In this post I`m going to review good and not so good things about Lyoness / Lyconet Multi level marketing company. I have spent there few months as a Marketer, so I have some insights to share with you.
Everybody should know by now what Lyoness loyalty program is. However if You do not, then:
What is Lyoness loyalty program?
Lyoness loyalty program is the largest shopping community in the world. It is used by over 8 million people in 49 countries in the world. Lyoness loyalty card is free of charge. Its users do not undertake any shopping liabilities, but they get possibility to shop with better conditions. Lyoness loyalty program participants can shop in both conventional stores, and online in any of the member states.
Try out Lyoness / Lyconet here
How I was introduced to Lyconet?
I have been active for a while in Lyconet program and I will gladly share with You my experience with this network marketing company. Currently due to various reasons I am not active Lyconet program participant, but I know that there are many people who would like to hear a story of real experience.
Currently I have 400 direct and indirect people in my recommendation line, but the total number of people in the recommendation line definitely exceeds 500 people which I cannot say precisely because I am not paying 50 euros monthly.
Yes, in order to have access to all the information about Your team, You are going to spare 50 euros a month for which You are going to have one Unit reserved in the ‘Balance’ program of a different state.
And here I am, just at the beginning of my story when some terms kick in, of which there is a bunch in this marketing company.
So, how did I become Lyconet member, how much money I have invested in this network marketing company and how much money I have earned?
I got introduced to Lyoness loyalty program when one good person came to the company I was working at back then and told that this loyalty program could be useful to a company. I have to say though that I did not see how to integrate this program in the company, but I liked the concept of the network marketing. Until in two months time I came to the first training session.
After having visited a few training sessions I decided to join Lyconet network marketing program and bought the starter pack for 350 euros. These 350 euros were spent in order to buy Units in the Latvian Balance program which is not currently ringing a bell for You, does it? I instantly activated Easy shop function which costs from 50-150 euros a month. By paying 50 euros a month You gain access to all Lyconet partner profile functions.
In total I have 16 units – 7 in the Latvian Balance program and 9 in Balance programs of other countries. It means that I have invested about 800 euros in this system. I could also count training session visits as expenses, seminar in Italy and other costs.
Why Lyconet network business seems attractive to me?
First of all, this business idea is quite excellent – one loyalty card for all Your everyday purchases. Secondly, I saw a possibility to approach this business differently than it is done by everybody else – with online marketing tools. Already during the first days I created a page atgrieznaudu.lv (“cash back” in Latvian), where I talked about Lyoness advantages. By linking the website to Facebook ads I managed to get several hundreds of new users under me. Of course I performed classic network marketing activities too – meeting and explaining this business opportunity to others.
And now it is time for the most interesting part of this article – reasons why I did not continue my activities in Lyconet network marketing company. I am telling right away that this is my subjective opinion which formed through understanding of this program and by observing the results.
Why I discontinued activities in Lyconet network marketing program?
1. As the first reason I can mention the fact that people in reality are not using this card. The most active users of this card are the participants of Lyconet program who are changing their everyday commute just to get this 1-2% cashback from daily purchases. In my opinion the return offered by this card is just too low for people to really change their routine, and simply get 1-2% back. And what is the strangest? In many places buying with this card is even more disadvantageous than with other discount cards! A great example would
be Lukoil (popular gas station in Latvia) petrol station. By using Lukoil loyalty card You can receive 4-6 cent discount for each litre You fill in Your vehicle, but with Lyoness, the discount is 1% from 100 euro purchase. Additionally, Your 1% cashback is returned to Lyoness account in a month or even after a longer period of time, but Lukoil’s 4-6 cent discount is received at the moment of purchase. I hope You got the idea how unprofitable it actually is to use this card.
2. This card is disadvantageous for companies and with the benefits offered it is difficult to attract new visitors to Your company. I will remind however that this is my subjective opinion, but me being marketing specialist, I do believe that their loyalty system is a little bit inappropriate. The company for their client activities will have to give up 8-12% of the purchase sum, but the clients receive 1-3% as a cashback. The rest goes to the company, to the person who gave You the Lyoness card, to the Lyconet network marketing program.
In my opinion this ration must be the other way round, and thus people would have way more reasons to use this card, as well as with turnover increase network marketing participants would receive a similar amount of money.
Personally to me 1-2% is very low, so I am not motivated to use the card, but if it were 6-10% I would be willing to change my habits.
3. Money can be earned (almost) exclusively by making other people become Lyconet network marketing participants. If You have ever visited any of the Lyconet trainings, You definitely will have heard that You can earn in 18 different ways with this program (or more, I cannot recall). And it is not lie, but the situation in reality is also that real money is earned only when You recruit as many people as possible. The more purchases they make in Lyconet system, the larger Your profit. And if You find people who manage to do the same, Your profit increases even more.
