Scentsy is an authority in the wax warmers and home scents category. The company has been around since 2004, offering wax melts, warmers, laundry products, and even body care items.
From a consultant standpoint, Scentsy has a fairly standard multi-level marketing (MLM) structure. The consultants serve as distributors, being the point-of-contact for sales. Generally, you won’t find Scentsy products in retail stores because of the company’s design.
As with any MLM company, many people worry that Scentsy is a scam. While “scam” may be a bit harsh, it isn’t necessarily easy to be successful with Scentsy.
Starting Investment
Most MLM companies require an upfront investment on the part of consultants. In the case of Scentsy, you need some initial product, business cards, and a website.
The starter kit, which is a requirement, comes in at $99 before tax and shipping. It includes a warmer, scent testers, product samples, and a range of “business tools.” Some of the cost is ongoing, as consultants are largely responsible for maintaining their testers and samples. Further, if you host a party and want inventory available, you’ll likely need to purchase it up front.
While the cost may change, the website alone has a $10 per month maintenance fee. However, new consultants do get their first month free.
Every new Scentsy consultant has to work under a “sponsor,” another consultant who already sells Scentsy products. If you don’t know someone, you get a sponsor assignment from the company.
Theoretically, the sponsor helps guide you as a new consultant. However, if you don’t know your sponsor in advance, results may vary.
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Sales Requirements
Scentsy consultants do have to meet minimum sales requirements. The company lists these at 200 or more points in personal retail volume (PRV) a month.
PRV is a system for assigning points according to what a consultant sells. Generally, you earn one point per dollar on retail sales.
Compensation Plan
The compensation plan is somewhat complex with Scentsy, as it is with many other MLM companies. Part of what consultants earn is a commission, or a percentage of their sales. The initial rate is 20 percent, though it climbs to 25 percent once you earn 1,000 PRV points.
Accessing additional compensation requires advancing through the tiers and, usually, you’ll need consultants under you to make that happen. The company labels these other forms of compensation as bonuses, which are mostly based on team wholesale volume metrics.
Ultimately, it is possible to make money with Scentsy, but it usually takes a big team or incredibly high sales to make a substantial sum.
Does that make Scentsy a scam? No, not really. Most people like the products, so there isn’t an issue with what is being sold. However, selling enough and building a team is difficult, particularly if your market is saturated.
In the end, it depends on how much work you’re willing to put into it. If you are a selling genius and build a strong team, you can make a living with Scentsy. However, many people won’t make it far enough to do that.
Are you a Scentsy consultant? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
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Hey there! Independent Scentsy Consultant here, I’ve been with this company for over a year and I absolutely love it. A lot of the things you said were fair and true, but when signing up to become a new consultant you get the first 3 months of your website for free, and it is NOT mandatory to have that, at all. Also the requirement to stay active is $200 in one month, once every three months, so as a consultant you are responsible to sell $200 in one month during, lets just say January, February and March. If you sell 200 PRV in February you need to sell another 200PRV by the last day of May to stay active.
Also, if you don’t know a Scentsy consultant, but would like to join you can go to Scentsy’s website, search for a consultant based off of Zip code and can send them an email, I would email with them before signing up under them! It’s also totally possible and okay to get a sponsor from a different area! Just check and make sure they are running a business and not doing this as a hobby if you want to run it as a business!
A lot of what you said isn’t true. Previous commenter corrected you properly. It’s actually pretty easy to sell and you don’t have to have an inventory. Ever. The samples you mention are only $3 for a PACK and you don’t HAVE to give out samples. The fragrance testers are NOT an ongoing expense as you only buy them if you lose or break one. It’s also not required that you update your testers so what you get in your kit could be what you keep forever. Do better research before you describe a great company in negative light.
I ordered stuff clear back in March and when I ask the seller if my warmer ever come in she told me yes but someone else got it I paid for it so I wanted it she said oh well
If this is the case, they have stolen your money. If they are a registered Scentsy Consultant, I would locate them on the Scentsy website, inform their upline of what had happened and report them to Scentsy HQ. That gives all Scentsy reps a bad name and I am sorry you have had this experience.
First comments are clearly Scentsy corporate or cult members. My neighbor has been selling it, trying to make ends meet during Covid. I bought a bunch out of guilt and the product is not great. Poor quality and I keep buying to help my neighbor but she told me that she isn’t meeting quota so her team lead has been really mean about it. Meanwhile, she is making less than $100/mnth and selling everyone these stinky wax bars. Poor thing! I called corporate to talk to them about their processes. Basically, the sell dollar store quality wax, the charge crazy shipping, they take FOREVER with orders and they treat these poor sales reps so bad. They are leveraging their reps relationships to avoid accountability. Ugly MLM stuff.