Planet Impact Review – Steinkeller Brothers’ New Pyramid Scheme?
So, someone has introduced you to Planet Impact, and you want to know if it is a legit opportunity that could supplement your income, or even replace your job one day.
Planet Impact claims to provide you with the opportunity not only to make money but also to help save planet Earth!
But as amazing as that sounds, does Planet Impact actually live to its promises, and is it worthy of your time and effort?
In this Planet Impact review, we’ll mainly be discussing the people behind the company, its products, and the legitimacy and profitability of the business opportunity.
Without any further ado, let’s find out what Planet Impact is all about…
Review Summary
Website: planetimpact.com
Founders: Aron, Christian and Steffan Steinkeller
Price to Join Opportunity: 60 Euros
Recommended? No. product quality is questionable and the business could easily become a pyramid scheme. You may want to check this out instead.
Overall Business Opportunity Rating:
Quick Summary: Unless Planet Impact can justify the 60 Euro cost of their product by providing high quality contents, I honestly think that the whole “save the Earth” thing while making money is just a PR material to take advantage of you.
That and the fact that the the founders of Planet Impact, the Steinkeller Brothers, had been involved in various Ponzi schemes before.
The company also makes it appear that it is an affiliate marketing business when in fact, its using an MLM business model that looks dangerously like a pyramid scheme.
I will discuss why below…
What is Planet Impact?
Planet Impact is a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) company based in SmartCity, Malta.
It sells educational programs on personal development and on how to preserve mother Earth, such as fighting deforestation.
The company was co-founded by brothers Aron, Stephan, and Christian Steinkeller (left to right).
The trio came from South Tyrol, Italy, and is often referred to as the “Steinkeller Brothers,” each of them has already earned millions in the network marketing industry.
Oscar Dalvit is the current Chief Operating Officer of Planet Impact with Adrian Szumski as the CEO.
Interestingly, the Steinkellers weren’t mentioned in the company’s corporate team. I’m guessing it has something to do with the trio’s bad rep in the MLM community.
Founders’ Shady Pasts
Before Planet Impact, the Steinkeller Brothers made their mark with Organo Gold, to which their performance brought them into the spotlight.
The trio then left Organo Gold to launch their own company called Conligus, a penny auction MLM company similar to Numis.
However, Conligus later turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.
It didn’t take long before the company went into shambles, with the Steinkellers picking up the pieces of their shattered fame.
The Conligus website domain is already for sale.
But the biggest stain on the Steinkeller brother’s MLM record is their involvement with OneCoin.
OneCoin is a Crypto MLM company founded by Dr. Ruja Ignatova in 2014, which turned out to be, surprise surprise, another Ponzi scheme.
Dr. Ruja has been “missing” since 2017, while her brother was sentenced to a 90-year jail sentence for multiple money laundering.
During the publication of this Planet Impact review, the OneCoin founder is still wanted by the authorities for stealing billions of dollars from unsuspecting investors all over the world through OneCoin.
Before the truth about OneCoin was exposed, the Steinkellers have already left the company, maybe after receiving a tip that an FBI probe is coming soon.
Now, you might be wondering, why am I taking you into a history class about the Steinkeller Brothers.
Well, its because you can tell a lot of things about a company just by looking at the people behind it.
And I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to join an MLM company launched by people involved in notorious scams.
As an affiliate of Planet Impact, there’s a good chance that you’ll have trouble recruiting or selling its product to the people who know about the Steinkellers’ shady past.
But it doesn’t end there.
Planet Impact’s “product” is a former product of FutureNet?
You would think that after getting involved in two Ponzi schemes, one of which is their own company, the Steinkellers would learn their lesson.
Apparently, it isn’t the case.
In 2017, the trio joined another “shady” MLM company called FutureNet. FutureNet sells a variety of products like ebooks, online tutorials, cryptocurrency, games, apps, travel packages, among other things.
I say the Steinkeller Brothers got their hands in another shady MLM company again because in March of 2019…
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) in Poland has issued a consumer warning against FutureNet, as it “might be” a pyramid scheme.
So, what does all of this have to do with Planet Impact?
Well, it appears that in a video from a FutureNet gathering in 2018, the Steinkellers are promoting a “new product.”