I tried building my team, mostly based on the card users, but after having given away cards to more than 300 people my earnings barely reached 10 euros. This fact made me reconsider and I understood that people are simply not using this card.
4. Gradually it began to become difficult to find new participants to Lyconet. Have Your friend or acquaintance ever tried to tell You about Lyoness loyalty program? Or have You ever received an invitation to come to Lyoness presentation? I know people who have received 4-5 such invitations. By the way currently over 100 000 people in Latvia currently hold Lyoness cards! Looking at demographics data of Latvia, You can calculate that every 20th person in Latvia has one. And if somebody receives their card then there is nobody else who can give one to them anymore. But I am convinced that several times more people have been addressed, and if You decide to try Your luck and make Your business in this network marketing company, You are going to face a great distrust from people – most of them will have been talked to already about this, and another big part will tell you to get lost with Your pyramid scheme.
5. Network marketing systems are being changed without prior notice. Starting off network marketing business in Lyconet company there was an article about purchases by Your referred program participants, for which You will be paid 0.5% of the sum of the purchase. By deciding that You can create business based on those 0.5%, in a while this condition is cancelled or the sum reduced. Not sure if it is good news.
I guess I have covered it all – everything I had about Lyoness loyalty program and Lyconet network marketing BUT! I have not had any regrets that I got involved in this network marketing business, that’s why I will mention also a couple of positive points.
Positive points about Lyoness / Lyconet program
1. Opportunity to meet great people. Yes, in this and in other network marketing businesses there is a possibility to meet super determined, smart, outgoing people from whom there is so much You can learn. And I also had an honour to familiarize with a few such people, gain useful knowledge from them and find out about their view on things.
2. Network marketing makes You learn and facilitates self-growth! If You decide seriously to get involved in the business of network marketing, then You will definitely need to learn new things, You will have to read books and step beyond the boundaries of Your capabilities.
At the time when I was active Lyconet participant, I managed unbelievable things every day. I made myself wake up at 6:00 every morning just to go exercise, I dared to approach tens of people a day, I read at least a book a week and I understood that only huge efforts are leading to significant results.
3. In order to reach Your goals You have to work thoroughly and be smart. If previously I was only scratching the surface, looking for the easiest and quickest ways, after joining network marketing business I understood that a key to success if intelligence and determination. An excellent example of how I use the obtained knowledge is this portal. I nurtured the idea about the portal for 6 years, but by the beginning of 2018 I was constantly trying to find some other super-efficient and super-fast way how to make this portal popular without devoting time to it. Needless to say that it did not work, until I started to be extra determined regarding the content, investing time and money into the development of the project.
Here are my conclusions about Lyoness loyalty program, Lyconet network marketing and about network marketing in general. Actually I advise everyone to try their luck in network marketing just to benefit – materially or in some other way like, self-development, but hopefully in both!
Try out Lyoness / Lyconet here
A good article with a very critical perspective.
This scheme has just been recognized as a financial pyramid and sued in Norway, Italy, and then in Austria. It has been carefully considered in Poland, Germany, more in several countries.
What’s interesting, as mentioned in that article – Cashback uses “fictitious” tactics with popular brands to create additional credibility. Tesco and other famous brands are used in the world – Maxima, Sportland, etc. in Latvia. In fact, they are just buying e-vouchers and not concluding any contracts with companies, in fact, the big companies separate them. I contacted Maxima myself and they confirmed it. But with that, they gain the trust of small businesses. Of course, the members of the pyramid also. Well, there can be no pyramid, if such companies are inside.
They still like to collaborate with pop football, sports clubs, F1, but they don’t say they pay for these clubs, sponsor them from the contributions of the pyramid members to their internal Cloud scheme. The same goal – trust, if already F1, then definitely there must be all right.
Let’s say, in Italy, the turnover from the loyalty program was just 16%, the rest from the contributions of the Cloud.
Well, and the crown for everything is what they’re going to go ahead, perhaps nothing better to think about – a new Amazon with crypto currency settlements. It is the nightmare that all those involved believe now that they will earn millions.
Of course, the top of the pyramid earns huge money, but it is clear that for many it will end up with contributions and big losses, as in any pyramid.
Yes, I also found a very interesting fact that only 16% of the turnover was generated from cashback activities, while the rest 84% came from “Marketer” contributions.
I have a network of 430+ people – card users, but the return is ridiculous, to say the least. And most importantly, the cash came a little at first, but after that the commissions was cut and now I get almost nothing.
