How much is too much? FOs

[KFTS]

I have about 70 FOs and have had advice that it would be better not to have so many. It certainly would be easier! But being an FO addict, it is hard to imagine letting a good FO go. So far my selling markets have been doing home parties and a craft show here and there. I'm moving and thinking I'm mainly going to go wholesale. I cringe when thinking of cutting my FO list in half.

Any thoughts?

Sorry, that is 70 FOs in candles (3 sizes.). I have 12 in B&B products. Should have made that more clear.

[hewells]

I have about 70 FOs and have had advice that it would be better not to have so many. It certainly would be easier! But being an FO addict, it is hard to imagine letting a good FO go. So far my selling markets have been doing home parties and a craft show here and there. I'm moving and thinking I'm mainly going to go wholesale. I cringe when thinking of cutting my FO list in half.

Any thoughts?

Sorry, that is 70 FOs in candles (3 sizes.). I have 12 in B&B products. Should have made that more clear.

If you are leaning towards selling wholesale I would wait and see what your customers are ordering. If one isn't selling then you can eliminate that FO. If you like them all there is no reason to drive yourself nuts trying to elimate a few or so. Let your customers help make the decision. If no one wants your leather FO why carry it.

Maybe this makes sense, maybe it doesn't. I started with about 8 FO's and have only been adding to my line when a scent is requested that way I don't get crazy ordering FO's and end up with over a 100 scents. I have a few that I will be ordering, just because I want to add a few new ones to my list, but I tell customers that I have a list to add requested FO's to and if there is a good amount of customers that want this scent then I will order it and add it to the line. I also will get a scent and make special orders, but they have to order a minimum amount. So I could see that working in reverse to try to minimize your amount of FO's.

Though the more options you have the more options there are to make the sale.

[The_Dallas_Texas_Dean]

I carry 11 scents in one line and 12 in another.

I made sure that there was a Variety in each line with the best FOs I could find.

You are doing much better than I could do. In all my trials and triumphs I have not found 70 good FOs.

I do believe that it is important to keep trying, testing and CHANGING by "adding to" and "eliminating from" your line to keep your wholesale clients interested.....but not so frequently that their clients are asking for something that is no longer available TOO OFTEN.

Fragrance "trends" change, and I believe that other than the few scents that should always be available,( such as a Vanilla-something) you should change with the times. I am going to start adding one fragrance a season, and eliminating one fragrance a season.

Thats just my take on it. There would be many people tell you to never eliminate a FO if it is selling. I think that you would choose the one that sells the least but if you never eliminate..the numbers get too large. I think out of 11 or 12 great fragrances...every person shopping for a candle will find one they like if the choices are varied enough. JMHO

[BruceCarvesWax]

I have about 70 FOs and have had advice that it would be better not to have so many. It certainly would be easier! But being an FO addict, it is hard to imagine letting a good FO go. So far my selling markets have been doing home parties and a craft show here and there. I'm moving and thinking I'm mainly going to go wholesale. I cringe when thinking of cutting my FO list in half.

Any thoughts?

Sorry, that is 70 FOs in candles (3 sizes.). I have 12 in B&B products. Should have made that more clear.

We have almost double the amount you have. I know candle man has about double what I have! LOL Poured 36 testers last friday might find a few that "make" it. I dont want to get over 150 scents. My ideal right now would be 130. Like they ALWAYS say 20% of your product will make up 80% of your sales, so if I really wanted to cut down, i guess I could go with 26 scents. COOL! Have to remember that. Bruce

[KFTS]

I've been going over my list (candles), and actually I forgot I had deleted some and now am down to 56 (including 5 seasonals). I am going to leave them as is for now and keep better track of what is selling and what is not. I think I'd like to get it closer to 40 regular and 5 or so for Christmastime.

[clonefan80]

Bruce is right on the 20% so in reality you don't have to carry a huge inventory to the scents that are selling here and there. One thing to keep in mind is all scents don't sell all year round, some are seasonal.

[Candlewitch]

You need that 20%. The weirdos who buy off the wall stuff. That is why they buy off you and spread the word. VARIETY is very important in our fickle society. Short hand version,

[KFTS]

"You are doing much better than I could do. In all my trials and triumphs I have not found 70 good FOs. " Quote from Michael above.

It wasn't easy! Especially since I use soy and the C3 wax seems to be a very finicky wax. I've spent thousands and buy from like 10 suppliers for FOs alone, now with shipping so high, I need to consider that too. If I only buy 1-3 FOs from a company and they're not really big sellers, then I have to consider the cost of that. The gal that was telling me downsize saw I was getting a little burned out and she loves my candles and wants to make sure I keep going. She said not to think of it as losing fragrances but putting them on hold. I guess that makes it a little easier.

Thanks for the input