ShelleyBean

How do you all package your tarts? I have been shrinkwrapping individually. But, I think this is taking so much time that the profit margin is really low,especially for wholesale accounts. I wholesale for $ .75 each, retail for $1.25 or 5 for $5.

I bought some of the clamshells, but haven't tried to sell these yet. Do you have better luck wholesaling these?

Thanks for any words of advice.

I used to make the individual melts and shrink wrap each one, it was a PITA then I switched to clamshells and haven't looked back. I occasionally make up some of the single melts to give away as samples when I am out and about and looking for business though That's not on a wholesale level though, so I can't speak for that yet.

I have just recently begun making candles and I am far from an expert. I am discovering how much I dislike melting wax using a double boiler - it's very time consuming, messy, and takes a long time. I am interested in buying a wax melter and was wondering what everyone here would recommend.

I've seen the Presto Pot modifications on eBay and I was wondering if that is something that I should go with, or if there is something else. I would to purchase something that would work well with soy wax. Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I have (and still use sometimes) the presto pot without the valve on it and it's so much nicer than the double boiler. I have now gone with the turk and surf and boy is it worth it's weight in gold. I use soy in both of my melters. A lot use the presto pot and just dip out of it into the pouring pot without adding the valve to it, and it's easily found at Walmart (again, without the valve) for around $20

Wow that does make some pretty colors, I have been looking to change to liquid dyes because I was to the point of almost going dye free because I have such a heck of a time getting color right with color chips.

Love Spell is a good seller..just about any of Victoria Secret fo is a good seller

I agree with the Love Spell and VS dupes all around. I have gone through large amounts of Love Spell and Heavenly both for the christmas holiday, with both dipped bears and candles. Pink Sugar is another one that I have sold a lot of, so with that in mind, I am just going to keep it in stock for the Valentines season, but added a couple of other VS dupes as well to offer during Valentines.

Do I need to duck to say I already started on graduation time as well? lol My son's girlfriend loves dipped and injected bears and her friends have all gone nuts over the ones she has, so I am getting some graduation bears in our local high school colors and instead of dipping or injecting, I am going to make small body spray bottles to go with the bears in a couple of different scents. I have a preorder for 10 already, but that can wait till AFTER Valentines day of course.

Same questions as amachs03 for me. I was looking at those eplush items but after reading the instructions, etc, I just don't think I have the desire or room for any more mess here. Would injecting be appropriate for some of those items?

Where I do the injecting is in the mid section of stuffing, as well as the most full part of their arms, legs and their noses,snout area. You are basically just trying to get the oil to absorb into stuffing, and sometimes it really depends on the critter itself as to where it's done. I know I'm probably not explaining it right, if I were in person with you I could show you, sorry.

What exactly is an injected bear and how do you do it?

An injected bear is a bear that has been injected with oil instead of dipped in wax and oil mixture. I went to a farming type store and got the needles used to give meds to farm animals to use for injecting. When I inject however, I dont use near as much of the oil and will make a spray and include a spray bottle of whatever oil I used in the bear. That way they can refreshen when they need to.

Thanks ladies, one more for you.. Is there a place where you can get these animals pretty cheap or are you just picking them up at local stores?

Thanks again!

Tamara

I get mine from suppliers. Also, right now there is a co-op going on for the First and Main bears and their site has perfect bears for dipping. BCN and Millcreek are a few of the places I had ordered from for my dipping needs.

For me, I have tried dipping cheaper bears and they just didn't make me happy. The quality of the bear being able to hold up being dipped and hair long enough to comb out is important to me, that's why I stick with suppliers. Others may have other experiences though.

So why can't you package the bear separate from the candy? I missed this one. Like bag the bear, bag the candy then bag the basket?

This is exactly what I do. I bag the bear as I would any of the bears I either dipped or injected then put the bagged bear in the basket and surround it with whatever else I am putting in the basket.

hey Shellybean we are neighbors!!! So can we get 8oz square masons from this place in KC? I went to the web site,and yes you can get to in by either Infinity or Richards (?) packing. I couldn't really tell.

I googled Richards Packing and got the Olathe address/number then went up top to products, yikes 500 minimum :undecided unless I am at the wrong place, but sure has some nice stuff

I have to fully agree with the website updating to reflect something out of stock, and communication. I dont feel anyone should be at my beck and call lol, but an answered email in a timely manner is something that really makes me happy. I'm not one to email unless there is an issue or a question I have searched high and low and can't find. Phone calls are nice, but an email would also be fine with me if there is a problem with my order. Just my couple of cents :smiley2:

I did get called this morning. Wish the announcement was more prominent on the site, but am happy for the call!

