GermantownCandles

The fair I am attending this weekend is a two day event. What is the best way that you have found to secure your tent at night after the first day? And do you usually leave your product in the tent overnight, or do you pack it up at night and unpack again the next morning? Thanks!

What do you find is the best way to secure my 10x10 tent to the ground? It's been pretty rainy and windy for the last couple of weeks and I want to make sure it won't go anywhere if there are any big gusts of wind ( praying for a beautiful weekend! ) As if right now, it says there is a chance of rain on Saturday :-( The tent will be in the grass... Thanks everyone!

Stella, Thank you very much for your help. Especially the link!

I have never used DPG other than to make inscents, does DPG not mix with candle wax? I know some people sell cut FOs (not a good business practice but they do it any way) using DPG. I was thinking that since it would just be used as a dye, that the percentage would be so small that it wouldn't affect the finished product. Just curious...

What about mixing with DPG? Think that would work? I'm thinking about purchasing some powdered color and just giving it a show... We will see

Does anyone here make their own candle dye? Or, should I ask, is it feasible to make your own candle dye? I have seen many places that carry powdered candle dye, is it possible to blend the powder dye with a carrier to make my own liquid dye? If yes, what carrier is used? Thanks everyone!

My wife is a Cosmetology Independent Contractor and she uses her DROID to accept credit cards with Square Up. You swipe on the phone, sign on the phone and a receipt is either texted or email to her clients. We were a little apprehensive at first about not having a paper to sign, but since she has been doing it for 6 months, she has only had 1 person refuse to use it. The rates are good for us, since not everyone uses a credit card to pay, and there is no contract. I set up an account for my candle co., and I get to use it next weekend at a festival... Also, if someone contests a charge, square keeps the signature on file and will send you a copy of the signature if you need it. I think it's an awesome product.

btw.... Not defending the sales from bottlehood, legal or not. I just think that they have a unique idea that could be highly profitable if picked up by the right company.

Regardless of intent, many people are swayed by the hype of "going green", so from a marketing standpoint I think that this would be a great opportunity for some of these large companies to cash in on the "go green" initiative. It's like all of the companies that sell their products with a pink ribbon on them, (my mom is a breast cancer survivor, and any money that the American Cancer Society receives is awesome!) these large companies realize the marketability of the pink ribbon, so they jump on the band wagon in order to increase sales. I could see the same potential here.. Google "go green" and I got about 87 million results, WAAAAY more results than if you Google "pink ribbon", "breast cancer awareness month", or "breast cancer". So, wherever the potential for profit is, corporate America will follow... Just saying

This would definitely be walking a fine line I think... Where could you distinguish between Copyright infringement and one-of-a-kind artwork? I really think what bottlehood is doing is awesome, and it's a great idea! If I were a company like Coca-Cola, Anheuser Busch, or any other bottle producing company, I would jump all over this. Going Green is HUGE right now, I think that some clever marketing with one of these companies could make them some serious $$... IMO

Nature's Garden has a lot of good info, they have this listed as "Candle Parties" but the info in the link is more in line with Sale's Reps http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/mas_assets/pdf/913.pdf

Soooo... What if you took the label off of the bottles and used them in that way? I know I have seen that Coke has TM the shape of its bottle, so (assuming what they are doing is not legal) would just using a coca cola bottle be illegal too?

It looks awesome! I really like how you kept your original logo and added your soaps into it. You really do have a good product, I think that this is exactly what you needed to step it up. Looks great!

It has just been so slow lately for me, and I only posted the special for Facebook friends ~150, so I really didn't think it would create such an interest. Especially didn't think it would bring in the 10 new customers that it did. It just turned out much better than I expected... Anyone have any other creative ideas that bring in new customers?? Especially for web sales.

My web sales have been pretty slow lately, my web traffic is up 94% this month, but nobody is buying. So I decided to run an awesome special today on my website and I promoted it through facebook. I offered 50% off in appreciation of this wonderful Easter day :-) I did 16 sales today for a little over $200 (includes discount) and after product cost, I still made around $100. The best part is, out of the 16 orders 10 of them are new customers! So hopefully they will become repeats. I honestly didn't think many people would take the offer, but it seems to have worked out great. What do you guys think about it? Thanks!

