wthomas57

thats awesome. sounds like a faily stressfree efficient practice.

Funny that you mentioned bath bombs.. I've never done them, but would like to start dabbling sometime

4 minutes ago, kandlekrazy said:

I officially quit wholesale, notices went out that last orders in Dec 2016.  Even though I "trained" my wholesale accts to give me at least 2 weeks, I'm simply too busy with managing stores to do it anymore.  It has been eating into the time I need to make product for the stores.  Huge weight lifted when those emails went out!

 So I take it you must be doing quite well with direct sales than? Do you sell mostly online, Word of mouth, or do you have a local shop?

The one thing I am trying to tweak with my setup is the temperature control.

My workshop, as is, is cooler typically than everywhere else which is good for the FOs.

But its bad for the actual candles and curing as I dont want them temp dropping below 70-72 to avoid 

wet spots forming while they are stocked, etc. So I have a heater I keep down there that keeps the

temp around 72. Not sure if that is warmer than preferred for the FOs. Haven't noticed any issues, but time will tell.

Thank you all again for the added clarification. And TallTayl, I do COMPLETELY agree about not offering whole catalogue. I have made the same suggestoins to others as well.

Thanks for providing your baseline agreements too.

And Trappeur, I have a few jars I regularly use. They include: Straight Sided Tumblers, masons in two sizes and currently testing apothecarys but having hard time wicking them easily so far (at least the biggest one). I have looked into the status jars.... but they are so similar to my tumbler with the exception of the flared bottom foot. So I have avoided them thus far. But I cant imagine selling those at such a high price. I wouldn't sell one I'd be afraid.

That being said.. I do put a lot of time, care, and aesthetics into my candles and packaging.. so I probably could charge more. But I cant see, in my current state, doubling or more for WS and doubling that for retail.

The better solution would be lowering my cogs, but not sure how to do that yet. I do buy in somewhat of bulk.. but apparently nothing close to what you and TallTaly do.

 And to follow up with that.. currently since I dont really do much in regards to true wholesale accounts.. i am abel to sell direct for a less cost. I'd have to change that as well I'd imagine.

Thanks for all the clarification by the way. 

I dont know where you all sell... but a status jar for $26 would never fly here except rare occasions or unless I am specifically targeting luxory. Most everyone I know complains about yankee pricing which is why they buy crap cheap candles from WM, lol.  And a Tin for $15!!???  Wow. I sell mine for what you wholesale at.

When you were telling me about whoelsaling I was gonna ask how on earth you made your products at such low costs to profit from wholesaling.. but never mind. The real factor was that you have wholesale accounts willing to pay that much and sell for so much. Congrats to you. I am in the midwest..., that just wont fly. Ha!

All kidding aside... Id like to lower my costs but I dont see wholesaling making much money by itself for me anytime soon because the prices they would have to sell them for is just too high IMO. That being said.. I would prefer to sell less for more, rather than selling like crazy. But.. I'm just not sure Id sell hardly any at all raising prices too much.

Thanks again... was just getting tired of small shelves or digging through tubs or boxes. Its nice being able to line them up to easily see plus can stock extras behind.

Thank you. Yah its working nice so far. Easy to get to everything and keep things organized.

Yah Id like to do some other things like baskets... at least locally. But I ended up getting asked to get things shipped and shipping things like that is very difficult,   :/

haha, yep.. been there. I usually keep the candle making workshop area pretty up to par and clean. Its the packaging area that gets a mess quickly for me!

Oh that makes sense. Totally understand

Good luck. I may try them out soon as well. Not sure what all waxes they have yet though.

I know you stick to melts... so assuming you are in the semi-soft or pillar types? But you may also use mlutiple kinds for your own blends.

Ill have to check them out.

Spent a few weeks doing this and thought I'd share. It may provide a few ideas for those who may be working on their candle making setup or just looking to change things up.

Was able to get lots of storage, prep area, blending area, pouring area, curing area, quick access to everything I use. Plus, my office is down there along with the shop which has been extremely useful. I also have a conference table area where I do the packaging and work on new ideas, etc.

If you have any questions about thing, feel free to ask. So far... I'm loving the finished result and its been efficient for me.

