SURVEY- Your top three fragrance suppliers?

[emilyspoppy]

1. Peak

2. AH/RE

3. CandleScience

4. Cajun

5. Daystar

6. NG

7. Moonworks

8. Southwest Candle Supply

9. Brambleberry

10. Bitter Creek North.

Dave, you asked for the top 3, but thought I'd give my 10 to help with your tabulation, lol.

Thank God it wasn't more!

I would had to take off my slippers and use my toes to tally them up! (lol)

Have a Great Easter!

David

[Ravens]

And a great Easter to you and your loved ones also, Dave :smiley2:

[tam1116]

CandleScience

NG

Candlewic

[craftsbychris]

Natures garden

Candle science

Candlewic ( I can drive to)

Bittercreek

Just discovered candles & supplies which I can drive to

[mulberrysoap]

Will reply to your pm Dave :smiley2:

My top 3 are

Peak

The scent works

Candlescience

Edited March 30, 2013 by mulberrysoap

[emilyspoppy]

I'm bumping up this thread to make sure that everyone wanting to contribute, can. I will wait a period of two days without additions and then tally up the results of the thread.

LAST CALL PLEASE

Thanks!

Dave

[babudust]

1. Nature's Garden

2. Peak's

3. Candlescience

[vberkesch]

1. PEAK

2. BITTERCREEK N.

3. tie between BRAMBLEBEERY & OT

Vanessa

[Shar]

It is so hard to pick only 3..

1. Natures Garden -the bulk of my fo's are from this company due to price/quality, and cs. Have encountered some weak ones too, so research is imperative to weed out dud fragrances.

2. MillCreek- A few must have favorites

3. The Scent Works- they are more costly but have some amazing complex quality fragrances

Others I like: Cajun Candle , Tennessee, and Peak have strong oils and a few of my must haves.., I get a few fo's from BCN also, AH/RA..I've tried many others as well. I have an addiction! I just Visited Aztec showroom last week and bought a few-they have my favorite monkeyfarts!

Great thread Dave! Thanks!

Edited April 2, 2013 by Shar

[SuzyK]

Right now, NG is my only fragrance supplier. They are awesome.

I use a lot of other suppliers for my other stuff though.

[Zelda]

It's very difficult to pick 3,

1. Sweetcakes

2. Peaks

3. Rustic Essentials

Then a bunch of others...!

[emilyspoppy]

I've done a "tally-up" subtotal count on the suppliers mention on this "VERY UNOFFICIAL SURVEY" thread.

To date 45 board members have claimed their favorite FO suppliers. Two suppliers are virtually tied for first place with only one "vote" seperating them. 22 & 23 "votes" accordingly. I'd say that it's a "dead heat" for that honor.

So far second place honors would go to a supplier who has 16 "votes".

If you would like to contribute to this informal poll, please post ASAP. I will wait a period of about 24 hours without any additional voting posts and then report the results.

One member has painfully not participated in the poll yet. The forum moderator, "SCENTED" would make a very welcome and appreciated addition here. I hope she checks in.

Thanks to all, including "Scented" for paticipating in and/or allowing this thread.

LAST CALL, PLEASE !!!

Dave

Edited April 7, 2013 by emilyspoppy

[justajesuschick]

This will be fun to see! Thanks for doing this.

I was going to start a similar thread the other day but did not. I wondered if one's best selling scents for their area or personal preference (if they did not have an actual business) would alter the results. It seems we have a band of bakery/food/sweets FO fans and just as strong a band of patchouli/herb/musk/wood (these are the cool hippie chicks/dudes here-they know who they are!) FO fans.

From the line ups at some suppliers, I could see that they might appeal more heavily to one of these bands than the other.

[emilyspoppy]

This will be fun to see! Thanks for doing this.

I was going to start a similar thread the other day but did not. I wondered if one's best selling scents for their area or personal preference (if they did not have an actual business) would alter the results. It seems we have a band of bakery/food/sweets FO fans and just as strong a band of patchouli/herb/musk/wood (these are the cool hippie chicks/dudes here-they know who they are!) FO fans.

From the line ups at some suppliers, I could see that they might appeal more heavily to one of these bands than the other.

I believe that a wiser business/shop operator will stock a more eclectic offering of fragrances than someone who is crafting for there own use or gifting. It was interesting reading some of the comments that some members simply could not decide between suppliers even though they were only buying a fragrance or two from each one. Only one member said they bought all of their fragrances from one source. I don't believe she is a casual crafter either.

