Is The Commission Machine A Scam Or A Legit $2642.60/Day?! (Review)

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Imagine I walked up to you on the street and offered you $2,642 every day for the rest of your life IF you just open up your wallet and give me $47 first. This is exactly what Michael Cheney promises with The Commission Machine.

He claims this is the money-making method that works even if you're starting from scratch with zero email subscribers, money or previous experience.

But is The Commission Machine a scam designed to fool you or a legit money making method you should buy into?

It's high time we took a closer look and found out!

The Commission Machine Review At A Glance

About: Michael Cheney’s Commission Machine is a 7-video training course teaching people how to find and promote get-rich-quick scams via email.

Price: $47 plus two optional upgrades at $197 or $27 a month.

Pros: Comes with a 60-day refund. 

Cons: High upfront costs, ineffective and outdated strategies.

Verdict: Don't let the name fool you, this program won't pump $1000s into your account. It'd be a miracle if you made your $47 back, let alone $2,642 a day. Best avoid this one.

OVERALL RATING

0.5 Star Rating NEW

Unfortunately, The Commission Machine has more than a few vital cogs missing and it’s going to be hard for beginners to learn everything they need to know to be successful with affiliate marketing a few short videos.

There's zero training on how to build a landing page, create opt-in forms or find subscribers to send emails to. Commission Machine is definitely a scam to click away from.

What Is The Commission Machine?

The Commission Machine by Michael Cheney is a 7 module video training course that says it'll teach you the secrets and strategies you can implement to make $2,642.60 per day.

That's a whopping $964,549 a year! 

That's a great question because if you'd just watched the sales video and seen the landing page you'd still have absolutely no idea!

Similar to other training programs like 1K A Day Fast Track and Evergreen Wealth Formula, Michael says you'll make these amounts of money by running email campaigns that promote affiliate offers to others looking to make money online.

is the commission machine a scam or legit

You're told once your payment has cleared you'll gain access to a system you can ‘copy and paste' to earn money through email marketing by promoting affiliate products even as a complete beginner.

You're told you don't need a website or a list of email subscribers to start making money.

If this all seems a little too good to be true, you'd be right.

Head on over to the Commission Machine website and you'll see a video of Michael Cheney giving you a “live demonstration” of him transferring $85,000 from his PayPal to his bank account.

What we don't know is whether all this money came from his sales of The Commission Machine…

So many online training products within the make money online world package themselves as complete ‘systems' ‘formulas' and yes, ‘machines'.

Why?

Because it's great marketing!

It gives potential buyers looking for a way out of the rat race the false expectation that earning online is as easy and automatic as clicking a few buttons and sitting back as your bank balance shoots up through the roof.

I'll let you in on a secret the make money online gurus will never tell you:

The only way to build a sustainable income for yourself is to start a REAL online business.

Yes, it takes time and commitment, but free yourself from the get-rich-quick mentality that holds back so many and you CAN and WILL be successful.

Can You Make Money With The Commission Machine?

What's the system he teaches and how are you going to make almost $1million a year?

Since the landing page and promo video don't tell us much, this is a great question to ask. I decided to try the course and find out for myself.

Let's take a closer look at what you'll learn in the 7 video Commission Machine training modules…

Module 1: RAPID

Module 1 consists of a 28-minute video where Michael Cheney gives an overview of what he likes to call the RAPID method:

module 1

R.A.P.I.D. stands for:

  • Research
  • Angle
  • Provide Incentive
  • Deploy

The next modules will go through each of these in more detail.

Module 2: Research

Since you're going to be promoting make money online products in the hope of earning affiliate commissions, in this first step, Michael shows you how to find the best products to promote on JVZoo.

module 2

He teaches that the best products are the ones that get you the highest commission or are the highest converting.

The fundamental flaw in this strategy is just because a product converts well doesn't mean it's a good product. Speaking from my own experience and after reviewing 100's of JVZoo's products (Commission Pages, The Lockdown Formula and Affiliate Titan X are just a few), I can tell you 90% of them are utter rubbish.

Follow the Commission Machine's training and you'll become the guy who spams email inboxes with shoddy get rich quick schemes…

Is this really the road you want to go down?

Module 3: Angle

Now you've chosen a product to promote, module 3 is all about putting your emails together.

module 3

Since you only make money if someone opens your email, clicks on the link and buys in, Michael shows you the email templates he uses with attention-grabbing headlines.

Module 4: Providing Incentives

This is about giving prospects reasons to buy in through your link.

module 4

This means employing scammy selling tactics like giving false time pressures, i.e. “Only available for the next 7 minutes – don't miss out!” to try and add a bit of urgency and increase conversions.

