fmsojka

That makes me very unhappy. We have used their fragrances for 4 years, I guess now we will have to switch them over to someone else. We were considering trying Nature's Garden, guess we will for sure. We can't afford that much of a price hike, along with everything else. Bummer.

I am writing this for a couple of reasons. One, to warn off anyone else from ordering this E Book, but also to ask for advice of how to handle not receiving the book. We ordered this from mymommybiz.com. The book wouldn't down load. I emailed them, (no phone number or any other kind of contact info.) No answer. Several months later, I am still trying to get a response. Nothing. What other steps can I take? Here is what I ordered. NEW! Profits with Party Plans - March 2005 220 pages of advice, helpful tips and worksheets for party plan consultants in direct sales companies $34.99 Thanks for any advice. Bummed in Iowa

I agree. They are incredibly fast getting the labels to me. They are close by, state over, but I am very impressed. Good prices, nice people to deal with too.

I do understand. Last week we did a five day county fair booth. First time, we were under the grandstands. So all the events, tractor pulling, races, bands, everything was over our heads. Geez. We did sell some things, gave out a ton of pamphlets but boy was it stressful.

We have been making bath and body products for about 4 years, along with candles. The last year we have been wanting to make CP soap, finally started a few weeks ago. My husband went crazy over making the batches. We now have a whole bunch of soap curing on racks. And amazingly, the bars for the most part look great, feel great. But one batch looks and smells like play doh. Not sure what happened there. It is the only batch that we made with a scent that wasn't okayed by people on these boards. Strawberry Margarita CO from BCN. My husband tried it and said it felt great, just looks and smells funky. Has it morphed? I really, really appreciate all the help that this board has given me. I read it like a text book. Thanks

I am a big fan of BCN's scents. I don't get all my scents there, but many of them. I love BCN customer service, I have been ordering from them for 4 years and never once have I been unhappy with them. When something did go wrong, they promptly fixed it. But I do use other fragrances, mainly because I do bath and body also, and not all their scents are body safe. Good luck, sounds like both are top quality places.

Now that is strange. I don't sell a lot of chocolate either. They always love it, but pass it by. I second BCN Hot Fudge Brownie. It is amazing, smells just like the real thing. And body safe. I wish I had ordered the Chocolate Brownie from Closeout at BCN. Just placed an order today, but didn't think of that one.

We have had great luck with many of the closeouts. Lemon Bundt Cake (a personal favorite of mine) Strawberry Margarita (we renamed it to Strawberries and Cream) Heavenly Honeydew Rain Banana Cream Pie (Super strong, go easy on this one) Blueberry Cobbler (Also strong) Lime Kiwi Only trouble is that we get people hooked on it, then we can't find it again. Hope that helps

I haven't tried the Indonesian Teak, but from what I understand the Sultry Angel was more of an accident. Sultry Angel has been a huge seller for us. I have found very few people that don't like it. It is awesome.

I have used the clear labels, for a laser, and like them very much. They are also very, very quick. When we order, they arrive in a couple of days. Great company, as far as we are concerned.

Thanks for all the input. It has been helpful. We are rethinking what we are preparing. We do need exposure, and these fairs are both about 30 minutes away from us. We leave one and go directly to the other one. It is a lot of money, way more than we would normally spend, but we need to get attention from outside areas. We make a wide variety of products, I don't think we are going to do wax products. I don't see how people can keep them all day, I would think they would melt if they bought them earlier in the day. Especially if they put them in a really hot car. I am hoping the stuff we take is unusual enough that people might be intrigued. If not, another lesson learned. I will try to remember to let everyone know how it went. They aren't until the end of July.

Wow, that doesn't sound like anyone has had very good luck with them. We had friends that did tupperware at the fairs and did very well. I guess we will see. We are in Iowa, and the fairs are a pretty big deal yet. But then, I don't remember ever looking through the crafts myself. Our retail is so slow right now, and we are hoping for exposure. But then again, hoping for sales too. It is so much work. And of course wondering how much stuff to make up. We have three total, two fairs and a trade show like thing that is very large, about 40,000. So hopefully can get rid of stuff, if we make a bunch up. Thanks for the input.

Has anyone done a County Fair? We have signed up for two of them, inside. We have done craft shows for a while, we are wondering what to expect. Both fairs are well attended. We are doing the fairs back to back, so need to get inventory ready. We are doing a very large farm progress show about two months later, so we are hoping that what is left over can be sold then. Of course, I would love the problem of having to make it all over again because we sold out at the fairs. We do bath and body products, candles, and air fresheners. Any tips? Thanks

I love the foamer for the sink and shower. If you think about it, it is a great cost saving, if you can find the foamers cheap. And it lasts longer for the customer. But people are definitely particular about how their soap is packaged. Very individual preference.

Yes, we have used the blended salts from Essentials by Catalina. They do hold fragrance fine, they are not clumpy. They feel dry. Nice salts.

