SherriLynn

Busy... swamped... seasonal wholesale orders are coming in. Just mailed corporate gift basket flyers and brochures. In the middle of turning the store around for fall season,,,including some Halloween and Thanksgiving items.

20% is very reasonable. Our consignment stores here charge 25% to 35%. I consign with 2 of my crafting buddies at my store.. I charge them 25%.

Great... thanks much Karen!!

Thanks for the update..... OK.. so if I'm reading this right, the wax from Candle Cocoon will not be EL,, it will be another type of wax, yes?

If that be the case I hope someone lets us EL users know.. and soon. Once I received the letter from EL last month about closing their operation I began testing new waxes. Candles are one of my largest product lines in the biz and I couldn't wait to the last minute to find a replacement. A lot would also depend on the price point. Since I order directly from EL the pricing may be too high for me to stay with it in moving to another supplier. Keep us in the loop....

Depends on what time of year it is.... winter time I stay within a 2 hour radius. Summer/Fall - have 2 LARGE shows, we travel over 250 miles but revenue is a nice chunk. We drive out the night before, hotel over night, so we're there, fresh and ready to go for set up.

We don't do shows from Jan - August.. with the exception of 2 large festivals that make booocooo bucks. Spring shows have always been the pits for us... slow sales. Lots of people out kicking tires but they are usually just looking for somethin to do. About 8 years ago,,, we tried some flea markets and farmers markets. Went to them for a couple of years but got tired of the constant "bartering" for your goods. Just wasn't our thing....I don't negotiate on pricing. And I got tired of trying to keep the integrity of my product looking great through heat, rain, blowing dust at outdoor shows. Other than selling at our own store (our inventory is almost 100% entirely hand crafted Minnesota artisans) we market strictly at hand crafted juried shows and boutiques cause that's were the money is. Took a while to weed those shows that said they were handcrafted but sold "junk" and tons of commercial stuff. Heck you can buy commercial anywhere, nothing special about it. We now have a set schedule of 13 weekends jam packed with good buying shows from Sept - mid Dec. We are also part of a group that does many major fundraisers (hand crafted) throughout the year, so that keeps our sales strong all year around. I'm sure things will pick up got ya with holiday season just ahead. We've already got shoppers in the store picking up Christmas gifts.

Sorry everyone.. have been out delivery today and not on the board. I spoke with Jennifer at EL today.. will definitely miss her and Bruce's great service and knowledge about soy, pouring soy, storing soy, wicking soy...I'm not looking forward to trying to find a replacement wax, if candles weren't such a HUGE part of my business I'd let them go.... Ditto Fran,,, BUMMER

Received a letter regarding Enchanted Lites in the mail today.... effective 12/13/2013 operation will be closed. Sad to see them go...guess its time to start the pursuit for a new 100% soy.. there may be some limited production but time will tell. Hopefully I can find a decent replacement as I've poured this wax for more than 10 years. I've tried quite a few others over the past when looking for better rates, etc, but hadn't found anything perform as stable. Thank heavens ordered enough wax in for this years fundraisers and "silly season". Whewwww!!!

Yikes!! I just ordered 100 sheets of lip balm labels... shipping was $4.95 to Minnesota. Love their designer... and the service too.

I've poured soy for 11 years...6 years ago my daughter suggested we try a dye free section of white candles. Four to one color out sold the white,,, seems color is a very suggestive power in the mind before a sniff is ever taken from the jar. We discontinued our dye free line 3 years later and now color all jars. I see a lot of white candles on the market,, but not sure how well they sell for others. In our product line, they didn't sell as well as the colored.

Since many rules and regs change from state to state I'm not able to give you any advice there. However, you should check with your local city and state officials on requirements they may have in your area.

Had my g/f in Syracuse NY find these candles on a shopping trip. She burned a couple, said there was nothing overly special about them other than they are EXPENSIVE and she sent me a couple. Burned well, no hang up, not any more heavily scented than my own. It's all in the advertising hype and that ya can make people believe that A is better than B

I toss them....gosh I have tons of stuff in my shop and store, don't find a need for left over bottles. I do keep the flip tops though for use on other FO bottles when suppliers don't sent them.

Sent ya a msg. Sam

A 126 is smaller than 1212....... it's geared for 3.75" to 4" jars... 1212's are 4" as well as 1312's for over 4" jars. I use 126's in my 8oz mason jars for many of the bakery fragrances. Would be glad to send ya a few to try instead of having to purchase a bunch.

Hi Sally... there is another wick between 105 and 1212...HTP 126.

I do the same as Lumina... if my Square doesn't work I fill out the credit card sheets,, get their signature and all pertinent info... then enter the card information manually when I can get service.

Have had nothing but great experiences with Peaks and their prompt service and great products. I'd check with UPS and find out why your packages are continually damaged. I've ordered from Peaks for many years and have never had a missing or damaged package.

We've sold lotion for about 5 years now... some ask about dye free, never have been asked about paraben free. I agree with your thoughts about BBW having parabens and still selling a ton of the lotion. I'd say most customers aren't worried about it. As for the other lotion bases you've listed... I haven't tried any of them,,, let us know how they work for you if you should test them out.

Doesn't do PayPal at all...have heard of the hacking horrors about the company.

Interesting... my USPS charges higher rates as oils are considered hazardous... and costs a mint to ship. Could be my smaller PO with these guidelines or maybe they don't understand what hazardous is. I dunno Too many hiccups with USPS lately, many substations have been closed,, causing delays. If you're shipping intra-state it might be ok.

It sounds like this package was shipped USPS.. good old post office.. I can say that I've had several shipments delayed by the PO... so now I send everything Fed Ex.. as that seems to be the cheapest and most dependable.

Hmmmm....wonder how long it will take them to sort this out.... no comments from DM or others... Hmmmmm again...

Is there one? I've checked numerous sites but can only find a UV inhibator for candles and soap.