Michael talks a lot about offering bonuses as an incentive to help push people into buying what you're offering.

Module 5: Deploy

And last but not least… you've got your offer and written your emails giving people an incentive to buy, now it's time to get these in people's inboxes.

module 5

This means you're going to have to pay out for an autoresponder service like GetResponse and start adding your emails.

If you're a beginner, the chances are you have no email subscribers in which case, who exactly is going to be reading your emails, nevermind buying what you're promoting.

On the other hand, if you're already a seasoned online marketer who's already had experience with affiliate and email marketing you'll not learn anything you don't already know here.

RAPID makes for a great sounding acronym but there's nothing “magical”, “secret” or “revolutionary” about sending affiliate offers via email.

What If You've Got No Email List?

As we've just seen, modules 1-4 are only applicable if you've actually got a list.

In modules 5-7 Michael Cheney offers up some traffic generation ideas like posting your affiliate links in Facebook groups (not recommended!)

He very briefly mentions setting up a website (highly recommended) but he then doesn't go on to tell you how to go about it.

He doesn't address the major issue of getting visitors and traffic to your site, not to mention how to create an opt-in form so you can start building a list of subscribers.

When you add up the 7 videos the total amount of training is less than 3 hours.

Affiliate marketing, whilst being a very valid way of earning an online income, is just not possible to master in such a short amount of time.

My top-rated affiliate marketing course has 50+ core step-by-step training lessons.

It's perfect for beginners because it walks you through every single step to becoming successful online, including how to launch your first website, get daily, free and organic traffic and build your email list.

How Much Does Commission Machine Cost?

Now you can buy access to The Commission Machine for $47 (it was just $19.95 in 2017) plus $79 a month in additional costs to be able to implement the training.

While I recognise the creator has the right to change the price of his product at any time, it seems odd considering no other updates or extras were added to justify the increase.

Then there's the upsells…

Almost every JVZoo product out there has numerous upsells attached to them. The Commission Machine is no different.

If we're going to talk honestly about what this system is going to cost you we're going to need to factor these in as well because without these upsells you're less likely to get the results they're promising.

You think you're paying $47 to get the full system but in reality, you've just taken your first step inside their sales funnel, designed to squeeze even more cash out of you.

As soon as you buy the Commission Machine you'll be bombarded with emails trying to persuade you to pay out a little more so you can “take your potential earnings to the next level.”

Let's take a look at the numerous upsells so you don't have to fall for these spammy sales tactics…

Upsell 1: Golden Ticket – $27/month

You've literally just paid for Commissions Machine and before you can put your wallet back in your pocket you're hit with the first upsell.

Golden Ticket claims to help you make commissions even faster and easier.

Getting access to Michael's monthly live webinars will set you back an extra $27 a month or a $197 lumpsum for lifetime access.

the commission machine golden ticket upsell

Upsell 2. Commissionology – $27/month

You haven't got to the actual member's area yet when you're hit with the second upsell.

Commissionology comes with yet another monthly membership fee of $27.

In return, you'll get Michael Cheney's email templates you can copy and paste which will of course mean “You'll make profits quicker than ever.”

commissionology

The Other Expenses Michael Doesn't Mention…

The sad truth is that the Commission Machine doesn't equip you with what you need to apply what they're teaching you.

You're going to need to make sure you have the budget for an email autoresponder service like AWeber who have a 30-day free trial then it's $19/month for up to 500 subscribers.

You're probably going to need a website too. This means buying a domain name and hosting for your site.

Who Is The Commission Machine For?

The Commission Machine claims it's a system for newbies with no subscriber list and no money, but I don't think it is.

As we've already seen, you're going to need a list and you're going to need money to make this work.

Don't get me wrong, the training content is good and there's definitely something you can learn from it, I just think the chances of actually making money with it as a beginner are small at best.

There are just so many things you need to have in place before making money with affiliate marketing like a website, landing page and most importantly, daily traffic.

If you're a beginner looking to get started in affiliate marketing this course is a much better fit.

On the other hand, if you're a more experienced affiliate marketer with an established site and growing list of email subscribers then you'll get a lot from this course that could help you take your email marketing campaigns to the next level.

What I Like About Commission Machine

1. Michael Clearly Knows What He's Talking About

If you can get past the hyped-up sales tactics and the upsells, the training course itself is pretty well put together.

He teaches from his own experience which shows through in his confidence, and the quality of the videos is better than the vast majority of training courses I've seen.

I like the fact he doesn't just tell you how to do it, but he shows you how to do it too.

For example, when he's talking about putting emails together, he'll switch to his screen to show you examples of what kind of headings to use and how to lay it all out so you can see it for yourself.

