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BJ~

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Posts posted by BJ~

  1. Lightkeeper, I agree.  They are squeezing out the small candle/soap makers.  Of course, there are many options with soap.  Candles are a whole other story.

     

    In my younger years, I got my wax, lids and jars directly from the source and if your business is big enough, I'm sure that is still an option.  You could do the same with fragrance oils but it's been my experience, that ordering directly from the fragrance house in this day and age, is no cheaper unless you are ordering in pretty big bulk.  WSP is cutting off their nose to spite their own face.  They'll put all their own customers out of business with high prices.  It could have been a good thing..one stop shopping.

  2. At my age, I've been struggling with the decision about ordering more jars, lids and wax.  I haven't been able to wholesale candles for a year or two because of cost but I have a couple retail booths they do great in so I'm working up an order for all three.  I still do melts and I'm considering votives.  At this point, I'm not interested in shipping but that could change.

     

    I jumped on the palm wax bandwagon but when my current supply is gone, I won't be buying any more for a couple reasons...they never got it in a bag that was under the fifty pound weight and since the shortage in all things palm, I don't see it in stock any where.  Thank goodness I'm not in my prime and depending on it.  Still, I put a lot of work into testing it and used it in pillars and melts.  It was so easy to work with but my customers didn't like it as well in melts so they will be happy to see the old formula back.

     

    I assume WSP has not bought out Lonestar and Aztec yet.  As far as I know, for my area, they are the only suppliers left with the assortment of waxes, etc. I need for candles.  I'd love to see LS or Aztec get BC but that would be a long shot.

     

    I never saw this coming over twenty years ago but should have.

  3. I had no idea about NG.  I don't order a ton from them and most of the scents I get are not best sellers but I'm not ready to discontinue them either.  I'm pretty sure my last order was under the new ownership.  As a rule, when I order, I get enough for at least 6 months or more so I'm only ordering from them once or twice a year and if I got an email announcement, I missed it.

     

    What I hate most about companies selling out is having to replace candle scents.  I no longer trust the new companies not to tweak something without disclosing.  It has happened before.  With soap and bath and body, it either works or it doesn't and it's not as hard to replace a scent.  With candles, there are so many factors and the smallest one can ruin the throw and burn...I know I'm preaching to the choir lol.  It's a good thing I'm an old woman and retiring is not out of the picture at this point.  I'm starting to feel I can't rely on any of my suppliers long term.

    • Like 1
  4. 7 hours ago, KrisS said:

    I'd been trying to convince them to sell me their remaining sample of WYW Goddess so I could dupe it for myself for several years.  Talked with their manager yesterday, and she says it doesn't exist.  Waiting to hear back from Rich to see if  he has something squirreled away. That FO is my white whale.

     

    There have been so many of those for me over the years.  A few I can think f from BC are Bubbles N Lights' Blackberry Musk and their Warm Vanilla Sugar.  The WVS was a spot on dupe but not very strong so I anchored it with another stronger WVS.  Also, Sissy's Peppercorn.  I'm a passable blender and I use to keep hundreds of samples just for that purpose and I managed a version of both Blackberry Musk and Peppercorn because I never could find anything from another supplier that even came close.  I do candles, melts, CP soap and bath and body.

    • Like 2
  5. I hope someone buys the business and brings back a few of the fragrances they discontinued from Bubbles N' Lights and Sissy's.  I've been a customer for 23 of those 25 years and I will miss them.  For about five minutes I thought about retiring myself because I've lost so many great suppliers over the years...I'm old and cranky and it's a pain to have to constantly be looking for replacements lol.  

    • Like 4
    • Haha 1
  6. The $ flow is a consideration...gone are the days I'll spend a ton of money trying find a match for something that has been discontinued.  With so many of the shops I sell to closed, never to open again, the bottom line is getting serious.  I had too many scents anyway...never thought that would be a good thing.

    • Like 1
  7. Sadly enough, I don't think this will work out for me.  I order a large quantity of oils from RE and even though the shipping is on the high side, their prices tend to be a fair amount lower per pound of fo than WSP so I expect a significant increase in price and I understand that because of the free shipping.  There are a couple of exceptions but overall I'd rather pay the $40 shipping than the probable $80-$100 difference in product cost for one of my orders.  For smaller orders, the free shipping would be a great deal. 

     

    I knew when RE bought up so many of the wonderful small suppliers that went out of business around 2008, I'd be in trouble if they ever closed.  At the time I was just happy to be able to carry on with my best selling fo's.  At this point I can't pay any more for supplies and still do wholesale...guess I better get my big girl drawers on and think about retail because I've got a feeling a lot of things will be going up or impossible to get.  I already can't find the plastics I need....holding my breath on jars, lids, tins and lye...I've always wanted to make jewelry lol.

    • Like 1
  8. Frangrance oils with a strong cinnamon base can also be a pain to get a nice deep red in. I add a drop of brown and a drop of orange to my red dyes to get that perfect red...in everything but the cinnamons. I'm trying the Pryme dyes as soon things slow down a little this summer.

  9. I found out by accident a few years ago that a few grains of vybar can help even out the tops. I was using a preblend that suddenly started leaking fo's and got that little dip about the same time. I had just gotten a whole pallet of it and was ready to pull my hair out. I added extra vybar to stop the fo leaking and a side effect was smoother tops. Too much can have the opposite effect so be careful. Start with about 6-8 grains per pound. I've found this to work on just about every preblend out there but J223 may be a little harder to smooth the tops on. Also pouring in a jar that is much taller than it is wide increases dips as well as cooling too quickly. I always cool mine in the box.

    It's not unheard of for a wax company to tweak our blends if the additives get too expensive...keeps us on our toes.

  10. Ok now I get it :yay: . You had me worried there for a minute...couldn't figure out why a warning label would upset you LOL.

    Yep the old soy lotion thing seems to resurface every few years. I've been at this for five years now and it never ceases to amaze me what people come up with next.

  11. Gretchen I will take a stab at it even though I currently do not have reps for my candles since they are only a part time biz for me and I have about all I can do to keep up as it is.

    DH and I had a wholesale giftware biz for years and had sales reps...I'm assuming this is a wholesale rep. We always did a flat commission but it's really up to you. Most wholesale reps get 10-20% commission so you will have to make sure you have that included in your wholesale price. Candles are so cost intensive that a lower commission would be better. On the other hand, a higher % gives your rep more of an incentive to push your product.

    Also you will be expected to pay the rep a commission on repeat orders even if they are placed directly with you.

    We did issue our sales reps a 1099 annually but not everyone does. Our CPA insisted on it even though many of my reps said that their other lines did not issue them. Find a good CPA..it is important. We got audited by the IRS early on and he was worth his weight in gold.

    The last thing I will say is make sure you have an honest sales rep and one that you genuinely like because you may have a relationship for years to come. We never signed a contract with any rep or sales company...if we didn't like doing business with each other, we were free to part ways and that was the way most other small companies we knew did it. A noncompete contract might not be a bad thing though.

    Good luck...it's a good thing to have a growing business.

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