sockmonkey

I have a friend who is a power seller on ebay and she has a lot of repeat sales with the same customers. She sells rubber stamps and has a lot of unique items that people overseas don't have access to, so they regularly shop her auctions. You can see feedback from the same people over and over again. Someone could accuse her of shill bidding based on that. She could be shady and sell stuff to those repeat customers outside of ebay and make more money that way. But she follows the rules, which can make it appear as though she engages in shill bidding, based on the way of thinking here.

Have you considered the amount of inventory it will take to fill your store and how much time (and money) it will take to do it? Have you done enough shows or sold enough on your website to get an idea of what kind of sales you can expect? If you are only offering homemade candles and b&b, what if they just don't sell? People like variety and let's face it, some people might think you have the greatest stuff on earth, but there will be other folks who refuse to buy anything if it isn't a famous brand, so if that's all you have to offer, they will walk out empty handed. How will you deal with that? Have you calculated how much you will need to sell everyday in order just to pay your rent? Have you developed a marketing plan with detailed cost for advertising yet? Have you checked out the competition? Have you visited any shop owners in the area you are considering to see what their experience in the area has been? Your husband is in the military and you have kids. How will that affect your ability to make a long-term committment to owning a shop? Are your living arrangements stable at this point? What about financing? Do you have savings or another source of revenue you can live off of if the store doesn't take off right away? If the store doesn't work out, will your personal finances be ruined? These aren't questions you have to answer publicly--they're just some things you should think about. I have known many shop owners who have had the same dream, only to have it become a nightmare because of inadequate planning and under capitalization. There are several internet forums for retailers where they share their woes about how tough it is to make it in retail, especially now.

People will only pay what an item is worth to them. If somebody artificially inflates a price by shill bidding the honest buyer can just forego the item. It's no different than people who are willing to spend $150 on jeans in a department store. If you want those jeans then you'll pay that much to get them. If you think it's too much, you simply don't buy them. You don't have anyone to complain to that the manufacturer shouldn't be charging that much. Why should ebay be any different? Shill bidding should be the least of their concerns. They should focus more on the sellers who take money but never deliver product, or people who hack into accounts.

I've sold Yankees for over $40 on ebay. They were retired scents, but all bids were legit. I've seen Yankees sold by other people go for over $100, so it's possible that people really want this lady's candles. Even if she is practicing shill bidding, nobody has a gun to anyone's head forcing them to buy her candles. If the sucker doesn't make that last minute bid, then the candle maker doesn't make any money, so what?

I've got some strong FO's from Aztec, but by far, the most potent one I have is Gingered Honey from SW. I put just a small dab of lotion on my arm and hands around noon today, and I can still smell it now--even after many handwashings. I don't know what they do to make it las so long; none of the other stuff I've used from SW is that long lasting. What's your one strongest fragrance you use in B&B products, and where do you buy it?

I read about this on another forum. Someone said they drill a hole in the center of their soap and call it Willy Washer Soap. It's not my cup of tea, but I know some folks claim they have better sales with gag gifts during the holidays.

I just printed some crystal clear labels from onlinelabels.com and see that they shipped some of the wrong size labels. I bought a pack of 100 4" x 2" labels a while back. I've used them off and on for my lotion bottles. Tonight I go to print some using my regular template and see that they are way out of whack. Being off 1/16th of an inch can happen, but this was just ridiculous. How can that be? I pull the label up only to discover that they slipped me some 3" x 2" labels! I haven't even bothered to see how many may be affected yet. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up, if you're ordering from them, look them over carefully when you get them!!!

I have not dealt with anyone like that and I might not believe the man that when he says he gets his oils from all over the world. Does this man have a warehouse or a website? If you're a big-time importer of oils, you don't sell them at craftshows. It's entirely possible that he could be getting them from overseas, but for him to sell them to you for $20 a pound, considering what freight would cost, sounds impractical. You can get 100% uncut fragrance oils from practically any manufacturer for $20 a pound. Do you know you have a fragrance manufacturer right there in Georgia?

Have you seen these sites? http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/td_centerpieces/article/0,,diy_14377_2273722,00.html http://www.guide4home.com/out-ftn/make-indoor-water.htm

It seems like we might be getting slightly off topic, but really it shows how poorly the economy is performing and that we need to be aware of it when we consider renting booth space or buying supplies. People are losing their jobs left and right in huge numbers which can affect our sales. Pepsi is laying off 3,300 workers. GM is closing plants by the end of the year that will result in the loss of 3,800 jobs, and more plant closures are anticipated. Ford has cut 2,000 jobs and is planning layoffs. How many other businesses that may not employ thousands, but perhaps only hundreds or dozens are forced to close their doors that we will never hear about? The other night on the news they showed a factory that had been in business for 30 years that had to close because banks would not lend money for operating costs. Those people being affected are some of our customers.

It's not a matter of stacking boxes in the middle of the store and keeping them there for customers to trip over, it's a matter of the deliveryman walking through my store and past customers while carrying the boxes (stacked on a dolly) to me for a signature before I'm able to take them to the back for unpacking.

No kidding. I haven't and won't. I don't think anyone was looking for solutions--just wondering if others felt the same way. Obviously, some do and some don't.

Hey, it's a money making business just making up domain names. They don't need to ever have a business or go live with a site--just sit on the name until someone is willing to pay for it.

