NaturallyTru

Fabulous Sales! I used to do open houses every December; but never had sales like that! Woot!!

Balsam & Cinnamon (Candlewic) - good CT and HT.

Christmas Fantasy (AH) - good CT but no HT (despite being one of their top sellers???)

Cracklin Birch (NG) - great CT and HT, really nice scent!

Pinemint and Blossom (AH) - good CT and awesome HT; but not my tastes. floral and I can detect some sweet note. description says heady and I agree

Cranberry Sauce (KY/AH) - great CT and HT. Not what I expected; but nice. Not super tart - vanilla smoothes it out.

Cranberry Cinnamon (AH) - Lovely CT and light HT. bummed. hmm...now that it's out I smell it really well...lol

OMG! Cypress & Berries oob is awesome! Harvest Berry nice also.

Initial Results (votive testers bathroom):

Christmas Cheer (SS) - Great CT and HT - love this!

Fireside (SS) - ok CT and good HT, not super strong, nice. You can smell the smoke oob.

Lemongrass - Southern Scentsations

Lime Basil - BCS

Lilac - Southern Scentsations (summer time)

Lavender Basil - BCN and Eucalyptus Thyme -AH are close runner ups.

Lyn - If you told her you would replace them for frosting, then you have to replace them. After she returns them let her know that soy is known to frost but does not effect the burn. Tell her that your other customers like the "rustic"/"handmade" appearance of the wax. Tell her that you cannot replace them for frosting anymore as there is nothing wrong with the candles. Mention that you do not use extra additives in your SOY wax.

Faithful - That is a great idea! I forget sometimes that there are still people who do not have experience with soy candles.

I print just wahat I need unless it is a popular scent and I know I will use them quickly. I have too much stuff sitting around in the way as it is...lol

Candle Science has a new "Harvest Berry". I am awaiting my sample to arrive.

For my consignments I do it as a sales receipt. If it is a show I plan on doing again, I add a vendor. I have a Miscellaneous vendor for all other. On the sales receipt I add the total of the sale and then on a seperate line I put in the consignment cost as a negative. Works great for me. I need to take a class someday to actually figure this software out...lol.

Do you have each item in an inventory on QB? You could do one line for each inventory item also.

Cherry Blossom - Southern Scentsations

White Lilac - Southern Scentsations

Plumeria - Southern Scentsations

Gardenia - Candle Science

I am testing Apple Blossom (Fillmore) and Orange Blossom (can't recall) now.

I'm excited about Harvest Berry. Ordered that and the Cypress one.

Darbla - I sell a fair amount of DragonsBlood; but couldn't give away Driftwood. haven't tried the others.

Yes, I'll need to get cold calling again. When I started making gel candles in 2000 competition was small. In 2002 I switched to soy and was the first in the area. I had stores contacting me for my candles. I quit in the end of 2004 due to health issues. Started back up in 2008 and competition has risen in my area. Economy is slow and people are buying differently than before. I have focused on "green" product (as much as I can...lol) as that seems to be the new focus of my customer market. I haven't done much marketing this time around, so I will have to step it up. My cousin just purchased a flower/gift shop...first place to check with.

As many of you know I have my candles on consignment with and eco-friendly business. They have 2 locations. Earlier this year they moved one of the locations to a high end downtown shopping district. I have been so nervous about keeping up with the seasonal sales and have been really excited also. Just found out today that the new location is not working and they are closing it down and consolidatinging into the other location. Sales were averaging $400 (combined) every month during non season and $600 during season. I am so bummed! I was hoping for some fabulous sales this season. I hate doing craft shows; but now I need to rethink whether I need to do them or not for the seasonal time. Bleh!

What kind of candy is that?

I'm one of those people who wouldn't buy them...lol! Why? I guess the name turns me off them. Not that I don't appreciate raunchy humor...I do; but to me fragrance names like this are tacky and unprofessional. JMO I am glad that the rest of you can sell them.

I have Cannabis Rose scent I carry and at my show last month, my friend giggled out loud and then brought her hubby back and giggled some more. Cracked me up that she acted like a 15 year old over it. I only tried it because I have a preference for herbal type scents and saw it as a perfume.

Wow! new website design at Fillmore..I like!

Apple Jars - http://www.fillmorecontainer.com/Candle-Containers-C1.aspx

Yep...words underneath bigger.

Steve - I'm thinking "Pomegranate Snowflake".

Candy - oohh that sounds lovely. I don't have Buttercream except Buttercream Crunch. hmmm... "Nutcracker" ?

Yes I pour in the votive holder and burn it that way.

Thinking about Pomegranate & Peppermint. Thinking of discontinuing Pom and have some left to use up.

I like the Lav & Lemongrass idea too.

Thanks for all the ideas!!

Backwoods you might have to wait until you have X number of postings or 30 days to access PMs. You can email me at info@Naturallytru.com.

Trudi

All poured!!! This is just prelim testing to see if it's worth persuing more testing. I pour votive size. If that scent can fill my bathroom it moves to the keep testing phase for jar and wick size. If it doesn't...forget it...there are 1000's of others to try. I rarely fight with a scent...I just let it go...LOL!

Sounds to me like you have the advantage to negotiate that percentage. Trial through the holidays at your 30% rate and then she can see how worth having your candles and only taking 30% really is.

oohhh!