Bernadette

I have shrinkwrap bags that I've purchased in different sizes, from three different sources. I use them quite a bit as I ship everything, and they really assist products from getting "bruised" during shipping.

I never noticed until recently how bad these things smell! Terrible chemical type smell. So a couple of months ago, I shrinkwrapped a couple of great smelling products and left them until a couple of days ago. After shrinkwrapping, all you could smell is the chemical smell. Taking the shrinkwrap off, letting them sit for less than 1/2 hour - they smelled wonderful again, thank god.

Although no customer has ever complained about it, I hate to think of someone getting their package, opening it, picking up the product for a whiff, and smelling that icky chemical smell.

Does anyone else use these? Do they have an odor before,during, and after shrinking? Does anyone have a supplier who's shrink bags don't have this odor? TIA:tiptoe:

Yes, it's their Citronella FO. And I should have added, it works on any biting insect, including black flies! I've used this FO for 3 years now in the Adirondack Mts. of upstate NY and our deck has been a delight...:smiley2:

Rustic Essentials/Aroma Haven....

Mosquitoes love me! I use a 3 wick, large tin(16 oz.) with citronella that I make at our second home in the woods, and we don't see a mosquito anywhere. Doesn't smoke, and actually smells good. It's RE/AH citronella)

Wow...if these are your first attempts, I forsee you becoming a master at these one day soon.

What a cool candle. I would love to try making one of those from palm. Now talk about wicking nightmares, add palm into the equation and double your nightmares. I guess I like a challenge

Speaking of interesting candles. Sometime ago, someone posted pics of a candle that was only about 1/2 inch wide, but long and tall, and somewhat wavy shape. The wick was lit and then it branched off utill it met a joic and then there was two wicks burning, etc. Does that make any sense and can anyone recall the website that it was shown on. I have tried searching but for the life of me cannot find it on here or on the web, but they were also some really interesting candles.

Funny you said that, Richard, that's what I was thinking about too. I can't remember the name of that company, but I do remember they were in Germany.

I'm glad to see they went after others. Remember this: http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?98808-Huge-fire-personal-injury-hazard&highlight==

This product type should never have made the market.

Thank you Noodle. It was obvious that he did not like my candles. I know I was way off on scent, but he did not like anything about them :-) I have read some of his posts on other thread and he has immediately let everyone know that he does not like a lot of advise that is given on this forum and seems to be here to give his great input since he has been making candles for so long. I hope that he does it with a less abrasive approach in the future. At my age, I have learned to have a pretty thick skin, but some of our newer people may be intimidated by his constructive criticism .

Whisper Girl, I, too, have been making candles for over 15 years. They have mostly been gels. I was a powerseller, then top rated seller on ebay until I went totally with my website, which is my only selling venue now, and my business is full time and growing. For the past 6 years I've also been selling regular wax candles too, but still, all the candles I make are custom made to order. That includes colors and scents. Not everyone has the same taste, and if I told you some of the color combos and fragrance choices people choose to go with them, I'm sure alot of people would HATE them. Me too, lol, but you never know what people will like. Personally, I think your candles are lovely, and I'm impressed that the layers are arranged so well in that type jar. Keep it up the good work and follow your creative voice.

Since this website question was raised in 2005, I somehow think its been settled after six years...:tiptoe:

You know what's disgusting? You go to the other "thefts" she's done, posted by islandgirl, and they're still there! Evidently, the others haven't intimidated her enough. What a lowlife!:tiptoe:

It has to be a New Mexico, USA thing too then. I can't compete with tealights. When Walmart sells a bag of 100 for a few dollars, there is no way to compete on a smaller scale.

This may be true, but I'm starting to see people swing to the handmade. The formula for Walmart tealights has changed and they don't burn even 3 hours sometimes. I ran out of time to make as many as I wanted for our vacation home so bought a bag of those Walmart ones. What a jip! Some don't have tins, some don't have wicks!!! Most of the wicks in this bag are twice as long as normal tealight wicks and have to be trimmed. On a couple, the wicks have fallen over and drown out! I had heard alot of this from customers but couldn't believe it. Now I know it's true. A real waste of money....:tiptoe:

Have you ever planned a wedding?

Well...I've learned one thing...I will never make a post when "on the road" again.:tiptoe: Not enough time to post properly.

To answer your question...yes, my own, my son's and my daughter's, plus I work with several dozen wedding planners across the country. I work with many brides and their mothers directly. I was a power seller on eBay for years until they went wacky, but my online business has grown and I do this full time every day of the year, including Christmas and New Year's(and yes, I do get orders on those days), for 15 years now.

I have been on an annual summer shutdown since 7/15 thru mid September. I and my husband are currently driving from the desert southwest to New England, making larger deliveries along the way. I have very little access to the internet (only when we stop at night basically, on an unsecured network).

