David Fields

We ordered direct from them for I guess around eight years. Each year they got worse and worse. We hung on because of our sales rep. He was great and helped us a lot. When they filed Chapter 11, we immediately started having backorder problems. Luckily for us a Libby sales rep came around, we switched to their glassware and have never looked back. Good Luck with them. They seem to be good people, just lots and lots of problems. Liked their glassware and low minimums.

Sockmonkey has it right. Expenses just to open your doors for business are horrible. We were out 20K before getting the first customer to walk in the door. Sockmonkey reminded me of a few other things to consider. Don't know where you are, but here in Texas you need to be zoned for commercial. Lead times for sign erection can be a problem. Any electrical issues? Like for sign? Fire dept regs? Paint, floor coverings, display equipment? Credit card processing is initially expensive but necessary. They are like cell phone service; be careful who you sign with. They usually have two year contracts. Go with a primary processor only!!!! Don't go with whomever your bank recommends necessarily. Primary processor only!

Did she used to live in Austin, TX? Had a neighbor do something similar years ago and never did pay. We moved and blew it off. Seriously, over the years we have learned to treat business as business. Never deal with friends, neighbors, aquaintances, family in anything but from a business perspective. An unfortunate large percentage will take advantage of you. A normal business would not let someone walk off with mdse without paying first. And, if they get upset, it's probably because they were going to rip you off anyway. Don't give discounts to the same group of people because you can never stop. They will always expect "special deals". Oh, and the same goes from accepting checks and credit cards (where you use the manual system). Ask for id. There is no reason for them to get angry.

I assume you mean the bottle with the reeds? If so, we advise our customers to fill them only half full at first. If not, there is a danger of overflow when the reeds are inserted. The bottle can be added to at any time afterwards. HTH

There's nothing posted I would disagree with. Having your own store front is TOUGH!! KJohnson, you said your rent would be cheap. Cheap in business lease terms translates into "bad location, low traffic". If so, don't do it. Either will kill your business. A candle store must have traffic. We had a store for three years, closed it after learning a lot and opened up another one. Costs are double that of the first, but sales are four to five times greater. We are in our third year at our new location and make a nice living. After location and traffic flow, I would say sell more than just candles. Good luck.

I think it is a combination of things that are hurting show sales. I like to talk to people (vendors and customers). Here are the things they tell me. Number one is the small numbers of vendors who sell home-crafted items. Most of the things at the shows around here (central Texas) are "made in China". Many vendors have the same mdse. The hand-crafted items still sell, but the customers are tired of seeing the same things show after show, so they go somewhere else. Plus, the sheer number of festivals, fairs and shows has increased a lot. We did the show scene for years, and I believe the number has doubled. The small town we used to live in had two shows a year six years ago; now they have five. Another town we used to sell at also had two shows a year and now have four. The crowds have more to choose from. If there is nothing new, no gimmick, they move on to a new show or one with something different. I don't really here that gas prices really and truly restrict anyone.

Well.....a guy asked us for a Candle that smelled of BACON....Love the smell of it cooking...but NOT in a candle...Most people want to burn a candle after makin' bacon.... Joyce (David's Wife)

We have never used a water-jacketed melter. For around eight years we have used 60 pound direct heat melters from CES. Love them! Never had a problem. We have two. One is eight years old. The second is five or six. It takes about three hours to melt 60 pounds. A friend who has several water-jacketed melters does not like all of the issues with the water ones.

Didn't reply to all of your post. The bottle we use only holds three oz. I don't know if the bottle can be larger or smaller. The first bottle we used worked great, so we never researched further. Oh, we have tried alcohol with the more viscous FO's. Didn't seem to work well. The throw was better, but it did not last long.

We use 40% base, 60% FO, also in a 6" bottle. We use 12", 3mm, rattan reeds. The bubbling stops after a couple of days. And like you we use 3oz of the mix per bottle.

