Is it hard to get supplies during the Holidays?

[Brooke]

Hi Everyone,

I have never experienced the Holiday rush.

How can one be best prepared on supplies.

Example : Predicted sales amount :rolleyes2

I have seen a lot of supplies on back orders, out of stock .

Not sure when that starts.

I would hate to get a good order and than not beable to get enough

supplies in

So how do you handle the Holidays ?

[Glowlite]

I ordered all my fall Fo's in July..some of those like candy corn where on back order at the time so I didn't even get some of em till last week. For winter I'm gonna order next week. I really have no idea how to guess at what my sales are gonna be for the holidays. I always buy more than and I need.

[annareeb]

I have never ordered during the rush.. I always order about 2-3 months before I need them.

[Trae]

I've never had a problem with FO's or wax being backordered but glassware can be sparse during the holiday rush. Shipping is a little slower too. I'd try to stock up now.

[Scented]

We've got the last of our fall/winter oils coming in soon. We were late ordering this last round, but that doesn't mean nothing was in stock, we were just slow. The scents should be here, predicting next week. I'm like Glow, tend to get the ordering out of the way in July, but really prefer end of June.

I'd say it's hard to predict sales till you go through a season to get an idea of what you sold. Just have a good idea of what you want to offer and how much. In following years you can base them on the results from your first year.

[Kaybee23]

The link below might answer part of your question. For the first few months I was testing last year, it was toward the end of the year and I didn’t have any issues finding anything I needed.

http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2886&page=2

[gerrie]

Wow, one thing I've learned is that you can not predict what the public will want from one year to the next, so it's very hard to plan how much of what you may need. I have found almost all suppliers bend over backwards to help you out in the busy season, but prepare yourself for those who don't bother to hire any extra people and blame it on you if you didn't order enough. I realize they are busy too, but when the busy time hits they should hire extra help, they know what a bind they can get into with so many people needing extra supplies. If I have a large order I ask friends and family to help me out, you do whatever it takes to keep the customer happy. This may get some people in an uproar, but it's JMHO. I try to be prepared, but like I said, what didn't sell one year may be the hit of the season the next year.

[DanaE]

I have all of my Fall/Winter scents already in, or should be here within the next few days. Last year there were several FOs I couldn't get in enough time (they were out of stock for weeks and by then it was just too late). This is the only time of year that I order more FOs than normal and order quicker. I'll order several lbs at a time instead of just 1 lb, so I won't have to reorder in a month or so.

I don't worry about my waxes, just the FO's. My heart sinks when I go to order a certain scent and see it "out of stock".

DanaE