I'm ashamed to admit that I've stocked about 300 FO's that I bought straight from about 7 suppliers. We have nearly 400 fragrances available if you add in the custom blends that I do. We have over 100 fragrances in our shop depending on the season.

I actually believe I can narrow that down, now to five suppliers while still completely giving up what used to be my main source for FO's. I plan to cut my inventory to no more than catalog 200 F/O's by year's end. That will include my own custom blends. I hope to be able to claim at least 20% or more of our "catalog" fragrances will be exclusive to us.

LAST CALL LAST CALL LAST CALL PLEASE!!!!!! THANKS !!!!!

[emilyspoppy]

TALLY TIME

As promised I counted up the "hits" on the fragrance suppliers that 45 members of this board chose to mention in 7 pages of posts.

Before listing the rankings, however, I will need to do a bit of explaining.

The thread asked for each member to list their three MOST used fragrance suppliers. Most members did this, however there were more than a few who could not restain themselves from "ties" or mentioning more than three suppliers. This made a "hard count" difficult to do.

I decided to be fair to those members who posted within the parameters that only the first three suppliers mentioned by any member would be counted in the "hard" count, but I did, in fairness to the suppliers also mentioned, provide a "soft" count and they were considered as "also used" suppliers I have therefore posted two numbers for each supplier mentioned in the thread. The first number after the supplier name is the "hard count number" while the latter is a "also mentioned" count.

Bitter Creek owned compannies are listed in three seperate entries as they were mentioned in the thread.

I would like to thank everyone who participated. I would also like to mention that I hope "scented" was not upset by an apparant "take-over" of her forum. It was not my intention to organize a formal "survey" when I asked for contributions from members to assist me in searching out a new supplier or two.

I hope that the forum moderator's abscence is only due to her belief that this thread really holds no validity with who has the best fragrances, service or price. If that is the case, she and I are in total agreement.

DISCLAIMER; Any mistakes in calculations are unintentional. This "survey" was not conducted using scientific methods or accepted accounting methods, therefore the "results" have no validity nor represent the opinion of myself or other members of the board which includes the moderator(s) and owner(s) of Craft Server or their affiliates and employees.

RESULTS

FIRST PLACE (TIE)

Peak 23 / 3

Candlescience 23 / 3

SECOND PLACE :wave:

Natures Garden 16 / 1

THIRD PLACE :highfive:

Aroma Haven/Rustic Essentials 13 / 7

RUNNERS UP (Not in order)

The Candle Source 5 / 2

Gemlite 1 / 0

Save-On-Scents 2 / 2

Candle Soylations 1 / 0

Community Candle Supply 1 / 2

Bitter Creek 4 / 0

Bittercreek North 6 / 1

Bittercreek South 2 / 1

Candlewic 3 / 3

Lonestar 1 / 1

Daystar 0 / 3

Aztec 2 / 3

Just Scents 2 / 4

Cajun 3 / 2

Indiana Candle Supplies 2 / 2

Fragrance Buddy 0 / 1

Moonworks 3 / 6

Candle Cocoon 3 / 1

Sweetcakes 3 / 0

Brambleberry 3 / 1

Majestic Mountain Sage 2 / 0

Candles & Supplies 1 / 2

Backwoods 1 / 0

SGS 1 / 1

EEB 0 / 1

Gen Wax 1 / 0

The Scent Works 3 / 0

Millcreek 2 / 2

Tyler Candle 1 / 0

Southwest Candle Supplies 0 / 1

Olive Tree 1 / 0

Tennessee Candle Supplies 0 / 1

[Scented]

Nah you're fine. I didn't participate, because I would have been one of those who couldn't narrow to three

[emilyspoppy]

Nah you're fine. I didn't participate, because I would have been one of those who couldn't narrow to three

PHEW! Thanks!

I would have quit the board if I learned that I had offended you in anyway. I think you're simply swell!

Dave

[franu61]

Thanks for doin this survey Dave!

Fran

[simply fragrant]

Thanks for doing this Dave, it's a good reminder about all the options out there!

[emilyspoppy]

It wasn't any trouble at all to tally-up the "survey".

I was surprised a bit, though.

I didn't expect so many replies. I thought more FO suppliers would make the list, due to various discusions on the board. There was quite a gap between the tied first place and the second place suppliers.

