BLSoaps

I've been using PayPalPro (PPP) as our merchant pretty much since we started. I knew I could go cheaper elsewhere, but there were enough convenience features about it all being in one place that made it convenient. Even at $20 for their monthly fee. But the monthly fee just jumped to $30.00. OUCH! I'm looking at ProPay as an alternative for our credit card processing. But I've got some questions and concerns. My shopping cart will collect all the info for me, so I'm not too concerned there. In fact, with having to run the cards myself, it will probably resolve some of my shipping issues, since I tend to ship flat rate most of the time. 1. Where do you print your shipping labels from? USPS Click-N-Ship doesn't like my computer and printer. It likes to think it's printed a label when it actually hasn't. Very annoying. So I don't want to print FROM USPS's website. Besides, I send out enough Parcel Post boxes and you can't print those from their site (anyone else find that incredibly annoying???). If I have to pay for an additional service to print postage, any savings from switching may not be worth it. 2. How long does it take the money to become available to you with ProPay? Their site says 1-3 business days it becomes available to your ProPay acct. Since I'll be keeping regular PayPal available on our site, and I have a PayPal CC, I don't really want to use ProPay's CC, because then I'd have money spread out over three different accts (my business checking acct would be the 3rd). How long does it take (in addition to those 1-3 days) for the funds to be available in your bank account? 3. I know I'd save money on fees, but how much time do you lost because you have to process all CC orders yourself? Do you have problems with declined cards and customers upset because they thought their order had gone through without any problems? I'm sure I'll end up coming up with more questions. But these are the ones that come to mind at the moment. Any experienced users and input would be greatly appreciated! I'm got to decide in the next few weeks, so if I switch over, I can do so BEFORE my next $30 payment

I hate spam just as much as the rest of you, but I wanted to mention privacy policies, and quickly explain how they work. You know those long and usually incredibly boring things you often have to click to say you've read before you can continue with your order....well, that section usually includes the company's privacy policy. In clicking that box, you give them permission to do whatever it is they say in that policy. As long as a company is upfront about gathering and selling your e-mail address, it is completely legal to do it. Heck, Microsoft does it all the time, and gets paid big bucks for their list. This is why it's important for every single website to have a clear and concise privacy policy listed on their site. I know at one point Google wouldn't list sites in their searches if they didn't have one on their site. Anyway... Since I hate spam, I have it clearly stated that we do not and will not give away or sell the information that is gathered through our site. If I had stated that in our policy that we do, then I could sell your information to anyone I wanted, and it would be completely legal. But this is also why it's so important to build permission based e-mail lists, and to use double confirmation opt in practices (they have to click on an e-mail that is inside an e-mail sent to them). So if you joined someone's mailing list, and their policy was to NOT share their customers info, and then they decided to SELL their business.... legally, your info should never have been included in the sale without getting permission from you first. I hate spam too, but if they do it right, this was completely legal. As for A Jar Store, I wouldn't be surprised if they garnered the info from the business license filings with the state. That is completely legal. We've registered several businesses over the last couple years, and it always results in a barrage of junk mail. Usually it's business credit card applications, but sometimes other stuff as well. It's legal. It sucks, but it's legal.

Honestly, you can pay yourself whatever you're comfortable with. There are a number of ways that I've seen people calculate their 'labor' pay. If you work a day job, pull the same pay over. So if you make $15 an hour in your current job, pay yourself at least $15/hour. What kind of pay would you NEED to be making to leave your full time job? If you wanted to do this full time, what kind of pay would you expect/want? Let's say 40k/year. Divide that by 50 weeks (give yourself two weeks off a year! LOL!) and 40 hours, and you get $20/hour. When you get to the point that you need to hire help, what kind of wages are you planning on offering them? If you pay minimum wage, you're gonna get minimum wage type help. I will often divide my labor costs into two tiers. One is Master Level. Things only I can do, or someone who has basically apprenticed under me (which I wouldn't do without a heck of a lot of trust). This wage is quite a bit higher. Then I have an Employee Level. These are the things I'd pass on to an employee. Things pretty much anyone can do, like packaging stuff. I still pay this level well, because I'm gonna want to be able to hire good help when I get to that point. But it's lower than my level. So for making soap, I divide the time it takes to make a batch into two levels. The actual soap making is Master Level. The clean up, cutting, wrapping, etc, is Employee Level. It takes a little longer to calculate, but it works out well, I think. The biggest thing is to make sure you pay yourself well. I figure I've self taught myself several degrees over the last few years! I'm a master soap maker, lotion maker, marketer, book-keeper, web designer, copy writer... and so much more. Also, there's another great thing in knowing what your time is worth. If you've got something you need done (design work, book-keeping, whatever), calculate how much you'd have to pay yourself to do it. If you can hire someone else to do it for less (and still get a good job done), then it's worth hiring out. I hope that makes sense! Anyway, good luck with the account! I hope this all helps!

