funkymonkey66

Isn't in so unfair that you have to pay an attorney to get what is yours? Make sure you add that they will be responsible for the costs you put out getting your money. I have a wonderful lawyer that handles all of that stuff. Expensive as hell but worth every penny.

http://watermark-software.com/ That's what I use, I love it. You can do several images at once and even put a watermark image logo if you want instead of www.mywebsite.com It was cheaper when I bought it but so far no issues and I've used it for a few years.

Been there and it is so violating. It's so important to watermark everything. If they are going to steal at least they are advertising your website and people know who they stole it from. Is there a # on the site you can call and ask them to remove it? If it's ebay don't contact the person report them right to ebay and they'll delete all of their ads:smiley2: Depending on what venue the image is located you can report them to their copyright infringement dept and it's handled pretty quick. I know most of the time people that steal are not so willing to remove their stolen content.

I just found a fan page that offers paid shout outs $10.00 a week and they'll mention your business when they feel like it. :lipsrseal

I agree it does look good to see alot of fans but the content and quality counts. Recently I found out how some of these pages with a high like # and no one talking may be gaining traffic by buying them. One site is http://www.buyrealfansandlikes.com/ and there are tons of places like this out there that sell likes to give you an image of being bigger than you really are. Personally I think it's dishonest, sad and a big ol waste of time since as Jack said, they're never going to buy which is the point of marketing to begin with. I've seen a few promote your crap here FB pages, I guess you could try that if you don't mind being crammed in there with crazy cat lady's super cool toilet paper cozy and crochet tampons. Again most of those pages are superficial at best filled with the "new fan from so and so" then it's all cross promoting from there and I don't want toilet paper cozies on my FB page and I don't want my feeds clogged. If the pages you want to tag with with are clogged with stuff like that then people just block the feed but maybe still keep the like or may unlike it at some point. But at the end of the day, it's free so I guess it's trial and error. You could try the classic what I'm melting or burning pages on Facebook but again I've found they are all pretty much cheapskates and will nail you to a cross if they don't get enough freebies or give them lots of attention. I'd run away from those people, but some little companies have some luck with them. I don't really bother with Facebook these days, I advertise with Candlefind.com and have awesome traffic and tons of repeat business. Maybe check them out.

AMEN! I'm sorry but I've had a similar experience about a year ago.... I don't sell at craft shows or flea markets though so I wrote the letter off as bogus freebie fishing. I don't bend over backwards for the occasional "I'm not happy" email. It's life and sometimes you're not going to care for this or that. People that overly cater and jump through hoops not only get taken advantage of but eventually go out of business. People seem to think you build a business with exceptional customer service. Yes it's true but if your not making a profit and giving it all away it not customer service anymore, it's charity. I think you offered too much, If she was legit she would have called or emailed you after a day of no response from FB.

My last order took 3 weeks to get and 5 emails. They skipped over the order by mistake, then thought they shipped it but never really put it in the mail then shipped it parcel post when I paid for UPS but since it never went out, they ended up sending it UPS almost 3 weeks after I placed it. I didn't order during a sale either, I paid full price. Found the dupe for the oil @ daystar so I'm not ordering from SW anymore just because the whole ordeal was too much of a hassle for one fragrance.

No one wants to use your account #. They only use their own which never made sense to me. The more they spend the better their rates and therefore can make money on shipping. I always cross check and I always get cheaper rates with my Fedex account and I know they have to get better rates than I do. I figure my suppliers are profiting on shipping between 7-9 dollars per case according to my zip and Fedex rates. Can't do much about it unless I want to drive 600 miles.

I'm very impressed. Everything looks very lovely, you should be proud of yourself.

I agree. I stay away from them. I don't know anyone that ever made back what they gave in samples. The only person that really makes out is the one selling the sample box. If they offer to pay for samples then that's no too bad, but no one does. You're supposed to donate them. Which is another pet peeve of mine. I don't get supplies for free- neither should they. As far as advertising is their expense to justify the donation, I've never seen a paid ad. Just free websites, facebook and message boards the cater to people not looking to really spend any money or free link exchanges with others in the box. Not really an expense and we all put time in that most of us don't get paid for.

Although I am sure it possible that all 5 of my computers have a trojan that's harvesting my cc #'s or someone at Wegmans or Walmart used a fancy credit card reader through the back of my jeans to steal my card info. It's very possible that any or all of us over the years were hacked that way. I think it's more than likely it was a supplier. Which one, I really can't say.

I am not a fan of Miami Erie at all. The oils I tried were not impressive for the $ and the blends are okay but nothing special.

I just wanted to update on the progress of trying to find out who is responsible for this. I went through the transactions and one was FTD.com I called them and informed them that I did not authorize the charge etc. and wanted to know where the order was being shipped to. FTD told me they can't tell me anything because it against their privacy regulations!!!!! Someone steals my info and they can't tell me what they bought or where it was being shipped to?? What kind of sense does that make since I paid for it after all?? I told them I wanted to press charges and wanted all the information to give to the police. There was no arguing with them. I threatened to call the news and all and they politely told me to get an attorney if I want any personal info on the transactions end of story! Isn't it nice to know that anyone can steal your hard earned money and THEY are protected? And here I am working for a living.... had I known I would have just become a thief.

