Sal_gal48 Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 I'm kind of perplexed right now. Had my first craft show at a first-time holiday bazaar and sold zilch.Now I'm thinking -- I got all these candles, about 16 -- and I got to sell them!Is anybody selling candles online and how are you doing?I have a website for my goods at other places like Amazon.com, and thinking maybe I should do a store online with a paypal link.See: lwright.bizThanks all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YooperCandles Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 Just wanted to say that you will probably need more than 16 candles to make any money either at craft shows or online.......I make votives and 2 sized jars in over 20 different scents and have nearly 1000 candles right now and am worried I wont have enough for upcoming shows. Remember, JMOPam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spellkast Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 My god!!! Pam- where in the world are you that you can sell a THOUSAND candles at a craft show...I wanna come!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sal_gal48 Posted November 16, 2005 Author Share Posted November 16, 2005 My god!!! Pam- where in the world are you that you can sell a THOUSAND candles at a craft show...I wanna come!!! me Too! Pam before you judge....1) I always am conservative with a 1st year craft show, which this was.2) It was a "private" school craft show, not a big old craft hall; at most we had 45 vendors on 4 floors3) I mix the candles with soap and bath salts and other stuff4) I share a table to cut the table costAnd yes-- where do you live that you can take 1000 candles to a craft show. Does that require a truck???? :smiley2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrealh1975 Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 me Too! Pam before you judge....1) I always am conservative with a 1st year craft show, which this was.2) It was a "private" school craft show, not a big old craft hall; at most we had 45 vendors on 4 floors3) I mix the candles with soap and bath salts and other stuff4) I share a table to cut the table costAnd yes-- where do you live that you can take 1000 candles to a craft show. Does that require a truck???? :smiley2:Ok...I have to get in here with my 2 cents and just say...Don't be too conservative with first year shows. I just hosted my very first show, there were 11 vendors, an awesome location and no vendor went home with less than $150 in their pockets. With the right exposure, ANY first time show can do great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire and Ice Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 I know that when I tour craft shows for the next year, I will generally pass anybody who doesn have their own booth by thyemselves. If theire table look like slim pickins, I will also pass by without coming over because they haven't even filled their space well to invite the public to browse. On some of out show entries locally, the organizer will ask you to list the shows you been in and how many years. This way they are not putting a newbie in the main show area(Gym) and an estabish crafter in a little room where there's smaller attendance. (classroom) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinInOR Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 If you just have a few misc candles, sticking them up on a website might not get them sold - there's tons of dedicated candle sites up there, so it will be hard for people to find you. Your best bet would be eBaying them, but that's really competitive too. And I see from that website you already have links to other sites where you auction - can't you use those? It must be hard to sell other peoples work when you don't have a lot. That fair sounded quite a good size, actually, so maybe F&I was right, that number of products was just too spare looking to catch peoples eyes for gifts. Maybe combine them somehow into gift baskets so they're attractive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YooperCandles Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 Just so you know, about 65% of those candles are votives........lol I keep alot of votives because I sell alot of them. Also, those are for several craft shows, not just one..........lolol (I wish) I didnt want to make you feel bad, hope I didnt.....just was shocked when you said you didnt sell any but you only have sixteen......didnt realize you also have other stuff.I agree, that if a table has too much or too little stuff I feel they either didnt make much and arent into it 100% or that they havent sold anything and they must not have a very good product (I am very picky.....can you tell)Again, sorry if I made you feel bad because that was not my intention.Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebcandles Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 Im selling candles online and doing alright but could be better. I sell mostly by word of mouth, craft shows and home parties.I would add those candles to gift baskets containing your other products as mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michi Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 I know you want to make some money NOW, but why not just hold on to them, inventory them, until your next show? They won't go bad before then, and you'll already be 16 candles ahead of the game next time. Besides, have you checked out the candles sales on Ebay and such? Those people are selling candles for next to nothing, and there are a TON of sellers on there, so very competitive and they don't seem to be doing that well. JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForHisGlory Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 I'm kind of perplexed right now. Had my first craft show at a first-time holiday bazaar and sold zilch.Now I'm thinking -- I got all these candles, about 16 -- and I got to sell them!Is anybody selling candles online and how are you doing?I have a website for my goods at other places like Amazon.com, and thinking maybe I should do a store online with a paypal link.See: lwright.bizThanks all.I am doing better after I changed my label. Makes so much difference. You might want to look at that.I only sell in one location, so I'm not ever going to have 1,000 candles. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Daniel Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 I am not selling on line, but I have sold some of my candles at the following locations: hair salons, (start where you get your hair cut at, usually she rents the booth, so she can put anything in there that she wants to and she does not even charge me anything, she does buy candles for me for her personal use, I sell them to her in a case and give her at a wholesale price. I have about 25 at a bible bookstore right now and the owner of the store gets 30% commission. So I am still doubling my money there. I have sold some wholesale at a locally owned pharmacy here in town also. Just look around your town and try and hit the individuals that have their own place, not like a franchise. I will probably hit some tanning salon's also and sell to them at wholesale. I have also thought about liquor store's, I know that might sound funny, but make some that are: Fuzzy navel, strawberry daiquiri, wine & roses etc... and sell them at wholesale to them. Since you have alot of votive's, I would sell them with the votive container and candle in it, I think they would sell if they would put them by the register and just ask people, most guys will purchase a candle for their lady, when they are in there getting wine. Hope this helps some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechcreekcandles Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 We have had our website for four years now. It brings in about 45% of our sales, the other 55% are through wholesale accounts, fundraisers, and word of mouth. Plus we will be opening our retail store located on our property in the fall. The website does well (although we are revamping it at the moment), but it does act as an online catalogue for us. I say if you can afford the hosting services, then go for it. We currently pay $6.95 a month and it's well worth the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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