SliverOfWax

I bypass this by telling them its my custom blend or a proprietary blend. If they press further, which at this point no one has, I would answer simply that I don't give out my recipes but you can find some great fragrance oils for candles on the internet.

That's pretty much my response. I say I blend my own wax and most of my fragrances are blended inhouse. I used to tell people I had a chemist friend in Dallas who did a lot of my fragrances for me (true: Taylored.)

Rarely does someone press further, but those few who did were then told all my brains were on my computer at home and I couldn't begin to even want to remember specific formulas.

No doubt we could write books on silly customers.

I once had a fairly regular customer who decided she didn't like the scent she chose. I can't remember what it was. So she brought it back, complaining that she didn't like it and wanted to trade it for something else. I asked her if it burned OK, but she said there was nothing wrong with it but the scent. Keep in mind she chose the candle in the first place.

I told her I couldn't give her a replacement for that reason since she liked it when she bought it. So she moseyed around in my shop for awhile, selected 3 or 4 more candles to buy, one of which was the exact same scent she was trying to return.

I just smiled and took her money.

OK, I gave it a whole different title. Things like this bug me, too, lolol:

I give up. It worked, then turned itself upside down again.

Let me try. It didn't work the first time. Off to try again.

I love Green Tweed. SGS had the BEST! Don't know if they still do.

Stop it! Just stop it!

I could easily get addicted to beads. I will not start...I will not start!

The same reason you attach Christmas or holiday to a fragrance name. It indicates a seasonal fragrance that you call something else any other time of the year. That fragrance name is simply marketing; there's nothing about it that reminds me of Christmas. I guess Claire Burke or Apple Jack Peel makes me think of Fall, Christmas or winter. HTH

Steve

Exactly. Noel isn't a scent. It's a word to conjure up the holidays.

don't waste your $$$$

Trust me.

That's a tough question. In my market, I used to sell 8 oz tins probably 20 to 1 over glass. I made 8 oz masons just to have glass for those who wanted it.

Then about 4 years ago, people almost immediately switched to 8 oz masons. I rarely sell tins these days.

There seemed to be no reason or explanation.

Truthfully, most of my sales now are wickless in 6 oz tureens.

All three of the above mentioned are the same price; i.e., $8.00.

I, too, have never been able to move anything over 8 oz, or anything in seasonal or fancy jars. Breaks my heart because I adore unusual containers.

Yes I should have known better. Live and learn, lol. Now I am trying to decide between two shows in a couple weeks.

One is an outdoor show with a $30 booth fee, one day event. Last year at this one I sold $300.

The second show is a churchy fall fest, no rides at all. Just crafters. Non juried though so tupperware will no doubt be there. It is only $20. But it is in a small wealthy community and the church is on the main street. Fair is inside though.

I am leaning toward the outdoor one again. What do you all think?

I would be at the inside show in a heart beat. Another type show I would never do was outside shows. NEVER! I made an exception with one huge, juried show where THEY provided the immense circus-type tents, with no chance of weather getting on stuff. And there were tent people hanging around that could have let the tent sides down to the ground if the need arose. But other than that show, my absolute rule was NO outside shows.

The small church shows were gold mines for me. Usually cheap rent, strongly supported by the local community, and people were there for one reason: to spend money.

I have never been that big on juried shows. About half of mine were juried, but it wasn't something I considered important. They were generally more expensive and a bit too formatted for me.

I considered pretty much everything, though. If there was a gathering of people, I looked into setting up a booth or table. There was a time I did shows literally every single weekend except between Christmas and NY.

My rules were:

1. No outside shows.

2. No shows with entertainment.

I did very well with those rules.

I never did shows with entertainment. People are there to be amused and let kids run loose. Not my type of venue. Sorry it didn't work for you, but not surprised. Live and learn, I guess.

I just can't give credence to a person who doesn't know how to spell "category". But that's just me.

And what does she mean, "it's just a catagory"? I assume she means it's just a product description.

