Are you happy with the number you see in your bank account?
Are you even making a profit?
After all, most businesses take at least a year to get out of the red and into the black, and plenty of companies never even take off altogether.
Every entrepreneur aspires to build a successful business – you know, one of those things where product sales continually flow out, revenue grows, and profits climb sky-high.
However, according to Forbes, 80% of businesses fail.
Skup, an E-Commerce business, is offering to help people get to the forefront of making passive income via selling jewelry online.
It’s innovative because it allows you to become a store owner without performing any of the heavy work. There’s not even a need to guess what niche you should pursue in your new business.
There is no order tracking or delivery of product purchases. There is no need to find the best strategies. There is no need to draw in traffic. There will be no trial and error, only proven methods…
…at least that’s what these guys and some of their existing business owners claim.
But is any of it true?
Let’s find out.
DISCLAIMER:
This Skup review has been thoroughly researched with information and testimonials that are available online to anyone in the public. Any conclusions drawn by myself are opinions.
Table of Contents
Pros: What I Liked
- Automated business
- Seems to have useful training
- Sales is a good field
Cons: What I Didn't Like
- Expensive
- Unrealistic income claims
- Not the best business model
Skup isn’t too different from most eCommerce courses.
Sure, their marketing makes some great promises you haven’t heard from the other eCommerce gurus, but at the end of the day, no magic bullet overcomes the massive pitfalls of this business model.
Let’s get something clear:
There is NOTHING passive about eCommerce, no matter how well most course creators sell the dream.
If you want that travel-the-world-making-money-while-you-sleep-laptop-lifestyle, eCommerce isn’t for you.
To run a successful eCommerce business, you need to be constantly on the lookout for new products.
Scouring the internet for hot trends and trying to find the next fidget spinner will take hours out of your day.
Not to mention, it’s not enough to just have the hot new product…
You also need to get the customers.
That means ads…
Lots and lots of ads…
Testing, tweaking, targeting, spending thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars before breaking even.
Not to mention, Facebook hates eCommerce, meaning one of your top traffic sources could shut you down at any time.
All of this leads to a very stressful life, not a lot of money, and a lot of time wasted.
Time that could be better spent so you can actually live the life you want.
Now, what if there was a way you could build a passive income stream that’s actually passive?
An income stream that doesn’t require:
Physical Products
Low Margins
Long Wait Times
Angry Customers
Thousands of dollars testing different ad campaigns
An income stream that brings in consistent revenues every single month (from a couple thousand dollars to well over $10,000)?
An income stream you could actually build in your spare time, and grow as large or as small as you want to, without having to spend hours a day running ads, researching products, and trying not to get banned by whatever platforms you’re using?
If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, check out Digital Real Estate.
This is nothing like eCommerce, and that’s probably a good thing.
However, if you’d still like to know more about Skup, keep reading.
What Is Skup?
Skup.net was founded by Matt Schmitt and Devin Zander, who sell training, tools, and themes to enable print-on-demand company owners to scale to six figures quickly.
They feel that the best eCommerce business you can start today has nothing to do with buying things in bulk from China and selling them on Shopify.
That method often results in extended delivery times, low margins, and communication problems – a common experience with dying industries like Amazon FBA.
Too competitive, too expensive.
So, where does it leave you? POD.
What Is Print On Demand?
Print on demand combines all of Amazon FBA and Shopify dropshipping benefits without any of the drawbacks.
At least, that’s what Devin says.
And they’ve given it their own spin, dubbing it the “I Heart You” eCommerce venture.
Sounds a little cringe, but ok.
They state that part of its greatness is due to how you don’t have to purchase any merchandise upfront.
There are no storage costs or excruciatingly long shipment waits. And it’s virtually risk-free because you only pay for things after they’ve been sold.
Thus, you can start this business with a fraction of the capital required for FBA.
Who Owns Skup?
“Business Devin” claims to be the owner of a multi-seven-figure eCommerce business based on the print-on-demand strategy.
