Is Karatbars International A Scam?

Welcome to My Karatbars International Review!

Heard of the Korean drama, Vincenzo, where there is a pile of gold bars hidden in the basement of the building and people were intrigued and desperate looking for it? 

That’s reality. Like money, gold is valuable; however, not everyone has it. Meanwhile, even if you own gold bars, selling them won’t be a piece of cake.

However, a company called Karatbars makes it look like getting and marketing gold bars is easy. 

How true is this? Is Karatbars International legit in the first place? How does it work?

Find out in this honest Karatbars review!

Karatbars International is an e-commerce company that markets gold bars and gift items in 24 karats 999.9% pure gold bullion.  

Founded by CEO and Founder Harald Seiz, this company was established in Stuttgart, Germany in 2011. 

Seiz who was born and raised in Germany has been successfully working as a financial consultant since 1982 up until 2011 was he formed Karatbars and consistently worked until he has successfully internationalized the business.

Karatbars International offers an investment opportunity to those who are interested to make money by being an affiliate. It’s similar to a multi-level marketing (MLM) platform; however, the company refuses to consider its brand as one.

We’re not sure why but to give you an idea, this is how Karatbars International works:

You buy gold and sell it to make money and to earn more, you build a team -- just like how an MLM works.

What Karatbars International markets are the small gold bullions of purity of 24 karats 999.9 % gold. Usually, these bullions weigh just 1 gram. 

They are also fully insured and shipped to Karatbars’ address with reliable and fast delivery. Speaking of which, the gold doesn't come from Germany itself but these gold bars are produced at Atalay,Turkey. 

Also, every gold bar consists of a trademark symbol and the imprint of the quality checking firm. As for security purposes, hologram stickers are provided on the reverse side of the plastic card.

By the way, here are their most popular products:

• Classic cards are one-gram gold pieces fixed onto a card of the utmost quality. They are so particular about the size because it’ll be easier to transact and make a potential means of exchange and payment with such a weight.
• Collector Karatbar - These are also cards, which have gold nuggets embedded, designed to appeal to collectors. Their special collections include those in the name of famous athletes, historical events and celebrities.  

Well, over the years, they've also developed CashGold, which is a worldwide means of exchange with 24-carat gold. And they also launched the world's first Voice-over-Blockchain-Protocol (VoBP) Smartphone.  

And by the way, other than the one gram, they also sell gold bars and gift items in gold bullion in the following denominations:

• 2.5 grams
• 5 grams 

If you’re planning to exchange your gold back for currency, you can do so with their daily guaranteed buyback price or at any registered K-Exchange center.

So, to sum it up, Karatbars International is currently based on the following projects:

• Karatbars International GmbH
• KaratPay System
• Cash gold
• Impulse K1 Phone
• Karatbars CEM 

It’s almost the same as Jewelry Candles, Wellness Biosciences RX, and 7K Metals in terms of being an MLM opportunity.

Well, it seems that Karatbars sells a legitimate product. 

We could say that it’s legit because it’s also nearing a decade in the business scene. 

Though Karatbars says they’re regulated by the World Trade Organization and have consistently met and exceeded their guidelines, there’s not a lot of things that are disclosed about the opportunity including what it takes to join. 

Taking a glance at their compensation plan would even show that you’ll work hard to earn nothing. 

Probably, a deceptive scam? 

Possible. 

So, for an income opportunity, definitely do not recommend this to you. 

Karatbars may have spread globally but apparently, complaints also arise and some countries even warned people to stay away from Karatbars International.

Meanwhile, regulators in the Netherlands, Canada, and Namibia have all issued warnings with the latter calling it a pyramid scheme. 

Apparently, what’s really marketed here is the affiliate or the recruitment and maybe, that’s the reason why they won’t require you to buy any gold bars.

I’ll discuss the compensation plan below but to give you an idea, it’s heavily focused on inviting people to join the platform. 

Other than being a possible pyramid, it has the dangers of being a Ponzi Scheme because of its investment opportunity. 

These are the ways through which a Karatbar affiliate can earn through their compensation plan:

• Direct commissions
• Unilevel Bonus
• Generation Bonus
• Package Bonus
• Dual Team Bonus
• Karatbars Pool

Karatbars Gold Fund

Below is the package commission paid out to the affiliates each time they sell a new package to a new affiliate they have recruited:

Silver Package Commission- $26

Bronze Package Commission- $60

Gold Package Commission- $150

Vip Package Commission- 20% Or $400

Just like most affiliate programs, there are also 12 affiliate ranks in Karatbars’ Compensation Plan. 

The independent business owners or the affiliates get a fixed percentage of the amount as the unilevel commission based on their ranks, whenever their recruits below them purchase a package.

For instance, the lowest rank holder, Distributor, doesn’t qualify for unilevel commissions but the affiliates with a ranking above the Distributors can generate a unilevel commission between 0.5 – 5.5 % depending upon their respective ranks. 

The commission percentage increases by 0.5% with each rank increase. And in binary commission, it is offered in a binary format, which is paid out generationally.

For instance, if an affiliate’s team achieves 50 units in sales (the Bronze package, for example, is 50 units) on one leg and 25 units on the other leg, then they are eligible for the following commission (if someone from their downline purchases a package of) :

Bronze- 40 EUR

Silver-60 EUR

Gold - 80 EUR

They say that joining Karatbars International is absolutely free. Well, yes it is but that doesn’t qualify you to any benefit from the compensation plan. In short, you won’t earn. 

So, basically, you still need to shell out some dollars (perhaps that’s not some! or should I say more?!) So, to be eligible for Karatbars International’s Compensation Plan, you have to purchase from their list of starter packages as follows:

• Bronze -$135
• Silver -$350
• Gold -$800
• VIP Package- $2000

PROS

Honestly, there’s nothing really to like about this opportunity that Karatbars International offers. It has a lot of warnings issued against it and that alone is enough to drive me away.

I mean, I’m looking for an opportunity to make money, not to get involved in an alleged scam company. 

CONS

Expensive

Karatbars Gold is overpriced compared to its competitors and aside from the higher cost, they also charge an amount as shipping charges. Even purchasing starter packages will not go down below $100 and it would even cost you up to $2000. 

Securities Fraud

In 2014, Canadian regulators issued a warning against Karatbars, prohibiting them from directly or indirectly trading in securities under any form of investment covered by the Securities Act issued by Karatbars. 

Warning As A Pyramid Scheme

There were issued warnings from some states telling that they are a pyramid scheme, and I believe that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. With all the complaints against it, there’s a huge chance that it’s really a scam.

So, would you still opt for an opportunity that is even coined one? Well, we can’t totally conclude but there is a probability considering the circumstances.

Karatbars International provides training as well as team calls that would take place online several times every week. They also teach a 12-week plan.

Other than 24/7 support, it also comes with 24/7 online training that allows members to play the recordings back in case they missed the live-on.

A company with gold as its main product in a network marketing platform sounds interesting; however, with all the allegations, I would definitely not join the program.

It’s normal for a business, no matter how big or small it is, to have complaints but if it involves security frauds, it’s a no-brainer. Skip the opportunity and save yourself!