Troy Mason, CEO of Dream Starters LLC, launched Gas Club of America in late 2012 from Texas. This multi-level marketing venture offered no retailable products, instead focusing on affiliate memberships tied to daily penny auctions for gift and gas cards. Dream Starters LLC, founded in 1997, had previously launched several non-MLM companies under Mason's leadership. Gas Club of America marked his entry into the MLM industry.
The company provided no physical goods or services for retail sale. Affiliates marketed only membership to Gas Club of America. A "members only" penny auction platform was included with the affiliate membership, letting members participate in one auction daily on the company website. These auctions typically offered gift and gas cards. The Gas Club of America website did not state the cost of penny auction bids, but it mentioned bids were only available in packs.
Roadside assistance also came with Gas Club of America affiliate membership. This service included towing, emergency road service, essential fluids or supplies delivery, flat tire changes, emergency battery service, and lockout service.
The Gas Club of America compensation plan paid affiliates for recruiting new members and for sales of penny auction bid packs. For each Gold affiliate recruited, the recruiting affiliate received a $25 VISA gift card.
The plan used a 2-up style system for pass-up commissions. Affiliates passed up half of their first two membership sale commissions to their uplines. $5 was paid monthly on the first two Gold affiliate membership subscriptions sold, with $5 from each sale passed up to the upline. The third and all subsequent affiliate memberships generated a $10 commission.
Recruited affiliates, in turn, passed up half of their first two membership sales commissions. This requirement applied only to the third, fourth, and fifth personally recruited affiliates. The first two affiliates recruited by these third, fourth, and fifth affiliates were then passed up to the original affiliate. This pass-up process repeated itself through subsequent generations of recruits. The compensation plan video did not clarify if Silver or Bronze memberships also generated this monthly commission. It indicated monthly commissions applied only to Gold affiliate memberships.
Gas Club of America also used a 3x10 matrix to pay monthly residual commissions on the recruitment of Silver and Gold affiliates. A 3x10 matrix places an affiliate at the top with three legs branching directly below them on level one. These three legs then expand further.