JI

Hello, I have tried double wicking with eco 6, 8 and 10. The container is 4 " diameter. Eco 10 has fab throw but i feel like it is a little overwicked. Eco 6 is weak anx fizzles. Eco 8 seems good initially but drowns out half way. Frag load is 1 oz pp. Any thoughts? Thanks! Maybe I should try eco 8 with other frags.

I know thst cs caribbean teakwood is nice. It also has cedar in it. I have thought about mixing it but haven't yet. I once tried cs cedar vanilla but didnt think it was that strong.

I love reading these. A couple of them make me sigh bc I think "if I only had done that!" Better late than never.

I just find the gross exagerration really annoying and frankly, misrepresentative.

There is a candlemaker online advertising their 16 oz double wicked candle (soy) as having a burn time of 240 hrs. They advertise their 8 oz on the sams page as having a bt of 200 hrs. How can this be? My 8.5 oz bt (soy) is 45 hrs. I tell people 40-50 hrs. My double wick bt is 60 hrs. I tell customers 55-65 hrs. Is there some additve to extend bt or are they just exagerrating?

I have been looking for a madison type or straight sided tumbler type glass container for a long time. Hopefully lids are available. I need the diameter to be 4 inches (or close). The madison i saw is 3.5 inches. Has anone stumbled on a 4 inch type? Thanks!

So I feel like I am learning as I go. I would love to start a list of your top three business tips. I would love to benefit from your insight. And who knows, maybe it will help others. I am also interested in the "If I knew then what I know now" type of tips. Here are my three: Keep it simple (at least in beginning); one jar with a very limited number of fragrances; no more than 3-4 (wish I had done that!). Don't dye soy candles! (Unless you have the patience to fiddle around with pour temps and additives.) Factor a labour charge - like a percent into the actual cost of your candle. I did 20-25%. So if the candle cost me $3 in materials and shipping, I add an additional 60 cents to figure out the final cost of the candle. In this case, $3.60.

Omg her 200g small candles (about 9 oz) retail for $65. Burn time is about 45 hrs. She had large 4 lb multiwicked candles going for $400 plus. They are advertised as soy but they look like a blend. All natural, white/cream undyed with cotton wick.

I was at Nordstrom's the other day and stumbled across a high end perfume and candle manufacturer. She is Jo Malone out of the UK. Naturally her candles and perfumes sell for a kings ransom. But the fragrance blends were unique... Pear and freesia Jasmine and mint Just to name a couple. Her website is www.jomalone.com. I didnt look into pricing. But her small perfumes alone are $100. Apparently Kate Middleton used JM as her wedding fragrance. At least that's what the rep said.

Thanks for all your insight. Esp noodle, you put it so clearly. It is that fine line with wanting to please the cusomer. If i had to do it over again, i would have said no to consign, and then just be flexible and lower the case minimum as a one time trial. I will be talking with them this weekend. Thanks to everyone. You made me more confident. I will let you all know what happens.

I have two wholesale accts and one consignment. The two wholesales are doing well. Customers are happy and I keep getting reorders, even post xmas. With the consign acct I had originally pushed wholesale. But they wanted to consign as a short trial through xmas. They are good with paying so that is fine. They thought sales were good. It is a small grocery store geared toward health food and sales were averaging $125-$150/month. This is based on the amount they got from customer. I got 60%. They carry my small candles. Not sure what you all think of those numbers. Now we are in new year and they still want to consign!! I told them that i would bring in new scents for the new year, assuming they would wholesale. But no. Consign again! Do I consign through Jan and then draw the line? Or do I draw the line now?

I opened a fedex acct and ups. I put in an imaginary package to both shippers. Same weight, size, destination etc. Both were for ground shipping. Ups was $13 plus change. Fedex was $7 plus change!! Did not expect such a big difference!

Thanks for all this good info. I will also look into fedex when I get back into town.

