MilosCandles

Not dedicated channels. But rather people that have a channel that get viewer mail and open it.

I was in as many as 10 stores at one point. I pulled my stuff from all but 2 that do really well. I got tired of them constantly needing stock and driving around with inventory and checking on them all the time. Just got old.

Well their initial fees did not last too long. From 2% to 8%. Good while it lasted. New Referral Fee Structure: [2% + $0.30/order] → [8%/order] These changes are designed to allow us to better serve customers while ensuring that we continue to provide great value. To support you through this transition, we will offer a transition rate of [6%/order] from April 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024 to help you align your approach accordingly. This transition period aims to ease the adjustment for all our valued sellers, ensuring a smooth integration into the updated fee structure. Effective July 1, 2024, referral fee rates will then transition to [8%/order].

I agree, I make pretty good money on ETSY. But still need to check profits and margins periodically. Can't just assume all is worth it. I put a lot of time and energy into this at times and I need to make sure it is worthwhile.

I hope this speaks for itself on Etsy Some people look at that, others don't. I was so overwhelmed with sales this xmas I doubled the pricing of many of my candles just after black Friday and then many of the copycats followed suit. Makes me laugh.

So I use 1000's of 4x4x6 boxes. I was getting 1000 of them for $581 so about $.60 each. About 2 years ago I was in talks with a custom box place and it sort fell off the radar. Well I reached out again. 2800 Boxes for $.30 Each. Almost half the price, and I no longer need to manually rubber stamp each box. For the 1st run I needed to pay for the plate to be made, that was $500 but even adding that in was cheaper per box that what I was paying. I did need to order an entire pallet though. The facility is also only 2 hours from me so I am sure that helps the shipping included in the price for me. I added a paper tape machine and WOW, my boxes look so much more professional. Now I can also personalize the tape through uline. Part of me think that might be over load. Here is who I used Kenny Grant kgrant@bcipkg.com Account Executive O 585-924-1600 M 585-456-3477 BCI ROCHESTER DIVISION VICTOR, NY Corrugated Packaging Innovations That Deliver Results

$28.50 To Me After Fees This is what my costs are, and need to be deducted from the $28.50 ~$7 Shipping Costs ~$5 in Product Material Costs ~$3 in Labor Costs

I know Etsy fees are crazy, and I have figured out profits in the past but I just did it again. WTF. Kills me when I have other people on Etsy that under sell me cause it is just a "hobby" and they are happy with $5 profit. $36.99 Item+shipping -$1.44 3.0% of the order total plus $0.25 -$1.95 Transaction Fee - 6.5% of item total -$0.46 Transaction Fee - 6.5% of Shipping -$4.44 Fee for sale made through Offsite Ads - 12% (I can not turn this off because of my sales volume) -$0.20 Listing Fee $8.49 in Etsy Fees 22.9% in fees from Etsy. (That is just crazy) $28.50 To Me After Fees ~$7 Shipping Costs ~$5 in Product Material Costs ~$3 in Labor Costs

Here is the recorded webinar https://bytedance.ent.box.com/s/q21fc2skulo5h1pd1leuqokaa1jiwklx

I started my TikTok shop on Friday, close to 100 orders already. Few key points. 1 - My sales have NOTHING to do with any videos I have had. On the TikTok App on your phone when you "search" one of the tabs is Shop. 2 - For new sellers TikTok offers Free Shipping to the buyer. Tiktok actually pays the shipping for you. I just print the label from the tiktok website no charge to me. 3 - You must ship your items with in 3 days. I hate this. Usually I state like 10 days and the old saying, under promise and over deliver. (pun indented) 4 - They offer a 30% coupon for any new buyers, which they do not discount from you. 5 - They are doing a Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale, see below. They are covering up to 30% off you items. https://bytedance.ent.box.com/s/njo13kv96ou2snoyamaqr8krmt3ok5xx It is amazing when a big name is trying to get into the retail market. Trying to entice the buyers and sellers.

During Covid I watched a lot of youtube. One of the people I watched (don't judge) was David Portnoy of Bar Stool sports. Somehow someone got his home address and mailed him something, the next day he received a few more and then a few more. I mailed him some of my candles by like the 4th or 5th day. He was having between 25k-40k people watching him live stream him opening stuff. Like 2-3 weeks in he was getting so much stuff he had to open stuff in a warehouse and then shortly after just stopped. it was just too much. I generated so many sales from that 30 seconds of him opening my candles. That got me thinking...... Youtube fan/viewer mail. I started searching youtube for anyone that I could find that opened viewer mail and showed it on youtube. All during covid I was sending (not so perfect) candles out to those people. I had a super generic "Thank You for your entertainment" post card i would include. The larger the audience the more candles I would send. I would get a 100% genuine reaction out of them opening the box and smelling the candle. I could tell every time someone posted a video cause sales would increase for the next few hours after it. Some of them took almost a year to appear, some never appeared. Over that year I probably sent to 50 different channels. I had a very successful year during covid.

PTSD... So I use https://www.waveapps.com/ which is free online accounting app. Like quick books but free. Love it. The other saving grace for me is Dropbox. I have the free version. Get the app on my phone and every (non-online) purchase I take a pic of the receipt and it saves it to dropbox for me. If it is not a typical place I order from online, I will save that receipt into dropbox. This all makes like soo much easier at the end of the year. Now WAVE is suppose to offer something like this but I just haven't tried it. Rarely can I get everything imputed in time to meet the 4/15 deadline, I always file an extension. One thing think about.... You can invest up to ~20% of profits into SEP IRA or a SOLO 401k pre tax. I would talk to a financial planner about this. Doesn't matter if you already invest in a work 401k or anything. This helps lower the tax burden some at tax time. Turbo tax has a section to let you know max your max contribution can be for these. Considering this is a side hustle for me I try to take full advantage of this.

