If you’re thinking about going into the business of home fragrance, I am sure you’ve heard about Scentsy before. This brand has been around for a while and their products seem to be quite popular among the women. So it’s quite natural to ask – can you make money selling Scentsy? The simple answer is yes, but there’s more behind this burning question before you jump into it.
What Is Scentsy
Scentsy is a direct selling company that specializes in home fragrance and personal care since 2004. Initially, it was a basement project, started by two sisters and today, they have got a headquarter in Idaho that oversees operations in 11 countries. Their flagship products are the varieties of electric warmers and patented wax melts called the Scentsy Bars.
The Product Attraction and Market Trend
Home fragrance can seem like a very small thing, but at a larger economic scale, it actually belongs to a subset of the aromatherapy niche that’s growing in popularity. So Scentsy does have something that the market demands.
1) Due to the risk of toxic gas and chemical substances being released into the air, consumers nowadays prefer warmers over candles as their choice of home fragrance. When a wax is heated up, it just emanates the fragrance within and doesn’t burn off entirely. In a way, it’s seen as much safer and more tolerable for people with allergies.
Depending on the strength of the fragrance, the location of the warmer and other indoor environmental factors, a Scentsy Bar can last up to 60 hours – that’s about 2.5 days.
2) Most of the products are backed by research and manufactured in the US which is somewhat reassuring for consumers who are looking for better standards and quality control. This video will show you what I mean.
3) Interestingly, there’s actually a market analysis studying wax melts and based on the statistics below, we could see that there’s a steady growth moving forward, especially in the North America and European region.
Consumer’s affordability in spending on home decor products as well as their desire to seek for comfort and relaxation (at home) from the constant hectic lifestyles are two factors believed to be influencing this trend.
In order to gain a competitive edge, more companies (including Scentsy) are also coming up with various ways to develop wax melts that have interesting blends and emits longer lasting fragrance.
4) As far as online searches is concerned, Scentsy popularity tends to be seasonal whereby it peaks during November and December to coincide with year end holidays. However, based on the promotions that we have seen, the products also make good gifting choices for special occasions such as Mother’s Day, bridal shower, Halloween and etc.
5) Lastly, one of the reasons that make Scentsy’s brand stand out is because it is an independent business opportunity that doesn’t require a huge overhead. By signing up for a $99 Starter Kit (for US) or $119 (for Canada), you can literally become a consultant for the company through a few series of training and start selling without the need for any inventory or retail set up. When compared to traditional businesses, this route does seem more affordable for most people.
The Reality of Selling Scentsy
Selling Scentsy, like any type of businesses has its own challenges. The problem isn’t so much about the product itself, but more towards the way it is marketed to the consumers.
1) As a direct selling company, Scentsy focuses on fostering good customer relationship through one-to-one promotion. That means, the products must be ordered exclusively through a sales consultant and you couldn’t find them at any retail outlet. Even when ordering online through the official store, one is required to ‘connect’ with a consultant in order to complete their order.
From a customer’s perspective, this is quite cumbersome. If you asked me, not everyone wants to be connected with a consultant because it may involve a lot of direct promotion in the future that people aren’t comfortable with. The fact that consumers can’t check out like any other regular eCommerce site is a bit of a deterring factor.
2) In case you aren’t aware, one-to-one selling usually means that the consultants need to meet and talk to potential customers at specific places. Oftentimes, it means organizing home parties whereby a consultant will pair up with a host (usually the owner of the house) to do product demonstrations for a group of people.
Even though it looks fun, such arrangement requires a lot of preparation from sending invitation, preparing catalogs to placing orders. It’s a repetitive process that needs to be done for every party, whether you like it or not.
Another method that’s quite popular with other direct selling companies is called virtual parties and it basically involves selling through social media such as Facebook live. Even though it is fairly convenient, I find that it serves very little purpose for Scentsy’s product because the experience of fragrance can’t be shared vividly online. So you are still back to doing home parties.
3) Due to online sales opportunity, we are seeing more networking companies like Scentsy coming into the scene. However, they don’t always have what it takes to thrive in this space. For example, consultants aren’t allowed to sell online even though they are provided with a so-called personal website (free for the first 3 months and $10/month there after).
The website is merely a subdomain link that connects a consultant’s ID to Scentsy’s main online store and it’s not something that you can customize or add-on to improve your marketing potential. In other words, there’s no way you can optimize for targeted keywords or search engine rankings.
You see, the main reason why online marketing is so popular nowadays is because people are actively searching for products to buy. Unlike the approach in direct-selling, in the online world, customers come to your business. However, this could only happen if you know how to build a proper website and use specific keywords when promoting your products. From what I’ve seen so far, it doesn’t look like Scentsy’s consultants are taking full advantage of this marketing technique.
Coupled with the cumbersome checkout, I wouldn’t be surprised if customers are more inclined to buy from other brands that offer more convenience at a competitive price. Here are some competitors that you can find within this niche.
- Walmart – Better Homes and Gardens
- Bath And Body Works
- Yankee Candle
- Amazon Marketplace
- Kohl’s
- Target – Glade and Home Scents
- Bed Bath and Beyond
- Wayfair
4) While it’s easy to join as a consultant, maintaining as one requires more than just dedication – you need to achieve certain sales targets to be eligible for the commissions and downline incentives. Technically, you need 200 points or more in at least one calendar-month within a contiguous three-month period to remain active.
