EvyStar

Hi NightLight, greetings from the tropics of Australia. Do you mind me asking where you purchased your hanging moulds from?

Whilst researching pricing for profit via the Etsy Blog posts I discovered Megan Augman (http://designinganmba.com) and Tara Gentile (http://www.taragentile.com) - The Art of Earning & Pricing For Profit. i highly recommend checking out both their websites. The information is invaluable. I feel that all my yearning questions have been answered just by reading nearly all of Megan Augman's blog posts. The information she provides resonates with where I am in this of my crafting ambitions. Also, check out the Recommended Reading blog post by Megan. xx

Recently discovered this software which is suitable for Macs and PCs. I going to purchase it in two weeks time. Happy to provide feedback once I have started using it! http://www.craftmakerpro.com YOUR PRICING & INVENTORY JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT EASIERAre you tired of "guestimating" the pricing for your handcrafts? Not sure what you have in stock at any one time? Whether you make jewelry, pottery, needlework, scrapbooking, glassblowing or even plastic frogs Craft Maker Pro is designed for you. It's super easy to use and works for any country and any currency. Craft Maker Pro is 100% guaranteed to help you save time and money in your craft business. See how easily you can make your craft business run and download your copy today.

Does anyone know of any candle making programs out there? Ones that are suitable for Macs?

Just checked out specwood. What a fantastic arrange of displays. Hopefully they ship to Australia. I have been using wooden boxes which my friend made for me and then I painted with Brazil wall nut stain. I have created a layered window type display. Still work in progress but it's does the job for now. I would however like to incorporate some sort of stand for the side of my trestle table. Just need to make sure everything will fit on my car. I don't have time to upload the pics onto the server but if you click on my FB page link below and go to photos you will see in the pics earlier some with the wooden boxes. There are several pics in their original state (pine) until I painted them with the stain. They look much better stained. https://www.facebook.com/DragonflyStarDesigns?fref=ts Thanks for the specwood link Vicky!

Hi Karen What deal do you have with your customers who test your candles for you? Do they pay slightly cheaper price or do they get to test for free? Thanks again! Kind regards, Evy

Thanks for the advice guys. If it is a candle issue, any suggestions as to what it could possibly be? I know there are many variables, but your suggestions might help.

I have had a customer complain that two of the candle jars (Metro Jars 330mls) lose their fragrance throw once the candles have burnt roughly half way down the jar. She advised initially - when first lit - for the first two hours - they candles were ok. However after lighting them the second time, she has complained that she can no longer smell them. She has placed them in several different sized rooms. Still nothing. I use either Natures Wax or GW464 and CDN wicks. I don't use any dyes in my candles. Please help! Any suggestions. I've not had other customers complain, but i'm concerned she might be the first one to actually say something. I have a selection of friends who are testers for me. None of them have mentioned anything of such. I am going to touch base with them again to make sure. But thought I would post this question in case anyone has ideas or suggestions as to what may be going wrong.

I only ever have 11 fragrances for customers to choose from at my market stalls. I couldn't even begin to imagine having more. I do mix it up a bit and have removed or stop selling particular ones which don't sell quickly. However - on my stall I only ever have 11 fragrances for people to choose from. Don't' customers get confused if you offer them too many choices to choose from? Just my thoughts. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong.

Does anyone use labels from Worldlabel.com? I was about to switch from Avery to using their labels, however now considering using online labels. They seem to have much wider variety of labels.

Hello Vicky! Is this the program that you use? http://www.printmaster.com The current version is V6!? If this is not the one you use, can you please email me the link to yours?

I currently use a graphic designer who is based in Italy. She is a friend and a great designer. However, it does add to my costs. Even though she charges me mates rates. My market stall (labelling/branding, props) is very vintage inspired. I would like the freedom to offer customers (and shop owners) a variety of label designs and personalised ones also. For my decorative pillar candles - I purchase digital downloads from Etsy and (with designers permission) use their digital images as part of my craft. Any other suggestions - websites etc…to check out with regards to payable/or free graphics/borders/images etc…?

Me too!

