Today we’re taking a look at Stella and dot.
You probably came to this page because you wonder if Savvi is legit or a scam?
No need to worry you’re in the right place for the answers to these questions.
Over the last few years, I’ve been busy creating reviews about all kinds of online products.
Some turned out to be fake others were legit ways to make money online but in the process, I learned how to spot scams.
In this post, I’ll show you absolutely everything you need to know about Stella and dot and after reading it you’ll know exactly if you should give it a chance.
Stella and Dot MLM Review Overview
Name: Stella & dot
Website: https://www.stelladot.com/
Founder: Jessica Herrin, Blythe Harris
Product Type: Multi-level marketing
Earning Potential: Low
Price: $59
Summary:
Stella and dot is an MLM company that manufactures and distributes women’s clothing, skincare products, and jewellery. Stella and dot is not a pyramid scheme (from a legal perspective). Unfortunately it has very low earning potential. Less than 1% of all paid members are making a full time income.
Similar to:
Younique MLM program, Young Living essential oils MLM program, MaryKay MLM program, Amsoil MLM program
Recommended: No
Interested in making a full-time income online?
>>> Read about my #1 recommendation <<<
What is Stella and Dot?
Stella and Dot is a direct selling MLM company that manufactures and distributes clothing, jewellery, and skincare products. The business was founded by Jessica Herrin and Blythe Harris in 2003.
Stella and Dot’s headquarters is based in San Bruno, 1000 Cherry Ave, San Bruno. They’re younger than most MLM companies I have reviewed in the past, but it seems like they’ve accomplished a lot in their short time.
They have also been featured in Vogue, the wall street journal, and The New York Times.
How does Stella and Dot work?
In short, Savvi is a company that distributes jewellery, bags, accessories, and clothing for women. Instead of directly selling it to consumers they have chosen to use the MLM model which gives you as an ambassador the choice to earn money in 3 ways:
- Selling the products for a commission.
- Recruiting people to earn bonuses.
- Earn residual income through recruiting.
>>>Learn how to make a full-time income online<<<
What is MLM?
MLM (a.k.a network marketing or direct selling) stands for multi-level marketing.
According to Wikipedia, multi-level marketing is a marketing strategy for the sale of products or services where the revenue is derived from a non-salaried workforce.
As a part of this workforce, you sell the products from the company and/or you recruit people to do the same thing. This group of people you recruit will work under you and is referred to as your downline.
The bigger your downline is the more money you can earn passively (technically speaking) because you’re getting paid a percentage based on the performance of your downline.
This also means the person that recruited you which is called your upline is making money based on your performance.
The act of recruiting turns an MLM company into a pyramid-shaped organization where the first people to join make the most and are on the top of the pyramid and those last to join are at the bottom.
Source: Wikipedia
MLMs have been around for a long time. There are Multi-level marketing companies active today that was founded in the 1950s. MLM has a lot in common with pyramid schemes which are why scammers often use MLM to disguise their pyramid scheme.
Is it absolutely necessary to recruit people? No.
You can also stick to just selling products which you can order at wholesale price (25% discount) and re-sell to make a profit. This is easier said than done for multiple reasons which are why most members try to recruit others so they can earn more money.
How to start a business with Stella & Dot
1. Sign-up for Stella and dot ambassador program
You can sign-up on the website or get recruited by a Stella & dot ambassador.
2. Buy starters pack
After signing up, you have to buy a starter kit for the price of $59. The starters kit contains:
- Receive 50% off accessories in your first 30 days (After 30 days it will be a 25% discount anytime)
- Select kit from Mixed Boutique, Style Essentials Kit, Clean Beauty Kit, or Storyteller Kit.
- Access to your personal website
- Access Mimi your digital assistant app
They also give you the opportunity to “upgrade” and get their premium packages.
3. Start reselling and recruiting
As an ambassador, you get to purchase products at wholesale price and sell them at retail price. You can make a 25% profit just by doing this. You can also recruit people and earn a percentage through residual income and bonuses.
Interested in making money with Stella and dot?
Take these things into account before signing up.
