BUSINESS
A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020
Home-based businesses bring in extra cash
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
While anonymous com-
ments online offering the
chance to “make money
from home” are often scams,
many Eastern Oregon resi-
dents have found their own
ways to make extra cash
from their home.
Some do so through
multi-level marketing com-
panies that sell their product
through independent consul-
tants instead of retail stores.
Casandra Whetsler, of
Umatilla, has been selling
Scentsy products for nine
years now. The company’s
signature product is a line of
wax “wickless candles” that
produce scents when placed
on a warmer.
Whetsler said she keeps
about $1,000 of inventory
on hand in her home and
spends about an hour a day
doing tasks, such as updat-
ing her Facebook page with
posts about new products
or ordering more inventory.
She said on good months she
earns between $400 to $800
in commissions.
“There are slow times,”
she said. “January is mine,
(with) everyone recuperat-
ing from Christmas. But it’s
not really challenging, you
just learn the hard parts over
years of selling.”
The free and discounted
products that sellers earn
also contribute to her other
line of income, as she uses
Scentsy’s cleaning prod-
uct line to supply her
house-cleaning business.
Scentsy’s 2018 income
report, the most recent
posted on its website, lists
the average commission for
someone who was active
with the company for all 12
months at $1,981 per year.
The top consultant in the
company earned $967,423
in commissions in 2018,
according to the report, but
the median was $697, mean-
ing half of Scentsy’s sellers
earned less than that over the
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Scensty products on display on the island in Casandra
Whetsler’s kitchen in Umatilla.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Casandra Whetsler fi lls out information for a Scentsy order on her dining table in Umatilla on
Feb. 4.
course of a year.
In multi-level marketing
companies, sellers get com-
missions from sales by peo-
ple they recruited to sell.
But Whetsler said Scentsy is
set up in a way that you can
make money without recruit-
ing people — she only has
one person “downstream”
from her.
“It is kind of like a pyr-
amid, but I don’t push peo-
ple to take the plunge with
me,” she said. “I want them
to pursue things they love.
Scentsy is what I love and
it helps bring income in for
splurges.”
Each multi-level mar-
keting company has its own
rules for joining. Scentsy, for
example, requires consul-
tants to purchase a $99 starter
kit to start. LuLaRoe, known
for its colorful leggings, cur-
rently requires consultants to
make an initial investment
of $499 worth of products,
according to its website.
LuLaRoe has been the tar-
get of multiple class action
lawsuits claiming it is a pyr-
amid scheme that misled and
pressured people into pur-
chasing thousands of dollars
of clothing that they were
unable to sell or return, then
convinced them to recruit
more people into an already
oversaturated market.
In response to one such
lawsuit in 2017, LuLaRoe
released a statement saying
the accusations were “base-
less, factually inaccurate
and misinformed” and that
the company’s success had
made it a “target of orches-
trated competitive attacks
and predatory litigation.”
Despite some people los-
ing money from participa-
tion in multi-level marketing
companies, others feel it’s
a good way to supplement
their income.
Tamara Bow, a regis-
tered nurse from Uma-
tilla, said in an email to the
Hermiston Herald that she
can’t disclose how much she
makes a month from selling
Younique makeup, but said
she feels the time she puts
into it is “defi nitely” prefera-
ble to picking up extra shifts
at work.
play, reveal & win!
Drawings every 30 minutes • Friday – Sunday, 5-8pm
9pm • Super Lucky s Card Game
bonus
grand prize
drawing!
CASH
movies
$12,000 CASH
BONUS DINING
ENTRIES
February 29, 9pm
WITH MANGO SALSA
Valentine’s
Day
only!
mULTIPLIER
WIN UP TO
SLOW ROASTED PRIME RIB
FIRE ROASTED SALMON
Valentine’s Day
EARN & GET
Free box of
chocolates
after you’ve earned 100
points on Valentine’s Day!
MULT
Ever IPLIE
Limited supply on hand.
y Thu
February 14, 5pm
Make reservations today!
541.278.1100
After dinner watch Collin Raye
live in Concert at Wildhorse Resort & Casino!
collin raye
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Meet Our New Oncologist
Stephen Iacoboni, MD
R
rsday
Presidents’ Day
Good Shepherd Health Care
Cash Giveaway
System is pleased to introduce
oncology services tailored to the
ONE DAY ONLY! FEBRUARY 17, 2-7pm
GOOD SHEPHERD
MEDICAL GROUP
our local area.
Begin earning entries early on February 13. One entry for every 16 points.