In all seriousness, it's really no different when people say they make or sell tarts. TARTS is a Yank trademark. Yank legal counsel used to troll websites looking for people to whom to send Cease & Desist letters.

Cheap Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree type candles have been around for years, as have crappy home made candles. Back when I was doing craft shows, there were always vendors there trying to sell crap candles with crooked wicks in used canning jars, with no rhyme or reason applied to how they were made. Just garbage.

I don't know what's out there now, but about 3 or 4 years ago, the local oil company from which I bought wax told me they were not going to sell wax any longer because I was the only local candlemaker left standing. All their old wax customers were going out of business. I would imagine now, craft shows are full of Scentsy type, made in China stuff. They've always been evident at indiscriminate craft shows, but these days, I doubt there is much of anything 'crafty' at craft shows. Even juried shows were letting in mass produced junk a few years back. It's probably almost all junk now. I should go to one just to see. And point and laugh, lol.

Unfortunately, things are much, much different than they were 10 years ago. There was a time I thought the downward spiral was temporary. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like things aren't going to get better any time soon. I didn't expect the recession to last this long.

If you browse the 'wickless' forum, there's much information there about tarts:

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?44-Wickless

I have a permanent store at a historic Antique Market type place. Sales all year have been horrible. It's picked up a bit this month, but overall, it's so bad I'm considering closing in January. I don't want to completely close; I have to do something with myself and have to be making something, so I'll be somewhere. But my store is now a hobby instead of a business, and that's not what I want. So I'm planning on either moving to a smaller, cheaper store where I am (if one becomes available), or completely moving to a different, cheaper location.

I've been in business so long and I'm so damned old myself, lol, that, believe it or not, a lot of my regular customers are dying off. Others are moving away. And lately, business hasn't been good enough to be racking up new, repeat customers to take the place of those leaving. So I'm stuck going nowhere.

lol wouldn't that be nice to have an empty table. I'm sure I won't have to worry about that either. Especially since this is my first show and I haven't a clue what I'm doing lol.

Can anyone tell me how fabric I need?

Measure the table and buy accordingly. Make sure you measure from the floor on each side. Otherwise, your cover will look like crap.

I don't think it's too busy, but I would make the scent name larger and your url smaller. The first thing people look for is the scent. It needs to stand out.

It sounds like becoming your country's exclusive supplier might be the way to go. Sell them the best ingredients and even give lessons (for a high price). And make candles just for yourself.

Win-Win.

Stop selling supplies. Selling supplies is the same as advertising your candle ingredients.

Never, ever tell anyone what's in your candles and how it got there.

I'm pretty sure you're going to have to do what we all did: Test!

Nobody can give you a magic formula for wax or scent.

I mean, seriously, if your candles aren't as good as Yankee, you've got quite a way to go before you think about going big.

There are no magic answers.

Sounds like their calculator is off. I wouldn't pay that. I suppose if it was something I really wanted, I might email or call and ask.

That's just way too much and can't possibly be right.

Re: Consignment, do any of you do it?

No way, no how. Long ago I did consignment and the store owner moved my display to a west facing, sunny window. In the summer.

Never again.

Sounds very classy. You won't detract from your product and everything will sparkle.

Sweetcakes is a dead on dupe - love it!!

Oh, yes.......And mixed 50/50 with a good coffee, oh, my, it's possibly the best mix I ever did.

+100 on your table covering reaching the floor. Almost nothing looks tackier than table covering hanging halfway down. Or worse, halfway down and crooked.

Uber years ago I did a show where the organizer provided the tables and coverings because they wanted total uniformity. They were a very dark blue. The result was beautiful. After than show, I went to Hancocks and bought a dark blue washable felt type fabric. Just a big piece that I could put on my table and go to the floor on both sides, front, and back. A dark color won't clash with anything and will make your glass and tin sparkle.

I carried that piece of fabric around for years and years and still use it.