Candles and diffusers are products of daily use in every household. But what if you get to know that candles run on electricity? Moreover, they act as room fresheners too!
Scentsy has been manufacturing such hi-tech products for the past 2 decades. Let’s find out more about its intriguing story.
What is Scentsy?
In 2004, Orville and Heidi Thompson bought a wickless candle manufacturing company called Scentsy from Kara Egan and Colette Gunnell. The original founders started the company in 2003 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Scentsy as a company offers a unique and innovative way to enjoy fragrance in your home. Their products range from wax warmers that use a low-heat bulb to wax melts, to scented candles that are flameless and wickless.
It works on a mission to bring happiness and fragrance into people’s lives and homes, making it more than just a home fragrance brand, but a lifestyle choice.
The company uses a multi-level marketing approach to attract users by giving them opportunities to earn money along with its aromatic and beautiful products. The Scentsy MLM company calls its affiliates, ‘Independent Consultants’ whose job is to connect new folks with the brand.
The current company headquarters are in Meridian, Idaho, and the regions of operation include North America, Australia, New Zealand, and some parts of Europe — showing the company’s wide adoption.
Scentsy’s product list is extensive and consists of regular household items. The company’s innovative concept of adding a layer of comfort to the existing product has led it to glory.
What is Scentsy’s Business Model?
Scentsy is a direct-selling company that offers a range of home and personal fragrance products, such as scented candles, Scentsy fragrances, Scentsy warmers, Scentsy wax bars, essential oils, and diffusers.
A Scentsy starter kit includes everything a new distributor needs to launch their business and begin making money with the Scentsy system.
The company uses a multi-level marketing (Scentsy MLM) business model, which means that it relies on a network of Scentsy independent consultants to sell its products directly to consumers.
Independent consultants for Scentsy are self-employed and have the business opportunity to operate their own businesses. They earn commissions on the sales they make, as well as a percentage of the sales made by other consultants they recruit to join the company.
In addition to earning commissions on product sales, consultants can also earn bonuses and incentives based on their sales volume and the sales volume of their downline.
Scentsy’s products are highly capable of attracting consumer attention and have penetrated deep into the FMCG market. This multi billion dollar company has revolutionized the purposes of using household items like candles, room fresheners, soaps, shampoos, etc.
Scentsy wax, Scentsy bar, Scentsy Go, etc are some of the popular Scentsy products that have been buzzing the market. People like to use these special products that provide extra value to them apart from the normal attributes available in all other products in the market.
Scentsy provides training and support to its consultants, including marketing materials, product samples, and access to an online sales platform. Consultants are responsible for finding and recruiting new customers, as well as hosting parties and other events to promote Scentsy products.
Scentsy hit nearly $4 billion in revenue in 2021 which was much higher than competitor MLM businesses. This clearly indicates the unwavering confidence of people in the company. The products are comparatively easier to market and sell due to their great value proposition. Consequently, the company has been able to grow at a good rate since its establishment.
Is Scentsy a Pyramid Scheme?
Well, the direct answer here is a NO. Scentsy is not a pyramid scheme!
Pyramid schemes are illegal business models where participants make money primarily by recruiting new members into the scheme, rather than selling a legitimate product or service.
Scentsy on the other hand operates a multi-level marketing (MLM) business model, where consultants can earn money by selling Scentsy products and also by recruiting and training other consultants to join their sales team.
This business model is legal and legitimate as long as the focus is on selling a real product and not solely on recruitment.
In a pyramid model, the individual at the peak of the pyramid earns the most and toils the least while sadly, it’s the exact opposite for the subordinates who work hard even to earn their first living.
Over time, several allegations have been fired at the management for luring people to join the company and promote its products. People have openly criticized the firm for its unfair distribution of revenue among the consultants and called it a pyramid scheme on social media platforms like Reddit.
Pyramid schemes are illegal almost all over the world whereas Scentsy has been active in 12 countries for ages — proving its non-involvement in the pyramid scheme structure.
Scentsy uses affiliate marketing techniques to connect with the masses and advertise its products. Recruiting people is a part of the tasks performed by the Independent Consultants at Scentsy. Maximizing sales is the primary motive to be achieved. According to Scentsy Consultants, upline or leaders also have to work equally hard to get paid.
