annie123
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Posts posted by annie123
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This is a young girl who knows what really happened to her cream. A lot of these young girls want free stuff all the time...I get so many e-mails from young girls requesting free products so they can do a review on me...I am sure your 3 1/2 followers are going to spend lots of money in my store, plus with all these web sites out there telling people how to get FREE stuff...nightmare!
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One of my customer started a Facebook bullying campaign against me. This young girl bought a $6.99 small body cream in my Etsy Store and requested FREE samples which I don't mind sending now I am Cruella Deville! Because I forgot to send her samples and her cream melted along the way...never mind my terms and policies where I state that I will not be responsible for packages once they leave my location...just leave your order to cook in a hot mailbox all day and blame me for it, leave me an insulting negative feedback and call me dishonest, call me rude because try to defend myself and then bash me on Facebook after I gave you a full refund.
Is all this work really worth it?
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The big guys will always be the big guys, the suppliers may loose money and the smaller ones may close but the big ones will still be in business...we are the ones at the bottom of the food pile. I don't know what those two lobbyists are lobbying for because there has been very little info about what is being done on "our behalf" but IMO maybe our definition of small business may be different then their definition.
Fran Drescher came out in favor of the safe cosmetics bill in 2010 and 2011 while pushing her paraben free skin care on HSN. L'Oreal has a new paraben and sulfate free shampoo, I think that the big guys are catching up to this segment of the market to increase revenues and I really don't think that they want to share with us.
Maybe we should be our own grassroots movement on this one, if we each contact 5 b&b and cosmetic maker/seller on sites like etsy, artfire and others to spread the word about this.
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Isn't being surprised a sign of not being prepared and underestimating your opponent? Plus the interests are so divided here, some suppliers welcome this while others won't even mention the issue to their customers for fear of hurting their sales. So now the people who should be organizing us are telling us not to panic because this bill won't pass...because "our lawmakers wouldn’t intentionally want to put 200,000 small women owned business out of business"...really?
I don't think it is a coincidence that the small biz exemption was removed and when you really think about it who would benefit directly from this bill? How do you think big corporations like having small b&b like us use they name brand like "Pink Sugar" type and cut into their profits? I know that Lush has been after an Etsy vendor because she sells their dupes, so someone is paying attention.
This has been going on for a few years now and even if this bill doesn't pass this year I don't think that it will go away.
But at least these people are doing something about this - too bad they are not on our side. http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5500/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10077
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How do you suggest we do that when the suppliers themselves don't even agree on this issue? It would seem that by now we should have been contacted by our suppliers and ask to do something? People on this board don't even agree on what action to take.
I find it funny that after all that "advocacy on our behalf" since last year we ended up with the removal of the small business exemption.
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FDA Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Guidelines/Inspection Checklist
This might give you an idea of what is considered a "facility"
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Maybe I can make a suggestion. According to Debbie May there will be a vote on this bill on June 12th so I think that we need to go directly to the source.
How many people on this site? We need to spread the word on the front page. We can contact our customers an do an e-mail /mail campaign targeting the subcommittee directly, demanding that an exclusion be made for small business under $250,000 a year. (How many of us make $250,000 a year anyway).
The Health Subcommittee Chairman is Rep. Joseph R. Pitts (fron Pensylvania)
204 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
email:
RE: H.R. Cosmetics Safety Enhancement Act of 2012
We can do a generic letter stating that we only use FDA approved ingretients, make batches of products, deal directly with our customers, carry liability insurance, how this would be the end of our businesses and whatever else you feel we should say.
Also we should all e-mail sites like Etsy, Artfire and other handmade sites and point out that if we go out of business they stand to loose money and maybe they can help spread the world just like they did a few months ago with an internet law.
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I am not angry at all, and I apologize if I sounded angry - but don't shoot the messenger!
I am just trying to inject a dose of reality by pointing out that so far there hasn't been a real "coordinated campaign" to fight this...what is the plan?
So far nobody has been able to tell me who is really behind this bill, does anyone know? Do you know who is paying the lobbyists in DC to push this bill? But you can be sure that the special interests pushing this bill has a plan, they are organized and they have the money to be "heard" by the people who will be voting on this bill.
Lovely and Noodles, sure last year I contatced my customers and other b&b makers, I signed the petition and I e-mailed my elected officials and then what? I got my generic letter or e-mail reply and nobody cares.
The reality is that we are outnumbered, outgunned and outspent and it is going to take more than a few isolated e-mails and a few letters if we really want to be heard. There is force in number for those of you who need and want to fight this you better get organized and speak before it is too late.
And if that sounds angry to some of you then your are missing the point. As far as I am concerned If I have to close my business today, it will not hurt me financially and I will find something else to do. So good luck to you all!
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Doing what? We had a whole year to get organized and to fight this and little was done, I appreciate what Debbie is trying to do and I hope it is not too late but this should have been done last year.
Like I said before during that year suppliers could have contacted their customers, signatures could have been collected and brought to the sub committee in Washington. We could even have organized into a national association, then when you go before Congress you can say I represent 150,000 members, women business owners that will not vote for your party in this election year. So I am sorry but with the right approach this bill could have been made so toxic in an election year that it would have been DOA.
Most of the b&b makers I contatced had never heard anything...and there are only so many places that sell b&B making supplies.
There was no organized mailing campaign and I never heard a thing on the news. No offense to anyone's local news but for anyone to take us seriously this needs to been seen in Washington, DC. Our politicians will not care if it comes from outside the Beltway.
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I contacted Debbie May of WSP and this is what she said:
"Yes, I am working on launching a media campaign. I am reached out to other leaders such as HSMG, IBN and Bramble Berry. I am working on a website that will hopefully be ready next week. From there it a full media and letter campaign will be launched.