Last time I did this shows was about 5 years ago. I would consider myself still a novice at a large show like this back then. Last time I just made and brought stuff, no real plan, just bring stuff, lots of stuff. I did well, but I was a little disappointed, had hope to do better so I didn't return. Space cost is pricey, not for the volumes of people that will be there to buy xmas gifts. but they do like to nickel and dime you. Vendor Parking passes, additional parking pass for my trailer, drive in pass, drive out pass and then if you need to rent anything like flooring, tables, chairs. Add my cost to rent a trailer and hotel, plus meals. Adds up. This year I decided to try again. I would like to think I am a little more experienced, have some better ideas and hopefully a better plan and more organized. I will hopefully have well over 1000 candles with me at this show. Close to double last time I went. Very specific kind of candles. I have a long week ahead of me this week to finish prepping and organizing. I have a different display that I did last time. A plan that will allow me to measure some sales metrics for future shows. More of this, less of that, none of those. There is part of me that hopes i have mediocre results again so I can just cross this off my list and be done with it. LOL... Then there is part of me I want to have great success and do more of these larger shows. The number of shows I do now is very minimal, considering one year I did over 40 shows, now about 5-10 and generally start in Sept. Just lots of work up front and spending lots of money on supplies the last few weeks. The company that runs this show runs many shows across the country - https://www.marketplaceevents.com/our-shows There is another couple holiday shows I would be interested in doing next year, ones that are a acceptable driving distance that is. One of the problems I have is that my candles are such a "novelty" type gift that I get a lot of I bought one from you last time. So limiting my shows in my area and heading to different areas helps with my sales.

Anyone setup a tiktok business shop yet? I am just venturing into this and holly hoops. I am not 100% sure how it all works yet, but I thought I would go through the process and see if it is a viable option. Seems like it is the new trendy way of selling.

What is crazy, what I am finding in the smaller magnetic stirs actually work a little better. These have been working great for over 6 months now.

Being in my 3rd house since I started making candles. I have had 3 revisions to my setup, each one improved on the past. This time of year it is all about efficiency. Being organized really improves it. This past time I bought 3 large stainless steel food prep tables from an restaurant that went out of business. Love those tables. Mass about about custom built shelves, and proper flow from one end of the basement to the other.

I use wordpress/woocommerce. I am somewhat of a techie also. BUT I watched many of this guys youtube videos on how to do it. https://www.youtube.com/@darrelwilson So many free items to do. 100% control over what I do. Do not be afraid to hire someone on https://www.fiverr.com/ also. Before there was ChatGPT I would pay people to write some of my pages and blurbs to help with SEO.

I can fill the pitcher the whole way with out issue. I have 2 different sized magnetic stirs which helps also. But 30mm can mix the pot completely on a pretty low setting.

I have been ordering pallets of wax from Fillmore container for the past 2 years to try and keep my prices down, and the pallet has been the lowest since 2021. WOOOOHOOOO. 6/8/23 - $3,941.85 12/5/22 - $4,353.56 8/22/22 - $4,261.18 2/14/22 - $4,034.13 11/3/21 - $4,007.74

Have missed this family here. Life and work get busy and no time to post. So I have come up with a way to mix my wax and it is so simple https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_nNbxlr73M Bought my self a bunch of these - https://www.ebay.com/itm/334730126528 They do not come with the magnetic stirs even though it may say it does and then bought these Size: C7*30mm - https://www.ebay.com/itm/155381507498?var=455584410977 Just put them in place and let them stir for 5-45 minutes or how ever long you want to wait till it cools. A-MAZ-ING

Just noticed this in my account the other day. Payment reserve To help you cover unexpected charges or refunds, 75% of the funds you earn from each order will be reserved in your payment account for 45 days from the date of sale, or until your order ships with tracking info. This money is yours and will be available for deposit after the reserve period (minus any fees or charges). I get it, it does make sense.... It is more to protect them. If someone does not ship a product it is much easier to do a refund if there is money in that account. But just a way for them to hold on to our money just a bit longer and collect a little more interest on it before sending it our way.

So during lockdown and quarantine in 2020 I did something a little different which worked out amazingly for me. Any of the not so perfect candles I had made I sent to youtubers. I looked for anyone that opened "Fan Mail" in recent videos and I could find thier address. I probably sent out over 100 over the year and saw about 75% of then get opened and then commented about by the person (almost like a testimonial). I included a company postcard with a VERY generic message on the back. Every time a video was posted online, I made a few sales on my website. Paid off tenfold. And I sent my not so perfect candles to them which I wouldn't of sent a paying customer. The biggest issue some of the people too months to open it and show it. Not something you can time. Watching some of the the youtubers previous unboxing sometimes you can learn what they like and customize it some.

I have customer ask me all the time if I can ship outside the USA and then get offend when I have told them the prices (coupled with the exchange rate) I just tell then a flat out no now. Crazy how I can order a $4 item from China and get free shipping though. Just do not understand that. SMH

This might be a little out dated since I made it a few years ago - https://716candleco.com/candle-business-usa-shipping/

Does anybody use someone to do some of their accounting? I am that guy that waits till I need to do my paper work. Well taxes are due in 2 months and state sales tax is due in 1 month. I have 11 months of receipts and paper work saved in a folder waiting to be entered. It probably only is like 3-5 hours a month of work, but now I will have like 30 hours to do. UGH.