ArtChick

I've sold online before (though not as a candlemaker--I did sell scented products and bath/body products that I made, and other items), both part time and full time. My suggestion to anyone wanting to sell online is to test the waters first. You can sell from a blog, and a blog is totally free. You can open a free store via Squareup dot com. That is a fairly new service they offer, as they used to only process credit card payments, and initially they only did that via a smartphone app. You can also sell via Etsy, of course, and only pay their fees; their fees do add up over time, but it may be a good option for you if you're just starting out or not doing a large volume of products/sales. You can also set up a Facebook page for your business and sell that way. Many people do that now since it's free. FB makes it harder for posts by Pages to get seen anymore (unless you buy ads, that is), but it's still a good way to get started if you have a tight budget and can't afford a full eCommerce store. Once you've established your store, your products, and a strong customer base and sales, then you can switch to a fully hosted eCommerce store that will meet your needs, and your budget.

The DIY client websites are not tied to Shelly's DIY domain itself. Her domain expires in November, and I'm sure she won't renew it, so the DIYeStores dot com domain will be gone. But that hosted website has been disabled for months by the programmer, and the domain itself only recently began forwarding to Shelly's other DIY website, which is mydiyestores dot com. Client sites for the DIYeStores dot com business are separate though, which is why they're all still up and running, even though her main DIY site has been disabled since summer. The programmer of the DIY websites is the person who created the website builder that DIY clients use, and also Feature Cart (the shopping cart). Shelly simply rented the system from him month to month for her business and clients. I don't know all the terms of her agreement with the programmer for all these years though. What I do know though is that just because the DIYeStores domain may well be gone after November 14, that doesn't mean all the client sites will be gone because they're not all linked together. But at some point, if only because Shelly may not be paying for the server space from the programmer for all the client sites, then those sites can be deleted by the programmer. I'm not saying he WILL do that, just that he CAN. I don't really see him doing that without warning to the clients. But since the whole situation is very unpredictable at this point, I'm just urging anyone with a DIY website to get new hosting as soon as possible. They are effectively receiving hosting with absolutely zero support and communication. That's just not a situation I'd want to be in if I had a website there. And the truly sad part is that most DIY clients are completely unaware that this is going on.

I don't make candles myself, but I've had two experiences recently that made me want to comment here. I recently bought a Yankee candle, in Pumpkin Spice scent. It smells so yummy in the jar--fabulous even. But when I burn it I almost cannot smell it at all. There is virtually zero scent throw. It has been very frustrating, considering I don't normally buy those candles due to how expensive they are. But they were on sale so I gave it a shot. I was VERY disappointed. In June I went to Hocking Hills, Ohio with the Hubs for our anniversary. We found a wonderful candle and gift shop there--way out of the way and off the beaten path. I can't even recall the name of it now but it was a wonderful shop. Anyway, I bought a small soy candle there, which cost almost as much as the large Yankee candle I bought. I splurged since I was on vacation. The scent of this candle was AMAZING and wonderful. I could smell it in every single room in my house (I can't smell the Yankee candle unless I'm sniffing right above it!). LOVED that candle so much that I burned it up with a week. I still have the Yankee candle, and I'm only burning it because otherwise I feel like I threw away the money I spent on it. So I would gladly buy a candle from the smaller/handmade biz owners than Yankee Candle any day of the week.

Ginger and Cinnamon are supposed to be good for inflammation. Worth a try.

Those are really beautiful!

I use Square as well. My Hubs even uses it for his plumbing business credit card payments.

Shelly sold DIY at the beginning of July and dumped her Client Assistants the same day with no warning. I worked for her for almost 8 years and that was the thanks I got. (It wasn't sold to Anne though--she only bought Prim Mart.) The sale fell through, however and Shelly decided to effectively close DIY. A short time later the programmer of DIY/Feature Cart emailed me and said he'd disabled the DIY website, which he only does for non-payment. I've had clients emailing me for months asking me what's going on etc. Sadly, I basically have to tell them they are s-c-r-e-w-e-d, and give them this story. Shelly just posted on mydiyestores dot com that she has closed DIY. The message is new, but it's been closed basically since July. And the sad part is that she has posted her email address there (shelly at diyestores dot com) for current clients to email her with support questions; but she can't even access that email account because the DIY domain is still disabled by the programmer. And she knows this, of course, so she posted a non-reachable email address on purpose. I suggest that if you have a website on DIY that you move it ASAP. My recommendation is Little Fish Hosting. It is run by a wonderful lady named Rachel, who used to work for DIY but left several years ago and opened her own hosting company. It is very affordable and she offers three different hosting packages, the highest of which is no more than what you are paying at DIY. Best of luck to anyone at DIY. I'm very sorry you have been treated this way, it is not right. Take care.

Another option is PhotoScape. I use Paint Shop Pro a lot, but I use PhotoScape when I just want something quick and easy to use. And it's free.

Shelly sold DIY at the beginning of July and dumped her Client Assistants the same day with no warning. I worked for her for almost 8 years and that was the thanks I got. The sale fell through, however and Shelly decided to effectively close DIY. A short time later the programmer of DIY/Feature Cart emailed me and said he'd disabled the DIY website, which he only does for non-payment. I've had clients emailing me for months asking me what's going on etc. Sadly, I basically have to tell them they are s-c-r-e-w-e-d, and give them this story. Shelly just posted on mydiyestores dot com that she has closed DIY. The message is new, but it's been closed basically since July. And the sad part is that she has posted her email address there (shelly at diyestores dot com) for current clients to email her with support questions; but she can't even access that email account because the DIY domain is still disabled by the programmer. And she knows this, of course, so she posted a non-reachable email address on purpose. I suggest that if you have a website on DIY that you move it ASAP. My recommendation is Little Fish Hosting. It is run by a wonderful lady named Rachel, who used to work for DIY but left several years ago and opened her own hosting company. It is very affordable and she offers three different hosting packages, the highest of which is no more than what you are paying at DIY. Best of luck to anyone at DIY. I'm very sorry you have been treated this way, it is not right. Take care.