You gotta read this, tell me what your what you would do.

[bearruncandles]

Do any of you ever have to deal with people like this?

I haven't emailed this lady back yet, what should I tell her?

Should I answer her email or just ignore it?

Maybe I should send her all of my 5 years worth of notes, recipes, formulas, suppliers, contacts, wholesale accounts, retail customer base, market ideas, etc.

Better yet, maybe I should just take off from my busy schedule and fly to her home and do a hands on demo for her and move in until she can learn all of my methods!

I haven't a clue as to who she is.

Here is her email that she sent.

"Hi my name is_____and I live in Georgia. My best friend got me a lot of your candles and tarts for christmas and now my husband and I have started making candles and tarts I am having a hard time finding jars and I can not find the bags to put the tarts in. I have been ordering my stuff from Texas. I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me out and let me know a good place to buy candle supplies at where you buy. Any information on the tart bags, candle jars, labels, how you make your candles or anywhere that have good prices on stuff would be great if you don't mind giving me that information. I was going to make lables at home if you know a good program for making labels and some where to get the labels at would be great I have looked for this stuff at offic depot and they didn't have anything I could use. I don't know if i could be of any help to you but if you have any questions for me please let me know.

Thank You,

________"

What should I do?

[BLSoaps]

I very rarely share my suppliers. If it's someone I'm friends with, someone I know who is not just looking for a free skate through, then I'll share a supplier. But a stranger, especially someone obviously just starting out, I don't do it. I love helping out newbies, but I ALWAYS encourage people to do their own research. To me, it's like being asked to hand over all my recipes. I just don't do it.

My suggestion, e-mail her, tell her you don't share supplier information, but encourage her to join CandleTech, or a yahoo group geared towards new chandlers. Maybe I'm a little harsher than most, but I know how much time I've spent, and still spend, researching recipes, ingredients and suppliers. I don't give them out to just anybody (actually, the recipes I give out to no one! LOL!).

Be polite, but firm. Remind her this is your business, and while these aren't necessarily trade secrets, like recipes are, they are things she'll need to research on her own if she's really serious about it.

Good luck!

[Meredith_D]

Tell her that you don't give out the names of your suppliers, but she can Google to her hearts content.

[David Fields]

In this world there are ants and grasshoppers. The person wanting all of your expertise is a grasshopper. Email her: "Upon receipt of our standard $5000 fee for sharing expertise we will forward all information that we have pain-stakingly garnered over the past five years. Thank you for your inquiry."

[so-soy]

How about telling her this, "The day Yank-me gives me a list of their suppliers, and tells me how they make their candles, is the day I will give you my list of suppliers! Have a nice day!

[Trish]

I would either not reply or just simply include a link to CT. :undecided

[Janelle]

Yeah, I agree, I would def. not give her any supplier information! I made that mistake once and will never do it again! I've had people at craft shows ask me similar ?'s, everyone thinks it's sooo easy. Just reply back that she can find alot of information on the internet if she just takes the time to research.

[Crafty1_AJ]

You could respond with a simple, "That information is proprietary."

[sudsnwicks]

Can you even verify the part about her receiving your candles as gifts? If you have not had any orders from Georgia that would be a clue the whole thing is made up. In any case I would not give her any info at all.

[Candle Makin Momma]

I just say, " I am sorry, but that is all my secret." I've had too people ask me. One I know and one I didn't

[candlesprite7]

In this world there are ants and grasshoppers. The person wanting all of your expertise is a grasshopper. Email her: "Upon receipt of our standard $5000 fee for sharing expertise we will forward all information that we have pain-stakingly garnered over the past five years. Thank you for your inquiry."

I like this one...LOL

[cindym]

I personally would not reply. She may email you again, if so, I would email her back and tell her that you are so flattered that she likes you products but perhaps she should contact Yank@@@@@@@@@ and see if they can help her. :laugh2: :laugh2: Really don't let it get to you. Give her no info, send her a coupon for 10 % off any of your products.

[logcabinmomma]

I like the $5,000 training fee idea!

-Kristi

[doris]

I know this happens all the time, but I still wonder at the nerve of people who decide, seemingly at the spur of the moment, to make candles or whatever, and expect everyone to help them out with absolutely everything. There are very few jobs on earth that do not require some learning and work; why on earth does she think she's exempt. Please refer her here; there are a few people who will set her straight really fast, and rightly too.

[SoyKandles]

I probably would not reply either. Or just say to start researching on the internet or her public library and let her do the work just like we all did.

It's fine to help someone when you can tell they've done some work researching themselves, but to give them everything . . . that's crazy!!

[BubbleBath]

You could respond with a simple, "That information is proprietary."

I agree.. This way you won't be offending her, as I am sure she is being sincere and has not really considered how unprofessional that question is. Also I would tactfully let her know that before she decides on labels and tart bags she should invest in several months, if not years of testing; and she should start her testing on cheap dollar store jars until she finds the wax she likes and fragrances that throw with that wax. Something like:

Dear ___________,

While I am flattered that you enjoyed my candles, I regret that I do not share my suppliers. What I suggest is that you conduct research, both online and in books, and join a message board where you can get advice from your peers. One such message board is www.candletech.com; Candletech has a wealth of information for the novice chandler and is a good place to bounce ideas around.