Nothing fancy.. i just store mine in my workshop on a shelf. Currently, not order to them other than by supplier. Soon, though, I will be organizing them by scent types:

Floral

Food/Drink/Bakery

Citrus

Perfumes

etc.

7 minutes ago, justajesuschick said:

No. Not interested in having a physical storefront. My store is online and always open! 

oh ok. I was just curious. Mind sharing your online store website? Always like checking out others sites when I have downtime.

all the aztec posts Ive seen have convinved me to check them out.

To this point ive never used any FOs from them... mostly NG, CS, RE, and Peak

Ive ordered from both.. dont have a preference really

On 1/31/2015 at 7:02 AM, Faerywren said:

Soapalooza (Kelly Bloom's company that sells many of her old Southern Scents FOs) has a $5.95 deal. I got eight 1 oz samples and a 4 oz bottle for $5.95 shipping. So, how can one company do it, but not another?

I can answer this! Lol

Yankee can sell and ship items for much different shipping pricing that I can

Its about size, sales, and power.... that's how. lol. No but seriously, many businesses have access to shipping discounts and special rates that others do not.

Not saying that is the case here... but it does happen a lot.

I also weigh all my oils. Ive had some less than they should be.. but usually they are a big more if anything from the suppliers I use.

Also, be cautious if you use NG for any oils as they sell by volume rather than weight. Its super annoying because I have to convert them all to fluid oz before adding them to my inventory tracking since I use them by weight and not volume. With that being said... the majority of the FOs I buy from them actually come out to be more in weight compared to other competitors. So, its some extra work if you care about doing that, but its worth noting. It also means you need to make sure they are filled. With NG its easier because they just up the bottles to fill line so I've never had any issues

But short answer.. yes I weigh all FOs. I also count all major supplies for the most part. However, I haven't counted wicks in packs of 100 or more. Should I? Probably, but losing a few cents here or there probably isn't worth my time at the moment. I am more concerned about wax, FOs and containers.

12!!!  Oh holy cow.

And I was annoyed with 3 or 4! Lol

Do you have a local shop or anything around KC?

yes I agree... I wa sjust giving easy numbers to work with. Mainly was just stating that there is sometimes a little negotiating you can try.

It wasn't one of the first things I'd try to get a wholesale account as its usually not that successful. It also depends on who your going after. Bigger box stores or local shops. Lot more flexibility with small local shops.

But one thing I got a little lost on in your last post. You said they expect 50% of retail cost? So in my example of:

COGS = $5

Retail = $15

You're saying you need to sell for roughly $7.50 to get an account? That kinda nuts. I wouldn't do that period. Lol

Or did you mean 50% of retail profit. So,

COGS = $5

Retail = $15

Wholesale = $10

??

lol yah.. i was just being sarcastic.

My issue is even IF their wax works out for me... too much other material (jars, supplies, FOs, etc) that I get from somewhere else.

Guess I just have to move...  

I am so mad at you all right now, lol! I WISH mine was only 3+ hours away. I'm in Kansas City... nothing close. ha

Hi Johnna, Would you mind sending to me as well when you have a chance?

Thank you so much!

wadeinthecloud@gmail.com

Thanks again

Just now, Candybee said:

Are you saying agree on 35% of your retail price?

oh not... sorry.. i meant they get 35% discount rather thatn 50. I guess it depends if we are talking about straight wholesale or consignment though, ha.

But what I was suggesing was that there is no hard rule that you have to charge wholesalers 2x on your cogs. You can negotiate whatever you want and they are willing to do.

So if your cost is $5, standard wholesale is $10 and Retail is $15. Thus they aer making 50% profit of what would sell yourself at retail. (I.E. they are making $5 and you are making $5 on each sale, whereas normall you would be making $10 on your own retail sale.  w

What I was suggesting was sell to them for $11 or $12 for example. Yes, they make a bit less per sale but it also means the different between you being able to work with them and not being able to work with them. Their margin is a bit lower in order to work with you. Negotiations like that happen all the time. And I am not suggesting those exact amounts or percentages. Might point was that you can negotiate a bit. Simply tell the shop that the best you can do is "X". If they like your product enough, often they will bite. And then you are in a much better situation as well making the wholesale account more "worth it" to you.