VerticallyEnhanced

I really hope he comes through for you today. We have all been there...live and learn, huh?

From the original post: That does not strike you as being shady?

So let's hope this is the only downer of the show season. I told my husband tonight "Is it horrible for me to say I cannot wait for Christmas to be over?" Or at least maybe 12/23.

How horrible!!!! I have to agree: He sounds too shady to me. Sorry you are having to deal with this!!

I had to revive this thread. I met Jim yesterday and not only was he just a joy to meet and visit with, he is a heck of a business man. He knows his stuff and it seems like he knows how to treat customers. He was nice enough to let me walk in and place my order right there. I was expecting to just go sniff then have to place an order later, but he graciously filled it for me on the spot. I got the Chili (so dead on...I am crossing my fingers that it will throw in soy!), Texas Cedar (my husband drooled over it OOB which is kind of uncommon for him), Chipotle Cracked Pecans and then one that I totally did NOT expect to walk out with, Apple Honey. It was AMAZING OOB. Again, cannot wait to get them all in wax. Bottom line, given the treatment I received yesterday, if the products are good, then katy bar the door.

You are kidding! I was thinking of testing this wax because I heard it was a hot pour soy. Grrrrrrrr I could save SO much time with a hot pour.

I just got a KY order in and bought some of this to test. I was just coming here to search to see if it had a soy throw and saw this tread. I LOVE it out of the bottle...anxious to test it!

If you state considers shipping charges taxable then that usually goes for any delivery fees. If I charged $5 to drive a case of candles a mile away, that would also be a taxable delivery fee. Again, check with your state, but from what I have seen, if they tax "shipping" it applies to all delivery options.

Glad it worked out, and I bet you earned a loyal customer with the way you handled it. You know...as careful as we are, we have to realize some user error can come into place on our part, too. I try to be very careful when wicking, but I would not put it past myself in having wicked a bazillion jars to have possibly gotten a wrong size wick in there at some point. Or heck...our wick suppliers getting something mixed up when putting wicks in a bag for an order.

I am still smiling. Great show...greatgreatgreat! I did spend practically all day in bed on Sunday, though. I was SO beat!!!!!

You go Rockin....and Scented too! What a team!! You are like Bonnie & Clyde, Adam & Eve, Bogie & Bacall, Napoleon & Josephine, Captain & Tennille, Fred & Ginger, Jack & Jill, Robin Hood & Maid Marian, Spanky & Darla, Mork & Mindy, Ozzie & Harriet (do you get the idea?)

I think I just had a mild panic attack for you! I knew it was going to be big, but I did not know it would be OH MY HELL big!

Oh my....amazing, amazing, AMAZING show. I was worried given my last two shows being so much lower than normal. I kid you not...it was constant today...I don't think I stopped moving, wrapping, making change all day. I did not sit down once except for when I ran across the street to take a potty break. My neighbors were nice enough to make me drinks and just set them near me...lol. I do three really big shows a year and this one has always been a great one. I didn't even get to walk around...I think there was one other candle person there from what others told me. Anyway, I am BEYOND freaking exhausted and all I want is a bath and bed!!!! I think a foot rub would be better than hanky panky right now. I bet I could toss a $20 at my hubby and talk him into it...lol. (Kidding...I betcha he would do it for free.) I am already salivating about the supplies I am going to buy on Monday...lol.

First show since April and I always love this one! Mainly b/c of my neighbors. They are two brothers who own a company which is not at all arts and crafts, but they network. They are big members of the chamber and are always a sponsor, so they give them a booth. I think this is my fifth (???) year next to them. Anyway, they are a RIOT and we have so much fun. I get an email from them this week: :laugh2:Oh Lordy... Last year this was a great show for me. I hope I am too busy again to partake of the low-calorie beverages with them. The show I did in April was a slow one, so I am anxious about this one. The best part is this one is local. My hubby and his friend have been down there since 5 setting up. I just get to roll up with the candles. Life is grand!

If you want a year round one, you can call it Welcome Home

When I go into the post office to ship order, they all play "Guess what the candle lady has been making today" based on the aroma cloud I am surrounded by. I ALWAYS carry cards. I am seriously thinking of getting work tshirts made up that say "All these stains on my shirt are from making candles, but I smell good!" I was Target the other night and I had been making Hillbilly Homebrew during the day. I had spilled a tad bit on my tshirt so I was throwing out some major HH stench. So this man is like following me. At first I thought it was just my imagination, but nope, there he was again. He comes up to me and finally said "I am so sorry, this may sound weird, but you smell good. Not like a perfume good, but like a food good." I just started laughing because it was so abserd and the look on his face was priceless. I explained, gave him a card and his wife emailed me lastnight and bought four of the candles. Her subject line read "My husband smelled you at Target." I flipping busted a gut!!!!!!! I have been known to dab pink sugar on my wrist before I go to my Weight Watchers meeting. I network in line for the scale and have been pretty darn successful. You can imagine what Pink Sugar does to a line full of very hungry people who have been fasting most of the day because they have to weigh in!

