Quentin

On 1/31/2019 at 7:19 PM, TallTayl said:

Considering coconut and palm candles are heated to >200*F and throw totally amazingly I don’t agree with the comments.

A year ago I would have disagreed with you on this TallTayl. The people on this forum have convinced me otherwise. I've noticed big differences in the quality and consistency of my candles since I've started following the "rules" so to speak. My candle failure rate has dropped dramatically and I'm much more confident now, when I:

1) Heat the wax to 190 (unless the directions say higher) and add the dye. Then stir for two minutes.

2) Add the fragrance at 185F and stir for two minutes. If the temperature drops below 185F when I add fragrance, which it will, I stir until I get the heat back up to 185 and then I start my timed two minute stir.

I'm a believer now.  

On 2/26/2019 at 1:21 PM, Sebleo said:

That’s a great comparison!  And how I figured it worked. Oh, how I would love to have that!!!

I "need" one of those machines badly. That's awesome.

On 2/25/2019 at 9:17 AM, CaptnKush said:

Ok, I have a question about all this. You say heat to this temp, mix FO at this temp, keep mixing for a couple minutes blah blah, then I see this Coogar machine on youtube that does all this for you. Now the problem I am having is this Coogar machine mixes the scents right when it pours into jar, not before. So whats the deal with that, do you really need to mix FO for several minutes or not?

You've posed a really good question.

On 2/26/2019 at 9:21 AM, chevcher said:

@QuentinThis was one of them...  Candle Making Terence McLaughin
Pretty much anything from the 1970's on back was what I used fro reference

Thanks. There are used copies on Amazon. I otdered one.😃

11 minutes ago, chevcher said:

Oh yes, I've recieved some of those fluff books as gifts. The books I found were at the library years ago, very basic but informative. If I can track down the title, I will let you know. It covered the history and the old school techniques. They may be out of print now, which is a bummer 😞

If they're out of print, I can still buy used copies on Amazon and Ebay. I'm interested in anything you can come up with. 

1 hour ago, Forrest said:

I just want a book on the chemistry of candle making, if I just knew what all those molecules were doing I could figure this thing out.

That's what I'm looking for too. I like stuff that's over my head. 

2 hours ago, Laura C said:

These are 2 books that I have and like.

Yes!!! I have the second one you listed. The first one appears to be what I'm looking for right now. I followed your link to the book by William Nustle. I ordered a used copy. These old out-of-print books probably have lots of technical information. I hope it has lots of scientific words I don't understand so I can ask @Forrest what it means!

4 hours ago, Laura C said:

@Quentin you are cracking me up, LOL 

Well, I try. 

22 hours ago, chevcher said:

I personally did all of my research before the computer age...by hands on training and hitting the books.

I don't want to take us off the subject but you touched on something here. I can't find any good scholarly books on the subject of candle making. The books I've seen so far are nothing but a lot of fluff. Typically, they start out with a brief history candle making, then some safety rules. Next thing they have is some very scanty general directions on "how to make a candle", some recipes, and then the rest of the book will give you some creative ideas about special technique candles. Where are the good technical books on candle making? Are they all out of print?

1 hour ago, Candybee said:

Square has an invoicing feature you can send an invoice via email and the customer inputs their info instead of you doing it. I have used it often and its a nice feature to have when someone purchases something not on my website.

Now that's something I didn't know about Square. I most definitely will check into that! Most certainly. 

Just now, Quentin said:

...and the credit card acceptance was the main theme of this guy's inquiry. Very good point you make.

I just wonder if he got spooked when I told him I use Square to take credit cards. Would that have made any difference ya think?

1 hour ago, Candybee said:

They don't focus on shipping or credit cards which is the central theme in a scammers email.

...and the credit card acceptance was the main theme of this guy's inquiry. Very good point you make.

21 hours ago, Faerywren said:

the idea that some store in Asia wanted to carry my items set off alarm bells big time

I think that's wise. Why would someone like that want to order "expensive" products from the U.S. when they are already dirt cheap in their own country?

8 hours ago, Trappeur said:

Just tell him you have to check your inventory first, but at least have him give you an order and then you get with him and tell him the pricing.

Thanks Trapp. That's almost exactly what I told him in my initial (and only) response. I asked him to get back to me and tell me specifically which items he was interested in so I could determine if I could handle his order in the first place. Other than being pleasant and courteous as I would with any prospect, I didn't even hint that I was eager and ready to get going on a deal with him. 

17 hours ago, TallTayl said:

if you copy  and paste the text of the message into google you’ll often find the exact same form letter posted by others.

I did this last night. Unfortunately, it didn't turn up anything. But thanks for that tip. I'll use it when future incidents arise.

10 hours ago, pughaus said:

If you read the link I included it tells you exactly what they want and how they get it from you. 

