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I am not too interested in buying things off of etsy, I have already bought a few things from local sellers because those are my direct competition for now (at craft shows and flea markets etc) I was more looking to get an idea for price for quality of products, and was looking at ingredients and comparing them to what I was making and then comparing what people were charging. It was just out of curiosity. I guess I was just baffled at the fact there were no preservatives listed in ALL of these scrubs that I was seeing, and I was kind of like, WELL Craftserver SAID (and I read this board and consider most of what is said like gospel haha). . . ha I think I got a bit of attitude in my head towards some of the Etsiers. I may email one or two of the sellers and ask. Can't hurt anything.

OKay, so I am mostly into Candles and MP soap (still not a MP expert haha so that tells you my skill level) figured I would try a few easy BB things, like sugar scrubs and bath oils that didnt require a lot of ingredients and I could make in small batches. Tried a couple recipes on here and they turned out WONDERFUL (thanks so much guys) My question is about preservatives, I have read a lot on here about which preservative to use in which product, etc and obviously see the benefits of using preservatives if selling BUT I was looking on Etsy and when looking at Scrub and Oil ingedients I think only ONE out of about a million listings I looked at included a preservative in the ingredient list. And that one was all unnatural chemical type ingedients, nothing sounded like natural ingredients. Most of the other listings were just sugars (or salts), oils, FO, and color (if there were FO and color) So does one just not have to list the preservative in the ingredients? Or what? Or are these people selling without preservative. I also saw one lady who had at the bottom of her post a message that said this product has not been tested by the FDA so any results of application are (I am not sure how she worded it, I should have saved it) but basically it was a user beware type statement in not as scary words. I am not sure what I am asking, I guess I am just confused and any input would be awesome to make my head stop realing.

I've ordered wholesale incense to go with fundraiser baskets and burners. Not the bags yet though. I had no problems.

Beautiful! Soap makes me mad specifically because I am not patient enough to achieve THAT. Wonderful job! I love it!!

Okay so newbie (newbie as in want to try but haven't yet since I am getting so mad at my soaps I dont want something else to get mad at too) to B&B question here... WHAT IF. . .a person buys a concentrate and then adds water? I mean, I think that's mostly what you have to do with a concentrate. That is still considered a base, correct? I think with these things its probably best to just put your logo on and list the benefits of the ingredients rather than saying it is handmade probably, although I had never thought about it before reading this post. Also, what exactly IS challenge testing? What is the process, cost of that etc. Maybe someone can direct me to a link to research that? Thanks so much! Cassie

I think they have these at Madina (http://madinaonline.com) although they may actually be zip bags with the hole on top. They have a min. order of $20, so you could always get some burners too. I think their basic incense burner is $4.95ish for 12 of them. Hope that helps. I saw some on ebay too but they are way overpriced and i dont think they had the hole. Cassie

I don't dress my bears, we just do the bow around the neck. But I think that I read somewhere that if you are planning to dress the bear you want to do it before they are completely cool, probably right after the "combing" period when they are still a bit bendable. http://www.wicks-wax-scents.com/wax-dipped-bear.html This site gives some info, they say when they started the did wax dipped bears in clothes and not to dip the clothes in the wax. It also says that it's easiest if the clothes snap in the back. I did not see if it said when you put the clothes on. When my bears are dry they are pretty much stiff so I would guess you would have to do it before they are dry just so you dont mess up the wax and end up with dandruff from too much rubbing/handling.

I dont know if I am maybe not as knowledgable as all of you, but WSP doesnt seem super expensive for me, I think thats what category the original poster had them in. I order from peaks for a lot of my FOs, but WSP has economy scents and every one I have tried I have loved. I sell more of their blueberry muffin than anything else. I have been switching a lot of things I used to get from Peaks to WSP because I am in Ohio and only in CO in the summers for a couple weeks, such as wax etc. because of shipping prices. I just love Peaks samples though. I always get those little bottles and tuck them away so Im not tempted, then sure enough a week later I'm testing and ordering more. So I guess what I am saying is I think WSP isn't really in the most expensive category at all. Their economy scents are compirable in price to many other company's and are AWESOME scents (so far, knock on wood). Just my But for me also, we have a local Pat Cattan's that has several FOs and I can't think of the company's name, but if I can find something from them I can use I'll pay extra for it being so local in case I need it in a hurry. For example, my Apple Pie, Stawberry, Orange Dreamsicle and French Coffee. I also have a few scents on my available list that I have had special ordered and used a scent from Pat Cattans, ie its been tested, but so if I ever need to make it again I can drive litterally like 5 minutes to get the scent that day instead of waiting to get it. I just checked the brand is Abbey and Sullivan. They have a kiwi melon and a couple others that don't throw so well, and the selection is thin. So I guess pricing for me depends on localness too. I will pay more for something I can get faster if need be. But quality is the main thing, I think.

