Invado International Review

Invado International, which used to be called "Utility Choice International" or UCI, is an MLM that markets travel discounts, energy (in deregulated markets), and an online group buying site called Referdia, which uses social networking to offer discounts on products and services.

Invado's website says that Referdia "helps consumers save over 50% on deals from local businesses." Referdia is free to consumers, and businesses only pay when a sale is made. When Invado reps refer others to Referdia, they get paid on their purchases. Invado's "Opportunity Video" says that the company will cross-market its other products via Referdia. (Speaking of the opportunity video, it's one of the cheesiest and uninformative things I've ever forced myself to sit through, with an annoying female voice liberally using phrases like "residual income" and "the choice is yours").

I was unable to find rates for Invado's utility option, and it's a bit of a red flag for me when you can't get basic information from a company's website without filling out an enrollment form. Other MLMs offering energy products have clearly stated rates on their websites for you to compare before you make a decision to switch.

Invado's Vacation Club costs $219, which the company claims members typically save with their first trip. I haven't joined myself, nor do I know anyone who has, so I can't say whether that is true or not. The Vacation Club offers savings on weekly stays at resorts and condos, destination vacations, and an online booking engine. I suppose Vacation Club could be considered a good deal by someone who does a lot of traveling for pleasure and doesn't want to spend their time searching for deals on the internet.

Interested in becoming an Invado rep? You'll have to shell out $499. From the limited information on the company's website, I gathered that for your $499 you receive nothing except the ability to refer others. I'm pretty sure that's a huge red flag for regulators. They don't like it when reps have to pay a lot of money just to sell for a company.

Since there's no compensation plan information on the company website, I have no idea how many people you'd have to refer to make back your initial investment, but I'd be willing to bet it's a lot. I was able to find limited information elsewhere about the compensation plan. Invado Representatives are paid a percentage on the sales of products and services that they and their team refer. The Invado International compensation plan has 5 increasing commission levels.

To wrap up this Invado International review, I would steer clear of this company unless you have an extra $500 you want to gamble with. They don't have unique products. There are already other companies doing the same thing as Referdia. Their energy option is available through other, more transparent companies, and there are travel discounts available all over the internet. They clearly didn't consult an attorney before putting together their website or opportunity video. The FTC is all over MLMs that promise "residual income", etc. The company website doesn't have any real information about their rates, compensation plan, or anything else that a potential rep would presumably want to know - it's a bunch of b.s. Also, I found it telling that if you Google Invado International, two of the top three search terms that come up are "Invado International Pyramid" and "Invado International Scam."

After reading this Invado International review, I decided to do a little of my own research on Invado International. There aren't too many people blowing up Invado on forums and other discussion web sites, which may sound like bad news to a group like Invado, but based on what I read, they should be grateful for this fact. 

The majority of discussions I read that involved Invado International were either asking the question "Is Invado just another pyramid scheme?" or answering that question. There were a few web sites with people trying to explain how Invado "works", which seems to be a whole different story depending on who wrote it, but I really could not find actual reviews from Invado reps, so it's hard to tell whether or not these people are actually benefiting from being a member, or just haven't realized yet that they aren't going to.

One reviewer mentioned that he had gone to an Invado International meeting, and he claimed that out of the two hours spent in the meeting, only a few minutes were utilized to actually explain the "product", and the rest of it, about an hour and a half, was spent on hiring more representatives. This lead me to the actual Invado web page, a page that offers surprisingly little product information to anyone who is not a representative. It smells a bit fishy to me when a company can't give you information on their own product. 

However, they do throw in some fantastic visuals on their site, such as a woman sitting in an office chair in her dress clothes, lap-top in her lap with her hands in the air. On the beach. As much as I would love for Invado to teleport me from my workplace to a beautiful tropical beach, I don't see that happening through this company, or even profiting enough through Invado to take a trip to this magical place, where there are no cubicles, only sand and the wonderful smell of low tide.

Re: Invado International Review

This sounds typical for a company trying to offer multiple product lines and income streams but without any cohesive marketing message and a big fat enrollment fee to pump up the comp plan.