When this person placed their order, all they did was order a quantity of items, and specify color. They did not say they were for a wedding. I happened to be online within 2 minutes of the order coming thru. That's when I sent the first email, and what I didn't say before, was I also called her immediately but upon getting her voice mail, told her the website was shutdown for shipping at the moment, left my number and asked her to call me.She never did. When I received her email the following morning, she said she needed them by 8/20. I emailed her right back that I would have to cancel the order then because I could not get them to her until after 9/11. In an effort to provide good customer service, I cancelled her order and refunded her card, then immediately emailed her back telling her that I had done so. She replied to the refund notice with 9/11 was fine. I did not see her reply until I had access later on in the day, so I emailed her she would have to place the order again if she wanted them still, and explained why I had cancelled her order so quickly. I was away with limited access, and wanted her to be able to get them by her original need date of 8/20 from somewhere else. She has never said they were for a wedding, shower, or any other occasion. Since she will not/has not called me back, and since in my 15 years of doing this, I've had made to order products cancelled after they are made with cancellation charges passed to me by the processor, I was trying to provide the best service I could without knowing her situation, and without charges to me for refunding her card(which I get once the payment clears).

I've never had this problem before. Most brides, their moms, wedding planners, even businesses, prefer to talk to someone about their order anyway. They are way to nervous about them. That's why I suggested to someone else that they put a phone number on their site. In the week before I shutdown, I got 2 orders alone - one from a catering company, another from a country club - that totalled over 1K. I prefer to talk to brides, their moms, and wedding planners especially because they are really stressed over that special day. I understand this.

It looks very nice, but if you want to sell to people you don't know that find you on the web, you're going to have to add some information about your company. I only looked quickly, but if it's not there, I doubt you'll get many sales. Think about it...without it, a potential customer might not place an order because it would be like putting money in a black hole. In this economy, very few are willing to buy from someone they know absolutely nothing about.

You need some kind of company info, and a phone number with hours for calling. A contact form isn't enough. Everything else looks great.

I hope I can stop shaking my head long enough to write this.....

My website is open for order placement, but not shipping, until September, as I'm on summer shutdown, miles and miles away from the shop. (Good move this year with the incredible heat everywhere...not good for shipping meltable candles). I've done this every year for 10 years and never had any problems. There's a box at the top of every page you click on, on the site that gives the dates of summer shutdown, and states that orders placed during this time will be shipped beginning mid September.

Well, Wednesday, I get this order for products that traditionally have been purchased for weddings, so I thought I'd better email the customer and ask when they needed them. Early yesterday I receive a reply that she needs them by 8/20, so I write her back and tell her I was sorry she did not see at the top of the page that I was shutdown, miles from the shop, and would immediately cancel her order and refund her credit card so she could purchase them elsewhere and get them in time. So I cancel the order, refund the credit card, and email her that I have done so, so she would know it was taken care of. Then this morning, I get a reply to my cancellation email that September shipment is fine. Huh? You said you needed them 8/20, I told you I would have to cancel your order because I couldn't fill it by then, and cancel it. And you reply to your cancellation notice with "okay, September deliver is fine"?

What am I missing here? A customer places an order that I can't fill when they say they need it. I cancel it immediately so they can place their order somewhere where they can get them in time, providing the best customer service I can while on vacation. Then I get an email saying September is fine..... :tiptoe:

Like I said, I've never wholesaled soap, mainly because I don't just do soap bars per se. They are all novelty type items that are different colored soap parts or painted using mica and other colorants. This particular item I have no problem selling on my website, and do give quantity price breaks to many people who buy for baby showers or birthday parties, but wholesale...guess not. These are not available anywhere else. It was a special mold I had made for these, and there is alot of labor.

Thanks for the replys...I know they would sell for alot more in a store.

I make a line of novelty guest sized soaps that I sell in sets. I have one set of a specialty animal that people love. I sell them in sets of 5 and each soap weighs one ounce. Each soap has the eyes,mouth, ears, nose, and since the animal is sitting, the pad and toes of each foot painted. Really rather labor intensive. Anyway, they are packaged in a clear box on top of the paper filler, and look like the guest soap sets you used to be able to purchase in drug stores years ago. I sell them for $7.50 a set. Years ago, the drug stores sold these for $10.00ea.(and I'm talking at least 16 years ago). Anyway, although I don't do wholesale, I have had a request this week from someone that wants to buy them wholesale. She owns a soap shop.

I'm trying to wrap my head around this...when I look at the cost of supplies(as I don't buy huge quantities of anything for price breaks, as everything is made to order and I have a huge selection), labor and time,etc., I feel these are already priced at today's wholesale. $7.50 a set isn't even 2x my cost. Probably why I've never offered wholesale on these...

So am I missing something or do you think she's being a bit unreasonable? I'm so confused on this one. I have no problem selling these for $7.50 set.

Yes, glass or tile. We'll be using tile I think.

I've also seen these sold with the option of a display stand. Very pretty.

