LuminousBoutique

nice prices!

Yeah, folding bookcases are the bomb. They make loading in a show so much easier.. I used to have non-folding bookcases for my shows and getting there was 99% of the battle. They are quite stable too, which is really nice.

LOL.... thats awesome.

2400???? GIRL.. thats amazing. I just did a wedding order of 640 beeswax tealights and I thought my eyes, hands, and brain were going to bleed, lol! I cant imagine 2400! whew

I'm giggling right now... only because the wedding favors you saw on The Knot... the ones with the complaint about the size, ya those are mine. The 2 ounce tins. The funny thing is that people want a bigger picture to see the detail, but then you're right, they never read the description, and really how big did they think they would be since they are "2 ounces"!! Unfortunately I haven't found a dollar bill to be the greatest prop for wedding favor candles (hehehehe, loads of sarcasm in that comment) so I guess we have to assume that the buyers will read the description. I'm glad to see that only one person was bothered by the size enough to comment, considering the 1000's of candles I've sold to The Knot over the past 5 years.

Thats AWESOME! I'm glad to know those are handmade candles instead of straight from China, its refreshing

all good suggestions

yeah its mostly just that I think there are people who just no matter WHAT you do... they wont pay attention. I'm wondering about something universal to take a photo wth... or hold one in your hand...

LOL bliss.. ohmygod.

it really is... I guess we just have to accept not everyone will be happy, and expect that at least once I'll get someone saying "I thought these were bigger" lol

OK. I'm getting more and more into wedding favors at some requests... 2 friends getting married this year, my mother in law getting married, and several casual friends asked for me to do their favors too. I found I really enjoy it, so I'm putting more effort into it.

In my research I've been trolling large favor websites like "the knot" and such, seeing how my prices compare and whether its worth advertizing with some and so on.

The thing I keep noticing over and over is that on the "reviews" of all of these items, you see "not as big as I thought" "smaller than I thought" "these are tiny!" yet.. in the descriptions its CLEARLY STATED 1.5" x2".. 2oz candle tins... la la. You get the idea. Any idiot who took the effort to look at a ruler or even think for a couple of seconds should be able to figure out what that size is.

ok, maybe idiot is a strong word.. but for all the care, effort, and love brides put into their wedding... you would think they would pay more attention to something like that.

have you guys run into this kind of thing? I never really have, but I'm worried about it now! Most of my orders are local, or well discussed ahead of time with a sample provided but MAN.

yeah... there is no protecting yourself from stupid! yikes.

people just dont use common sense.

I understand etsy has its cheerleaders but I really suggest that once the hard math is done, it is not always an economical option for cheaper items. An example. A friend of mine was featured seller around christmas time a few years ago. She does soaps and such. (she also said it was almost too much to handle and wouldnt do it again)

She made a ton of sales and continues to do so. She renews at least 10 items every day.. 2.00 in renewal fees. Also generally lists or renews sold items.. at least 10 new items everyday. 4.00.

Assuming (i have a pretty good idea...) shes making 1.50 off every bar of soap (and she prices competitively) she has to take then, that .20,.40, or even .60 in renewing fees out of that one item. Then the etsy fee. Then the paypal fee.

so. Lip balm, listed for 3.50. List for .20. Renew for .20 to get up in search. Sells. Etsy fee, .11, paypal fee, .44.

3.50 - fees = 2.55 not bad. But if it costs you even 1.00 to make that lip balm, you've made 1.55 on that lip balm and if you renew it again (which you generally have to renew things multiple times) you've taken another .20c ding.

As I say.. to each their own. I maintain my etsy because I make random sales from it and I'm not going to turn down a sale, ever. But its not the wonderous thing alot of people make it out to be. If you are selling $100 pieces of art, $50 necklaces, or even $20 prints- those fees dont seem like alot. But when you are selling an entire shop full of items for less than $5 on average, those fees add up. You cant trust etsy search. Not all shops are google syndicated. And your chances of being featured are slim. Does it happen? yes! but lets just put it this way.

