EccoLights

Oprah is the only exception.

Ok, I got a hell of a kick out of this statement! =) Funniest part of it was last weekend we had a customer tell us she is going to write her about us and our business =) *crosses fingers* Who knows...maybe you will see us on OWN =) WOOT WOOT!!

I just looked around your site for a bit. Nicely done! 200 scents!! That's amazing. I'm testing my 4th or 5th today. lol.

Thank you so very much SuzyK =) And yes, 200 and still going =) But your talking YEARS of testing and trials and testers and UGH! Don't get us started LOL

Good luck on your testing, fun isn't it?? =)

Hey Ecco, how are you doing shipping that cheap? I would love to be able to do that for my customers but as of now I am using USPS flat rate medium and large boxes. The medium box is $10.50. Would love for you to share if you can.

*evil grin* Can't give away ALL of our secrets =) But will shoot ya a PM Jack to discuss it a bit with ya =)

Really lovely! I think it looks great! Awesome pictures too!

Thank you very kindly Jack =) Got that page up, listed each scent we offer WITH description AND revamped our shipping rates from outrageous to a flat rate $5.95 for ALL orders now! Well except over $100, they get FREE shipping =) Let's just say we didn't get much rest last night =)

Thank you so kindly cedar =) I also really enjoy doing the abstract ones the most but it's not always what I/we want =)

I think if I had to pick which one was the funnest to do out of all of them, it would be between the teddy bears or the rubix cube =)

Ohhh good idea Always, thanks =)

Hey everyone =)

We had a lot of you PM us and ask for more info when we got our page done on the website for the custom tart warmers we do =) Well it's done....finally! Honestly we couldn't get the functionality we really wanted but it works =)

http://www.eccolights.com/custom-tart-warmers.html

Let us know what you think if ya can =)

Rob and Troy

Ecco Lights

*scratching our heads*

Maybe its time to corner the market LOL =) It was a bit weird bagging up a pound of it and packing it in a box....I can't lie, I was thinking *Oh this will look great when they inspect it* LOL =)

Can't wait to see everyone that's coming! Troy and I are going to try and stay most of the day but we'll see how that goes =)

As for winning the FO give away! OMG!!! Winning that and with summer coming up would make for one hella hot summer because our melter would never be off =) LOL

Are you talking about Candlefind? If so I hope you share the review with us. They give nice reviews. I would be curious to see if their reviews in fact generate revenue.

Yuppers, and trust we will let you guys know how it goes =)

If I'm not mistaken (am I am sometimes) if you google "candle fund raiser form" there is a few that will come up for you. I want to say CS had one up or one of the suppliers had some marketing material for it... Maybe NG? Sorry doing 12 things or I would google it for you, but think you can handle that =) HTH

*giggles* =) Glad we could help you out Richard =)

We are actually on the list for these guys O_o Last email they said they were around 4 months out before the review =) Can't wait for it! =)

There are a few FO's that NG has had to discontinue for the time being due to cost (I think Deb talked about it in a newsletter recently) but they are "out sourcing" some of the oils to a few other perfumists she uses and hopefully (cross your fingers) soon she will have them all back and in full force +)

This same thing happened to their Bite Me and Aqua Di Gio and she was able to get them dup'd and have them again =)

HTH

I wish I could find this type of candle warmer. It has clean lines and would go really well with my whole style of my site and products but no one carries it that I have seen. The pic is from a girl in my area that sells soy candles and breakaway melts. I wish I could ask her but I know that's not going to happen. LOL!

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OBI used to carry this one too, I don't think I saw it on their site recently but you could always email them a pic and see if they can or will get it again =)

Just curious to see where everyone gets their poly resin warmers from?

We know about Scentoils and OBI has them here and there...Merch-Mart has some but I just hate dealing with them due to damage on every single order.

Any ideas on who else carries them at wholesale?

TIA!

Thanks for the feedback - I think that you all hit it right on target! As soon as I posted the question, I came to the same conclusion that you had stated in your responses. I wasn't given any more information except for what I copied and pasted into the original post. I will stick with my own customers and reputable sources if someone wants to review a candle (after they've purchased it). SuzyK - I'm glad to hear that you get those types of requests through Etsy too....I assume this is just the first of more to follow.