Hi there Any idea where I might be able to find Print Shop 22? Is it a software program or actual physical printer? Kind regards, Evy

OMG! This post has been a wealth of valuable information for me. Thank-you. I have never heard of any of the programs all of you have posted here. Nor have I heard of online labels. I have been using Avery labels and they expensive and average in quality. The labels often peel from the sides of my glass jars once the candle is lit. Plus living here in the tropics the labels don't always stick properly. I have resorted to placing the labels on the lids for now. So, if I may add another question to the mix. Do you charge your time - when you design your labels to the cost of each product?

I too battle with the whole social media side of things. I have a FB, Instagram and Pinterest page. And have just recently opened up an Etsy shop as I have been invited to be part of the first ever monthly Etsy Territorians (NT Australia) pop-up market. I have only ever sold 1 item via FB and it would be interesting to see, once I build and take professional pics of my products for my Etsy shop how many sales come through that. My main issue is my location. I live in remote part of Australia and so why would someone pay extortion amounts for freight in paying for my goods when they have so many other wonderful candle brands to choose from in the bigger cities. I do the markets every week, sometimes 2-3 markets per weekend. And I have started selling in a few shops. The population in Darwin is however small - 100,000 people. It's interesting to see various replies here. I find it fascinating why it works for some and not for others. I have immersed myself of late reading and listening to marketing / online social media blogs and podcasts. More so out of curiosity for now. I know deep down I would much rather be spending my valuable time outside of my job creating than doing social media, I feel that that in this day and age social media/online presence is necessary, to some extent.

Lot's of food for thought here. Personally, after realising how many rose petals it would take to make a standard size candle, as mentioned above, I think I will pass on the EO option for now, and bring customers attention to it. I have also realised that customers actually do believe the likes of the bigger brands who sell candles with scents like - Lime, Basil, Mandarin, Coconut Lime, Bulgarian Rose, Lemongrass - the more floral / citrus ones - use essential oils. Which, from my further investigation and research, I now know is not true. It's interesting to see how one can assume something, just from a name on label. Doing the markets on a weekly basis, is a great learning experience for me. Having regular face to face contact with customers has proven to be invaluable for me at this early stage of my new side business.

I have another question then for the others who have replied those of you who do often do shows/markets and those who only sell wholesale/retail and online. Do you factor in a weekly wage or some sort of wage, which you included in the 'cost of your item'…?

Some great replies here and very different school of thoughts. After using Vicky's calculations and factoring in an hourly wage for my time whilst at the markets, I have quickly realised that i'm not making much profit at all. In the past I wasn't factoring in the cost of my time. I know this is not considered best practise, but I guess deep down i knew the answer.

This the method I am currently using at the moment. Divide your average units sold. Say 15. Stall site fee @$39 divided 15 = $2.60 per unit. Vicky - so how do you incorporate your market stall fees across your products sold at the markets? I don't completely understand your method. Thanks! Evy xx

So do you think it's worth me buy a second hand windows pc or laptop and purchase SM3? From what I have read and heard it seems to be the one stop program for candlemakers. Is that all you use now? Or do you still use spreadsheets for other things too? Any further info on how you use SM3 would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Evy

I might have to be a second hand windows pc or laptop to run this program if I am to buy it. I tried downloading windows interface for my mac last weekend. Way too technical and time consuming for me to figure out how to install and work out how to use myself.

A big thanks for all your comments and feedback. I have a lot more information and clarity now to be able to explain to my customers why I use FO and not EO. Have a lovely weekend. Kind regards, Evy

Hi! I am looking to buy the following software: - SoapMaker from http://www.soapmaker.ca, however the program is only compatible for MS Windows. Does anyone have any experience using the following Window to Mac interface software programs? I also just bought and downloaded a PDF editor and have only now just realised that it's only compatible for Windows too! Silly me! Ugh! - Bootcamp - VMWare Fusion - Parallels I am hoping someone can help. I'm desperate. I really need to edit some of my fragrance labels and add new fragrance cards for the markets next week. They are in PDF format my graphic designer friend is on leave. I can't afford Adobe Professional and thought I was onto a winner with this PDF editor which cost $50.00AUD. However, have now just discovered as mentioned above that it's for Window only.