I'm very pleased that Alan's company, Peak made such a great showing. I was concerned it might be embarrassing to host a board that bought most of their FO's somewhere else. there may have been some sense of loyalty to Peak, but my instincts tell me that they deserved every mention they received. The members of this board seem very honest and candid.

Some of the comments that went along with the "votes" were interesting, too. I read that distance was a factor for some buyers. This surprised me some. Shipping distance is a factor for me when it comes to wax and jars, but I've never considered distance when ordering FO's.

Several members mentioned poor service as a factor. This I can appreciate, but I remember one member saying that it was a problem when a supplier "substituted" a fragrance when the one they ordered was out of stock. YIKES! Is that actually that company's policy?

One member, whom I wish I was more like, actually stated she get's all of her fragrances from a single supplier. Boy wouldn't that be nice! I know she's not a "hobbiest-only" user, too.

I found that I too suffer from the same condition that many of us on the board seem to be prone to. I'm a true "FO-holic".

So many fragrances to choose from and so little money to spend on getting them all!

[Chefmom]

Another big thanks to you Dave to add to your pile.

This thread has really made me think about how I order things. In the beginning I was ordering random things from many suppliers, and I quickly weeded a few out for one reason or another, once I narrowed down my jars, wax and a short list of wicks I usually just picked up the fragrances from Candle Science and Peaks since that's where my other supplies were coming from. Since I also purchased bath and beauty items from Nature's Garden, and I love to spend time on the site reading the descriptions until my head explodes I purchased quite a few of their fragrances as well. However in the testing game many of their FOs fell by the way side, mostly because CS and Peaks were just stronger.

Reading this board made me branch out to other suppliers just for fragrances, but I'm still inclined to order from CS and Peaks simply because the FO's can piggy back shipping with jars, wax and wicks. I am liking the Moonworks fragrances for their complexity and then came Candlewic.

I rarely purchased from Candlewic for the wax reason, but also because I never even bought many wicks because I can't stand their wick page, it makes my eyes go boogaloo. I would have ordered more there if they would have had sampler packs of wicks like Peaks/CS does. The wick builder is easy to use and top notch, but the standard wick page is hard to read and just plain irritating. Also, for the longest time they didn't have the shipping quote BEFORE purchase and that was a real deal breaker for me. I would take my list and surf the different suppliers to see where I could get everything I needed at the best shipping price and the simple fact that I didn't know shipping at Candlewic knocked them off my short list. They have changed this recently (YAY!! ) and combined with the fact that I finally broke down and tried some of their FOs, well, they are moving back up as a supplier.

I'm ready for a pound bottle of Wild Maine Blueberry, and I'm going to bathe in it!

[ChandlerWicks]

I agree with the wick page driving me nuts! I'm ok with it now, but at 1st it prevented me from ordering because so different.

Another big thanks to you Dave to add to your pile.

This thread has really made me think about how I order things. In the beginning I was ordering random things from many suppliers, and I quickly weeded a few out for one reason or another, once I narrowed down my jars, wax and a short list of wicks I usually just picked up the fragrances from Candle Science and Peaks since that's where my other supplies were coming from. Since I also purchased bath and beauty items from Nature's Garden, and I love to spend time on the site reading the descriptions until my head explodes I purchased quite a few of their fragrances as well. However in the testing game many of their FOs fell by the way side, mostly because CS and Peaks were just stronger.

Reading this board made me branch out to other suppliers just for fragrances, but I'm still inclined to order from CS and Peaks simply because the FO's can piggy back shipping with jars, wax and wicks. I am liking the Moonworks fragrances for their complexity and then came Candlewic.

I rarely purchased from Candlewic for the wax reason, but also because I never even bought many wicks because I can't stand their wick page, it makes my eyes go boogaloo. I would have ordered more there if they would have had sampler packs of wicks like Peaks/CS does. The wick builder is easy to use and top notch, but the standard wick page is hard to read and just plain irritating. Also, for the longest time they didn't have the shipping quote BEFORE purchase and that was a real deal breaker for me. I would take my list and surf the different suppliers to see where I could get everything I needed at the best shipping price and the simple fact that I didn't know shipping at Candlewic knocked them off my short list. They have changed this recently (YAY!! ) and combined with the fact that I finally broke down and tried some of their FOs, well, they are moving back up as a supplier.

I'm ready for a pound bottle of Wild Maine Blueberry, and I'm going to bathe in it!

