Relaxing with a glass of wine can sound like the ideal way to spend a night, but what if someone told you that wine could also be a great source of income? Although you might have already heard of direct sales for clothing, fashion jewelry, cosmetics, health and wellness, travel, and various services, did you know you can make money by selling wine directly from your home? Yes, there is indeed wine in the MLM industry now, as I have just recently learned. One of these companies, Scout and Cellar MLM, will be the focus of our review today. Shall we begin the review?
What is Scout and Cellar?
Scout and Cellar, based in Texas, was created by Sarah Shadonix to create a clean crafted wine that is free of chemicals and additives used in other wines.
To be declared Clean, Crafted wine, a wine must pass two rounds of independent lab tests to ensure it’s free of nasty stuff like synthetic pesticides and chemical additives, as well as having less than 100ppm total sulfites. They also inspect and test farming and processing methods to ensure that they are Clean Crafted.
Scout and Cellar History: Who Is Sarah Shadonix?
The story of Scout and Cellar started with Sarah Shadonix, founder and CEO of this company. Shadonix left her job as a business litigator to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a sommelier. She had been drinking wine for years, but she began to question her decision when she awoke with headaches while studying for her certification. So she did her research, interviewing winemakers, grape producers, and doctors before discovering the truth: up to 300 questionable chemicals and additives can be used in many of the world’s wines. This discovery changed everything, and Scout and Cellar was born not long after.
Sarah started her Scout and Cellar wine business in August 2017, intending to sell wine to her friends and family, then selling wine to their friends and family. She had modest expectations for the future of the business.
Then, after just two months, Scout and Cellar company outgrew its 2,200-square-foot warehouse. Shadonix said, “We are nowhere near what I anticipated.” Scout & Cellar made $20 million in revenue in 2018.
The marketing people nixed Shadonix’s original name idea, Wine Retriever. They felt the name was something you’d find in a department store.
Shadonix explained, “I brainstormed names for like seven days.” “I was listening to the podcast “How I Built This,” and all of the founders in the stories came up with their own business names. I’m like, ‘I’m going to do this,’ despite having no experience with the subject.”
Shadonix chose Scout & Cellar because the word scout symbolizes the scouting of new wine sources critical to the company’s growth, and cellar has two meanings: a wine cellar and a homophone “seller,” a reference to the company’s consultants.
Scout and Cellar Review: Quick Facts
Company Website: https://scoutandcellar.com/
Founder and CEO: Sarah Shadonix
Company FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/scoutandcellar/
Company Address: 4531 Simonton Road, Farmers Branch, Texas 75244, USA
Company E-mail: hello@scoutandcellar.com
Scout and Cellar Products
The Scout and Cellar product line includes bottles from all over the world, including France, Oregon, Australia, California, Chile, Italy, and others. Many mass-produced brands contain up to 350 ppm of sulfites and added sugar, genetically engineered foods, pesticides, and other chemicals.
Scout and Cellar work hard to provide clean crafted wines that are certified. These wines are made entirely of grapes with a sulfite content of fewer than 55 ppm. They believe they are selling a much better wine, and they only endorse wines raised naturally.
Scout and Cellar wine products are grouped into six (6) categories:
- Cellar Sweep
- 2018 Cattin Sauvage Pinot Gris, Cattin, France
- 2017 Cruz Andina Reserva Sauvignon Blac
- 2018 Le Blanc White Chateau, La Dournie, France
- 2018 Etnico Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca Valley, Chile
- 2016 Middle Jane Red Wine, North Coast, California
- Bookbinder’s Apprentice 1st Edition Red Wine Blend, California
- 2017 Middle Jane Zinfandel, Mendocino County, California
- 2018 Fiddleneck Syrah, Mendocino County, California
- 2018 Vitrail Sur L’Abbaye Rose, Abbaye De Valmagne
- Cans
- Epic Pursuit White Wine Spritzer
- Epic Pursuit Rose Wine Spritzer
- Epic Pursuit Cider Spritzer
- 2020 Pip’s White Piquette, North Coast, California
- 14K White Wine, California
- Sparkling
- Sparkling White Wines
- Che Fico Bubbly Bianco, Italy
- 2020 Gallivant Bubbly White Whine, California
- Etnico Sparkling WIne, Casablanca Valley, Chile
- Cattin Sauvage Cremant d’Alsace Brut, Alsace, France
- Ticklebumps Brut, North Coast, California
- Sparkling Rose Wines
- Sparkling White Wines
- White
- Chardonnay
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris
- Sparkling White Wines
- White Wine Blends
- Rose
- Still Rose Wines
- Sparkling Rose Wines
- Wine Spritzers
- Epic Pursuit Rose Wine Spritzer
- Red
- Pinot Noir
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Zinfandel/Primitivo
- Red Wine Blends
- Other Red Wines
Is Scout and Cellar MLM?
Scout and Cellar is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company. They use the MLM business model in their organization.
Is Scout and Cellar a Pyramid Scheme?
First, a Pyramid Scheme is against the law, and Scout and Cellar is not an illegal pyramid scheme.
However, their compensation plan is somewhat similar to those of a pyramid scheme, and many people will continue to believe they are.
To grasp these parallels, let us review the diagram below:
This pyramid scheme illustration depicts a portion of Scout and Cellar’s commission structure. The portion we’re talking about is the one that rewards recruitment.
When you can only make money by recruiting new people into a business, that’s a pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme does not have a profitable product. The economy will inevitably fail under a pyramid scheme, and the majority of people will lose money.