Check the label. Some of the Vitamin E they sell is Vit E dispersed in Soybean Oil. It should still be okay to use, but you'll need to include all the ingredients on the label.

I offer testers of lotion, usually a few of them, scented in my best selling scents. It's always the scent that draws them in first, then they're amazed by how good it makes their hands feel. But always the scent first! LOL! As for a test of the lip balm, even with how you're suggesting it, I still got the heebie-jeebies. Sharing a lip balm is something I only do with my husband, and sometimes my mom (like if I go to her house and forget mine). But a stranger? Never. I've tried to figure out how to do samples of the lip balms, and the only thing I could think of that might work was to make lip balm drops. Use a pipette and drop onto something that it won't soak completely through. I was thinking wax paper or freezer paper. I'd probably precut them into squares, and drop into the middle of the square. Then once they were cool, I could stack them into a fairly organized pile. I've never done this, so I don't know how well it would actually work, but it might. I don't do craft shows. I found, unfortunately, it wasn't the right market for me. Part of the problem was there were very few products that they could test without access to water. If I had water, I did lots better, but that's hard. Without a helper to help haul water, I wouldn't even attempt something as simple as a wash bowl. So this might work. But I'm guessing you'll have more customers that will be grossed out by sharing the lip balm, even if it is only on the hand, than you'll have think the single use squares are weird. If I could figure out a way to make them portable like that, I'd probably try it. Instead, I just hand out lots of lotion and soap samples in the meantime! LOL! I hope your shows go well!!!

