LilFirecracker

15 hours ago, Cynna said:

Patchouli Passion -  It's a nice enough scent, more of a perfume type, but it's a little milder than most of the patchouli types I've tried.  Not so in-your-face, kind of level with Vanilla Patchouli.  

Patchouli Passion has been out of stock since I placed that first order. I even checked last night since I'll be placing a full size order in the next week. And of course they're out of my Lavender Sage - one of my must-haves!

15 hours ago, Cynna said:

What is it with coconut scents?  It seems every one that I've tried is weak or has a funky fake/metallic tone to it.  Caribbean Coconut from Indigo is the only one I've been impressed by.  I'm anxious to try the Coconut Bay - wasn't that a Yankee Candle scent?

I'm still on the hunt! Until then, I found an amazing alternative with Exotic Coconut from Sweet Cake's. I love it - so intoxicating! It's like a soft musky coconut. The scent is strong, just the musky part is soft. 

On 3/6/2022 at 8:40 PM, TallTayl said:

All palm waxes are very different, distilled from different fractions of the palm fruit oil. They are not necessarily interchangeable, even in melts.
 

Palm stearic (stearic acid) shrinks a lot, like a pillar palm wax. 

Yeah I'm just gonna do it right and go with the palm stearic. No need for subs unless I get hard up later on down the road lol. I wish we'd have a few days of hot weather so I can test and see what my blend can withstand. 

44 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

All the stearic I’ve ever purchased has been palm derived. Triple pressed palm stearic

 

I’d  start with 1-2% and work up/down from there 

Since they both serve the same purpose I'm gonna go with the palm stearic. I was just watching all of the posts about stearic acid and came across something interesting mentioned in more than one post. It's been said that palm wax is mostly palm stearic. Even test candles made with straight palm stearic look like palm candles. Anyway, have you or do you know of anyone who has substituted palm wax for palm stearic? I would think you'd have to use more - that's if it would even work as a sub. I probably won't test that theory, just wondering if you've heard of it. 

Regular stearic and palm stearic - is there really a difference when using it as a wax hardener? I'm looking to harden my ParaCoco wax blend for the summertime heat (wax melts). Does it matter which one I use? How much per pound would normal useage be? I'm not looking for a drastic hardening, but enough to make a difference. TIA!

I'm glad people see this! I'm gonna be opening an Etsy store in a couple of months and I refuse to bow down to the typical prices everyone else charges. I've worked hard to come up with my wax combo (still tweaking) and the search for scents that'll last. I'm making melts BTW. My prices will be higher than the rest. It might deter some, but might attract some too. I read all the time about sellers raising prices and getting more business. I've also decided to not go with their free shipping gimmick and just offer a flat rate shipping. I'll be able to cover the excess if it goes over. I'm excited about it!

Survey done!

Hi Ken! Welcome to the forum! Not sure if you posted about your issue yet, but if you post it in the Veggie wax or even General Candlemaking section, someone might be able to help you! 😃

On 2/21/2022 at 7:04 AM, Michael Batstone said:

Hi All,

 

From a liquidation sale I have come into possession of an assortment of items from Candle Glass, Waxes and Fragrance Oils. Busy in the process of cataloguing but if anyone has a wish list feel free share and I can hunt stuff down.

 

Michael

 

Hi Michael! Do you have any IGI waxes? Namely 4625, 4630, 4633, and/or 4786

On 2/20/2022 at 4:49 PM, birdcharm said:

I wonder if you can call it "Pinkish Sugar" ... and for the other example in this thread "Cleanish Cotton"  ... sort of joking.  😉

LOL that's funny... Wonder if that would work? 🤣

On 2/19/2022 at 7:08 AM, asr said:

I actually had a positive experience as a new seller on Etsy. I have been selling crochet items for years locally but finally started on Etsy last fall. I use Pirate Ship and pretty much as soon as I pay for the label it is marked as shipped within Etsy with the tracking. I received all the notices from Etsy in the beginning about how they would hold my money, but in my case they usually released within 3 days. 
 

