Stampin Up! MLM Review – Stamp Your Own Money to Freedom?

Looking for flexible work from home opportunities probably isn't that hard to do. The trick is to find a legitimate one. And there are plenty of them out there. Selling products is very tempting because you can sell them on your own schedule and make extra money. Remember scrapbooking? Stampin Up! is a company that sells stationary products through direct selling. You may be curious to know if this is a legitimate way to make extra money. In this Stampin Up! MLM Review, I'll take a look at the products to see if this is a viable option for you.

Is Stampin Up an MLM?

Stampin Up! started in 1988 and produce paper crafting projects, handmade cards, and home decor. It was founded by Shelli Gardner and her sister. This multi-level marketing company is headquartered in Riverton, Utah. The products are available in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France, and Europe.

There are over 40,000 Demonstrators throughout the Untied States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. They have had shaky revenue in the past. In 2015, the reported revenue was $165 million. It then went down to $125 million in 2018 and jumped up a little in 2019 to $127 million.

Are Stampin Up! Products Worth Their Price?

Now let's check out the products. Stampin Up! have a lot of products to choose from. Customers can buy a number of different kits for holidays and occasions, shop for products by colours and choose certain tools to help with their paper crafts.

As you can see from the image above, there's a lot included in this kit and it seems to be reasonably priced at $35. Buying items individually is where things get a little more expensive. In fact, a lot of the individual products in the Stampin Up! catalog can be found at most any local craft store and are less expensive.

I did a price check on something as simple as an ink pad. I chose black. The Stampin Up! Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad is listed for $10 on the website. I found a similar product on Amazon for $7.75. Not a huge difference but when you factor in shipping and handling charges it could make a difference. In general, the products seem to be competitively priced.

The Stampin Up! MLM Opportunity

As a Demonstrator for Stampin Up!, you'll sell stationery products and kits. This is done through demonstrations, parties and workshops. But here's the problem. Customers don't have to buy from you. They can order directly off the website. And customers don't even need a sponsor to place an order. But if you are really clever, you can make money selling your own homemade cards.

Stampin Up! has advancement options. In addition to commissions, you can earn through team commissions, and performance bonuses.

How Much Does It Cost to Join Stampin Up!?

To get started with Stampin Up! you need to have a sponsor. If you don't have one, you'll be assigned one. The  starter kit costs $135. The kit includes $165 worth of products that you choose yourself as well as business supplies. According to my research, you don't get a website here so all your sales will come from workshops and parties. Customers can also order online.

There will be other costs that are not reimbursable. Your travel expenses, phone calls and any other business related expenses are an additional cost to you. It is unclear whether you will have to pay the shipping charges for products ordered by your customers.

Can You Make Money with Stampin Up!?

As a Demonstrator, you'll make money by having stationary parties. There are eight levels to being a Stampin Up! Demonstrator beginning with Bronze. Your advancement will depend on your sales volume and the number of people you recruit. Yes, recruitment is part of the program here. Any recruits become part of your down line. Commission rates on product sales are 20% to 25%.

There are different CSV (Commissionable Sales Volume) factors depending on where you live. Each country has a different CSV factor. For the United States, the factor is one (1) so there's no need to calculate.

Let's Do the Math

You have to have a quarterly minimum of $300 to qualify for commissions. That equals $100 in product sales per month. If your commission rate is 20% your earnings would be $20 per month because the CSV factor is 1.

Pros:

Variety of Products

There's plenty to choose from in the catalog of products and the products are reasonably priced for the most part. The individual items can be more expensive.

Low Sales Minimum

If you can manage to sell $100 a month, you'll qualify for commissions. You have to sell $300 worth of products each quarter to maintain your status.

Few Complaints

According to the BBB (Better Business Bureau) there are only two complaints against Stampin Up! One was by a customer trying to cancel an order and a conflict of interest complaint.

Cons:

No Real Customer Incentive

Hosting parties and workshops may bring in a few customers but they don't have to buy from you. They can order directly from the website.

Beware of Conflict of Interest

The only way you can sell these products is through demos, workshops, and parties. If you want to promote craft products on a blog, you can only promote the Stampin Up! products. You can't have other competitors' products on your blog. That goes against their policy.

Set Up Your Own Website

You don't receive a website as part of your Demonstrator starter kit. You can build one yourself but if you don't know how to do that, it's another hurdle for you. It's also an additional expense when you factor in hosting and other website fees.

Is Stampin Up! a Scam?

Stampin Up! is not a scam. Since it's an MLM, you'll only be paid in commissions no matter how much work you put into it. The problem with Stampin Up! is that customers don't have to buy from you. They can order online without a Demonstrator which is money lost for you. So you could spend a lot of time setting up a workshop with people who might not want to buy products right away. They may want to go away and think about it. If that's the case, they can order online. Unless they use your Demonstrator code, you lose the commissions on those sales.

Final Thoughts

These products would appeal to a very select customer base. Scrap booking was a popular hobby a few years ago. I'm not sure it's still is today. Having your own business with a flexible schedule is a dream many of us have. But there are easier ways to get there. If having a flexible work life is important to you, check out my #1 recommendation. Learn how to build a home business from the ground up. You'll get excellent training, a website, hosting, 24/7 support and a whole host of awesome tools.