justajesuschick

No. Not certain your plans but if you plan to sell online and to those in the Facebook wax community (consumers/melters of wax-not speaking about makers of wax), invest in a Glade warmer for testing. The FB wax world is hardcore. They seek the hottest warmers they can find and there are regularly posts about warmers and wattage. Nearly none use lightbulb warmers. Local customers (less than 5% of my business-the rest is online) use bulb warmers as most know Scentsy. I tested wax blends with both bulb and plate style warmers to be certain I had something that would work well for both. The Glade warmers are about $10 and can be found at Family Dollar, Walmart and Target. My grocery store even carries them. You may find them in the air fresher aisle, not in with candles depending on store set up.

Certainly not implying they are not reputable. Certainly was surprised by my experience. Guess I will have to go by and see for myself or start by calling the gentleman who mans the place here. When I ordered online, I had to call and call to get someone to answer here after placing my order because he ran things alone. Then I had to make arrangements with him when I could come by. Once I did, the address was a trailer sitting out in an industrial park. The storage unit was just like one you would store personal items in when moving. Perhaps I had a one-off experience. When I called today, I called the main location in Illinois and the woman I spoke with said it was not climate controlled. I'll see if I can get a number locally and speak with someone here. Sure hope they have moved and it is a different set up. It would save me a TON.

I just called them and the storage unit here in Kansas City is NOT climate controlled.

Well, I am hoping my experience was not the norm. Hoping Scented sees and responds. I'd LOVE to save on shipping!

I bought from Morris in Kansas City once a couple of years ago. I never bought again. I drove up to a trailer and showed my receipt. Guess I was expecting "warehouse". I followed (in my car) a very nice guy back to a NON-climate controlled storage unit. He rolled up the garage style door and put the cases of wax in my car for me which was very nice. Once home I could see that one of my cases was off color and the texture was odd. I threw away most of it. I presume it was not a popular wax and well, stored a super hot storage unit. Scented-Is the set up different now? I'd love to not pay $200 in shipping fees on cases of wax if your experience was different!

Well, that varies. There was a home fire incident and the fire marshall declared that the warmer was to blame for the home loss based on the fire pattern. The warmer was made by perhaps the most popular/well known party based home fragrance company and their attorneys hired independent inspections and evaluations. As it turned out, the homeowner had been using lamp oil in that company's warmer which they scented in some way. You can imagine that while costly to prove, it altered the balance of blame from the company's product. In addition to my business insurance, we have a personal umbrella policy which would protect us further.

My business is solely wax melts (no candles) but I still have safety labels printed up, have safety information on my website and of course I have liability insurance. That is as much as I can do. I cannot imagine what those of you who sell candles and those who sell bath and body products must have to do to be, and feel, protected in this litigious world!

haha! Math is not my thing. Branding, social media, marketing-now you are talking! You cannot post a link here but PM me the link and I will give a look. Plus let me know (just for fun) when you PM where you are in Missouri since I am here, too!

The first thing I ask people I assist with opening an Etsy shop or Website is what you are doing to drive traffic. The biggest mistake I see is people put things out-anywhere really-and then wait to be found. Are you driving from Facebook? Instagram? Other? Etsy is just a storefront. Same with a website. You may already be doing this, but thought I'd start there!

I noticed that the 2 disappeared here. I intended this to read that Peak Candle carries 2 pound sample sizes of many waxes.

This is a common misconception. You will read that a wax is hard so it must be paraffin or soft so it must be soy. While there are kinds of waxes there are also types. Pillar and Votive waxes are harder waxes as the candles are designed to stand alone without a container. Container waxes are softer as they are supported by a container. So you do not have to (although some do as OG stated-everyone has their own "best") add soy to get softness, you could add a container wax-of any kind of wax. OG is also correct in that Peak's offers many waxes in pound sizes which are ideal for testing. I had fun mixing and blending over and over. Start a spreadsheet for results. You will need to plan time for testing and plenty of money as well!

Soy did not work as well for me as all paraffin. I blend my own.

My whole business is wax melts. I have some vendor pals who sell both. A member here does incredibly well on Etsy and she has both wax melts and B&B. She also happens to make the best lip balm I have ever used!

Where did you find that information? I run giveaways in my group often. As do most other FB wax groups. Do you have a link or documentation?

Perhaps and let's hope! Maybe start a spreadsheet. List name and then check box for each action they did. No need to make tickets. Since they will be on a spreadsheet, each can have a number assigned. Use Random.org to draw. Most will be used to that. You will find that ANY and EVERY step you can reduce for yourself will make it better for you. Well, and them!