The order that I got was for b&b--NOT candle supplies. The supplier that I got mine from doesn't even sell candle supplies. Maybe you couldn't care less if used boxes arrive at your home, but those boxes were delivered to my store, where any customer could have seen it. I can assure you, if I was in a store where they sold their own lotions and soaps and I saw a giant box of mouse traps being delivered, I would never buy another thing from that store, nor probably ever go back. So, good for the supplier for saving a buck. But the buck that he saved could wind up costing a shop owner business.

I'm not one who preaches recycling to anybody, but I can see a huge difference between someone complaining about excessive packaging and wasted materials and someone complaining about receiving goods in a used container with less than desirable product branding stamped on it. If you're radical about reusing boxes, then I assume you must believe in wearing used clothing as well. There's nothing wrong with it--you shouldn't be opposed to wearing a t-shirt with advertisements for mouse traps on it; it's just a t-shirt. Why plant more cotton; why not save the earth for other crops?

You can basically put any kind of butter in it and call it whatever balm you want--cuticle, foot, lip, elbow, tattoo, etc. Add beeswax to the mix and call it mustache wax.

I think I might know what you're talking about--would you consider it a pearlescent look? I think what you need is a polyester label. Rippedsheets.com might have what you need. If you call them and give them a description, I'm sure they'll be happy to send you some samples.

Butterfly creek creates a nice visual in my mind; dragonfly creek really doesn't, but I like the dragonfly concept.

http://www.yessy.com/smontes/ Very attractive and unique.

Why is it so bad to think a supplier could BUY a generic carton, which in most instances are ALREADY made out of recycled paper, and someone else could re-cycle that, without tacky product advertising on it? Something that disgusts me is the possibility that some of those boxes may have indeed been sitting in a supermarket loading dock, a dumpster, or the side of the building--all places where ants, mice or roaches or maggots can have easy access to scamper across and feed on garbage or make nests; even the town wino might take a nap on them, and that is NOT something I want to be concerned about when getting my b&b supplies and containers shipped to me. It may be a false sense of security, because any warehouse can be infested, but it seems far less likely when foodstuffs and rotten produce aren't in the picture. I can see it if somebody is shipping an order from their home, you sell something on the classifieds and put it in a used box of some sort--that's no big deal. But if you're operating a legitimate business with multiple employees and you pull this kind of thing, shame on you.

My FedEx man delivered an order to me that came in a giant Stayfree maxipad carton--he must have thought I had a serious problem. Another order came in a carton for some type of frozen enchiladas. A different supplier used shredded gas credit card reciepts and reports to pack their stuff. Not only was the stuff highly dusty, but it was messy just opening the box; little bits of paper would get everywhere. I called the company to complain about that and all they had to say was "we recycle--the owner is a firm believer in recycling whenever possible." I think it greedy penny-pinching, not really caring about the environment that makes them do it. I don't like the idea that someone might pluck a box out of a dumpster to ship my goods. Boxes advertising mouse traps and maxipads are not how I would want to deliver my products just to save a buck an order--it's TACKY. If they're insistent upon doing it, the least they could do is cut the box and turn it inside out so your customers or neighbors won't think you're infested or anemic when the see the brand names on them. If they can't afford new boxes, then they ought to close their doors.

Giving it a quick once over, a few of the things I would change are: Glycerin Soaps page: 1 oz "A nice size bar if you're not sure of the scent. Lots of nice creamy lather." I would change it to something like, A convenient trial size bar to sample our soap's creamy lather and variety of scents. 3 oz "A bar of soap shaped like a leaf. Lots of nice creamy lather in one leaf." Consider changing to, A decorative leaf shaped bar of soap that is not only nice to look at, but also creates lots of creamy lather for a luxurious bathing experience. If you can, I would work on the background and lighting for these photos, because I'm sure in person they are really great looking bars of soap, but the dreary background isn't doing anything to make them pop. Melts page: I don't see anything about how to use the wickless melts or what type of wax they are made of; nor do I see anything telling your customers how convenient they are to use or approximately how long each one will last. I'm wondering why you offer them in a cup? What's the benefit of that vs. the other melts? Wickless page: Again with the photos, I don't think they are doing your products justice because of the color and the lighting. I could be 100% wrong, but I think the color choices for your wickless candles might not appeal to as many people as say, a red or blue candle might. The bottom photo appears as black candles, and even the tins look the same color as the candles. Maybe it's better to have one good photo of a single tin, rather than trying to fit several tins in one photo and getting reflections and distorted colors. Also, I would get a little more creative with the descriptions of the tins; for example, The latest trend in home candles--a wickless candle. Experience the same fragrant room filling aroma as wicked candles, but without the flame. These tins are for use with an electric candle warmer and may be re-used many times. You'll find these are a must have for areas where candles cannot normally be burned. Overall, I think your site is laid out nicely and has a clean, uncluttered look, but I would suggest you enhance the decriptions of your products and make them sound more appealing to your customers, as I'm sure they are.

What is the 2-tone soap on the left? That looks neat.

I thought the clamshells were a great idea for soap, and then I tried to sell them. Wrong. I ususally don't even sell my soap wrapped--I let customers select their naked bars and drop them in a plastic bag--no problem; put the soap in clamshells and people just don't buy.