Many thanks!!

Like SuzyK we get this type of "request" all the time for our candles too. Let's just say, beware and do your homework if your considering doing it.....

Not that we have ever giving any freebies like this away, but we did consider it a few times. First things first, report this convo to Etsy admins at http://www.etsy.com/help/contact , pick the "Help with disputes, harassment or a suspicious convo" option and just paste in the convo in the box there. Make sure you include the Etsian's name so Etsy can track them down. This is against Etsy's TOU and should not be done... It's spam and someone trying to "mooch" free stuff..... UGH I despise people like this!

Now with that said, if your still interested, do some research....get their link and see how many "followers" their Youtube page has....We had one before that had over 1500 followers (not bad) but even with a ton of followers, that could just mean its a bunch of their friends?? Who knows... What we did was contacted one of the folks they did a "review" for and asked them how it turned out. Found out they got NADA, ZIP, ZERO leads, no sales and not a dang thing except the same person sending them the same exact message 2 months later, asking for more "freebies"!

Now on the point of Youtube being used to "promote" your business....Personally, its a great idea! I mean, why not? It's free to upload a video and its a great way to display your products and all that....I would think if you did something like a "how to pour a jar candle" Or "How to make clamshell tarts" you would get a much better response (lots of folks look for info-videos). I know we have a vid of our glassware up on Youtube and while at last check we only had 17 views (posted last week) we did actually get a convo in regards to a wedding set for a customer =) So all in all it does work if you try, and when it's FREE....why not try =)

Hope this insight helps you some and be sure to report that person...Etsy isn't the same with 1000's of them spamming everyone....everyday!

BTW, ecco, I may be emailing or PMing you with more questions, if you do not mind... = )

That's what we are here for Envy =) Best of luck to you and trust us, anyone on this board that has done their own website all wishes the same thing.....that we were HTML wiz's =)

Hey guys, I am a credit card service merchant rep, and any questions i will be happy to help you with. I have a 100% customer satisfaction rate to this day and can prove it with submitting any referalls you may request.

Using square/propay, your not aware of the fact of these 'free services' are charging you percentage rates as high as 4-6% of your intake of money. Theres no such thing as 'free' when it comes to processing, some company's say 'free equipment' but then you find yourself high rates and lengthy contracts. Sometimes you just have to spend money to actually save money. Your best and smartest solution, do your research, simply google any company you are looking at, and i'll example a popular company. Punch into google, 'crescent processing complaints' and you'll see a world of complaints about the company. Now try my company, 'financial transaction services, LLC' and try to find a complaint....... my point is, the service provider is also linked to the marketing rep selling it, when 1 or both become dishonest, it creates a very large and unhappy customer base. I've been with this company for just over a year now. And all i get are calls of happy clients.

Here's some features i offer which may spark your interest

No contract (NO CANCELLATION FEE GUARANTEED!!!!) this is my commitment to you, that i will NEVER take advantage of your business

No sign on fee

Rates are extremely competitive and vary based on volume

Purchase a wireless terminal for as low as $250

Wired terminals are also $250

Monthly is $5 for wired, and $20 for wireless

Next day deposits (you swipe and batch today, your money is there tomorrow)

No leases on equipment (leases run for about typically $30-$50 a month for 4 years non cancellable, at $30 a month your talking $1440 for a machine i sell for as low as $250)

I can reprogram existing equipment, and will be happy to do so. Any out of towners i can take care of over the phone/fax/email.

Never deal with a coorporate company again, i will take care of that part for you with any issues

email avitim@hotmail.com

I'll watch this thread closely and help you with any concearns or questions you may have

thanks everybody

Well I did take the time to research this company and while Tim is correct here, there are no bad reviews....when googling his company I only found ONE (1) good review and no more info.... So all I can say is do your research!

While Square offers a FREE card reader now for your smart phones and swiped cards are only 2.75% and I think there is a .35 per transaction fee too, I have heard way more positive things about Square then financial transaction services, LLC.

Just do your research guys =) xoxo

Paypal does offer more then just the 10 options, trust us we have WAY more then that =)

What you need to do is make your button from the PayPal website like you normally would. There is a option within there that says something about "encrypting or saving your button ON PayPal" you DO NOT want this, so uncheck that option. (Ill get to why in a moment).

