SuzyK

Thankyou Suzy and everyone else for the kind comments.  It means a lot to me.  You don't make candles Suzy?  Omg....they are easy.  Geesh, if I can do it, anyone can.  Now soaps like what the beautiful ones you make that makes me envious!  Now that's a whole horse of another color...I cringe just looking at all the posts everyone makes on the board here and all those ingrediants!......omg......They scare me to make just reading what every one talks about...I would love to make them, but I don't think I ever could!

 

By the way Suzy, I got your soaps the other day!    OMG....they are so awesome...thankyou so much.  I don't think I'll mail to my sister they are so beautiful!  I think I'll keep for myself! lol

 

Trappeur

Yay. I'm glad you got them!  That's awesome you are keeping them for yourself.

Nope, I just see all the testing pictures and what wicks to buy and all that and I am happily making wax melts. lol  My soaps are melt and pour and though they are time consuming, I'm not messing with a lot of ingredients on the soap.  All my other products like lip balm and sugar scrubs and body butter are all made from scratch though and those are a lot of ingredients.  But it's fun!

Look at that!  It looks amazing!

Don't stop posting pictures!   I wanted to post Don't Stop Believin. Lol. 

I love them all!  Your posts make me want to learn to make candles.

I bet your mom would love that you used her pieces that way.  They're very cool!

I have a spreadsheet of what to take and I've just been staring at the list trying to decide. They're all so good!    Every time, I'll get someone who will ask about scents I decided not to take.  Fragrances are such a personal thing, it's hard to please everyone.

I take as much as I can. I have 4 shows in the next month and a half.  One is a really big all weekend show. I did it last year and it was really good even though we had a ton of snow (we never get snow).

For instance, I plan to make about 600 wax melts and usually make 20 of each scent. Sometimes more if I know it's really popular scent. In the past I've done 25 of fragrances that sell well and 15 of ones that usually don't.  But each show is different and sometimes the ones I decide not to take more of are the ones the sell.  So I'll bring 30 fragrances of wax melts.   It's a tough decision because I have over 100 fragrances here. 

I'm also taking my lip balm, solid lotion, sugar scrubs, and body butters.   I have a lot do. lol.  It's always tough to decide what to take and how much.

I have a ton of supplies coming and I'm making all of it. lol.

Welcome Back!  I hope you get better quickly so you can play!

Amazing! They look great!    Great job at being proactive and bringing in business for yourself! I'm sure the shop owner will sell them all!

They do have rules but it's a huge process to go through.   I was going to do it last year but it just wasn't worth it.   There is a ton of copyright infringement on there but Etsy has to get a letter from the license holder first before they can do anything. 

Good luck SherriLynn!  If you have any questions about setting up on Etsy or anything, I'm very happy to help.

Yes Karen, I had forgotten she also copied some of my written stuff, which I believe she never changed but I changed mine.  And she also changed her business name to one almost like mine.

I am adding some goodies to my shop later today as well as adding my Winter Phase 1 scents to my scent list and will post a link to my shop on the appropriate thread.

I remain happy to help anyone who is setting up or considering and Etsy shop (just don't copy my stuff...haha!). I was kindly helped by a jewelry making friend and have helped others now to pay that forward. Anyone is welcome to ask me here or PM me.

Thanks!

Haha!  Yes, don't copy my stuff!  lol.  I don't mind helping either, but I have boundaries.    Good luck adding your products!

I am sorry another member did that. But that can happen anywhere anytime. Your local completion can do it. I do not know how many times we have had member come here and say a local soap or candle maker copied their product and asked what can be done.

Oh yes, I totally understand that.  It stinks that people will do unethical things like that. It was a first for me and the situation was just jaw dropping.  I love being here and I've learned so much and I enjoy being help others be successful without giving away too much.   It's taken a long time to feel comfortable posting again since I know she still comes here.   I continue to work hard and run my business. I've seen HUGE amounts of growth this year and I am so thankful to be doing what I do.

I guess I have to ask..... why would you be concerned about sharing your website????  wouldn't you want to do that??? I guess I just not thinking like a crook or whatever... but I am working on my site now... why shouldn't I share it on this board??????

I had someone from this board order from me last year and then copy my label design exactly.  She admitted to copying and didn't care.  It was a mess. She has since changed her label but it made me very cautious about sharing my business info on here. I'm still very watchful of that situation.

Wow!  I absolutely love it!  Love the labels and everything about it.

I hadn't seen that thread before Vicky.  I added mine. I get a little leery about sharing my site on here since I had someone from this site order and copy me but I added it anyway.

 

I am so busy right now, even just with melts that I took today off work so that I could pour for the next 3 days!

