sbs

I love both of those two ideas, but if you're starting out and looking for something less expensive, here's a link to a previous discussion about this. Post #8 shows pictures of two spinner racks that are very reasonably priced.

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93893

HTH,

Jane

AWESOME! Thanks for this!

I've seen your candles and website and love them both! I know I'm a newbie but if my opinion counts I would buy your candle for $16. That's of course, if I had no idea how to make one and did not know the costs to make one and so forth. I would assume the average customer has no clue to all that and would base their purchase on the appearance and smell. And the appearance alone would make me think they were worth the $16.

I am in Atlanta though and lived near San Francisco for most of my life. So I'm used to the prices of big cities.

Thank you all for your replies. I love this board!

So I decided to give it a try. I really have nothing to lose considering they will only charge me based on my sales so I think it will be good for getting my feet wet... Looking forward to it for practice more than anything.

Thanks!

I am curious have any of you been in a craft show that handles transactions for you? I've never heard of this until now and have yet to read about it on the board. This email was sent to me today regarding a fair I am thinking about doing:

"No prior show experience is required. In fact, the Marketplace was designed especially for new crafters as we handle everything for you. Just bring a table covering and your products. We handle the money, credit cards, sales tax, etc."

I read thats it's "centralized" cashiering... not sure what that means but sounds confusing (my products, others products). I just want to know someone's experience with this type of setting.

Also, this is the fair held by a church. They charge $100 or 25% of sales, whichever I choose. They expect 1500-2000 people to attend. Not big at all but good enough to get a feel for fairs since I've never done one.

Thanks for your help

Thanks for your input lovemylabs and candybee!!

Has something like what been done before? Back to back shows? Indeed, they have. When I was doing shows, I planned my year in advance and hit every show I could. Very rarely did I have a weekend off. I certainly didn't limit myself to so-called "craft" shows. I'm located pretty much in the center of my state, and I traveled the entire state for shows. If there was some little show in some podunk building at a county fair grounds, I was there. Wine festivals. Antique shows. It didn't matter to me. I'm an equal opportunity seller.

I didn't wait until the last minute to make product or order supplies. I had my inventory already made or at least had the supplies on hand well in advance.

I made what I wanted to make. I didn't plan my inventory on something that just happened to sell well one weekend. Instead, I stocked a wide variety. If something consistently sells out, then plan accordingly and order more next time. Don't get into the mindset of thinking that because 20 people wanted Honeysuckle this week, it will sell out next week. I promise you if you make 4 dozen Honeysuckle for next weekend, everybody will want Patchouli.

People get all wrapped up in the ifs and what ifs. Retail doesn't work that way. What has kept me going is my refusal to take special orders and/or stress myself out. I do this because I enjoy it. I do it on my schedule, not somebody else's.

If you're worried about giving yourself enough time, remember that you won't sell a single thing if you aren't there.

Just my opinion, of course.

You and mparadise hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you!!!

Have you done shows before? If you have, you will have some idea of what items tend to sell. When I book lots of shows back to back I usually build stock in my best sellers (knowing that they WILL go eventually) and just fill in the other items as needed.

The best suggestion I can offer is to not stress yourself out. I used to get crazy about making sure to have x # of each item, in each scent. Over time, I have found that if I am out of 1 particular scent of candles I am often the only one that knows. I used to get so worked up about it but now I look at it as I can only do so much and run with what I have. The only people that notice if I am out of something is a couple of my regulars and they are fairly local (since I usually only do shows within 30-45mins of my house) so I just tell them that I am out and offer to deliver or ship it. More often than not they end up just getting a limited edition scent, one of the new ones they haven't smelled before or one of their other favorites.

No. This would be my first show! I'm so nervous and excited at the same time... It's funny you mention not to stress about having x # of each item, in each scent. That is EXACTLY what I was stressing about lol!! I feel SO much better now after reading your post, thanks! I'll have to relax a bit and go with what I've got...

How much time do you guys give yourself between festivals to restock and re-order? There is a festival here on April 30, May 1st and May 7th, May 8th. Is this too little time to do two different festivals? The first one is a church and the second has an expected crowd of 30,000. Both have $100 booth rent. Should I concentrate on one of those or has something like this been done before?

TIA!!:smiley2:

WOW Monx5! Thanks so much for the tips!

And Welcome to the board!

I can use 6 tealights to a 1 oz. melt of my own, so that's 18 hours/melt. I'd say that's better than Scentsy.

Mine burn about the same I think.. I thought it was bad with my throw dying out after 4 days for a 2 oz melt.. (burning almost all day) but only 8 hours for scentsy??? Yeah that sucks.

I think many of us have had increased sales on our own melts b/c of them flooding the market and in a way educating consumers on what melts/tarts are. And I think alot of us get annoyed by them showing up at shows that are marketed as hand made crafts only. It's really annoying to those of us that have to jump through hoops to prove we actually made our products by having to provide pics and then they allow people in who obviously are just reselling something that was mass produced. But it is what it is.

:highfive:

Looks beautiful! :smiley2:

Glad you find it useful :smiley2:... I love her ideas. Now I just need to print them all out and get started :tiptoe:

You could have directed her here.

I personally believe candlewarmers.com has better quality. I do purchase from OBI, but only in person. It is a warehouse of "lower" quality items. If I am going to have warmers shipped I will most definately buy from candlewarmers.com because incase you don't know, OBI does not refund if any of your items arrive damaged. If I am buying in person then I will buy from OBI because I know the products are not damaged and I don't pay the shipping costs. I buy all my warmers from candlewarmers.com except one, and thats because candlewarmers.com doesn't carry that design.

*Like* Lol.. since there's no like button. Thanks for sharing. Good info!

:smiley2: you're welcome.

Love this blogger. Just wanted to share...

http://almcleary.com/blog/marketing-ideas/

CB Advanced and GB 464?

If I mix the two 50/50 what would the fragrance load be? I know 464 holds 10-12% but the cba is only 9%. I love the throw from the 464 but I love the look of cb advanced. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Thanks Maggie! Awesome advice!

Thanks you guys! I found some clear ones and will see if I like those. Thanks for the site brudil, I am still going to check it out! :smiley2:

Well that's if he didn't buy wholesale.. How much would they be wholesale? I'm still way too small a company and in the beginning stages to start buying wholesale but just curious... I LOVE candlewarmers.com's warmers!

That's some expensive stuff on their site. Good to know they use an "exclusive" soft wax for their melts, LOL. Does anybody really sell the 2-in-1 warmers for $19.99? Seems like a hell of a profit margin.

Cheers,

Steve

The 2-in-1's he has are from candlewarmers.com and cost 13.95 each plus shipping. Way more expensive than the ones I've seen for 6 bucks which look almost the same. 19.99 actually isn't that much of a profit if that's what he pays for em'. smh...

Nevermind. Found em.

Can someone please tell me where I can find clear labels like these... this size. I dropped my keyboard I'm so excited!

Thanks for the responses. I now realize that ecosoya adv. is an "all natural" wax not 100%. Sooooo... I guess it doesn't matter if I add a bit of PB. Lol.. Thanks!