LuminousBoutique

If it bumps up the shipping, I wont include something. Generally for small orders I include a 1oz slice of soap. For a larger order, I might include a free lip balm- but it has to be over a certain dollar amount to make that worth it. When I started offering beeswax I sent out a few beeswax tealights or votives to certain customers I knew would enjoy it.. I really do all of it on a case by case basis, but everyone gets the 1oz slice of soap

so gorgeous barbara!

totally not weird, i love cutting the bars too- I love revealing the swirls and layers

lol no kidding... we dont use dye at all, must drive some people crazy...

Some FO's are just not going to jive with liquid soap base, is this multiple kinds doing this or just one? Does it say to add Poly?

I use click-n-ship for international only usually (otherwise i print labels off paypal...) but I'll look into it for sure. Most of my packages ship to the east coast, or california, or seattle. so I'm not sure any of them would work for me, but its worth looking into.

I drop my son off at school at 8am, (get up at 6:30) so I'm usually home (after running from place to place for random things) by 8:30 and thats when I get started. I drop orders off at the PO at 2:30 so I can pick him up by 3, then I can work until 8:00 or so (off and on, with a break to cook dinner and play and all that) I basically work 12 hour days, 8-8. I work at night too, but mostly "busy work" labeling, wicking, packaging.. that kind of stuff I'll do from the couch so I dont lose my mind

thats just part of soy some fragrances do it more than others

I send samples out with every order, and I give them out constantly.. but never that many at a time. The most I've given at one time was 400 soap samples... so much work!

yep you've done what I would have done.. I would say sorry, refund the order, and send it. Thats the best you can do. I've had this almost happen with etsy.. where the website didnt notify me and I only saw it on paypal, so I check it twice daily now.. cant trust anything anymore unfortunately

totally slow, I just make "theme" scents now for holidays.

Perfume oils - slow slow slow. The people who love them, REALLY love them, and come back for them and buy multiples at a time.. but as is, they are a waste of funds for us. Several wholesale accounts are doing well with them, so we'll just offer them that way. Body butter. I'm going to start offering 4oz containers because alot of customers have said they love them but dont want to buy a large container each time, they'd rather buy two scents at 4oz.. i hate having multiple jar sizes because I find them to be a hassle for labeling and storage, not to mention more to bring to shows.. :rolleyes2 but I'm going to give it a shot for awhile and see how it goes. Solid lotion bars didnt sell for squat.

I'm saying this based on my own experiences.. I've done them six times in total, I'm just saying in my experience I've seen little to no return from it, no jump in views or sales. They do make money (at least some of them do) on these boxes. The customer pays shipping, at least in every box I've ever seen and the customer pays for the box.. it must work for some people or else why do them? But it never worked for me

My bath bombs! I love love love soaking in bath bombs. I'll crack them in half and give myself nightly foot soaks too.

I use a damp cloth, just damp with some alcohol I wish I knew what caused it and how to prevent it but I just dont. I made a beautiful batch the other day, gorgeous... colors were perfect.. top was perfect, I did gorgeous swirls... then two days later, ash. TWO DAYS LATER. So.. well.. damn. hehe

Kangaroo Blue.. now defunct. I wont order from them anymore.. I have looked into Elements, but I decided im not using the boxes anymore- they are an extra cost I just dont want to absorb anymore

Its nuts. I will do those baskets and such if they PAY for the samples, and shipping... but I will not give out free samples in such a large way.

I use wooden crates from JoAnns/Hobby Lobby/Michaels.. because I can re-organize them a million different ways for my current needs.. soaps, candles, lotions, whatever! I use shelves and bookcases for my candles, depending on the show.. but I'm re-thinking that.

They arent very cooperative at BB. I used to buy direct from them as they are in my hometown, and lets just say they are frosty at best. A.M.'s online persona does not match the one I have met in person.

almost zilch online, decent at shows. But I've seen people be sucessful with them. I likely wont continue with them when I work through my supply stock.

Yep another "no idea what causes it" here. Some do.. some dont.. no rhyme or reason. You can clean the tops off with a gentle cloth (tshirt material, jersey) works well.. or you can embrace it if a customer asks, you just let them know it will wash off after the first use anyways..

Its really hard to know how much to bring to your first show. Even the biggest shows might not have the best buyers.. sometimes small shows have huge sales... its impossible to be sure until you do them year after year I would say to start with at least 6 of each scent.. thats not so much that you have a ton laying around afterwards if the sales arent there, but enough that you have variety for your potential customers. Another thing to consider is how much you have to sell to pay your booth fee, event insurance, travel to the show, food at the show... then figure how much you need to sell to cover that. Its really a guessing game until you get to know the crowds at each show and even still they can vary every year.

yep certain pops you have to be heavy handed with. Orange and yellow for sure. Raspberry needs a bit more for a good red too, but not a ton. I dont get colored suds and I use alot ...as much as 1/2 tsp for a good deep orange swirl, I'd say that 1/2 tsp was in 4-5oz total.

A wire cutter would be nice, I've been thinking about having hubs make me one to use with my bread slicer

I've been using the same bread slicer for 20 years... (thats not mine but looks just like it) I know it would save me time to get a tank.. but it only takes me 3-4 minutes to cut a whole batch of soap with it and we've come a long way together... sometimes fast isnt always better