Stella and Dot MLM Review

Hey there sea changers, and welcome back to my series of MLM reviews. Today we are going to knit ourselves into the clothing/fashion industry with my Stella and Dot MLM Review. The online sale of clothing is an extremely lucrative one with many making a good living selling new and used clothing via online stores and affiliate marketing.

Added to this obviously is the ever growing array of clothing based multi level marketing programs that appear to be popping up more and more. So, is Stella and Dot an MLM program worth considering? Let's have a look and find out…

What is MLM?

Multi-level marketing (MLM) programs are the traditional mainstay of the ‘party plan' world of products such as Tupperware, Mary Kay and Amway etc. and, of course within the beauty/cosmetics, supplements and essential oils markets. It is not as prevalent within the clothing industry but as MLMs have become more popular in recent times – mainly due to the fact that much of the sales and marketing is now being managed online – companies in other niches are starting to get in on the action.

The ‘multi level' aspects of MLM come from its hierarchical nature in which you make commissions based not only on those that you sell to, but also the sales of those whom you ‘sign' into membership arrangements as well.

In short, the process works as follows:

1. You join the program, either via referral from another person (known as your up line) or directly through their website.
2. You promote the products of the company via parties, workshops or online.
3. As you make sales, you offer incentives to your customers to sign up as a member of the program (there are different names for this but they all mean the same thing).
4. That new member is then placed ‘underneath' you in a hierarchical arrangement (known as your down line).
5. You, and a number of levels of your up line, then gain extra commissions for everything they sell as well.
6. If they manage to refer their customers into memberships, they also become a member of your down line allowing you to make up line commissions as well.

The number of levels of your up and down lines will vary depending on the program you have joined. Commission rates will also change as your down line grows or contracts and many will also offer other incentives such as total company sales percentages and/or access to membership prizes as your own business grows.

Who are Stella & Dot?

Stella & Dot, whose mission is “To give every woman the means to style her own life” was founded in 2003 by Jessica Herrin and Blythe Harris after listening to some Mary Kay consultants in an elevator. Named after their Grandmothers, the company is built on hand crafted products with a plan to allow women “be their own boss, on their own terms”.

Stella & Dot is based in the United States.

What do they Sell?

If you had to categorise them, Stella & Dot operates within the women's fashion industry (with some cosmetics thrown in for good measure) with a large and interesting array of products including:

Jewelry

• Necklaces
• Bracelets
• Earrings
• Rings
• Personalised and customised options
• Fine jewelry
• Charm jewelry – in every possible way, shape and form

Bags and Accessories

• Travel
• Everyday
• Totes
• Leather
• Wallets
• Companions
• Scarfs
• Sunglasses
• Hats

Clothing

• Tops
• Layerings
• Bottoms

Beauty

• Skincare
• Makeup

Stella and Dot clothing item costs appear to fall into the medium price range of around $50 to $400 per piece.

Stella and Dot MLM Review : MLM Program outline

The Stella & Dot MLM program calls their members ‘Ambassadors' who are part of a fairly straight forward program incorporating tiered and unilevel commissions as well as a small number of bonus payments. Their compensation plan is not as easy to locate on their website as some others (I had to do an online search and look at other Stella and Dot reviews) however here are the basics…

Base Commission rate: 20 – 40% – based on monthly sales figures

Down line commission rates: 4 – 8% to 9 levels – Ambassadors must achieve rank of ‘Squad Sales Coach' to qualify for downline commissions.

Minimum monthly spend to qualify for commissions

To qualify for down line commissions, Ambassadors must meet minimum sales volumes of between 1000 and 2000 PQV. This can be made up of personal and/or customer purchases made through the Ambassador's personal account.

Payment terms: Monthly.

Application required?: Yes, Application form on website.

Purchase requirements to join: Yes

New Stella & Dot Ambassadors are required to purchase a starter kit in order to become active. The initial outlay for this is $199 with a variety of kits available (kits are valued at $400).

Marketing materials provided: A personal online store, tools & apps, marketing materials

As with the most MLM programs, downline commissions are determined by the total personal qualifying volume (PQV) generated by the Ambassador and their down line within a calendar month. Most MLM programs manage it this way in that commissions are paid on the points assigned to a product rather than the entire sales total. One advantage of this program is that PQV points are calculated on the actual sales totals generated by the Ambassador (after discount, taxes and shipping costs). This means that if a product sells for $100, and we assume the sales price after discount, tax and shipping is

$80 then the PQV for that product would be 80. If the commission is 20% then the payment would be $16 (20% of $80).