Hi Roberta! I'm going to try to answer this to the best of my knowledge with the information you've given me. When you say liquid colorants, I'm assuming that it's water based, and most likely an FD&C or D&C colorant, or a blend of these colorants. The age shouldn't affect it. It's pretty much an inert product, and if it goes bad, I've never heard of it, and it would certainly take more than 2 years to do so. As for bath salts and milk baths.... they just don't take certain liquid colorants well. I can get gorgeous pink, yellow, & green bath salts, but I can't get a purple. I try to mix red & blue to get purple (thinking kindergarten here!), but it doesn't work. Why? Not sure exactly, but that's always been my experience with the current FD&C/D&C colorants that I own. As for milk baths more specifically, I don't color mine. One, adding any kind of liquid can risk reactivating the milk powder, which will sour the milk bath (nasty), two, the colors just never work right. Not a good medium for it. If you REALLY want to color the milk baths, try something dry, like micas. See how that works for you. I just like to dress it up in really nice packaging with a great label, and leave it plain. Seeing a purple milk bath...might turn people off. It sounds weird to me, and I love coloring toiletries. If you're looking for some good FD&C and D&C colorants, send me a PM. As I'm sure you either know or have figured out, water based colorants do not work in oil based products. MMS has some liquid oil based colorants. I found they worked well, but consistency was a major issue. They're strong enough that they recommended dipping a toothpick into the colorant tub, then using that to color the batch of whatever you were making, and repeat if needed. Yeah, that's not accurate enough in my opinion. But then I've got accounts that want and demand a consistent product every time they get it. Go figure! I'd be the same way! I switched to using the Lip Balm Colorants from Pine Meadows. They're tiny wax pieces, probably a lot like color chips for coloring candles (I don't make candles, so I'm not sure exactly on this! LOL!). They work wonderfully. They're very strong. But unless you have a microscale that can measure parts of a gram, you'd have to use full packets as your measuring guide. They sell them in half gram baggies. Which if you're trying to color a lip balm batch enough to be a lip tint, it's not very much. But if you're coloring a batch of balm (like a lotion stick), and it needs to be very light (no tinting skin or risk of coloring clothing if it brushes the skin before it absorbs), then you're going to need to make larger batches of balm. It's workable without a microscale, but it might still be a good idea to get one. As soon as I got mine (after 3 years of making stuff with a scale that just did 10ths of an ounce or single grams), I couldn't believe how much I use it. I got mine from Jenn at LotionCrafter. the JS-50X, and it was less than $30 I believe. Totally worth it! As for using cake colorants, I'm assuming (I hate assuming! ) that you're talking about using Wilton Icing Paste. I'm going to tell you about using them, and then tell you what I think of them. I know many will disagree, but it's really for you to decide in the end. I just want you to get all sides of the issue on using these. You should be able to use the Wilton Icing in bath salts (and probably milk baths, as long as you're mixing it into something besides the milk powder). I don't believe they'll work in the oil based products. I'm trying to remember what they're dispensed in, but it's been ages since I looked at them. I'm sure someone would be able to share. Now these colorants are strong and produce some of the most amazing colors in bath salts and bath bombs that I've ever seen. My problem with them is that they were not intended for use in cosmetic products. Most of the pastes are safe to use as colorants, but you will need to check each and every color separately. FD&C stands for Food Drug & Cosmetic approved colorant. The "C" portion is what's important for us to watch for. So those D&C (no F) colorants could not be used in coloring any food product, but can still be used in most of our products (the exception being lip balms, because anything in them needs to be edible). So you'll need to read the ingredient label on each of the Wilton's colorants, and make sure that the combo of colorants THEY list each have that "C". If they do, you can use it. But keep in mind that they have other ingredients in there besides the colorants, and you need to list each and every ingredient on your own label. I hope this helped!

Expect it to take forever to trace! But other than that it makes a wonderful bar of soap. This is what is commonly know as Castile Soap. I make one that I market as a baby's soap. It's incredibly gentle and very mild. However, the lather is very tiny bubbles, which often is viewed as slimy. The longer it cures, the less 'slimy' it feels though. Most of my CP soaps I let cure for 4-6 weeks. My castiles, I prefer 4-6 MONTHS. Seriously. It makes a huge difference in the bar when in use. It takes longer to set up in molds (part of the trace thing I'm sure). Mine took 2-3 days last time (I need to make more). Where normally I pull from molds just shy of 24 hours usually. But once it's 'cuttable', cut it. It ends up an incredibly HARD bar of soap. I have two logs that I forgot about, and I won't even attempt to cut them. I'll probably hack chunks off and end up shredding it for something, I just don't know what.

For retail and wholesale), I usually keep the scent list fairly similar. I have some exceptions though. For instance, I've got some knock your socks off Plumeria, but out of 5 attempted batches, only one even remotely turned out. So I only offer that in B&B. Some other scents, though, I only offer in soaps, like some of my holiday soaps. They'll sell in soap scents, but not lotions. I also make some EO soaps with citrus eo's that I won't put into leave on products because of the phototoxicity issues. After all that, for the most part, yes! But I have some exceptions!

That is the coolest story!!! YAY! It definitely deserved a happy dance!

This will take you a little longer in figuring out what your prices will be, but YOU'LL know you've covered all the details. [moderator EDIT to remove link to site] As for trying to price out below someone else. Don't. That should never be how you price your product. If I tried to price like Dove (I don't make candles), then I'd be out of business by next week because I'd lose money on every bar of soap instead of make anything. This is simply having confidence in your product. So cut Yankme out of the equation, and price it like it should be priced. Also, retail should always be twice your wholesale. The stores are going to want to double their costs (at least), so make sure you double your wholesale to get your retail pricing.

