soapmom25

My tarts are sold in packs of 2 for a buck.

I don't make or sell candles and/or tarts, but just this pricing in general has me wondering how you profit from this? When taking the Ebay & Pay Pal fees into account, how much can you possibly make on a dollar?

The exception would be if you're just saying the tarts cost 2/$1.00, but then you sell them in "lots" so that you can make a profit after fees ~ that I could understand

Your example of a customer buying in bulk definitely makes sense as being profitable (only paying the shipping once and only paying the fees once, although the Ebay fee would be higher!), I'm just wondering about the 2/$1.00 or even 2/$2.00 votives.

I haven't used them in years, but when I tried them (colors & scents) I was not pleased with either

I like BCN FD&C dyes!

is this it?

PMS Survival Kit

To temporarily calm your craving for chocolate, eat the BROWN one. At the first

sign of "hot flashes" eat the RED one. Eat the ORANGE one to minimize

depression. The GREEN one calms your frustrations, when you want to be left alone.

If you feel a headache coming on, eat the YELLOW one. The BLUE one reduces

bloating.

Directions: Take as needed. If all symptoms occur at the same time, eat the whole

bag. Warning: May cause weight gain. (Attach this saying to a bag of M&M's)

you have to set your own policy, but for me personally ~ yes ~ my wholesale customers pay shipping. We require all new accounts to provide a UPS account number, and when their order is ready we bill the shipping 3rd Party to that account. That way ALL charges (rural surcharges, residential delivery address, change of address ~ can't be home, needs to ship to work, etc.) are charged to them and I don't have to go back and figure if I over/under charged anyone.

I have known other businesses to charge by percentage ~ i.e. shipping on wholesale orders is 15% or 20% of total cost.

Nothing wrong with charging their card twice ~ once for the product and again for the shipping, but keep in mind you'll pay an extra transaction fee for doing it that way.

aww, try not to take it so personally, even though it's hard to do that. My family looks at my soaps as if they're some foreign substance, and even when I make cute gift baskets you can see the "oh, more soap" look in their eye. So you know what? They're not getting anything this year ~ literally nothing. I can't afford to go BUY for everybody, and I'm no longer going to waste my time and materials on stuff they obviously don't want!

I have many customers on a daily basis that CHOOSE to buy my soaps, so that's good enough for me.

At the very least your friend could have done exactly what you stated ~ simply set out the soaps for display. Just because SHE can't/won't use them doesn't mean a GUEST can't/won't.

You can send them to me if you don't want them sitting around to you remind you of the event LOL

Sorry! I forgot I replied to this thread... Here is an edited pic where I see the grumpy Ogre...Let me know If you think I'm off...

oh, I totally see it now! Looking from the right side I can see a woman's face ~ in your picture she would be wearing a yellow cloak.

SO many "things" in this soap, I hope she puts it up on Ebay!

does the pay pal debit card work like a credit card or a debit card i started to fill out the form one time but thought it was more like a credit card you no like they run a credit check and charge your interest. i do not wont another credit card but a debit card would be great.

the Pay Pal card is a debit card and takes the money immediately, directly from your Pay Pal balance. You can't use the "back-up" funding source when purchasing with your debit card (at least that's my understanding, we've never tried ~ only spend what's in there and available).

What's nice about the Pay Pal card is that if you use it "as" a credit card (i.e. at Walmart as a Visa instead of punching in your PIN number as a debit card), then Pay Pal gives you cash back. Not much, but every little bit helps, and it does add up!!

If you have questions, you can call Pay Pal at 1-888-221-1161 (call when you have time to wait though, I've never gotten "quick" service from them ~ usually have to wait online holding for awhile).

just to address the furniture issue within your post ... it can take several weeks and even months to get "special order" stuff, so just because it hasn't come in yet doesn't necessarily mean he has swindled you for that money.

However, you should have done business the same way he did ... you ordered something and paid in full ~ you should have required him to do the same and you wouldn't be in this position right now possibly. I realize you may not have been "required" to pay in full and did so because you wanted to, but just throwing that out there

It's not hard, just a few forms, but you won't be able to promise any sort of delivery time and likely won't be able to track it at all. The last package I sent to Europe took over a month to get delivered and the tracking online made it appear as if it were stuck until it actually arrived ~ it's not at all like tracking a UPS or FedEx package.

