botanica Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 I need to vent with others that can feel my pain. I just found out that my local Wholefoods wants my products--the initial order would be about 60 candles/diffusers, and would be an ongoing relationship, possibly expanding to the other store in our area. So, my first reaction is yay! But, the catch is who can afford to get barcodes? I don't have a grand to throw down on something that may not be worth it. But what if it is? Am I missing out on yet another opportunity because of my cash flow issues????? Will I always be doing craft fairs that never really make me much money and are so much work?? Help! Would you spend the money you don't have to do this? They said that I can get back to them once I've made a decision. Jodie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Di_in_AZ Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 When I started I was in a similar situation. If $1,000 is what you need, then figure out your costs and how long and how many candles you will have to make to recoup the cost of the coder from your profits.I got an offer similar to yours for regular candle orders with a company, but knew I would need a melter and other things to make them in quantity. I think I spent around $1,500, but recouped that money in a short while, so it was very worth it. I also made them sign a contract to agree to purchase XX amount of candles a month for a year--that way I was guaranteed to recoup the money and not be out of pocket. It is standard and a good practice to ask for a contract in a business situation because it is understood you are going to lay out money to fulfill the orders, it also solidifies the agreement if things go south later. To not have a contract leaves you with the possibility of them backing out after a few orders, leaving you with the costs and a useless coder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted September 24, 2008 Author Share Posted September 24, 2008 Thanks for your reply. I'm so excited because I just found out that GS1 has a program called U.P.C. Plus for little people like me, and you can buy up to 10 codes for $75 each. Since I only need 5, that ROCKS! I didn't know that this program exists...I just thought it was the Partner Connections with the minimum $750 upfront fee w/ up to 100 codes. I now need to come up with a contract. Any suggestions?? I'm sure if I do a search there's lots of discussion on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2 Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 First, congrats on them being interested in your products! Woo hoo!!! Just curious, did they come to you? You may want to check out Buy A Bar Code.com. They have bar codes for as low as a $65 one time registration and $35 a bar code. Bar codes emailed to you to print within 24 hours and everything! I have read multiple good things about them, there are many reputable members of the Indie Beauty Network who use them. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tizimarezie Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Wow! I love Wholefoods Market. Congratulations on them asking to stock your products! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Thanks (:As to your first question, I got up the courage and started pursuing wholesale accounts. I've really dragged my heals on this, but I know that what I do is good, so I should promote myself in a way that my business can handle.Regarding barcodes, if only it was that easy. There is only one agency that you can get legal barcodes from, which is GS1. I believe the others are just for personal use, and aren't accepted by the bigger chain stores because they cannot be read globally. First, congrats on them being interested in your products! Woo hoo!!! Just curious, did they come to you? You may want to check out Buy A Bar Code.com. They have bar codes for as low as a $65 one time registration and $35 a bar code. Bar codes emailed to you to print within 24 hours and everything! I have read multiple good things about them, there are many reputable members of the Indie Beauty Network who use them. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern.scents Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Thanks (:As to your first question, I got up the courage and started pursuing wholesale accounts. I've really dragged my heals on this, but I know that what I do is good, so I should promote myself in a way that my business can handle.Regarding barcodes, if only it was that easy. There is only one agency that you can get legal barcodes from, which is GS1. I believe the others are just for personal use, and aren't accepted by the bigger chain stores because they cannot be read globally.No, buyabarcode.com is through GS1 so you can use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Huh, I didn't know about that...the pricing is different. I'll have to check it out. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Oooohhh, that's a good deal. See, that's why I love you all so much!! No one can know everything. (: You don't even have to pay renewal fees. Thank you! thank you! thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydnee Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 I purchased 10 codes from buyabarcode.com and have no problems whatsoever. The service was great and I received my codes within 3 hours. They work great in all the stores that carry my products including a local health food chain. Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socoolsoap Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 It's a step you have to decide to take. We took the step last year and although it was pricey, it was well worth it in the long run. The return came back a lot sooner than we anticipated.Good luck and congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted September 26, 2008 Author Share Posted September 26, 2008 Thank you everyone. I'm very excited, and am happy to say so are they at Wholefoods. It's nice to be taken seriously and appreciated for all my years of hard work and sacrifice. Now, hopefully people will buy them. (: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2 Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 I forgot to ask, do you have a website? I would love to see your candles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted September 29, 2008 Author Share Posted September 29, 2008 I forgot to ask, do you have a website? I would love to see your candles.I'm in the process of revamping it, so until it's done I'm too embarrassed to share. I'll try to attach a pic...if I can figure out how...Jodie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 I did it! I actually figured it out...I'm really bad with computers. Since I'm doing my site, it'll take me a 100 years with all my products. So, here's a pic. (: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3bees~1flower Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 on these barcodes...when you say you need 5 codes...is that 1 code per product or 1 code per scent? i am thinking of contacting our local wholefoods with three different products. would i need 3 codes, one for each product? or would each scent of each type of product need a different barcode? so i offered 3 scents of each product, would that be a total of nine different barcodes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted October 2, 2008 Author Share Posted October 2, 2008 It's one per product. If you have the same product with different sizes, you would then need one per size. That's what they requested of me to make it easier to input them into their system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3bees~1flower Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 so, to make sure i understand...one code per product, but each scent does not need it's own code, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthfriendly Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 it's one code per (scent), (size), (product). Example if you have jars & tins you will need one code per scent for jars and one code per scent for tins. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted October 5, 2008 Author Share Posted October 5, 2008 it's one code per (scent), (size), (product). Example if you have jars & tins you will need one code per scent for jars and one code per scent for tins. Hope this helps.For this account, they expressly asked me not to do that. They said that if you have one type of product, say a 16oz candle, then just get a barcode for that, and it will be used for all scent varieties. I have lots of scents, and it complicates it for them when putting the info into their system. Now, if there's some hard and fast legal rule about this, I'd sure want to know. I think it makes lots of sense to do one per scent, size, product, but I don't know if that's always necessary. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthfriendly Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 For this account, they expressly asked me not to do that. They said that if you have one type of product, say a 16oz candle, then just get a barcode for that, and it will be used for all scent varieties. I have lots of scents, and it complicates it for them when putting the info into their system. Now, if there's some hard and fast legal rule about this, I'd sure want to know. I think it makes lots of sense to do one per scent, size, product, but I don't know if that's always necessary. Please correct me if I'm wrong.If they told you to do it that way then it will save you money on barcodes. I know other stores go by scent & size. When WF places an order they always put the scent name and include the barcode for that particular scent on their order form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanica Posted October 5, 2008 Author Share Posted October 5, 2008 By WF, do you mean Whole Foods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthfriendly Posted October 5, 2008 Share Posted October 5, 2008 Yes, Whole Foods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMary Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 For this account, they expressly asked me not to do that. They said that if you have one type of product, say a 16oz candle, then just get a barcode for that, and it will be used for all scent varieties. I have lots of scents, and it complicates it for them when putting the info into their system. Now, if there's some hard and fast legal rule about this, I'd sure want to know. I think it makes lots of sense to do one per scent, size, product, but I don't know if that's always necessary. Please correct me if I'm wrong.Nope no laws on this one.I saved this thread and my thoughts (though I'm not ready to put them into action just yet) are fully ideal and not implemented yet, but I would just do a single code for one size candle. They are paying you regardless and just make a list of your own on what you send to them, for your own inventory purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizbizzyb Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Maybe I am thinking too hard....but wouldn't you want one for each type of container and scent....so they know what to reorder? Versus them just reordering a type of container. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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