“Get money back by spending money.” This is the promise launched by “Vivi”, one of the TikTokeuses promoted by Emrys, a consumer cooperative that promises to collect shopping vouchers by buying daily. Founded in 2014, the company now has 220,000 members.
To accumulate points, members must, in theory, pay for their runs through gift cards sold by Emrys. But integrating new recruits allows you to earn more, and many micro-influencers are embarking on recruitment campaigns on social networks. Advances in earnings that sometimes seem to outweigh the reality experienced by some buyers.
An army of micro-influencers
The 49-year-old father of three has been regularly posting Emrys explainer videos there for the past year. Passing 90% of his purchases through this system, he would be able to generate between 400 and 500 euros of monthly savings for two years. In four years, Pieralex would have integrated around fifty members, but he says he is not specifically looking to recruit online, preferring to meet people in person.
On TikTok, everything serves to convince: show the tempting numbers of your purchase credits, or stage yourself buying products thanks to the discounts recovered. But among the dithyrambic testimonials, there are also disappointed customers.
A complex system to the point of vertigo
Big retailers like Carrefour, home appliances, fashion or even restaurants – on the Emrys site, it is possible to buy gift cards for almost everything, which can be used in stores or on participating websites. They can also be used to obtain products marketed directly by Emrys, such as food supplements.
By spending with these partners, co-op members earn “coins” that allow them to earn “shares,” a sort of numbered jackpot similar to a loyalty card to fill up at a merchant. Participants must then grow these “shares” (this is called “cycling” a share) to earn gradually increasing purchase credits, ranging from €9 for the first part to €25,000 for the 15th depending on a member’s site. . Other parts are generated each cycle and are then free to start the process over again.
To become a member and access the Emrys system, you must first pay a subscription: between 10 and 100 euros per month depending on the status, which grants more or less advantages. The highest level, “Lovely Ones”, allows you to withdraw the money earned and not only to use it in the form of discounts, but also to sponsor new members.
This is the most advantageous state, because the actions of the sponsors are grouped with those of the people they have recruited, which allows you to reach the next win more quickly. Charmers receive commissions on the earnings of their recruits, in the range of 4 to 2.5%.
MLM, Ponzi scheme?
This type of structure is reminiscent of multi-level marketing (MLM), where resellers can sponsor new members into the network and earn commissions on the sales made by their recruits.
“MLM itself is not illegal, but it is when it is likened to a Ponzi-type pyramid, where the income that members get comes from the users of this network and this service. [davantage que le produit ou le service vendu]. To characterize a pyramid, there must be no source of income external to the scheme,” explains Konstantin Mikov, a lawyer specializing in private investor law and a member of the Avocats-Litiges-Finaniers.fr network.
Interviewed by Tech & Co, Emrys CEO Wilfried Rivière check the name. “Chez Emrys vous êtes rémunéré only sur la vente de produits ou services, cartes-cadeau et licences, et en aucun cas sur l’investissement aporté par de nouveaux entrants: on a strictly rien à voir avec un système pyramidal”, assure-t -He.
Then a part is redistributed among the members. “In 2022 we generated 9.5 million euros in discounts and compensation. In 2023 we expect around 15 million euros”, says the president of Emrys.
Thus, to argue that Emrys is close to a pyramid scheme, “the most important criterion, which is that the money must circulate in the ecosystem in a closed manner, must be proven since it would appear that Emrys receives income from third parties,” he points out. Konstantin Mikov. According to him, “all the other criteria seem to be there.”
unofficial communication
But to understand how the commission, redistribution or sponsorship works, don’t count on the official Emrys website, which is completely devoid of specific information. If you want to find out before signing up, you’ll need to rely on a galaxy of independently created member content.
Promise of easy profits, emphasis on recruitment, lack of transparency…many of the constituent criteria of a pyramid scheme are transmitted by the Emrys members themselves.
“The amounts are important”, is how it is written on one of these sites, which shows, with a great deal of complex tables, accumulated profits that can reach more than 43,000 euros by filling in the latest actions.
“Society can easily exonerate itself from its responsibility and claim that it cannot control the speech of its members,” observes lawyer Konstantin Mikov.
For his part, Wilfried Rivière insists that it would be an investment to be considered in the long term, with a perceptible return at least after two years for the first status: “We do not promise wealth to whoever claims to be Emrys.” buyer for six months or a year”. And to add, regarding the individual promotion of Emrys online: “We are not associated with this communication”.
Another question remains: does this system encourage excessive consumption ofr fill their quotas, as stated by a former member quoted by the Parisian? “They are not at all the testimonies that we have in the majority. In my opinion, it is still exceptional, if it happened”, assures Wilfried Rivière.
Source: BFM TV
