Does anyone else get a little annoyed.....

[lovelyscents]

......that suppliers send cases as they come from the manufacturer with the wax name plastered all over on the outside of the box?  Wax is one of the biggest proprietary ingredients in a candle makers business and I'd rather not exploit it to the delivery personnel or neighbors.  I try not to complain but that is like someone announcing one of the chef's ingredients of a propriety recipe to the kitchen staff.  I don't know, maybe I am overthinking it.

[TallTayl]

I get more annoyed tha the boxes they use are so flimsy and most don’t tape their inner bags closed.  
 

Raise your hand if you too have trailed wax from the delivery truck through your house to where you make your candles. 

[lovelyscents]

2 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Raise your hand if you too have trailed wax from the delivery truck through your house to where you make your candles. 

😵

[Kerven]

✋

Not so much from the delivery truck to the work space but rather all over the work space floor. Palm wax. Little granules EVERYWHERE. It's like sand.

[TallTayl]

58 minutes ago, Kerven said:

✋

Not so much from the delivery truck to the work space but rather all over the work space floor. Palm wax. Little granules EVERYWHERE. It's like sand.

I feel your pain. Good luck stacking those boxes.  They buckle and tip over spreading the joy.

[pcbrook]

I have never received any boxes with the name of the wax on the outside box.  But I don't know if that would bother me so much.  I think the UPS or FedEx workers are too busy to care about what kind of wax is coming to my house.  Luckily I live out in the country so there are no neighbors close enough to see what is sitting by my door.  

[bfroberts]

Never noticed and never really thought about it, but since I'm always annoyed about something anyway, I took a look at my boxes to see if I should be annoyed about that too.  They do indeed have a sticker on them indicating the kind of wax.  Not that big of a deal for me, but I can see why you'd be annoyed if you are making what I think you are making.  I'd probably want to keep a wrap on that formula too.

[TallTayl]

20 minutes ago, bfroberts said:

, but I can see why you'd be annoyed if you are making what I think you are making.  I'd probably want to keep a wrap on that formula too.

[prs7979]

I mean, I'm super super small time but I can't imagine many people who would know how to interpret what I'm getting and be able to copy it, especially if I'm blending it with other things.

 

The only way someone would have any idea is if they live around me and are in the same business.   Even so, unless your sales are wholly hyper-local I can't see much benefit to trying to undercut a competitor like that, especially if they don't have insight into what oils you're using, what you blend with, what wicks you're using, etc.    Maybe others feel differently but that stuff is like 90% of the work and takes a lot of resources with wax you don't know well already.

[NightLight]

Do you mean formulas on the outside of the box, or like flaming candle send problend with the real manufacturer?

[Kerven]

It would annoy me if someone I sold to or potential competition found out what I'm using. My honest, but not overly detailed, description of ingredients should be enough for them. They don't need to know that I use X wax, Y additive, and Z whatever else, much less where I'm ordering them from. My blends are proprietary and I'll release them or hints of their composition when I see it fit to do so. Knowing that I order A wax from B supplier, it's not hard to get a rough idea of how much it costs me in materials to make a candle, which then interferes with my ability to charge whatever I want for the candles. "You're going to charge me $20 when it only costs you around $5? No, thanks. I'll get one of those $3 ~16oz candles from Michaels."

 

It's kind of like receiving something from Keurig or Kitchenaid, and now the whole street knows I have a new coffee maker or stand mixer because the shipper thought it was a brilliant idea to ship the product in its retail packaging or a sturdier outter packaging that resembles the retail packaging. As though I need a porch pirate knowing exactly what's in the package. Just send it in a plain ol' cardboard box, please, and don't use the brand name on the shipping label. Some companies just don't care about your need for privacy or discretion.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Kerven

[TallTayl]

Unless somebody has the secret sauce they could never duplicate my candles. And the secret sauce is me. It is just like baking a loaf of bread or a cake. Timing, process, the exact fragrances and wicks... Whatever I blend with.

Y’all know that I use either C1 or Midwest. And some coconut and beeswax  in there too. But you don’t know how I blend them. It’s OK. You’ll probably come up with something better.

 

fun fact, I have sent @moonshine the exact wax, fo and wicks I use and her candles were entirely different. 🤷‍♂️

[lovelyscents]

9 hours ago, Kerven said:

It would annoy me if someone I sold to or potential competition found out what I'm using. My honest, but not overly detailed, description of ingredients should be enough for them. They don't need to know that I use X wax, Y additive, and Z whatever else, much less where I'm ordering them from. My blends are proprietary and I'll release them or hints of their composition when I see it fit to do so. Knowing that I order A wax from B supplier, it's not hard to get a rough idea of how much it costs me in materials to make a candle, which then interferes with my ability to charge whatever I want for the candles. "You're going to charge me $20 when it only costs you around $5? No, thanks. I'll get one of those $3 ~16oz candles from Michaels."

 

It's kind of like receiving something from Keurig or Kitchenaid, and now the whole street knows I have a new coffee maker or stand mixer because the shipper thought it was a brilliant idea to ship the product in its retail packaging or a sturdier outter packaging that resembles the retail packaging. As though I need a porch pirate knowing exactly what's in the package. Just send it in a plain ol' cardboard box, please, and don't use the brand name on the shipping label. Some companies just don't care about your need for privacy or discretion.

 

Exactly my point, thank you! 

 

Of course I'm not as worried about candles since many more factors go into making what the final outcome becomes.  There are tons of candle makers who try the same wax, oils, and wicks as TallTayl stated and they all can come out totally different.  However, I'm wickless right now so it's not as difficult to figure things out since there are not as many variables involved as candles.  I'm also the type to custom blend almost every scent I offer in a way to make me unique in a saturated market.

 

I now see I posted this in the wrong spot but I am still slowly testing candles regardless.

 

Either way, I know my product isn't gold but I guess getting my recipes stolen in the past has made me overthink and more on guard for everything I do.  I need to care less sometimes 🤣.

[lovelyscents]

10 hours ago, NightLight said:

Do you mean formulas on the outside of the box, or like flaming candle send problend with the real manufacturer?

When you purchase cases, the supplier sends what the manufacturer packaged it in which has the wax name/number on the outside of the box.  Suppliers don't repackage or place those boxes in another one.  To save time and shipping costs, I see why they do it that way.  I was just turned off / shocked by it.

Edited October 23, 2020 by lovelyscents

[moonshine]

On 10/22/2020 at 6:55 PM, TallTayl said:

Unless somebody has the secret sauce they could never duplicate my candles. And the secret sauce is me. It is just like baking a loaf of bread or a cake. Timing, process, the exact fragrances and wicks... Whatever I blend with.

Y’all know that I use either C1 or Midwest. And some coconut and beeswax  in there too. But you don’t know how I blend them. It’s OK. You’ll probably come up with something better.

 

fun fact, I have sent @moonshine the exact wax, fo and wicks I use and her candles were entirely different. 🤷‍♂️

So very very true 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🙃🙃- baffling 

[calan]

On 10/22/2020 at 2:15 PM, bfroberts said:

...but since I'm always annoyed about something anyway, I took a look at my boxes to see if I should be annoyed about that too. 

LOL