felixncharlie Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I was wondering that when I sell in the future is it better to start out on your own on the internet or start selling wholesale or do both together??? I read how disappointed some get with wholesale accounts and the stores making more money than the candle producer sometimes. My feeling would be to start out with a website only but what are some ways you could promote yourself (besides google) so people find YOUR site? I don't do and don't want to do craft shows so that kind of exposure would be out for me.:undecided Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekeeper_sd Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 My idea was originally to just sell on the internet but I found out that didn't work. Now I do everything I can to sell. Although the craft shows are a lot of work and can be very frustrating, that is probably the best way to get your name out there. Even after doing 5 years of craft shows I still don't have enough website business to make a living. I do some wholesale but, again, that is never enough. The only thing I don't do is consignment. I tried it but that absolutely did not work for me. So, back to the craft shows I go. If it weren't for the shows, I would make very little and the shows can be a lot of fun and I have made a lot of friends in the other crafters. Just don't put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify!!!:rolleyes2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adillenal Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I make more soap and lotion than candles but I do shows and markets and have used these venues to drive repeat customers to my website. I would say 100% of my web sales are from repeat customers. The odds of someone googling and finding me with the zillions of sites out there is not too good. I am starting to get a few orders from people that received soap and/or lotions for Christmas and they are runnning out and want more. Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beekeeper_sd Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I make more soap and lotion than candles but I do shows and markets and have used these venues to drive repeat customers to my website. I would say 100% of my web sales are from repeat customers. The odds of someone googling and finding me with the zillions of sites out there is not too good. I am starting to get a few orders from people that received soap and/or lotions for Christmas and they are runnning out and want more. Love it.You are exactly right. There is a lot of stuff out there on the web and it's just hit or miss that someone finds your site. Unless, of course, you have big money to get your site up in the top billing of google. Even then, you still have to get them to buy from your site and not someone else's. But, if you sell a good product at a craft show, not only do you get that customer's future sales, you can pick up their family or friends orders as well. Word of mouth is the cheapest, best advertising I have found. I once spent $400 dollar advertising on a nationally marketed crafter's catalog (I hesitate to say the name) and got absolutely no business from it. Now I print my own brochures and give one to everyone who buys something from me at the shows. My advice: Hit the shows, sell quality products that people want to buy again and again, and advertise your website to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doglover Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Ditto on the craft/home/etc. shows. You have to let the people know...and keep reminding them...that you are there...IN ADDITION to the web submissions, linking, etc. etc. Put your contact info (including your website) on ALL printed material.Not everyone shops on the web. I have people that enjoy going to the shows...it is their annual "girls' day" or whatever. They usually wait to buy from me at shows. I have sales also on the website. I also have phone call sales. And occasionally I have mail (snail mail) orders which come in. So be diverse.Remember you have to advertise smart!Just an FYI, I do not wholesale, as I have found it to be more of a PITA than anything else. But JMHO.HTH.Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherl Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I think you are talking retail.. not wholesale... anyway.. you do need to get your product out in front of people. The best way to do that is shows, farmers markets and such. My experience is from the show they will take your card or buy product then come to a web site for more. Selling to family/friends is good to start but you do need to really go where the people are. Start small and make sure you have a great product and go from there. It took me a good 3 years of shows to really establish a reliable base of customers and also to perfect my presentation of the product. I did well enough I now have my own shop and they come to me For clarification.. retail is selling to the public.. wholesale is to shop owners that expect to buy from you and then mark up the product for their profit. When establishing your prices keep in mind a shop owner expects to double their money. If it cost you $2.50 to make the candle and you sell it for $6.00.. you might do great at shows because you are undercutting other candle makers. But a shop owner looking at your product would expect to get it for $3.00. Ideally.. you would wholesale at $5.00 and sell to the public for $10.00.. maybe offering a discount for buying 3 or more candles. These are things to think about when you establish pricing. You don't want to start too low then have to raise prices on regular customers to meet the wholesale expectation.. and they will not appreciate you selling lower than they can. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitePineCandle Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 It's an interesting point, and the reason why I'm just in the beginning stages of reworking my 6-month-old business. I thought I'd sell retail on the Web and do fundraisers, though I knew Web sales would be extraordinarily difficult without my candles being out there for people to touch and smell. Not to mention trying to attract visitors to my site is a bit like whispering in a hurricane.I've decided to stick exclusively with fundraisers and eventually wholesale accounts. I've looked at the numbers every which way trying to squeeze a penny here and there, but the fact is one will always make more money on a per-candle-basis selling retail than wholesale. But for me the trade-offs are worth it and I wish I'd gone that route from the start, but I guess I couldn't resist the allure of higher retails sales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adillenal Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I prefer to remain with retail since I work fulltime and I like being able to make what I want to when I need it. I do not list everything on my website so I will not run into a problem of being out. I still have people that call me and tell me what they want and I bring it to work or drop it off at their business. I have even had a mail order from someone that picked up a card at a show. No cc so she sent me a check. An older customer so she was happy and so was I.95% of my sales are in goat milk soap and goat milk lotion. I sell a few candles at shows but have never had an order from my website for a candle. Of course, I push the goat milk products so it isn't surprising. It takes time to build a customer base. I am on my second year so I think I am right on target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sockmonkey Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 For clarification.. retail is selling to the public.. wholesale is to shop owners that expect to buy from you and then mark up the product for their profit. When establishing your prices keep in mind a shop owner expects to double their money. If it cost you $2.50 to make the candle and you sell it for $6.00.. you might do great at shows because you are undercutting other candle makers. But a shop owner looking at your product would expect to get it for $3.00. Ideally.. you would wholesale at $5.00 and sell to the public for $10.00.. maybe offering a discount for buying 3 or more candles. These are things to think about when you establish pricing. You don't want to start too low then have to raise prices on regular customers to meet the wholesale expectation.. and they will not appreciate you selling lower than they can. Good Luck!FYI, most retailers don't appreciate it when wholesalers also sell to the public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Organic Ema Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I'm finding that it just takes time and ALOT of patience. We did anything and everything to get out products known. When my hubby was laid off for 2 years, and our buisness was the only means of supporting a family of 5...we went vending crazy. We hit the road and traveled in our rv everywhere.....went to Pow-wows, craft shows, festivals and markets. We just made ends meet by doing that. Alot of wrork, but at least it put food on the table and gas in our truck.We did get some wholesale orders by doing that, and people actually visiting our web site. Word of mouth does wonders. I was atcutally thinking about sending my product to Oprah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbv1 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I am in business for 3 years now. My first year I just had my website and nothing. I give away a lot of soap to co-workers and friends etc., just to get them to try it. I sold more to co-workers the first Christmas I was in business, for presents. I did one craft show the summer of my first year and got a phone call from a customer that bought my products at the craft show. They lived in another state so I shipped them what they wanted and they sent me a check. The second year I did the same craft show and had repeat customers but my website was still not getting me any business. Now my third year in, I am getting orders on my website from out of state and the only thing I can think of is that these people came to the craft shows. I give out menus listing my products and prices along with my business card to anyone that will take them at those shows. I have 3 retail locations that I give them a discount and they sell my products and for the first time in 3 years I ran out of soap by the end of the holiday season. I have been frantically making new batches each weekend, as I work full time at another job. I am hoping that at some point I can do my own business full time but we will have to see. So each year gets a little better and I am hoping this year is better than last, and I plan on being better prepared for the holidays! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisasst Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 The outrageous shipping charges has, in my opinion, ruined the web sales of candles. Unless any of you have ideas that cut down on shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bthouse Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 The outrageous shipping charges has, in my opinion, ruined the web sales of candles. Unless any of you have ideas that cut down on shipping.That's my thought exactly. Shipping even 1 candle from one side of the country to the other costs almost more than the candle itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapmom25 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I did, and do for now. I used to do wholesale, but quit. I also used to drop ship for other sites and chose to quit doing that as well. Personal choices, didn't really have to, just wanted to. I've never, ever, done a show, and I've never had my soaps in a brick and mortar store. I started a long time ago though (long enough that I'm ready to move on to something different now!) and the first couple of years can definitely be rough. We started our first website in 2000 and saw an increase in sales every single year until last year when I basically stopped wanting to keep in building after I closed my shop at the end of 2007 and brought the business back home.It took us from 2000 to 2004 until we could live on the business alone, but my husband and I BOTH had only our soap business (and still only online) from 2004-2007. In 2007 he decided he was ready for something different too So it can be done. If your heart is in it, stick with it!! It's going to be hard for me to give it up ~ kinda like letting one of my own children grow up and move on .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
country bee Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 I really not for sure this works well,but in my area there is free oxo.com to list your stuff for people to find in your area,just a thought.You don't need a site.on-line is hard,I really work at it and heck I make more from my front door.Maybe some day,I use it for clients to view ,they e-mail what they are wanting me to bring to the next market day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyW Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 I do both retail & wholesale. I have never had an issue with any of my wholesale account having a problem with me also retailing my items, as it is my business. I make more $$ on the wholesale side of things- I think last year I did 8x more in wholesale than retail. This is a full time job for me, and it pays enough to buy my supplies and pay some of the household bills. I do retail only because my original customer base was retail, and there are times I have thought of giving it up and just doing wholesale only, but then I know I would have those local customers that wouldn't have a place to buy what they want when they want. As my wholesale accounts are not able to supply all that I offer. I have shoppes in quite a few states, Italy & Australia that carry my items and I would much rather pour 50 candles than 1. I also offer lotions, room sprays, refresher oils & potpourri which compliment my candles & melts. I have had a web site for both sides for the past 3 years. I feel "for me" a web site is necessary and that is where most of my wholesale business has found me. I do not pay extra for placement but I have had my business altogether on the web (originally retail that pointed to wholesale) for almost 9 years. It does take time to build any business and just like other online sales everyone has to pay shipping whether it is to get their supplies or to purchase product. There are times I wish I had a store front as I feel local customers would like to just come in and shop, but that hasn't happened yet, maybe eventually it will. I guess I mainly wanted to say if you have had your business for a little while in the retail side, you can still be wholesale, but you have to make sure your wholesale pricing is in line with your retail, meaning if you charge $15.00 retail for a 12oz candle, your wholesale should be $7.50 otherwise it doesn't come across as being wholesale prices.I think everyone has their own way of doing things and what works for some might not work for others. But in any business it takes work and time. I am told I am successful by those around me, but in my eyes I haven't reached that by far...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted April 5, 2010 Share Posted April 5, 2010 Becky, since I live in italy, I'd love to see your products, would you mind telling me where can I find one of the shops you mentioned?Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyW Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Becky, since I live in italy, I'd love to see your products, would you mind telling me where can I find one of the shops you mentioned?Thanks!My wholesale site is: http://www.cntrykeepsakeswholesale.com . If you have any questions you can always email me directly at cntrykeepsakeswholesale@gmail.com .Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkymonkey66 Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 I don't wholesale at all anymore. The profit was not enough for all the work. I barley make enough now with supplies and shipping costs going up as high as they did over the recent years.There is no way I could sell for half my retail and make it worth the effort. If I raised the retail to justify the wholesale prices, no one would buy them.I always thought it should be one or the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 From experience I've found web order mainly come from repeat customers. As mentioned earlier the web is flooded with sites. Generally, I think people want to smell, see and touch the candles before they buy. Hence, markets, expos etc are a good place to find customers that will repeat buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyW Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 I think you would be surprised the amount of people that order from me for the first time and it is a $200-300 order without ever trying beforehand, and they then become my repeat customers. I think it is all on how your business is found. I guess I just believe in the internet as that is what I attribute most of my business from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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