What do you mean by abc boxes? Good to know about usps. I would be so stressed out shipping product that took two weeks to arrive. Also regarding insurance. Say I ship product worth $300. Say shipping cost me $50. Just doing easy numbers here. Say the package with ups disappears. Is it sufficient to only have $300 worth of insurance - based on value client has paid for product. Or should I also insure shippng cost? Bc if package went missing I would submit claim yet have to spend an additional $350 (incl shipping). Sorry I know it is a weird question. Is a business acct with ups the same as a shippers acct?

I have recently acquired a wholesale acct out of state. I am planning on shipping them approx 15 or so lbs of product - . I recently opened a business acct at ups. Is this the best option? Or should I go usps? With ups, they advertised free packaging supplies. I assume i will have to go to a ups shipping facility vs. for profit ups mailing facility. Any advice? Thanks.

I love that with the America theme! I believe America the beautiful is a really old song and should therefore be public domain. God's Grace, something churchy/incensy like frankincense? Spacious Skies - something crisp and lemony/fresh? I also found the phrase in this song called "Across the Wilderness". What fragrance for that? I found some other songs which I think are public domain: Wassail Song: Leaves so Green (green, meadow) Love and Joy (floral?) Beside the Fire (smoke) Wassail (if ever CS brings Wassail back!! otherwise a buttery rum type mixed with cinnamon or other spice) We Wish You a Merry Christmas: Good Tidings (warm, holiday scent, with cinnamon, warmth, etc.) Figgy Pudding (fig scent with maybe vanilla) A Cup of Good Cheer (red wine/alcoholic type) Merry Christmas (piney Christmas Tree) We Three Kings: Field and Fountain Moor and Mountain (can't think of anything other than I like the sounds of these phrases) Star of Night Frankincense & Myrrh Perfect Light (bright, citrusy, fresh) Earth & Skies (oakmossy, woodsy, earthy?)

So I did a little research and it seems that even portions of lyrics are copyrighted. Of course I could make an individual candle called "pink carnation" but I couldn't make a candle collection packaged together called "the american pie collection" with "pink carnation", whiskey and rye". Still, it was a nice idea. I did find out that it is only the really old songs (pre 1920s) that are copyright free, aka public domain. So all those old traditional carols like Good King Wenscles, Twelve Days of Christmas, O Holy Night, etc. are open.

What a great idea. I am visualising it as a collection in say 4 oz tins. Presentation is in a long narrow box with plastic clear lid. What about taking a timeless classic song for non holidays and making a collection based on that? Over the rainbow collection - lemon drops, skies are blue, rainbow? Or What a wonderful world collection - trees are green, red roses, clouds of white, dark sacred night? It would have to be a song that everyone knows...any other song ideas with which to build a collection?

Yes and even home for the holidays. I like the idea of the song. Maybe i can do a tinned collection based on the 12 days of christmas. The pear tree is easy. But swans and partridges and gold rings might be problemmatic...

I was on yankme site looking at their upcoming spring line. I saw their "My favourite things" collection. It wad based on the sound of music song...so fragrances are whiskers on kittens, warm woolen mittens etc. I like the idea maybe for next xmas inspiration. But i noticed that they have trademarked the names like warm woolen mittens. So i assume this means i cant use it, lol. I guess i will hunt for another song like the twelve days. How can yankee trademark lyrics to a song??

I personally find it too.musky and heavy. But my customers do like it a lot.

I love that Medley or Garden. Lemon Herb Medley. Maybe garden, they'd be expecting a floral component.

I like the citron. Would Citron Chiffonade or "Lemon Chiffonade" sound too foodie? Chiffonade, based on the online dic is a finely chopped blend of fresh mixed herbs like parsley, etc. But wait...isn't chiffonade also a dessert?? So maybe that would not be good! I think I am overthinking this!

Your right. I think simple is better. The word "garni" doesn't sound particularly pleasing, to my ear. But Lemon & Herbs...

I have 30-35 and some of those are just seasonal fall/winter. My goal this year is to cut down to 20-25.