There seem to be new energy MLM companies springing up every day. Deregulation is making that possible in many states. Nothing new to see here. To me it's the same as when all the phone companies started churning and burning through each others customer lists. AT&T, Sprint, I never really cared who my provider was as long as the phone worked.

I'm not sure the savings Invado claims on the bills is worth the hassle of dealing with an MLM company for my energy.

Their Referdia group buying product is simply a Groupon knockoff. Nothing new to see there either. There are several offer consolidators available that will private label this service, virtually any company can have a Referdia-style product up and running in a matter of days.

The $499 enrollment fee is steep. If the primary source of commission is from the enrollment fee of new members, it becomes problematic for the company. Similar to old companies that priced their business model at the five hundred dollar range to avoid most states "Business Opportunity" laws ( for most, anything over 500.00 must be registered in the state. Invado should check into this though - many states lowered it to 300.00 ) Invado may be labeled a ponzi scheme by interested state regulators if the commission payouts on the services themselves turn out to be just pennies compared to quick start bonuses or whatever their lingo is for payouts based on the enrollment and recruitment fees.

I was a rep for Invado Inc for a little over a year and this is what I can tell you. The founders are reps from other MLM's (surprise) Most had built large networks via the ACN business model. Yes, Invado was UCI but has changed it's corporate name for many reasons, none of which would send up red flags. (mostly for corporate expansion reasons, from what I'm told) Invados products/services are; commercial and residential utilities, Zozo tech a tablet very similar to Ipad, a social media marketing tool named 'Referdia" AKA Daily Referral and the recently added Travel Club. Now as far as the utility pricing goes, it's relatively simple and no different than any other reseller of utility services currently offered do to the deregulation. You take a standard 1 page form and fill in the areas required, then submit it to the corporate office and they tell you whether or not the person or business qualifies. Usually this takes place in 72 hours max. The service doesn't change for the customer, just the billing. It's a no brainer if you can get past the biggest obstacle which is the customer who will need to provide you with a copy of their last couple months bill. It's a free quote but the service is limited due in part to the states that have implemented the deregulation. I believe that the business model has potential IF the deregulation of utilities continues in other states but so far it is limited to the East cost. Referdia isn't just a group buying service, it's function is more of a personalized website that allows consumers and businesses to interact. Yes its true that the revenue stream comes from the campaigns or sales promoted by the business to the consumers but there are several other benefits that will be implemented in the future. The main reason this services was created by Invado was to expand from the East to the west until the utility services are made available to those cities or states. Now I will tell you my opinion on this company (Invado) First, like any traditional business but especial MLM businesses there has to be a support system and by support system I don't mean from the corporate customer service side I mean the training and mentoring. Invado is lacking in this area from the Midwest to the West coast. This is their biggest obstacle from a company growth stand point. If reps don't have proper training they will become frustrated and lose interest. Anyone who has been involved in MLM's or Network Marketing will tell you that support from your upline is the key to success. Invado has every piece of literature anyone would need on the back office online but in my humble opinion "face time" is the key for successful growth. Webinars, Telephone conference calls and back office training isn't enough unfortunately. If Invado plans on making there mark they will need to created a better support system for those reps in parts of the Midwest and all of the west coast. Zozo, their tablet product, will be left behind because they can't compete with that rapidly growing industry and the Travel club is just a affiliated marketing program with no real value. The limitations in the fine print for available booking dates don't justify the annual dues required by membership. Regarding the questions about making money from the Invado business model, yes it works, if you work it? Recruiting two reps that qualify in the first 30 days pays you %90 of your registration money if not more depending on the promo they (Invado) are running that month? My final thoughts: I believe if you are an experience MLM business person you can be successful with the Invado business model in any city but if this is your first go around with a MLM business, you might want to make sure that your upline mentor has the qualifications to lead an organization before you start recruiting a team. What ever your goals in life are you can achieve them, know your reasons why, have a plan and stay disciplined and dedicated to achieving them regardless the obstacles thrown your way!

As with any network marketing company, if an individual has the drive and motivation, as well as very good people-skills and enough leads, they can make decent money, especially if they are able to build a solid team and earn downline profit. However, the problem I see with companies like Invado is that there are only so many people you can recruit or market to. Once you run out of leads, it's all over.