Sniffie Swapping??

[Sharon in PA]

I know this was discussed before and did a search to remind me of the final outcome, but no luck... Did we talk before about doing something like this?? I think it would be so cool to "smell" something before I buy-even a sample- sometimes the description sounds awesome and then it turns out to be something completely different than what I thought....like swap cottonballs of scent in baggies-cheap to mail, too...

[ILVCANDLES]

I think this is a great idea!

[Tina J]

Yeah this is a good idea. I lost track of how many scents I've tried in the last few months that I either didn't like or that I already had something very similar to. Sure I was able to sell some, but I definitely didn't make back even close to what I put into them. This would save lots of money!

[Sharon in PA]

I think so too! I mean, everyone know's that buying oz-ers makes sense and saves ya money, but I have gotten SOOO many of those even that I don't even bother puttin' into wax, cause I can't get past OOB!

Shall we put our heads together to see what we can figure out? I mean, at least we can all list what we have, PM each other~ whoever is interested, make it like a sniffie swap club of sorts, then keep ea. other posted as far as any new ones we get...I'd personally love it!!

Let's hear your ideas! And any kinks that may have to be worked out...

[Tina J]

Well I'm definitely game. I'm not sure exactly what would be the best way to go about it. But while we're ironing out the specifics, I'll at least work on getting my list o' scents together. This could be fun!

[sockmonkey]

What if you just do it like a soap swap. You have people sign up to exchange sniffies without picking and choosing what they want. Just make everyone who participates responsible for sending one sample for each of the scent categories.

For example:

1 Vanilla

1 Floral

1 Herbal

1 Desiger Dupe

1 Food

1 Holiday

1 Random

I know we all have scents we would like to try, but if we all list our inventory and allow people to select from that, I think it would be way too hard for someone to manage it.

Another way around it, other than my previous suggestion, is to do a swap based on brands. For example, Swap One could be for 5 sniffies from Scent Works. Swap Two could be for sniffies from Nature's Garden, etc. The thing about that method is...if you don't already buy from them, you can't contribute. But, perhaps if you couldn't contribute, you could mail $1 to the person who is managing the swap. Some random person in the swap will then receive $1 instead of sniffies. It could be fun. I would make sure that people who sign up state whether they will be sending sniffies or $1. If we get more people sending $1 than sniffies, then we wouldn't do it. But otherwise, everyone who participated would get sniffies or a $1 "booby" prize.

Whad'ya think?

[Sharon in PA]

Ok, sock, maybe the category swap would be good, I for one "try" not to buy from a HUGE # of suppliers, I do get some here and there from the classy's from suppliers I don't normally use.

So, we could have a host gather the sniffies, arrange them by category, then re-send them out to each participant...

OK, so, (sorry if i sound dense:rolleyes2 ) say 10 participants, then 1 scent of each category to the host, who then splits them up and resends- everyone should label their baggies w/ CT names so as to not get their own sniffies back. I can't see ea. pack of sniffies weiging more than an ounce, like add a $1 to your submission to cover handling and return postage cost?

Does this sound right?

If it goes well, we could do it again...

[sockmonkey]

Why not send your sniffie(s), along with a postage paid envelope addressed to yourself. That would make it super easy. If we did it that way I would be happy to manage it.

[CareBear]

Don't the FOs leak through the baggies? Or at least the scent of them? Just curious, I know that MANY sorts of plastic cannot hold up to them.

[jade]

I sent Qtip sniffies in little plastic ziplock craft bags to Michi. I know she said the scents were overwhelming when she opened the package but I don't know whether or not they all intermingled. Maybe she could let us know what happened.

[sockmonkey]

I have found that to be the case. The only alternatives are to just do one scent at a time, or put everything in vials.

[Tallbabydoll]

Just thought I'd throw out an idea of a swap I hosted before and it worked out beautifully. It was a fo sample swap. Swappers sent me a box of 1oz fos and I swapped them with other people fo sample. I had everyone send a "wish list" of a few scents they were interested in trying, and tried to send them what I could based on what came in. To match suppliers and scents was to much. Everyone wanted the same suppliers, so I'd suggest going with just the scents, if someone even wanted to take that part on.

