If you’ve ever been invited to a Scentsy party, you may already be aware of this company and its brand. However, you may not be aware of how the company operates and what the motivating factors of its consultants might be. If you’re considering becoming a Scentsy consultant, this review will help make your decision easier.
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What is Scentsy?
Scentsy was started in 2003 by Orville and Heidi Thompson and is now headquartered in Meridian, Idaho. The company operates via a direct sales model, meaning that most product sales are conducted through word-of-mouth and product demonstrations at home. Scentsy is also an MLM because current distributors recruit new distributors and make a commission from their sales.
Scentsy, which used to be officially called Scentsy Family, offered three product lines:
Scentsy Fragrance– warmers, fragrances, stuffed animals, laundry products, greeting cards.
Velata– fondue warmers, chocolate.
Grace Adele– purses and bags, clutches, clothing accessories.
In 2014, Grace Adele was discontinued; in 2016, Velata was shut down. The company then became Scentsy Fragrance. The company changed its name to Scentsy Fragrance, but still operates under the Scentsy Family corporate name.
Scentsy Fragrance continues to offer scented lotions, scrubs, laundry detergents, room sprays, cards, etc. One of their best-known product lines is the wax warmers, which includes a plug-in warmer containing wax cubes. Once those cubes warm up, the room fills with fragrance.
The products are actually of a decent quality and do smell good. I know this because I have received some of the waxes as gifts. Comparable quality items would include those that could be purchased from stores like Yankee Candle Co or Bath & Body Works.
You can purchase Scentsy products by going online and shopping on the company’s website. However, the company strongly encourages those individuals who are really interested in the products to become “fragrance consultants.”
What are Scentsy Consultants?
Consultants for Scentsy sell products for the company by signing up and purchasing a $99 startup kit. The items includes in this kit “include EVERYTHING you need to launch your business, including fabulous Scentsy products and business tools…”
Not much more detail is provided beyond that.
Once you do become a Scentsy consultant, you are advised to sell company products by hosting house parties and advertising online, especially through social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. What’s in it for you?
The company compensates you with a 20% commission for your Personal Retail Volume (PRV) of up to $999.99. In other words, if you sell $999.99 worth of products, you earn almost $200. If you sell $1,000 worth of products or more, you make a 25% commission.
Because you don’t ever earn more than 25% on your PRV, you are motivated to recruit others into becoming Scentsy consultants. Through your downline, you earn anywhere from 2% to 9% via their product sales. In turn, those consultants are encouraged to recruit other consultants so that they also build their downline and kick up more earnings to you.
Is Scentsy a worthwhile business venture?
As with all MLM and direct sale companies, Scentsy requires that you be comfortable approaching others and selling products and/or consultant opportunities to them. Where does Scentsy excel in this arena, and where does it fall behind?
The good:
Product quality– The company’s products are of good quality, have a pleasant smell, and are fairly safe to use.
Product relevance– Scentsy markets its line of fragrance product to women, men and kids. So, you are cornering almost every portion of the available consumer base.
Rewards– If you like Scentsy products, one way to score a deal on them is by selling them to others. If you choose to do this online and have a large following, you could end up making several hundred dollars in party sales. In addition to making 20%-25% in commissions, you’d also gain access to the following rewards:
The not-so-good:
Commissions– The chart below is derived from 2014 data that appear with the Scentsy business disclaimer. Commissions are shown for all levels of Scentsy consultants, from Escential (beginner) to Superstar Director (a Scentsy god).
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It appears that the majority of Scentsy consultants are placed at the Certified Consultants level. This is the level where a consultant has sold $1,000 or more of product but has no downline (other consultants). So, these consultants are basically pulling in 25% commissions on their sales.
As noted in other direct sales/MLM reviews, a low commission makes it difficult to not only earn a sustainable monthly income from a business, it limits your ability to launch product promos and discounts. And, not to mention, recruit other (new) consultants too.