Note: These figures are based on $USD with PQV allocations adjusted for products sold in different countries/currencies around the world.

How can I get paid?

The compensation plan outlines 4 ways in which Ambassadors can make money when they promote and sell products. These are fairly straight forward with much of the same commission structures found in many other MLM arrangements however without the full array of bonus options that others have – which may limit the income capabilities of sellers. The 4 payment options for the Stella & Dot MLM program are outlined as follows:

Personal Sales Commissions

Retail Commissions are the base commissions earned by the Stella & Dot Ambassadors for personal sales made via trunk shows or their personalised website. Commissions are tiered from 20% – 40% based on monthly PQV totals generated as below:

As the minimum triggers for personal sales commissions is 1 – 299 PQV, this technically means that commission can be earned without the need to maintain any monthly target amounts.

New Ambassador Referral Rewards

For every new Ambassador that a Qualified Ambassador introduces to the program, they earn an extra 10% commission on all sales that they make within their first year of operation.

To be termed as ‘qualified', a referring Ambassador needs to generate and maintain a PQV of 300 per month.

Line Commissions

Line commissions are the basic unilevel commissions that are prevalent within most MLM programs. Within the Stella & Dot MLM program, commissions are paid to 9 levels based on the attainment of personal PQV targets and total sales within down line legs. Commission payments are as follows:

To qualify for line commissions, Ambassadors are required to meet a minimum personal PQV of at least 1000 with 3000 in their down lines (see rank information below). As with many MLM programs, these target figures increase with rank up achievements.

Executive Monthly Cash Rewards

Executive Monthly Cash Reward payments are those made to executive level ranks who achieve the following targets:

Ambassadors must achieve qualification requirements for 3 consecutive months to earn this reward.

Ranking structure

Most MLM programs use ranking structures on which to base commission payments and other bonuses upon. Rank progression is usually determined by both the number of members within down line legs, and the total sales made by those legs per month. Ranks can rise and fall based on the ability (or dis-ability) to reach the required member and sales targets.

Ranking level for the Stella & Dot program are as follows:

As mentioned above, Ambassadors must reach the rank of Squad Sales Coach and higher to qualify for Line Commissions

What is good about it?

So, after a good look around the site and looking at all the options I could find, I do like the following:

• Base commission rates for sales are good.
• Sales targets not required to earn base commissions.
• Joining and ongoing costs are not as high as others within the fashion MLM niche.

What is no so good about it?

There are also some things to be aware of including:

• There are not the full array of commissions and bonuses that are evident in other programs within this niche.
• Qualifying targets to earn stock standard MLM downline commissions are quite high.

How much can you make?

I was unable to locate projected income figures on the Stella and Dot website however as with most MLM programs, the percentage of members making the upper rank levels – and hence earning a living – is usually very low.

Note: as with many MLM programs, for legal reasons Stella & Dot Ambassadors are prohibited from disclosing income levels and achievements.

My final thoughts

Look, MLM is not an easy platform to make money in and there is not much that I have seen here to put this program above the many others I have seen.

There are no real red flags with this one in terms of the actual program and to be honest, it is one of the more straight forward compensations plans that I have seen. My only real concern with this program is the higher PQV qualification requirements that Ambassadors must achieve to earn line commissions. This could possibly make things a little difficult for those new to MLM however, if you are an absolute fashion nut with a large customer list at your disposal with the skill to support those interested in women's fashion, then the commissions rates on base sales might just appeal here.

There are no minimum personal sales requirements with this program however as usual with MLM, if customer sales fall short of targets, then Ambassadors may need to make purchases out of their own pockets to prop up their figures. I must add at this point however that studies do show that those who are intimately familiar with the products that they are promoting do tend to be more successful so keeping that in mind, I do feel that some personal purchases will be necessary.

I was unable to locate any negative reviews in terms of non-payment etc. however there was some negative comments about the quality of the products and the MLM program itself – although it was not really anything that is uncommon in regards to MLM programs or products within this niche.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my honest review and appraisal of the Stella & Dot MLM program. I hope it has been of assistance but as usual, if you have any questions or experience with this program please do not hesitate to reach out by commenting below – especially if any of my information is inaccurate.

Are there any other programs you have been looking at but want to know more about? If so, please comment below and I will do my best to get some details for you.

Do you want further assistance with any of the above or need help to build your own fashion or MLM based website?

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Until next time

Have fun

Paul

Note: If you make a purchase from this page, there is a very good chance that I make a commission from it – these commissions do not increase your sale price. This may include sales made via Wealthy Affiliate.