That's awesome that you're so busy with just the wax melts!   I've been selling a lot of them lately but not like you.   They are definitely my best sellers at shows.  I have a huge show coming up that I need to get wax for still and then I'll be pouring like crazy. 

I've had a couple of people suggest that I start a group for my page instead of just having the business page.

It takes awhile to get good, steady sales on Etsy.    Good tags, good descriptions, good titles help a lot to be found.  Most of my orders come from people searching and finding me through Etsy search.  I do have several repeat customers too and I love that.

Adding new items helps a lot.  The more you have in your shop, the more chances you'll come up in search.

If I only had wax melts in my shop, I would not be as busy as I am for sure.  I started getting busier when I added a variety of products.

I send people to my shop through facebook. That's pretty much all the promotion I do.  I have a small local following as well.  As I start doing more shows, I hope that will increase. 

I don't do shows for my mineral makeup and I don't post a lot on that facebook page but I still get really good sales on Etsy.

I go to the forums too on Etsy.  I don't think the forums are a good way to gauge sales or how busy Etsy is.  A very small portion of people go to the forums.  And most people aren't going to go to say they're doing great, they go to complain.  There are ALWAYS posts on there complaining about slow times and they always blame etsy.   I am very busy on there right now.  And sometimes, I'm not so busy.  It's just part of retail.  And also depends on what people are selling and how their shop looks.

Whoa!  Those are incredible!  Love them!

I don't see Etsy's rates as high.  Ebay is much higher.   When I had a website I paid like $12 a month and hardly made that back online.  I don't sell my products higher on Etsy than I do at shows because shows cost a lot of money too. I don't sell at stores because it's not worth it to me.  I take into consideration the fees when I price my products.  With Etsy, you pay when you sell and when you list.  The listing fees are very small and each listing lasts 4 months.  I make about 10 times what my bill is each month so it's very worth it to me.

I tested a few fragrances first. Once I got them to throw like I wanted too then I tested the rest of my fragrances.  I test each new fragrance.

Oh yes. That makes sense.  They don't make it so you can choose 30 different ones that way.  I've been slowly adding all the fragrances I have available. It's a lot of work but that way I come up in searches more often.

I have over 100 scents available and people don't really say I don't have enough but I do get requests for ones I don't have.    I also don't take that many to shows but still get people asking for other scents that I may carry.

There is a drop down menu to add your scents    You can add variables and have them pick the scent.

Shows are so fun, but they're so much work. It's worth it but I need to be better and time management and all that.  I'd really like to do more shows.  It's also hard because I'm a single mom and always having to ask people to watch my kids is difficult for me even though most people enjoy having my kids around.

YES!  I did add the body butters to my shop.

Gorgeous!  Love it.     

I'm another one that's not a fan of lavender fragrances but they sell well for me.  I love the smell of the flower when it's in a garden. It's weird that I don't like it in candles and such.

That's why we test test and then test some more.   It can take awhile to find the wax that works for you. It can be a frustrating process but it feels so good when you find one that works.  There are some here who use just the ecosoya pb alone and they have wonderful results where it didn't work well alone for me. I added the xcel and bam!  I found the mix for me.  

I use ecosoya pb and mix it with ecosoya xcel and get great results.    How long did you cure them?  I usually wait a week to test them.  A lot of us here use different waxes and get different results. 

I heat the wax to 185 also and pour lower than 150 degrees.  The pouring temperature depends on what the container can handle, it doesn't have much to do with the end product.

I've had my own website in the past and it was nothing compared to the sales I get through Etsy.  I'm happy there for now and don't have plans to leave anytime soon.  Maybe someday I'll have my own site but I like not having to do the maintenance and am able to concentrate on making things and just adding them to the shop.

I do one big show in the year but would like to add more shows.  They seem to be the thing that I need to have the kind of income I'd like to have.  They're a lot of work and being a single mom, I have to find people to watch my kids during them.  My kids are easy though.

Nothing! Well no "work"  I'm sitting here watching my kids play Monopoly and preparing my lesson for church tomorrow.  I've had a super busy week so I'm trying to relax today. I'll probably get some work done later. lol.    I've been wanting to do inventory on my supplies as I have some shows coming up and need to assess what I need to get.  I haven't had enough motivation to do that though.

I love hearing about the memorial party!  My family does something similar for my mom.  Every year the weekend of what would be her birthday, we get together and the our kids make gingerbread houses.  We weren't able to do it this year though.  I know it sounds weird to make gingerbread houses in May but the holidays are so busy and sometimes hard for us to get there weather wise that May is easier.  My mom would have all the grandkids over each year to make gingerbread houses so we're keeping that tradition alive.