Chele

I agree with Bruce.. if I walked by and saw just one table (which was set up VERY nice BTW) I would keep walking.. under the assumption you just dabble in candle making. If you have bunches more candles under the table... for goodness sake put them out!!! Get another display table/shelf to put some of your stock on.. then you capture their attention.. now they know you are serious candle makers... and there to sell. Your current set up reminds me more of a wholesale booth set up.. than a retail. ( and trust me... I go to alot of wholesale shows) Honestly I would glance, admire the set up.. and keep going. As well as being candle makers - I also have a retail store - so another thing I would suggest to consider is the "comfort factor" of your customers. They have to walk straight up to you and face you while they check out your product with the way you have it now. This alone is enough to keep the shy/timid/non social group from coming in to take a peek... and thats a good amount of customers these days.. people want to be able to shop with some privacy... until they decide they are ready to socialize. So by adding a table/shelf on the side of what you have.. now they can smell.. don't have to face you yet... but you are still close enough for you to keep an eye on your product, answer any questions... etc. I think you are on track.. very professional presentation! Hope I didn't offend you guys.. just seeing great potential and wanted to share. Take care, Chele

Jackel had that burner in their last clearance catalogue. I think it's called "Flowerbug" or something like that. The sale price was great as I recall... I ordered a bunch for my store and they sold out quickly. I don't remember ever seeing them in a regular catalogue from them. Wish I had bought more... hoping Barbara found another source. Looks great by the way.. very nice!!! Have a great day! Chele

Here's ours.... THIS IS NOT A CANDLE! These are firestarters, intended for starting a fire in campfires & fireplaces. Place one firestarter on top of a small pile of kindling, place small diameter logs on top, light the wick. Wax will flare up enough to ignite the logs, then the wax will be consumed by the fire. All standard fire precautions should be used when using firestarters. Keep away from reach of children. HTH, Chele

We sell our bathbombs naked we get from Kristine's. We have galvanized buckets lined with white washclothes and fill them with bathbombs. Very cute display... we do have labeled drawstrings bags near by for them to put their selection in. They sell well for us this way... customers like to see, touch and smell. HTH, Chele PS. You can see part of our bathbomb display in our store pics.. third photo down at: http://www.buggytowncandles.com/storepics.html

At this point there is really nothing 100& foolproof to keep people grabbing stuff from your web site... trust me I know this stuff There is pretty much no image or text that can't be gotten.. one way or another.. just depends on the skill of the thief. CW - I'll just email you a copy of my new text .. that way you can just get it direct ) I'm off to pour a couple wholesale orders and start on a fundraiser.. so I can have the weekend off. Have a fabulous day!!! Chele

Seems I kicked an ant bed eh? I am not upset.. feathers were a bit ruffled last night that it was so blatant.. but I know how the internet works and once something is put online it is fair game it seems. I used to go chase down people who copied my site (and the list is MUCH longer than what you all found) but found in the big realm of things it just doesn't matter. To answer the question of who had the text first.. my opening page was compiled from a mixture of thoughts I had written down over time (I still have the notebook full in my file)... that was collected from magazines, brochures and web reading. When I sat down to write my opening page I built paragraphs around thoughts and ideas I had scribbled down.. to be sure in the end my page would be unique.... and I know at the beginning it was.. because of all this. So I know which was first in this case... and all my originals were printed, sealed and mailed to myself.. and now are up for safe keeping. I'm actually a graphic artist/webpage designer.. I know how to cover my bum. Oh well.. I guess it's time to redo my site anyway... and give everyone some fresh, new material. ROFL Have a great day!!! Chele

We do this fulltime and have for almost 5 years... we just moved into our new store location and have several employees.. life is good. It's very exciting and rewarding. That being said... it's more work than you are thinking it will be... and much more expensive then you are guessing it will be. Be sure you don't need the income from the store for a while because at the beginning you will need to reinvest most of what you make ...getting your inventory up and all the other costs that go with a store. It's tough at times.. but I wouldn't trade it for any other job... it's fabulous Checked out your website by the way... your opening page's text seems oddly familiar Take care, Chele