Stephen Iacoboni, M.D., is an
oncology specialist with the
“Love Me,”
“My Kind of Girl,”
“That’s My Story,”
and “I Can Still Feel You”
distinction of being the first board
Season FORE Savings!
in person at Wildhorse Gift Shop or wildhorseresort.com
JOIN NOW SAVE 10%
ON YOUR 2020 GOLF MEMBERSHIP
AT WILDHORSE RESORT GOLF COURSE OR BIRCH CREEK GOLF COURSE
and expertise to the community
with 40 years of experience in the
types of cancer and blood disorders.
BIRCH CREEK 541.443.4653
“
WILDHORSE 541.276.5588
®
800.654.9453 • PENDLETON, OR • I-84, EXIT 216, wildhorseresort.com. Owned and operated by CTUIR
Management reserves all rights to alter, suspend or withdraw promotions/offers at any time.
He brings a wealth of knowledge
treatment of various facets and
CALL THE PRO SHOPS FOR MORE INFO
CASINO • HOTEL • GOLF • CINEPLEX • RV • MUSEUM • DINING • TRAVEL PLAZA
Oncology &
Hematology
certified oncologist in the region.
MUST PURCHASE BY MARCH 1, 2020
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Welcoming
New Patients
needs of individual patients within
Total over $5,000 in cash given away,
with increasing amounts every 30 minutes.
RIVERS EVENT CENTER | 8pm
24 TOP TEN RECORDS
16 #1 HITS INCLUDING:
said she started Cecilia’s
Arts and Crafts because she
wanted to help contribute
toward what her husband
was earning.
She said she makes the
crafts while her children are
at school and sells them for
as much as $35 at places like
the farmers market.
Others in town offer ser-
vices, such as piano lessons
or tutoring, in their homes
instead of products.
Hermiston City Planner
Clint Spencer said he fre-
quently gets questions about
whether a home-based busi-
ness in a residential zone
would run afoul of city zon-
ing laws. The city’s code of
ordinances permits home-
based businesses in a resi-
dential zone if the building
is primarily used as a resi-
dence, less than one-fourth
of the ground fl oor is taken
up by the commercial activ-
ity and the building main-
tains the “outward appear-
ance” of a residence.
“There are lots of home
occupations in town where
people might do accounting
out of their homes, or run a
small, appointment only hair
cutting business out of their
homes,” Spencer wrote in
an email. “As far as online
sales, that’s one that is per-
fectly acceptable. It’s a retail
use, but it’s done on an order
by order basis. That’s a big
difference from having dis-
play shelves and customers
entering a store.”
PICK A
added FRIEND
valentine’s TO WIN!
over $7,700 in weekly cash prizes
VALENTINE’S DAY
DINNER SPECIALS
“It can sometimes be a
challenge when someone
signs up and expects to retire
from their full-time job and
earn all the free trips, with-
out putting any work into it,”
she wrote. “This is like any
other entrepreneurship, you
have to put time into it, in
order to be paid like a full-
time job.”
She cautioned people
looking into participation
in a multi-level marketing
company to do their research
fi rst and ask about specifi c
companies’ policies about
start-up costs, recurring fees,
cancellation fees, automatic
shipping of new inventory,
returns and website costs.
One reason she was drawn
to Younique specifi cally, she
said, was their lack of fees.
She has also enjoyed using
the product and bonuses,
such as the cruise to the
Bahamas she took last week
courtesy of the company.
Not everyone who starts
a home-based business does
so through a multi-level mar-
keting company. Some pre-
fer to work for themselves,
which may make them miss
out on bonuses but also gives
them more control over their
expenditures and revenue.
Olivia Olsen, of Hermis-
ton, started a small side busi-
ness making greeting cards
from home about two years
ago. She said she always
enjoyed making the intricate
cards, but she started selling
them after a friend gave one
of her homemade cards to a
coworker, and people started
requesting she make cards
for them.
“It’s just spread by word
of mouth,” she said.
Olsen said it takes 30
to 40 minutes to make one
card, and she charges $5
to $8 per card, depending
on the cost of the materi-
als used. She mostly sells
to friends and family, but
she also puts out a bas-
ket of cards at friends’ yard
sales and donates batches of
cards to auctions that Herm-
iston school groups put on to
raise money. She can’t make
a living off the business, she
said, but it turns a stress-re-
lieving hobby into a little
extra cash she puts away for
“emergencies.”
“It’s nice people appreci-
ate them when I make them,”
she said.
Ana Cecilia Rodriguez,
of Hermiston, also started
a home-based business cre-
ating home decor, such as
succulent arrangements and
signs. As a stay-at-home
mother of six children, she
Good Shepherd Health Care Systems
offers the opportunity to enact a
vision of oncology that will truly be
beneficial to our community.
”
541.667.3615
Good Shepherd Medical Center
Treatment Center, Unit C
610 NW 11th St.
Hermiston, OR. 97838