Giveaways are how I grew my groups! How will you keep track of each of these? The more layers, the more complexity for you. Will it be on the honor system? Will you use a specific hashtag on IG that you will check? Will new members to your FB group give the name of the person who suggested them? I ask as my giveaways typically are over 300 people who entered and it would be tough to track all of that. You may have it all nicely figured out. You could do separate giveaways for FB and IG. Curious how you do this! Happy to help you with wording once you share those details. In addition to running my own business (I have been featured on a couple of podcasts for how I do things!), I also write for a living at a big corporation.

Candybee-try a Facebook group and see what you think. Pages can be very one sided and flat where a group is like a community. If you want a peek inside mine, message me and I can add you in (you can leave after you check it out). Groups are like a constant in-person market! It runs itself when I do not have time to participate. The group discusses our scents, blends, what they are going to buy and they offer advice and encouragement to new members building an order with us. Sounds like something you would like and be very good at managing!

Etsy is a great place to get started. Sort of a bridge to a website as they take care of a lot of things for you. A website is more cost effective for me. I spend nothing on advertising. I agree that I would not pay for advertising on Etsy! Start a Facebook Group (either instead of or in conjunction with) a FB page. Use Instagram as well. ALL free! My Facebook Group is about 2,000 people who did not just hit like, but joined the group. I do giveaways there and drive those customers (they are not my friends and family) to my website. Less than 5% of my sales are local. I did a few artisan events and quickly learned that in-person events are not for me, despite my outgoing style. Try a few things and decide which is best for you and what you prefer!

The only word of caution that I will offer is to be certain that you either own the images you wish to use or you buy rights to use them. The wax world is PACKED with examples of infringement and misuse of images and marks. Including using images from suppliers. Because we use their oils does not mean that their images are ours to use. Seems many do not understand that or do and do not care.

The plastic shoeboxes-YES! I use a TON of those. Typically at Target or Big Lots, they are 99 cents each and if you get the Sterlite brand, they are scent safe polypropylene.

I store mine in polypropylene bags (by scent) in Rubbermaid tubs on commercial sleeves which hold 300 pounds per shelf. I like having them stored in opaque containers.

You will find what works for you and the types of scents you plan to carry. Once you do, it is a glorious feeling! Now, my wax will not change, so even if a friend who makes all soy or parasoy wax has great success with an oil, if it does not work in my wax, I move on. I know the variables after working with it for some time. Even when one of my waxes comes in looking more opaque or sheer, I know what to alter. The best of luck forging your way! You'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you discovered it and chose it yourself when you get there!

I agree with this 100%! That is why I tested and tested. My testers and I were the measuring rod for what we were looking for. What we were after may be different for you. I have built a nice sized online business which is wax melts only. I make no candles and no bath and body products. Therefore, all I can offer is information on scented melts. After my testing, I preferred a blend of container and pillar/votive wax. I know others tried waxes in my blend and did not do as well. They did better with other waxes. Method, or "system" also comes into play. We all use different processes, methods, tools and ways of doing things and that is a variable as well. For me, Peak's 2 pound "sample" sizes of wax were a great way to test and blend. In the beginning I started with 10 pound slabs. In some cases, I knew a pound or 2 in that I would not use that wax again and then I had 8-9 pounds of wax sitting. Certainly other suppliers will have pre-blended waxes suitable for whatever items you plan to make. I am far more scientific than artistic. I know some who sell wax in various formats with whatever wax they happen to have and that works for them.

Because the chemical make up of the material is different. Just like how a cotton shirt will wrinkle, a polyester shirt will not. How a perfume can smell totally different on one person than another. Our noses are also very different. Soy and Parasoy have an undertone that apparently only I can smell. Like a condensed milk. They can smell rancid to me where most smell a sweetness or richness. I blend my own wax (after testing many waxes in innumerable combinations and percentages) and selected one that offered a clean/no background scent even if I am the only person who does or does not smell it! One of the things my customers comment is how true and authentic the scents smell. I have 100 scents in my line and they span Vanilla, Bakery, Clean, Herbal, Fruity, Spice, Floral and more. I wanted only one wax for all scents and wanted each scent to not take on any other scent than it's own.

Sounds like a custom blend to me! Lots of indie vendors have State Fair type scents which are typically blends of Cotton Candy, Caramel Apples, Funnel Cake or other fair type scents.