Therefore Scentsy is an MLM company that is not related to a pyramid scheme
Also Read: Is Arbonne A Pyramid Scheme
Scentsy’s Compensation Plan – Can You Really Make Money?
The first sale a consultant makes gets him 20% of the sale amount as commission. This percentage increases to 25% when the Personal Retail Volume number (PRV) or the sales of the customer crosses 1000 units.
All payments are cleared by the 10th of every month via direct account transfers removing any hassle of payment requests and unnecessary trouble in the consultants’ minds.
The company does not pay consultants to recruit members to their teams. Being an MLM company, the sale of products is mandatory for a consultant to earn money. At the time of registration, a person has to pay $99 as a registration fee. Once the registration is completed, the individual is eligible to build a team of consultants and earn commissions.
The company’s innovative business model involves unconventional techniques of doing business. The company encourages consultants to organize house parties and demonstrate the products over there. The opportunities of making money are very high as a Scentsy Consultant and many people have left their traditional businesses to join this venture of minting money.
Here’s a quick-view of the company’s compensation plan:
| Abbreviations | Full Form/Meaning |
| PWV | Personal Wholesale Volume |
| GWV | Group Wholesale Volume |
| TWV | Team Wholesale Volume |
| Frontline Consultant | All level one consultants |
| Rank | Qualifying pay level |
| Title | Highest rank achieved |
However, some of the reports claim that it is not as rosy as it looks to make money at Scentsy. Although there is a high potential of making easy cash, similar to any other network marketing setup, it requires immense effort and time to reach a certain level.
Also Read: Amway Banned Countries List
Do Scentsy’s Consultants Make Money?
Scentsy consultants make somewhere between $100 – $100,000. According to Indeed, the average salary of a consultant is around $60,000. There are tiers in the Scentsy Consultant paradigm according to which the earnings of each consultant is decided.
According to the Scentsy Income Disclosure Statement, independent Scentsy Consultants can earn between 20% and 36% in commissions and bonuses on their own sales and may be qualified for leadership bonuses based on the sales of their teams.
The hierarchy starts from Escential Consultants at the lower level and moves to Certified Consultants, Lead Consultants, and Superstar Consultants at the top. Escential Consultants is the term given to every novice who joins the company.
Once the consultants’ sale crosses $1000 they are promoted to Certified Consultants. Certified Consultants are promoted to the next level after they recruit folks to their team and earn commissions from their downline’s sales.
Is Scentsy Legitimate?
As per public opinion, Scentsy is a trustworthy and value-for-money brand. Its products are excellent and the pricing is so cheap when compared to others. The affiliate marketing opportunity is an add-on to the purchase of wax warmers, diffusers, and other items sold by the brand.
Several reports on the internet mention that people have posted satisfactory and positive Scentsy reviews and Scentsy mlm reviews on various social media platforms. In fact, recently, the brand was ranked among the top 500 companies in America, by Forbes.
The brand claims to have 300,000+ consultants in the 12 nations where it exists. This high number shows the strong trust people have in the brand’s policies and products and there haven’t been any reports of scentsy scams or business frauds.
Looking at Scentsy’s MLM schemes, it can be confirmed that the brand is not pyramid scheme-based and offers handsome income as a commission to the consultants. The brand provides extended support to consultants who want to increase their team size.
Unlike other network marketing brands that are limited to pressurizing their consultants, Scentsy focuses on supporting them by all means. If a person wants to become a consultant, he can request a demonstration from any of the company members. This helps the consultants in winning the trust of the new folks and connecting them with the company.
Scentsy has been in the market for nearly 20 years now and has been performing consistently well. The revenue has been soaring high, amounting to $4 billion in 2021.
Conclusion
Being an MLM company, Scentsy mlm has a good hold over its advertising strategies.
Despite widespread scepticism of multi-level marketing (MLM) firms like Pampered Chef, Scentsy has established itself as a leading player in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market, and the question “Is Scentsy a scam?” has been repeatedly disproved!