The most recent places were Rustic/Aroma Haven, Candlescience,Just Scent and Amazon. But one would think if the thieves were smart they would wait a few months before using the account so it's not likely to trace back to them. I have no idea. I read that about Amazon and the RV workers. That's crazy but I guess it's a little better to the outsourcing to other countries. So many businesses use offices all over the country for phone ordering you never know who you talking to and what they have access to.

There were a few threads about this but I thought I would start a new one. My credit card that I use for supplies has been stolen 2 days ago. Started with a dollar charge from Google then a few dot coms I've never heard of and a florist. I caught it early and cancelled the card, but with all the pending charges it emptied my PP account and overdrafted from my back up checking. Since this is a business debit card and this is the 3rd time it's happened to me I'm thinking it has to be a supplier I'm using. The person that used the # knew my name, address, email, security code on the back and phone # (that's not listed anywhere) All this info we give to any supplier we deal with but online we're not giving it to the girl at Hobby Lobby or anywhere we're physically swiping it. Has anyone else had their card stolen recently?

Has anyone tried the outright.com accounting software? If so did you find it as accurate as Quickbooks or other accounting methods. It is the only fully integrated software for paypal-ebay and amazon and it's free (for now anyway) I read about them on the paypal help forum trying to figure out the error message for Quickbooks I was getting trying to import a csv file and stumbled across people talking about it and they seem to really like it. Any feedback from anyone?

Try Campfire from The candle source mixed with a touch of maple sugar.

I wouldn't say anyone was scammed and I don't think he is a scam artist. I think whatever is going on is his business and he can run it anyway he sees fit just like every other business owner. I think everyone here made really great points. He wouldn't be the first business owner to exaggerate to create an image of being just a little better than the other guy. I only care about getting quality oils, consistently and at a fair price. I think a few weeks before Christmas was a bad time to do this because as we all know sometimes we need it in a pinch no matter how well we stock up for the season. Business are bought and sold all the time, but most of the time customers get some notice or at least we should. One thing that stands out to me is the non compete agreement, how is he going to sell on eBay? it’s an online storefront. That doesn’t make sense to me. He may as well leave his website open if he’s going to do that. I think the guy is talking too much and should figure out what is what before he tells the wrong person the wrong thing. He probably got overwhelmed,closed and said a few things and now doesn't know how to fix it.

Thinking about it, Snowtop reopened as front porch/ ME candle supply even though she sold everything to ICS. (Which never made sense to me, maybe you can have your cake and eat it too) Maybe this guy will resurface as someone else under a new name.

People are people, and they'll say and do whatever to make a sale. In 12 years in this business this is not the worst I've seen. Usually they don't last anyway.

Exclusively in PR? That doesn't sound right at all to me. I know it's part of the US so maybe we have a chance to still get oils but who does that? If all of your business ( I would think) comes from the US, why make a move like that? To each his own I guess. I myself an cutting back on suppliers anyway, too many of them are too wishy washy and unethical. Seems like everyone is going under. I'll sooner buy direct from the manufacture in bulk and pony up the initial investment for 35lbs then be left high and dry like this again. How the hell can we run our business's when the people we rely on so much just up and close without warning? Greenleaf, Just by nature, Berts, SS, KY etc and now this guy. We have to be able to make candles with out the middle man... that's all they are.

I state no returns, no exceptions unless it's a manufacture defect,(like I forgot to wick the jar or the candle will not burn period-it's never happened) if it did, it is apples for apples. No swaps for size or scent. And I require the candle is sent back, if I made a mistake I want to see it, learn from it and correct it.If they didn't follow the instructions then no refund is issued and they are responsible for the cost of shipping the item back to them. - This clause also takes care of the loop hole as far if someone were to try to claim defective when in fact they just don't like the scent. If something breaks in transit, I require proof such as a pic of the damage or Fedex will inspect it etc. Depending on what the customer wants I either remake exactly what they ordered or I refund them for the damaged products. I've seen it all over the years and I've had to buckle down and be firm with my return policy. I can't play ship n sniff with people on the internet and be expected to eat the cost if someone just decides they don't like a scent they chose. I just can't afford it.

Backwoods has the best IMO.

Actually I take it back, I poured testers and they are pretty good. I still think 2 oils labels are swapped but whatever I'll work it out. Not a fan of the jelly donut, it smells like gum but I can do something with it.

Thanks : ) Noni Juice, never heard of it, but I'm open to anything at this point. My wrists are not an issue anymore, they get stiff but nothing like the feet and knees. Kind of puts my treadmill days behind me until I get it under control. I have a stomach issues, everything bothers me, so does this Noni juice taste awful, or cause heartburn or anything like that? Noni is a fruit right so I'm guessing it probably tastes pretty good. It's gotta be better than the stuff they gave me that had 3 pages of side effects. Death being one of them lol I think that's a little worse than limping. Pick your battles right?