clonefan80

dang i just love Prairieannie.........

Bruce hit the nail on the head. I am starting my 5th year and have I shown a profit, yup, but its sitting in my garage. 3 skids of glassware, 1 skid of wax and several 25lb pails of oils. Do I take a salary, not yet, it has only been this past year that I've been able to purchase everything in bulk so that I can lower my bottom dollar and make a profit. Can i sit back and let everyone come to me.....like Bruce said you gotta go to them. I do tradeshows (wholesale) 4 times a year and advertise in my target market (magazine geared for retailers). I'm not saying you can't make a living in this business because obviously people do but like any business it won't happen instantly and ya gotta hustle. I do this business full time like Bruce but with one exception, I have a DH with a nice job.....my goal is to top his salary and i'm having a fun time gettin' there.

It is a one day Christmas Bazzar and the date is Monday Dec 4th. A different day i know but they have so many activities scheduled for that month. They are charging $35 for a booth. Sorry I will not have a table there. I know the activities coordinator and told her I would put a message out on the boards for those interested. Years ago before I went completely wholesale I used to set up at companies for their employees and it was great.

I agree as well. I had a call not to long ago from a distributor which is basically like you are speaking of. He has accounts that he calls on and wanted me to get a package together that he could present them. He did want a bit more of a cut than reps do but there was no shipping involved since they have their own trucks they would pick up the merchandise and have it on hand in their warehouse. Maybe the best way to go here is to sell the merchandise to him at a sales rep cost and let him handle the retail sale. Let him know he is responsible for handling the reorders and the orders must come thru him. If they contact you direct you wouldn't know who they were anyway. You could start out on a trial basis and see how this works for you. I've had several so called (go getters and reps) really want to handle my products who did zip.

I hear ya. I don't sell retail plus I only have candles and they don't want candles at a retirement home which i totally understand. I know the activities director and they are having vendors come in and set up in Dec for residents as well as employees. This is a very upscale place to.

in the Greater Tulsa area. Please PM me. Its about setting up a booth at the Southern Hills Retirement Center in Dec...??

Yup he was on Ellen last week and she asked him about it. Asked him what the scent was and he said...."well i know it has vanilla in it." But what an opportunity for B&B..

Even less expensive but works great is vinyl tablecovers. I cover all my work tables with them and when they are totally soiled I just put another one down. I pick them up at Big Lots for a couple bucks but i'm sure you can get them anywhere.

i'm behind on this one, what is Craigslist......anyone have the addy so I can take a peek?

Now for the down side. I have to pay rent whether anyone buys a candle or not. And this summer I could barely give them away. I hardly covered the rent. The sales are totally unpredicable. Good days and bad days, and it sucks when I hit a dry patch. But that isn't just craft malls is it? I don't know how much longer I'll stay with it(the mall). Welcome to retail.........i hear this same story all the time from my accounts, thats why i do wholesale only...but it works both ways if my retailers ain't selling then they ain't buying, the difference being I don't have to pay overhead....

when i sold this Tony's was very good as well..i loved it but rarely sold much of it.

just out of curosity have you tried contacting any fragrance oil mfgs here? Here is one website http://www.infrin.com/newHome.htm they have a place listed in Germany, not sure if that helps you or not. And I wonder if France would have any oil mfgs, seems like they would since its the perfume capital.. I gotta tell ya if you could bit the bullet and risk a business venture sounds like you have a nice business going since the competiton is practically nil.

yeah i was pretty sure it wasn't anything new as well but just to be sure before i posted i scanned the USPS site. just click and ship and print the label yourself........

hum...i ship f/o's out priority (over 140 flashpoint) and never have any problems. Of course I also do click and ship and print my own labels. I scanned the USPS website and did not see on it where liquids were prohibitied, it did say they must be "cushioned" and packed well.

when someone asks me if they get a discount when ordering in bulk my reply is "no because my products are already priced at a great low price," and leave it at that, no other explantion needed.

www.wildfire-creations.com look under candles, then displays

I have mine with Ohio Casulty, check with an independent agent to see if he handles them..

If its 2-3 cases i would for sure let them know and hopefully than will offer a credit on your next order. I order glassware by the pallet and had a couple cases come completely smashed (forklift). The trucking company had to note it so I called my glass supplier and asked them if they wanted a copy of the paperwork if they wanted to file a claim. They didn't want to mess with it either but sent me those two extra cases on my next order.

Hey Christy NE nice to see you again (lindak). Anywhoo i was thinking the exact same thing you were, they aren't looking for a replacement i think they are fishing here. Asking for pics may not solve your problem as those can be easily fabricated. To be safe and see what their motives are you can email back as ask them if they would like a replacement candle and if so they will need to send back the candle so you can investigate it further. Don't incriminate yourself.....put the ball back in their court and see how they respond because most people that want a replacement candle or refund will ask for that right away...

As the self professed Queen of renaming scents i think you'd be better off using one of your popular scents and just name it that Novelty name. Everyone will want to smell the candle when they see the name plus if its a good scent they will be telling everyone about it...

wells fargo

all i was implying was that the retailers that attend market will be waiting until after that is over to make buying decisions. Your advantage will be the local issue and not having to pay shipping.

Yup, trade shows..market..all the same

I was just going to say the same thing Candle Man said, the June/July gift markets are just around the corner and some may be waiting until after they go to market to decide. I am an exhibitor at the markets and many times my retailers will wait and reorder at the market, i'm assuming so they can smell any new scents. I did a show in March and two of those accounts ordered stock thru the end of the year. I do my last market in Aug and those orders plus my reorders will keep me busy till the next January markets.

I have yet to see any yellowing but.. i buy the buff colored paper. The kraft paper i felt was too dark with my jars but the buff looks great. Keep an eye on Best Buy for sales, check online as well. I have yet to purchase any cartridges but i'm sure when I do it will be either Best Buy, Wally World or where ever i happen to be. There is very little price difference with these catridges. As for brochures, i have mine done professionally because they also did the props and set it up. It is a high quality gloss sheet, front and back, and i attach a scent list/description to it. That way if/when you change or add scents its easier to just change that piece of paper, i have found that most all vendors do that at the trade shows as well. You can check out my brochure as I also use it for my homepage on my website. www.wildfire-creations.com