995 and $1,998. This means that for $641 less, consumers can access more than 1,400 additional resorts, save $250 each on their lower vacation prices, and still have 90 more years of membership benefits to enjoy or sell and transfer to someone else.
Offering an inferior product and charging higher prices does not make Resorts 360 Vacation Club a scam. Just as with any other purchase, the buyer should be careful and compare their options.
While a product is a product, many people simply buy whatever it is to start a home based travel business and hope to start making money from home. The question is, can hopeful internet millionaires actually make money from Resorts 360?
Those looking to make money from home should look out for Resorts 360. Marketing experts say the flaws they encounter with their product will kill off the appeal of the traveler target retail market. Their high prices certainly won’t win over those who take the time to shop around. The maximum commissions earned is only $200 compared to two competitors who pay $1000.
Resorts 360 pledges residual revenue as memberships are renewed and payments are made for the monthly programs. However, this seems very unlikely. With other MLM programs that require people to renew, over 95% of members drop out and don’t renew. It is because these people only joined to make money and when they don’t see profits, they just move on.
As you can imagine, it can be very difficult to actually make a profit with Resorts 360. And it costs you almost the same marketing money to earn $200 in earnings as it does to get $1,000 in earnings. Some sales will be made, but how many marketing dollars will be spent to earn the low commissions? If a member costs more than $40 to get someone to buy, that could put that member in the red and they can’t plan to make up for that on renewals or negative MLM commissions either. A new member would probably have to sign up over 100 people, just to get about five who are actively working in the company and making some profit.
While 360 Resorts is not a total scam, it has clearly painted a more rosy picture than MLM history would suggest. Those looking for a quality vacation club membership will find more benefits and more robust memberships. Those looking to work from home will also find better options with better holiday clubs and higher commissions. One competitor accepts credit cards for its lifetime membership and even offers payment plans for just $198 to get started.
