Ebiz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
EBiz is a Multi-Level Marketing company that was established on 8th June, 2001 under the Companies Act, 1956 of India. The company is based on the Pyramid Scheme of network marketing and is not truly an MLM company in its true sense. The company's product includes an educational package that is comprised of online tutorials apart from some webspace and a website builder software. The members who buy these packages are called "Associates" and earn commission by way of enrolling new members into the company which then form a part of their downline.
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[edit] Mission
The company was setup with the following objectives:
- To educate people of all ages, in the use of computers, help them to reap benefits from the vast powerhouse of information – the Internet.
- To enable them to build their own websites, using our user-friendly web-site building tools.
- To enable them to earn through the Internet by learning through our e-Educational Packages and helping others to do the same.
The company promotes its product with the above objectives in mind while highlighting that it is a kind of social service since it is educating more and more people.
[edit] Products
The product of the company is the pivot around which the company bases its activities. Anyone interested in earning commission is required to first buy the product package and become an "Associate". Associates are able to earn commission by selling the same product to other interested persons which is how the company expands its network.
The products of the company are available in three different packages as follows:
- eBIZ Educational and Web Package
This package includes tutorials of the following:
Computer Fundamentals Introduction to Internet Surfing Windows 98 Windows ME / XP Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft Power Point Hardware Visual Basic C Language Microsoft Access C++ An Object Oriented Language SQL A Database Language FORTRAN A Computational Programming Language Microsoft Front Page HTML A Hypertext Markup Language Macromedia Flash Tally PageMaker Core Java DOS Java Server Page(JSP)
The package also includes 35 MB of webspace and a subdomain on the main EBiz website (eBizel) and an eBiz Web Builder software to develop websites. Apart from this, members are provided with an email account(8 MB) and the facility to view their commissions and downline on the website.
- eBIZ Educational Package
This package only includes the tutorials for the following:
Introduction to Internet Surfing Windows 98 Windows ME / XP Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft Power Point Hardware Visual Basic C Language Microsoft Access C++ An Object Oriented Language SQL A Database Language FORTRAN A Computational Programming Language
- Free eBIZ Educational Package
This package is free and is available to anyone. It consists of tutorials on:
Introduction to Internet Surfing Windows 98 Windows ME / XP Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft Power Point Hardware
The basic courses as described above are not only written in ENGLISH but they are available in 17 different languages which include 12 regional Indian languages and 5 foreign languages. Also company keeps on upgrading these courses and adding new courses timely.
[edit] Associates
Associates are the members of the company. These members have the responsibility of selling the products of the company to others by way of presentations, seminars and persuasion for which they are paid commission in return. Note that the members that enroll due to a particular associate are added to the downline of that associate. This way, each time a member in the downline makes a sale, the original associate is paid a share (commission) out of the amount.
[edit] Commissions
The company follows a binary plan in order to pay commissions to all its associates. Each associate has at least two people under him (downline), with each forming a single leg (left and right leg respectively). Each leg then expands by itself into further left and right leg divisions. Commissions are paid to every person above a particular associate when he/she enrolls a new assosiate in his/her downline or a assosiate of his/her downline enrolls a new assosiate. Enrolling involves selling the same educational package to new assosiate.
[edit] Spread in India
The company has seen a huge growth in its computer educaion base, most of which is comprised of college-going students from Engineering, Commerce, Arts and other colleges. Though presentations and seminars are held regularly, the word about the company and its product and more importantly, the earning aspect has spread mostly through communication.
[edit] Criticisms
The company has been widely criticised for its dubious products and marketing methods. The major criticism of the company is on ethical grounds that includes the argument that the tactics used by the associates to enroll new members are highly deceptive. The other criticisms are as follows:
- FTC Certification
The company claims to be certified by Federal Trade Commission(FTC) but without any evidence. Many people(including ex-eBizzers) have argued over the fact that FTC does not even recognize the company and if ever this business model comes to its notice, it is likely to take legal action provided that a respectable no. of people formally lodge a complaint against the company.
- Educational Package
The Educational Package has been widely stated as being highly overvalued. It is true that the courses provided by the company are available for free over the Internet.The so called interactive courses provided are nothing but tons of theory reproduced in the least appealing manner.
- 35 MB Space
The company charges its associates for the 35MB space it provides. It has been pointed out that this space is very meagre and is available for free over websites such as Geocities, Google Pages etc. So also, the space is limited in functionality since it only allows uploading of HTML and TXT files and disallows any type of scripts (PHP etc.) to be uploaded.They market the webspace claiming that 5 MB of webspace is worth Rs.1000 on the ISS(International Secure Server-'Existence of which hasnt been verifiable') and hence everyone receives the product free whereas yahoo gives 5 GB for less than Rs.4000 a year with a personalised domain name and all those assisting softwares and sites builders.
- Domain Name
The company claims to provide a domain name to its members which is not true since it only provides members with a sub-domain on its parent website (example: http://www.ebizwebbiz.com/memberName).
- Examinations
The company conducts examinations in all the courses it sells. The examinations are not recognized by the government.
The criticism to the company has seen both Associates (often called EBizzers) and people against the company (often called Anti-Ebizzers) to enter into extenisve discussions (often abusive) with each side trying to prove its point. The discussions are usually online and conducted over social networking websites such as Orkut. It has been repeatedly pointed out that EBiz model brings real earnings only to 2% of the people and rest 98% loose out even their initial investment. This is in accordance with the Pyramid Scheme of marketing that EBiz follows.