Actually, if I sent out more, I'd go one more step up, and require a signature. It's a little bit more, but not much. If you truly think he's scamming you though, cover your butt this time around. If anything happens with it this time around, you'll know what's going on, and deal with it then. I hate scammers!

I've always liked your site visually. The pictures are beautiful (and loaded quickly for me), the candles are well presented, but I always get confused with the navigation. To me, it honestly doesn't make sense. Your side links change depending on which top link you've got. Am I right in guessing that you have most of the site as a basic website, then all the shopping goes through a separate cart? That's how it seemed, as well as the only reason I could think of for your listing prices only on the shopping page. I understood your explanation. If they were linked together, any price changes would carry through automatically. But back to the navigation.... if you hadn't asked us to check out those specific areas (subsections of the products page), I probably wouldn't have noticed the new nav buttons on the left side. Your whole site design is nice and subtle, I LIKE THAT. (too many sites out there just shout at you non-stop) But for me, it also hindered the navigation, because those new buttons popping up on the side weren't obvious. I hope that all made sense. I still think the site is gorgeous, just difficult to maneuver through logically.

Not all cart systems do that. Mine does. It holds the info for 10 days I think. Sometimes I'll go through, and e-mail the customer, asking if there's anything I can do to help them with completely their order. Don't usually get a response. But knowing how often I do the same thing, especially pricing out shipping, I don't worry about it. I'm sure most companies don't. I currently have 4 'abandoned' carts in my que. A couple are regular customers that I'm sure are pricing out shipping. One is a customer who ended up calling in her order because she had a question, the last processed an order this morning, and just ended up using a separate cart. Only reason I even checked my carts is because of this thread, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered! LOL! So as a customer, I seriously wouldn't fret over abandoning a cart if you're checking shipping prices and such. If the company even has the capability of checking, and bothers checking (I hardly do anymore), they know it's part of doing business.

I'm glad it got resolved, but I've got a question that it's just gonna bug me until I ask. It's an e-book. How can she not have a "Copy" to send you? It's not like it's a paper copy. If that were the case, I could understand not having a copy. But an e-book is electronic. It doesn't really have copies. Sorry if I'm digging up something that's settled, this just struck me as very odd.

oooh, that was a big pic...sorry folks!

And the salt bar was my favorite out of all of them. Just goes to show you how different tastes are! I love the contrast between the white and dark parts. I think it's gorgeous! As for the carrot, if the natural color doesn't stick around, you can use carrot seed oil to get that natural orange color. It takes very little (trust me), and it's a gorgeous color. Here's a picture of my carrot soap. The color is COMPLETELY from the carrot seed oil. It was strong enough that it stained my mold. I love your carrot soap, and think the gold mica swirls would be gorgeous in with this, but my request was for a completely all natural soap, so it is...

I know some flip top jars were talked about a while ago. I looked into these two companies, but never heard back from either (I hate that). Are these what you're talking about? http://oberk.xture.com/Closures/Plastic-Cap/Flip-Top-Jar-Cover/70mm-400/860921/oberk.aspx http://www.seaquistclosures.com/@SCWebsite/catalog/productpage.asp?xid=1001297 Maybe you'll have better luck with them!

I'm guessing this is the reason for the line about $5000+ in income. A lot of crafters go through Ken Bomba for their insurance. He isn't licensed in all states, but if you are selling less than $5k, he very possibly may be cheaper. If you make MORE than $5k, you need to go with someone else. I make more the $5k, so even if he was licensed in Utah, I couldn't work with him. But he's a GREAT guy, helpful to me even though he knew he couldn't 'get' my business.

You can get a shipping 'quote' from MMS before you order. I do this all the time (they probably hate me simply for abandoned carts! LOL!). Basically, you'll start the check out process. You will need to put in your full shipping information, but it'll then give you your shipping options and the costs for each. But the payment processing comes AFTER this page. So you can go in, get prices & shipping info, but not actually place your order. I do this sometimes when I need to get my cost for some ingredients I get from them. It probably creates an abandoned cart in their system (I know it does in my shopping cart system), but you do what you gotta do!