We noticed in testing that some FO's are way too viscous and don't pull up the reeds well. For us, when the diffusers are working well, you see bubbling going on from the holes at the tops of the reeds. Are you using bamboo or rattan? The opening of the jars is 3/4". Ours last for four to five months. We test in our two home bathrooms. My wife has to turn her reeds at least once a week to have good throw (large bath). My bathroom, like my closet , is small. I have turned the reeds once in the past four months. It is very fragrant without turning them. I touch the reeds often to make sure they are damp.

We use the diffuser base and DPG from the Chemistry Store with equally good results. We use about a dozen FO's, and all are fine. Don't know about the jar opening diameter. We have only used one jar. Oh, even though the DPG works fine, it is a bit too thick for me. But bottom line, we are happy with the base. hth

OK...who is JS?? Thanks, Joyce

ok....WHO IS JS?? Thanks, joyce

OK....has anyone EVER tried the Mojita Scent?? Who has the best one?? Thanks for your responses!! Joyce

Has anyone ever tried NG's Mojita?? I have ordered it...not sure what to expect? Thanks for your Replies!!! Joyce

Those are adorable...but, how does that work when the wax is mounded like that...does it spill?? Very well done!! Joyce

I believe the clumps are vanalin which is a primary ingredient of Vanilla FO. In the initial formulation the vanalin has to be heated to a high temp to melt and blend with the rest of the FO. Even after blending,however, it can separate under cold temps and form the clumps. Heat the FO in hot water before adding to the wax. The wax needs to be hot. Stir quickly. This will eliminate or reduce the clumping. If this is too much trouble, simply pour off the sludge in the bottom of the pot. We have never noticed that it makes a noticeable difference in the throw. These things work for us; someone else may have a better solution. HTH

when you say you have two oz bottles, are the two oz by weight or volume? Sounds like two oz by volume, which can be different than by weight.

$1.00 ea, 6 for $5.00, 13 for $10.00. Our price seems cheap compared to the other posts. But we are happy with our margins and sell thousands and thousands each year.

We have had an in-line candle store in a mall for two years. PLEASE!!!! let us help you with advice. We are profitable, but we could fill many books with what we did right and wrong two years ago. Please pm us and we will be happy to share. We do not carry anyone else's candles other than tapers which we don't make.

We used to have similar problems. The additional cost of reshipping irked us so now... We wrap each jar in bubblewrap, pack peanuts tightly around the wrapped jar, then seal the box. Next, we bubblewrap the box and pack it in a larger box surrounded by peanuts. Bit excessive I admit, but for the past three years since we started this wrapping process, we have not had one candle break.

WAY Cute...thanks for sharing....where did you get the MOLD for that pine Cone????...LOVE IT as well. Thanks. Joyce

We have been seeing more and more of this garbage over the past two years or so. Now, when we place an order, we ask if there is a handling charge and how much. We ordered from a large company with "great" prices only to find when the order arrived they had tacked on 25% to cover shipping and handling! That was the last time we ordered from them. When we check we find more and more instances of this. Sometimes the cs rep says they charge only what USPS or UPS or the freight company charges; sometimes they have a flat percentage 4-10%. At any rate, we always find out how they charge for shipping and handling before placing an order. And don't even get me started on freight companies!!!! Things were different years ago. I guess companies are trying everything to cut costs. Pity.

We have had a business general liability policy for ten years (required by our landlord). Price varies each year. What we believe is that you are MORE susceptible to lawsuits if you have insurance. Lawyers go after the money. Small mom and pop businesses are not worth the effort. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff. A mom and pop outfit would have to be proved knowingly negligent to lose a suit in court. The plaintiff would have to pay big bucks up front to their lawyers to TAKE the case and then more bucks to take it to court. And if they lose, they lose lots of money. If you have insurance or you have a very large business, there are assets for the lawyers to go after. Most of the suits are settled out of court. The plaintiffs don't have to put up any cash for their lawyers; the attorneys operate off of a percentage of the settlement and absorb all costs. I don't believe an attorney would take a case if there is no insurance policy involved. This just our opinion. We have never been sued or even close.