Pink Zebra

If any company has managed to bottle the sweet smell of success, it is Pink Zebra. Founders Tom and Kelly Gaines met working in a candle factory and, in 1999, started their own candle business from home with $30,000 in credit card debt. Within six years the company says they had built the nation’s third-largest candle manufacturer, making candles for Pier 1, Bath & Body Works, Better Homes and Gardens and Mainstays. Price pressure from those retail contracts wore the team down, so the couple pivoted to selling directly to customers and launched Pink Zebra as a direct sales company in 2011. Direct Selling News reported that it signed about 300 consultants in that first year and had grown to more than 38,000 by early 2017.

The company started making its fragrances in Kentucky and then moved headquarters and manufacturing to Sugar Land, Texas, southwest of Houston, where it still makes its products today. The name is deliberate: pink for the power of women, who buy most home fragrance, and the zebra for individuality.

Pink stands for the power of women, and zebras are unique in their stripes. They’re like fingerprints—each one is unique.

Tom Gaines, co-founder, Pink Zebra — Direct Selling News, February 2017

Products. The star of the catalog is Sprinkles: tiny beads of scented wax sold in 16-ounce cartons (about $36) and 3.75-ounce bags. Pour a few scoops into a warmer, flip the switch and the wax melts without a flame, which makes them an easy sell to apartment dwellers, offices and parents of small children. Because Sprinkles come loose, customers mix cartons to make their own blends, and that custom “recipe” idea is the whole business. The wax is the company’s own Soft Soy, which it describes as a proprietary blend of more than 50% soy wax with food-grade paraffin, made in Sugar Land from US-grown soybeans. Pink Zebra markets its fragrances as headache-friendly, non-toxic and safe around kids and pets, and says its ingredients are IFRA safety certified; those are the company’s own claims.

The warmers are the other half of the sale. Simmer Pots are ceramic dish warmers in seasonal and novelty designs, from marble and wood grain to a Highland cow, priced from about $26 to $58. Simmering Lights are glowing cylinder warmers with swappable shades, around $42. Beyond wax the line includes diffuser oils (about $14) and ultrasonic diffusers, Air Care+ odor-neutralizing sprays and melts, non-aerosol room sprays, and a body care range of hand soap, body wash, hydrating lotion spray and Luxe body oil in matching scents. New products drop weekly on the site, and the ScentFlirt subscription sends members a surprise box of fragrance each month.

Hosting and rewards. Pink Zebra has moved its host program online. A customer generates a shopping link, shares it, and earns reward points worth $1 each in free product as orders come in: 30 points at $200 in sales, 60 at $400, 75 at $500 and up to 150 points plus four half-price coupons at $1,000. Blend Bash party kits, themed boxes of eight fragrances for bridal showers or a night in, earn 42 points on their own. Consultants can still run in-person parties and vendor booths, and the company’s own marketing tips and party planning materials help with both.

HEROES. The company’s charity program supports single mothers. Every party link that reaches $500 funds a day of daycare, 10% of sales of the monthly Paisley’s Pick fragrance goes to the program, and approved moms receive at least $150 a month toward daycare plus 20% off a Consultant kit if they want to join. The official site is pinkzebrahome.com.

Pink Zebra’s current kit is the First Blend Kit at $189, which the company values at $334 retail. Budget for $22 kit shipping in the contiguous U.S. ($32 to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and a 4% surcharge Pink Zebra adds to all orders. It contains eight best-selling Sprinkles cartons (Amaretto Cream, French Vanilla, Midnight Ice Air Care+, Pink Pineapple, Royal Rouge, Stone Washed Denim, Funfetti Cake Batter and Moment of Calm), 30 blending bags, a guide to 50 blends you can make from those eight cartons, a retail website, a business management app, training and community access. The idea is that you can start blending, demonstrating and selling on day one.

Website and business tools are billed separately: $1 for the first month, then $19 a month for the remaining five months of a six-month term. An older “build your own kit” page on the site still advertises a $150 kit with a $500 value, so check the join page for whichever offer is current. Note that Pink Zebra has closed its Canadian operation to new enrollments and does not allow re-enrollment within six months of resigning.

Pink Zebra pays two ways, and they stack. First, commission on everything you sell through your website: 25%, rising to 30% in any month you pass $1,000 in sales. Second, a blending margin. Consultants buy fragrance by the carton at about $2.25 an ounce and blend their own bags; the company’s example is a bag that costs $8.44 to make and sells for $11, so you keep $2.56 on top of commission. Together that is what Pink Zebra calls “up to 50%.” You do not need to carry inventory to earn the commission, since customers can order straight from your site, and the company says recruiting is not required to build a selling business.

If you do build a team, the join page mentions end-of-year bonuses for reaching Sapphire levels and growing your team, plus incentive trips; past destinations include Costa Rica, Cabo San Lucas and Ireland. Pink Zebra does not publish its team bonus rates on the public site, and the 7% to 10% sponsoring and downline figures that used to circulate are out of date, so check the company’s current compensation plan for exact rates before you count on them. Our recruiting tips apply if you go that route.

PROS

• Products are made in the company’s own Texas factory, not sourced from a supplier
• Custom blending is a real differentiator and makes for great live video content
• No recruiting or inventory required to earn commission
• Flame-free warmers are an easy sell to renters, offices and families with young kids
• HEROES daycare program gives hosts a reason to push a party past $500

CONS

• Website and business tools cost $19 a month after the first month on a six-month term
• 30% top commission is lower than many home fragrance competitors; the “up to 50%” depends on blending and selling your own bags
• Team bonus rates are not published on the public site
• Canada is closed to new Consultants
• Seasonal warmers change fast, so inventory you buy for demos can go out of date