[emilyspoppy]

I think one of the lessons I'll take from this thread is how subjective choosing FO's can be. It makes complete sense, though.

Why are we shopping? Is it business or pleasure? Are we a chandler only, strictly a soaper or do we make a multitude of scented products.

One of the qualities MOST of us are looking for from a fragrance supplier is stregnth of throw. I'd say that is the biggest issue, but variety of fragrances is very important as is price and service. The "opinions" of members who posted on this board can be very usefull if we can apply that information to the way we shop for fragrances.

What tends to distract us most, however, is we all seem to have one or two fragrances we can't seem to do without regardless of who offers them.

As Will S. wrote; "There's the rub."

By far, the majority of us are always searching out that elusive "smell" we just have to have, or we have one that's "acceptable", but we want to find one that's just a bit "better", a bit "truer", a bit "stronger".

Thus we seem to be perpetually searching for something that even when we find it we'll get bored in time and the prospect of a new "love" will keep us scouring the internet stores hoping to stumble onto that magical elixer that we'll rave over until we move on in our fickle way to start a new quest.

Two days ago I sent in an order to a supplier, I had never puchased from before. Yesterday I placed another order will a "new to me" supplier that didn't even get one mention in this thread.

I know this is beyond foolish and really a waste of my ever-diminishing resources, but I can't seem to stop.

Am I the only one in this leaky barge?

I need to cut back; But, how?

Was this thread really that useful? I hope so. I'll try to keep it in mind myself when I feel the need to "explore".

I'll admit that my motivation to shop with two new suppliers this week was not fragrance driven, but regardless, over twenty FO samples with each wound up in my shopping carts. I just shook my head both times I pushed those "committ to order" buttons.

There will be close to fifty new little bottles of oil that I will have to manage to squeeze onto my already very over-loaded fragrance racks.

Dave

[justajesuschick]

I think one of the lessons I'll take from this thread is how subjective choosing FO's can be. It makes complete sense, though.

Why are we shopping? Is it business or pleasure? Are we a chandler only, strictly a soaper or do we make a multitude of scented products.

One of the qualities MOST of us are looking for from a fragrance supplier is strength of throw. I'd say that is the biggest issue, but variety of fragrances is very important as is price and service. The "opinions" of members who posted on this board can be very useful if we can apply that information to the way we shop for fragrances.

What tends to distract us most, however, is we all seem to have one or two fragrances we can't seem to do without regardless of who offers them.

As Will S. wrote; "There's the rub."

By far, the majority of us are always searching out that elusive "smell" we just have to have, or we have one that's "acceptable", but we want to find one that's just a bit "better", a bit "truer", a bit "stronger".

Thus we seem to be perpetually searching for something that even when we find it we'll get bored in time and the prospect of a new "love" will keep us scouring the internet stores hoping to stumble onto that magical elixir that we'll rave over until we move on in our fickle way to start a new quest.

Two days ago I sent in an order to a supplier, I had never purchased from before. Yesterday I placed another order will a "new to me" supplier that didn't even get one mention in this thread.

I know this is beyond foolish and really a waste of my ever-diminishing resources, but I can't seem to stop.

Am I the only one in this leaky barge?

I need to cut back; But, how?

Was this thread really that useful? I hope so. I'll try to keep it in mind myself when I feel the need to "explore".

I'll admit that my motivation to shop with two new suppliers this week was not fragrance driven, but regardless, over twenty FO samples with each wound up in my shopping carts. I just shook my head both times I pushed those "commit to order" buttons.

There will be close to fifty new little bottles of oil that I will have to manage to squeeze onto my already very over-loaded fragrance racks.

Dave

This is exactly the point I was trying to make in my earlier post. Is someone's top 3 based on them being a business owner who is wisely buying for a wide cross section of tastes, a hobbyist (like me) who is buying only on personal preference, someone watching shipping and attempting vendor consolidation, someone who prefers (personally or your market/area demands) florals/patchouli/clean scents vs. bakery type scents, do you use soy, parasoy, paraffin and so on. The variables could be endless. MUCH like my wax blend combinations, number of suppliers from which I am willing to try FO's, and my museum collection of empty 1 ounce bottles!

[primstar]

Thanks for your thread. I also like to mix a lot and find my own scents. I live in Canada and there are only a few places to order Fo's from. I am constantly changing suppliers. It is super hard on the pocket.....