amanda

I agree with Candybee. Have a display candle already opened. That solved that problem for me. I have one display candle open with a little table talker of the scent, and the ones available for purchase lined up behind it. And if the top of my display candle starts to get a little dirty/grubby/scratched, I hit it with a heat gun.

Trappeur! Oh my gosh, those are so fun and beautiful!! If I saw those in a store I wouldn't be able to stop myself from buying a whole bunch. You're a super fun candlemaker-- lots of creativity!

I've had Antholgy candles a few times. Anthology's jars are clear. Just good pics/editing. Here's a better pic: http://ritareviews.net/2015/11/anthology-candles-spotlight-lord-of-the-rings/ their instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthologycandles/?hl=en Here's the jar: http://www.fillmorecontainer.com/9-oz-Straight-Sided-Jars-70-Lug-P199.aspx?c=1

I didn't read this entire thread, but I just wanted to say that EAP sells a wonderful 6006. I have 3 different lines in 7 different containers, using over 30 different oils and blends of oils, wicked with different sized of CD and LX wicks, and when I switched from IGI 6006 to EAP 6006, I did not have to change ONE THING. Not a wick or a percentage or an oil. Completely interchangeable. Plus it's cheaper. Plus EAP are lovely humans to do business with. The only difference I could detect is that EAP 6006 seemed to take color ever so slightly lighter. just and option for any one having a problem with IGI 6006

CS doesn't have 10s. Boo.

Thanks for the input and commiseration. I'll email them later. I was hesitant to bc most supplier don't take returns on wicks and the only other time I ever had to email a supplier, customer service was less than enthusiastic to help resolve the issue. But I do feel like I should at least let them know what's going on. OG-- it's definitely the whole batch. I've tested a lot of candles so far. It started with all the new scents I wanted to try and wondering how strange it was that ALL these scents were requiring me to wick up. Then realizing that it could be the wicks and testing old scents from my inventory of all my current scents and realizing that they weren't burning the same. The 1000 wicks came in 2 bags of 500 and I took wicks from the top and bottom of both bags and made candles with my trustiest FO (ginger peach from NG. mmmm), and they all had the wimpiest burns and looks horribly under wicked and barely stayed lit. I think it's when they were briefly out of stock in November, whatever they got restocked with is different. And they're not necessarily *bad*, just smaller. Im wondering if they're maybe mislabeled. I found 6" lx wicks from bittercreek so I ordered the 8, 10, and 12 from there to try. This is just a huge headache and really stressful set back. The worst thing is that I can't even think of how many of my holiday orders and candles from my shows and wholesale orders were filled with these wicks. I never thought to retest a new bag of the same wicks. Ugh ugh ugh

Hiiiii. I double wick my 12oz status jars and most scents take a lx10 that I order from candles and supplies. As you all know, it's so much testing and I finally got the whole line how I wanted it. Then around November they were out of the 500 pack and 200 packs, which I thought was weird. But I just ordered 2 100 packs until they had the bigger packs in stocks. Once they were back in stock, I ordered a 1000 pack. So then I had what I thought was a bad batch of candles. Weren't staying lit. Very underwicked. Wimpy burns for the first 2/3 of the candle if they even made it that far. And j kept thinking it was the new holiday scents because I had tested all the other scents SO MUCH. But then as I realized ALL of my new scents that I was testing were under wicked, it was the wicks. Scents that used to burn perfectly are now totally underwicked. The next size up, lx12, isn't offered at candles and supplies. I get those from candle science for the one scent that I need to wick up for. And when I try that size with any other svent, the candle is overwicked. Questions: Could Candles and Supplies have gotten their restock of lx10s from a different place? Will they ever go back to normal? How do I find out where they got these lx10s, because this version of lx12s would probably work. If I get the unprimed lx10 from them and cut and tab it myself will it burn the same as the pretabbed/primed wick? Are there any other supplies that sell tabbed and primed lx10 that's 3". I can only find it in tealight size unless I go the unprimed/spooled route. Has something like this ever happened to any of you? What would you do? I feel like my whole livelihood had been put on hold It's very stressful. TIA

Thanks all! This was really helpful. After looking further into some of the info in this thread, it's starting to seem less confusing. I'm going to stick with UPS to start bc it's a difference between a 5 minute drive and a 45 minute drive to fedex. And for some reason it seems to be more cost effect to ship 50-60 pound boxes instead of one big 100-120 pound box. Which seems more manageable. So that's nice! So my next step is working with my graphic designer to put together a media kit and try to snag a few big wholesale accounts Wheee! I make book themed candles so I'm going to reach out to some bigger bookstores on the east coast.

