Selling Sunset’s Mary launches ‘pyramid scheme’ travel business with ‘ChatGPT pic captions’
Maybe she should stick to real estate?
Mary from Selling Sunset has worked her way up The Oppenheim Group, but somehow real estate isn’t the only thing she’s wanted to stick her fingers into. Now, she’s launched a new travel business, with some people convinced it screams “pyramid scheme”.
She’s put a spin on the Netflix show’s name and called it Selling Sunshine Travel. Mary also made the Instagram page private, and often shares lengthy captions encouraging people to join the business, which people reckon are written by ChatGPT prompts.
One of the captions went like this: “I hear it all the time. ‘I’ll think about it, let me ask my husband, I just need to wait a little bit’. I get it. I really do. Big decisions can feel scary […]. And the women in my community who are winning right now? They just started.”
The company that Mary works with appears to be TrovaTrip, a travel business “that helps communities travel the world together”. It launched in 2017, and when asked if the business is “scammy,” they replied on a Q&A saying each person has control of booking flights.
TrovaTrip refers to itself as a “three-sided marketplace” with content creators and community leaders in the role of hosting a trip, people looking to join pre-planned group travel experiences (travellers), and operators running the on-the-ground operations.
A TrovaTrip statement reads: “A major concern Creators and followers have when hearing about us seems to be, ‘Is TrovaTrip a scam?” Bummer but understandable considering how much it costs to take a trip, the amount of trust, and that we’re not a household name.”
It adds: “Trova doesn’t get paid unless and until our partners do. And that payment hinges on reaching confirmation by a set date so that Hosts and Operators aren’t left hanging, and Travelers don’t have to worry about losing money on a trip that doesn’t happen.”
She claimed she’s had sold-out events with 3,000 attendees, who are “living extraordinary lives as they said yes to this business.” One person wrote, “It’s gotta be an MLM [multi-level marketing],” while another said, “I was thinking it sounded very MLM-y.”
Just a year ago, Mary wasn’t thrilled about flying economy after paying for business class on a trip from Los Angeles to New York City, so perhaps that spurred her to launch the business? She’s also hosting a Bali retreat this year, which is seemingly part of the same business.
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Mary claims anyone that joins the business can “make passive income” and, when someone commented, “Selling travel is not passive income. Selling travel is a job,” she responded to them with: “Perhaps educate yourself on the opportunity first :-).”
She also reacted with clap emojis under someone’s comment that said: “For those asking if it’s an MLM… it is. And I don’t mean that in the way you think. I have been in the MLM world for 15 years and it SAVED my family. I am not apart of what Mary is doing.”
Reality Shrine has contacted Mary’s representatives for comment.
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