Only once did I have a package show up in the website stated time frame, all others have taken much, much longer

ship it, unless PRIOR arrangements were made. I've had complete fluke orders from customers not far from me (they found us through Google, not by advertising, so had no clue we were near to them) and I always ship even though I *could* deliver it for cheaper.

On the flip side, I have a local dentist office staff that orders from me, and they're welcome to order online (at their convenience) and I credit the shipping charge and just drop them off the next time we're in town ~ they love that personal attention!! Those arrangements were agreed upon before their first order though ~ I offered, they didn't ask.

I would not under any circumstances have somebody pick-up from me, but that's a personal preference. I'm not insured for customer pick-ups, and since our shop is on the back side of our personal property I really don't want customers at/near my home unless I know them!

I used to go by weight, but after awhile just went by measure ~ and in general add about 3/4 teaspoon per pound at most. Some strong oils (especially right now making lots of peppermint soaps!) don't need that much even!!

We have 5 kids (youngest is 2), and they've all used my M&P soaps without any issues! Any person (young or old) could potentially have an allergy, so "testing" it on their skin would be wise, but in general it should be safe.

Just make sure you're always using body safe colors and scents

We started off the year higher than ever (we're in our 7th year), but after the first quarter each month has been less than the same month in prior years. Overall we're still "up" over this time last year though, so technically we're still in our continued pattern of yearly growth.

I think it's slightly due to buyers, but more so from my own attitude ... I've dropped products that I don't enjoy making, streamlined the product line to cut down on the supplies I'm ordering in, and have even turned down some orders if I just couldn't meet the timeline, etc. In the past I would have pulled "all-nighters" if need be, but I just don't do that anymore.

if you LOVE the job at the bank, then I think you'll do fine! It is possible to balance more than one "job", you've already proven that with what you said you do now for the candle biz, hubby, etc.

I would just really be interested in the numbers (partially cuz I'm a numbers geek LOL ) when it comes down to losing the write-off on the insurance from hubby's biz vs. you paying for coverage through the job. Plus if you're working full time at the bank and still expecting to do candles on the side, will that bump you into a higher tax bracket???

I know words on a board can't convey emotion accurately, but as the others said ~ you don't "sound" excited about this, so I hope you're truly following your heart and not just doing this because you feel like it's expected of you. It's move like that, that will breed resentment and you'll regret giving up your freedom and flexibility. Are the rewards of being self-employed getting trampled by the desire for financial gain? (that's not a judgement, just a question!!)

All that said, I know being self-employed isn't always rewarding LOL, so I'm not saying I'm against quitting it ... just trying to make sure you've thought it out.

I hope it works out though! The timing should be nice ~ starting something new in a new year

Best wishes!!!

If possible, I'd hold out till Monday and ask your accountant! Find out for sure what kind of an impact it will make on hubby's business for you to lose that deduction (the insurance).

Is there a way you can play the game and each of you hire one another to have an additional tax write off?? We can't because we both work together at the same business, but if your businesses are separate, perhaps he could hire you to do the books, etc. .... not sure, just a thought

I don't get the impression from your latter posts that you WANT to get out of the candle business, so I would look further into what can be done to build that before giving it up. Our accountant has been great on giving us ideas to save on taxes, etc. so hopefully yours will too

I can see something else in it now .... eyes right by my word "cloak", a nose by the word "face" and a mouth by the would "shoulders" ... looks almost like the common character face used to show the face of a cloud in children's stories

I don't mean to be personal, but is it going to COST you to cover your husband & son under your insurance if you switch to that coverage to save the expense on your husband's business? If so, that might not be much of a "raise".

If you don't already know bank policy, I would ask specifically if they pay full-time and part-time employees the same (i.e. WHY aren't you being offered more money for taking on full time hours)? Will you have more opportunity for advancement? New review dates with raises?

I'm totally with you on the idea of hiring employees to expand your business being scary!! That's precisely what has kept me at the plateau that I am at ... I'm too picky and haven't been happy with any of the people that we've tried. However, I know many, many people that have started small businesses and taken that leap and reap great success!! So if you're able, I would give that a shot

I added text on top of what I can "see"

I also vote for putting it on Ebay ~ you just never know!!!

