soapmom25

I'm confused ... if the candles are small enough to fit 10 of them in the large flat rate box, then some of the numbers being tossed around in this thread don't make sense to me. Wholesale/bulk orders ARE expensive to ship, and a wholesaler and wholesale buyer are used to this ~ it's all part of it. I cringe at what I pay to ship in soap, but nothing I can do. I need it, and I can't pick it up. I would much sooner trust UPS insured packages on a wholesale order than a dozen PM boxes, but that's me. Others have the opposite opinion.

I don't like having the word "sick" in it LOL ~ I'd spell it without the K

that's not a bad price, but it doesn't look very dark either, so if you use that to color other soaps it'll be considerably lighter. I guess it would just depend on what you want to make We had considered a long time ago about adding "colored logs/bricks" to our line for people that just like our color but didn't need/want our shapes & designs, so maybe there is a market for this The dyes are messy, I'll give you that ~ blech ~ I'm quite often "spotted" by the end of the day LOL

I haven't seen pre-colored in a long time except for like small 1 lb. blocks that are super concentrated color in clear soap meant to be chuncked up for bigger batches. Do you not have dyes, or just want a certain color that you can't make?

I've tried many, many different suppliers for M&P including SFIC and I've yet to find one that doesn't dry out my skin! WSP actually makes me break out in a rash, so I can't use theirs at all even though it was one of the more moist ones I've come across. I go through a boat load of lotion to counteract me constantly working with the M&P. For personal use, I don't even use soap ~ BBW shower gel is the best thing for me. I like CP soaps, but I don't make them, and most I've bought just smell too "soapy" for me ~ I'm just hooked on the BBW scents

when I mix in the TD, I usually let the batch cool before cutting it again to put in molds, and I very often just cut off the part that "settles" (the unincorporated TD) and just throw it away. I rarely even use the stuff because I hate it so much! I have found that if I blend it with glycerin first, it's better, but I still hate it. Technically all white soap is just clear with TD added, but there are definitely differences!!

sounds like it! when I'm short on white and mix in my TD this happens. Sometimes I have to melt the stuff with TD 2-3 times before it fully incorporates. I personally hate the stuff (try TD) the foam is likely from them pouring hot and fast and possibly from well above the box. When I make batches of soap I'll do 20-25 lbs. of a color at a time and when I pour them into my tubs to store them I get the foam top too. No big deal, it blends right in when cut again to be molded.

broaden your search .... search for baking tubes for decorative breads & cakes and see what you come up with. I haven't looked for quite some time, but back when I was considered this, I found several fun shaped. I have probably a dozen column molds, mostly plastic and 1 or 2 metal that I ended up boxing up and literally never use, but for the life of me I can't remember where I bought them so you could look there. I have a crescent moon, star, a couple different sized flowers & butterflies, and I don't really even remember what else. Also check for clay molds ~ maybe even raid your kids playdoh tub if you have one, they used to make really cool playdoh tube shapes LOL

why wouldn't they just have us all collect the tax for the area WE are in, just as if we were a retail store?

just buy a fluffy robe and wear it backward ... same concept!

my order from them came in 5 flat rate boxes. I personally didn't want it that way (P.O. doesn't deliver to my house since I'm in a small town, so I had to go pick it up), so I don't see why they wouldn't ship to you in 2 flat rate boxes ... Unless you're ordering something that just won't fit that way. I ordered 5 of the 20 lb. blocks, so each was in it's own box. BTW ... update on my situation throughout this thread .... the ingredients were listed on the outside of the boxes, and I totally missed it! I'm used to papers being inside and never even paid attention to the outside of the box until they emailed me back. About the blue "clear" soap ... I haven't melted it alone to see if in fact it does melt to clear, but it definitely gave my yellow soaps a gray tint. Their white is very creamy too, so I'm not sure that's ever going to work for me ~ I need a "snow white". When I talked to them about the blue dye in the clear soap they said they actually have a yellow tinted clear soap too, but got feedback that it turns some colors an orange tint, so they now add blue to counteract that. They said they may offer a choice in the future. Neither are CLEAR, but at least you might be able to choose between yellow tinted or blue tinted. As PA mentioned, they did also say they're working on a "super clear", but said it will have a whitish cast/tint.

Not sure what others will experience, but the 5 blocks that I ordered have ZERO labels or ingredients list with them. Priority Mail boxes were lined with plastic (like Saran Wrap) and the soap was poured in the box to fill it. You can tell it was done this way because of the way the plastic is folded and stuck in the soap. I doubt that I'll be ordering from them again. I cut a hunk off the white and set it next to the white I currently use, and it's "ivory" in my mind. Not a bright white at all. That's exactly why I stopped using SFIC as well because the white just wasn't white enough.

ok, here's a picture of a hunk cut from the block of CLEAR soap. I wish I had kept the sample to show the difference.

mine's not clear ... all 3 blocks are an off white color. I'll try melting a small chunk and see if I can smell the difference.