Did you tell the parents that the reason the candles were not delivered was because the SPONSOR totally dropped the ball? What a headache!!!

I am lucky in that I have a friend who owns a business and if they want to pick up, he handles that for me. I bag them up and put the invoice on it, they pay him and then he gives it to me. It works out great because he is there from early in the morning until 6 p.m., so I am not trying to work my schedule around a customer's schedule. I "pay" him for his trouble with candles. I used to allow people to come over and grab orders but I had a pretty frightening experience a couple of years ago. I actually got to the point where I talked to a police officer about it (our friend is the chief of police, so it was not like I filed a formal complaint, I just picked up the phone and called him at home, lol), and he said I might want to think about a restraining order. The whole thing kind of died, and that was it. So bottom line, for liability reasons and safety reasons, I just don't think it is a good idea.

So my fear would be the following phone call: My kid ate your candle. He thought is was candy, dug a spoon in it and ate part of it. Of course we go through our kid's candy with a fine toothed comb, but other parents might not. I agree with Jeff...hand it to the parents explaining it is a treat for them. That keeps the glass outta the kid's bag.

Good luck!!! I hope you do woooooonderfully! I love being able to set up the night before...takes so much of the stress off of the morning of the show!

I have a "one per zip code" courtesy with my wholesale accounts. I am very lucky in that the stores which I wholesale with represent my line very well (advertising, etc.) so I return the favor. It is a good rule to have in there and show the account when you are approaching them.

When I read your first post, all I could think about was the news story I saw about a coffee shop which was called something *similar* to Starbucks. When I say similar, it was a stretch! Starbucks went after was the owners last name, and he had been in business for yearrrrrrrs, way before Starbucks hit the market. I am not sure of his last name, but it was something that contained part of the Starbucks name, but again, not anything like it. Maybe something like Starman's coffee or Rosebuck's Coffee. Anyway, Starbucks sued and freaking won. I agree with getting an attorney. I would not communicated with them at all until I do so, and I would send all communication via certified mail. Just my opinion...

Verrrrrry cool! I am happy for you and hope it brings you exactly what you need. I recently had similar press and it has proven to be somewhat of a double edge sword. I average about 50 hits on my site each day, but in the three days after the article, I had a total of 7,000 hits. I literally had to take a pill. It has been amazing but at the same time, I am not able to keep up. I have sourced out some of the work but I am still getting about 3-4 hours of sleep a night. It is a good problem to have, but be prepared! Oh, if you have a website check with your server provider about bandwidth usage, how much you have, and how much you might need to cover a ton of traffic. Ask me how I know.

I saw you were from Texas, so keep in mind the following just applies to Texas Tax Laws. Since your wholesale account will be reselling your items, they do not pay you the tax because they will ultimately be collecting the tax when they sell the item. You get them to fill out a resale certificate. www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxforms/01-339.pdf The certificate must be properly completed, which means basically all items filled in (taxpayer number, date, address, description of goods sold, etc.). You are required keep this certificate on file for at least four years. Each time you sell to this particular taxpayer, you don't need to them to fill out a resale certificate each time. You can keep this first one on file and it is referred to as a "blanket resale certificate". When four years is up, if you are still doing business with this taxpayer, you get them to fill out another one, keep it for four years, and so on.... Whenever you are buying supplies which will be incorporated into your finished product and transferred to the customers (be it a wholesale account or a retail sale), you can issue a resale certificate for those items. You would fill it out with your information and issue it to them. Everything that is incorporated can be purchased under a resale certificate (wicks, wax, jars, soap ingredients, silicone, glue, ribbon, labels, etc.). If it is handed to the customer as part of your product, it can be purchased under a resale certificate. You can also issue an exemption certificate for items you use to manufacture you products. There are some limitations, however. The manufacturing exemption applies to machinery or equipment that causes a physical or chemical change in a product in order to make it saleable. The manufacturing process generally begins with the first activity that changes raw materials or ingredients and ends with the packaging of the tangible personal property as it will be sold. Example of things that would be exempt: wax melter, soap mold, stick blender, heat gun, etc. There is an exception to this, however. "Hand tools" are not exempt. Examples of hand tools would be whisks, spatulas, hammers, etc. The exemption certificate can also be found at the same link I posted above. Here is a good link for info on mfg equipment: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxpubs/tx94_124.html Confused? lol... It is all at times overwhelming.

I have an initial wholesale order minimum of $450 and a minimum reorder of $200. the good thing is that most of my reorders lately have been more than my minimum, so I be happy! I also have guidelines on how many of each scent. they ahve to order at least four or more of each scent, so I am not getting a $450 order for "one of this one and one of that one and one of this one, etc." Kimberly will be so proud of me...she has been trying to get me to do more wholesale instead of shows, but I was just in that "But I make more per candle at a show!" But you know what, in the past two weeks, I have made more on wholesale orders than I would at a big show...and I did not have to travel, set up, sit outside for two days and tear down. I am slooooooowly coming around. Don't sell yourself short. If you undercut but a lot, then it is too hard to go in and change.