He co-founded Skup with Matt to assist other entrepreneurs in growing their business idea.
They specialize solely in selling jewelry through POD.
Can You Make Money With Skup?
Devin believes that the demand for shiny objects is booming. Thus, he believes that jewelry profits should be easy to come by through his ecommerce business model.
That implies you’ll be able to produce steady sales and maintain a consistent cash flow throughout the year.
Furthermore, the jewel industry is predicted to double in size and grow to a $60 billion market by 2027, according to Fortune Business Insights, a global market research company.
But will his jewelry profits course really set you free?
And more importantly…
Is Skup A Scam?
So, is Skup a scam?
Not technically – even if people online are saying otherwise.
You can make money with this program, but building a successful business is definitely not as easy as they make it sound.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with front-loading the work and making the money later.
But if you’re grinding it out for 3 months, and then your reward is being forced to grind it out for another 9 months before seeing any “real money,” well…that’s not a great deal, is it?
Reminds me of those God-forsaken MLMs many of us have experienced…all hype and no substance.
What if, instead, you could do that same 3 months of work (in your spare time), and your reward was a $500 to $2,000 payment that came in every single month?
And what if you actually didn’t need to wait 3 months? What if you could get started today and have your first payment in a week?
And what if you could double it next week?
Well, that’s the power of Digital Real Estate.
And you can legitimately do this from anywhere. It’s a true lifestyle business.
Your laptop and an internet connection are all you need.
Some of the most successful students in this program run their entire 6-figure businesses from:
A camper in the middle of the woods
A beach chair on the water in Mexico
A small villa in Greece
These people are able to travel around, living their lives first, and focusing on their income second.
Because even if they stop working for an extended period of time, the money keeps coming in – so adventure, memories, and experience are the top priority.
And they never have to worry about how to pay for the next trip, or consider asking for time off.
If this sounds more like the type of life you want to lead, just click here to find out more about Digital Real Estate.
How Much Does Skup Cost?
From what people are saying online – it appears they will sometimes offer cheap monthly payments, but in reality the cost for the entire course is around $1000 total. That’s not a crazy number…
…depending on whether the course actually offers you value or not.
Skup Online Reviews
Let’s hear what the people have to say about Skup:
“Skup coaches are the real deal
I’ve joined a lot of coaching programs, but this one by far is my favorite. Not only is their training step by step and over the shoulder, but they explain concepts again and again so that you understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. They test themes, apps, etc continually with their own money so they only share with us the best most effective way forward.
But what really put me in the ‘yes’ category to sign up in the first place was the slack channel. The promise of daily access to coaches made me feel like when I get stuck, I won’t be stuck for long. It has been true. As a bonus, there, I get to know amazing, talented, driven entrepreneurs who think like me, who understand and appreciate the struggles and the triumphs when that’s so hard to find in person with friends and family.
Skup finds ecommerce opportunities, tests them out with their own money and shares the best ones with their students. They listen and continually expand what they offer based on what their students need to be even more successful. They recently doubled the amount of live zoom calls, stepping up in a big way, which made me step up in a big way so I wouldn’t miss out. They doubled their efforts for me to be successful, making me double my efforts as well. Who does that???
The coaches show you how to do a lot of things, but also help you focus on what’s most important. Their encouragement and matter of fact no nonsense approach is a refreshing mix for a student trying to make their way.
There are so many cool things you can do in e-commerce that it’s easy to get confused or overwhelmed, but they’re not afraid to say ‘that’s a distraction, here’s what to focus on’ when needed.
I joined skup because I’m done with DIY in my life. I want the fast track, and I want advice from people who stay on top of the myriad of changes in the ecommerce ecosystem. I renew for all of these reasons stated here and more.
Come, set up your shop and learn what to sell all year round with us.”
Hmm…sounds nice, but a little too nice. Sometimes when a review is over-the-top positive like that, some people start to assume it was actually written by someone who is paid by the company itself.