2. Affiliate Marketing Is A Legit Way To Make Money

Despite my issues with how Commission Machine is promoted and the gaps in the training, fundamentally Michael is talking about earning commissions with affiliate marketing which is a solid business model that works.

How do I know it works? Because it's how I make $7,000+ per month online.

If you're new to affiliate marketing here's a quick overview:

how affiliate marketing works

You can become very wealthy through email and affiliate marketing but you do need to have a website in place that generates traffic.

3. Commission Machine's 30 Day Money Back Guarantee

Michael says:

“If for whatever reason, you want your money back just let us know before the 30 days is passed and you’ll get a no quibble, no questions asked refund.”

This is always a big plus, right?

Because Commission Machine is a JVZoo product, it comes with a no questions asked 30-day money-back guarantee as standard.

What I Don't Like So Much…

1. It's NOT Going To Work For Beginners

I've mentioned this point already but let me hammer it home once and for all.

Commission Machine teaches you how to run email campaigns, which is all well and good, but with no email subscribers and no way of getting them how on earth can you make any money?

Email marketing can be a brilliant additional income stream for experienced affiliate marketers who already have a website that attracts a lot of traffic, otherwise, it's just not going to help.

I just don't think Michael's alternative traffic-generating techniques are good enough either, nowhere near.

His “No List Method” consists of a short 13-minute video where he talks about spamming comment sections of Facebook with affiliate links.

Really. That's it.

Hardly a secret money making method or a good long-term business plan!

2. CRAZY Income Claims… Seriously Guys?!

“Make $1000's a day starting today!”

“Just copy and paste and watch the profits start rolling in!”

Honestly, I'm surprised people still fall for this crap.

Instead of giving you even a clue about how you'll be earning, the sales video bombards us with lots of dollar signs followed by lots and lots of zeros.

commission machine scam

All hype and no substance leading to an inevitable letdown. Of course, we know why. Hype sells. And rather than genuinely looking to help people put money in their pockets, they're just filling their own.

3. Where Are Your Email Subscribers?

You'd think a 7 module course on email marketing would at least mention something about how to start and grow an email list but no, nothing.

All you're taught is where to find links to products you want to promote and how to put together sales emails.

If this is the Commissions Machine then I'd say there are more than a few vital cogs missing.

The training is completely void of essential elements you need to know like:

  • How to build a website
  • How to get people to visit your website
  • How to set up a sales page
  • How to start and grow an email subscribers list

These are the basic starting blocks of any serious email marketer but you'll never hear them mentioned once in the training.

You could have the highest converting offers with the best-written emails in the world, but without anyone to read them your bank balance stays at zero. Simple as that.

4. The Commission Machine Turns You Into A Spammer

The Commission Machine course teaches people how to sell low-quality get-rich-quick schemes that work for no one, so don't be surprised when Commission Machine doesn't work for you.

Why?

Because without an email list you're told to spam Facebook groups with links.

Yeah, you'll never make money doing that my friend. People are more sophisticated online nowadays and they can spot spam a mile off.

But more importantly than that, is this really the road you want to go down?

You can only get away with promoting crappy get-rich-quick schemes for so long and it's definitely not something you want to base your future financial success on.

Is The Commission Machine A Scam?

Yes, The Commission Machine is a scam because they're telling people to post spammy links on social media to promote other work from home scams for a quick buck. Whichever way you look at it, Commission Machine doesn't live up to its own hype.

Michael Cheney knows a lot when it comes to email marketing but he hasn't done nearly enough in my opinion to help people start earning online.

If you're determined to give The Commission Machine a try go right ahead, but I can't recommend it as a legit option for beginners. I just don't believe it helps anyone looking to make real money online get to where they want to be.

I'm not the only one calling The Commission a scam either, check out these Commission Machine reviews:

A Better Way To Start Earning Commissions

Honestly, I’m bored of the whole “send emails out with your affiliate link” stuff…

It's an old method that's been around since people dialled onto the internet and it simply doesn't work. The problem is you're always having to chase new subscribers and trying whatever you can to get them to click on your links, usually without much success.

I make over $6,000 a month in affiliate commissions by setting up websites around topics I like and because I know how to get my sites at the top of Google, I never have to worry about chasing down traffic or wondering where my email subscribers are going to come from.

And there's no need to do any selling or spend money on advertising. Every day I get tons of free and targeted traffic clicking through my affiliate offers because they come looking for me, not the other way round!

You can do this too. Hit the link below and I'll show you how:

Start earning commissions the RIGHT way with this free crash course.