Recruitment– What’s really disheartening about Scentsy is that, no matter how much product you sell each month, you can’t increase your commission beyond 25% unless you recruit other consultants. In fact, at the very top level consultant position, you can earn up to another 44% in commissions from your downlines in addition to the 25% you already earn on your own sales. With that kind of money flowing in, it becomes much easier to run promos, ads, discounts, etc.- and still make a healthy profit from your sales.
Scentsy is a great product, not a great business
Scentsy products smell great and come in a number of attractive scents and unique designs. However, that’s where the greatness stops. By all means, shop Scentsy for your home, office, garage, car, etc. fragrance needs. But do not shop this company if your intent is to start an at-home business venture.
Have you started a Scentsy business? We’d love to hear your experiences in the comments below.
The product is amazing. Scentsy has the best fragrances in the business. The 25% commission is less than minimum wage after your expenses. The only way to make money is to have a large number of recruits. Many recruits even lose money if they don’t sell enough. So you must constantly recruit people to sell product. I frankly couldn’t lie and tell people they could make enough to support their families selling this product. As you can see, a minuscule number of people make a decent wage selling Scentsy. It’s a side business to earn a few extra bucks…maybe.
Steve you’re right about having to buying more stocks then they can sell. Went to a garage sale and bought 36 Scentsy from a woman who quit. She said she had a ton of stock. I bought them for pennies on the dollar and sell them for 3…they do smell great
Just to piggy back on some of the comments…while the people on the top may get commissions on the people from the bottom, they don’t get these commissions unless they meet their own requirements. They can’t just sit at home and watch and earn money. It doesn’t work that way with scentsy. As a director, lead consultant, etc, you still have to bust your butt to obtain your requirement in order to benefit.
Scentsy is like a cult and absolutely has the ability to change people’s lives – by totally shattering their confidence and turning them into an emotional wreck. Ruthless bullying is rife, right up to the very top – it’s like a cross between The Hunger Games and The Real Housewives Of Scentsy. They LOVE people who sit down, shut up and don’t question anything. Anyone who dares to raise legitimate questions and concerns will soon have a target on their back – and “home office” couldn’t care less.
As for earning trips etc The amount of money you have to outlay to run your business is horrendous – samples, postage, labels, business cards, fuel, hostess gifts, it goes on and on. Yes you might earn a Scentsy trip, but if you put an equivalent amount of money to your business expenses in a separate bank account over the same period of time, you’ll have enough for a proper, non-work holiday to wherever you like. I know this because I gave up Scentsy, started a real business freelancing and did exactly that.
There is something that needs to be said about Scentsy that you could not experience unless you are a Scentsy consultant. It has the ability to change lives. All people will not succeed with this business or any other but those who do will tell you the money is only one benefit. Here are some other benefits, gaining confidence in yourself, expanding your social circle, allowing you to live a lifestyle on your own terms, belonging to a huge family of support, learning lots of business skills through tons of training, and travel opportunities. Scentsy brought me out of a very isolated world into connection with others that I had not had in a long time.
I just hit Director this past Fall, and will say most of your article is dead on, but very cut and dry to if it’s only this, the. It’s not worth doing. Not true. I have 19 on my team, and I hit my level mainly due to my sales. There is a point of group volume sales that must be met to promote, not just how many on your team. But to go back to my point, there are incentives EVERY level can earn based on sales, recruiting and consistenty. I just earned a fully paid for inclusive week long cruise to Italy, Spain and France for 2. Last year I earned a week in Punta Cana with my husband, and the year before Disney for our family of 4. I wouldn’t have done any of these trips if not for Scentsy. Also, not every person is looking to do this full time. This is an excellent way to bring in extra income without putting hours in away from the home. After 4 years, I have a 300+ customer base, and most love doing online FB parties. Very rare to go to home parties now days. So it all depends how you look at it – if you want this as a full time career, then you have to work it that way and that’s recruiting and selling. You want a commission back on your personal shopping, then place orders for yourself and friends. You want to consider it a business to build, that will help you achieve things on top of your day job, you got that too. Imagine retiring with a side hustle like this to cover trips you wouldn’t normally save for. At the end of the day – if you work your business, it works for you. I just ask you not “lump” all to be sealing the same thing. I add 30% of my sales with a bonus of 5 to 9% monthly to my family’s lives. It pays for trips, Christmas presents, the new windows we needed, braces, etc… to off set my day job. That’s not too shabby if that’s all that I’m looking for.
