Is Scentsy a Pyramid Scheme? Read Before You Join!
Why am I reviewing Scentsy? When people think of Scentsy they think of fragrances and candles, but when some of you know Scentsy as a business opportunity. And if you do, you’re probably wondering is Scentsy a pyramid scheme or it’s a legit MLM program.
In case you didn’t know, yes, Scentsy is a multi-level marketing company that doesn’t only promote products, but it provides a “business” opportunity to everyone who would like to join.
In recent years, Scentsy got really popular and they grew in size, but is it the right company to join if you’re looking to create an online business? Keep on reading to find out!
Overview & Rankings
Name: Scentsy
Training: 2.0 out of 5.0
Benefits: 1.3 out of 5.0
Support: 4.2 out of 5.0
Price: $99
My Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5.0
What is Scentsy?
Scentsy is known as an online fragrance shop. They sell anything from scents, warmers with wax, diffusers & oils, fan diffusers, laundry & clean products, body products, and they even have products for kids.
The chances are you’re familiar with Scentsy products is because you’ve been pitched to buy some of them by people you might know.
The reason you’ve been approached by others selling you Scentsy products is that Scentsy offers an opportunity where anyone can join their company and become their associate.
This type of opportunity is known as a multi-level marketing program as you have to pay to join, you rely on only one company, and you can only sell their products to make money. This essentially means you will have to build your own online business depending on one company.
Scentsy’s program claims that you can:
- Make “some extra dough”
- Work whenever and wherever
- Go exploring
If you join the Scentsy multi-level marketing program, you will have to purchase the products and sell them to make a commission. Therefore, yes, it can seem like you can work anywhere or work your own hours – but I am very confident that creating your own online business this way won’t be sustainable.
Are the products good, are they expensive, and after all, is Scentsy a pyramid scheme? Keep on reading to find out both good and bad!
The Good
Scentsy seems like a great company from the surface that has some cool products that can definitely improve the scent in your home or office.
They also seem to have a decent process in place for their multi-level marketing program. After all, Scentsy has been around since 2003, but other than its history and a couple of good products.
I also noticed that Scentsy doesn’t rely on recruitment yet they ensure their associates really sell the products which is a good sign.
However, other than that – there’s nothing else good you could expect from Scentsy.
Why? Keep on reading to find out!
The Bad
So I wasn’t able to find many good things about Scentsy. I am not saying that Scentsy is a bad company, however, here are the things that I discovered and things that I didn’t necessarily like.
Some Scentsy products are not natural. Some of the products claim to be natural, and yet in the ingredients section you will often find Scentsy using the wording “secret ingredients”.
On top of that, I think that Scentsy overpriced their products. They don’t provide a premium quality to charge the prices they’re charging and I hardly believe anyone who purchases Scentsy stays a regular customer.
When it comes down to the Scentsy MLM program, you will have to pay to join, you’ll have to purchase the products, and you’ll have to resell them for a very low commission rate.
Even though Scentsy is being transparent about their commission rate, you will only get $40 if you sell $200 worth of the products.
If you sell $800 worth of products, you’ll get only $160. How many hours will you have to spend trying to sell Scentsy products?
And if you try to turn your “business” into a full-time income, you’ll need to sell at least $20,000 worth of products to only make about $3,200. I don’t think that this is achievable and most importantly, sustainable, no matter how skilled of a salesman you are and no matter how many contacts you have.
This eventually leads to a low success rate as no matter how much effort you put into it, you will hardly create a business by only relying on Scentsy.
And here’s the worst thing – even if you succeed, you’ll hardly have your own online business. You’ll rely so much on Scentsy that one wrong move, loss in sales, or change in their policy will make your business disappear.
No matter your outcome, Scentsy will benefit in 3 ways:
- Free marketing power
- Employees that they don’t need to contract
- Sales they might not otherwise get
Therefore, value your time and read on as I will recommend a better way to create your own online business online!
How Much Does Scentsy Cost to Join?
Scentsy doesn’t require you to pay the fee to join them, but you actually need to pay for your first batch of products which costs $99.
There are also other upsells once you become a member and after all, you will need to take care of the inventory you’ll be re-selling to earn a commission.
Guess what happens if you don’t sell? You’ll be stuck with inventory and Scentsy won’t think twice about refunding you.
Is Scentsy a Pyramid Scheme?
Recruiting in multi-level marketing programs is a huge red flag. However, Scentsy isn’t involved in the recruitment aspect.
But is Scentsy a pyramid scheme or it’s definitely legit since the main red flag is avoided?
Scentsy isn’t a pyramid scheme and it’s not a scam.
However, that doesn’t mean I recommend getting in business with Scentsy. Why? It’s not worth your time. You will end up overworking yourself to sell more, your sales will grow very slowly (if they grow), and even if you make any money, you’ll end up making pennies when you calculate the hours you’ve worked.
Even if you prove me wrong and you go on and create the most successful online business with the help of Scentsy, you’ll still highly rely on the company and its program.
What I Recommend Instead
What I recommend instead is this:
- Appreciate your time
- Learn a skill that will actually help you build your own online business
I recommend you to learn more about affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing might seem very similar to MLM – but it’s way different. There are no hidden costs, you don’t rely on one company, and you can control your own online business easily.
The platform that helped me the most when I was starting out was Wealthy Affiliate.
Wealthy Affiliate is an educational platform that has two training types that will help you:
- Learn how affiliate marketing works
- Create a website
- Write quality content
- Do keyword research and target desired audience
- Get your website optimized and ranked in search engines to acquire organic exposure and free traffic
- Monetize your website in different ways
Along with the training, Wealthy Affiliate provides tools such as the hosting, website builder, and keyword research tool that will ensure you have everything right in one place to implement everything you learn in the training without having to leave the platform or look for third-party options.
The best thing is that Wealthy Affiliate is free to join and you can make 2 free websites, access training for free, and research up to 30 keywords in a month.
I am a big fan of this approach because you can learn and work on your own online business instead of relying on one company that will only give you the products and let you know how to sell them.
Click Here to Learn More About Wealthy Affiliate!
Conclusion
So let’s clear this right now, once for all – is Scentsy a pyramid scheme?
Scentsy is not a pyramid scheme. It’s a completely legit company that’s been in business for almost 2 decades now.
However, just because it’s a legit company, I don’t recommend you to spend your time trying to create your own online business with it.
Why?
Products are expensive which will make your job hard, they’re not the best products on the market which will additionally make your sales harder, the commission rate is pretty low, and you will rely on a company which means that your business will be very tied and restricted to this one company.
Instead, I recommend putting time and effort into learning affiliate marketing which will open more doors and help you build your own online business without having to sacrifice the control.
Most importantly, affiliate marketing will help you create a sustainable online business where you’ll be in full control over the monetization and income sources.
Did you ever try Scentsy products? Did you consider becoming a Scentsy associate and why?