It was called Planet Guardians back then, a program that’s supposed to protect the Earth, specifically to prevent deforestation and is the same product that Planet Impact is promoting today!
Now, you might be thinking, there’s no way the whole idea behind Planet Impact, a “totally separate” MLM company from FutureNet revolves on Planet Guardian, a product/program supposedly promoted by the latter.
Couldn’t it just be that the two programs coincidentally have the word “Planet” at the beginning? Come on, Jack, you’re simply nitpicking, right?
Well, here are some marketing videos for Planet Impact
Notice that the videos are touting the same idea about “your profit equals Earth’s profit?”
But most specifically, both Planet Guardian’s and Planet Impact’s videos are using the same video clips!
I can only assume that the Steinkellers and the management of FutureNet didn’t reach an agreement, leaving the trio no choice but to launch their “save the Earth” program in a brand new company.
It’s either that or perhaps and this is mere big speculation in my part…
Planet Impact could be the backup company for the head honchos of FutureNet should things go south for them, especially now that the authorities have their eyes on their (FutureNet) business operations.
And in all fairness, there’s also the third reason. It could also be that Planet Impact is the Steinkeller’s retribution for their previous scam involvements.
Again, all these are my opinions alone based on what I know, and you might disagree with me, and that’s fine too.
And if you want to contribute anything on this matter, you can leave a comment below. But let’s stay respectful with each other, okay?
That being said, what exactly is this product that Planet Impact is promoting?
What are the Products of Planet Impact?
At the moment, Planet Impact only has one product, and that is called the “Academy,” a digital product with a monthly subscription fee of 60 Euros (~$66).
The Planet Impact Academy is said to be “a place with unexplored knowledge” – whatever that means.
But in the video below, the narrator describes the Academy as a “continuously expanding” 365 training library that will help improve your skills in web/graphic design, business, marketing, entrepreneurship, photo, and film.
It is also said to cover topics from personal growth, wellness, diet, improving relationships, and more.
During this Planet Impact review, there’s no information regarding the “actual” content and the quality of the products bundled in the subscription fee, so it’s hard to tell if it is worth paying 60 Euros.
But here’s a crucial info I gathered from the video above.
24 Euros (~$26) out of the 60 Euros you pay each month for the Planet Impact Academy will go to the Earth Alliance Foundation (EAF), the main content provider for the Academy.
EAF will handle the taking care of the Earth part, thanks to their 40% share of the sales.
The funny thing is that from the same video above, the narrator clearly claims that that EAF gets its contents from various trainers and speakers around the world through “donations!”
Basically, Planet Impact is getting free online training and courses from random people all over the world through EAF and sells it to you for 60 Euros.
Now, does that sound fair?
It’s also safe to assume that you cannot expect the quality of these contents to be excellent the fact that their creators simply gave them away for free.
And even if let’s say we can get past these things, there is a good chance that you will have trouble selling the Academy to other people.
While the idea of preserving the Earth is noble, you got to face the fact that not many people are willing to join this kind of movement, so you won’t be able to get a lot of members to join or sell a lot of subscription fees as a Planet Impact Affiliate.
It will be tough to make money with this company.
And if the Steinkeller Brothers really want to contribute to saving the planet, why not just donate thousands of dollars (I know they can spare some) for the cause?
There is no need to create a company for that, except if they have other motives, one of which I can guess – to make more money.
Now, these are again my own opinion and you might not agree with them.
So if there’s something you want to contribute to this matter, we can discuss it in the comment sections below.
Planet Impact Business Opportunity
You can earn money with Planet Impact by selling the Academy to other people so you can receive residual commissions from your customers.
Cost to become a Planet Impact Affiliate
To become an affiliate of the company, you will need to subscribe to the Academy for a monthly fee of 60 Euros.
On top of the “products” that you can access through the Academy library, you will also be able to protect up to 1000 square meters of rainforest and receive one EAF certificate on your name.
You will also get a 75 Euro worth of travel voucher discount.
The last two benefits will be given to you on a monthly basis.
Meaning, for every 60 Euros you spend each month for the Academy subscriptions, you will earn another EAF certificate and an additional 75 Euro worth of travel voucher discount.
Say you subscribed to the Academy for 5 months.