One of the most successful soap sellers on etsy (I know we're talking about candles but just an example) is dennis A. He has 36,686 sales in 4 years. roughly 9,000 sales a year. NOTHING to sniff at, thats great! lets assume (given his most expensive product is around 8) that his average product price is 5.00, and he makes $3.50 profit off all those sales (probably stretching it, he renews hundreds of listings per week. Hes ALWAYS renewing) thats $32,000 a year. (averaged, of course)

He is a shining example of someone who's done fabulous, but admits he works ALL DAY LONG, doesnt do it alone, and im pretty sure I remember him saying his etsy fees top hundreds a month sometimes. And my numbers are all speculative really.. he may make less on each item, although im sure hes getting great deals considering the volume of his sales- im sure hes buying his supplies dirt cheap because he buys so much at once.

and I just have to admit straight out that 32,000 a year isnt enough for me to spend that much time on the internet, put that much effort out... its just not. I dont feel comfortable giving specific numbers but lets just say I'm entirely confident more than that can be made with wholesale, wedding, and shows. Even more with your own retail location.. for less effort. Add in shipping costs, packaging, the time that goes into packing orders...

I simply refuse to underprice my time. My time is worth something.. i dont work for free...

I dont have the time, or skill to re-vamp my website right now- I'll be hiring someone soon, and yes that will cost 500-1000, but they do fabulous work and are going to do SEO work with me, something etsy doesnt provide- and the only fees I ever pay are the ones to my bank and my monthly hosting fee. My etsy fees are more than $20 a month to NOT be featured in google search and be on page 2 of listings only 1 minute after listing a new item.. so I do the math.. and its just not viable long term.

Many of my soap making friends from etsy have jumped ship and opened their own websites.. i envy them and hope to join their ranks very soon. I was turned down for a feature because they sneered "dont you have another website?" when i sent my etsy link. they wanted something more professional. Ouch. 10 years of business.. that stung.

It depends on the fragrance. Some are pretty good to go almost immediately. Others 48 hours is fine. Others I've found a good long cure MAJORLY improves. Sweet pea for example. Quite weak after only 48 hours. After a week, the throw is much better. After two weeks, even better.

Of course lots of factors come in, from your jar size to your wick to additives.. but I do think cure is important with soy for the throw.

For the BURN? no. It'll burn how it burns.

WOW. I just bought a faux bois candle mold, and im planning on making more because the faux bois thing is very on trend.. i cant believe they are selling for that much on ebay. Those are really beautiful though, hand painted?

yeah, etsy is hit or miss. if you are ever a featured seller, you gain lots of customers and sales continue. otherwise its very hard to sell candles on etsy. I've sold maybe... 50 total. Compare that with a "bad show" being 50 candles... yeah. its not really worth listing all of my candles there, so I'm really narrowing it down.

very cool, it'd be interesting to see them in different colors

be warned.. i've used some of their "soap stable" and they are most def. not all stable... mixed up results maybe, but make sure an order samples to test first. I've yet to find a perfect purple

yeah i dont think CP is a good idea with any vanilla EO/Oleresin, in all honesty. They are so delicate, the heat and lye likely bums it out. With milled it worked pretty well!

red and yellow oxide worked well for me, there is an orange oxide too on TKB but I havent tried it.

Young Living, MMS (TheSage), and Camden Grey are the three I use.

I've done Vanilla Oleoresin with milled soap, and it held its scent pretty well. I used .5oz with 2.5lbs of soap, not alot, but it held its scent! I also put some real vanilla bean in it, just slit the bean and scraped it.

When I test a new FO, I wick it with three wicks, the size I predict will work, and then a smaller and larger.

Different FO's will perform differently in the wax. This way I can test all three and be certain that I'm properly wicked. Once I find the one I like, I check for throw.

I was on vaca for almost two weeks, so I had a sale to re-open, thats got the ball re-rolling. Sales have been steady, pretty good... but wedding sales/orders have been the best.

Hi Tait- dont mean this to sound patronizing at all, but be sure and remember to use the search feature. Most questions have been asked at least once before, theres a wealth of info there!

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/search.php (its changed a bit since the forums were switched over, takes a bit more digging... but they are there!)

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?63291-What-the-deal-with-beer&highlight=beer+soap

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?27059-beer-soap&highlight=beer+soap

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?64717-Another-soaping-disaster&highlight=beer+soap

Zombie thread!! hehe

most bakery scents have vanilla so naturally go to the brown... but I found a few micas from tkb that give a lovely brown, copper/penny being one of them

I'm with everyone else.. my go to recipe was 80% coconut, 10% avocado, 5% castor, 5% shea - 10% superfat. And it was fine.. but I tried a 90% coconut, 5% castor, 5% avocado.. also 10% superfat, and I liked it better! They need a good cure, but they do last longer and are harder IMO. slightly more drying than a normal bar, yes.. but not too much so. I like them for face as well.