kandlekrazy Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 I officially quit wholesale, notices went out that last orders in Dec 2016. Even though I "trained" my wholesale accts to give me at least 2 weeks, I'm simply too busy with managing stores to do it anymore. It has been eating into the time I need to make product for the stores. Huge weight lifted when those emails went out! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 3 minutes ago, kandlekrazy said: I officially quit wholesale, notices went out that last orders in Dec 2016. Even though I "trained" my wholesale accts to give me at least 2 weeks, I'm simply too busy with managing stores to do it anymore. It has been eating into the time I need to make product for the stores. Huge weight lifted when those emails went out! Hear hear!!! Congratulations on your new found freedom! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wthomas57 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 4 minutes ago, kandlekrazy said: I officially quit wholesale, notices went out that last orders in Dec 2016. Even though I "trained" my wholesale accts to give me at least 2 weeks, I'm simply too busy with managing stores to do it anymore. It has been eating into the time I need to make product for the stores. Huge weight lifted when those emails went out! So I take it you must be doing quite well with direct sales than? Do you sell mostly online, Word of mouth, or do you have a local shop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandlekrazy Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 4 minutes ago, wthomas57 said: So I take it you must be doing quite well with direct sales than? Do you sell mostly online, Word of mouth, or do you have a local shop? I only sell in our Antique stores. I closed my website when we purchased the stores 7 years ago. Our town attracts visitors both from the US and Europe. Since we are only 2 blocks of business downtown, almost every visitor pops in, along with locals. I do quite well in the stores, have a fairly large display which I now sell melts, warmers and handmade soaps/bath bombs (which I purchase). I still have a dozen or so customers that have been faithful after website went down, they order by email. I put my email address on every product I make so anyone who purchases can contact me if they don't live close enough to come back for more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wthomas57 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 thats awesome. sounds like a faily stressfree efficient practice. Funny that you mentioned bath bombs.. I've never done them, but would like to start dabbling sometime 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonstar Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 5 hours ago, TallTayl said: My perspective is that wholesale is a business partnership, not a one-time or quantity discount. If we are both committed, we both make money. And I sure as heck don't want my WS customers becoming direct retail competition in my market segment. My standard WS partner agreement/contract starts at: -$250 min opening order -$100 min reorder -min order quantities per product that match my manufacturing requirements (for instance minimum of 10 soap bars per scent) - $1000 in order volume per revolving 12 months. It it has really weeded out the nonprofitable accounts and those looking for small quantity discounts. Not to mention people looking give "cheap" gifts. This is excellent advise + about what I was thinking. I never thought of the "cheap" gifts angle lol ! As always, thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 kandlekrazy - I wish I had the nerve to tell my ws customers I am done. I actually do only a few wholesale accounts as I also find it takes up my time and I don't always enjoy it. I do pretty good moneywise with the accts and have a long established relationship with a few of them but IDK.... I sell direct and it takes up all my time so I really don't have a whole lot to devote to ws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGlory Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I prefer to do only wholesale, but am currently retailing at a small market near my house. I get my wholesale orders 3 weeks in advance. This gives me time to order supplies from across the country. Their orders are never less than 200 pieces, so I lifted the minimums. I've been with this one customer since 2005 and if I pour a few extra candles this month, they'll order them next month. I prefer wholesale because I make the order, then deliver it. There's nothing to store except a few extras, takes up half a shelf. The company has opened 3 new a stores in the last five years. I was very familiar with them before I offered to wholesale, knew that they would be around 30 years from now. I think that's a critical component - know the business before you enter into an agreement with them. What I dislike about retail (shows or markets) is the carting back and forth, the fact that I have to be present to sell, and the leftovers. However, it is pretty profitable! I get new wholesale offers on average once a month but have not accepted anything. It will have to be a very special company for me to accept another wholesale account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Fields Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 We started out in wholesale five years ago. Did not really want it. Now, still not sure. We get new accounts weekly, and I have no idea how many we have. Wholesale revenue is up to about 30% of our total revenue; so, it is becoming significant. BUT, what we don't like are the tiny accounts. It seems that the larger the account, the less trouble they are. For us a larger account is someone who orders monthly/bi-monthly $500-1000 per order; the larger accounts (over $1000 per order) are no problem at all. Smaller than that are headaches. We started out with no minimums (big mistake) then went to $200 first order with no minimum on reorders, then $200 first order with $100 reorders, then $400 first order with $100 reorders, now $400 first order and $200 reorders. This has weeded out the small guys. We close small account weekly if they become a problem. We have found it takes almost as much time to box up a small order as it does a large order. And since we have employees pulling the orders and preparing them, the labor costs for a small order are really annoying. So, to answer the original question of this post (I think), is wholesale worthwhile? Yes, but only if you do it right so it is beneficial to US and the customer (emphasis on US). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wthomas57 Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Good info David, Out of curiosity... your wholesale accounts, are they local to you or remote? In other words, do you or your staff deliver them or do you ship them? I am struggling on learnig how to ship candles in bulk... actually shipping candles in general can be a challenge (especially during summer). And how the heck are you getting new accounts weekly? Bravo. Im still pretty new and haven't dabbled in WS much but just seems like it would be hard to start getting clients Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 David, knowing the processing cost per order is crucial. You're exactly right about the small time savings between tiny orders and larger, more profitable orders. This is equally true for retail orders. It's easier to "give up" small orders when they profit amounts to break even. I disco'd trial sizes recently. Spending all day packing orders for a trial sizes ate up my time. I have fewer total orders per day, but am profiting the same at the end of the month. I'd rather do something else with that time than break even. On August 3, 2016 at 4:49 PM, Moonstar said: I never thought of the "cheap" gifts angle lol ! A WS customer of mine decided to WS (my products) to her own customers. Her idea of a WS order was different from mine. Funny her WS orders rolled in at holiday times for 2-3 units. Hmmmmm. 2-3 bars of soap before Mothers Day? Or Chirstmas? Really? And hand-delivered to boot. What a deal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sndfrddy Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 All great information!!! Thank you all so much! We will be moving to a different State and to a much bigger city than we are now in about a year. For now I'll keep everything as is, but once we are settled and I am up and running again, (everything will be shut down for about a year) it looks like I can easily sell my candles for higher price in the new location, which also means Wholesale may also be more worthwhile there. Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Fields Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 1 hour ago, wthomas57 said: Good info David, Out of curiosity... your wholesale accounts, are they local to you or remote? In other words, do you or your staff deliver them or do you ship them? I am struggling on learnig how to ship candles in bulk... actually shipping candles in general can be a challenge (especially during summer). And how the heck are you getting new accounts weekly? Bravo. Im still pretty new and haven't dabbled in WS much but just seems like it would be hard to start getting clients wththomas57 - our wholesale accounts are for the most part out of town. We have some that are close enough that they pick up at our store. And a few in other nearby states. We deliver nothing. Another thing we tried that was not working for us. We don't have issues with the Texas heat or shipping. We double box all glassware with peanut between the boxes. We normally don't ship wax products during the summer. Don't like them sitting somewhere in the heat. We get new accounts from out of town customers who come into our store, buy our products and tell friends about us. Our employees talk to our customers and suggest wholesale to ones who live out of town. We make good products and have never advertised. Word of mouth is our best advertisement. Plus, we have been in business for 18 years. That helps to develop a large group of loyal customers. Oh, we have a website that we also have our employees talk up. Out of town customers who don't have business contact buy and eventually it can lead to new good wholesale accounts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 All of my ws customers are out of town and some out of state. I live in a small town in the country so if I had a ws customer here in town they would be my only one as that would be enough. But I not only live in a small town I live in a cluster of small towns in the valley here so I don't have what I would call "large" ws accounts. One year I went around the entire valley area coming the shops and managed to get quite a few ws accounts but most of those small businesses either folded or were too small to continue ws with. Unfortunately this area will never quite be lucrative enough to do much in the way of ws and I am still on the fence about continuing. Right now the only customers I have are the ones that make ws worthwhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonstar Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 3 hours ago, TallTayl said: David, knowing the processing cost per order is crucial. You're exactly right about the small time savings between tiny orders and larger, more profitable orders. This is equally true for retail orders. It's easier to "give up" small orders when they profit amounts to break even. I disco'd trial sizes recently. Spending all day packing orders for a trial sizes ate up my time. I have fewer total orders per day, but am profiting the same at the end of the month. I'd rather do something else with that time than break even. A WS customer of mine decided to WS (my products) to her own customers. Her idea of a WS order was different from mine. Funny her WS orders rolled in at holiday times for 2-3 units. Hmmmmm. 