It can be difficult to find reviews of these guys on the internet, but it looks as though a few people in the Scamrisk comment section found a place to vent their issues. Here was one in particular that seemed more realistic:
“Honestly have to agree with the OP. I have been in ecomm for 10 years and have set up and ran many successful “POD” type businesses and after reviewing the 2 hour long presentation I also have to agree. This is definitely too good to be true. I reached out and asked how I go about just using their software for their jewelry model and was told I had to purchase the full course in order to use it. W
ell that’s interesting since it said during the presentation it was 37.00 per month, why wouldnt it be an option to just use the software and not have to sign up for a course when I already have extensive knowledge on ecomm? Just seems a bit scammy to me to be honest. I’ve seen thousands of people over the years try to offer a “get rich quick” scheme (even though Skup does state in their presentation its not that) they also heavily promote “members” who have made significant amounts of money in a very short time without showing the opposite end of things especially when asked.
Also, I noticed during the presentation that the sales data being used was from late 2020 (Q4) early 2021. Of course sales are going to be strong during Christmas and on top of that ecomm exploded during the pandemic, the same results and expectations are not going to be attainable as quickly as they were back then.
All of this said, I do see a benefit to this type of model, customization is where its at these days. Do I think this business model works? Absolutely, but I don’t feel as though being forced to pay for a course like this is really necessary to be honest to make it work and while I’m hopefully wrong, I feel like this course is being sold because the market is oversaturated now and they are seeing sales dips so now its time to pass the buck off to others and get a substantial amount of money playing off of peoples “what would you do with this extra amount of money” feelings. Multiple times that was said during the presentation. I will give them credit though, both Devin and Matt are AMAZING sales people and definitely know how to excite a crowd. Even I was excited during the presentation even though I knew it wasn’t feasible.”
Are There Alternatives To Skup?
Yes, there are plenty of eCommerce programs and resources to choose from if you want to pursue this business model. Here are just a few:
100K Blueprint
Oberlo
What Is Our Top Recommendation In Making Money Online In 2023?
Our review team has spent months researching, reviewing, and vetting dozens of business models and thousands of programs.
While there may be no “perfect business”, the research IS conclusive:
Digital Real Estate is the #1 online business model for entrepreneurs.
Whether you’ve never made a dollar online, or you’ve been in this space for a while but never really “made it,” Digital Real Estate is probably your best bet.
Why?
Frankly, I don’t think you can afford to make the wrong choice when it comes to your career in this day and age.
Have you seen inflation lately? You know, that thing where your money is worth less but your costs of living keep rising? You must find a way to overcome this strain on your financial life, and you can’t rely on others to do it for you.
Whether you’re a man sick of living an average life, or a single mom seeking a new stream of income in order to stop the cycle of barely getting by…it seems clear to me that Digital Real Estate is a great option to take control in today’s economy.
Let’s dig into the details:
1) It’s Flexible:
Got an hour a day? You can do this. Ready to drop everything else and dive in full time? You can do this.
Yes, the more time you put in, the faster you see results. But even with a little time each day, you can move the needle in a Digital Real Estate business.
And because this system is so flexible, you don’t have to constantly be working to make more money. It’s called PASSIVE INCOME because if you stop working, the money doesn’t.
Imagine taking 3 months off to just tour around Europe, rent a cabin in the woods to write a book, hike the Appalachian Trail, or live on the beach and surf all day.
This is only possible if you have an income stream that’s not tied to your time.
2) You Own & Control EVERYTHING:
With e-commerce, you don’t own anything. With Skup, you REALLY don’t own anything.
You don’t own the sales platform, you don’t own a brand, and you don’t own the customers.
So…are you comfortable trusting these guys with your livelihood?
With Digital Real Estate, you own the assets, which means you have all the power and all the control.
3) Little To No Startup Costs:
It’s possible to get into Digital Real Estate with zero dollars upfront. Because, using the strategies outlined in this program, you can get a client to pay you BEFORE spending a penny out of your own pocket…even before you do any work.
