William "Jamie" Barnhart launched AAA Marketing Rewards in late 2012, operating from a Missouri office in the penny auction multi-level marketing space. Barnhart, who lists no prior MLM involvement, faced an early Better Business Bureau complaint regarding unfulfilled product promises and a refund request.
An ex-affiliate filed the complaint, stating the product was not as advertised. They claimed Barnhart promised a refund for a "founding membership" but never delivered. The individual joined in January 2013 and requested removal four months later, citing an unspecified "change in direction" for the company.
AAA Marketing Rewards responded by referencing its three-day right of refusal policy. The company noted the customer joined in early January 2013, then asked for a refund in April. It offered to help sell the membership within 30 days and questioned why the unhappy customer had recruited two people.
The company's operations tie into AAA Penny Auction, a separate website primarily auctioning gift cards. Bids for these auctions are sold in specific packs. Customers can buy 15 bids for $11.25, 35 for $26.25, 75 for $56.25, 150 for $112.50, or 225 bids for $168.75.
A participant in AAA Penny Auctions shared their experience on Scam.com earlier this year. After reviewing the business plan, they tried the product. The company uses a drop shipper. This customer won an auction but received the wrong item. Customer service promised a resolution, but it is unknown if that promise was kept.
An "AAA Cashback" link appears on the website. It is marked "new" but does not seem connected to the core MLM opportunity.
The compensation plan centers on selling AAA Penny Auction bid packs. Affiliates earn commissions through retail sales, a matrix structure, and a revenue-sharing pool. Retail commissions pay 15% on bids purchased by non-affiliate customers.
Eight affiliate ranks exist, each requiring monthly Personal Volume (PV) and Group Volume (GV) for qualification. PV includes an affiliate's own purchases, retail customer sales, and downline volume. GV measures downline sales volume. Ranks start at Affiliate, needing 20 PV and 20 GV from the downline, and go up to Diamond Executive Director, which requires 2500 PV and 500,000 GV from the downline.
Matrix commissions operate on a 3x10 structure. An affiliate sits at the top with three positions directly beneath them. Each of those three expands to three more, continuing for ten levels. Payouts are a percentage of sales volume generated by recruited affiliates within this matrix. The number of levels an affiliate earns on depends on their rank.
Basic rank affiliates earn on a 3x3 matrix, receiving 10% on levels 1 and 2, and nothing on level 3. Presidential Directors qualify for a 3x4 matrix, earning 10% on levels 1-2, 5% on level 3, and 4% on level 4. Higher ranks extend these earnings. Gold Executive Directors can earn 1% from level 11 down if their downline generates 1,500,000 GV monthly. Diamond Executive Directors can increase that to 2% with 3,000,000 GV monthly.
The Sales Volume Sharing Pool allocates 50% of the company's net sales volume. This pool distributes monthly payments to qualifying affiliates through a share system. Affiliates earn one share for each retail customer bid pack purchase, one share for each recruited affiliate bid pack purchase, and one share for generating 100 PV themselves. Affiliate membership costs $27.75 per month.
AAA Marketing Rewards includes a specific defense in its compensation plan: "We are often asked if network marketing is a pyramid scheme. Our reply is that traditional businesses and corporations are really pyramid schemes." Such statements often signal underlying issues with a business model.
The stated goal involves driving retail customers to the AAA Penny Auction site. But the company's structure makes significant retail activity unlikely. Two primary issues stand out: the revenue-sharing compensation plan and the ability for affiliates to self-qualify for revenue-sharing shares.
Affiliates end up injecting money and recruiting new affiliates who also inject money. This happens under the pretense of legitimate retail activity that largely does not exist. Retail sales function as a dead end. The incentive lies in recruiting more affiliates.
Removing the option for affiliates to self-fund shares would offer some improvement. However, a fundamental lack of retail incentive persists. Both affiliates and potential retail customers have little reason to engage. The AAA Penny Auction site itself shows minimal appeal.
Activity will likely dry up after the initial "Founders Program" affiliates complete their $279 buy-ins and those funds are distributed. The multi-level marketing penny auction sector faces scrutiny after the shutdown of Zeek Rewards, which demonstrated the failure of affiliate-funded penny auction schemes. This niche has yet to generate substantial retail activity from a customer perspective.