sockmonkey

Sliver is right. Nobody should expect to run a business by getting answers to legal questions from an internet forum. People can try to guide you in the right direction and may even have the correct answers, but ultimately you are the one who can be hit with tax penalties and other fines as well as consumer lawsuits if you rely on secondhand information and don't conduct your own research with official government sources.

If you're selling anything I think you probably need to register with your state to obtain a license or retail certificate of some sort. I'm not sure what you mean by premade bases--are you forumlating them yourself to sell, or are you buying premade bases and reselling those? If your formulating them yourself, you probably also need to inquire as to whether any type of facility inspection or product testing is required from your state or local health department.

Thank you. I prefer more Victorian style things but they just don't sell well for me so I go with the prim. It doesn't matter if it's furniture or pictures, the prim stuff sells. I wish I had some pictures of some of the prim stuff I've sold. Basically, all you need to do is paint anything black and scuff it up and people will buy it.

Thought I'd share my latest project. The photo isn't the greatest (it looks kind of distorted and has a big glare on it), but it shows one of my best sellers. I buy the prints, hubby cuts the wood and assembles the frame (he doesn't trust me with his power tools), and then I paint and rough up the frame. I'm not big into the prim stuff, but it sells like crazy.

I like the 8oz low profile because it's a lot easier to scoop across and into the jar than to dig into the straight sided jars--especially if someone has large hands.

I recommend using plain old baking soda with a little bit of water and gently massage it around your face and neck areas, then rinse off. In my opinion, sugar is much too coarse to be using on the delicate skin of your face and neck, and the greasiness of the oils that are commonly used in sugar scrubs is not exactly pleasant to remove and may lead to clogged pores if used frequently. I occasionally use baking soda as an exfoliator on my legs they seem to feel extra smooth afterward. The nice thing about using baking soda is that it's super cheap, AND you can easily pour out what you need without introducing any contaminates into your container. You might consider transferring it from its cardboard box into a plastic shaker jar with a lid, or even a plastic drinking cup to keep moisture out of it and prevent it from clumping up (but even if it does, that's not a problem--it's easy to break it up).

Hmmm...how can I say this...It's painful to my eyes. I like the pictures but the black is way too harsh and "in-your-face" in my opinion. Something else that struck me...your "About Us" page sounds strikingly similar to the Mike Kittredge story. PM me and I'll be happy to work on some text for you.

Retailers are happy to receive signage. One small company I did business with in the past provided brochures for their product in an acrylic display. Another company offers window clings, which I love because they are easy to apply and remove and don't obscure the window like paper posters or vinyl banners.

If she's never burning a candle again as she says in her letter, why bother writing a letter asking somone how to burn them safely? There's no such thing as "ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT QUESTION, SAFE." Sounds like she's asking for a legal definition, and I wouldn't reply.

I wouldn't come right out and say soy has a lesser throw, but perhaps rephrase it as "Soy is known for it's milder scent throw and longer burn time than other waxes and many people who are sensitive to strong scents prefer soy over paraffin." That way, you're essentially saying the same thing, yet you are appealing to a particular customer at the same time. To plug the paraffin, I would simply promote it as a traditional wax that is heavily used in the candlemaking industry because of its ability to accept vibrant colors and to transform into any number of configurations--tapered candles, carved candles, container candles, dipped bears, etc. If it is still cheaper than the other waxes, I would also say that it's so widely popular because it's a more economical choice, yet offers outstanding scent throw.

I don't know how they compare, but ICS has vanilla hazelnut coffee, and Aztec has vanilla hazelnut mocha.

I haven't made deodorant, but I found a couple of recipes. I don't think you'll be able to duplicate the formulation for the B&BW deodorant because they use ingredients that will probably be very difficult for you to obtain, such as aluminium zirconium tetracholorohydrex-GLY. Other ingredients such as baking soda, tea tree oil, and aloe gel should be easy to get. If you look at their ingredients along with the recipes here, you might be able to do a bit of experiementing and come up with something you like. Herbal Stick Deodorant (Snow Drift Farm) 1 1/2 tbspn beeswax (yellow is best) 1/2 tbspn cocoa butter 1 tablespoon coconut oil 15 drops white thyme essential oil 15 drops rosemary essential oil 25 drops lavender essential oil 3 drops castor oil Melt beeswax in a glass jar standing in hot water, Add the cocoa butter, and when it has melted, add the oils. Stir to mix thoroughly, then pour into a clean deodorant stick case and leave to cool and set. Another common recipe found on various sites: Stick Deodorant 4 ounces cornstarch 2 ounces baking soda 1 ounces liquid chorophyll 2 ounces vodka 2 ounces distilled water 8 ounces beeswax 10-15 drops of honeysuckle, rose, coriander or essential oil of your choice. Mix all ingredients except wax and chorophyll in a bowl, stir thoroughly. Melt wax in top of a double boiler over very low heat, remove from heat. Add the other ingredients and blend well. If the wax thickens too much to be workable, heat again. As the mixture begins to cool, but before it hardens, add the liquid clorophyll and essential oils. Pour into molds. Let harden. Remove from molds. Store in a tightly closed container away from heat to avoid shrinkage.

Ooops!

Skin Serenity?

Yes, cardboard will absorb the odor. I've had customers brag that they kept the boxes the tarts came in and used them as air fresheners in closets.

I had a lady who did the same thing--I guess she thought since the wax was still there the scent would last indefinitely. After her I learned to tell customers what to expect. You should do what I did and sell her some tarts to drop in the melted wax to use as a refresher instead of oil. It works like a charm.

Have you contacted the NY Secretary of State's office, or the Revenue Dept? You might even contact the Health Dept. They should be able to give you all the answers you need.

You can also go to your local Lowe's, Home Depot, etc., and check out tiles they have on clearance. They often have oddball pieces at good discounts--especially those tiny tiles on a sheet. Some tile stores or hardware stores will sell, or give you tile samples so you don't have to buy a whole carton. I have seen some very nice mosaics made from china plates and cups that were purchased at thrift stores, so that may be something to keep in mind also.

Is it the same overpowering smell with each batch? I'm guessing, from looking at your ingredients that it's your almond oil and/or wheatgerm oil, since those are common ingredients in both recipes. Could they be old oils? Does either smell particularly strong by itself before adding it to the lotion? Even though they might be brand new to you, sometimes suppliers have been known to sell products that aren't exactly the freshest available. If it were me, I would try making a much smaller sample batch and leave out the wheatgerm oil and see it that helps. If the smell is the same, try it again without the almond oil.

Thought some of you might find this article about Etsy interesting... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/26/BU7B10QI02.DTL

Not happy with service from Snowdrift Farms. Shipping was slow and customer service was also slow to respond to inquiries.

What's wrong with the yogurt powder and honey powder?

I was happy with their shipping rates the last time I ordered from them.

I haven't checked out HCM to know if this is the case or not, but I know with many other sites they have different subscription levels you can buy which determines whether you have a .com address or a .com/store/ address. As you can probably guess, it costs more if you have your own unique .com address rather than the .com/store/ address.

Very nice work.