Stay tuned...it is only just beginning!!! "
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Dona Maria, Debbie, Ann Marie and all the others who sell us supplies to make b&b and cosmetics have customer database maybe they could start by e-mailing their customers and notify them of what is going on after all we don't buy all the stuff we buy from them just to look at.
Then maybe giving us the names and mailing address, or e-mail address of all the members on the sub committee overseeing this matter and maybe a generic letter to use when contacting these people before they vote on this bill. Does anyone know when they are supposed to vote on this?
And yes maybe the media and the press has anyone contacted the Washington Times or The Washington Post? go direclty to the source since this is happening here in DC. What about the Small Business Administration after all you have 200,000 small business owned mostly by women who will most likely be forced to closed their doors, in this economy it is a very smart move.
I just don't understand why there has been not leadership on this, we had a whole year to get ready so maybe it is time to wake up and smell the body spray.
Or maybe we should just sit on our hands and wait to be forced out of business.
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Yes, I know about Dona Marie of Indie, Ann Marie, Debbie May...and I do appreciate their efforts and they also stand to lose if this bill becomes law. I also know that the Soapmaker's Guild came in favor of this bill last year because it would weed out bad elements (paraphrasing). But out of 10 b&b and cosmetic makers I contacted via Etsy last year only 1 knew of this bill.
How many of you have seen anything in the local or national media? The only place your read about this bill is here and on the above mentioned people's blog and there are not a lot of comments. The petition against this bill last year didn't even get 10,000 signatures.
None of the bath & body or cosmetics supply websites have anything about this on their front page so the info is not getting to the people who need it.
What about sites like Etsy and Artfire who also stand to lose a good deal of money anyone talked to them to enlist their help?
How are we going to fight this if no one knows about it?
If there are 200,000 of us and this will affect between 200,000 and 600,000 jobs as Debbie May told the committee overseeing this bill where are these people, why have they not been contacted and organized into a campaign to contact their elected official and to contact the members overseeing this committee.
I am sorry but I think that 300,000+ signatures delivered to the Small Business Administration and to the sub committee overseeing this matter would have a greater impact in an election year than a few well meaning women business owners testifying in front of that same sub committee. Not to diminish these ladies' work but if you've ever worked for the federal government you would know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease (like one of my friend used to say, maybe they should hire her as a lobbyist).
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I have been checking Indie site and other so called industry leaders's site and there is total apathy. While I appreciate their efforts, I am afraid that a few women coming to Washington to testify is not going to do much.
Nobody seems to know who is behind this bill - who is paying for the lobbying.
We do not have a national association to represent and lobby for us. This let's wait and see attitude hoping it won't pass, it won't regulate soap and it won't affect me is getting us nowhere. This is being going on for a while and we've had plenty of time to organize and really fight this but very little has been done.
According to Debbie May of WSP there is about 200,000 business that would be affected if this becomes law. http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/file/Hearings/Health/20120327/HHRG-112-IF14-WState-MayD--20120327.pdf
I wonder if all these business owners have contacted their elected official about this bill?
I do like making b&b but financially this will not affect me and I will transform my office into an exercise room and my workshop will become a sewing room, and my husband will be delighted to see me cook and clean again.
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Unless e-Bay changed its policies you can block a buyer, just do a search in the help section for block buyer.
You enter the buyer using their username and put them on your block buyer's list. I did it for a few "special" people when I was selling on e-Bay but that was a few years ago.
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My understanding (and I may be wrong) is that just changing the scent on a base will require paperwork. Plus you still have to register because you are storing and packaging cosmetics.
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And with registration of facility will comes inspections and standard. I don't think that people will be allowed to make B&B out of their kitchen anymore.
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I am looking for an FO that can pass for Lemon Candy - Lemon Drop something with a hint of vanilla or creme brulee.
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e-Bay is done, Etsy is about to be done they started charging fees on transaction, Artfire is still a decent price, I haven't tried Zibbet.com yet
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Have a heart the USPS really needs the extra money.
I have a Pitney Bowes PB Smart Postage online account and I love it. I just buy $50.00 worth of postage at the time so I know what my credit card gets charged. I do pay $14.99 a month for the account but I don't care because I really like the service.
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A new name if you want but how about Capellagardensoap.com
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When does a package stop being my responsibility?
A new customer bought a $7.99 item from me early this month. I shipped the item to her using PB so I have a USPS receipt showing that the item was shipped to the address she provided and I also have the tracking number showing that the item was delivered.
Now she claims she did not receive the item because she was not home that day!!! Did the package get stolen? I don't know I wasn't there.
I told her that on my policies page I recommend that people insure their packages because I will not be responsible for packages lost, damages or misplaced during transit. I am also willing to ship to a place of work or to another location where someone will be available to receive the item.
Of course nobody ever bothers to read my policies but these are my terms and if people do not agree then they should buy somewhere else.
No need to this woman is upset and has told me that she was going to Blog about my business.
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NG has a Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate both a skin safe. I prefer the white chocolate.
Facebook Bullying
in Business Side of Things
Posted
I agree with you Funky I don't need a Facebook page and Etsy is no better, they are charging me an arm and a leg every month but will not address any issues I might have. People just don't read my policies and then it is my fault because I did exactly what my policies said I would do!
I am re opening my website and Etsy can kiss my money goodbye!
Today I got another reminder of "how nice" people are...a while ago I placed an order at Overstock and since I had not received it I decided to track it...instead of writting 11 Overstock wrote 1 for the house number so the people who live at #1 on my street have had my package for over a week, who cares about the packing slip with my name, address and phone number. I hope that thing explodes in there face and on top of it all it is a Marines family! We live in a world were you cannot trust anyone.