Scents that won't sell...What to do?

[southernscents]

I have some scents that are just not selling for me. I want to get rid of these and not make them anymore. Do most of you have a sale of some type or how do you get rid of them. I have about 5-10 that I do not sell enough of to mess with, but I need to move them. I am attending a craft show on the 20th. I would greatly appreciate any ideas or suggestions that any of you may have.

Thanks,

Amy

[Crafty1]

if i were you, i would take them to the show and see how well they do for you there. another idea would be to give a free gift to you customers with every purchase and make that gift the scent that doesn't do well for you. HTH

[wildangel112]

Depending on the scents, sometimes I give them out to family, friends, etc. Other times I melt the wax, clean the jars and use them in testing.

[SnowCow]

put them on sale. say it's a summer clearance on ABC scent. had a couple candles that were damaged after i dropped them (pillars - they just got a little dent) and i marked them 1/2 off. they disappeared in a hurry.

[dragontears]

i also have alot i dont get rid of and i do give them as free gifts with purchase and put them scents on clearance

[sudsnwicks]

How about a 3 for $x special - where scents A, B and C are sold in one package. (A is the less popular scent, B & C are more popular ones)

[RobinInOR]

First I rename them and do them in a different color. If that doesn't work, then family gets them in their holiday presents. Or I put them in a gift basket with something else that is popular.

[Monica]

Renaming really works!

It is amazing

Burn that candle as a tester(if it really does smell good)

Example Pineapple Cilantro..noone really ever even picked it up..so I used burned it at a big 3 day festival...we sold 9 of them in 3 hours..and those people still come back for it

If they still dont sell..I put out a basket with just a few candles in it and mark clearance $1 off regular price...that basket is empty several times a day. I just keep filling it with older label versions..scents that dont move. The funny thing is that once I sell the scent in the clearance basket someone ALWAYS comes back and asks for it.

[Melly]

The clearance basket is a good idea, brings people over to your table too, everyone loves a deal.

[Trish]

I agree with renaming first! Funny how just a name will stop people from even picking up the candle to sniff.

[Scented]

I like Monica's idea

[mountainmadness]

From reading the posts I am assuming that you are talking candles..... but for soaps I end up cutting my bars that are not big sellers in half, stacking about 4-5 different kinds to weight out 12 oz., tie them stacked on top of eachother with a ribbon (like you would a gift) and attach a tag that has my company logo and scents. It sells like a sampler and I charge 1/2 of what I normally do per oz.

I have seen some businesses have an old metal tub with crinkled paper in it and all the candles and soaps that do not sell or are damaged. I saw one once with a sign stating, "The good but ugly." I thought it was cute.

My little scrap samplers sell very quickly. People like a chance to try different ones without purchasing a whole bar. You could probably do something similar with candles.....

HTH.

[Terrie]

Renaming was the first thing that came to my mind too. Personally, I won't even bother to sniff anything that sounds "earthy" or "herbal". I think people are set in their ways as to what kind of fragrances they like and don't like. But, change the name, and it gets rid of that "weird" stigma that some people may associate with certain scents. JMO:)

[southernscents]

All of the ideas are great. Thank you for all the responses.

I do like the basket idea. Someone is always looking for a bargain. I am not good at renaming. Here are the scents that don't sell well and maybe you all can come up with some cool names.

Lily of the Valley

Watermelon

Tropical Cooler

Eucalyptus Spearmint

Margaritaville

Dreamsicle

Coconut

Hazelnut

Having some of the oils left over is not a problem. Two of them I mix with other FO's.

Hazelnut----I mix with Coffee

Watermelon---I mix with cataloupe and honeydew and make sweet melon.

If you have any ideas for the other oils I will take any and all suggestions. I am so tired of looking at these sitting on the shelf and not selling. Maybe just some are not good sellers, but when I started I thought they might be and have found out the hard way they are not.

[Meridith]

The suggestions to rename them,put them on clearance, freebies w/purchase or gifts for family are all great suggestions. Or, you could pick a charity, and sell them with a portion of the proceeds going to that charity. Sometimes people will buy stuff just because the proceeds are going to charity. Let your customers know that its for charity and is for a limited time too. I do this except not with scents that won't sell. I do Baby Hugs for Juvenile Diabeters, Apple Pie for the VA, Monkey Farts for animal rescue foundations, Melon for Breast Cancer Awareness etc. I also sell my rebatched soap to raise money for a particular fund at our local animal shelter. You don't however have to match the scent to a certain charity. This gives much needed money to a charity, is a tax write off for you and looks good to your customers that you are a business that cares about your community and charitable causes. Its good all around.

[sockmonkey]

All of the ideas are great. Thank you for all the responses.

I do like the basket idea. Someone is always looking for a bargain. I am not good at renaming. Here are the scents that don't sell well and maybe you all can come up with some cool names.

Lily of the Valley = Wedding Veil

Watermelon = Summer Serenade

Tropical Cooler = Sunshine Mist

Eucalyptus Spearmint = Revitalize

Margaritaville = Girls' Night Out

Dreamsicle = Orange Dream

Coconut = Noix de Coco (French for Coconut)

Hazelnut = Avellana (Spanish for Hazelnut)

[southernscents]

WOW!!! Those are good. I go blank when I try to rename them. How do you do that, lol. I will try the name rechange and then at the next craft show or later on this year I will maybe clearance what did not sell.

Thanks a whole bunch.

[Melly]

Wow, those are good names! be sure to let us know how it works out for you, best of luck!

[Alajane]

I'd had a bottle of gingerbread FO for over a year and hadn't been able to sell any of the candles I made with it. So one night this week I mixed it with orange chiffon cake and it's the most wonderful scent!! I poured up all the FO I had in this scent, so the way this will probably work is that people will love it and I'll have to re-order gingerbread!

Jane

[sockmonkey]

I'm good at renaming anyone else's stuff, but draw a blank with my own! I hope they work for you!

[candleessence]

I usually will put all the FO thats are not selling into votives-If you were doing a show you could put them all in a basket & say 5 for $3 or something like that. Alot of times I will use these votives at home demo's as free gifts or send one along with a customer order. I do make the votives ahead of time though b/c FO last longer in wax-btw just give the outside of the votive a rub if the FO smell fades in the wax a little-it will come right back PS-I had 2lbs (no kidding) of coconut that I couldn't sell for anything-but add it to vanilla (think I named it cocobana or something, lol, or some kind of pie scent & I got rid of it in no time.

[shell1226]

I put stuff like that in a 20% off basket when I do candle parties. You'd be suprised at the stuff you can get rid of when there's a bargain involved. People tend to try things they wouldn't normally just because it's on sale.