I do see that NOW, but I definitely don't remember it being there when I ordered, and it definitely didn't show in the sample (1 lb.) that they sent me. I'll try taking a picture later and see if I can upload it ... it's far from a "slight blue tint" The other thing I'm baffled about is that the 1 lb. sample was pretty solid, but this block is so soft that I'm cutting right through it ... I really, really think something is wrong with this batch. Any clues how to tell their WHITE from their NATURAL? I ordered both, and the blocks aren't marked. They look identical to the naked eye. I thought the natural might be more creamy looking, but they look the same to me. (and yes, I've emailed them about every issue I've stated here ~ they have not yet responded)

I just received my order, and I'm not very happy. I've never ordered from EBC before, but ironically had just gotten "samples" from them a few weeks ago, and then happened to read on here about their sale. The samples seemed nice, so I went ahead and ordered 40 lbs. white, 40 lbs. clear, and 20 lbs. natural. I always try to order 100 lbs. of soap if possible for the UPS discount. First issue was they shipped the soap in 5 separate boxes via Priority Mail. I'm sure they meant well by doing so, thinking it might save me a bit of shipping $$, but they never asked me if that was ok. I had specifically selected UPS on my shopping cart. I have a UPS daily pick-up, so they're at my house every single day. Since I'm in a small town though, our mail does NOT deliver at home and the post office has short hours because of the town size. The soap arrived on a Friday, but I wasn't able to get to the P.O. to pick it up until Tuesday. Then of course I had to carry all 5 boxes ~ 100 lbs. of soap ~ to my van to load it myself, and then again unload at home. SIGH. Not the end of the world, I realize that, but again had I been asked I would have gladly paid a bit extra even to get the UPS delivery to my door!! 2nd issue though, and an actual problem .... the CLEAR soap is not remotely clear The sample I got wasn't "clear" either, but kinda cloudy like other clear bases, and still completely workable. These big blocks though are a blue/gray color ... WTH??? Did anybody else buy big blocks of clear??? If so, are yours COLORED? I've written to them, but of course now I'm stuck because I have orders to make that require the clear soap and I thought I had 40 lbs. in stock that's now just not right.

what size? I always got mine from Specialty Bottle.

I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I was told once by an employee's family member that UPS & FedEx loaders have "fun" with boxes marked 'fragile', 'handle with care', 'this side up', etc., so I refrain unless specifically requested by the buyer. USPS is supposedly worse ~ things get dropped, stepped on, thrown, etc. ... :lipsrseal

tie tulle tightly and pack well with crumpled paper or shrink wrap and pack with peanuts. Either method and the gift basket will arrive in good shape!

when hostesses/m2b's are buying favors, they rarely stop to think that most people DON'T want something "baby powder" scented in their house! Just because they're happy to celebrate the baby, doesn't mean they want their own bathroom, etc. to smell like it!! I'm glad you talked her into something different ~ I'm sure the guests will appreciate it!!

for me it's really, really hard to read not because of the font, but because of the black lettering on the dark background. I have the brightness turned very low on my monitor because it gives me migraine headaches otherwise, so perhaps "normal" settings are ok. Just seems like a colored font might do better.

is it possible that it doesn't matter if your site was live or not, doesn't matter if YOU didn't use/access, etc. whatever was copyrighted? Based on the various sites (and going by slim memory that they weren't the "cookie cutter" look where everything is the same templates), I'm guessing that whatever was copyrighted must have to do with the hosting side, not your individuals site, so you're at a loss simply for being a client. I really don't know ... just trying to put pieces together as well. Sounds like a real mess. It's sad to hear that you've had to pull in an attorney. I think we've only ever switched hosts once in almost 9 years, and that was only 1 or 2 years into it. What a headache ....

I'd probably confuse everybody if I showed you my work space because I'm ambidextrous so it doesn't really matter where stuff sits ~ I can work with it!!

I did, and do for now. I used to do wholesale, but quit. I also used to drop ship for other sites and chose to quit doing that as well. Personal choices, didn't really have to, just wanted to. I've never, ever, done a show, and I've never had my soaps in a brick and mortar store. I started a long time ago though (long enough that I'm ready to move on to something different now!) and the first couple of years can definitely be rough. We started our first website in 2000 and saw an increase in sales every single year until last year when I basically stopped wanting to keep in building after I closed my shop at the end of 2007 and brought the business back home. It took us from 2000 to 2004 until we could live on the business alone, but my husband and I BOTH had only our soap business (and still only online) from 2004-2007. In 2007 he decided he was ready for something different too So it can be done. If your heart is in it, stick with it!! It's going to be hard for me to give it up ~ kinda like letting one of my own children grow up and move on ....

then I'm back to being confused LOL. If his hosting company is entirely down, how can only his own site be up and others be down? Way over my head. I just feel for those losing sales during this time ~ I would be beside myself since my website is my only income.