We have been making candles for over 5 years. We've made both paraffin and soy candles over the years .. both had pros and cons... ultimately we decided on a soy wax blend. Our candles burn with little to no soot, burn slower than some of their petro counter parts and I think our scent throw is some of the best. We hear from alot of customers that they are able to burn our candles without it bothering their allergies... since I know the FO's are simliar.. I'm thinking the difference must be the wax and something that is (or isn't) emitted... all that being said... Am I so sure of this I make such claims when selling to new customers???.. Nope! Do I think our soy candles candles aggravate some people's allergies?? Absolutely! Are soy candles soot free?? Nope, not always. Are there paraffin candles out there with little to no soot, long burning with fabulous scent throw??? .. Positively!!!! I think you just find a wax you like, can work easily with.. can make a profit by using and just go with it. I don't feel the need to bad mouth other people's products to get someone to buy mine... I suspect most of the candle makers here feel the same... I doubt I helped you with your soy vs paraffin argument... and unless you are willing to sink a ton into research I doubt you'll get an unbiased answer. Just start testing and you will quickly figure out whats the best choice for you My 2 scents, Chele

I started this as a hobby.. when I decided to sell I also decided to make money... this is my main source of income... so I must take it seriously. All that being said I am one of the higher priced candles in my area.. I never claimed my candles were a great price... I sell a great product .. at a fair price. I'm not out to be the Wal-mart of candles. I'm out to take on the big guys.. the Beanpods, Yankees, etc of the world. I'm proud to say our candles are now being sold all over the country in hutches that used to hold the big guys... people will pay more for a great quality candle.. trust me If I couldn't get the retail price I needed to make a good profit I would do one of several things... 1) change my jar to something less expensive or I could get locally... 2) change to a jar that no one else has (so my competition would be minimal) (Jelly jars are a tough market.. they saturate craft shows and flea markets... that's why we don't carry that jar. We have the 8oz square mason and sell it for $10.95 and will be going up to $11.95 in January.) 3) I'd buy other items (wicks, FO, wax, etc) in bulk from the manufacturers to help cut my cost. I don't buy anything but our flowerpot jars locally... everything else is shipped... so trust me I understand shipping costs... but buying in bulk really helps. If this is just a hobby or a small home business I suppose profit margin isn't as important... again I was just stunned when I saw the prices posted in this thread. Many of the retail prices posted are what we are getting for our wholesale prices... Have a great day! Chele

If your candle costs you $3.00 to make then wholesale should be $6 and retail at least $12... It's important to make a decent profit IF you are trying to make a living at this stuff. I just read this topic and cringed through most of the posts... many seem to be selling themselves short in my opinion. I wholesale to almost 40 stores now all over the country as well as have a retail store... trust me when I tell you - people WILL pay a fair price for a great product. Many of the "big boys" are going up on their prices.. which are already higher than what most of us charge. Yankee will be going up (again) the first of November - the second increase in about a year. Heck their new wholesale price on their tarts will be .78 each. Just be sure when you set your prices that you make a good profit... the busy season isn't much fun if you don't make any money. Have a great day! Chele

Barnesville - Half way between Macon & Atlanta. Chele

Thanks It's been very exciting having a store.. stressful but fun. We are actually moving to a bigger store in a few months.. we just signed the lease. (yeah) As far as soap supplies, we buy some of our supplies locally but at least half come from the internet.. but there are a ton of suppliers in GA.. so shipping isn't too bad. HTH, Chele

BuggyTown Candle Co. http://www.buggytowncandles.com Have a great day! Chele

Very professional presentation! Impressive indeed. Would you be so kind as to share the name of the font you used for the scent names. I love it! Thanks! Chele

50/50 Joy and soy. It should fix your problems Still testing with PB - it seems a bit tougher to find the right combo. Take care, Chele

from the old board. I don't recall who originally posted it - I just know it was fabulous! It was the one with Shea butter, Mango Butter, Hemp Butter and few other oils in it. I would greatly appreciate if anyone has it if they would post it. Thanks!! Chele