12 thoughts on “Is The Commission Machine A Scam Or A Legit $2642.60/Day?! (Review)”

  1. Hi Simon,
    Thanks for the honest review. I had forgotten why I had unsubscribed from Cheney’s list but now I remember, mostly hype. I noticed the price I was offered was $47 discounted to $19.95 so I guess another sales tactic. Anyways keep up the good work I’ll check out your link at the top.
    regards
    dave

    Reply
    • These guys will sell their grandma for a quick buck! 😂

      Let me know what you think of it Dave, I think you’ll get a lot from it. I just uploaded a new video yesterday.

      Reply
  2. Thank you Simon for this Commission Machine review. You’ve confirmed what I already suspected.

    I never react to hype no matter where it is. In ‘normal’ stores if salespeople come and put the pressure on I just walk out. On the other hand, I can tell when the shop rep is really enthusiastic about the product being sold. And then I stay and listen.

    Another thing is the ‘count down’ information. As soon as I see this I am out of there. I followed through a bit once, out of curiosity. The first day there was a number of places left and a time limit. The next day the number had increased and so had the time limit. Now that doesn’t give much confidence to the reality of any program.

    It strikes me from your review that the Commission Machine doesn’t have much substance for anyone, let alone tyros (new starters). And instant money is, unless very good fortune strikes, so unlikely as to be a myth. The amount of knowledge they impart is quite scant when there are better programs around.

    I’ll be checking out your free training course and just so you know, I’ll probably have a lot of questions so I’ll be getting in touch!

    CiaoHelen

    Reply
    • Hey Helen,

      I think, on the whole, we’re getting a lot better at spotting false hype and cheesy marketing tactics, though unfortunately there’s still a lot of scams around, which means there are people still believing these kinds of claims and handing their money over. 

      You are more than welcome to bother me as much as you like. I’m in the member’s area every day answering questions and helping people just getting started so don’t worry! It’s exciting to be a part of someone journey and to celebrate the milestones together. 

      See you in there 🙂

      Reply
  3. The answer of your beginning question is: are you kidding me? 🙂 then for me Commission Machine is not good or maybe a scam. When the promise “$” is to big I don’t trust. After reading your review I have to say that Commission Machine is scam. Thank you for reviewing Commission Machine

    Reply
  4. This is an awesome review of Commission machine, I just wish I’d seen it sooner. 

    You’re right, it appears that this is another one of the scams out there that make as much money as possible and rebrand it into something else. I got sucked into this one I’m ashamed to say. $47 to start and upsales of $197.  I’m just glad that it only costed me $47. Thank you for your honest review. 

    Reply
    • I’m really sorry to hear that Dan! Did you try getting a refund within the 30 day period?

      Yeah upsells really do make me mad for so many reasons, the main one being if the product is as good as you say it is then I shouldn’t need any upsells!

      But of course, it’s usually part of a bigger sales funnel designed to get you to part with as much cash as possible.

      Reply
  5. Thank you for such a valuable recommendation. Many people out there think that making money online is easy and fake programs simply don’t help. This commission machine, as you described, is not the right tool for someone looking for ways to make money online. This article is perfect because it also provided a better option, Wealthy Affiliate. Excellent Job!

    Reply
  6. Im not a big fan of the word scam either because there are a lot of opportunities that are terrible but can work.  In my words I have no problem referring to a bad opportunity just as that, a bad opportunity.

    My problem is when people make such glorious claims.  The problem is that when people are desperate they will fall for these claims.

    All in all there are much better opportunities out there.  Thank you for a great review.  People need to see the truth about these opportunities that arent so good.

    Dale

    Reply
    • That’s so true Dale. Sometimes I’m hesitant to call something a scam because it’s such a strong statement to say something is an outright scam. ‘Bad opportunity’ is a good way to put it 🙂

      Most training courses and programs out there aimed at people looking to get started online are just that – not good, low quality products where the training has clearly just thrown a few ideas together and calls it a course. 

      If only they took a bit more time and effort to actually help the people buying their training we’d all be a lot better off.

      Reply
  7. Hi Simon – Thanks for the in-depth Commission Machine review, Michael Cheney is very good at branding and catchy titles but none of the ones I tried ever worked.

    I’d recommend anyone to avoid anything by this guy, especially 7 Figure Franchise. Avoid it like the plague because his only goal is to take money out of your account and put it in his.

    Nice job.

    Michele

    Reply
    • Thanks Michelle, I’m going to be reviewing 7 Figure Franchise very soon, I was shocked to see he’s charging people $2,200 for it!

      So far is seems all of Michael’s courses and systems etc. are pretty much identical – the landing pages and promo videos are all full of the same spiel. 

      I get the same feeling… Commission Machine is a great and catchy name with attention grabbing claims but in reality there’s nothing new here. 

      Those few videos he made? Not even worth $47. Gives you old information (and bad advice) you can find anywhere online for free.

      Reply

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