I like your idea of working on your own website along with Etsy. You can always list a few items on Etsy and see how it goes for you. The traffic is certainly nice…wishing you luck! 

Thank you! 😃 I know it'll take some time and a lot of effort, but I'm very determined. And stubborn! 

16 hours ago, Cynna said:

I've been hit with "copyright infringement" notices on Etsy more times than I can count.  It's frustrating - if an oil manufacturer doesn't indicate it's a trademarked name, how are you supposed to know that?  I got hit for Clean Cotton, which I thought was the most ridiculous one of all.  I also got hit for one that had "type" in the listing too so I'm not so sure that always works and Etsy never gave me a straight answer when I challenged them on that, so this is what I do - name it something similar but in your tags use the original name that way if someone's looking for Pink Sugar your listing for Pink Diamonds will still come up.  Use the heck out of the tags, every variation of the product/name as you can.  It works.  Even just spelling it slightly different gets you off the hook, too.  Kinda like all those designer perfume knock-offs that were popular in the '90's.

 

FYI - don't ever use Cuban and Tobacco in the same listing on Etsy.  They don't even check to see what the product is, they just immediately deactivate it.  

LOL yeah I imagine Cuban & tobacco go over well there lol. Sorry you got hit with all the IP dings. And you've had no problems using it in tags? I've read in other forums that they'll get you there too. I'll give it a shot, but the first IP infringement I get hit with, they're all gonna be gone! Already I'm worried about just opening because I'm seeing so many stories of people opening and getting suspended right away. CS takes forever and you can only go thru email. Then they don't know why it was suspended, it was done by the bots that troll the new accounts, and magically reinstate their store. Then there's the reserves they're putting on new accounts. They're suppose to release it once you enter the tracking number, but for a lot of sellers it's not being done. That worries me because I'm gonna need that money to reinvest in supplies. Guess I'll take it as it comes and as I say....just roll with the punches. I'm gonna make it a point to work on my own website and try to sell elsewhere also - just in case. Thanks so much for letting me know of your experience. 

This is why I'm not too keen on the idea of even brushing mica on the outside of melts. Nobody wants that all over their hands when they're trying to put some in their warmer. I feel like coloring your wax with regular dye then using just a small amount of mica mixed in with the wax just for shimmer is much better. 

1 hour ago, GoldieMN said:

Where did you find those bottom bags?  Oops, found them on Amazon.

GoldieMN

Yep! That's where I first found them. I saw them somewhere else too but I can't remember where. Might've been on Etsy. 

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

I usually start on Amazon and back track to the originating company. And then Google the search terms and tags used in Amazon listings. 
 

papermart has a nice assortment of packaging.  And NashvilleWraps. Clear bags.com sometimes has interesting ideas.
 

the Pioneer Woman brand has fancy tins with little forms inside that were cute. Too much work for the $5 price tag they had, but cute.

 

Lots of cute packaging uses common scrapbook paper to jazz things up. A super creative friend of mine can take a clearance bin scrapbook paper stack and turn it into top $ packaging for pennies.  I’ve long been envious of how her magical brain works. Her profit margins made me green 🎁😂

 

I was looking at those same bags at the bottom. I can't remember what it was but there was something...maybe what it's made of...that made me take a few steps back. I'm loving the paper wrapping idea except for the face that there's really nothing for them to store the remainder in. Trying to look at it from all angles - that's why I'm being so picky LOL!!!

I'm still thinking about the glassine - but I can't seem to find all the sizes I'd need in one place. I was also thinking of just regular crisp clear cello bags, but they don't have the 2x2 that I need for samples. I'd like to have everything in the same material. 

On 2/13/2022 at 9:27 AM, TallTayl said:

How about heavy/thick paper? Perhaps  foil on one side like high end chocolate? A sticker or paper wrap could be lovely. 

or tuck top boxes?

https://www.papermart.com/p/natural-kraft-tuck-top-gift-boxes/5480

 

 

I really, REALLY thought long and hard about wrapping them in some kind of paper. But then I thought about the time it takes, making sure it's neat enough - then wondering how tacky the back of it would look because it would take more than one sticker to hold it. There's quite a few that I see on Etsy that I wish I could see what the back looks like because the bags seem to fit a little too perfect. Do you have any places in mind for me to look for the paper you were talking about? I'd still like to check into that. 