Once you create your button and get the html code. Copy that over to say Notepad whatever you use for your html editing. Within that code you will see an area with the 10 you entered (we only do 3 just to get the button made, like A, B, C, then edit it) "<option value="Apple Pucker Blossom">Apple Pucker Blossom </option>" minus the ""s.

So what you want to do is copy and paste one of those lines(or how ever many more you need) and then edit them, so this one we would edit BOTH spots it says APPLE PUCKER BLOSSOM to whatever other scent you have. Repeat this for as many scents as you need. Remember the order you place them will be the order for your button, so if you want alphabetically, then do it now!

Once done, copy all that code and place it on your website where you want it and Wha Lah, a PayPal button with more then 10 selections =)

Now that was fun wasn't it? =)

Oh, btw the reason you uncheck that option on PayPal to save or encrypt the button is if you have it checked, then it will verify with PayPal when someone clicks that button that it is the EXACT button you created on the website. And since you did just edit it, it will error out....Not good for customer service or orders =)

HTH

Agreed with the other posters here, word of mouth gets you going. A website I think comes down the road a bit more, once you have a customer base and a slight following =)

We started out with just friends at work and family (not much of that tho) and went from there. As many know we also do custom glass art too and one day were in a local flea market looking for some unique pieces and found there was no candle vendor in there. So we looked at eachother and said, lets go for it! And never looked back =)

For sure always have business cards, brochures on hand. If possible have samples to hand out but honestly....that gets expensive if your just throwing them to every Tom, Dick and Harry =) If your big on the sample thing tho, maybe put a dab of FO on the card itself and then its a scented business card (humm... wonder if that would work).. Other then that, have fun with it, be proud of what you do and be the best you can be at it! Put car magnets on your car with your number (website), put up flyers around your town....there are so many ways to promote yourself, you just have to think outside the box sometimes =)

HTH and best of luck in your business!

You should be burning your candles for 1 hour per inch of container diameter, extinguishing, then wait until the candle has COMPLETELY cooled before relighting. Trim the wick to 1/4" before each test burn. Record the weight of the candle before the first burn, then before each additional test burn so that you can compute the RoC (rate of consumption). Note the flame height, the quality of the flame (ie. sputtering, dancing, etc.); any sooting or smoking, etc. Note the diameter and depth of the MP right before extinguishing the candle. All of this information, along with the wick type/source/size, wax used/batch or lot number, FO/source/amount; dye color/type/source/amount and any other additives, their source and amount, should be recorded. HTH

I so want to go post this in our blog or on facebook and just be like LOOK! SEE WHAT WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH TO GIVE YOU GUYS GOOD CANDLES! =) But I would never do such a thing =) lol

Very nice! Colorful and I almost got giddy when I thought it was a full rainbow but still giddy so YAY! =) Great job!

I went the "say what it is" route the first year I was in business.

After that, I went nuts and named everything weird and that is when my business broke out. Not sure if it is all because of that, but I think it helped.

Funny you said that =) We were just talking about switching a ton of names around and getting even MORE creative with them =) Now all I need is a nice bottle of wine and some good music and let the fun begin =) weeeeeeeeee! *super banana*

Without even going past the OP's original post here is our thoughts.

While doing the "standard" types of scents and keeping the names in line you will get the "traditionalist" candle lovers out there that will just "know" that's their scent. But on the other hand you will also "blend" yourself into the other 1,000,000 candle companies out there too.

By being creative and "different" in your names, scents, marketing, labels, containers, etc you will set yourself apart from all the other guys out there....now in this day and age there are not to many things that haven't been done but its a heck of a lot funner trying to be YOU then being THEM =)

We do a pretty good mix of both for our product lines. We keep the staples as their own and then branch out and do the "odd, different" scents too. If I only had a dollar everytime someone asked us what a Monkey Fart smelled like or Frog's Breath...We wouldn't need to be candle making like crazy =)

I think being different is a great thing just for the fact that it sparks a rapport, you get to talk to your customers and inform them of your products and why they are better then the next guy/girl. And the laughs you will have when you tell them you have a candle they just HAVE to smell and they say "what is it" and you say "BITE ME" = priceless =)

HTH and best of luck =) Now to go see what others have said to this =)