Basically if you sent me 15 bottles, I sent you 15 bottles from other peoples boxes and if say you wanted to try bananna nut bread, dreamsicle, and lemon pound cake, and those were available, I sent those as part of your 15. Everone paid their own postage to and from hostess. It was easiest to do the flatrate boxes cuz of some samples coming in glass bottles, and a few swappers only sent like 6 plastic bottles, so they only sent postage to cover what it costs to send 6 plastic bottles. KWIM?

This works much better than the round robin because you don't have to wait for months for the box to make it's way around, and no one gets stuck with what no one else wants.

Problems I had: One person sent me 1/2 ouncers, large bottles with only 1oz of fo, a 4oz bottle with 2 oz of fo, most sent at least one sample of sex on the beach, so it was hard not to send everyone that scent back, but at least it was a different supplier that they got back, a couple of boxes came late, and I had already done up some of the boxes, so those late boxes made it difficult to swap everything out and match up wish lists. Had to open some of the boxes that were already done back up. That's all I can think of right now for pointers. HTH

[Sharon in PA]

I DID enjoy the sample swap when you hosted it, Tallbabydoll; my thing with the sniffie swap (if it is indeed possible to do) is to just get an idea of scents you would then like to pursue, cause you already know what they smell like OOB. I didn't necessarily want to get more samples, just get a better idea of what I'd like before I buy, KWIM?

(Not to say that if that ends up being the concensus(sp?) here becuase it isn't a good idea to send the sniffies without them getting fouled up, that I wouldn't second the idea of a sample swap then...)

I am not sure how we would go about sending out the sniffies, unless we stuffed them in 1 oz PET or PEET bottles or whatever that plastic is called... i had to buy them to send out my samples in the sample swap too..but then the whole package gets bigger, too...

Waddaya thinking Sock? (BTW, thanks for the offer to host...!)

[Tallbabydoll]

What about maybe a melt swap? They'd be smaller than tarts, so it wouldn't cost much in wax or shipping, and folks could get an idea of what scents smelled like in wax? The scents shouldn't intermingle that way like with the qtips, at least I don't think they would. I use a candle mold and I can make about a dozen melts with 1 1/2oz of wax. Dunno how much this would help?

[Sharon in PA]

I like the idea, but I am confused, a dozen melts w/ 1 1/2 OZ of wax? What kind of mold is it?

Guess it would also depend on who of us that are interested do make melts... It would be easy for me, I would say as long as they are bagged and labeled, I for one wouldn't want to be worried about packaging...

So, could we do this the same way as sock suggested? A melt from each category from ea. participant, sent to one host, who then mixes 'em up, and re-send 1 of ea. category back to every one...?

[Tina J]

I would love to get in on this, but I only do B&B, so melts are out for me. Call me crazy, but could we buy some of those real cheap ball point pens from either the dollar store or wally world, you know the ones that are like 50 cents for a dozen, and just pop of the end, remove the barrel of ink, and then insert a Q-tip sniffy? Sounds dumb, but it would still be pretty cheap to mail. They'd weigh next to nothing and could still fit in an envelope.

[Sharon in PA]

That's what I was afraid of, those of us that don't do melts...

yea, Tina, we need something small to keep the scents apart, that's not a bad idea. I want to try it out, see how it works, and you're right, it would still keep shipping down...

Tallbabydoll, have any ideas for small sniffie containers?

[Sharon in PA]

C&S has 1 oz bottles for $5.88/dozen. I know that helps me, but not you all, unless you have suppliers near-by too! But, if we all got some of these , stuffed 'em w/ cotton balls, and sent 'em out, shipping would only be a few $ first class. I got an envelope of wicks from the classy's here the other day, and they cost the sender like $2 and change to send first class.

If you don't have a supplier nearby, what about a beauty supply store? Some of you that do B&B may already have these small contaners that you give away as samplers...

[Cissy]

Just running this idea (maybe a crazy one) by you guys. Wonder if we could cut up the thicker paper plates into 1" or so squares, saturate them in FO, let dry, write name of FO and supplier on adhesive label (or tape it on) , wrap and seal individually inside wax paper or aluminum foil and mail in an envelope. This would be similar to the way Avon use to do fragrance samples, although

their's were not dry and were much more professionally done. These are supplies everyone would have on hand and would be very light-weight. I'm not sure how long the FO would linger, though. It might work sort of like doing the cardboard air fresheners. Everyone wouldn't have the cardboard on hand, but all of us probably have paper plates, aluminum foil or wax paper.