Now, most people will lose money with Scout and Cellar, but they do have a legitimate product that you can sell directly to customers without having to recruit.
An MLM may last a very long time, and most people are unlikely to lose money if they collapse. The majority of people lose money in MLM because recruiting is difficult and selling directly to consumers is often difficult.
How Much Do Scout and Cellar Consultants Make?
Scout and Cellar Compensation Plan
Scout and Cellar is a multi-level marketing company, so the strategies to make money for them are the same for most MLM companies. The three most common ways to make money with Scout and Cellar are listed below.
Direct Selling
Every purchase or sale of their products would earn you a percentage. Based on the sales volume, you will receive the following commissions:
$499 and below – 12% commissions
$500 to $1499 – 15% commissions
$1500 to $2999 – 20% commissions
$3000+ – 25% commissions
There are reasonable commission rates, but to make a living solely off retail sales, you’d have to sell a lot of wine.
Recruiting
They will allow you to recruit and build the downlines to get a certain sum of money in every sale.
This is where the majority of MLM profits are made. Scout and Cellar are paying out in the following binary structure:
The amount you will earn depends on your Consultant rank, which would be based on how many people you can recruit and how many sales they can make.
A 2nd rank, for example, earns 3% on level 1, while a 6th rank earns 8% on level 1 and earns on levels past level 1.
Incentives and Bonuses
When you and your team reach certain milestones and predetermined goals, you would be eligible to earn different bonuses and rewards to keep you and your team motivated.
How Can I Join Scout and Cellar? How Much Will It Cost?
To get started with Scout and Cellar, you must first purchase their business starter kit for $249. to help you get started (BBK) in their business. It comes with must-have products, shareable marketing resources, and four bottles of Clean-CraftedTM wine to get you started sharing right away.
- 6 bottle insulated wine carrier
- Wine Makers
- Pull taps corkscrew
- 5 ounce measured pouring spout
- The original vacuum wine saver
- 4 bottles of wine
- Business building materials
- Your personal Scout and Cellar website for a year
For the first year, your personalized website is included in the initial fee. After that, you’ll have to spend $99 a year to keep it going.
Scout and Cellar Review: What I Like, What I Don’t Like
What I Like
- Given how incredibly social wine is, the idea of multi-level marketing companies to sell it is an excellent fit. Promoting wine for direct sale wine companies while sipping your favorite red wine with a group of close friends will quickly make the overall experience fun, not to mention financially rewarding.
- Wine is a product that arouses the attention of both men and women. In contrast, many other network marketing companies rely on products that appeal to women, such as jewelry, perfume, clothes, and crafts.
- According to the reviews we found online, their products have a good rating, which is very important for wine. The concept of Clean wine seems to be a novel idea and may work in your favor, particularly if it tastes good.
- Many MLMs seem to believe it is acceptable to charge exorbitant rates, but this is not the case with Scout and Cellar. In truth, you might conclude that the prices are a tad low. But it will entirely depend on the wine’s quality. In any case, the prices are good.
What I Don’t Like
- To begin with, the business opportunity, as well as the ability to purchase their wine, is currently limited to the United States. However, there are also limitations based on the state in which you reside. Many states do not allow the wine to be shipped to your home address. If you live within these states, this will make it complicated for you.
- Their MLM business model. MLMs have a very low success rate, with several surveys indicating that 99 percent of people lose money in them. This is a dismal figure that demonstrates how challenging it is to succeed with an MLM business plan.
- There is no Income Disclosure available. An income disclosure statement is a crucial paper that shows how effective or unsuccessful their distributors are. Therefore, they don’t have one to show you is a sign that their dealers are not making good money. The fact that you can order wine directly from their website, bypassing their distributors, demonstrates how difficult it is to get customers to buy from you.
Scout and Cellar Customer Reviews
Here are some customer reviews I found on their Facebook Page…
Positive
Kelly Mather Medvec is a joy to deal with, and Scout & Cellar wine is wonderful. I’ve heard a lot from her about the discrepancies between conventionally made wine and clean-crafted wine — and they’re big! S&C wine should not leave a purple stain on your mouth, give you a headache, or make you feel tired and dehydrated. My parents are sulfite-sensitive, so it’s good to know that they can now drink without fear. I strongly advise you to speak with Kelly and sample her wines. Kelly’s love for what she does, combined with the company’s reputation, is a winning combination!
- Stephanie Rose Rising
I was given a bottle of your Field House as a present, and it was fantastic. What a disparity in consistency there is. It’s difficult to find wines that have been meticulously made. I enjoy not having a headache after a glass or two of wine. I’ve just placed a couple of orders! Thank you so much!!!!
- JenTheresa
It was fantastic! Great selection, super-fast delivery, and outstanding customer service! I purchased six bottles and got free shipping as well as a five percent discount!
- Lisha
Negative
I could not find any negative reviews about their products, nor their services.
Scout and Cellar Review: My Final Thoughts
Their products may be great, and we have established that they are not a pyramid scheme, but the fact that customers can purchase them directly from their website suggests that they may not need any distributors. Unlike other MLM companies, this demonstrates that they are more interested in having people spread their name without paying for advertisements than in offering people a better chance to make profits.
If you want to earn some discounts for your wine purchases, you better be a huge wine consumer to maximize the discounts. But if you want to earn a substantial income and someday make this full-time become a boss of your own business, I suggest you look somewhere else where the business opportunity is more solid.