Another suggestion is prior to ordering final jars, labels and tart bags; you should invest time in testing different waxes and fragrances, as each wax has it's own characteristics. You are the one that needs to decided on what will work best for you. This testing process (which I cannot emphasis enough) can take anywhere from several months to several years. As for jars, before sinking countless dollars into jars that require shipping (extra costs involved) I would purchase canning jars from your local dollar store to use for testing.

I wish you luck in your new venture,

Sincerely,

This way you are not giving out information, but are shown as being encouraging and courteous.

[debscent]

While I don't think it's necessary to be rude or sarcastic, and some of the replies are pretty good and straight forward. I would respond, and make it short and simple. Thank you for letting me know you have enjoyed our products, and unfortunately it's company policy not to divulge such information. Once again thank you for thinking of us.

[itsmejeffd]

Dear ___________,

While I am flattered that you enjoyed my candles, I regret that I do not share my suppliers. What I suggest is that you conduct research, both online and in books, and join a message board where you can get advice from your peers. One such message board is www.candletech.com; Candletech has a wealth of information for the novice chandler and is a good place to bounce ideas around.

Another suggestion is prior to ordering final jars, labels and tart bags; you should invest time in testing different waxes and fragrances, as each wax has it's own characteristics. You are the one that needs to decided on what will work best for you. This testing process (which I cannot emphasis enough) can take anywhere from several months to several years. As for jars, before sinking countless dollars into jars that require shipping (extra costs involved) I would purchase canning jars from your local dollar store to use for testing.

I wish you luck in your new venture,

Sincerely,

This way you are not giving out information, but are shown as being encouraging and courteous.

This is a great response except for the referral to candletech. This is the kind of person who will get on here and expect everyone to just hand over all their information. They will take, take, take and have absolutely nothing to contribute because they won't do any research themselves.

Something that I would add to this is the thousands of dollars spent to perfect a product. I just went over all my receipts for taxes and figured I spent over $6,000 last year just in candle supplies alone. That didn't even include things like printer ink, office supplies and other things.

[JenT]

huh...that almost sounds like the same lady who contacted me not long ago!

She contacted me through my yahoo messenger one night...told me she was a candlemaker...was working on REALLY BIG candle orders etc...then started asking how I made mine...where I buy my supplies and I told her to come here to candletech.

I havent heard from her anymore...and I waited to see if she would join and contact me but nope.

[dest]

I would reply w/ I am glad to see that my candles inspired you, but unfortunately I cannot give out my suppliers. You can do a search on the internet & I am sure you will find some very helpful info. Thank you~

[Rebecca]

Into the junk mail it would go. I would just not respond.

[gmp]

I would respond b/c it is the professional thing to do, and she may decide to bag making her own and buy from you if she struggles enough. I would say something along the lines of what was already written about "glad my product inspired you, regretfully, that information is proprietary, etc," and then refer her to the National Candle Association at http://www.candles.org/. And wish her luck and that's it!

[Late Night]

Holy crap! I can not believe the nerve of some people. Well, I can but holy crap! I think I'm stunned. I wouldn't give her the time of day. I would not answer her email either. What REALLY got me was when she said SHE will help YOU...if she can! Holy crap. *faint*

[tangerine]

This is a great response except for the referral to candletech. This is the kind of person who will get on here and expect everyone to just hand over all their information. They will take, take, take and have absolutely nothing to contribute because they won't do any research themselves.

I agree with this. I wouldn't send her the link to CT. Besides, if she comes here, she'll find this thread.

[Cissy]

IMO, there are basically three kinds of people who ask these type questions.

1st Type: The sincere, but not too smart person:

This type person is sincerely interested in learning to make candle products, maybe as a needed source of income or maybe just as a hobby to keep from getting bored...but not smart enough to realize anyone in business would not be wise to give out all their trade secrets. Anyone not smart enough to figure this out, will not be smart enough to learn to make a quality product anyway.

2nd Type: The smart, but lazy person:

This person is smart enough to learn, but too lazy to put forth much effort to achieve on their own, without someone else guiding them all the way. This person wants everything handed to them without having to work for it.

3rd Type: The smart, but greedy, backstabbing person:

When this type person sees that someone else is making money, they get dollar signs in their eyes and will resort to any tactic to get the information they need. They have the audacity to expect someone else to just hand out all their costly info even if it has the potential to take money out of their pocket. They are smart enough to know they should not be asking all the questions they ask, but are so greedy, they simply do not care who they hurt as long as they get what they want. These people are copycats and want the big easy dollars. They will stand up in your face asking questions as if they think you are stupid enough to tell them everything it took you years and thousands of dollars to learn yourself.

Sadly, most people I deal with seem to fit into the 3rd type category.