Sarah

Absyrtus, do you think that you have put in the extensive testing that it takes to put out an acceptable product? Do you feel confident that someone who buys your product will return because you came through with everything you promise about your candles? Are you completely confident that they will be satisfied with everything - the way it burns, the scent, etc? If so, that's all that you need to sell something. You can make all the comparisons you want, but what it comes down to is the product itself. That's what will get them to return to you for more, and returning customers are what builds a business.

peak's eggnog is awesome.

i don't go too crazy with the christmas scents, but ones i do use from peak are that one, cinnamon balsam, and spiced cranberry. i'm testing a couple others this year, but these seem to work okay without being limited to only christmas time. aside from the eggnog that is, though some people do ask for it year round.

Welcome to the board

Try your soy question over in the natural wax forum, you should be able to get a lot more info there. Though i'm sure it will come down to testing and seeing what you like, but i'm sure they will be able to give you a few suggestions for some to start out with.

And i can tell you that 'triple scenting' is a load of crap. :rolleyes2 it's just a marketing line.

I don't remember it being too bad. I think my last order was 6 or 7 for UPS for a few pounds of fragrance oil. Which is about the minimum i pay for UPS, so i think they just charge you the cost of shipping, not add to it like certain other companies.

And i have to say that i am impressed by their customer service. We ran into a little issue, and they were very fast to fix it, and extremely nice about it. I just wanted to add that in case anyone was wondering about them since they changed owners. Plus my best selling scent by far is from them, so i think i would have to put up with them regardless, lol. That or face some angry, angry customers.

Well, this is the last I will say because I really don't mean to push this into a debate. On your soy info page, you do specifically say (in four of the six points that are listed there, not to mention in the paragraph below it) something negative about paraffin. You are directly listing the supposed demerits. If that's how you want to sell your product, that's your decision, obviously. You did ask for opinions, though.

I really don't think you need to compare your product to anything, daniedb gave you some great examples of how she words it.

Good luck with your site

I don't know, mine helps me get more done faster. Of course, this could be because I used to spend time centering each wick, and this does it for me. So for the hopeless perfectionists, this may be a good investment, lol.

i think what everyone is saying very well is that pointing out the faults of others may not be the best way to go about selling your own product. this means the mention of the dye company and the soy/paraffin comparison. it may be inconclusive, but by putting that on your site, you are giving it as a reason to buy your product. in my opinion, it just does not pay to bring others down to get ahead. as a customer, when i see that, that makes up my mind right there, i won't buy from a company that does that. that could just be me, of course.

i do admire that you feel so strongly about this, but maybe open up a little bit to listening to what others on this board have to say about the soy vs. paraffin debate. i have learned a lot here, from reading vicky's posts in particular. i started with soy wax, i believed every word i read on the manufacturers' webpages, and then i found out that there are of course two sides to every story. now i use paraffin

your site does look nice, btw. much better than my first site.

they add shipping later. if you need to know before you order, i'd just send them an email and ask, or call.

maybe some kind of paint... or some kind of overdip. but the top is like that too... i vote for paint.

there's no rule that says you have to make what everyone else does, so i say go for it. i think it's an awesome way to start out since (in my opinion) wicks are the biggest pain. you could always add wicked candles later if you wanted, or if this works for you, stick with it. and i think there is just as much potential to be successful with wickless and tarts as there is with wicked.

You can also market them to people who have pets or children, as a lot of them are afraid to use regular candles in case they get knocked over.

tell that to my sister whose cat knocked over a wickless candle onto himself. that's a whole different kind of dipped critter... i guess he smelled pretty good for a while (cinnamon balsam) as did her carpet.

damn, sounds like a perfect show. that's pretty much everything i personally look for ~ great price, good attendance, and 24 years?? and only accepting handmade items is a HUGE plus, i love shows like that.

good luck:D

So as long as I keep it in a cool place, I use it to make candles just like any other FO, right?

yep, you don't need to do anything different with it while making the candles, just mix at the same temps you normally would.

LOL

i spent $40 on mine on amazon a few years ago and it's still running good.

i dont' know i kind of like opening up my packages not knowing what the sample is going to be. it's something extra that they do for us, i never make my order based on it

actually, i don't use soy anymore. not just because of the wick pin issue, i just found a wax i like better. i do use wick pins with the wax i use now - it goes much faster and easier if you ask me.

i always had a MUCH more difficult time getting the wick pins out of soy votives without damaging them than i do with paraffin. a little bit of mold release (or pam) helps a little. i eventually moved on, it just wasn't working for me.

i wonder if some dyes hold better in the sun?

well, i can say that peak's mac apple throws really good for me. give your nose a day or two and check again, maybe? or have someone else try it.

supposedly, yes it should. ideally it will stop your candles' color from fading. what i'm questioning is how fast do the colors actually fade without it (i'm not making the candles to last forever, after all, i want them to use them up and buy more :rolleyes2 ) and also, how much of a color difference is there between a candle with uvi and one without.

do some blends already have it? i was under the assumption (i believe because i read it on here quite a while ago) that pre blends do not have it added.... and if they don't.. why not?

honestly, i think that looks fine. i see a slight dip, but nothing too bad (a customer most likely would not even notice) and it won't affect the burn. i think it would be a waste of time to remelt it, but that's my opinion.

so does anyone know how long before you would see a difference in the candles that contain UVI vs. those that don't? i'm doing a little experiment on this, but am curious if anyone else has already thought about this, and what did you find?

i personally like the strawberries and cream and never had any problems getting rid of it . never tried the plumeria.

total vent here. i just found out through one of those automatic emails that my credit card is overbalance lol. so i check, one of my suppliers charged me twice for a decent sized order, 2 days apart. alright, so i try to call my cc company, and can not get ahold of a real person. it actually says 'we are unable to provide you with the level of service you deserve at this time, please call back at a later time' LOL (time to think about getting rid of that card completely, i think.) so i send an email off to them and to the supplier. i tell the supplier that i would rather just deal with this quickly with them rather than get my cc company involved right off the bat. but i have also been charged with an overlimit fee now (of course).

so does anyone know what i can expect? i know credit cards are supposed to offer you a little protection when it comes to this stuff, i just really hope this doesn't turn into the big hassle that i had when i experienced debit card fraud a couple years back (and am i EVER glad i did not use my debit card for this purchase!!)

lots and lots of jars, votives, and some testers.

it's october, so i think it's time to break out the candy corn candles . i might do a few batches of those before work tonight. i guess that is one sort of good thing about working ridiculous hours (2-10am) ~ i have most of the day and some of the night depending on when i sleep to work on candles.

a new scent? hope it's in my order that's supposed to be here tomorrow.