Well, there has been some chatter as of late about a relatively new MLM called My Shopping Genie. By all accounts, My Shopping Genie has had a pretty smooth reception as far as I can tell. The main product  is an innovative shopping tool that quickly finds the best bargains for various goods online. This enables shoppers to save money by scanning sites like eBay, Amazon, Costco, and Walmart. According to My Shopping Genie, the program was developed over the course of 3 years and has since been released to the public for free. The program managed to make the broadcasting roster of CNN via an underground shopper named Sue Goldstein, a woman considered to be "The Diva of Discounts" due to over 30 years of assisting consumers make better choices on media outlets such as Good Morning America, the Today show, and even Oprah.

The way it works after it is installed on your PC is that you search for a product on any of the major search engines such as Google, MSN or Yahoo. A toolbar will open at the bottom of your screen with links to the best prices on the product you did the search for. For the distributor, a free web site is issued which allows them to distribute My Shopping Genie to others for free. With each download of the tool from your own web site, there is a 95% chance that person will shop for a product, which in turn will generate money for you based on their clicks and purchases. Another plus is that it can be used virtually anywhere in the world, so no reason to limit your base of operations to your native country.

Now there are some sources on the Internet that claim My Shopping Genie is a scam, although having never been a member, I am not qualified to say what is true and what is not in that regard, but in the interest of being balanced in the information I find, I'll simply include those negative aspects, and let anyone who has more experience comment/correct my information.

Some opposing parties have claimed that My Shopping Genie started out as an email scam, in that it  sends out emails to prospective victims inviting them to join MyShoppinggenie. Once they subscribe, they're given a number of affiliate links which can be distributed to others, and these links will contain products available for purchase at Amazon, or Ebay. Once those people you emailed begin purchasing these products, you receive a percentage of the commission. The scam part is that it allegedly requires a subscription fee before you're capable of downloading the software which is said to be the sum of  $199 or $29 per month. The nature of the scam is that it is spread through the promise "free software", that is essentially free, until it actually comes time to make some money.

As I stated before, this review is not claiming that My Shopping Genie is a scam, only that there is a group of people claiming that it is. I write reviews based on what I can find on the Internet, and I do my best to dismiss groundless accusations, but still like to reflect on the reception any new company has had since launch. It is entirely possible that the reports of it being a scam are simply not true, and the result of intentionally negative press created by a direct competitor. You be the judge.




The founders of My Shopping Genie are:

David Freed, Co-Founder and President.

Bruce Wolferding - Executive Committee.

William M. Shaw - Executive Committee.

My Shopping Genie
MyNetUniverse Inc
12140 Woodcrest Executive Drive Suite 300
Creve Coeur Missouri 63141
Phone: 314-720-7000
Fax: 314-720-7000

Excellent and balanced revue, with a few of the issues mentioned having changed with time and product development. The Genie has been in the public domain for four years but was only marketed as a MLM opportunity from 2010, with instant success, using the original 'legacy' platform mentioned in the second paragraph which only worked on Windows platforms. In May 2011, following the proven success of the legacy Genie worldwide, the company launched the new web-based Genie App which is installed as an add-on or extension to Google Chrome, Firefox or Internet Express browsers and now works on both Windows and Mac platforms.

The New Genie appears as a Genie in the right hand bottom corner of the screen which provides access to the shopping comparison site and the Daily Deal site, similar to Groupon, and it can be branded to promote your business.

Of course negative comments can be found posted on the internet about any business and My Shopping Genie is not immune to that. Quite simply the Genie is free to install and use and anyone using it will save time and money browsing and shopping on the internet. To be able to give away Genies, and to start creating an income, it is essential to register as a Distributor. It costs $199 to buy the software license, and there is a $34.95 a month maintenance fee, which is fixed for life, to cover website upgrades and costs, access to a video email and conferencing ficility and other valuable benefits including an in-house back office global tracking system monitoring all browsing and Affiliate activity related to the Genies a Distributor has given away. As a Distributor you are also entitled to sell Genie software licenses to build a network of fellow Distributors. This is no different from any other MLM business and the European Court declared My Shopping Genie to be a legitimate business following questions raised in the Irish Republic.