Honestly, I tried doing the waxed dipped TP this morning, going for the look that someone else linked at WSP with the whipped wax on top...did not work out for me. may try again another time, but I was not happy with the look and I didnt think it smelled/held the fragrance as well as my bears and rose petals etc. But some of them look cute! Ive seen some that look almost like bundt cakes.

awesome, thanks I actually signed up for the emails last night since i realized i wasnt already getting them. im about to try some of their postcards and whatnot, mostly happy with the business cards and everything else i have gotten from them. and you cant really beat the price, so yeah they are great.

what coffee cup warmers are you talking about? just curious, i sell some really cute ceramic tulip warmers, but they run me a little over $2 each, then I add 4 tealights and sell them for $5.

I was having the same idea, I have read on a couple other boards that mailing is a good idea. When I worked marketing and our boss insisted we "stop by" clients when we were in certain areas on other appointments, it really never went well for me. Even when we would take promo things or whatnot, they were too busy, and kind of brushed us off. One company actually ended up not going with us for their staffing because our manager made a coworker, Kate, go visit one too many times and she found our in her face tactics annoying. Which, ultimately, lost us thousands of dollars in profits and lost kate her 1500 dollar monthly bonus had she been able to retain that client using her gut instinct. (man I miss that job, when I think of all the bonuses haha..staying home with the kids is awesome, but my only form of bonus here is a few thank yous and i love yous.) In the end of my time there, I would just lie and drop our promo stuff with a secretary and drive around a bit to kill the extra time or hang out longer with the few managers who didnt actually work. This is a completely different ballpark, of course, with candles than with industrial staffing marketing, and I haven't decided yet how to proceed with my marketing, whether mailing or stopping in. I of course want to see the inside of any store I would want my products in, so maybe I am thinking stop in, gauge the busy-ness of the store that day, and if it seems they dont have time for you or you would be a burden, purchase something small and when you mail reference that you were there, you bought (said item so they know you aren't lying) and you understand how busy they are. But if you are mailing, I would say followup calls are very important. I am looking for a program that is similar to the one we used at the agency I used to work for, to keep track of marketing calls. I would say definately follow up a week after the mailing to make sure they received the info, no pressure. Just like you wanted to make sure it didnt get lost in the mail. If they filed it, they filed it oh well. But then maybe 3 more weeks or something call again, mail another letter, whatever. Keep your name in their mind and eventually they may want to order a sampler or let you stock on cosignment or something with the plan of rolling over into wholesale. I dont know. I completely back your idea of sending samples out though, I am planning to do that too. I know some people think thats a waste of money, but if I had a store I would want to test everything I would stock. Kill them with kindness, and take the upfront loss. You get one account, you make your money back. And that sample candle/lotion/whatever isnt going to fit in the filing cabinet so even if it sits on the boss's desk for a month, she's seeing your product often enough she may eventually just give you a call. Let me know what you decide and how it goes for you. On a personal note, I'm on bedrest, grounded from candle making(and everything else) because I had a bunch of seizures (i thought they were migraines. . .i have kids, kids make people's heads hurt, it made sense to me.) and my meanie hubby won't let me do anything til after my surgery and recovery. i told him they released me from the hospital after a week stay, ive got to do something until i go back for surgery. and he said to read a book. luckily, i only have one store with products stocked right now and i was able to put all else on hold, and with the stock i have on hand i should be able to fill any of their restock orders okay. i will be living vicariously through these message boards haha as long as he doesnt catch me on the computer.

hey just a quick question, where did u see the free magnets at vista print? i have the winter catalog with all the free things from my last order but i dont see it in there or on the regular website. i think my saturn wont work with a magnet anyhow, the ridiculous car is made out of plastic or something. but i could always stick it on hubby's cherokee. thanks.

yeah thats what I was thinking about food, I dont think selling it to my mom is a problem, especially if she buys the supplies because then there would be no exchange of monies. but i am wondering about licensing/seperate kitchen for pet items, like dog treats. my OLD dog died recently (she was 17) and my 4 year old puppy misses her so I have been baking her puppy treats, and was wondering about selling them. i will probably stick with candles though.

out of curiousity (and laziness of not wanting searching the old posts. . .) how many of you sell more than just candles and soaps when you set up booths or at your storefronts, etc? currently, i just sell candles and have been messing around with MP soap, but have made and sold to friends and fam (just for cost of items) dipped items, like chocolate dipped marshmallows etc. dont really want to do that long term, because i am not sure if id have to get cleared with fda, etc and not sure what the legalities are. . and i have enough going on as it is. just interested if anyone has branched out there. . . i love candling, but was thinking of maybe getting into specialty doggie treats, however weird that may sound. i don't have a long enough attention span to stick with just one thing haha.

i would be interested in an answer to this question also.