That said, I’m not going to lie to you and say you’ll never have to put any work in. That’s a red flag. You don’t get anything for free in this life…however, you can absolutely put work in up front that frees up your time and lifestyle as you stack success.
That’s the life-hack to sitting back and watching money roll in.
Even without getting paid in advance, you can have your first Digital Rental Property up, running, and generating profits for a much more efficient investment than Skup – or even worse, taking out student loans.
4) No Wasted Time:
As mentioned above, spending tons of hours every day grinding is a huge time commitment.
Plus, you constantly need to be looking into “fortune business insights” if you want to maintain your business. enable growth company’s cycle pod provider
You need to spend even more money if you want to scale up. With Skup, you’ll always have limits on your time and freedom.
With Digital Real Estate, a 100% online business, you never have to worry about that.
5) Easy To Duplicate:
Ok, here’s the best part: once you have your first Digital Rental Property up and running, you can literally DOUBLE your income with a few clicks, a couple keystrokes, and a single phone call.
Remember: each Digital Rental Property is worth $500 to $2,000 a month in semi-passive income (over 95% profit). Every time you decide to create another one and increase your income, it gets easier.
How does it get easier?
Because you have more knowledge, more experience, more results, and more momentum.
If you wanted to double your income with Skup, you’d have to double your time investment OR your profit margins. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that’s a lot harder than a few clicks and a few minutes of your life.
6) Make Money Helping Real People:
This part is what makes it all worth it. E-commerce is a decent way to make yourself money, but it doesn’t improve anyone else’s lives.
After all, there’s always someone else selling jewelry on the sidewalk. That might be fine in the short term, but in the long run you may feel like you’re missing a purpose.
Don’t even get me started on MLMs, where your friends and family become the product…I’m sure many of you reading have been through that sort of “bait and switch” nonsense before.
You know the type – they promise a living wage, then you’re only on commission for a sketchy product.
With Digital Real Estate though, you’re actually helping people by solving your clients’ biggest problem:
Small, local businesses need more customers, and with Digital Real Estate, you are unleashing a flood of happy, paying customers for these businesses.
You make money by helping them make money.
Not some big, faceless corporation either…a small business owner who’s using that money to put food on the table for their family, start a college fund for their kids, or take care of a sick parent.
Once you see how Digital Real Estate makes a real impact in the lives of real people, you’ll see what I mean.
Now, the choice is yours. You could continue browsing, looking at opportunities like Skup which could one day make you money…
…you could continue researching, never making a decision…
OR, you could take a look inside, consider what you really want, and join a program that makes your dreams a reality.
At the same time, you’re joining a community of over 2,000 successful students that are living life on their own terms thanks to Digital Real Estate.
A consistent, reliable, semi-passive stream of income that doesn’t depend on you or your time to keep producing profits? It’s as good as it sounds.
All while genuinely helping real people who are grateful and happy to pay for it.
If this sounds more like what you want out of life (or if you just want some nice side income), click here to learn more about Digital Real Estate.
Where do I start? Let’s just say if I had seen this article in January 2022, I would have still had my $997 today.
After a 3 day long webinar from Devin and Matt and lots of persuasive sales emails, I fell for the Skup scam.
It was an 8 weeks drip fed course that resulted in no sales. During the webinar, Devin stressed you get full refund if you finish the course and did all that was required and you have still not sold anything. When I asked for a refund… all hell broke lose. See below exchanges from Skup and I on refund.
I have followed this course keenly and from the first day I signed up, I started to see the inconsistencies in what was sold during the webinar and what the course actually was.
1.The webinar talked about Printful as the POD provider but the course is on ViralStyle.
2. The course was over sold as 10k a day POD business and being on the course now proves this could be a reality after spending almost 5k on fb ads. Which I honestly don’t have.