[Tina J]

What about these?

http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=5197&ProductName=+1.6+oz+Clear+PET+Cylinder+Round+%26+White+Top

They're a little larger, but pretty darn cheap.

[Tallbabydoll]

Oopsy had a typo, I meant to say I use a candy mold. The melts only weigh .1oz or 5 grams each. So 1.2oz wax will make a dozen melts. Even if there were 24 swappers the envelope would still only weigh less than 5oz to mail. To save on time and packaging swappers could just wrap each one in plastic wrap, put a sticker with their names on each melt and post here the fo name and supplier. I got the candy mold at walmart for like $2.00 for anyone who's interested. Mine are star shapes, but they come in a million different designs like hearts, cresent moons, duckies, etc. I fully understand how this idea wouldn't work for those who only make B&B since they wouldn't have wax. I personally dont like the "sniffies" because I found in the sample swap that ALOT of fos smell almost the same oob. It wasn't until I got them into wax that I got a true sense of what the fo was supposed to smell like. These are just my thoughts, and the melts were just an idea to swap scents that wouldn't mingle or cost much.

As for what scents to send, participants could post what fos they have to send and others could vote on which one they'd most like to try. The scent that gets the most votes from each person is the one they send? Just an idea. HTH

[Tina J]

So if the consensus is to send a finished product maybe soapers could send a tiny bit of soap in a baggie and us b&b people could send those little foil sample packs with some lotion in them. I have some of these foil packets, but I haven't tried 'em yet. I'll do some experimenting tonight.

[Sharon in PA]

Ok, I am quite honestly up for any # of these great ideas, I just think this is a cool idea to do!

I already have a load of finished tarts, I could easily "shave" a hunk off of ea. one, and send in those small cello craft bags-scnt name, supplier name, Ct name-I DO agreee about the "OOB" scent as opposed to the "finished" scent TBD mentioned-

Now, we have to decide on what to send, and how many participants we'd like to invite...

I personally like sock's idea of a scent for ea. category, participants choose their personal favs...less work involved IMO, and we can get this rolling...I could host if this sounds too much after all to sock, she's not been on for awile to get up to date on our ideas...we'll wait to hear some more ideas, sound good so far?

We could call this a "Scent Sampler Swap" instead of a sample swap, since you're not gonna be getting a useable sample-only a chance to smell some good stuff!

[ILVCANDLES]

I think making tarts or something along those lines is an awesome idea. Smelling OOB vs in the wax is usually somewhat different. Then maybe the idea that was used as far as

1 Vanilla

1 Floral

1 Herbal

1 Designer

1 Food

1 Holiday

1 Random...

could be used? Then maybe we can be assigned a swap partner or few partners and trade that way. I was wondering if the tarts or whatever, could have a label telling where the FO was bought from and how much FO they used? I hope this works out this sounds like so much fun!

PS forgot to add if you only make B&B maybe they could partner up w/ someone else who makes B&B too and they could swap just like if they were making tarts???

[sockmonkey]

We could call this a "Scent Sampler Swap" instead of a sample swap, since you're not gonna be getting a useable sample-only a chance to smell some good stuff!

I believe this was originally called "Sniffie Swap." There's nothing wrong with your idea, it's just that I, and some other people interested in doing this don't do wax. The word sniffie implies that you basically go to no trouble, you just supply a little dab of fragrance.

It's great if you have some finished products you can supply as samples, but for anyone who doesn't, that will require a bit of effort.

I know from experience that the scent from different scented shrinkwrapped votives will contaminate each other, so I don't think doing wax is necessarily the solution. Maybe cello bags are part of the answer. I hadn't even thought about that. I put my soaps in them, tie the ends and you can barely smell the soap when you sniff it. The soaps don't ever end up taking on the scent of another soap when they're mixed together.

I wonder if putting the sniffie in a ziplock bag and then in a cello bag would be beneficial. You would have to do that for each scent. What experience does everyone else have using cello bags?