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Containers for selling wax melts


LilFirecracker

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I've been looking at different ideas for packaging my mini-melts when I'm ready to start selling. I've been back and forth with poly bags, round or square tins with the clear window lid, and jars. I'd love to do glass, but that can start getting expensive and I'm trying to keep packaging costs as low as possible. People around here don't really care how nice the packaging is. The majority aren't willing to pay the extra - they just want their goodies. Anyway....plastic jars. Most that I find are PET. I've only found a handful made from PP and not even in the sizes I would need. I know that most clamshells are made from PET or PVC. In your opinion, how do you think wax melts would fare being sold and stored in PET jars? Has anyone tried it? I just keep thinking that if PET clamshells can hold up, these should too. But I also wonder how long the PET clamshells last before they do start slowly breaking down from the FO in the wax - if they do break down at all. 

 

Help!! I'm driving myself nuts over this packaging thing that's still a little ways away. I always like to plan and be prepared way ahead of time. One of those little OCD things with me.... 🤣

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I have gone back and forth with this same thing for years! I don't like clamshells even though they are the easiest way to package. I really like kraft brown bags with the window for shapes and also polypro bags. When I do shapes in the polypro bags I like to tie them with a piece of homespun fabric. It's more work though that's for sure but I do love the look. I've been using the chocolate bar molds lately and just put them in polypro zipper bags.

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2 hours ago, Belinda said:

I have gone back and forth with this same thing for years! I don't like clamshells even though they are the easiest way to package. I really like kraft brown bags with the window for shapes and also polypro bags. When I do shapes in the polypro bags I like to tie them with a piece of homespun fabric. It's more work though that's for sure but I do love the look. I've been using the chocolate bar molds lately and just put them in polypro zipper bags.

I thought about doing the snap bar molds and things like that, but I keep going back to the bag problem. I wanna steer away from bags even though the PP zip top bags were my initial choice with my mini-melts. Still looking for a cheap container alternative. I love the tins with the clear window lid, but I'd like to go for something less costly. I'm actually thinking about the bigger cups with lids made like the 2oz portion cups to start out then maybe graduate to the tins later. Idk... So many ideas running thru my head I'm on overload!!! 

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1 hour ago, LilFirecracker said:

I thought about doing the snap bar molds and things like that, but I keep going back to the bag problem. I wanna steer away from bags even though the PP zip top bags were my initial choice with my mini-melts. Still looking for a cheap container alternative. I love the tins with the clear window lid, but I'd like to go for something less costly. I'm actually thinking about the bigger cups with lids made like the 2oz portion cups to start out then maybe graduate to the tins later. Idk... So many ideas running thru my head I'm on overload!!! 

The cups would be a cute idea I think. I never thought about using those in a bigger size for more tarts. I use the 2 ounce ones for samples. 

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1 hour ago, Belinda said:

The cups would be a cute idea I think. I never thought about using those in a bigger size for more tarts. I use the 2 ounce ones for samples. 

That's what I'm leaning towards. It'll match the portion cups. I'm just hoping they don't look too "cheap." That's what I'm afraid of with my mini-melts. Technically it'll be a lot cheaper cost-wise, but I don't want them to look the part lol. I still have time before I get to where I'm happy and ready to sell, so between now and then I'm sure I'll decide on something! I'm just so in my element when I'm working on my melts, it makes me all giddy talking about it. I've always wanted to start my candle business back up that I began 20 years ago. But I'm not even thinking about candles now. It's the melts I'm so passionate about. So I guess as long as I'm working with wax and FO on some level, I'm at my happiest! 😃

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28 minutes ago, LilFirecracker said:

That's what I'm leaning towards. It'll match the portion cups. I'm just hoping they don't look too "cheap." That's what I'm afraid of with my mini-melts. Technically it'll be a lot cheaper cost-wise, but I don't want them to look the part lol. I still have time before I get to where I'm happy and ready to sell, so between now and then I'm sure I'll decide on something! I'm just so in my element when I'm working on my melts, it makes me all giddy talking about it. I've always wanted to start my candle business back up that I began 20 years ago. But I'm not even thinking about candles now. It's the melts I'm so passionate about. So I guess as long as I'm working with wax and FO on some level, I'm at my happiest! 😃

The only downside I see to cups is storage, at least in my wax room. My husband put boards and hooks on the walls of an empty bedroom to hang clams on and now I'll use them to hang bags on. I have to store my portion cups in a drawer but I'm probably going to quit using them. I'll just use my molds for samples I guess. I've run out of room and am trying to downsize but it's not working LOL!

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52 minutes ago, Belinda said:

The only downside I see to cups is storage, at least in my wax room. My husband put boards and hooks on the walls of an empty bedroom to hang clams on and now I'll use them to hang bags on. I have to store my portion cups in a drawer but I'm probably going to quit using them. I'll just use my molds for samples I guess. I've run out of room and am trying to downsize but it's not working LOL!

LOL yeah storage is a problem for me right now no matter what I decide to use. We need a new shed really bad so I can clear out the spare rooms and stop having to use them as storage sheds lol. Actually I'd really love to have my own little portable building as a shop, but financially that'll never happen at least in the foreseeable future. It would be so nice though!!❤️

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Packaging kind of depends on how it will be used. Display? Mail order packaging? Gift wrapping?

 

if displaying at a craft show, usually a hanging display is most space and shopper efficient. This is where clams really shine. 
 

ive seen some displays use barrels, pails or drawers to display. This is where portion cups, or small bags or even ‘“naked” melts shine. One melt seller I watched at a garden show used cute metal pails lined with fabric to sell naked Brownie bite size melts. People would mix and match colors into a paper bag.  They sold out to their target market. Talk about EASY. Dump melts into a pail and be done. The fabric liner of the pail turned into the carrying and storage for transport. The pails stacked inside each other.

 

a popular seller at all the events within 100 miles of me displays the water softener salt tablets in big rubbermade totes right on a table. The salt tablets are colored and scented. People stuff as many as they can into a baggie for a flat price,  those totes sell a lot of tablets! Nothing fancy. She knows her market really well. 
 

for mail order we have very different challenges. Candy boxes, glassine bags, clamshells, etc all work.  It depends on your branding and what you like to work with.  At the end of the day, whatever does not  will have to work with, so you might as well like it. 

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3 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Packaging kind of depends on how it will be used. Display? Mail order packaging? Gift wrapping?

 

if displaying at a craft show, usually a hanging display is most space and shopper efficient. This is where clams really shine. 
 

ive seen some displays use barrels, pails or drawers to display. This is where portion cups, or small bags or even ‘“naked” melts shine. One melt seller I watched at a garden show used cute metal pails lined with fabric to sell naked Brownie bite size melts. People would mix and match colors into a paper bag.  They sold out to their target market. Talk about EASY. Dump melts into a pail and be done. The fabric liner of the pail turned into the carrying and storage for transport. The pails stacked inside each other.

 

a popular seller at all the events within 100 miles of me displays the water softener salt tablets in big rubbermade totes right on a table. The salt tablets are colored and scented. People stuff as many as they can into a baggie for a flat price,  those totes sell a lot of tablets! Nothing fancy. She knows her market really well. 
 

for mail order we have very different challenges. Candy boxes, glassine bags, clamshells, etc all work.  It depends on your branding and what you like to work with.  At the end of the day, whatever does not  will have to work with, so you might as well like it. 

Basically what I'm trying to find out is if the PET jars will hold up with wax melts since some of the clamshells are made out of PET. I really don't know how the clamshells really hold up though, so I'm clueless when it comes to the PET jars. Can't find Polypro jars anywhere ☹️

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21 hours ago, LilFirecracker said:

Basically what I'm trying to find out is if the PET jars will hold up with wax melts since some of the clamshells are made out of PET. I really don't know how the clamshells really hold up though, so I'm clueless when it comes to the PET jars. Can't find Polypro jars anywhere ☹️

The clams from crafters choice have held up very well, with contents of most surviving for several years fully scented. A couple of scents of the same wax blend did not.  
 

The answer is deeper than just the packaging material, I think. Components of some fragrances/essential oils/aromachemicals chemically react differently . lavender essential oil for instance,will eat through many plastics. I remember that lesson well when I poured lavender intended for use in my soap batch into a plastic cup. It was in there maybe a minute before the cup disintegrated. Never had any trouble with other fragrances or essential oils prior to that. 
 

When I started I purchased small amounts of many kinds of packaging to figure out what worked best for my blends. 

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3 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

The clams from crafters choice have held up very well, with contents of most surviving for several years fully scented. A couple of scents of the same wax blend did not.  
 

The answer is deeper than just the packaging material, I think. Components of some fragrances/essential oils/aromachemicals chemically react differently . lavender essential oil for instance,will eat through many plastics. I remember that lesson well when I poured lavender intended for use in my soap batch into a plastic cup. It was in there maybe a minute before the cup disintegrated. Never had any trouble with other fragrances or essential oils prior to that. 
 

When I started I purchased small amounts of many kinds of packaging to figure out what worked best for my blends. 

Thanks so much! That gives me a little hope that it might work for one of my options. My brain has been working overtime lately and I'm on idea overload while sitting idle testing, testing, TESTING! 😃

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15 hours ago, Candybee said:

The webstaurantestore has clear or translucent microwaveable PET plastic containers that are cute and cost effective. Would be easy to slap a 2-3" round label on the top. These I found hold 8oz:

 

2125412595_clear8ozcontainer.jpg.5d41fed3619cd3203165aaa53346036d.jpg

A PLAIN FLAT LID!!! Man I've been wanting to find lids like this for the 2oz cups!! I'm glad you show me these so I can check out the price. I was looking for something a little nicer to hold the larger amount of melts, but this will work if the price is right! 

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