- You have to 18+
- You have to live in a location where Stella and Dot is allowed to operate ( Some countries have problems with MLM companies)
- You need a tax identification number (which is a pain in the butt to get when you don’t live in the US)
Is Stella and Dot a pyramid scheme?
To answer this question we need to know what a pyramid scheme is.
What is a pyramid scheme?
A pyramid scheme is a type of scam where people are promised money for joining the scheme and recruiting other people. Generally, no selling of a product or service is involved whatsoever.
So you might be wondering where the money comes from?
The people that join are expected to pay a one-time fee and in exchange for that, they get a percentage of the fee of everyone they recruit after that.
The problem is from a mathematical standpoint it’s impossible for everyone to make money because you simply run out of people.
Take a look at this picture below showing how it’s impossible for everyone to earn money.
Source: Wikipedia
As you can see, in this pyramid model it’s required to recruit 6 people. You’ll notice from the 12th level and further, it’s not possible anymore for everyone to earn money.
The 2.2 Billion people on the 12th level need 13.1 billion recruits in total for them all to make money which is more people than there are currently on Earth.
Most MLM’s have been here for decades so a lot of them are already beyond the 12th level which means if it’s a pyramid scheme there’s a 100% chance you’re going to lose money.
Looking at the description of what a pyramid scheme is, Stella and Dot can’t be classified as a pyramid scheme from a legal perspective. Savvi sells products and has given people a method to make money without recruiting people.
Who can benefit from Stella and Dot?
Who would benefit from joining Stella and Dot:
- Expert salesmen
- Expert recruiters
- People that want to use Stella and dot products for themselves.
Who shouldn’t join Stella and Dot:
- People that hate sales jobs.
- People that hate recruiting
- People that expect to earn passive income
>>>Make a full-time income online without recruiting<<<
Stella and Dot products
Stella and Dot’s products are geared towards women. They sell apparel, jewellery, bags, and skincare products. Most reviews are moderately positive about the quality of the products but say they’re overpriced.
I do have to say that I agree with this. I’m definitely not an expert on women’s clothing but I can’t imagine a simple t-shirt that costs $52 is going to sell well. Most of the products on this website seem to be a lot more expensive than most products on the market.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Training is included
Stella and Dot provide you with training after you become a member. There are a lot of MLM companies out there that don’t do this for their ambassadors. It’s already difficult to make money as a multi-level marketer so even if the training isn’t very advanced I still consider it a pro.
No need for personal stock management
You don’t have to keep stock. This makes it a lot easier to scale because you don’t have to waste time managing the stock. I have seen a lot of businesses that were forced to hire a location for stock. This isn’t the case with Stella and Dot.
Cons
Expensive products
The products they sell are absurdly expensive. You can’t expect people to sell these products without having years of experience in sales and marketing. There are just too many similar products on the market that are more than twice as cheap.
Pay to play
To be eligible to earn money you have to purchase a starters kit and after that at least 1000 PQV on a monthly basis. You also don’t have the guarantee that you’re able to resell all the products you purchase. I think this is one of the biggest reasons most people lose money when they start multi-level marketing.
Low earning potential
The chances of earning a full-time income at Stella & Dot are extremely low. According to the income disclosure that the website has put out less than 1% is earning a full-time income (if we exclude business expenses).
Stella and Dot Compensation Plan
The Stella & Dot compensation plan is a traditional multi-level marketing plan. You can make money by:
- Direct-selling Stella & Dot’s products
- Recruiting people and residual income
Stella & Dot ambassadors can earn more doing this by climbing the ranks. In total there are 4 ranks you can have as an ambassador.
- Ambassador
- Qualified Ambassador
- Squad sales coach
- Community sales coach
- Executive sales coach
These ranks are based on a combination of your performance, your downlines performance, and how much product you purchase.
To remain eligible to earn money and keep your rank you have to purchase a minimal amount of products. In the table below you can see how much you have to purchase to qualify and remain a specific rank.
For example, as a squad sales coach you have to purchase 1000 PQV which is basically $1000 of products and your downline must purchase 3000 PQV. As you can see in the picture, you get 20-40% commission on sales of your PQV and 4-8% commission on your downlines.
So basically you have to pay to play.
Source: 2020 Stella & Dot compensation plan
How much can you earn with Stella and Dot?