I tried this out, and mixed up a jar ahead of time, and the stuff I stored formed mold. If you mix it up as you use it, it works wonderfully, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it as a facial scrub. But since it sounds like you're wanting to pre-mix it (since I believe you mentioned a malibu tube), you're going to probably want something non-organic (as in herbal or food based, like the walnut shell, not organic as in how it's grown) for your scrubby part if your base contains water. I don't know how well Jojoba Beads would work. It'd probably take quite a few for them to be effective. There are different kinds of micro-spheres that would probably work well in a cream base, but I haven't tried them out. They don't dissolve (like sugar or salt would in a cream), they won't rehydrate and grow mold (like the walnut shell). They're pretty much nonreactive.

I use these shelves as well. I've got several sets of them. I then take extra sections, and make extra 'shelves'. I attach them with zip ties. It works really well, and they're actually quite sturdy with them. I then use the cardboard trays that sodas come on. I've got 6 'cubes' set up with 3 tray slots each. Each shelf can hold about 6 lbs of soap. So I can easily cure 100+ of soap. And when I get really busy, I still have more of these shelves, and I start snagging those instead of using them to store the many other things I use in this business!

This is the line that cracked me up! LOL! I'm someone that's all for bases (I'd be a hypocrite if I weren't ... ), but buying from a big company, and then deciding to ask for permission later? HAH! He doesn't need to worry about Jane down the street suing him, he needs to worry about Tide (or whoever he's buying detergent from) suing his ass off! As much fun as the saying is (better to ask for forgiveness than seek permission), it won't protect you from a company like this. Unless a company is selling a base that is intended for resale, it's completely unethical to take it, repackage it, and sell it as your own. It'd be like going down to Bath & Body Works, squeezing their lotion into a different bottle, slapping a label on it, and saying you made it yourself. Even if the original company never finds out, it screams unprofessional and unethical for you. And if you'd be willing to fudge on something like that, then I'm terrified to think where else you'd cut corners. This is NOT a case in which you ask for permission after the fact. If you intend to sell this, get permission before you sell a single ounce.

I know this may end up sounding a little strange at first, but I would charge him MORE for NOT having my info on the tarts. Essentially, not having your company's info on the product would make it a private label product. By having YOUR info on the product, customers can either come directly to you for purchasing more (or other) products in the future, resulting in more sales, especially if he's only wanting to carry this one item from you. Also, if another company comes into his store to scout for potential products, or if someone shops, loves it, and refers it to someone who might want to carry it, they have no way of ever reaching you about it because there is no info for them to get. I hope I'm making sense. Private Label means they have the privilege of keeping their sources private or relatively private from the final consumer. I've always felt that they had to pay extra for that right. Now if you're okay with this, by all means, don't worry about it. I sell unlabeled CP soaps, intended for other crafters to sell under their own label. But that's through my supply company. When I offer private label through my retail/wholesale company, it's a whole different ballgame. I hope I didn't totally confuse you on this! I need to stop reading through the CT boards to wake me up in the mornings! LOL!

Sharon (PrairieAnnie) gave you good advice! With my labels I have the company name and the fragrance name in the specialty type font (the fun fancy stuff!). Everything else is Times New Roman, sometimes it'll be in italics, but usually not. Basically, by keeping most of my text very easily readable, I can use a font that's more difficult to read, but fun, flowy, and fitting my company, on the company name and fragrance parts. I'm gonna try (hehe....i'm so sleep deprived at the moment, it's hardly even funny!) to pull some pics of my labels in here. Hopefully I can get it to work. Hmmm... but I wanted to be able to share the backs of the labels too.... Hang on... (I am so not awake for this... ... so you better be appreciating this! LOL!) Okay, I can't figure out how to get a picture in here without it being already online somewhere. I don't really want to add a picture of just my label into one of my online photo albums... any tips on this ladies (and gents)?

I would say no, simply because of the fragrance oil that's listed. Most fragrance oils aren't safe for use in lip balm products. Apricot Kernel Oil would be good in a lip balm though. Obviously you'll need to balance it out with some kind of wax (beeswax, candellilia, etc), and probably some harder oils.