Whisper Girl

This weekend we worked to get an order ready for one of our wholesale accounts. It is all poured, labeled, boxed and ready to ship out!!! Now to set back and relax!!!

$3.50 each. Buy 5 get the 6th one free.

I love selling up against Scentsy reps. They cannot compete with me on price or quality. I always gain new Scentsy customers when I do a show. When a customer buys one of my melters, they get two free melts to go with it. Sometimes they may go buy a Scentsy warmer and then come to me for their melts. Once they try my melts, I have a 80 - 90% chance of keeping them as a customer.

We do not use racks for our melts. We have found that sitting them right out on our table allows everyone to see them and allows us to encourage people to smell them. It also allows us to easily discuss scents, wax, melters and to up sell. When they are on the table, we find we build great repoire with our customers.

We do not use soy. We tried it, did not like working with it and did not like the hot throw. When asked about soy candles, we answer using what the National Candle Association says on their website. (we even have this printed out as a hand out) "All waxes are primarily hydrocarbons, whether the wax is of animal, vegetable, or petroleum origin. The chemical composition of all waxes used for candle-making is similar, and all candle waxes burn in the same manner. No specific type of wax or wax blend is considered "best" for candlemaking. All candle waxes - when provided in high-quality format - have been shown to burn cleanly, safelyand in the same manner."

Agree - do not pour these. They are not made for burning candles in them!!!!

I also make fused glass pendants and earrings. We added these to our line of candles and melts this year and they have been a hit at our shows.

I would do all Fall scents - pumpkins, apple cinnamons, warm vanillas, and perhaps even a Christmas scent. I would use tissue paper (reds, yellows and greens) for background in the Pepsi crate. Make it bright and colorful and go Fall so they can give it as a gift should the buyer choose to do so. You might add a small amount of Fall confetti in the form of leaves just to sprinkle over the tissue.

I take payment at delivery if local. If the order has to ship and is large, I take payment at time of order. I was burned once and will not be burned again. A large order is wonderful - a large order that does not pay is not an order, it is a LOSS!

We did a show two weeks ago. There were tornado watches out everywhere, rain started at 3:30, and lots of wind. We had to close down at 3:30 on Sat due to weather (this was two hours early). Sunday had winds of 30mph with gusts up to 40. With all this ----- we still had a great show. Lots of people buying! We did outstanding with our melts and our candle sales were much better than last years. If the weather had been good, there is no telling how high our increase would have been. Just wanted to put a positive out there for everyone. I'm sure in this economy location has a lot to do with it. Our unemployment is not as bad here in Kansas as it is in some other places.

I do LOTS of craft shows. Some of my most successful are outdoor shows. We just finished one two weeks ago that ended up being a great show and that was with Tornado watches all around and lots of wind. (we live in Kansas lol). That said, I believe we are successful because we engage our customers and sell our products. My advise to you, for whichever show you do, is to not just sit quietly behind your tables hoping someone buys something. Actively talk to your customers, answer questions, laugh with them and make their shopping experience a fun one. They will remember you and if you have a good product, they will return to you next year. ( by the way, we do not do outdoor shows during the summer months)

We use a big electric roaster to heat our jars. Works great!

We did not take any pictures, but wish we had. We meant this event to just be a teaching tool, but ended up selling several candles as well! We were not prepared to sell anything, but the mothers really liked our products and wanted to purchase them. If you get an opportunity to teach your art to children, you should jump at the chance!

Today we had about 20 local students and their mothers visit us for a candle making lesson. We gave a history of candle making and showed them how we poured our candles. They asked lots of great questions and they all seemed to have a good time. It was a great experience for us too!

I live in a very small town and the PO has only two employees and one of those is the carrier! They are both wonderful. Great customer service and no long lines!! I love country living!!!

What you consider facts are not what I consider facts. But having read this thread for sometime, I can see that you are not open to any of the facts that have been presented by other parties. I will continue to make my palm candles. You continue to make your soy candles. I do not like soy, but I have no problem with you making them.

Great - have a wonderful time. I hope the donations that you have been sending to them have been used for the purposes that they have professed. I will be here just making my candles. I am sorry, but I just do not agree with your opinions. I do agree with your right to have them.

001 - just curious - have you actually been to these palm plantations/farms or just read about them?

We should not be "trash talking" any wax.

001 - I agree with you, if you cannot get past what you feel are ecological impacts created by palm, then you are right in not using it. There are no right or wrong answers here. We each have to look at the information that we can find, digest it, and decide for ourselves what wax we want to use. Our candles are each made individually with the time, effort and love that we each put into them. There is room out there for candles of all types. Consumers are the ones who buy - some like paraffin, some like soy, and some like palm. Let us all just make the best candles that we can each make. Let us continue to use this forum to share our ideas and knowledge so our craft continues to grow and prosper.

We pour in two mediums - palm and paraffin. I keep copies of the National Candle Assoc. Statement about the safety of the different waxes with me at shows. If I have a customer who asks questions about palm and paraffin vs soy, I explain and also give them the information sheet. If they want to argue, I will give them the name of a friend who sells soy or simply explain that my candles are not for them and not sell them my products. You are right Tami, there is no perfect answer. I have plenty of customers who love my products and I have a great reputation for my products and customer service. Life is short. You can't please everyone and some people just will not take the time to do the research to find out for themselves. It is not the wax, it is the composition that makes a great candle!

I agree that this is not a candle to be burned. It is a memory type candle and would hold only a small amount of ash. In fact, I would even consider not putting a wick in it ( so someone does not light it by mistake - hate to come home and find out that visiting Aunt Sue had lit Mom while just trying to be helpful. lol)

BTA - what is the brand of the insulated tent that you have? I cannot seem to find anything like it on the web.

Contests - great feeling isn't it????

The great thing is that you are teaching them to cook!! My two boys are grown but they learned to cook and take care of themselves. So many young men never learn anything about cooking and that is a shame.