I feel like everyone's answer to this will be so different! I started with 4 and 8oz jelly jars, and 16oz mason jars. Then the 16oz mason jars got dropped at the end of my first year and became special order only. They never sold. Then I added 12oz 3 layer candles halfway through my second year and then the 8oz stopped selling. So at the end of the second year, I dropped those. Then at the end of the second year I decided I wanted to add a higher end line that I gear toward wholesale. I do those in the 12oz status jar. I started working on them at the end of last year and launched them this past July and they've been doing great. So that leaves me with 4oz jelly jars, 12 three layer jars, and 12oz status jars. The jelly and canning jars I bring to shows and festivals and the status jars I reserve for wholesale and large multi-day shows and holiday events. So it's kind of been ever evolving but I think I like where I'm at now.

Bc one individual box can't be over 150 pounds, correct?

Thanks OG!! I knew you'd be the first to reply So did you just make boxes of 150 pounds and give the customer a quote based on zip code? I've loved the idea of those maxi tealights for awhile now and now I have a good reason to order them. Good tip!

This year I focuses on expanding the wholesale side of my business. I've done a great job of doing so in my city, but now I'd like to put together a media kit and a wholesale section of a website and look at some larger wholesale clients in other cities. Which leave me with the daunting task of figuring out the best way to ship lots of heavy candles. Please tell me how those of you who mail large orders of candles do so. I feel a bit lost. From my research UPS looks to be the best options. Plus the UPS hub is blocks from my house. So extra bonus. The line I've been wholesaling is in the 12oz status jar and in a 4x4x4 box. A dozen weighs about 20 pounds including boxes and packing supplies. So it looks like shipping 2-4 dozen per box ($35ish-$65ish on the east coast) is optimum. Does anyone just include shipping into the cost? I was thinking of calculating my line sheets by the dozen. Each candle wholesales for $11. So if I included shipping, I could do something like "2 dozen for $300 to east coast destinations". Nice round number. And the list of locations I'd like to contact are all east coast located for now. And maybe it makes shipping seem like less of a blow to someone ordering my product. I don't believe I'd be shipping enough yet to warrant a UPS business account. Especially since the bulk of my etsy/online orders are my twofer and threefer deals that fit perfectly into a $12 flat rate box. Anyway. I'd love to hear the experiences/methods/opinions/etc of those of you who have shipped large batches of candles out. I hope everyone had a great sales season and has a lovely holiday and new year TIA

Thank you for sharing this! It was really inspirational. My little business has hit a major growth spurt and I've been feeling really discouraged thinking that it's impossible to scale up without a giant wax melter or a big production space. So seeing this kind of volume produced with a presto in someone's home was super encouraging. You're impressive!!! Do you have any tips for someone who needs to scale up to meet growing demand?

I wanted to try an autumn leaves type of scent and looked through the FO section of the forum as well as the scent descriptions of any "leaves" scents at the suppliers I use. I knew I didn't want one that was fruity or cinnamonny because I have so many fruity or cinnamon-spiced scents for fall already. I thought NG Fresh Fallen Leaves would be a good earthy addition to my fall line. Here's the description on the NG page: "This fragrance oil by Natures Garden smells just like the aroma of fresh fallen leaves. You won't believe how true to life this smell is!" And it has really good reviews. But I just think it smells like soap. Like dial handsoap. I had some friends smell it out of bottle and they said it smells pretty but perfumy or soapy and not really like leaves. Anyone else use this fragrance? It throws super well. Is there anything I can add to it to get a crisp, earthy, leafy type of scent? A few oils I have that I thought might work: Sandalwood vanilla Oakmoss Antique sandalwood Tobacco Pine Cones Any thoughts on this oil or what you would do to fix it? Should I just try one of the "leaves" scents that have the fruit and spice notes? Thanks internet friends!!

Ah, I see. For my melts, I love always mixed ecosoya PB and whichever 6006 I was using. But for container container candles, I was really happy with how similarly the waxes preformed because I'm within driving distance from EAP and shipping charges killll me. When I was trying to find ways to get cheaper shipping for wax (before discovering EAP) the only luck I had was ordering several cases at a time from candlescience to qualify for the hundredweight shipping. Good luck! Shipping charges are absolutely the worst :/