There’s no standard number I can give you but we can look at the history of Stella and Dot members and use that to estimate how much you can earn. Their income disclosure is perfect for doing that.
This is what you could potentially earn at each level as an independent ambassador of Stella and Dot. If you’re looking for a method to make a full-time income this might not be the best method for you.
0.5% of all ambassadors that was getting paid earned a full-time salary.
These numbers don’t tell the full story. There are a few things you need to consider before using this disclosure as a way to estimate how much money you can make.
- This only takes into account the people that got paid. According to the disclosure, 74% of members didn’t earn money and weren’t included in the disclosure.
- This disclosure doesn’t include expenses made to stay active.
- We don’t know anything about the 50% group that’s in the middle.
Source: 2020 Stella & Dot earnings disclosure
Looking at these numbers it seems very hard to earn decent money. The majority of members (that are getting paid) are making pocket money on an annual basis.
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Why aren’t people earning decent money with MLM companies like Stella & dot?
I have summed up the reasons why it’s hard to make money with Stella & Dot and MLM companies in general into 3 points.
1. MLM’s are often associated with pyramid schemes
MLM’s have a pyramid recruiting structure that you often have to join to be able to make decent money or at the very least not lose money. The problem is a lot of pyramid schemes disguise themselves as MLM programs making it difficult to differentiate the two.
This is the biggest problem why most distributors have a difficult time recruiting people. The moment people hear about how you can make money by recruiting people red flags appear in most people’s minds.
2. You have to consistently invest your money to earn commissions
You’re only eligible for bonuses and commissions if you buy their products. The bigger the bonuses the more product you have to buy. You do get discounts but if you can’t sell the products I can see you easily fall into a financial deficit (which happens to the majority of MLMs).
3. The price of the product often isn’t aligned with the market
It’s hard for a multi-level marketer to sell products because most MLM products tend to be a lot more expensive than similar products sold by non-MLM companies. This means even if you’re really good at recruiting your downline still needs to sell those same expensive products for you to make decent money.
You can see that translate in these general statistics I found about Multi-level Marketing.
- Nearly half (47%) of MLM participants reported that they lost money.
- One in four (27%) MLM participants reported that they broke even (made no money).
- MLM participants are 7% more likely to declare bankruptcy during their lifetime.
- Direct sales have risen 79% in the last decade, but MLM participants continue to lose money.
- 90 – 99% of distributors in multilevel marketing only receive a couple of hundred dollars commission per year.
- Out of 33,000 interviewed, 90 people made enough money to cover costs in building their business.
- 50% of the people who start a network marketing enterprise abandoned it in the first year.
Sources:
FTC
AARP
Jobsinmarketing.io
Stella and Dot Reviews, Opinions, and Ratings
To keep this post as objective as possible I took a look at what others had to say about the Stella and Dot MLM program. Most online reviewers came to the same conclusion. Stella and Dot can’t be considered a pyramid scheme and the chances of earning a decent income are incredibly low.
My Personal Take
I don’t think Stella and Dot is a pyramid scheme (from a legal perspective). You’ll notice most reviewers adding the word legally to their conclusion. This is because they sell products which is why the word pyramid scheme isn’t applicable.
The thing that bothers me is the income disclosure. A small percentage of the members that are getting paid are making decent money. This doesn’t even take into account those that aren’t earning money or losing money which is 74%.
The prices of the products also are so high that it leads me to believe that there isn’t a real focus on selling these products. I wouldn’t be surprised if most money the company makes comes from ambassadors investing in products which if the case would make it a bit shady.
I wouldn’t recommend this program to most people. The only people I think could succeed with Stella and Dot are expert recruiters and salesmen.
Verdict
Is Stella and Dot A Pyramid scheme? No. It’s not but it isn’t legit either.
Stella and Dot Alternative
Savvi might not be what it presented itself to but there are other products out there that are legit.
If you want to make money online from anywhere including your own home by making content and affiliate marketing about what you love I recommend you to look at Wealthy Affiliate.
It’s the platform that taught me how to create an online business revolving around a niche of your choice and make money from it.
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That’s all for today. If you have any questions or you just want to show some love don’t hesitate to leave a comment.
See you at my next post!