3. The POD company charges the store owner upfront for the order before the shop owner gets paid by Shopify, again..this is misleading as this was not mentioned in the webinar.
4. After placing a test order on my Shopify store, I realised my items have been listed at a loss as product set up with Printful was not in the course you sold. I told support and they directed me to YouTube to watch any random video.
5. With the POD company, by the time I factor in cost and tax and delivery, it puts my t shirts at over $30 before and I can make a tiny profit. These shirts are not household brand names, not sure who will pay that for a t shirt when same is less than $20 on Amazon.
6. Needless to say, after going overdrawn by buying this course hoping it would change my financial struggles, the truth is, it has made it worse.
7. I am spending money on FB ads, paying for graphic shirt designs, paying Shopify and till now, NOT A SINGLE SALE. I am left out of pocket.
8. I was looking forward to a one on one but your one on one calls are not one on ones, instead, they are a group call where no one wants to openly discuss their business as it would reveal their store identity, so, this makes it hard in a group one on ones.
9. To make it worse, I asked a question on FB group weeks ago, it is still being moderated, no response.
10. I got an email saying I can book a one one with either of you, when I tried to book, it shows the dates are booked off till 2023.
11. As if this is not bad enough, you keep sending me mails on courses you want me to buy when I am currently struggling to make ends meet with 10k a day POD course I already bought.
12. I thought the idea of mentoring is to help a buyer achieve success but you seem to want to sell me on an Accelerator’s course at $5000 to help me achieve what you said I could achieve initially by buying the first course.
13. If you were me, would you keep throwing money at something with no results in sight?
I am NOT happy I did not sell a thing and this is simply because you guys did not do your homework properly about this course which was recorded in 2020 but passed off as new in 2022.
Not a happy customer at all.
A REFUND, pls.
Now Devin and Matt says I have missed my refund window. I asked how? They said I should asked for a refund in week 3 not week 8 at the end of the corse. To confirm how dubious they are, at week 3, I have not set up my store nor ran expensive Facebook ads to know if my items would sell or not. Yet, they said I did not need to finish the course before I asked for a refund.
PLEASE, PEOPLE BE WISE, SKUP, DEVIN ZANDER AND MATT SCHMITT ARE A NOT HERETO-HELP YOU BUT TO LINE THEIR OWN POCKETS. DO NOT BUY THEIR COURSES, THEY DONT GIVE REFUNDS.
SKUP Response 1
Skup Customer Success Specialist (Skup)
Mar 20, 2022, 20:01 EDT
Hello Violet,
We are tremendously sorry to hear that you feel this way.
I just checked your case, and it looks like you registered with us on 01/31, which means that more than 30 days have passed, and therefore, we are outside of the refund time window. Sadly, we aren’t able to issue a refund at this time, Violet.
We sincerely apologize if this may cause you inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Michael
Skup Customer Success Specialist
I knew you would say that and that is why I have this to say to you.
You said finish the course and do all the course says and if you still made no sales you would refund the customer. But at the same time, you have an 8 wks drip fed course.
So, how does your customer finish an 8wks ( 2months) course in 30days???
The course was released weekly for 2 months yet you have a 1 month money back guarantee.
You see what I mean when I say you have not done your homework?.?
Yet another flaw in this course.
Please, I need my full REFUND
Thank you.
Violet.
SKUP Response 2
Skup Customer Success Specialist (Skup)
Mar 21, 2022, 5:06 EDT
Hello Violet,
Thank you for coming back.
The minimum you are required to go through from the course in order to get a refund is released in the 1st three weeks, Violet.
That being said, by that point you should already know if you wish or not to continue the program.
Unfortunately, we are unable to proceed with the requested refund.
We apologize if this inconveniences you in any way.
Best Regards,
Paul
Skup Customer Success Specialist
Really???
Can you show me where this was mentioned in the sales process of this course or during the webinar?
The minimum you are required to go through from the course in order to get a refund is released in the 1st three weeks, Violet.
