Mei-Mei

Oh, cute! Did you do that with one of those fancy embroidery machines? I wish I could afford one, but I can't really justify it since I can't even sew.:embarasse

I agree with Twoscentsworth but I do think that sometimes (rarely!) candle stores can be successful if you carry items other than candles (like a spa). My store is doing pretty well but I share the space with a Yoga studio so I have a built in customer base. Plus I live in a tourist town (New Orleans) and the shop is on a street that is frequented by tourists. We are right across from one of the most popular restaurants in town. So I have a lot of pluses that others may not have. But still some days I sit in the store all day long and don't sell a single thing. If I didn't have dirt cheap rent I would have gone out of business at the end of the first month.:embarasse Think about it. How many $10.00 candles do you have to sell in a month just to cover rent if your rent is $1500.00? Even if your rent is only $500.00 that's a lot of candles to sell. And that just covers rent~not utilities, bags, decor, supplies, etc.

I love Oregon Trails but it takes just a little longer for me to get their packages. I always assume it's because I'm in New Orleans and even though our big hurricane was almost two years ago we still have some trouble with deliveries. I love thier FOs so much I don't really care that it takes a couple of days longer. I just plan on ordering before I need it.

Wow, this is a little disappointing to read. I've always heard from old-time crafters that it's hard to get sales on beautiful days. Everyone wants to be out in the sunshine! I've also heard that the markets are completely saturated with jewelry and have been for years. But who knows? Sometimes I'll see a jeweler doing great and sometimes I'll see one yawning at his booth. It would be nice to know what the next BIG thing is (candles maybe? )

I like the way you have the soap wrapped, but a 'nekkid' sample at the top. That's very clever. I think it looks really nice.

I want to make it very clear that the reason I asked the question is because I believe in honesty in advertising. One of my local competitors advertises 'all-natural' candles and I wanted to know exactly what that meant. At no time would I ever (a) put down a competitors' candle for any reason or ( lie to sell a candle. I've put two years of study into making candles before I sold a single one and I intend to do everything right and honestly (as I think I made clear in my initial post).

According to wikipedia paraffin wax is just a heavier form of paraffin. It doesn't describe any scientific, unnatural process. But then again I'm not a scientist and there were a lot of big words in the article!

I had a request for crawfish boil. Who wants a house that smells fishy?

I'm having some difficulty finding a definition for those words as applied to candles and bath and body products. From what I've read so far all-natural seems to mean soy with no dye and essential oils only. Why? Paraffin is natural. Are there certain dyes that are more 'natural' than others? I use a para-soy blend. Does that mean my candles are 'unnatural?' What are the requirements needed to label your candles/b and b products natural? I don't think (from what I've read) that it's possible to use the term organic in connection with candles at all. I'm a barefoot hippie sort of girl, and I like to make my products as earth friendly as possible, but I'm not going to lie in order to sell a candle or a bar of soap. Are there any clear guidelines on this?

Ditto. Load your shelves and displays with as much product as they can handle. People like th elook of really full tables. LOL....At the show I recently did the lady had so many candles on her tables that they were sagging in the middle. She had no other decoration, signs or anything. She did great! Her table was always full and as soon as she sold something she loaded up her table with more candles. I was sure it was going to break, but I guess she knew what she was doing.

Don't worry too much. I too live in the Deep South so I have to keep my product in the shade all the time. I've heard that most people do well selling their soaps 'nekkid' but I could never do that because I'd have a hot sticky mess by the end of the day! I guess you just have to do a little experimentation and do what works best for you.

Wow Jen, that's really helpful! Thanks so much for the information. It's so strange that such a little thing would make such a big difference. I guess I need to pick up some books on marketing.

Thank you for all the opinions! I'm still not sure if I want to continue with A. I have a lot of product and people tell me that my booth is really lovely so I don't think that's the problem. I never thought of an L shape before~doesn't that limit space a lot?

When doing fairs I usually set up my booth to resemble diagram A. In other words, people actually have to come in to my booth to see my product. I do try to make the end caps inviting so that people will want to come in and see what else I have. But lately I've noticed that people who set up their booths like diagram B get a lot more interest in their products. Maybe not more sales, but definitely more interest. It's almost as if people are afraid to come into booth A because they'll feel obligated to make a purchase (like they are trapped!). Does anyone have an opinion on this? I hope I've explained what I mean clearly.:embarasse

Okay, that is CUTE! I mean, take-out-my-credit-card-and-buy-it-now cute.

I'm just posting this as a warning to the people who do fairs to do your research before committing to a fair. I didn't, and I certainly learned my lesson today.:undecided: I always heard that a fair in a town nearby was pretty good, so I signed up. Hubby and I drove up this morning to set up. Everything was fine until I realized that the person next to me was also selling Bath and Body things. Hmmmm. And the person behind her was selling candles. Hmmmmm. And the person next to her was selling candles and bath and body. Turns out the fair organizers thought it would be a great idea to group all the people who were selling similar items. And they didn't limit the number of candlemakers. My husband walked down the block and counted ten before giving up and turning back. All the people selling pet supplies were in one area. All the people selling wreaths were in another. It was awful. Plus we weren't allowed to bring coolers and we naturally assumed there would be water for sale because it was outdoors and HOT. The only thing they had for sale to drink was Coke. Not coke products. Coke. The lady in the booth next to ours actually left her booth to walk to Walgreens and buy us all water. Finally there were two port-o-lets for the entire fair. Two. There were hundreds of people. Two. Port. O. Lets. Anyway, not very many people were buying. I did make my booth rental back but I wish I had taken the time to ask how the festival organizers intended to arrange the vendors. I wouldn't have bothered if I had known I would be surrounded by other candle vendors. I felt so sorry for some of the vendors. They didn't get sales at all. Okay, rant over.

I too LOVE OT's Oakmoss. It's doesn't make a big impression OOB, but once you use it it's glorious.

Oregon Trails Rose Petal smells exactly like a rose. Some of my customers love it, but some others feel it's a little overwhelming and too sweet. Chloris Rose from Greenleaf is a really nice rose, not too sweet and not too cloying. Just giving you some more to choose from.

I mix my own FOs so the samples are perfect for experimentation. I love getting samples of any size.

I tried to look at them as a customer might, and for some reason I like the leaf better. It seems more natural. I don't know why; of course a flower is natural. But I just prefer the leaf.

I like the font and the colors and the simplicity, but I'm having a hard time seeing the flower. It could be just me, but if you hadn't told me I wouldn't know what it was. Maybe an extra petal or two? It's really professional looking!

No worries. I thought you were probably just having one of those days.

Touchy, touchy! I'm sure you make great candles. Maybe you should relax a teeny bit.

Oh, I disagree. I think it makes a huge difference. I'm not really good at explaining the science of candle working, but too much FO can actually clog the wick and diminish the throw. FOs that are of superior quality don't need nearly as much. Actually you can reduce the FO. I've worked with soy and gotten superior throw with the correct combination of wax and wick and 6% FO. I've never had to go up to 1.5oz. Quality FO is not necessarily judged by price either. It's just a matter of testing, testing, testing.

They carry the plastic lids at Greenleaf. Scroll down to the tumblers and you'll see the info for the lids on the right. Unfortunately it doesn't have a picture, but I'll be they would be happy to send you a sample.