Stella & Dot MLM Review

Intro.

One of the reasons people join MLM opportunities is to earn extra money on the side, and another big reason is to gain access to freebies or discounted products. Although it doesn’t always work that way, some people think that it’s an easy way to make money while enjoying a party with mates.

Stella & Dot MLM is one such company that will appeal as this kind of opportunity, and would no doubt appeal to many.

This Stella & Dot MLM review will provide you with what you need to know in regards to their jewelry range, and whether their MLM opportunity will be worth your time.

What is Stella & Dot?​

Stella & Dot was founded in 2003 by Jessica Herrin, with co-founder Blythe Harris. They are a boutique fashion jewelry company that also specialises in bling accessories. They claim that Stella & Dot was created to ‘give every woman the means to style her own life’ in terms of creating their own business opportunity.

The company is named after the ladies grandmothers, which is a really nice touch.

Having visited Sausalito myself, I can appreciate how their design team works in such a lovely location. (I loved cycling over the Golden Gate bridge and down the mountain into Sausalito, San Francisco). They also have an office in New York City.

Anyway, Stella & Dot say they stand for accessible luxury & versatility. Their jewelry is custom-made, and their inspiration comes from travelling the world. They’re also proud of the fact that a third of their style can be worn in more than one way.

Stella & Dot founder Jessica Herrin co-founded the world’s leading wedding site, WeddingChannel.com at the age of 24, so she’s no novice to entrepreneurship. She’s also been recognized for her business savvy by leading business people.

The main focus of the company is to empower women to make their own choices and run their own business, but is the Stella & Dot MLM opportunity really worth it?

Are Stella & Dot Products Worth The Price

As I’ve already mentioned, each jewelry piece is custom designed. They offer a large range of jewelry including necklaces, loads of charms, earrings, bracelets and have even ventured outside of these realms into bags, clothing and beauty products.

They claim the products are made with sterling silver, gold plating, sem-iIprecious stones, and nickel-safe metals. They apparently hold their vendors to high standards for quality and craftsmanship.

There Is no real flagship product as such, other than to say jewelry is the main product they are known to sell.

Are Stella & Dot expensive? Well going by many of the reviews I saw, the cost doesn’t seem to align with the quality. Maybe this is because the quality is not as good as they suggest.

As an example, sitejabber.com only gives them 1.5 stars which is taken from 32 reviews which is a decent sample size.

The Stella & Dot MLM Opportunity

Now that we’ve concluded who Stella & Dot are, and what they sell, let’s talk about their earning opportunity and see if it’s ideal for you. All you really need to do to get started is sign up, create a kit of products and sell them to people, right!

Sounds easy doesn’t it? Especially the inspirational part about empowering women and offering them the opportunity to sell what they want, when they want etc. I’m all for that, but this is an MLM opportunity like all the others, and the success rate of MLM’s is extremely low.

MLM compensation plans can be very confusing, so I’ll just cover a few of the basics.

Retail Commissions

This is where you can make straightforward commissions from any sale you make directly. Depending on the amount of product volume you sell, determines the percentages you will earn.

What’s interesting to note here, and that you really need to be aware of, is what the PQV equates to. They state that 1 QV is generally equivalent to $1USD.

So I’m sure you can work out for yourself that you’ll be required to make a lot of sales to fit into the higher sales commission brackets. Having said that, individual sales commission percentages are not too bad.

Team Sales Commissions

You’ll be strongly encouraged to create a team of salespeople that will work under you, this way you’ll be making extra commissions from these recruits. There can be several tiers or levels of recruits in your downline, depending on how many people your recruits can also sign up.

Stella & Dot have a ranking system which you’ll climb with the more sales you make. You’re generally known as a Stella & Dot Stylist as opposed to a consultant, and the higher you go, the more you will earn. Here’s the compensation percentages for each ranking.

As you can see, as a new recruit you’ll only be earning 4% of what those in your downline sell, and it rises from there. I won’t go into the depths of the full stella and dot compensation plan, as I’m sure you just want the basics as a guide. You can read more from their Stella & Dot compensation plan PDF.

How Much Does it Cost to Join Stella & Dot?

To get started with Stella & Dot, you’ll be required to purchase a starter kit which will cost you $199. This will be a custom made kit with products selected by you, with the help of a sponsor. There’s also a $59 annual fee that is required to remain a rep.

Many of you may think that is a large startup cost, but any new business will incur costs to begin. I began this online website business, and while it didn’t cost as much as $199, there was still hosting fees to begin with.

Other costs will also have to come into consideration though. You will need to host house parties or events to sell to people, possibly petrol or public transport costs if off-site. You’ll have to recoup these costs before making any profit.

Can You Make Money with Stella & Dot?

It’s possible to earn retail sales commissions when you make Stella & Dot jewelry sales. You can also make commissions from the team that you recruit, if you can recruit anyone.

As you make more sales and recruit more people, you can move up the hierarchy chain. This will allow you to earn larger commissions. So in short, yes, it is possible to make money with Stella & Dot.

What concerns me is that this business model is only suited to specific people. Those that are good at networking and making sales can do well, but if you’re only good at one of these skills then you’ll struggle. It’s really hard to maintain a steady income with the MLM method.

Pros:

Flexible Work Hours

As with all multilevel marketing opportunities, you have the choice to work the hours that suit your circumstances. Having said that, you may need to work more to make the required sales you expect.

Inspiring Message

Stella & Dot to everything right in terms of marketing. They provide loads of YouTube videos with inspirational messages to inspire women to do their best.

Impressive Credentials

Jessica Herrin is a determined lady with good credentials. She’s been interviewed by several high profile people and been on multiple TV shows. As a businesswoman, she is very successful

Cons:

Product Quality

Having read many reviews, which you can read for yourself here, it seems that the product quality is not as good as Stella & Dot suggest. This also aligns to the cost of the products, which seem to be overpriced.

Unhappy MLM Staff

Those that have worked for Stella & Dot don’t seem very happy with what they got themselves into. In terms of the MLM and working in their physical office, I’d urge you to read these reviews.

Annual Renewal Fee & Sales Limit

I believe it’s enough to pay $199 minimum to begin for a sales kit, but an extra $59 annual fee is hard to swallow. This, plus the requirement to make $500 in personal sales per month is unnecessary. If your team does not make this sales limit, your recruits are rolled to the next qualified leader. This seems very unfair for those that have obtained recruits.

Is Stella & Dot a Scam or Pyramid Scheme

No, Stella & Dot are not a scam, nor are they a pyramid scheme. If they were a pyramid scheme, they would have been shut down years ago.

Just because people are disgruntled with the Stella & Dot operations, and cannot make the money that was alluded to, doesn’t make them a scam.

Not everyone is cut out for MLM’s, and you need to make lots of regular sales to succeed. It’s a fairly thankless job when you need to constantly make targets to keep earning. 

You’ll find there’s much better opportunities out there to make a buck, and Christina Piccoli writes a great article about why affiliate marketing beats any MLM business opportunity.

Final Thoughts

Like any other multilevel marketing opportunity, the Stella & Dot MLM program will only be worth joining if you make loads of sales. Not everyone is suited to networking and closing out sales, so consider this carefully. Remember the hidden costs of MLM’s because you won’t be reimbursed for those personal expenses.

In my opinion, creating your own online business is a better solution. Instead of being locked into selling just Stella & Dot products, you could create your own jewelry online store and sell from multiple affiliates. This will give you the opportunity to make larger commissions from higher quality stores.

To learn more about how to do this, check out my No1 recommendation. You’ll get all the tools, support, hosting and training, and you can check it out for FREE.