As for the boxes, they'd be too big for the bars individually. I do have plans for a special item I'll be packaging in the black gloss boxes. I'll be using the black 8oz and maybe the 16oz tins from Hearts & Crafts. I fell in love with those the minute I saw them and knew they would look way better than the regular tins for a more upscale product. 

On 2/11/2022 at 7:38 AM, TallTayl said:

 Do you have brands that speak to you to see how well their melt packaging appeals to buyers? 

I've looked at numerous other Etsy stores. Hard to find any packages in glassine bags. I think I only found one. Everyone else's is in poly bags. I'd like to be different, but at the same time I want it to look classy also. When it comes to those packages in poly bags, it comes down to the labeling where I see the difference. Some just look tacky. Others look really classy for poly bags. I really wish I could think of something different and "outside of the box" without it being too costly. I'm hoping something will pop into my head in the future. I've never really been a creative person, but the creative juices have been flowing overtime this past year! Making up for all those years of nothing I guess! 🤣

@TallTayl Thank you! Until I figure something else out I'll probably do something similar to the "compare to" scenario and just roll with the punches! 

5 hours ago, ShelleyF said:

These have a metallic front and back. They have a clear window but the sides are metallic and the backs are as well. They come in several sizes for each color. They would definitely be big enough for snap bars it's just a lot of people use the cheapest bags they can find. These are much nicer than what most people use.

Yep...same ones I was thinking of. 

5 hours ago, barbaranj said:

Tough decision!  Good luck!  If you decide on glassine, I would love to see how you package/label it! 

Will do!😃

5 hours ago, barbaranj said:

Have you seen these?   I posted this last month 

 

 

Hi Barbara! Yes I've seen those. I don't want to use clamshells though. I already have a couple ofmolds picked out to use, just making a decision between Polypro and glassine for the bags. 😃

I understand that when selling, you should be renaming trademarked scents. When selling online (ex: your own Etsy store) how do you make it known to potential customers that THIS particular scent is the one they're wanting when they're searching for... Let's say Pink Sugar. If you rename it Pink Diamonds, they will never know that this is actually what they're looking for unless they read the item description and you explain it in there. Because of having to rename it, if this potential customer gets on and does a search for Pink Sugar wax melts, you're kinda S.O.L. even if you would show up in search because they're not seeing Pink Sugar, they're seeing Pink Diamonds. 

How are we as sellers suppose to handle this? Are we allowed to say "Pink Sugar dupe" in the title? Or something to that effect? Mine will be called "twins" but it all amounts to the same thing. I'm just at a loss how to handle all of the dupes that people will be specifically searching for that will never be found if they're having to be renamed without any reference to the original by B&BW, VS, etc....

Those who choose to follow the rules, how do we make this work for us? Thank you so very much for any insight you can give me. This has really been worrying me to the point where I get anxiety over it. No joke....

11 hours ago, Karen Ov said:

I would like the polypro bags better.

I'm kinda leaning more in that direction too. I just have to play around and figure out how to package them with no smears from the wax showing! The glassine bags would hide that! No matter which one I search for on different websites, I can't find all of the sizes I will need all in one place!

5 hours ago, ShelleyF said:

I would love the metallic bags at Clear Bags. I use them. They come in several colors. 

Are you talking about the stand up zip bags that can be heat sealed and are clear in front with the metallic back? If those are the ones you're talking about, I've never really seen anyone use them for packaging snap-bars. I've seen them used for small shapes/mini-melts. 

It's me again.... 

If you would be a buyer of melts on Etsy, would you prefer your snap-bars packaged in Polypro zip bags or glassine bags? Which one looks nicer, more of a high-end type of look given the right labels and all? I'd love to hear your opinions!