That being said, by that point you should already know if you wish or not to continue the program
The lack of transparency here is frightening.
In case you have not seen the course layout, let me show you here.
Week #1: The 7-Figure P.O.D. Mindset
Week #2: Store Setup & Quickstart
Week #3: Passion Niches & Customer Research
Week #4: The Secret Of Irresistible P.O.D. Products
Week #5: Dead Simple Facebook Ads
Week #6: Increasing Profitability
Week #7: 8-Figure Scaling Techniques
Week #8: Brand Building & Industry Takeover
You can see by week 3, there is no way I would know my product won’t have ANY SALES because I have not yet ran FB ads which was not till week 5 which is obviously past your 30days refund guarantee.
The webinar I attended said, FINISH the course and if you still make no sales, you get your money back, why is that so hard to understand?
Also, what is $997 refund to you when you talk about the millions you make??? You arguing with a customer on refund is BAD for business and bad customer service
Please give me my money back.
Violet
Sales Email from Devin Zander
Q7 – Is it really risk free?
Yes, you’re totally covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee…My Comment(A flaw, the course is 8wks with modules released weekly, so how do you complete the course in 30 days?)
If you watch all the videos inside the course, implement what you’ve been told, attend the calls, and give it your best…My comment (But this course is 8 wks and all this can’t be done in 30 days. When you set up FB ads, you said wait, watch it for days and then kill it, these are all outside of your 30 days guarantee)
And you still don’t think it was worth the investment…
Then simply hit me up via email at devin@smar7apps.com, and I’m going to refund all of your money
In fact, I’m going to give you $250 on top to cover all the ad spend…My comment (I just want my $997)
You’ve literally got nothing to lose
But you have to act fast…
You have less than 6 hours to take advantage of this amazing offer…
So, if you’re ready to take the plunge…
Then, punch in your credit card details on this highly-secured checkout page and I can’t wait to see you on the inside
This can be the most important decision you’ll make for achieving the life you’ve always dreamed of
Cheers,
Devin Zander
Honestly have to agree with the OP. I have been in ecomm for 10 years and have set up and ran many successful “POD” type businesses and after reviewing the 2 hour long presentation I also have to agree. This is definitely too good to be true. I reached out and asked how I go about just using their software for their jewelry model and was told I had to purchase the full course in order to use it. Well that’s interesting since it said during the presentation it was 37.00 per month, why wouldnt it be an option to just use the software and not have to sign up for a course when I already have extensive knowledge on ecomm? Just seems a bit scammy to me to be honest. I’ve seen thousands of people over the years try to offer a “get rich quick” scheme (even though Skup does state in their presentation its not that) they also heavily promote “members” who have made significant amounts of money in a very short time without showing the opposite end of things especially when asked. Also, I noticed during the presentation that the sales data being used was from late 2020 (Q4) early 2021. Of course sales are going to be strong during Christmas and on top of that ecomm exploded during the pandemic, the same results and expectations are not going to be attainable as quickly as they were back then.
All of this said, I do see a benefit to this type of model, customization is where its at these days. Do I think this business model works? Absolutely, but I don’t feel as though being forced to pay for a course like this is really necessary to be honest to make it work and while I’m hopefully wrong, I feel like this course is being sold because the market is oversaturated now and they are seeing sales dips so now its time to pass the buck off to others and get a substantial amount of money playing off of peoples “what would you do with this extra amount of money” feelings. Multiple times that was said during the presentation. I will give them credit though, both Devin and Matt are AMAZING sales people and definitely know how to excite a crowd. Even I was excited during the presentation even though I knew it wasn’t feasible.
lol skup sounds skupid
Tried it, wasn’t for me. Decent price, but as others point out – the refund policy vs. the “slow drip” course isn’t exactly ethical.
Might be able to find value here, but there’s so many alternatives out there I prefer.
i also want mhy money back this course is fine but u gotta be a few steps ahead its not really for beginners i will try basically anything but it has to be WORTH MY TIME