If you’re looking to become a direct seller or multi-level marketing consultant, now is your time. It seems like everywhere you turn there is a new brand with a host of unique products, some of which have proven to become heavy hitting trends. Included in those more notable brands is Scentsy: the stylish, innovative, and fragrant alternative to traditional candles.

Perhaps you recently purchased a Scentsy product, or maybe you’re already an MLM consultant of some sort and are looking for new opportunities and a different product line. Regardless of your motivator, there’s probably one question you have: How much money can I make?

The short answer is that it depends. To gain a better grasp on this answer, let’s take a look at the general start-up fees and commission structure associated with Scentsy sales opportunities.

Getting Started as a Scentsy Consultant

By design, becoming a consultant is fairly easy. Visit their site (or that of an existing consultant looking to expand their team), enter some basic information, and purchase a $99 Starter Kit.

Starter Kits are required for all new sellers and include a warmer, over 80 scent testers, product samples, a ton of business tools (brochures, tips, etc.) and an “exclusive gift.” In addition to those items, the Starter Kit also includes three months of access to a personal website allowing you to sell the product online.  After three months, consultants that want to sell the products online will need to pay $10 for access.

Simple enough, and really, not unlike many other direct selling opportunities out there.

Compensation Structure

Scentsy consultants are paid based on their rank, which is directly tied to the amount of points they earn; according to their website, the current value equation is 1 point for every $1 you sell. All sellers start out as “Escential Consultants,” and once they reach 1,000 points (or, $1,000 in sales), they will be promoted to “Certified Consultants.” Escential consultants earn 20% commission on their personal retail volume (PRV), while Certified Consultants earn an extra 5% in commission, for a total of 25% of their PRV.

From there, things get a bit more complex, but generally speaking, Certified Consultants have the opportunity to become Lead Consultants when they successfully recruit new consultants under their umbrella. Lead Consultants are expected to earn 500 PRV points a month, and their network of consultants are expected to earn 1,000 a month, of which the Certified Consultant will earn an additional 2% bonus.

As consultants begin to cultivate active seller groups, they move on to become Lead Consultants and SuperStar Consultants, earning them more money through a variety of sales and award bonuses as well as the sales of their growing team.

Super motivated or well networked SuperStar Consultants can go onto become Directors, Star Directors, and SuperStar Directors – the sky, it seems, is the limit.

The intricacies can get a bit confusing, so if you’re interested in becoming a consultant, it’s best to take a look at their training materials, which include a fairly comprehensive compensation structure.

How Much Money Can I Make?

Let’s jump back into the real question at hand:  how much money can I make?

Assuming you’ve made it past the Escential Consultant level (making over $1,000 in sales over a year), you can earn anywhere from $20,480 a year (Certified Consultant) to $23,165 a year (Superstar Consultant); however, the maximum amount varies significantly from the median earning. The median annual earning for Certified Consultants is $676 per year and the median annual earning for Superstar Consultants is $7,815 a year.

As with most MLMs, director level sellers can expect exponential earnings growth with potential Directors earnings reaching $292,422 and SuperStar Director earning reaching $296,422. Again those are just maximims, and the actual annual averages—$15,589 and $219,313, respectively—tell a different story.

It’s also worth noting that as of 2015, there were only 1,212 Directors and 196 SuperStar Directors nationwide, so those sales levels and their potential earnings aren’t easy to reach.

Can You Make a Significant Amount of Money With Scentsy?  

If their income disclosure statement is accurate, then yes, the potential is there. However, the reality is most Scentsy sellers are making much less than the top earners for each consult level. With over 59,408 Certified Consultants reporting earnings, that $676 average means that that $20,480 paycheck seem pretty hard to attain.

Further solidifying that notion is the disparity between the number of consultants in the Certified Consultant tier vs. other, more profitable tiers. Out of all consultants and directors reported in 2015, only about 5% of them actual experienced earnings that exceed 4 digits.

At the end of the day, much like any MLM, Scentsy does provide consultants with the opportunity to make a significant amount of money, but the facts suggest that it’s not easy. However, if you have a solid knowledge of sales, a serious social network (online and offline), and the time, effort, and motivation to climb the ranks, you may find the rewards to be quite sweet, just don’t quit your day job until well after you cash that first big check.