I have to say I love their customer service. I did a bakers dozen deal and only picked 12 scents, thinking I had 13 and within a few minutes of my order (during the day) they called me and asked me for my last choice lol

One of everything! lol

NG is one of my favorite places to get FO, I havent tried the one you mention but am curious now. I have been getting stuff written down for my order soon, and wow is all I can say

I got lucky and found some at the Dollar Tree no less, had a pull ribbon with it, but I didnt use that just the bag and my own ribbon. They were pretty large as well, I ended up ordering online to get smaller ones that I needed since they were too big for a few of my projects.

WOW, those are awesome! Anyone getting those for a gift are very lucky indeed!

Bittercreek isn't doing Paypal payments currently.

They close this option down when they are going to do inventory.

Check the newsletter- I could be wrong.

You might want to shoot them an email so your order is not delayed.

You are correct, I just looked at their newsletter.....

No paypals or money orders will be taken after December 13th due to year end inventory

Thanks bunches! I wondered what was going on. It surely would be more convenient if they would just link their cart to PayPal. I won't be able to log in tomorrow until late to pay and was hoping to get these pronto...oh well! :undecided

I think the reason they invoice instad of direct to paypal is because your shipping could be different than quoted. For me, mine was less than the ordering showed, so I wasnt charged as much. I have only used paypal once and was invoiced for the lessor amount, where when it's my cc, they only charge the actual amount, not the quoted. Always been in my favor though and they are very fast.

I was, but got an email from a customer who bought a bunch of dipped bears this season who wanted one after the first of the year, but since I had everything in stock already and hadn't inventoried yet, I made it for him and shipped today. NOW I am officially done until the first of the year lol

I trim, because as stated, I dont trust people to do it before the first burn. Before making candles, I will be the first to admit, I never trimmed a candle :embarasse

I havent ordered from plushinarush but have looked at their site for injection critters. I have injected a few other critters that weren't right for dipping and made car air fresheners from them. They are about 2 1/2 inches tall maybe? Otherwise, it's best if you want dipped critters to stick with the ones that can be combed out well. Millcreek also has some of the average size as well as lil scragglys that are perfect for dipping. http://www.millcreeksoywaxcandlesupply.com/Dippen%20Critters.htm

I'm sorry you have found your stuff copied, I think those of us who try the hardest to be different, or have wording so great people just copy and paste it will most likely always have that issue sadly. It would take a lot for me not to be a thorn in someone's side if I found my written words, pictures etc on someone elses site, knowing how hard I worked on all of it, because like grumpy said, that's my baby as well as my money maker, I would would do everything at my disposal to get them to change it. Cease and desist letters can often scare people to change (been done in prior online business ventures), if not from yourself, an attorney.

And grumpy, I think I can say will full certainty, if I ever came across wording like yours I would know for sure where it came from, and I would be emailing you to make sure you didnt own a sister site and if not, make sure you had the site name to go after. You have a one of a kind baby there girl

YIKES 10.50 for a 4 oz candle tin lol. And from that pic, not centered at all. Wish I lived near some stars hehehehe

Just playing around making my first dipped critters and thinking forward to packaging them. Any tips on inexpensive 'plates' or whatever??? to set them on before bagging them up? TIA

For ones I ship, I use the doilies (is that spelled right?) but if it's for someone locally, I try and use something like tinware or another kind of plate so I can surround the critter with fixins

http://secure.candlesupply.com/catalog_page.cfm?queries_index=index7&ProductCodeID=40&ProductSubCodeID=245

What kind of jars do you use? I am mainly using the 8 0z jelly jars that I have been buying from Walmart etc...... I would like to switch to the 8 oz square mason possibly. I wouldn't mind driving to KC as my parents live there....does that place have a web site? Hi Topeka, I live in Manhattan!! Deb

Wow, we are next door neighbors lol.

Ordered some spring scents a few weeks ago, and now testing them out... there wasn't a scent in the batch that I didn't like... (okay, maybe one.. we'll get to that later)

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Birds of Paradise - Burning right now, throws like crazy in soy. Love this one, and I can't stand florals... but I'd willingly burn this one any time!

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I swear I can't keep this stuff in stock. I had a guy order a dipped bear in that FO and his friends and family smelled it and well the rest is history. I have made bears, poured melts, votives, tea lights and tins in that scent. And you are right, it throws awesome in soy.

Hello all, I am just getting started on these but I do have a question. How much are you guys charging for the bears?

For me, it depends on how much I put into it, as in accessories. Like the above post, for that size I charged 12 and it had the ribbon and was in the cello bag, a letter from the bear (really it was instructions and warnings) and tied off with pretty ribbon. I made one for a baby shower gift with a girl headband, girl socks on it's feet, and a cloth diaper and charged 20 for it. I also had it in a basket with other things since I was putting in on the gift with my son.