I do know that PayPal, Propay, Authorize.net, and eBay sent notices out to everyone last year that this was going to be required on the >$20,000 - 200 transactions thing. I think it was toward the end of last year.:tiptoe:

I do a lot of international USPS shipping and it is a pain but it can be simplified. I will write in the first section the basics of what it is, like for instance i would have just said candles. Then list it as quantity "1" and the weight van be fudged since there is always the extra for packing materials. It doesn't have to be perfect. Then just give the value for the whole lot. If you send multiple items internationally in a flat rate box they only give you 5 lines but you can cram a bunch of abbreviated names in each line. I've just learned how to make it work.

I do alot of international shipping too using the flat rate boxes. I can do those custom forms in my sleep, but this was Global Express Guaranteed(GXG). The forms are completely different, as Fedex and USPS are partners for this service, and the customs forms are actually almost that same as Fedex exactly. Almost anywhere in the world they guarantee delivery in 1-5 business days, as they go thru a Fedex run customs office. There are far more requirements on their forms, and very little you can fudge.:tiptoe:

Other than Candle Science which is a good 3hr trip for me one way does anybody have any recommendations for a wax supplier ? I have searched high and low and nothing but Candle Science. They do have the best price that I have found on IGI 4627 but would love to save the shipping cost and pick up directly. Surely there has to be something in the Charlotte area....

Thanks again for any help.

Gee, darrell, I can't help you, as I live over 1000 miles away, but I wish I had that problem... If I want to pick up wax, no matter which direction I go - north, nothing south, east or west - it's a two day drive. Oh yeah, I could go to Michaels, but that's it.:tiptoe:

Polarity is a chemical term that describes how well a compound dissolves in water. It has to do with electron sharing in bonds. Polar compounds dissolve very well in water, because water is very polar. Nonpolar compounds do not dissolve in water. Hydrocarbon-rich compounds are non-polar.

To make gel candles one needs non-polar fragrances to mix with the gel. Aroma Haven lists whether or not their FOs are gel safe (for most of them). Moonworks lists it too. I am not sure if other place do.

I have been making gels for 15 years now, and I highly recommend that you test each bottle of fragrance you purchase for polarity. Several times I received supposed "non polar" fragrances that did not pass the test. Not to say anything bad about non polar fragrance suppliers, as I'm sure their suppliers change things on them from time to time without telling them. Both Aroma Haven and Natures Garden have the testing procedure on their websites.:tiptoe:

LOVE the responses!:yay:Really made me chuckle......but seriously, how could a seller list junk like this under their candle burning tips. I forgot to mention that besides food candles, she makes regular pillar, jar, votive, taper, etc. candles. Her food candles look terrific, but obviously she hasn't tested the burn-all the way to the end-or has, and can't figure out how to make them so they don't melt into a puddle after the first few minutes. Food candles can be very time consuming, especially if you make all the components and don't buy any of them. You have to make different components with different additives, sometimes different waxes, and the wicking can take many tests to get them to burn properly. I make a whole line of these and I even had a supplier of the wax components to make hamburger/cheeseburger candles, as well as the candles themselves, ask me how I put the bun, lettuce,hamburg, cheese, tomato, onion, etc. together so they are "one" candle and not just "pieces" stacked on top of each other. I guess if a supplier can't figure out and test items, how can you expect a seller to do it? No wonder candles "fall flat" if pieces of wax are just stacked on top of each other instead of being one solid piece. I've gone thru hundered of lbs. of different wax and countless hours of testing to develop a safe candle and can't understand indifference. What happened to American quality? It really is sad.

And then to include pillars in that tinfoil nonsense...and what's that junk about tapers? Huh? (still shaking head...)

If there was $250,000 in damages, there's a whole lot more to the story that the media left out to make it more sensational. They do that a lot.

I think you read my post wrong...this is 2 separate incidents. The $250,000 damage was a different thread a couple of months ago where someone left a fragranced candle burning in their closet to freshen the air and the flame caught the clothes on fire. By the time they discovered the fire, it had burned thru the roof. The one where the lady died happened last night.

I've been scoping out online competition today, and can't believe some of the nutsy things sellers put on their sites, but this was the best:

"If any or all of a candle is not in a container, wrap it tightly with tinfoil leaving only the top open for lighting. Make sure to place the candle on a burn safe surface that will catch any drips. Make sure the tinfoil does not touch any part of the candle flame. By doing this your candle will burn 4 to 5 times longer! If you do not do this your candle will fall flat when burned. The types of candles that need the tinfoil wrapped around them include pies, ice cream splits, tops of old-fashioned milkshakes, parfaits, sundaes, cheesecakes, cakes, and any other candle taller than its container. Place tapers at least 2" apart to avoid side blowouts."

WTF?! Obviously this seller doesn't want to make a proper candle. Who wants their candle wrapped in tinfoil when they're burning it? I mean, half the pleasure is viewing the candle! Simply mind boogling...:tiptoe: