MilosCandles Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 The power of Social media is scary. Friday night I a few orders for one on my candles. WAY more than normal but was good. Enough that I went home and made some. I found the "Blog" and then the facebook post about it. Woke up Saturday morning and shipped as many as I could that I had made. Went and did some running around, my Etsy site quickly sold out, I updated the inventory. Fast forward to Monday morning. I have sold more on Etsy these past 3 days then I did in Nov and Dec last year. More than I have ALL this year so far. The orders are still coming in. So some whole new sets of problems have came of this. 1 - I do not have enough boxes both brown boxes and USPS boxes in stock for the quantity of orders that came in a single weekend. 2 - Ran out of wax and FO. Called on many of my friends to come help out. Much of much supplies have been slowly increasing for the holiday season but not ready for a weekend of chaos. I have no idea who the person is that wrote this or why. Here was the blog post from Friday https://www.bestproducts.com/lifestyle/a29516615/mountain-dew-soda-scented-candle/ and the realted FB post - https://www.facebook.com/808287332621941/posts/2565029993614324/ Since then I have found 3 more articles about it https://crafty.diply.com/99003/this-mountain-dew-scented-candle-will-give-your-home-that-aroma- https://comicbook.com/irl/2019/10/20/mountain-dew-scented-candles/ https://1029thewolf.radio.com/blogs/mandys-blog/716-candle-company-selling-mountain-dew-scented-candle Unfortunately I am someone that can not say no to the orders. I have already increased my production time to 3-4 weeks. Anyone else ever deal with something like this? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paintguru Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 (edited) Ha...congrats I guess?!? This does become a major issue if you can't handle the spike in orders. The FB post has definitely blown up. The site just wants to generate clicks, and something like that is unique and interesting. People are willing to take a shot at a candle to see if they like it. This may spike you for the entire holiday season!! Edited October 22, 2019 by Paintguru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandlekrazy Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Get r done! A nice problem to have if you have the supplies to fulfill, but with your specialty containers I imagine it's not always readily available and running out of wax and certain fo's is def a setback. Maybe you can email to say do to overwhelming response, lead time will take ?? more days than usual. LOL seriously, do you have any vacation time to make candles? The poster must have tons of followers, people buy what is recommended and many consider the people they follow a friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Love it when That happens. Make it rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueH Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 So glad your candle is such a hit!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandleRush Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 Fantastic! Expect your sales to increase in November! October, November and December are big retail months. Good job!🌸 So how do you get that candle smelling like Mountain Dew? Lol! Trade secret! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shari Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 Congratulations!!! What a great problem to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 That's awesome! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Ov Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 Your on the front page of etsy . Awesome 😊 .. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura C Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Wow, congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilosCandles Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 OMG, this is crazy. I am sure there is more. I am trying to ride this wave, but I am not sure how long I can do it. https://odditymall.com/ https://mymix945.iheart.com/featured/traci-james/content/2019-10-21-mountain-dew-soda-can-candle/ https://www.myrecipes.com/news/mountain-dew-candle https://www.animatedtimes.com/mountain-dew-scented-candles-are-now-available-for-you/ https://guiltyeats.com/2019/10/21/mountain-dew-scented-candle/ https://comicbook.com/irl/2019/10/20/mountain-dew-scented-candles/ https://countrymusicnation.com/mountain-dew-lovers-can-have-a-candle-that-smells-just-like-the-soda https://www.thegreenhead.com/2019/10/mountain-dew-candle.php https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/buy-candle-smells-mountain-dew-210456944.html http://twistedfood.co.uk/you-can-now-get-a-candle-that-smells-exactly-like-mountain-dew/ https://country1037fm.com/2019/10/21/get-all-jacked-up-on-these-mountain-dew-scented-candles/ Attached is what my basement looks like right now. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebleo Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 That’s so awesome!! I’m very excited for you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandleRush Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 I’d love this problem!!!! A sea of candles! Social media changes everything! Time to hire staff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 That's great. I love it when that happens. I will get a slew of orders for the SAME scent/candle and eventually trace it to a blog post or favorable review somewhere. It's great. Ride the wave for as long as you can! Actually I have had a recent spike in orders for one particular candle, and I still haven't traced the source of the positive review yet. But I'm thankful for having to pour and ship this one more often than normal. GO man, go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilosCandles Posted October 29, 2019 Author Share Posted October 29, 2019 I can finally breath. WOW. After a week of craziness. I needed to mark the items as sold out as of Friday. The stress was getting to me. It gave me the weekend to really catch up and get things under control. By Monday I was able to re-list the items with the extras I had made. So many people helped me out (paid). From box folding, to packaging, to sorting out orders, to shipping. Felt like I had a "real" business for a week. LOL I do not think there is any Mountain dew 24 packs left in Buffalo, NY. So many websites wrote (copied) articles about them. This is what I could find. (This does not include any social media sites. I can only imagine the shares). https://www.bestproducts.com/lifestyle/a29516615/mountain-dew-soda-scented-candle/ https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/buy-candle-smells-mountain-dew-210456944.html https://comicbook.com/irl/2019/10/20/mountain-dew-scented-candles/ https://www.delish.com/food-news/a29522663/mountain-dew-soda-scented-candle/ https://diply.com/99003/this-mountain-dew-scented-candle-will-give-your-home-that-aroma- https://odditymall.com/candles-that-smell-like-coors-light-mountain-dew-fireball http://twistedfood.co.uk/you-can-now-get-a-candle-that-smells-exactly-like-mountain-dew/ https://www.myrecipes.com/news/mountain-dew-candlehttps://guiltyeats.com/2019/10/21/mountain-dew-scented-candle/ https://countrymusicfamily.com/mountain-dew-candle-customers-say-it-smells-just-like-the-drink/ https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2019/10/20/these-candles-smell-and-look-like-your-favorite-soft-drinks-mountain-dew-dr-pepper-and-more/ https://1063cowboycountry.com/finally-your-casper-home-can-smell-like-your-favorite-soda/ https://1029thewolf.radio.com/blogs/mandys-blog/716-candle-company-selling-mountain-dew-scented-candle https://alt987fm.iheart.com/content/2019-10-26-heres-a-candle-that-smells-just-like-mountain-dew/ https://www.thegreenhead.com/2019/10/mountain-dew-candle.php https://www.animatedtimes.com/mountain-dew-scented-candles-are-now-available-for-you/ Crazy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 That's just amazing! So glad you got through it and maintained your sanity. I would have been a totally wreck. Again, congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebleo Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 Out of curiosity @MilosCandles, what did you do with all that Dew?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightLight Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 Can I ask you have you ever asked a lawyer about the use of these soda and beer cans that names are copyrighted and trademarked. I personally would be concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilosCandles Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 19 hours ago, Sebleo said: Out of curiosity @MilosCandles, what did you do with all that Dew?! Right down the drain - Sadly. Usually I try to get used cans from the recycling center but when it is that many not much of a choice. 18 hours ago, NightLight said: Can I ask you have you ever asked a lawyer about the use of these soda and beer cans that names are copyrighted and trademarked. I personally would be concerned. I am covered by the "first sale doctrine". I am not creating or reproducing their cans/logos, and I am not reselling soda in the can that I made calling it by there name. 20 hours ago, bfroberts said: That's just amazing! So glad you got through it and maintained your sanity. I would have been a totally wreck. Again, congratulations! I was on the verge of losing it. The range of emotions was crazy. I am glad it was in October and not late Nov. LOL. I may have just checked myself in. Or got on a plane a flew far away. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilosCandles Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 Now the next part... The complaints.... Surprisingly only 6 so far. 1 - Lady complained she got the wrong items. When sent her a screen shot of the order, she apologized and blamed her husband. LOL 2 - Another lady called said the tracking showed the shipment was delivered but couldn't find it. While she was on the phone with me she found it. 3 - Some said the candle did not smell. Just gave her a refund. 4 - Someone else complained they received the wrong items. Emailed them their order, never heard back. They got exactly what they ordered. 5 - Someone left a negative review and then emailed me. Never responded to them. I am happy to work with people. Probably give refunds when I probably shouldn't, but message me 1st before giving a review. I realize not everyone is going to be happy. 6 - Someone received a broken candle. Opened USPS claim, they wanted a refund rather than another candle. Fingers crossed they are not too many more. (Knock on wood) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebleo Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Considering how many you have sold- that doesn’t seem too bad. Especially since at least half were people jumping the gun on their complaints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilosCandles Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 @SebleoExactly. If I am at a 1%-2% of my orders have an issue, I will be pretty happy. When I am not in control of the entire process from making, to shipping and have people working for me I full expect a higher percent of mistakes. When the people are getting paid minimum wage people just do not care like you do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 1 hour ago, MilosCandles said: @SebleoExactly. If I am at a 1%-2% of my orders have an issue, I will be pretty happy. When I am not in control of the entire process from making, to shipping and have people working for me I full expect a higher percent of mistakes. When the people are getting paid minimum wage people just do not care like you do. Was listening to a Goal Digger podcast recently that made a lot of sense. Jenna Kutcher noted that if you DON’T get complaints there’s a good chance your net has not been cast widely enough. You’re probably not marketing to your full potential. now, sure, some amazon type customers like to complain to play the refund game, but most will be fully satisfied. Aim for the 99% of people who love you and minimize the 1% who won’t be satisfied no mater what. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilosCandles Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 More of the problem that I had was that people just do not understand Etsy. They thought when they were on the product that said Mt Dew Can and then selected the Scent as Dr Pepper that the can would some how magically change also to match. Really it just comes down to reading and verifying your order which I have come to realize is VERY difficult for people. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 1 hour ago, MilosCandles said: More of the problem that I had was that people just do not understand Etsy. They thought when they were on the product that said Mt Dew Can and then selected the Scent as Dr Pepper that the can would some how magically change also to match. Really it just comes down to reading and verifying your order which I have come to realize is VERY difficult for people. Totally. That market is awfully special to work with. You have to spell out everything in detail. I kind of “get” that the scent might be implied to match the outer can. I’ve had to update many listings to clarify. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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