Yes. In the report you sent, and which I read, the scammers were confusing the victim into paying money to "someone". I wouldn't pay someone to make a sale happen. The way selling works is that the customer pays me money.  I'll read it again. What did I miss? Just tell me. I assure you I won't be embarrassed to have it pointed out to me. Hit me hard! Slap me across the face if I'm not getting it. Be direct with me. I can handle it. Be like @TallTayl 

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

This gives them passwords and every single one of your online dealings, such as bank account, credit card numbers, social security number, etc. anything that allows them to easily impersonate you and ruin your credit standing. 

So now what do I do other than ignore him? I've got every virus protection thing in the world as it is, or at least that I know of! I guess now I have no choice but to haul my computer to my repair guy and have him probe deep, deep down in there?  

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

A pitfall of “playing along” is computer viruses in those emails that record your keystrokes. This gives them passwords and every single one of your online dealings, such as bank account, credit card numbers, social security number, etc. anything that allows them to easily impersonate you and ruin your credit standing. 

 

Why waste the time? It’s their game, not yours. They are in a position to win. You are not. 

 

Why risk your financial security? 

VERY good point. That hadn't occurred to me. You're all right! Which brings up a scary thought. Since he hasn't replied again, he may have already gotten what he needs from me❗

3 hours ago, pughaus said:

Yep.  This is 100% a scam.  We get dozens of these every month. Delete and block the sender. 

 

If you want to see how this scam plays out, here's my friend's experience:

https://www.sevencolonial.com/seven-colonial-targeted-international-shipping-scam/

I just read the story from the link. It does seem very similar. The reason I shared that guys correspondence with me was because I knew that if it was bogus that some of y'all had probably seen it before. The only thing I can't figure out is what it is he wants from me. Does he want the merchandise or will he come back to me with a story that the deal with his freight forwarder has fallen through, blah, blah, blah and we need to work the deal another way, blah, blah, blah? 

3 hours ago, Trappeur said:

I've seen posts like this before and to me it sounds great.   Why would this be a red flag?   All he has to do is send a check (no credit card) and you deposit the check into your account and see if it clears.   If he wants to pick up, then by all means, great.   One thing you don't have to do.   Sounds pretty good to me.

 

Trappeur

It is possible that he's legit. That's why I'm waiting him out. If he does get back in touch, I'll press him for more information in a friendly sort of way. Like you mentioned, he did say he had a freight consolidator that would pick the merchandise up. Don't anyone worry. I won't do anything stupid when it comes to this guy. Purely speculation on my part, but I'd be willing to bet he's been in this forum snooping around. He may have seen where I joked several times about not making any money at this and figured I'd be an easy mark. I don't have anything to base that on. Just speculation on my part. 

3 hours ago, TallTayl said:

 if you copy  and paste the text of the message into google you’ll often find the exact same form letter posted by others.

Whoa! Excellent idea! I'll do that for sure. I did get an email the other day from a lawyer in Africa. Turns out I'm the last remaining heir to a fortune of some rich prince! Nope. Not me. That one is older than the internet. The crazy thing is that people still fall for it. 

5 hours ago, Candybee said:

Sorry Quentin. Smells to high heaven of scam. Get these type of emails all the time and just delete. They mention they are a retailer but did they leave a clue to the store name, address, anything you can verify by looking online? If they left a name do a search on the name, you may find there are already complaints from others that have been scammed already.

He did include a phone number. I tried to find his name on Facebook. I found similar names but not his. I'll remain cautious. It's really curious that he asked if I took credit cards that are issued in the United States. Since he was on my website, he would have seen that I do. So far, he hasn't replied to my response to his inquiry from my site. Maybe I said something that spooked him off. 

I'll just have to wait till he responds to my reply. For all I know, he could be on this forum. If I hear back from him, I'll engage him in a friendly conversation and try to get more info out of him. He could be legit. He could be bogus. His phone area code turns out to be in extreme south Florida. Of course, area codes really can't tell you much anymore what with cell phone number portability. What I keep wondering is why would a store in the Bahamas (where the currency is worth less than ours) want to order from a small time seller in the United States?  I'll keep asking him for more details and see if he gets spooked off.

If he is on this forum, I just let out my plan and I won't hear from him again. 

@MilosCandles All things to be concerned about. Plus, he could be using stolen cards. I've sent him an initial reply. I asked him which items he was specifically interested in and the sort of quantities. If he responds, I'll just keep asking for one more little bit of information and see if he gets spooked off.  

I'm trying not to get too excited. I got this inquiry through the contact form on my website. I've never done a wholesale order and certainly not anything outside the United States. Here is a snip of the message I received. Would you be so kind to tell me if you see any red flags here? Please tell me what else I need to be concerned about. From the way I read it, he intends to pay up front and has some sort of freight consolidator that he works through in the U.S. 

I know that several of you work the wholesale end of the candle business. I could really use some guidance on how to work this deal.