OK, it sounds like the most sensible thing is to take the full time job (with insurance and other benefits!) and keep my candles at a more part time thing. I'm sleeping on that tonight.

Thanks for your help. If someone else has an idea, please let me know!

whatever YOU are happy with (and your family too!) is "the best" thing to do

Some days I would love to close/sell my business and go back to working for somebody else so I didn't have the headaches of of being self employed, but when I really crunch the numbers it would be incredibly hard for me to work somewhere else and make as much money, let alone "more" money.

As I mentioned before, I have small children to factor in though (which would included putting 1 in daycare potentially), so that in itself makes a huge difference in my figures. When my youngest is a sophomore in high school as you've mentioned, I'll likely already be doing something different

If you don't currently have insurance at all and you haven't come up with solutions to provide it (increasing your wholesale accounts, cutting overhead, having hubby's business provide it, etc.) then Yes it probably is best for you to go to work for a different company.

Maybe you can close the store front and just do ONLY wholesale. That way you're not under the daily deadlines for customers but still getting your creative outlet fix!

My best advise is to "try on" the options ... spend 2 days in the mind set of taking the job and closing the business. See how that feels ~ what would you need to sell, what could be stored, what new expenses will you incur (clothing, gas, etc.). Will you miss the store? Will you be happy working for somebody else instead of being your own boss? Are you still going to be able to do hubby's books if you're working "full time"?

Then after that, try the opposite for 2 days ~ see how that feels. Come up with ways to provide what you feel you're lacking (specifically insurance since that's what you've mentioned). Get new quotes, compare companies, etc.

After that, just see where you stand .... if in doubt, don't.

Since my husband is self employed, we take advantage of any tax deductible items we are allowed. If I would get insurance at my work, that's a $10,000.00 a year raise right there. Maybe I'm not thinking right, but I don't think I could pass on that.

you're right about the insurance = a raise (IMO anyway) ... but what do you have to give up? Flexible schedule, nobody to ask when you need a day off, creative outlet, personal fulfillment ....

Will you be happy going back to work for somebody else?

I too have looked into going back to work, but just about the time I really have myself convinced that I need to, one of my kids gets sick or has a field trip they want me to go on, and I'm reminded of why I love being flexible! I realize your situation is probably different since you mentioned a grandchild is coming ~ your kids are obviously grown and likely on their own, but I'm just throwing that out there.

Don't forget to count the "costs" of working too .... clothing, driving, lunches, etc. You may already incur that since you mentioned you have a store front, but again ~ just trying to think of anything that would come into play!

I love Wendy's Winter Candy Apple, JS Vanilla Buttercream Crunch, and BCN Pink Grapefruit!

If your business is successful, why not just look into buying insurance and having basically the best of both worlds ... your own flexibility plus the peace of mind of insurance? If the business buys it, it should be tax deductible too, but that may depend on your size (i.e. just you, or multiple employees) ~ ask your accountant.

Yes, you definitely need to have a policy in place! My personal policy is they are able to cancel at any time BEFORE IT SHIPS with no fees. Once I've shipped, fees will apply. I don't refund original shipping fee, I don't pay for return shipping. Sometimes I charge a restocking fee, just depends on what they order (i.e. custom/personalized vs. everyday item).

If you have not shipped yet, I don't see that you have much choice other than to cancel the order and refund her money since you didn't have a policy already in place.

not an herb, but I have a Raspberry/Tomato FO that I love! Wonder if you could add just a hint of raspberry FO?

I don't like saran wrap because I can never make it look pretty enough for my taste. Even if I gather the excess at the back and make the front look smooth, I still hate that glob of plastic in the back. Shrink wrap is MUCH nicer, and it's easier to work with than you probably think. If you buy it by the roll it's not expensive. We buy rolls ~ 1500 ft. I think (about 10" diameter roll) ~ and the most I think I've paid was $25.00 (the price varies by size/width). I've never counted, but imagine how many soaps you can wrap with 1500 feet ... alot!!

We buy our rolls from packcoinc (dot com) and use a heat gun (about $25.00 from the hardware store), but in a pinch I have used the hair dryer. The heat gun by far works better though, so do consider making that investment.