That’s basically $200 worth of product value ($1USD = 1 point) which means you need to sell about 10 warmers and/or 34 packets of Scentsy bars to achieve the goal. This is just the minimum amount and you’ll certainly need more than that in order to make profit for the long term.
That brings us to some obvious questions – Where do you go to find new customers every month or so? Are you geared to do home parties all the time? How do you share product information online with people who are interested in learning more about home fragrance products?
These are some circumstances to think about thoroughly before you embark into this business venture because it will determine if you belong to the 2% of the population who succeed in direct selling versus 98% who fail to make a dime.
Is Scentsy for You?
After reading about the trend and what to expect as a consultant, you should have a better idea on how to approach this niche. In my opinion, it’s not a bad niche and can, in fact, bring about positive impact to people’s life. The only thing that bugs me is that direct selling is always a few steps behind online marketing and consumers generally favor buying from online stores versus through consultants.
So instead of wondering if you can make money selling Scentsy, why not think about partnering with other brands that are already doing well in the online space? It’s a more flexible and creative business model. Curious to know what am I talking about? Well, check out my recommended training platform to find out more.
If you have any thoughts or questions about this article, just leave your comments below and I’ll be more than happy to respond.
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At the end of the day, I have to agree with you on this one. Direct selling (one on one promotion) is not as lucrative and always will be behind online marketing because it’s too time-consuming. The internet lets us connect with a lot more people and thus, a lot more potential buyers and prospects. Modern consumers generally prefer buying directly from online stores without the mediation of various consultants.
I’m also not really sure about their market estimation. It looks really optimistic, a bit too optimistic in fact. But in time we’ll see.
Hi Cathy,This is an interesting review. Am not too convinced with the marketing strategies of Scentsy. Direct selling demands a lot of planning to make it work. I think going with a website to promote products is a better option.
Thanks for this well organized article. Scents and other home fragrances are in hot demand, especially among women. I don’t know why this product favors direct sale rather than the well known and more convenient online method.
Direct sales means only people residing in the United States and other few selected countries where they have offices, can join as consultants. I hope they give room for online sales in the near future.
There are some niches that some might tag evergreen. I think this can be an evergreen niche because it is something that we would always need or use. The fact now is that this company might have to develop the way they market their product if they plan to reach a wider range. Online marketing is huge and can make them branch out to a lot of places that they would not have been able to by doing direct sales. I think they can make it work. They might just have to think bigger.
An eCommerce website trying to promote 1-on-1 sales through consultant, to me, is not ready for business. If I have to go through an intermediary just to get my order checked out from website, I will not come back again. The world has gone beyond one-on-one marketing. What Scentsy is selling is not aircraft for God sake, so why would I need to be a linked with consultant before I spend my money on the website?
Scents, being essential oils or heated waxed, are a big part of my daily routines. And I am not the only one as it has become very popular in the last decade or so. Therefore, sales will continually increase as your article indicates.
However, their marketing method employed to sell their product seems to be outdated. I totally agree when you say that “direct selling is always a few steps behind online marketing” and that having your own website is much more convenient and consumers nowadays will prefer to buy from online stores.
I truly believe that if a big company like Scentsy would open up a little more to online marketing, their sales would go through the roof! As for me, I would not see myself giving presentations in other people’s house and prefer online marketing a hundred times more than direct selling.
We’ve used Scentsy products, along with just about every other melt out there. To be honest, the stuff from Walmart (Better Homes and Gardens) is just as good as any of the more expensive stuff, including Scentsy. A friend was a consultant and we purchased through her for a couple of months, which became a hassle. Was so much easier to pick melts up at Walmart when grocery shopping, or just order them on Amazon.
If someone has a larger personal network, motivation and influence, I see how they could make some good money with Scentsy. But it seems like such a waste to me. It’s like going out fishing in a big boat, with the best gear and bait and the fish you are going after are minnows. There are bigger fish in the sea!!!
Thanks for providing some ideas of alternative business ideas. It seems like one could create a niche website selling a variety of melts. Maybe even specialize in aroma therapy…
Aromatherapy, I have learnt a new thing to today. Fragrance business is a profitable one if your brand is a trademark among users, and that is what Scentsy has been able to achieve all this while. I think the best Scentsy need is more advert online to remain in the forefront because of competitors in the business.
Just like every other fashion and style item, scents are always in high demand and sales will continually be made. However, the marketing scheme employed to push the product is very important
I think the method currently used for the sale and distribution of Scentsy might be fairly outdated and would take some time and lots of advertising to attract modern consumers who are more prone to review and shop for products online.
Hi Cathy,
I really liked how you organized this article. I have participated in direct selling in the past by joining a couple of different companies and, ultimately, this line of work is not for me.
I’m not socially outgoing or very energetic – so, naturally, when you need to strike up conversations with perfect strangers in order to be able to sell a product being shy is not going to accomplish anything.
I know a few people who have signed up to sell with Scentsy and they didn’t last more than 2 months unfortunately, and now I understand why. The products might be great, but not worth selling in my opinion.
Cathy, I have always been curious about direct selling, and have always wondered why they don’t just learn how to build a website to target the massive audience interested in their products. I got tired of seeing my Facebook only being people sell the same products.
I have found personally learning how to market online with your own website is so much better and easier than direct selling with products like Scentsy.
Thanks for the advice Cathy,
I have been really evaluating the worth of spending time doing direct selling since I personally find it time consuming and with very little returns. See that you think the same and your reasoning is great. It would be better to partner with other established brands online, and that is what I am going to do for my business.