I am a current Scentsy Consultant and absolutely love my business. I wanted to point out that consultants who sell $2,000 or more in a calendar month get 30% commission in that month and there are consultants who consistently hit that mark. I’d also like to point out that while most of your facts are true, like any MLM business (and any commissions only paying job) you get out of it what you put into it. It is very possibleast to grow your business to the point of director status or higher and earn a decent living, but it’s unrealistic to thino it’s going to happen overnight. When have you ever seen a business be super successful in a short amount of time?
I also agree with James. I’m not so much for MLM and I once thought that was the way forward, but had to see me again. It’s a total pyramid game and only those on top win in the big picture.
At the bottom you can knock all you want, but the big bite smokes the starters of the MLM business.
Wishing you all the best,
BR Mathias
I’m not a fan of most MLMs because it seems at some point, you are forced to recruit others if you truly want to turn your business into a living. You can see that 99.8% of Scentsy sellers are never going to make more than $1,000 per month. Sure, that’s some nice extra change that will help pay the bills, but it’s not a living by any means.
For me all MLM’s are the same you have to put in so much effort for very little return. I think there are so many other better way out there, in the world for you to create a passive income and where other people are not profiting from your success and you keep all the profit this article has just confirmed to me how much I don’t want to be in MLM.
Thanks for the information
James
Thanks for the comment James. It is a lot of work, absolutely, and the commissions generally aren’t going to be anything you can make a living from. There are just so many better business models out there that won’t have you paying a ton upfront in inventory, rely on selling to your social circles, or put you in a position to recruit others below you.
Wow, Another MLM programs that opened up my eyes. Though this is my first time hear about this MLM company and the Products – Oil warmers, fragrances which I rarely use nowadays daily basis. But Will definitely will not give it a try at all.
After I explore venture in affiliate marketing and build my online business from there I will never look back to MLM anymore due pyramid method and fix to sell only their core products.
Unlike AM I am able to build up long term sustainable income with the niche I wanted.
Thanks for the heads up into this MLM business.
Cheers Maxx and thanks for stopping by. I’m not a big fan of the MLM business structure either. Very few people will actually make decent money doing this and a lot of them end up buying more stock than they can sell just to remain a member. It’s very hard to make it as a successful network marketer.
I have never thought of business like this. As you have said in the article, this is a good product, but not good business!
This MLM thing is just not for me. It is all down to “offline” selling, but I prefer to be online more.
And most of the members there cannot reach the top.
Thanks for bringing this up.
All the best!
Thanks for the comment Nenad. I’m not a big fan of the pressure that a lot of MLMs apply to their members to expand their team. You’re right, the vast majority of people will never reach the top but they will spend a lot of money trying to get there. That’s when this turns from running a business into something a bit more damaging.
We use oil warmers all the time in our house! I never heard of this brand, but it seems like they offer some really great products. I noticed there is a quite a big difference in the average annual commission between a star director and a super star director. Any ideas why that would be? It seems like the commissions off this business are quite low overall.
MLMs like Scentsy have big jumps in commissions based on how many referrals you have in your network. It’s almost impossible to hit the highest tier. As you can see, 99.8% of people who join Scentsy will never hit the top tier.
Hey, I am an independent Scentsy Consultant. I am currently a star consultant. To answer your question, the jump in commissions is based off of team size. I have a team of 18 as a star consultant many super star directors have a team size of more than 200. That does not mean that they had to recruit 200 people, their team has just grown that big. A little percentage off of 200 people adds up quick. The team grows quickly. Also with superstar director being the highest rank, the team could be 200 or it could be 6,000. So those higher earnings come from larger teams. I love this business. It is not a get rich quick thing. It takes a lot of effort. Check out my website getscentdone.com and let me know if you have any questions