I know these postings are from forever and a year ago, but I was just curious if anyone who implemented this had any results? i was kind of doing this already, not to strangers but like after my husbands landscaping homeshow I gave all the foremen gifts bags with relaxation stuff in them for working 11 days of 15 hour days straight, poor guys. and similar things. i was just curious if this had any sales results?

I took a long shot and got mine printed by a girl on Ebay. She let me order by the sheet, and it was 2.50 a sheet sooo that would be about 13c a label. I just emailed her my design and she edited it up a little bit and sent me a proof and then she printed them. I was very happy, in fact even now that I have figured out how to get my 2inch labels to print from my computer they are no where near as bright as hers. Her Ebay name is Designer Label Gal. I emailed her first and all to make sure they could do it well and they could do what I wanted, and she was really great considering it was Ebay. It was a lot less than Sunshine Labels, which was who I was using before.

It also printed out a checklist of things you may need to look into, which was helpful. It categorized bath and body with candle making, so a lot of it was not useful to me NOW but in the future may be. I think it may have been ALL crafts, actually because I think it said something about woodworking too.

The way I understand OHIO laws (not sure where you are from) if you are planning on just selling at flea markets etc. and if you use YOUR name (not something like, Heavenly Candles, but just your first and last name) all you would need to do is to obtain a vendor's license. In Stark County, this is $25. If you want to use a different name you would also need to register a fictitious name with the Sec of State. I found all this info just searching online, go to your state's homepage. Ohio has a new business thingy where you put in all the info on your business, and they put together a packet you can download and print with info on loans for your type of business (not that you should need it with candling, although I know an extra $x0000 for candle making would be a ton of fun!!), loans for your specific minority, and all the forms for vendor's license, fictitious name etc etc. Maybe your state does the same thing.

I use IGI 4630a or 4633. I have read that IGI 1343 is best though, so I dont know. I tried it, but I couldn't tell too much of a difference in the cold throw, and I am only using between 1/2-1oz per lb for these. I know you are supposed to use more frag than that for bears, but I thought those were WAY too strong for my liking at least. The 4630 (or 33, whichever I think they are pretty close to the same blend) is a bit stickier that 1343, but when it comes down to it these are supposed to be an air freshener, not a toy people put their hands on all the time. I didn't get any dandruff at all using this wax, and I am a major perfectionist who combs probably ten times more than I need to. My advice may not be best though, I try to use as few different kinds of waxes as possible, so if I see one that I use for another candle work, then I stick with it. I may just convince myself it's just as good. My hubby will only let me take over so many cabinets for candling haha.

Haha my agent doesn't TELL my dad, it's just that he's NOSY enough to ask haha. I was just curious about all this. I understand there are ridiculous things people sue for, I just didn't know the probability of it actually happening to me. But I never thought of an insurance company going after a candle company, I was more thinking someone maybe not liking a scent and suing for emotional damage or something haha. Thanks so much for the insight!

since I posted such a nice thank you to you all, maybe you can answer a question I have. I don't want to sound stupid here, I am in the process of getting insurance (no I can't be sleezy and side-step it, my dad(doesn't it seem weird my dad still thinks he has to come check up on me, considering Im an adult, married with two kids haha?) already is BFFs with my insurance agent at State Farm and ASKS her about if I have enough homeowner's etc etc, so I know if I didn't get liability he would probably die of heart attack haha) BUT I have a question ABOUT insurance. I know its a back up and all, but in honesty what is the likelihood of even getting sued? I mean, I know my products are good or else I wouldn't sell them. I put on warning labels, give out instructions reminding people they don't need to burn wax dipped bears, etc etc. So I am just not sure what there is left to be sued for. Maybe anyone who has been through something with a customer can give me some insight? I think too far in advance with the what ifs I know. Thanks so much!!

So, I just wanted to let all of you know.. I have been reading this board for about 3 days straight, honestly on my computer ALL day my kids probably hate me LOL and I have found it sooo helpful. Yeah, even after reading all your tips I will probably still be stubborn and think I am going to do it all my own way, but honestly this business section has given me soo many ideas! for all yours info though, i am new to candle selling, i have been researching hardcore for about two years on making, and have only made about 4 sales since I am so new. but luckily with all my research i havent had to REdo anything, all my first trys have been awesome (knock on wood!). had one votive glass cup crack when burning, but those were an impulse buy. again, thank you all so much and i hope to be a welcome part to these boards. :smiley2: