David Fields

Does ANYONE know of a good source for the "Upscale" looking Electric Tart Warmers like the ones in Scentsy's line?? Thanks in advance:shocked2: Joyce

We use the Interlude from Libbey. Find anyone who carries Libbey. There are different sizes. We use the 9 or 10 oz. cute jar. Inexpensive, too. I think we pay 63 cents. The product number is 807. HTH

I believe they closed their Omaha site. They have Dallas and LA left, I think.

My two cents... Everyone's problems and perception of the problems are different. Here's mine. First, we've been in the biz for 12 yrs. Have a retail store and sell lots of wholesale. We learned a long time ago that consignment and no or very small minimums and reorders do not work. Wholesale customers who can only afford consignment or low mins almost never amount to any significant business for you. Customers, for whom it is not a concern, rarely order at your minimums. We have not noticed much of a drop in wholesale orders this year; most are up. Money begats money. Larger customers don't ask for special favors or something that you don't normally do.

Welcome...welcome. Congratulations on opening a Retail Store....We have a retail store in the Mall in College Station. Have been here for almost 4 years now....Have been making and selling for over 12 years now...Still enjoy it (for the most part) .. Like I need to say that to you?? Anyway...just wanted to say Congratulations.... David & Joyce The Candle Box

You can purchase the Polypropalene bags from PaperMart.com . They are very, very reasonable!! Joyce (David's Wife)

My ONLY Question...is HOW do you get a Soot Free Candle??? If there is Fire...there is soot!!

Actuallyl, everyone should be very, very wary of all cc processing merchants. It is an unregulated business; this means they can and will do whatever they want. Believe me on this. Some tips for y'all. First, sign with a primary processor, not a seconday processor. The secondary has to go through a primary, which generally means you pay more. They all pay exactly the same fees to mc, vixa, etc. It's the upcharge and the fees where they make their money. Shop around; don't necessarily believe the sales rep who shows you on paper how much you will save. We found that in most cases that was not true. Make sure the cc processor does not take out their fees until the end of the month; some nickel and dime you by taking the fees out per transaction. Again, shop around; when you sign you probably will have a 2 year agreement with them. There is lots of stories I could tell you..... We recently switched to Bank of America from Chase. BoA had the best rates and fee schedule we have found and your money is in your account the next day. Most take 2 or more days to put the funds in your account. They float on you. So, caveat emptor. HTH

Let me amend my previous post. About 9 or 10 years ago we tried to get more wholesale accounts. We made up sample boxes and spent days and days going to gift shops and anyone we felt might carry our candles. We got one account from weeks of travel. What we found was that cold-call selling is very, very tough. The Retailer does not know you or your products; they do not know if you are a "mom and pop" concern who've been pouring candles for six months or a large candle mfg concern. Generally they were politely hostile. But, we could go to the Dallas Market and see candle makers there selling their products wholesale... and see retailers buying them. Dallas Market made the candle maker, regardless of size, legitimate. It amused us to see candle makers we knew who were the same size as us filling wholesale orders to retailers we had approached.So, bottom line...you and your products must appear professional. Market centers were too expensive for us, so we quit looking for wholesale accounts. But over the years we have accumulated around 100 through word-of-mouth. HTH

We don't recruit or advertise. All of our wholesale customers are candle customers who own businesses or who received one of our candles as a gift, liked it and wanted them for their business.

bugtussle, you've been talking with my wife haven't you? She uses almost those exact words about wholesale accounts all of the time. lol.

hmm, almost every day. probably 360 days a year, 6-8 hours/day, during the Christmas season 10-12 hours/day. Dont have a clue how many I pour. Never thought to count them. A bunch. And before everyone asks "do I get tired or tired of candles?", yes, I get tired a lot (thats when I go to the movies or take a nap). But I never get tired of candles. Its still fun.

Wendy is dead-on. Our candle business owns us as well. My wife and I are both retired from regular jobs and now have the pleasure of working more hours than we ever did before (but enjoying it infinitely more, too).

We prefer tins to any glass. No danger of breakage or volcanoes. Never had a problem with tins. We sell both 6 and 8 ounce tureens also.

concave

We have used 2281 exclusively for our container candles for over two years. It is a bit harder to work with, but we like the creamy look. After you get used to it, it's a good wax.

We've changed jars several times. As in some of the earlier posts, some customers didn't like the new jars, but an equal number did. All the fuss died away after a week or so. We keep the prices the same for the same size jar. That way we never have someone saying we changed to a smaller jar but kept the price the same. We do not even look at cheap jars from foreign sources. We stick with US mfrs. That way we can get a consistent supply and quality of glassware.

We ordered 14 cases a while back. We asked that the clerk send it the cheapest way - freight. When we got the wax, it had been shipped UPS; the charge was $14 per case. I called the mgr and was told that their policy was to ship UPS but the weight should have told the clerk to ship by freight. They refunded us the difference. Great customer service. BTW. we normally order wax by the pallet. The freight charge for us for a pallet is $94-98. A lot depends on the company you buy the wax from. They have many options for a shipper. I have found that spending a lot of time insisting they use the cheapest carrier works. They don't normally care.

Our votive molds are 12 years old. Clean them? Not in the past 10 years. Ours are on strips. Wax builds up all around them and falls off eventually. We couldnt possibly clean them. We pour 10-12,000 a year. No way. Never had any odor from them. I dont know anything about palm wax. Could there be a chemical reaction with the metal cups?

Boy, how am i going to pare this answer down?... We started out in a strip center, 1500 sq ft for $900 with a three year lease. Almost went broke. no traffic. For the last four years we have a store in a mall, 540 sq ft for $2400/mo ( i think) my wife does the bookkeeping and bill paying. But we are doing great! Blessed! location is everything. look at price second or third. lots of start up costs involved in moving into a storefront. Signage is a big one. The sign for the first store was $2600 and for the second $3600. Display equipment is expensive. We dont advertise. too expensive for what you get. We tried for years and decided it was a waste. Staying in one place for a long time and selling good products at a good price will build your clientele. Our first year here was barely breakeven. Now, after four years, our sales are almost four times the first year.Study your location carefully. There's usually a reason why a space is cheap. Look at the surrounding stores. Do they bring in lots of traffic?

Wow, and we thought it was us. We've been doing thiis 11 years and have never had this problem before. Same problem as in previous posts. We have talked with all of our suppliers who claim ignorance. We have tested and tested. No hard eveidence for what is happening. Will let you know if we find an answer. RE: costs. We started out paying 59 cents a pound for wax. Shipping was 9 cents per pound, so we have seen lots of changes. We have learned to hate IGI. long story. they say misery loves company, so it makes me feel better to know others are having the same problems with burns.

Might we ask where you got those Boxes?? Thanks, David

Again, try Reikes in Dallas. Ask for Tom Moore. I was there a week ago and remember seeing glassware like your picture. They carry most/all of Libbey's line.

Hi. We use Libbey glassware. Not familiar with a 5075 rectangular 1 oz jar. Could you mean a 5475 cube jar? If so, try Riekes Dist in Dallas and ask for Tom. Tell him David Fields referred you; you get a better price. They have lots of price tiers.

I agree with everything twocentsworth said. We have had a store for six years now. First one never made a profit, closed after three years. This one broke even the first year, nice profit the second and outstanding the third. We learned our lessons after the first. The second cost us $20K before we opened the door. But now, we would not take for it. So, to add to twocentsworth's list... deep pockets. Don't plan on making a profit the first year. Good luck and may God bless.