2-3 bars of soap before Mothers Day? Or Chirstmas? Really? And hand-delivered to boot. What a deal! Oh my goodness, thats horrible ! The audacity of some people - as my mother says, Some people truly have no shame lol ! I must be very naive or very dumb lol ! I would never have even thought of this LET ALONE doing it ! On a brighter note, the way you tell a story is VERY funny - even on line your sarcasm comes across lol ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 10 hours ago, Moonstar said: Oh my goodness, thats horrible ! The audacity of some people - as my mother says, Some people truly have no shame lol ! I must be very naive or very dumb lol ! I would never have even thought of this LET ALONE doing it ! On a brighter note, the way you tell a story is VERY funny - even on line your sarcasm comes across lol ! It was " to get her name out there". truly... It wasa waste of an amazing potential WS partner with 30 retail locations in the US and a very established international catalog business. After things settle down I'm thinking of pitching it myself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubure Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Having a bit of experience with wholesale I can only tell you - as the others have told you as well - to charge a decent sum for your work. I always used to charge much too less money only to sell a few more candles. Never again. I always have businesses asking me for wholesale but when I tell them my conditions they are always tell me things like "I can only buy 3 candles of one scent and 2 of the other, please sell for 40% or 50% of your retail price, I need to make a profit as well ....blablabla...." This makes no sense at all so I say no. My candles, my rules. On the other hand I do have two wholesale accounts but theses are custom made candles - not made with fragrance oil but their signature perfume (told here before in another thread) for two luxury brands and they charge obscenely high prices for these candles, BUT I have charged really enough to make a good profit for myself. If they can sell a candle for about $ 180,-, why not? I don't see how something like a candle can be charged that much, but hey, if their customers pay for it, it is not my problem. But I also have to say that this kind of work isn't that much fun. Me as the candlemaker, I am nothing more than that for them, a candle maker, and they often let me feel exactly that way (one of the two business owners doesn't even communicate with me, only via the perfumer who created the fragrances. Rich people war weird sometimes. So money is not everything and I have decided not to be their candle maker anymore when they order the second batch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sndfrddy Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 David Fields. What's the name of your store? We visit Central Texas some times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 13 hours ago, ubure said: Having a bit of experience with wholesale I can only tell you - as the others have told you as well - to charge a decent sum for your work. I always used to charge much too less money only to sell a few more candles. Never again. I always have businesses asking me for wholesale but when I tell them my conditions they are always tell me things like "I can only buy 3 candles of one scent and 2 of the other, please sell for 40% or 50% of your retail price, I need to make a profit as well ....blablabla...." This makes no sense at all so I say no. My candles, my rules. On the other hand I do have two wholesale accounts but theses are custom made candles - not made with fragrance oil but their signature perfume (told here before in another thread) for two luxury brands and they charge obscenely high prices for these candles, BUT I have charged really enough to make a good profit for myself. If they can sell a candle for about $ 180,-, why not? I don't see how something like a candle can be charged that much, but hey, if their customers pay for it, it is not my problem. But I also have to say that this kind of work isn't that much fun. Me as the candlemaker, I am nothing more than that for them, a candle maker, and they often let me feel exactly that way (one of the two business owners doesn't even communicate with me, only via the perfumer who created the fragrances. Rich people war weird sometimes. So money is not everything and I have decided not to be their candle maker anymore when they order the second batch. I don't blame you for not wanting to continue that account. I simply would not do business via third party. I will only do business with the people who order through me and pay me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubure Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Yes, exactly. I feel the same. It is complicated as well, somebody always pretends not having known this or that, blaming the others etc. I'm quite fed up even though this is the most lucrative business I ever had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Fields Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 21 hours ago, Sndfrddy said: David Fields. What's the name of your store? We visit Central Texas some times. Sndfrrdy Our store is The Candle Box located in Post Oak Mall in College Station. Please come visit. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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