madcitysue

Another plug for Oregon Trails -- it is super strong.

Here you go: http://www.thesage.com/catalog/HairCare.html ~Sue

The government has been considering this for a couple years, but it seems that it will inevitably pass in some form or another. Here is the problem for small business owners (like many of us here) -- we will have to comply with the sales tax rules of all the States (and even counties in some cases) that we ship an item to not just our own state. Example: I ship a bar of soap to New York City. I will have to know the state sales tax, if there are any city/county/stadium/etc taxes for the particular city I ship to. I would then have to remit the sales tax to New York. You would have to do this for each and every online order. Can you just imagine the paperwork nightmare? If it was just all online orders would be subject to the seller's state sales tax, that would be one thing. I think I could get behind that even. The current proposals are not like this, however. ~Sue

I'm in a very similar situation. Package was sent to me via UPS, and a pound glass bottle of EO broke. It was so bad, I got a note from UPS saying there was damage, the broken item was removed, the whole thing was reboxed. I received the other items, but the EO had gotten into the plastic bottles I also ordered so they all stunk like the EO. I emailed the company, and it took 3 days for them to even return my email. They said they would file a claim with UPS, but no replacement was even offered. I have no money back and no EO, and it is 4 weeks. I have already decided that I won't be doing any business with them again. I have spent hundreds of dollars with them in the past, but I'm ticked. Sorry I can't help, but misery loves company:cry2: ~Sue

I'm with you Quack Soap on this one. Not everyone starts off on the web, especially in the candle business. She may well have been selling since 2000, legal and the rest, and you could be the one with a C&D letter on your hands. ~Sue

Hi, SLSA is Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate not Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate. I have never seen Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate alone before, just as a blend. Are you sure which one you got? ~Sue

I've CPOP'ed these from SW and was very pleased: ~Mango Lassi (much better soaped than OOB) ~Lovely (accel a bit, but scent holds great) ~Baby Grace ~Lemon Verbena ~White Peach ~Creme Brulee HTH. ~Sue

Hi, The best way to figure shipping is to figure out the further zone from where you live (I always figure CA) and set that as shipping. I include a note in the listing that shipping may be less than what is quoted based on the buyer's zip, and I always refund the excess shipping when I print off shipping labels. Most of my buyers are actually not sellers. It took some time for that to be the case, though. Etsy has gotten a lot of press over the past year from places like the NY Times and other major newspapers so the site itself gets quite a lot of hits. The thing about etsy is that they won't necessarily bring you that much traffic -- you still have to do your own marketing. Good Luck!! ~Sue

Easy peasy -- Snow Drift Farms. I was just browsing there:smiley2:http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/glass_bottles.html ~Sue

The grainy bits could also be undissolved stearic acid. I got a lotion base from a supplier once (not a shea butter formula, either), and the whole thing was unusable because of that. The supplier told me to warm it and they would go away. Well, short of practically boiling it, they didn't go away, and the heat from trying to dissolve it destroyed the preservative. Lesson learned... ~Sue

I got some a few weeks ago, and at 2 weeks curing, there is no discoloration for Daystar's Mint Angel, Vanille Abricot, or OM's Frosted Pink Cupcakes. All 3 scents go pretty dark brown without it. The soap smelled a bit off for the first couple days, but now, they smell the same as the dark brown versions. Whatever you do, DON'T sniff that stuff. It is wicked bad... ~Sue

Soapsilly is spot on. Love this stuff! ~Sue

I love it, too, and I usually hate floral scents. Now, does anyone know how it compares to the actual perfume? ~Sue

Of course she can sell to whomever she chooses, but it does look a bit off when suppliers decide not to sell to someone based on being a moderator of a group (NOT the owner of the other business, mind you). As a B&B maker, I have on many occasions had competitors buy my products (sometimes using their business paypal accounts so it was pretty obvious who was buying). I guess it never occurred to me to tell them I didn't want to sell to them because they may want to copy one of my formulas. I figure if someone wants to copy my stuff bad enough, they will just ask their friend down the street to buy it under their name. ~Sue

I've been making dry oil sprays for quite a while and some fragrances just need a little more time to "bloom". I like waiting about a week and testing out the scent to see if it is to my liking. ~Sue

Flickers Rosemary Mint also kicks butt in CP soap. Made some a month ago, and it was awesome to work with and smells divine. ~Sue

I have the WSP Crazy Caramel Corn. I have only used it in B&B stuff, but it was strong and VERY realistic. ~Sue

I do believe those were a surplus item at WSP about a year ago. I haven't seen them anyplace since. I WISH I could find them, though. ~Sue

Great timing for this post as I am seriously running low on colorants. They look fabulous. Anyone know which color blue will actually be blue in CP soap? That is always a tricky one. ~Sue

Hi, Just got some on Saturday, actually. They are about half the size of the old sniffies. They are the same diameter, but much shorter. HTH. ~Sue P.S. A couple of the new dreamy desserts are must haves

Oh, my doors are always open -- as long as you don't mind small children, as I have 3 of them:shocked2: They think it is cool that their mom makes soap and stuff. ~Sue

You could come on over to my house -- just outside Madison I'm always trying to clean out my stash, LOL. I love using Columbus Foods for all oils and butters. Shipping is good, too, since they are in IL. ~Sue

Here is a suggestion if you want etsy to work for you -- stagger your listing times. Tons of stuff gets posted daily, and lots of people only want to scroll through the first couple pages of, say, candles. Once you get buried on page 20, you will really see your traffic decline. I like to list at least once every couple days, preferably every day. Oh, and it took quite a while for me to get my first sale there. Don't get discouraged if you don't see instant success. Building up a good customer base there takes time. As for shipping, you can set it as a flat-rate based on the further zone from you, and you can always put a note that any excess shipping will be refunded upon shipping. You also might want to participate for a few weeks in the Saturday Night Specials which are listed in the forum. It will at least get some traffic your way. Good Luck! ~Sue

Waving at you from WI! Kangaroo Blue has very quality stuff and customer service has always been outstanding for me. ~Sue

Hi, Easy question first, Daystar uses HDPE to ship their oils. Now, which oils in particular were you thinking about in soy? Off the top of my head, these I have used with good success in terms of hot throw in soy: Buttercream Frosting Ile Flottante Creme de la creme Peach Jam cheesecake Blackberry Jam Butter Cookies Kiwi lime sherbet Coconut Pear I am sure there are more, but I have been very pleased with these in soy (as well as B&B products), and the service has always been top-notch. HTH.