I had some catalogs made with a place called ad-graphics, http://www.ad-graphics.com/cart/booklets.asp. The smallest is an 8 page booklet. They do a wonderful job, although make sure you have it exactly the way you want it before sending it in. Of course, they get cheaper the more you order, their minimum is 250. Not sure if that is what you were asking.

I don't know too much about most of those listed, but I have to say BCN is my top fragrance supplier, probably. At Wix End for a few, Candle Cocoon, for Sultry Angel, tried Lonestar quite a while ago. Just received some samples from Millcreek. Loved the scents, but didn't seem very strong. I have been spoiled with most of BCN, they are just so much stronger than most others I have tried. Trouble I have with them is many of their scents aren't safe in bath and body. So I have to go eslewhere. I have about a dozen that I wouldn't mind trying to find a better scent. A better vanilla, buttercream, Sweet Pea, Cake type, to name a few off the top of my head. Always on a quest for even better.

I do this full time also. And then some. I am working just about all day and most evenings. My husband and my daugther help with the business. It is so labor intensive. We have managed to pick up some volume, which has helped tremendously. But about evey dime and then some go back in to growing the business. My husband and I are both retired from careers. But honestly, I think I work harder now then ever. Someone asks me how is business, I always say, well, from x amount of dollars an hour, I went to about a negative ten dollars an hour:) But I love it, and so does my husband and daughter. My daughter is going to nursing school too, so isn't actually full time. (Although she ends up working at least a forty hour week). And what I have found out is that there is always something else to do. But I wake up every morning ready to charge in to the day. Except maybe during holiday season, and then I am wondering why I do this. But mostly it is very challenging, hard work, enthusiasm, long hours, pride, apprehension when things don't work out as I had hoped, and an endless ability to be flexible, to bounce back when something doesn't work out. My new career has taken me to some intersesting areas. I have become very involved in an economic development group, as well as a tourism group. At 55 I feel like I am just starting out, learning tons of stuff every day. I have met some fascinating people from all walks of life. I look at this as a new chapter in my life.

I have put them in glass dishes from dollar stores, tied with cello and ribbon.

we just received a hotel account also. But we have done some volume manufacturing, so did pick up some experience, some good, some not so good. It is more manufacturing, instead of what we make for retail basis. How many is 5 cases? The account we just received is 10.000 per unit, starting with 3 units. Cream, shampoo and conditioner. I offer different pricing depending on the volume. I have a spread sheet all set up, (actually, many spreadsheets). I figure all the raw material costs. Right down to the penny. My sheet is set up with different prices, 2X, 2.5X, 3X. I then set them up with a quote, usually going with at least 2.5X, even 3X. Then we negotiate a price. I usually do not go below 2.5, unless it is a very easy product to get out the door. In the first big account, they supplied the labels. With the hotel, we will supply everything. I am starting to work with Lightning Labels, because my own labels won't work very well. And we are getting a semi automatic labeling machine that needs rolls. When they get up to 5,000, or 10,000, my costs dive. One of the packaging companies that I really like working with is www.containerandpackaging.com I deal with a Stephen Post. The prices for most raw materials reduces greatly with volume. So I can offer my product cheaper. Then, I can make a greater profit for what I sell retail. It is the basis that Walmart was built on, but it got way off track. No wonder the big companies can keep getting bigger. It is all about volume, if you want to make some good money. We are excited too. We are hoping to receive even more hotel accounts. I know we can give them a heck of a lot better product. It sounds scary, but really, it ends up being kind of fun. And I am finally going to make some real money. If you can make a product for say $.40, which used to cost you $1.00, because of the volume, you will make an extra $.60 on that same product. Hope that all helps, if it makes any sense. Good luck.

We bought a Dell 3010 a few months ago, and we have not liked it at all. Have had trouble since day one. I wish I had checked on here, I would have went with at least the next one up, or better yet went with the HP. I love their ink jets. I will try some tips on here, though, to see if I can get it to work better. Very disappointed. And the labels smear when wet.

WSP has plastic lids that have a hole in the middle. http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/StoreCategory.aspx?CategoryID=800&CategoryName=Apothecary+Jars+%26+Tops+-+10%2c+16+%26+26+oz They fit an apothecary, but they also fit some frosted tumblers that I have.

Love this thread. Boy do I relate. And tax time sure brought it out. And a grumbling husband/partner. I hear other crafters have the same problem, quilters with boxes of pieces, knitters with boxes of yarn. I think we are not alone. It has occured to me, though, the ones that really benefit from all this excess is the suppliers. Which they may have already figured that out as previous crafters themselves:) Thanks, guys, for the chuckle. The first step is to admit powerlessness.

I love Just Peachy from BCN.

We have used Bittercreek's lotion base for 4 years with excellent results. Don't let the price fool you, very high quality. I have seldom had anyone use it that didn't love it. I have switched many people from Bath and Body Works over to our lotions. (It has lots of natural ingredients, too).