scifichik

...that she wanted to carry our candles at her bakery We've been thinking of additional venues and consignment arrangements beyond the farmer's market, antique mall and craft mall. It never dawned on us to ask the nice lady who owns the very busy donut shop. Duh to us! Gotta think outside the box to find the opportunities. We were chatting over the donut counter about ideas of who we might approach, and she pops her head over the top of the counter and says, "Well, let me set up a display and take orders here, girls." We could have kicked ourselves for not thinking of it first because the shop is always busy, full of all types of people. We think she made a nice display for us. It's the very first thing you see when you open the door, as it's directly across from the entrance next to the coffee/tea stand.

Presto Pots are the best!

I'd probably replace her melts with GENTLE instructions on how to use for best results. Your customer will appreciate the excellent customer service and see how wonderful your products really are.

What wax and wicks have you tried so far? What did you not like about the results you got?

We always wear cheap latex exam gloves. Our liquid red always seems to get all over our hands, and we can at least remove the gloves...or wait a couple of days and may handwashings/showers to make it fade from our skin. We tried the chips, but liked the ability to control the variations on color through the use of liquid colorants.

I use the free Avery software, too. Those are really nice candles and labels in the example photo!

Thanks for the input from everyone. We went in at lunchtime today and asked how her banking situation had worked out for her. Even worse, she said. I told her I hoped things turned in her favor soon and that the arrangement was no longer working out for us as well as it was in our other venues of sales, so we were going to pull our stock from the booth. We needed a prybar to get her jaw off the floor. "But I said I would pay you after the festival!" she said. "I just don't have the money now." I said that I understood, and not to worry--she would be paying us, and it was perfectly acceptable to give us a check dated for the 7th, which is the Monday following the festival weekend. She really didn't want to write that check, and even offered decreased booth rent for subsequent months if we would restock the booth before the festival, and continue on with her. (And still play the "I don't have your money card," the next time? Nah. I don't do that dance more than once.) She got really pouty and snippy, but we expected it and my sister went to her car to get our boxes. We packed our stuff, collected our check (which is covered by our bank's check recovery service if it bounces when we deposit), thanks her, and went to lunch happy to have that odd experience behind us. Word travels quickly in a small town, and we've already had invitations from two retail shop owners (one an antique store and the other a bakery) to carry our products and take orders on a small commission---all because they heard we cut our ties to the craft mall lady. Weird, but works for us; sales are sales Tomorrow is a more fun day. A local hobby shop invited us to a "show and tell" demo on our soy candles, and then we get to set up a table for a couple of hours to sell---no charge. A little bit of work, and unexpected but it'll be an informal presentation and a good marketing opp for us. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? I'm curious to compare experiences. We have a booth at one of the local craft malls (but it's not our only venue for sales). It's one of those arrangements where you pay monthly rent and get a check once a month for whatever sales you've made. The first thing the owner said to us was, "I hope you're not here for your sales money, because I don't have it," and then proceeded to tell us some long-winded story about how she only had $30 in her account because the credit card service had caused $1,500 to be withheld from her and she was fighting with them over that, and how it had already caused over $1,000 in overdraft charges at her bank. Needless to say, we were stunned. We rented our booth in April and paid that month up front, then the deal was at the end of each subsequent month, she takes your booth rent out and whatever is remaining is your sales money given to you. April was slow and we only sold two candles, but knew that things would pick up, and May has been much better. We've had decent sales there from word of mouth advertising, and have $45 coming to us after booth rent for May is taken out. Then the owner pointed out that our sales had been good, better than the other candle booths there, but our prices were a little lower than the others so we would either need to raise our prices or she would have to ask the other two vendors to lower theirs. I didn't know what to say. We have 300% markup, have good product, and is priced fairly at a amount the we would find attractive if we were customers. We didn't purposely undercut anyone's prices, as the other vendors didn't have prices listed, so we had not way to know what they charged---and it seems unfair to our customers to jack up our prices to match someone else's, simply to level the playing field. She doesn't get commission on the sales, so it would seem immaterial what prices different vendors set; so long as she collects the monthly booth rental, she has no financial ties to the cumulative sales made. There is a big annual "heritage festival" the first weekend in June, and this is a big traffic time for our town. She wants us to completely stock our booth the Thursday before the event and says that she can pay us what is due us on the Monday following the event. Oh, yes, and pay June's booth rent up front...so we pay her for two month's booth rent. Naturally, this is all to her benefit. We plan to go tomorrow to pull our stock and tell the owner that this just isn't working out for us. If she doesn't have cash to pay us our piddly $45, she can write a post-dated check for the Monday following the big festival which was the date at which she said she could pay. Our business checking account includes funds recovery services and insurance, so if someone bounces a check they write to you, the bank covers it then goes after the person. What a weird day!

I think the best wax is the one that gives you a product you are pleased with and doesn't cost an arm and leg for shipping. I've used Ecosoya and GB---results much the same, except for a local supplier carries GB so I can get 50 lbs for around $50 vs 50 lbs for around $100 shipped to me. For that reason, GB is the best wax for me

It would be a neat tie-in to your name, Kandlenutz, too if you used "tartz"

LOL That's exactly how we label ours Direct, no-frills naming, right to the point. I do admire people who can come up with a catchy term or description.

It was a grand total of $82.00 in Missouri to: register a fictitious name LLC registration get the tax license/registration established I was able to do it all through links on the Secretary of State's website on my own. The company I work for is owned by an attorney, and she does this type of thing every day and clients are charged $500 - $1,000 for it.

That's lovely work! I admire people who can make realistic looking items from wax. If I had one, I'd hate to light the wick

Yikes! Let us know how this turns out. Maybe you could unplug it and wash the ceramic parts with warm soapy water and let dry, but I'm thinking it's the actual heating element burn off you are smelling. (At least I hope it is! Hate to think of anyone wanting to have a good smell and ending up with stink!)

I'm always very pleased with how quickly CandleScience ships their orders. The prices are always very reasonable on shipping, which is a bonus! Peak isn't too shabby, either

I've been looking for some stands, too! LOL Here are some of what I've found, so maybe one of these suppliers might have what you are looking for: http://thefixturezone.com/accosh.html http://www.palaydisplay.com/Risers-Tiered-Displays-p-1-c-189.html http://www.achievedisplay.com/acrylic-stairstep-risers.asp

Those are very pretty!

As a noob, I feel like a total loser now. I only have 100% scent throw :tiptoe: Sneaking away now in shame.

Lovely!

Smelly jellies haven't don't well in our area. At the local craft mall, one vendor has the same three dozen she started her booth with, and says that in a year---she has sold none. They are 8 oz and she has them priced at $8, which seems a decent price to me, and they do smell good---but just not my kind of fragrances in her selection list.

We first went with 1 oz pp with Ecosoya CB135 and felt the fragrance was too strong, so we went with half ounce and found it to be perfect in our book. Their Sweet Pea is also similarly excellent with the hot and cold throw.

One things for certain, you could certainly get by with that dirt-cheap liability insurance RLI sponsor IF you go with completely wickless products

Everything looks wonderful, but those cinnamon babies make me hungry! I love the vibrant colors you've achieved in those containers.

Since you asked for honest opinions, this one looks...um....like a naughty body part! If that's what you were going for, mission accomplished. On the flip side, you achieved some really neat colors.

That's some nice work! I admire people who can make projects like that. It looks delicious!