Any business, whether it’s internet based or not, will have start up costs. They are unavoidable. the question you have to ask is what are you getting for your money? If what you receive seems to be worth signifcantly less than the fee being charged then the company that you’re looking at is probably making a profit from the signup fee rather than from selling genuine products and services.

Of course, you will evaluate the products and services independently - but if you get the feeling that a significant part of your future income will be based upon getting other people to sign up for the opportunity be very careful - you might even be getting involved in a pyramid scheme (also known as a Ponzi scheme).

However, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a scheme which allows you to profit from the efforts of other people that you recruit - that’s one of the fundamental points of network, multilevel or referral marketing. The key thing is that you (and they) should profit mainly when they sell the products and services - not when new recruits join the opportunity.

Here are some of the things you might expect to get for your money. Make sure you know what you’ll be getting and try to work out a rough cost for comparison with your startup fee. Don’t worry if the two sums don’t balance exactly - perceived value will vary from one person to another - just make sure that you’re getting something of genuine value in return for your cash.

• A website to advertise either the products, the business opportunity or both.
• Marketing materials, brochures, catalogues, banners for advertising on the web, posters for your local supermarket etc.
• Training resources - audio tapes and/or CDs, written material, dedicated training events.
• Any paperwork required to take orders.
• Product samples, demonstration items (if appropriate).