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Quentin

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Everything posted by Quentin

  1. Quentin
    I agree. However, stair cutting (which is what we see here) takes a bit of carpentry skill.
  2. Quentin
    I have no insurance for things like we do. Do you think I could get some sort of umbrella policy? Do they still sell umbrella policies?
  3. Quentin
    Beautiful. What you and @MilosCandles have done is to make steps or stairs. That's not an easy thing. You've got to be a pretty good carpenter. The good news for the unskilled among us is that Home Depot & maybe Lowe's sell the pre-cut risers. All you have to do is add the treads and go. That's the route I'll have to take.
  4. Quentin
    What happened here? I'm having continuing problems with 444 and 464 wax. The photos you see here were left to cool slowly overnight on their own. The ambient temperature when I left them for the night was 92F at 8:19 PM, and the humidity was 36% (low humidity for my area). I'm getting these results with this wax more often than not. The tops look dried out and have a rippled, cracked appearance. The tops appear similar to a severe case of chapped lips. I didn't pour too hot. Pouring was done SLOWLY at 135F or less. Wax: GW 444 Heated to 190+ and added dye, then stirred for a full two minutes. Added 12% fragrance at 185F, then stirred for a full two minutes. I let the wax stand until it cooled to 135F, and then I poured. If this is the way these two waxes are supposed to look, then I can live with it or is there something I'm missing here?
  5. Quentin
    "What next? Photos"? Amazon is already taking pictures of your package sitting in front of your door. Some of you may not have Amazon's private delivery trucks in your ares yet, but taking pictures is what they're doing.
  6. Quentin
    Thanks for the heads up.
  7. Quentin
    No, I'm not going to pursue it. I just found it interesting. That's all.
  8. Quentin
    Excellent point.
  9. Quentin
    I don't have any intentions of concentrating valuable time on her. However, If there was a simple solution that y'all knew and that I could do with the stuff I have on hand, I would have considered making her a candle or two.
  10. Quentin
    After my experience with the guy from the Bahamas that wanted to pay retail so he could sell my candles in his store, I'm skeptical about everyone. The information I gave her was very generic. It was no more than what you'd read on the internet or in a book. Thanks for the warning, though.
  11. Quentin
    I received a fascinating phone call yesterday. The lady on the other end of the line got my phone number off my website. She said she had questions about my ingredients. I gave a quick explanation about different types of candles requiring different waxes. At first, I thought this was one of those anti-paraffin hits. It seems she is highly allergic to soy and many of the additives used in candle making. She wants container candles. I told her I would research it and see if I could find a solution. Does anyone have recommendations of wax I could use to make a non-allergic container candle?
  12. Quentin
    The average consumer doesn't understand or realize a lot of things. Some think FREE shipping is free. They don't understand bad things happen to good people. For example, when I sold carpet for Sears, the truck carrying a customer's roll crashed and burned between Dalton, Georgia, and Memphis. The driver was killed, and all the goods on board were destroyed. When I called the customer and told them about the tragic event, his response was: "Does this mean I'm not getting my carpet in before Christmas"? Then he began yelling. He didn't care that the driver had died and that his loved ones were broken-hearted and crushed. This guy just wanted his stuff, and he wanted it right then.
  13. Quentin
    But hey! It's worked out for Amazon🤣
  14. Quentin
    I understand all that about the cost. But I've had. Several times already I've had candle suppliers send me one single lid or something. The person who answered the phone either went to the warehouse to get it or had someone do it.
  15. Quentin
    Something is wrong with that girl. Her boss would have told her to stick the single lid in a small padded envelope and give it to you for free. They could have mailed it 1st Class Mail for no more than 2 bucks.
  16. Quentin
    That's kinda what I was thinking.
  17. Quentin
    I'm going back and forth with myself on how I want to package my pillar candles. I seem to remember someone on this forum mentioning that they shrink wrap their pillars. I'm all for that. It's cheap. It's effective. It's fast, easy, and uniform looking. But before I get started shrink wrapping all these pillars, I have a concern I'd like to express. If the candle is packaged in that manner, how can the customer smell it? How do you approach this when you set up your display at a show? The customer wants to smell it. I want them to smell it, too. But if its all sealed up in plastic, how can they without ripping the thing open?
  18. Quentin
    I'm pretty sure some of them are marking up the freight and turning it into a profit center. All the while, these companies tout how "green" and "carbon neutral" they are, and all that bull. I order from two companies in North Carolina. Both of the companies and I are in the same UPS zone. I'm not going to mention the names of the firms, but the UPS freight charges are significantly and routinely higher from one of those dealers than the other company on comparable items.
  19. Quentin
    I think that's a big part of the problem. It's what's going on between my ears that needs fixing.
  20. Quentin
    Keystone is an old term. I don't know the origin of the name. I'm speculating that in the retail world of yesteryear, it was a code word for manufacturers, wholesalers, and the end retailer to communicate prices without their "victims," the consumers, figuring out what the real game was. You could make the analogy that it's like the language that doctors use to fill out prescription forms so that only the pharmacist and the physician understand it. Or so they think.
  21. Quentin
    So you're saying you take your cost, multiply by 3, then add your labor at the end of the process?
  22. Quentin
    More often than not, when I price out an item, I have doubts as to whether anyone would pay that price for my product. I can't figure out where that feeling comes from, but it shadows me wherever I go. I don't know how most of you price your goods, but I'm using the old "keystone" system which I think may be an outdated model in the age of e-commerce. Figuring the cost, doubling it for wholesale, then doubling that for retail doesn't seem to make sense anymore. Do any of you have any thoughts on this that you would be willing to share? I'm the manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer. It seems to me that keystone pricing is just not the smart way to go. At first glance, it appears that I'm going to make a huge markup! Woo Hoo, I'm rich! In reality, I think I'm pricing myself out of the market.
  23. Quentin
    ...and it's easy to see why. I've been browsing through the Etsy forums, and I've seen comments just like the ones I'm seeing posted here. Etsy is incredibly confusing. Everyone has their hand in the till. In the short time I've been on Etsy, I would have to say I've been very disappointed and frustrated. @TallTayl mentioned Etsy Pay. It seems like they automatically set me up on that without offering any other options. On top of that, my account is integrated with Square. Is Square getting a cut also? I don't know. Other than Etsy payments, what are the other choices? If I dropped out of Etsy's payment system, would the customer be able to buy from me using another purchase method? I have no idea what's happening regarding my money when it comes to Etsy. None whatsoever. @TallTayl alluded to the fact that Etsy takes a cut of the shipping as well! How can they justify that? Shipping isn't revenue. I'm beginning to wonder if I need Etsy at all.
  24. Quentin
    Thanks, Sarah. Somebody else go ahead and chime in here on this subject.
  25. Quentin
    Thanks to both of you. I understand what you're saying now. This would probably be one of those times when you just start adding drops a little at a time, then pour a little into a jar of cold water until you get to where you want it. Of course, you have to keep notes of how many drops you put in.
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