Siren12 Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I am just starting to try to develop my base line of scents, when you just started out how did you decide what you would carry? whether it be candle scents, soaps/beauty products? I am personally interested in what candle scents people first carried, all of these suppliers have great scents and i cant decide which ones i like the most. I am finding that i am getting overwhelmed. I know that i have a vanilla that works that i want to carry. I also have an Apple harvest scent, and apple and maple bourbon (more of a bakery apple scent), these two are fall scents. I know i need to limit my scents just starting out till i make some actual sales lol any suggestions or how you started your line would be helpful. thanks ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justajesuschick Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 What will be your selling model? Some here who are very successful selling wholesale will have a good answer, those who have storefronts or sell in other retail locations may have another and those of us who sell exclusively online yet another answer! Those who are successful in the area of fundraisers may do incredible sales (hundreds and hundreds of items sold) with an offering best kept at 6-10 items. I sell only Melts and recently a you tuber who gave a favorable review mentioned the drawback was my small scent list. I just added my 100th scent to my line and keep Melt Cups always in stock! So, it varies. Can you offer an idea of your sales plan as it relates to venue? That will help get the best answers for you. There are those here who successfully sell in about every venue or method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Exactly what Karen said. It will depend on your market base. When I started out, I started with what I liked, and what I would get requests for. Now it's basically based on what sells best. I have a standard line that I always carry, and then I have "specialty" lines, along with seasonal lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonshine Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 (edited) When I started I had no idea where to go with it either i ordered many samples and started with melts and kept a few I really liked in each "type" of scent like 3-4 florals 3-4 fruits 3-4 bakery scents 3-4 earthy scents 3-4 herbals 3-4 fresh and clean 3-4 designer perfume types once I got those down and mastered I started testing candles in those scents and at Christmas I offered like 6 to start off with and I only displayed them at our other business office, eventually I got a website but to this day it's still call to order - no online sales and over the years I kind of let the people buying direct me to what they were looking for but I still mostly offer what I like I now have a western themed line and a country collection line and a Michigan collection and I am still in the works of a parasoy collection I have around 100 scents offered but not all are offered in candles - I have around 70 of those and still testing for me it's slow going because we have a very busy business to run so this is a side thing for me - most of my sales are word of mouth and I have picked up a couple wholesale accounts in the process I am afraid to offer online sales in that I won't be able to keep up so this works for me - now had I not had a business office to start displaying candles I would of went a different route so I suggest just keep it limited to a few of different types of scents and keep on testing adding more slowly - you will find some you will have to drop and many you will add depending on what people are looking for maybe start off with a Facebook and a website or see if there is a store willing to carry your products Edited March 21, 2016 by moonshine 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnvyCandles Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 It is soooo easy to get overwhelmed with scents!! I personally only make ones that I like, (with the exception of Love Spell- which smells so bad to me, but customers love it). Start with what you like. I agree with Moonshine that you should have a few of everything... if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 For me it depends on the customer I am targeting for that product. Then I develop scent lines for that product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puma52 Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 10 hours ago, Siren12 said: I am just starting to try to develop my base line of scents, when you just started out how did you decide what you would carry? whether it be candle scents, soaps/beauty products? I am personally interested in what candle scents people first carried, all of these suppliers have great scents and i cant decide which ones i like the most. I am finding that i am getting overwhelmed. I know that i have a vanilla that works that i want to carry. I also have an Apple harvest scent, and apple and maple bourbon (more of a bakery apple scent), these two are fall scents. I know i need to limit my scents just starting out till i make some actual sales lol any suggestions or how you started your line would be helpful. thanks ;-) Oh Siren12, you are SO NORMAL you would not believe it! This is the way I think most of us started out. We knew we wanted to make candles....the best smelling...the best selling...the best made candles, but which direction to go...how to make them, what supplier, what jars, what pots to pour the wax , what all do I need to do this, labels...where do I get them. The scents...I wanted the best and am still hunting and wanting the best. How I come about picking Cajun Candles to call, i have no idea, but they were my first supplier .......and oh did I WEAR them out!!! Questions, questions....but they guided me along the rough road of starting a candle company. I asked them what their best selling scents were and I bought them. The first candles I made were the 16 oz mason jars..boy do I wish I had kept my first one! I made the mason jars and then made votives, then tealights. Grow and add on as you are ready. I like to ask people what they would like to see me carry...scents..whatever. I sneak over to some of the other suppliers and check out what they are offering in scents etc....Bath and Body Works (HAVE YOU GUYS NOTICED THAT THEY ARE SELLING SOAP NOW???!!......Don't you think these ole boys have been trolling our threads??), Crossroads Candles, Kringle, Yankee, Warm Glow and on. Anyhow back to the scents...I agree that carrying a little bit of everything is a good choice. When you start getting feedback from your family and friends you will find out which ones are going to be good ones to keep and figure out the ones to let go and no longer buy. A wonderful vanilla is a scent that you will always keep in your stock, as you will find out a good cinnamon is a must along with all the others like fruity, spicy, fresh, clean, florals and dupes. There is a place for all of them in your business. As you grow, you will get this all figured out what sells and what doesn't sell. As far