Confused about investing in a company like Scentsy? You may be asking: Is Scentsy an MLM? Can you make good money selling Scentsy Fragrances? Give this article a read, thank us later!
Scentsy is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company based in the US and is one of the front runners in the scented product market.
Founded in 2003 by fellow Americans Kara Egan and Colette Gunnell in Utah, they specialized in making wickless candles. Following a business event, they met the Thompsons. The couple, Orville and Heidie Thompson took a keen interest in this business, bought the company from Kara and Colette, moved the headquarters to Idaho, and re-launched the products, this time with an MLM distribution model.
Since its beginning, the company has expanded to countries like Canada, Germany, the UK, Spain, Austria, Ireland, and many more.
As of now, they have over 110,000 independent consultants earning their livelihood through Scentsy and their products.
Co-founder Kara Egan decided to stick to the company and now is a consultant having over 42,000 downline consultants alongside her. By the end of 2017, the company acquired over $450 million in overall annual sales.
Who is Scentsy?
The Scentsy business model generally refers to having independent consultants instead of regular workers.
Anyone can be a consultant by buying a $99 package and then selling them at parties or other occasions.
To put things into simpler words, you buy Scentsy products through an independent consultant or become one and sell them to others. You might as well get a percentage of the sale. Their business policy is deemed as a ‘direct’ model.
Scentsy Product info
Before we begin, you should know, Scentsy mostly sells wax-based room scents. They use wax heaters, so the risk or hazard of smoke pollution is zero, unlike burning scented oil or scented candles.
The wax provides a very strong and long-lasting scent.
A Scentsy starter kit comes with various elements. Some of them are there to lure potential customers while some are there to be used directly.
A starter kit consists of the following items and costs $99 excluding tax and shipment.
- A Scentsy warmer
- Wax bars of different flavors
- Fragrance testers
- Body samples
- Catalogs, Consultant, and product training guide
When it comes to warmers, there are 250 different warmers within different sizes, colors, decor styles, and price ranges. ‘Jane’ remains one of their most popular ones. The wax bars generally come in a pack of 8 cubes. Each of the cubes can spread fragrances for around 10 hours. Fragrances like Sweet Pea, Vanilla, Lime, and Cucumber are some famous ones.
There are a total of 90 different fragrances that come in cubes, and the number keeps on increasing. The Fragrance tester comes with a good lot of scents for the audience to try, smell, and fall in love with. Apart from that, the kit comes with various body samples. Because Scentsy doesn’t only produce scented waxes, they also produce body fragrances that come in the form of lotion, shower gel, shower cream, hand cream, perfume, etc. And people can try them out through the body samples.
As a consultant, you can simply get into a groove party and let the people know about the beautiful aroma that comes out of your kit bag.
Who is Scentsy for?
To be really frank, being a consultant for Scentsy shouldn’t be an ideal career choice, rather a side hustle that can help you earn money in your free time. Although there are some stark exceptions, and there are consultants that have earned above a million a year through selling these products, on average, you can’t really earn more than $1000 through this.
Military spouses in the US are known to be common recruits of Scentsy as consultants, mostly because they get transferred across the countries so much that they don’t get to have a settled employment opportunity.
But if you have free time and are looking to add some extra cash to your wallet, Scentsy can be a good option for you. They give you the flexibility to work whenever and wherever you want. It’s very easy to be a consultant, and if you’re smart enough and make a significant number of sales, you may be able to get an all-expense-paid trip to sensational destinations!
Legal rating
Scentsy offers a direct method of selling through independent Scentsy consultants. They have valid licenses for their products and services in the US. This is a multi-location business with a valid financial license.
Pros of Scentsy
● Scentsy’s wickless and flameless candles are simply as safe as they can get
● They come in a warmer, so the risk of dripping wax is minimal
● They have over 90 scents and 250 warmers with different fragrances and designs to choose from
● The wax is slow-melting, hence very safe for kids and animals
● Scentsy creates a decent work-from-home job opportunity that requires less work but produces money
● They don’t have any regulations on workdays, nor do they have deadlines, so you can be relaxed and work as a consultant whenever you feel like it
● It’s very easy to be a Scentsy consultant- all you have to do is buy a starter pack for $99.
Cons of Scentsy
● Takes a lot of time as a consultant to create a specific customer base, and if you move a lot, you’ll have to start over. The process can be very tiring and less fruitful.
● Consultants do not get any discount on the products – only the commission per sale.
● While the schedule is very flexible, the pay isn’t as much considering the work.
● Taking consultation as a full-time job can be a risky decision.
● The cube fragrances might be deemed a bit too expensive to some.
Conclusion
While many people unknowingly mistake MLM business models with fake schemes like the Pyramid Scheme, Scentsy gives you a very interesting take on the MLM business model. It is fairly simple to understand, it doesn’t have many discrepancies, and its products are actually of very standard quality.
Scentsy follows a simple policy- you buy products from them, be a consultant, sell as much as possible without any retail sales, and get the commission – no confusion, nothing in between. This simplistic approach made their policy a very commendable one, and if you’re just sitting back at home doing nothing, then getting into this business can be a decent source of income for you!
Well, if you ask me, I would say it is even not okay to try to work with this kind of companies because I have always been on the bad end of mlm companies. However,going by everything you have said here, I really appreciate it and you gave me a much better in look to the chances in this company by working for them. Though it would be just a side hustle, which is okay by me altogether. Thanks
Exactly, I agree with you. They are easy products to sell and perfect for a side job to make some extra money. Thank you for your insight on the subject.
They are a pyramid scheme. It’s semantics to say different. The money filters to the top with little too no chance of those at the bottom making money. Emphasis is on recruitment and most product sales are to other sales reps. It’sa closed market. The business model is flawed. To sell this any other way is wrong. Look at the income disclosure statements to see what people earn.
Hi Claire, Thank you for writing and sharing your insight about Scentsy.