It is true that to make an income from the My Shopping Genie it is neccessary to register as a Distributor by buying the right to give away Genies and/or sell the MyNet Universe software license. It is equally true that anyone who has been given the Genie will be able to save time and money if they choose to use it, and I was always told that a $ saved is a $ earned. Recent changes to the Board of MyNet Universe include Mark Levesque becominig President in the place of David Freed and the appointment of Evelyn Hopson as CEO.

Yes! There are much advantages with My Shopping Genie. The best thing is that the people can get daily deals in their browser tool bar itself. It is so easy but what is the need to choose these type of daily deals when there are almost many brilliant shopping sites revolving around the internet.

Many people know about daily deals especially they are familiar with Groupon, SoSasta, Living social and many other Groupon script softwares. But there are some other coupon directory sites like Retailmenot that aggregates all the coupon codes of various sites in one place. So, I am pretty much sure that people would go with these type of daily deal sites or coupon directory sites rather than to stick up with daily deals in the tool bar.

Finally, the goal is to get trusted discounts rather than an easy to click discount shopping tool bar. Any way, your review is excellent.

Hey Chris, thank you kindly for correcting my info, as there always seems to be a few details that are outdated or incorrect. I have definitely heard my fair share of horror stories in regard to these types of programs, but not so much My Shopping Genie specifically. I don't know who exactly to blame for the following complaint, but I'd be willing to bet it would be distributed evenly between people simply chatting, and maybe the company itself. Anytime a company or someone endorsing a company emphasizes on the word "free" the image of a string literally appears in my mind. It could be that in the last 50 years, our culture has really gone out of its way to prove that nothing is free (and honestly, it's generally true) and make us cynical, but either way, few things seem to break the mold on this. We talk about giving away products, and again, emphasize on the term "free" but what we are really giving is a test run. A version of the software, one that doesn't allow us to distribute it, which would be possible if it really were free.

I read that My shopping Genie had the primary goal of ensuring that it would be found on every computer in the world, and if that really were the case, there would be no distribution fee. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the maintenance fee, and the initial purchase necessary for the distribution rights are really the only reason why it isn't on every computer already, if in fact its as good as they say it is. Anyway, I feel that its in this emphasizing that makes people so hostile once they realize that there IS charge. If they let go of the word "free' and were a bit more direct in the advertizements and showed the savings you get by using the search engine, and the cut you might get from others searching the web, it might come across a bit smoother. The other thing bothering me is that I would like to know exactly what the transfer rate is for my 100 man downline. Lets say I have 100 people that have all paid for the software, and they are all searching the web today, having started at 7am. Excluding any purchases they make, and the fees they paid to join. How much money will I receive by Thursday of next week? The reason I ask is because I want to know if it will exceed the $34 monthly fee. I do appreciate that it is set for life, but still, it just negates the "free" to an almost infuriating degree.

Now please don't misunderstand, I do realize that the ability to search the web and find the best deals is "free" and I generally think that is cool, but the way its advertized, and the way many reps talk about it, it seems like false advertising. Anyway, I just wanted to add that to the conversation, and definitely mean no disrespect, nor is my intention to somehow debunk or discredit My Shopping Genie. If anything, I am complaining about marketing and Advertising.

Hello WallaceL. I can appreciate the reasonong behind your questions although I think there is still a degree of confusion. Quite rightly there are plenty of good reasons to question the marketing ethics behind any product, and the Internet has has provided us with more than enough evidence of dubious hype. The standard use of up-sells and hidden costs that are rife in affiliate marketing leaves more than a little to be desired. Let me try to answer some of your questions.