as growing your line...it is ALWAYS good to up-sell a product! That awesome smelling scent in your jar that the customer has in her hand is also available in a room mist spray you made....gotta have that for the bathroom. In the Fall that cute jar scented in Harvest is sitting on a rusty candle pan with a orange pip berry ring around it...why that's too cute to leave any of that behind....that customer just has to purchase the whole grouping. A customer that wants to purchase a candle from you for a gift...she also sees that cute kitchen towel that she knows her friend will just love and that cute cookie cutter will look so cute with the kitchen towel.......and then she sees the tart warmer and tarts and there you go. As I grew I added other product to my line...product I did not have to make, but could make money off of.. add slowly as you can, but it does create excitement for our customers. The bath and body came much later, but it is just as addictive as the candles and everything else we all love to make and sell. I love making hot process soap and also make the lip balm, sugar scrub, foaming hand soap and on. It is in our blood and it is GOOD for us and the customer!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandlekrazy Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Welcome to the crazy world of candle making! I still get overwhelmed when I look at fo's. The resources here are really the most valuable tool you have. Look for scents you think you want and your wax and see what comes up in searches so you can possibly eliminate the duds from your list without wasting $. I sell in a retail store and also some wholesale (although I'm backing out of wholesale slowly.) I have a regular line of approx 30 scents in melts and I only carry about 6 scents of candles at a time. I do rotate candle scents so they aren't always the same. I do holiday lines as well of about 4-6 scents. It took me over 10 years to get down to 6 main suppliers for fo. I'm so glad I did that! Factor in all your costs including insurance which can be costly. I guess what I'm trying to stress is to do your research here and learn from our mistakes. I know I wasted a whole lot of $ before I found this forum. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siren12 Posted March 22, 2016 Author Share Posted March 22, 2016 (edited) Thanks so much! you all gave fantastic advice. I was thinking that a rotation of scents would be a good start for me, and trying to get those sold out first before adding on more scents. I know that its trial and error, i was finding my self getting over whelmed. It also didn't help that what i know work are pretty seasonal. i don't for see myself getting this started very quickly so i plan on doing my homework. There are tons of soy candle sellers on etsy and i bought one from someone that I liked their marketing and they had good reviews. Burned the candle and found that i liked my candles better lol. i want to make sure that mine stand out. I think i will start small, hopefully i can get my sales to at least cover my cost of insurance at this point (that's really all i want right now ;-) ) edit: i have a facebook page and thats where i plan to keep it right now, and maybe sell at a farmers market or two this summer if i can get in. there are also lots of antique/ consignment shops around that i maybe able to get into but that's more of a commitment, i would like to see what the interest is like before going there. Edited March 22, 2016 by Siren12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siren12 Posted March 22, 2016 Author Share Posted March 22, 2016 I would really like to make my line be unique, such as using hobnail jars, milk glass, vintage style containers. using different containers will ad an additional challenge i know, but it is one of the ways i think i can get people to chose my candles over the other soy/mason jar candles that are flooding the market right now. I really love my square 8 oz mason jars and they work really well (way less $ than the other jars i want to use) so i would keep some of those maybe for the more traditional "country" scents. I am going to take some time to buckle down and take a look at where i see this going but right now i see it being similar to @moonshine since i have a job that i dont for see candles being able to replace in income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldieMN Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 32 minutes ago, Siren12 said: I would really like to make my line be unique, such as using hobnail jars, milk glass, vintage style containers. using different containers will ad an additional challenge i know, but it is one of the ways i think i can get people to chose my candles over the other soy/mason jar candles that are flooding the market right now. I really love my square 8 oz mason jars and they work really well (way less $ than the other jars i want to use) so i would keep some of those maybe for the more traditional "country" scents. I am going to take some time to buckle down and take a look at where i see this going but right now i see it being similar to @moonshine since i have a job that i dont for see candles being able to replace in income. I always worry that such containers might not be safe to burn a candle in. Although I would think if they are sold for candlemaking, they would be safe. Goldie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siren12 Posted March 22, 2016 Author Share Posted March 22, 2016 19 minutes ago, GoldieMN said: I always worry that such containers might not be safe to burn a candle in. Although I would think if they are sold for candlemaking, they would be safe. Goldie I get that concern, i bought some that were on sale and when i got them i realized that they were coated with some cheap paint and the glass was really thin. I made two candles for myself with those but dont trust them and im going to sell them on a wedding facebook group to get rid of them since they were clearance items. I have been extremely cautious with those. But the thick Hobnail jars are actually really sturdy and i see candles sold in big stores in the exact same jars that i have. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldieMN Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Siren12, Hobnail jars would really be cool! Goldie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonstar Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 what are hobnail jars ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siren12 Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 The ones I use are these jars, nice and thick base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 That is pretty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siren12 Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 Thanks I just got some enamel paint to paint the outside (paint cures in the oven) with since I got ones on clearance and they were painted orange on the outside which doesn't go with any of the scents I am making. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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