geekrunner Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 but a little earlier than I expected!I have a project to make a candle basket for Christmas presents this year for friends and family, and purchased a bunch of red AH apothecary jars. Also got clear coffee cups and had some odds and ends containers. Had some MC soy tested and was ready to start pouring, when mrs. geekrunner asked me to make some candles as going-away presents for her co-workers at one of her part-time jobs. So I made up 24 of the jars with some Potpourri scent I bought at closeout from Candlewic. Smelled great! Anyway, my first big pour, and a giveaway. DW was very happy.So what happens??? Everyone there loves them, and asks if I am selling any! DW says they want a price sheet and what scents I have. Well, I wasn't sure how to react. I knew I wanted to sell candles, but had not planned on it till next year, so I could have a line set up and some product ready. So after some thought and prayer, I decided to list ten scents that would be good to have for the holiday, and four jar types in six different sizes, calculated my costs for all the materials, tripled the cost to determine selling price, tweaked it a little, made up a price list/order sheet, and poured some wax/scent samples they could smell or melt at home. DW then took the wax samples, jar samples and price sheets and droped them off at her old job for her old co-workers to check out this past friday.DW said it went over very well, and was asked to keep the "display" for a week to give everyone a chance to check it out. So I'm a little nervous about it. It's earlier than I wanted, but it seems like an opportunity I can't pass up. I did specify a four week wait, which still gives me time to wick test my jars and deliver so they can enjoy or give as gifts, which is what many of them said they were going to do.I offered an 11 oz and 20 oz tureen, 10 oz and 16 oz apoth with flat lid, 8 oz jj and a monster 32 oz snap lid jar and ten holiday-type scents, most of which I've already tested. I have a basic label that I can write the scent name on, and a warning label as well. They will get burning instructions, similar to the ones I made for them on the gift candles.Whew! We shall see how the order turns out this Friday. Wish me luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slow-burn Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 Grats, I think, lol! Did I misunderstand you, or have you tested these sizes that you are offering? I may of misread it, but from what it sounds like, you are offering sizes that have not been wick tested I would not recommend that at all. It may backfire on ya. It seems like you are offering quite a few sizes. Maybe if you only offered the ones that you have successfully wick tested? I sell quite a few candles, and nobody complains that I only offer 2 sizes! Jars are awful expensive, and the more types you carry, the more you lose profit IMO. Cuz you are buying smaller quantities in a variety of sizes, instead of larger bulk of only a few sizes :tiptoe: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geekrunner Posted November 8, 2005 Author Share Posted November 8, 2005 I have 4 of the six wick tested for plain soy, so it's just a matter of wicking up or down when testing out the FO. I'm sure I've got enough of a grip on it and I'm working on the rest even now, so I can then pour one of each kind ordered and confirm correct wicking. All I need to work on is the 10 and 16 oz apoth.Actually I thought I was being modest with my jar selection. Maybe I'm thinking too big. I see the advantage of two sizes, though. My thinking was to have two types of a decorative jar, in two sizes, and have a smallish price leader along with a huge monster container. I have a dozen each of all but the jj, and I have 2 doz of them (I had a little cash as capital due to an unexpected windfall). Not really planning on any votives or pillars yet. I appreciate the advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceCarvesWax Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 Yep, you got your work cut out for you. 6 jar varieties, 10 scents, that sounds like 60 test candles to me. Thats lots of testing even for a month. That 32oz monster might take a few weeks of burning by itself to see how it does at the bottom. I guess you could wait and see what you have orders for and it might not end up to be 60 that you have to test. I only have one jar size. I have had some (20) apoth jars on the table in the past along with my regular ones and ONLY sold 1 in the 30 days at the show! I wish you luck and hope they all order just one size. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyN Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I haven't done any jars, but was wondering what size is the most popular? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geekrunner Posted November 11, 2005 Author Share Posted November 11, 2005 Well, DW stopped by her old job to pick up any orders left for us, and she left me a vm saying we got orders for 13 candles! I'm pretty well relieved it was not a tremendous amount. No idea what jar/scent combos there are, but it appears to be manageable. Thank you for the advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennhalcyon Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 I haven't done any jars, but was wondering what size is the most popular?Judy,I have found in the two years that I have been making candles that my smalls (5 oz) and large (15 oz) are most popular. It seems that people want to try a few scents first in a smaller, more economical jar, then they usually pick a favorite or two and upgrade to a large jar. They almost always skipped right over my medium (9 oz) so I discontinued it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.