A piece of info I was given while working on my website. Coming from a marketing manager where I work. "Your homepage is you most valuable piece of real estate you can own. You have to sell people as soon as they get to your site, or they will go somewhere else." He went on to explain that you need to have your product be the first thing that people see if they go to your website, and if it's a good product, which your appears to be a very good product and I really like your soaps, then it will sell. He said to go to any successful sales site, and 99/100 times their product is shown on the homepage. Although, I really do like your site, and your logo on your homepage is really a appealing, but maybe make it a little easier to find your product pics. You have a good product, so show it off as much as you can!

I use small wire cutters... They work really good for me... They came in an old tool kit, so I didn't even have to buy any!

So I have done a few candle fundraisers for non profits in the past (cub scouts, relay for life, etc..) and their rules do not allow them to sell products with their name or logo on them. (i.e. You can't sell a candle for relay for life that says "Relay for Life" or "American Cancer Society") Federal laws and regulations prevent this so they either use my labels, or I made a "Hope" label for RFL the last couple of years. I have had an elementary school approach me for a fundraiser. So, my main question is for schools. Schools are also non-profit, so can I legally add a school logo to a candle label? If you go to a sporting event you can buy stuff with the school name and logo, at my high school we could buy t-shirts, hoodies, etc... So what makes schools different from other non-profits so that they are allowed to sell goods that have their logo and name? Thanks for the help!

I think the square processing is just about as safe as any other type of CC processing (other than knuckle busters) you would find at a craft show. Square Up uses Secure Socket Layer (which is the https of a website, this is the secure area where sensitive info is gathered) and it also must live up to the guidelines of the PCI DSS security standards (Google PCI DSS if your interested). As for someone creating a program to steal you CC #, I would hope that not many merchants we encounter are that type, entirely possible though. I agree that VeriFone is losing ground in the processing market to these types of companies, and is releasing articles like this to scare people away from these fee free companies. I think your information can be just as easily stolen from a place like VeriFone as it can be from Square Up. If a criminal is determined to steal, it doesn't matter who you are using. IMHO

I use square up and it works pretty good. I think I have had maybe 1 person change their mind after I explained it to them, the reason they didn't like it was because I couldn't give them a receipt to sign like with a regular CC machine. My wife is a hair stylist and uses "Merchant Anywhere" with her droid at her shop, it has a card swiper and printer and it is great (this is an actual merchant account 24.95/month and has a 1.69% fee). We both have bought the phone navigation mount, and you can mount it to a table, so it makes it easier for customers to sign on the phone.

I use the HP CP1215, it's a color laser and you can get it at office depot for $299. It is a great multi purpose printer, it's great for photos, and it works even better for my labels. I'm not sure if anyone else has used the website http://www.suppliesguys.com/ to buy their ink, but it saves me TONS, you can get all the toner cartridges for $159 ( not OEM but I have never had a problem with any of their cartridges), and toner lasts a lot longer than ink jet printers. I print a lot of labels and have to change toner only about 2-3 times a year. So, if you don't do tons of photo printing, one set of toner should last you maybe a year? Compared to ink jet refills that seem to run out pretty quick. An average ink jet will print ~150-200 pages (manufacturer estimates ) compared to ~1500-2000 for laser. So just do some research and see what works best for you.

I use a palm/soy mix and I love it. The tarts turn out great, and they look awesome!

I have an HP CP-1215, it works great. Also, I do not use the transparency setting, I use general printing for everything and they turn our great. Aaaaand, the cp-1215 is pretty cheap for a color laser printer, I think it's like $299 new. It also prints great photo pics!

I have a wholesale account who puts a very healthy markup on the product and has never complained about a thing, actually they are very happy with the relationship that we have. My selling prices have NEVER affected their business or sales. And I did put up a sign stating my candles were "festival special pricing" along with my normal selling prices. Also, it created new orders on my website, which are definitely higher priced. Also, I did not lose any money on any of my product, they were all marked up. It took me around 8-10 hours to make all the candles. So, including candle time and festival time, I still profited almost $12/hour for my work. So my "profit" is legitimate, and actually a pretty good salary. I know a lot of people who don't even make $12/hr at their full time jobs. Not to mention the additional wholesale account I created, and the fund raiser. Also, I have been in business for 2 1/2 years and we have always had a very nice net profit for being a side venture. So I must be doing something right? ps. booth space was $75

I really do appreciate all of the feedback this forum provides! Please leave me feedback, whether positive or constructive, it definitely helps me improve my business! Thanks!