KB12

Thank you for all of the suggestions and pointing me in the right direction!

Old glory- no, I am not planning on selling this jar right now. I am a perfectionist and if I am not 100% happy and confident with a product, I do not feel comfortable selling. This is why I look to this board, for the the years of experience from the seasoned candle makers. I am a planner, and I just like to get as much knowledge as possible so when I do start to sell, I can price my product appropriately and get the most "bang for my buck." I appreciate your concern. But rest assured, if I was planning on selling a product that was not the best, I would not come and post to the board and continue to ask questions. I do this in hopes of making the best, most safe, product possible.

Candybee- thank you for the encouraging words. I will continue to test until I have found the right wick/wax combo for this jar. If I continue to get the mushrooming, I will be forced to lessen the amount of fo. I appreciate your years of expertise and guidance! I would like to sell eventually, but I know that won't be any time soon!

I have burned them in different areas and I stil get flickering. Moonshine- How much fo do you use? Candybee- what type of wicks, and how much fo do you use?

I am thinking of packaging candles in Kraft boxes. Where would you suggest purchasing from? Is there a better, more cost effective, option than Kraft boxes?

Hi everyone! I posted a little while ago about Green Irish Tweed. Does anyone have any suggestions for renaming it? Thanks!

I have tried lowering the amount and I prefer the higher percentage. Thank you for responding! The closest supplier to me only carries hemp, zinc, a few sizes of htp, and cds. Hemp mushrooms horribly for me, I don't want to use zinc, and they don't carry the htp sizes that I need. Unfortunately, I might just have to embrace the cds.

I have been using CD wicks in my square mason jars and everything is working great. Great scent throw and the sides are getting clean. I use 415 wax and 10% fo, without color or additives. However, I am having issues with a flickering wick and mushrooms. I have used various sizes of the wick, and I still have the same issues. I do not want to lower the amount of fragrance oil, so are there other ways to eliminate flickering and mushrooms? Or, are these just characteristics of CD wicks?

Are people finding that cd wicks mushroom and flicker?

Those are great suggestions! Thanks so much!

Hey! I am having a difficult time renaming Green Irish Tweed. Everyone who smells it just says that it smells fresh. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

I ended up testing the 415 with 10% FO and no dye with cd 10 and cd 12. I used coconut craziness from NG and I like cd12 better.

Thanks for the ideas! Jcandle- where do you find the silicone? Walmart didn't have it and Ace Hardware only had black, and I would rather get clear. I may just have to order stickums.

Hi all! I've been testing my candles, and when my wax gets to the bottom, on the last burn, my wick tab starts to move to the side of my glass jar creating a potential hazard. This happens even with smaller wick sizes. I've been using hot glue to glue my wick tabs down, so I'm assuming that as the jar heats up the glue is melting. What are other alternatives to using hot glue?

I would also love to see them! ☺️

That's awesome! I would love to have that problem lol. Everyone's etsy success stories are so inspirational!

The important thing is that you are making it and that you love what you do! A happy mom makes for happy kiddos! It's so important that your kids see that they are your number one priority and that hard work pays off! I wish you and your family the best of luck! I've noticed that some people price their products so low on etsy, in order to be competitive, but I have no idea how they make any money. Then there are others who over price their products, in my opinion, and they do actually have sales. Like you said, I think it's due to their pictures, scent descriptions, and product tagging. They seem to be creating a different type of experience for the consumer. I would love to create a "higher end" shopping experience on etsy, but it will def take time and marketing strategies, like were mentioned above.

Justajeseuschick- Wow! You've had awesome success on Etsy! How long have you been on it? Suzy- I am a stay at home mom to two boys under 2, and my goal is to be able to make enough to not have to go back to work. I know that's a long term goal, but one that I'm striving for! I love that etsy is the way that you make your main income!

Thank you so much for posting the bill. I'm a very visual person, and I'm sure others will benefit from it as well. For the monthly sales that you made, I would agree that $66 is extremely affordable. Thank you for explaining shipping charges, it helps a lot. So, from the consensus on this thread, etsy seems like a good place to start. I'm sorry for the bad experiences that were mentioned. It will definitely take some time for me to build up the number of items that I have to list. I read somewhere that the "magical" number for posting items on etsy and being successful is 77. Who knows if there is any truth to this exact number. But from what talltayl said, it coincides with the more items that you have listed, the more traffic you have to your shop, and the better you do.

Wow, what a wealth of information! Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences. I agree that SEO and marketing are key, but can sometimes be difficult. That's something that I need to research more and become better at. On average, what was everyone's monthly fees for etsy? How is shipping calculated? Does etsy automatically do it for you? If i had a page on fb and no other website, how would I sell products? Is this even possible? Or do you need to have an established website and direct your customers there from fb?

I know this topic has been brought up in the past, but I was wondering if anyone's opinions have changed. I would like to sell online, and I would like to know what everyone's thoughts are for the easiest and most cost effective way to do so. I like the idea of etsy, as it seems to be pretty affordable, with the $.20 listing fee and the 3.5% selling fee. But it seems like in order to be seen, you need to invest in ads. Are there any other fees to take into consideration? I really don't like the fact that there is so much competition and that potential customers might not even see your store, but it seems like a good place to establish an online presence. Also, does anyone sell through Facebook? If so, how do you do this? Any help and pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! Even with buying in bulk, how were you able to make any money on them with only charging $5?

Thank you so much for the input!

Does anyone know of an insurance provider that will cover someone who only makes candles? If so, how much does it cost?

Perfect! Thank you everyone! I'll make up some more testers, with smaller wicks, and go from there. I was thinking of selling them for $12, so it's nice to see that some of you sold them for that. There are some sellers on etsy that are charging even more for this jar.