Then you’re supposed to get a certificate for 5,000 square meters of rain forest you protected using the money you pay, and you will have earn 375 Euros worth of travel voucher discounts.
Planet Impact Compensation Plan
You won’t earn any retail profits every time you sell an Academy subscription to other people who becomes an affiliate.
Instead, you will earn residual commissions for every affiliate under your team as long as they maintain their monthly Academy subscriptions.
Planet Impact uses a UniLevel pay structure to pay you residual commissions.
In UniLevel, every person you recruit to the company will become your Level 1 affiliates.
All affiliates recruited by your Level 1 will be placed on your Level 2. Recruits of your Level 2 affiliates will be placed on Level 3, and so on.
Planet Impact will pay you residual commissions down to the 14th Level of your organization.
Your income will be as follows:
- Level 1 and 2 – 8%
- Levels 3 and 4 – 5%
- Levels 5 and 6 – 3%
- Levels 7 to 14 – 1%
The percentage above is based on the 60 Euros monthly fees of each affiliate on your team.
For example, in your Level 1 and Level 2, you’ll earn 4.8 Euros (8%) for every active Academy subscriptions.
To qualify for commissions, you must maintain a monthly subscription to the Academy by paying 60 Euros a month.
If you want to qualify for residual commissions without monthly subscriptions, you’ll have to sell 2 Academy subscriptions to other people.
In other words, you’ll have to recruit two people each month if you want to keep earning residual commissions without subscribing to the Academy yourself, which for me, doesn’t make any sense.
If you don’t find the Planet Impact Academy worthy of the monthly fee, then there is no reason to stay active as an affiliate.
The Academy is the only product of Planet Impact, and if you don’t find any value on it, you shouldn’t sell it to other people.
Unless you are merely selling them to become commission qualified, in which then, you’ll be involve in a pyramid scheme!
Planet Impact Club
The company claims that all ⅔ of the total sitting commissions, the amount that has been supposedly paid to unqualified affiliates, will be put into the Planet Impact Club pool.
There are different affiliate ranks within the Planet Impact compensation plan, and your rank will depend on the amount of Academy membership you sell, thus, recruitment.
You can take part in the Planet Impact Club once you’ve sold at least 60 Academy subscriptions.
And your income will be decided depending on the amount of Academy subscriptions you sold.
The more people you convince to become an affiliate of Planet Impact, the bigger is your commission.
Is Planet Impact a Pyramid Scheme?
As much as I don’t want to add dirt to the reputation of the Steinkeller Brothers, I believe that Planet Impact can quickly become a pyramid scheme.
I’m not saying “it is” an outright scam, but it can easily be proven as one depending on how the affiliates conduct the business.
For starters, the so-called Academy is nothing but a bundle of courses and training donated for free by random people.
I don’t want to be cynical, but as far as I know, free courses rarely provide real value.
And if this is the case, most affiliates who will join Planet Impact are not really after the content of the Academy, but are merely using it to make money from the people they recruit and from the recruit of their recruits.
Sad to say, it is the definition of a pyramid scheme according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Conclusion – Should You Join Planet Impact?
I believe that the answer to this question depends on how you see the Planet Impact Academy as a product.
Although I cannot help but admire the idea about creating an MLM company that helps save the Earth, I’m not very optimistic about Planet Impact based on the things I discussed above.
I see no reason for you to join Planet Impact if you only want to use it as a means to create a source of income.
You should only join because you really are after its educational courses and you wanted to contribute to saving the rainforests and the Earth, even if you won’t make money in the process.
But let’s be real, who would do that except multi-millionaires and billionaires and a few advocates, and then maybe you?
So, Planet Impact is not the business opportunity for you?
If it turns out that Planet Impact is not the kind of company you want to get involved in…
Then I highly recommend that you check out this program.
It’s the same program that has taught thousands of individuals how to earn a full-time passive income from home even as complete beginners.
Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read this Planet Impact review. I hope that you found the answers that you were looking for.
And if this review helped, please share it with other people you know so they too can benefit from this information.
Furthermore, if you’d like to share your thoughts on Planet Impact or about anything in this review, feel free to leave a comment below.
Until here and I wish you all the success, whichever path you take towards your financial goals.