Yes the Genie is actually Free for anyone to install and use so that they can start saving time and money shopping on the internet. Anyone could Google 'MyShoppinGenie' and there would be plenty of offers for anyone to install it from any number of registered Distributors, so it is perfectly valid and accurate to say it is Free. That person, with their freely installed Genie will only save time and money, but they have not paid anything to obtain those savings, so I fail to understand why that could be a reason for any hostility. There are plenty of sites giving testimonials of the savings people have made using the Genie but the most effective proof is to install it on your computer, for FREE, and use it find a product you have recently bought on the Internet. You have to select to use it anyway, so you don't have to use it, and can uninstall it at any time.  

MyNet Universe does indeed have the goal of having a Genie on every computer in the world and the most effective way of acheiving that goal is through MLM/Network Marketing/Referral Marketing. We are all far more likely to do something if we are recommended to do so by a friend or someone we know. The standard MLM requires you pay a registration fee, undertake a monthly product purchase volume and to sell product. In exactly the same way, if you want to EARN money from the Genie then you need to register as a Distributor, for which there is a moderate $199 fee to purchase right to distribute the software license and a monthly maintenance fee , again a modest $34.95, which represents very good value for the services provided. To build your Genie business you don't have to sell anything, you can just concentrate on giving away Genies, for FREE. If you had 100 Genies, installed FREE by the end users, being used regularly to browse and shop then it would be reasonable to expect an monthly income of around $300.

Most Distributors don't just give away free Genies but try to build an organistion of fellow Distributors by finding people who can see the value of the opportunity and are prepared to invest what is a relatively small sum to start up a business. Commissions are paid on selling the rights to distribute the software license. That is no different from any other MLM business, if people want to EARN money, rather than just SAVE money, then there is a fee to be paid. If your 100 member downline were all active distibutors you would be generating a number of generous commssions and bonuses. My sponsor, Simon Brookes who lives in the UK joined the business in May 2010 and is now the top earner in My Shopping Genie having earned over $360,000 in his first year. 

I'm sure that it is possible to pick holes in any business and the Genie, like any good business, is evolving as it grows. The history of the company over last four years and the development of their technology bodes well for the continuing success of the business and, maybe, it is not too big a goal to think that there will be a Genie on every computer in the world in the not too distant future. Why not?

Hey yall, I just wanted to say that I actually used My Shopping Genie to find my sister an XBOX360 for her son, and you won't believe how in depth the results are, its nothing like Google Shopping. In my experience, shopping with Google will find you around 15 dollars off on a particular product. That's good, but often times its not in sync with the store, so you go to buy a tennis racket for 10 dollars when the standard market price is 25, and you notice once you actually get to the merchant, its 20-25, not the 10 dollars that Google Shopping displayed. I got the XBOX360 elite slim for $200, and I thought that was insane. Nowhere on Google Shopping could I find a new one for less than $320. The best part of it is that I never spent a dime on the program. Christopher isn't in the least bit exaggerating on how cool the program is and the fact that its free. I'm with you C!

Hey Chris, somehow missed this post yesterday but catching up this morning. I think overall, there is just some level of advertising that will always be made up of hype, its just the nature of marketing. I was a bit focused on that when I was saying that My Shopping Genie was advertising an idea for free. Ultimately, I really can't argue with the program itself being free, and if its really as good as Yvonne says, that's a pretty damned cool thing. I've been hanging out on these boards for awhile, and we sort of pick apart all mlms, and out of chance, a good majority of them tend to exist in a negative light, but its never on purpose or personal. I can't speak for everyone but many of us just love dissecting and trying to understand the. I don't have any particular suspicions with My Shopping Genie, at least not yet. I have gone as far as to score free samples of different products, so I see no reason I shouldn't download the program and give it a try. If its quality, I'm sure I'll be a bit more open-minded, then I can perhaps focus on the business aspect of it.  Thanks again for the reply sir.