Lucrazon Review
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Lucrazon
Rating
Customer Reviews & Sentiment
There are dozens of negative Lucrazon reviews to be found online that openly accuse the company of being a scam. Most of these reviews are found in the comment section below, and there are also multiple independent sources devoted to determining whether the company is a multi-level marketing program. Multiple complainants describe the company as a Ponzi scheme or pyramid scheme. Additionally, there are at least six complaints filed on Ripoff Report against the founder of Lucrazon, Alex Pitt. Some of these complaints accuse Pitt of refusing to pay his workers while operating a merchant services company that went by multiple DBAs including PayPro, National Payment Provider, and The Latino Coalition. Company representatives have responded to all of these complaints by flatly denying the accusations, so it’s difficult to determine which party is telling the truth.
Positive merchant reviews of Lucrazon’s services should be taken with a grain of salt, as those merchants may be Brand Partners of the company with a financial interest in selling its products. This dynamic makes it difficult to find unbiased reports of the company’s service, but the surge of complaints in the comment section of this review strongly support the accusations being made about the company’s Brand Partner program. Multiple merchants have reported investing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in Lucrazon without seeing any significant returns. These reports have lowered the company’s score in this section severely.
Industry Scores & User Ratings
| Product & Service Complaints | 3 |
|---|---|
| Billing & Collection Complaints | 1 |
| Advertising & Sales Complaints | 3 |
| Guarantee & Warranty Complaints | 1 |
| Delivery Complaints | 0 |
Lucrazon has an “F” rating with the Better Business Bureau and is not accredited at this time. The company has received eight complaints in the past three years, with three related to the product or service, three due to advertising or sales issues, one having to do with billing or collections, and one related to a delivery issue. Lucrazon resolved one complaint successfully, while five complaints received no response whatsoever and the remaining two complaints either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final evaluation from the merchant. The BBB cites the five unresolved complaints as the primary factor lowering Lucrazon’s grade at this time. We agree with the BBB’s rating in this case.
Processing Rates & Fees
Lucrazon offers different terms depending on whether a merchant opens an online store, purchases an online store with inventory included, or joins the Brand Partner program. Merchants who open an e-commerce store to sell their own products will be charged a one-time setup fee of $347 in addition to the rates charged by either PayPal or Braintree Payments. Lucrazon previously offered its own merchant account contract (available below), which included a three-year agreement with an early termination fee of $295 or Liquidated Damages (whichever is greater), a monthly minimum fee of $20, a monthly PCI compliance fee of $3.96, an annual PCI compliance fee of $75, a monthly service fee of $10, other assorted fees, and equipment leasing through Northern Leasing Systems (an “F” rated provider on CardPaymentOptions.com). As of this update, it is unclear whether Lucrazon still offers this merchant account option.
Merchants who do not already have a product to sell can open an online store using Lucrazon’s inventory and shipping apparatus. The cost to open this account includes a $547 setup fee and the associated payment processing costs. Merchants who wish to become Brand Partners must purchase an online store with Lucrazon’s inventory for a one-time cost of $1,197 plus payment processing costs. Brand Partners can then resell the company’s product to other merchants and earn residuals from those accounts. According to merchant complaints, the cost to become a Brand Partner was initially $1,000 per merchant account, with a minimum buy-in of 15 merchant accounts. The only way to recoup this large initial investment was to sell 14 of those merchant accounts to other business owners and earn residuals on them.
Lucrazon’s pricing has improved from the initial $1,000 setup cost, but it is still not especially competitive with similar e-commerce solutions. The company’s basic e-commerce package for existing merchants has a high setup fee and standard payment processing rates through PayPal and Braintree. Merchants who opt for Lucrazon’s standard merchant account will receive very poor contract terms. Lucrazon justifies the high setup cost by stating that it eliminates the cost of paying for a developer to implement its solutions. Development and implementation is a variable cost for most businesses, so Lucrazon’s fee isn’t necessarily cheaper than the cost of setup through competitors.
There are very few complaints from merchants who purchased Lucrazon’s e-commerce solution independently of the Brand Partner program. However, Brand Partners consistently complain that the product is not especially robust or unique compared to similar products within the industry. In addition, the structure of the Brand Partner program discourages merchants from publicly complaining about the product, which calls into question positive testimonials. If you have any experience with the standard Lucrazon merchant services contract, please leave that information in the comment section of this review. See the Lucrazon Merchant Application.
Lucrazon Competitors
Compare Lucrazon to competitors that earned top marks.
Bottom Line
Lucrazon rates as a poor all-in-one e-commerce solution according to our rating standards. The company has come under fire for its perceived marketing strategy and has attracted numerous serious complaints since its launch in early 2014. The unique nature of its Brand Partner program makes it unlikely that dissatisfied merchants will post their complaints, so merchants are cautioned to do as much research as possible about the company before signing up. The company’s grade may change as more reports come in regarding its service.
