Is Scentsy a Scam?
I have a feeling that you are here because you were just invited to an “awesome scented candle home party” and instead of just chilling out, you were given a presentation to this new money-making opportunity called Scentsy. Perhaps you are now wondering what this company is all about. Maybe you are a tad bit intrigued by this company and you want to learn once and for all if this company is worth your time or not.
But before I start with the full review, I would like to extend my appreciation for you, because you actually took the time to do your research about this company. Plenty of people don’t even consider researching a company they are about to join but you are different – and for that, you have my respect.
What I am going to do is describe every part of this program in detail to allow you to see what you’re getting yourself into. I will discuss every possible hole about this program as well as some of the complaints I’ve found on the internet. I will, of course, also discuss all the good things I’ve found in it. Needless to say, I will give you an honest and unbiased overview of the program.
What Exactly Is Scentsy?
Scentsy is an MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) company that sells fragrance products. The name Scentsy is a simple wordplay from the word “scent” which sort of relates to the products of the company. Their main product lines are their warmers and wax bars. In case you are not sure what those are, those are basically fancy candles.
It’s not a secret that most MLM companies have accompanying products that are related to health and wellness. In this case, Scentsy is somewhat related to those because they claim that their candles do not contain harmful carcinogens. And in line with most MLM companies, their products are more expensive compared to similar items. I will have a separate section with regards to their pricing to give you a much more rounded understanding of this phenomenon.
Overall, Scentsy is just a cookie-cutter MLM company that you can’t really differentiate from the rest. It has the same marketing strategy and the same compensation plan.
What Makes Scentsy Special?
As I’ve said, Scentsy does not actually offer much difference at all when compared to other MLM companies. That is, in terms of its marketing strategy. To be fair, MLMs are likely to be just clones of one another. The only real difference is the product line, which in case, is all about scented candles.
For this section of the article, I am going to talk about the uniqueness of their items instead of talking about their marketing, which as I’ve said a few times now, isn’t unique.
Technically speaking, Scentsy’s wax bars are different from your usual scented candles. For one, their wax bars are electric. This means that you don’t need fire to start your candle. Also, their wax bars do not function the same way as your traditional candles do. You don’t need to light a fire to make it work. They work electrical, meaning that you just need the power to make them light up. I will describe how their wax bars and warmer operates down below.
- Put wax bars inside the warmer
- Plugin your warmer (this also makes them light up with a lighting bulb)
- There is a built-in warmer that melts the wax, filling the room with scent
The reason that Scentsy claims that their candles are hazard-free are they do not “burn” the wax bars. No smoke or flames at all. The wax bar fragrant molecules are just dispersed using low-wattage bulbs and built-in heaters.
How Much Are Their Products?
If I give you the price of their items straight up, you won’t have a baseline of what the market price for their product lines is. Instead, I will give you their price as well as the pricing of similar items on the market.
Scentsy wax bars cost $5.40 for 2.6 ounces of melted wax. Their warmers cost around $10 up to $60 depending on the design. The more complicated the design of the warmer is, the more expensive they are. Now, I gotta say that some of their designs are cool-looking, and can easily function as décor inside your home.
For reference, you can get melted wax on Amazon and Walmart for relatively cheap – like $2 for the same 2.6 ounces. I can’t guarantee you that their smell would be the same. I just want to give you an idea of how much they cost. As for the warmers, it’s a bit trickier since there are cheaper warmers out there but there are also way pricier warmers in the market, too. Suffice it to say, I’d say that their warmers are more fairly priced than their wax bars.
Now, you may wonder why that is. The reason why almost all MLM products are more expensive than their counterparts is because of two reasons.
- They claim that their products are way better than their competition
- They need to have bigger mark-up because they need to pay their distributors
- The inherent structure of MLMs almost always require them to price their products way above market pricing
How To Become A Scentsy Distributor?
You need to pay a one-time fee of $99 to become a member. When you do, you are now authorized to sell their items and refer other members to become your downline.
From that $99 one-time fee, you would be given a starter pack which consists of 80 wax scent testers, order forms, personalized business cards, a basic warmer, and a scent bar. You will also be given your personal landing page (website). However, that website is only free for the first 3 months of your membership. After that, you will need to pay $10/month to keep it.
Things You Need To Know About Scentsy – Ugly Truths
Scentsy’s compensation plan is every bit as complex as one would expect. But really, it all boils down to two things. You need to sell items and you need to recruit members. If you forego one of the two, your income potential would be way lower than if you had a focus on the two things.
I have a feeling that MLM companies deliberately make their compensation plan more complex than it needs to be because most people would mistake complexity with effectivity. Maybe that’s just me though.
- They have a sales quota
They don’t really make it a point to make this obvious but they have a rather large sale quote of $200/month. If you fail to meet this sales quota, your membership will be revoked. It’s almost as if they are forcing you to buy the items yourself just to meet your quota.
- Their products aren’t that much different than generic wax
Despite their claims that their wax bars are “healthier” and more “natural,” I find these claims hard to believe. Too many companies have abused the term “natural” and have used it as some sort of a sales pitch.
- Home party recruitment strategy is outdated
Members are encouraged to set up these extravagant home parties to entice people to become members. This is an outdated practice that screams early 2000s. Today, you have to make use of technology and the power of the internet to get recruits. Home parties cost a lot to set up.
What I Like About Scentsy
There’s not much to hate about Scentsy, really. But I must also say that there’s not a lot to like either. It sorts of just floats in mediocrity, which is kind of sad.
- They carry other items as well
Their product lines are not limited to candles. They have other items as well if you’re into that. They have personal care products like bath bombs, creams, body wash, soap, lotion, etc. They also have laundry and cleaning items.
- Customer Support
They have online customer support that you can contact 24/7 in case you have a problem.
- Money-Back Guarantee
They have a refund policy for their products which is always a welcomed change.
Conclusion – Is Scentsy A Scam?
Scentsy is a member of DSA (Direct Selling Association) which means that it is not a scam.
However, it suffers from the same issues as other traditional MLM companies out there. I must say that most MLM companies I’ve reviewed in the past years have all suffered from the same issues, and that’s quite disappointing. For MLM companies to become successful, they must embrace the power of the internet and don’t just rely on methods that may have worked 20 years ago. It’s time to make use of the powerful tool that is the internet.
Utilizing the power of the internet…
That being said, if you want to earn money using marketing, the internet is your most powerful tool. Not a lot of companies utilize the internet for their marketing purpose. Fortunately, there are still numerous companies that take advantage of internet technology and that is what I am going to refer you to. You see, I’ve been doing internet marketing for many years now, and in those years, I’ve only found several products that truly embraced the internet culture and used it towards good marketing. Today, I am willing to share this well-kept secret with you. All you have to do is click the link down below to learn more.