Crafty1_AJ Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) For those of you who sell, how often do you add a new scent or product to your offerings? To keep things "fresh" for your regular customers? I like to add new things twice a year - once in the spring, and once again in the fall. Also, when do you discontinue a product or scent? Why? I check sales stats every year, and if sales fall below a certain threshold, we discontinue. Of course, suppliers like to go out of business from time to time, which often makes the decision for me. LOL Edited April 7, 2018 by Crafty1_AJ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trappeur Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Truth be told I have never discontinued any fragrance I have one account, my biggest I bring to them new scents when ever I want. They don't question me. They never even know what I'm bringing..lol Half the time time I don't. What ever I reach for in my cabinet that moment, that is what they get...They sell as fast as I bring in and (knock on wood)...everything sells because of who they are. As long as their label is on it, it sells....Geesh, this is my dream account. Now I have another account in the same town but down town and the owner of the shop I get grey hairs every time I bring something to her. I could tell you stories that would turn your hair white. Today she loves this and it sells. Next week, it doesn't sell, so it's not good for her. Then 2 months later down the road the same fragrance she reorders because of the demand for it. Then I get "oh you changed suppliers as it is not the same and my customers turn their nose up at the fragrance so she stops ordering it...(not true of ever changing a supplier with this one). Then the following week it smells awesome! Then I'll get you mixed 2 different fragrances together and made a mistake...oh my god the list goes on and on. Then this scent is so weak so I can't sell it. Well I told her it was a soft scent and so I suggested to mark the friggin candles down if you want as you ordered it, it is custom labeled with your name on it and I am not taking it back. Or if she would burn it, it would sell. Or I'll get if they don't sell, will you take it back and credit me? Are you kidding me? This woman has me dancing through hoops. I call this account my Nightmare from hell. Never in my life have I ever had to deal with a customer such as her. She sells tons and tons of my candles and she is an excellent account. I just had to learn to close my eyes, not bow down to her every whim and stand my ground as she takes advantage of me every time and makes me feel like a piece of crap when I bring a delivery to her as I have to stand there and endure her complaining of bull sh....t comments which are so untrue. No one would put up with as much crap as I have with this one account. My friend tells me all the time, if she was a rep for me, I would have lost that account a long time ago.....Sorry I got off the track here.......Actually this account I brought her a ton of new samples for her to pick out which she did....Now what am I in for? I can just here her now with the comments I'm going to get from her once they are made.....such is life....argh...... Trappeur 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 I give you a lot of credit Trappeur! I couldn't do it ...I'd be like the soup Nazi...No candles for you! ....Although I might be quite sweet to her face...once I get in the car and far away I'd let her have it ahahaha It really makes you appreciate the great accounts you do have. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 I try to add new scents at least 4 times a year. It just depends on how much time I have to test. I try to use my existing fo's up by trying new blends...thus a "new" scent is made. I also discontinue some almost every season if they are not good sellers. When I discontinue I will still make that scent if a customer requests it (and I have any FO on hand). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 I may add a new scent at any time. I typically will try something new periodically to test my market and see how it sells. But once a year I do a full review of my annual sales and that's when I will change out scents, drop some, bring in new ones, etc. That keeps my scents fresh and up to date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 Not sure how I missed this original post, but for me this is a hard question, as I don't have a typical "line" of scents. I mean, sure I have typical categories, such as floral, bakery, masculine, fruity, etc. etc., however, since I mix my scents and rarely make the same scent twice (with the exception of about 3-5 scents) my scents are always 'new'. Since I really don't sell much online, and only do 4 shows a year, I make my stock well ahead of time, so I know by when the time comes whether a scent has faded too much to make it to the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansmommaya Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 I don't have a regular line. I have regular stores and customers. Like today, I'm making patchouli resin and orange EO spa bars with gold mica and orange mica. I'll hopefully sell those out in a couple of days. When I make more batches today they will have orange EO and say... black copal resin and black mica or peppermint and thyme with white mica and copal resin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moneypenny Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 On 4/7/2018 at 9:31 AM, Trappeur said: Truth be told I have never discontinued any fragrance I have one account, my biggest I bring to them new scents when ever I want. They don't question me. They never even know what I'm bringing..lol Half the time time I don't. What ever I reach for in my cabinet that moment, that is what they get...They sell as fast as I bring in and (knock on wood)...everything sells because of who they are. As long as their label is on it, it sells....Geesh, this is my dream account. Now I have another account in the same town but down town and the owner of the shop I get grey hairs every time I bring something to her. I could tell you stories that would turn your hair white. Today she loves this and it sells. Next week, it doesn't sell, so it's not good for her. Then 2 months later down the road the same fragrance she reorders because of the demand for it. Then I get "oh you changed suppliers as it is not the same and my customers turn their nose up at the fragrance so she stops ordering it...(not true of ever changing a supplier with this one). Then the following week it smells awesome! Then I'll get you mixed 2 different fragrances together and made a mistake...oh my god the list goes on and on. Then this scent is so weak so I can't sell it. Well I told her it was a soft scent and so I suggested to mark the friggin candles down if you want as you ordered it, it is custom labeled with your name on it and I am not taking it back. Or if she would burn it, it would sell. Or I'll get if they don't sell, will you take it back and credit me? Are you kidding me? This woman has me dancing through hoops. I call this account my Nightmare from hell. Never in my life have I ever had to deal with a customer such as her. She sells tons and tons of my candles and she is an excellent account. I just had to learn to close my eyes, not bow down to her every whim and stand my ground as she takes advantage of me every time and makes me feel like a piece of crap when I bring a delivery to her as I have to stand there and endure her complaining of bull sh....t comments which are so untrue. No one would put up with as much crap as I have with this one account. My friend tells me all the time, if she was a rep for me, I would have lost that account a long time ago.....Sorry I got off the track here.......Actually this account I brought her a ton of new samples for her to pick out which she did....Now what am I in for? I can just here her now with the comments I'm going to get from her once they are made.....such is life....argh...... Trappeur Trapp you are a Saint!!!! God bless you for tolerating all that! I can take a lot but I don't know if I could that much! Lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradshaw Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 I've only been doing this a couple years (and the first year was just as a hobby) but right now my plan is to rarely add new fragrances. I do this on the side, I'm expecting a baby, I just don't have the time/energy to put into testing many new fragrances. I'm thinking about trying to add a new container, in one or two scents I already know well, but even that feels daunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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