Is it possible to have a legal matrix?

[elvisjim]

Hi there,
I am from England, and was wondering if you knew, from a legal point of view, whether Matrix Selling is illegal in the UK? The reason I ask you this, is because I read it on one of the Ebay chat forums (comment was from a member of the public and not Ebay themselves) and it was something I was looking at going into (providing it was not illegal of course !). Whilst I appreciate that the majority of these websites are scams, there will always be a few that are genuine, run by decent honest people.
Example - If I was to set up my own website, as an internet shop, and sell brand new products for a fraction of the price (i.e. using the Matrix System), clearly stating to the public how the system works and the potential waiting times involved, then when the rating has been reached, actually go to a retail store and purchase that item for the individual (therefore having proof of purchase), I cannot see how that can classed as illegal ?. If I have been completely upfront, operating a transparent policy and those individuals are happy to pay and then wait however long that may be, then I cannot see purely from a legal point of view how this is a criminal offence. Although a lot of people may say that morally these schemes are completely wrong, but thats a big difference from being illegal !
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time reading this message. Cheers, Elvisjim.

[jokach]

If I was to set up my own website, as an internet shop, and sell brand new products for a fraction of the price (i.e. using the Matrix System), clearly stating to the public how the system works and the potential waiting times involved, then when the rating has been reached, actually go to a retail store and purchase that item for the individual (therefore having proof of purchase), I cannot see how that can classed as illegal ?. If I have been completely upfront, operating a transparent policy and those individuals are happy to pay and then wait however long that may be, then I cannot see purely from a legal point of view how this is a criminal offence.


By doing what you are recommending, you are not really selling 'brand new products', you are selling a chance to get the brand new products. This type of model is known as a Ponzi scheme, where future investors end up financing the cost for early investors.

In order to succeed, you would need to have a cycle list, and this is where the problem comes in because now you are setting up a pyramid scheme as well. Eventually you will have more people on your lists than you will ever be able to provide a new product for, plus it will begin to cut into your profits as a site owner for each new person that signs up. By the time you cycle your first 5 or 10 people who signed up, you're starting to fall into the red. The statistics are all posted in our downloads section and there are many threads that cover when the point occurs that a matrix-site owner starts losing money. Why would you want to be in business to lose money?

As far as being illegal, there is nothing stating specifically that matrix sites themselves are illegal, but to model that they follow will fall into pyramid and ponzi scheme laws. Take a look at it thru the use of this analogy posted by another member:


Let's say that I told everyone that I am a hitman,and will charge you $1 for every hit I commit. Well, where are the laws that include the word hitman? There are none, but that doesn't mean that I can get away with murdering people, just because the law doesn't include the word hitman.


Just because the law doesn't say matrix site, doesn't mean practicing like one is legal.

I think if you go through our closed matrix site list (see my signature), and read the threads, and follow what is currently going on with got-matrix.com, you'll see that every matrix site, regardless of whether people agreed to it or not, or how well it was stated in the beginning to the user, will eventually fall. The statistics guarantee it, Got Matrix and EzExpo were the biggest, and they couldn't beat the system either. This is an old concept, and no matter what way you try to make it sound like it will work, and not act fraudulantly, it just won't.

I hope you make the right choice in not getting yourself involved in this type of thing, stick with an honest business, you'll feel better about yourself in the end.


jokach

[elvisjim]

Thanks for that.
Think I will stick to something else then !
Cheers
Elvisjim

[MatrixWatch]

Elvisjim,
I've gone ahead and moved this thread over to our "Legal Discussion" sub-forum which is where it should have been posted.

:)