I think that soon it will be very har to find new recruits for this pyramid scheme, everyone will asked 10 times to join and the bubble will explode.
Good article, Roland. Three years ago, one of my “friends” pulled into this scheme. Acquired in several countries’ claud programs, around 20,000. At present, some of them have begun to incur costs that you will not hear in any seminar, because the sums are miserable. The average cost of one cloud, which cost 1500 euros, is 17 euros per month. monthly 50 Euro deposit.
Sad to hear that!
I have 430 people directly recommended, and I can’t collect 5 euros for 3 months. At first it was okay to really get 0.5% of the purchases made, but now it is also cut and the commissions stands at 0% or 0.1% or 0.25%.
All the promises made in the beginning have been completely eliminated.
Very good and constructive opinion about Lyoness. I was also dragged into it for a couple of months, and now I occasionally gulp down to see how low it is, how many people are disappointed, litigation, and so on. You already know, I’m not the only one.
Fortunately, I did not invest much in the 350 start and then 50 euros in a couple of months. I join exactly the same reason – I was approached by the idea itself and definitely discouraged by the involvement of others. However, as the author of the article already mentioned in his article, only the fiercest Lyconet marketers use FACTS.
Luckily I never believed in the Cloud miracle to the end and didn’t convince my friends / acquaintances to invest money there. It is not surprising to me that most of the turnover is made from the contributions of the marketing staff. And what then is the cloud actually? The same 50 EUR balls (those in the system will understand) just under another name.
The author forgot to add that the money invested in the Lyconet system does not disappear anywhere and can be recovered by purchasing at the loyalty system. However, it is so persistent and painful that it can, in principle, be assumed that the money is falling. I don’t remember the exact mathematics anymore, but I needed to spend 5k EUR to “recover” EUR 350. And let’s be realistic – you can only spend so much on Max with their gift cards, because there is no direct Lyoness card out there. There is a small bonus here, as you can get your cash-back + use Thank you card if you like the pistins.
And with regard to the retirement and enjoyment of the author’s “Truth”, its “pension” will exist until the next change in the compensation plan that the board of the company can change at its own discretion.
All these breathtaking promises 1 card = 1 euro, pension 30 years old, one cloud 500 EUR per month, the boss himself, fix his working time, long-term project, investing 1h day, etc. All this is a finely polished scenario that gives a very good impression with the aim of getting you down to pay monthly from 50 – 150 EUR.
Many in Lyons have earned. It is also a fact, but its profits are almost exclusive of your association (people at the bottom) and their monthly contributions, attracting other marketers and, of course, the best honeycomb – Cloud programs.
Thank you for sharing your opinion. I will not comment on anything, because I agree with everything!
This section of comments should be read by anyone who thinks about to join Lyconet 🙂
I also hope this will be read by someone who is in doubt – to join or not. The loyalty program itself has no fault – it works well and has not had any problems. The usual “user” is only a benefit, no doubt about it.
Question afor those who have been there (I was offered to get involved) Question about Lyconet balance program. Now there is a “fantastic” opportunity to invest in the balance program of the new countries (Malaysia and others) and from the 1000 eur investment I`m promised to get a profit of ~ 2500eur in just 30 days …..
Can anybody comment on this? Can it be true?
This sound too good to be true!
In my experience, everything that sounds too good is a scam.
Probably, If you deposit that money, you will never see it again!
I also love the concept and found this to be a fair review. The idea is brilliant but in practical terms does not work well due to lack of competitiveness against other organisations and banks that also offer cashback It is not appealing enough and very difficult to shop.
When eVouchers came in I was excited because they made it easier to shop. Lyconet seem uninterested in encouraging shopping to happen and are incredibly unsupportive to Lyconet Marketers and certainly the UK MD made it clear he was not to talk to marketers. This is very short sighted. Now with court cases happening all over the world and lyconet losing and being banned it’s a minefield and a worry being stuck with so much money tied up in mVouchers with no means to recash.
Now in the UK no eVouchers and the amount needed to be spent in order to recash my mVouchers is impossible and the fact that the mVouchers expire make it worse.
I love network marketing and i love the people, now through friends I am proud to be part of a company working hard to help lyconet marketers like me recash their mVouchers and actually earn money at the same time. Network Marketing is awesome when it works.
Is it the right time to join lyconet now? Hows the situation going from then, did u get any better money?
There is no right time to join Lyconet. Just forget about this company!
Great article with some very critical perspective. The scheme is a financial pyramid and has been sued in many countries and in many countries the case is currently running.
Would anyone have the UK version of the T&C that the Independent Marketer has with Lyconet? the one you have when you subscribe.