Aus - Is There Any Way I Can Tell The Brand of FO?

[bart70]

I reckon that NCS has indeed lost the plot. They have been OOS of most of their glassware for the last 3 - 4 months now. I dont know how they plan to stay in business with service like that.

Yep....and if you are ever lucky enough to actually get a phone call returned from Shane he will tell you how they are the 'biggest in Australia' and everyone should buy from him!...LOL We initially started with 95% of our supplies from them - due to having to look elsewhere when they had no stock, and their appalling service, they are lucky now to hold 5%. I dont think they care to be honest - they now supply a lot of very large manufacturers. My experience is that they are not really interested in the hobbyist or small business operator anymore.

It may be the right time for a group of us to get together to import direct from the manufactures or other suppliers in the States. Palm was seems to be the big issue right now and it is very frustrating when we are paying almost $80 / bag +shipping when we could get direct out of Indonesia for something like $10 / bag. Anyone interested in splitting a tonne of feather palm

Palm supply is currently an issue because NCS got a large shipment of bad wax and changed supplier. They told me they would be out of stock for a couple of months. I reckon this has put the strain on the supply from ACS as people went to them for their wax. I am lucky in that I keep a stock of wax on hand for such occasions.

I would be interested getting some wax imported - but it would need to be on the basis that is was WWF approved, and a consistent product. I have had one experience with bad wax that could have had a big impact had I not known what I was looking for. I do not want to go through that again.

Richard, Do you have any contacts who you can work with to investigate?

Rob

[bart70]

I'm open to help with co ops, but at the moment I don't have much of a need for feather palm. Please keep me in mind for other co ops in the future.

Speaking of Indonesia, it is very likely we'll be living there before our work visa is up here in Oz. I'm not sure I'll be making candles there but maybe I can help hunt out some good deals on palm. Heck, maybe I'll become a supplier

You could test wax for us and on-ship with a markup - We would still be likely to get it cheaper than in Aus and have some surity as to quality.

Wanna start playing with Palm??....:yay:

Rob

[nadiap]

Hiya

3 or 4 months they were out of clear honey pots in Jan or feb and I had an email from them then saying it would be 6 weeks away....and here we are almost the end of October..very annoying

Strange that ! Shayne himself told me that they were not going to stock any honeypots in the future - when they sold out that would be it. I used to buy boxes & boxes of the frosted.

Now ACS has been inundated with orders for these, and they've run out too, will be months before they get any more in so how can Shayne believe they are not a popular seller.

I'm not into feather palm, so can't help with the co-op there, sorry

[jonsie]

You could test wax for us and on-ship with a markup - We would still be likely to get it cheaper than in Aus and have some surity as to quality.

Wanna start playing with Palm??....:yay:

Rob

Rob, don't tempt me! I love to do R&D on new products for my little business. Once I finally get my website done and Christmas out of the way I might give it a try

Now ACS has been inundated with orders for these, and they've run out too, will be months before they get any more in so how can Shayne believe they are not a popular seller.

ACS is out of the metro jars I need and David said they'd be in in about a month. Fingers crossed the honeypots will get in then too in time for Christmas.

[Tribalvixen]

Strange that ! Shayne himself told me that they were not going to stock any honeypots in the future - when they sold out that would be it. I used to buy boxes & boxes of the frosted.

Thats typical...

Anyone know if sugar cookie from ACS is the same as NCS I need tealight cups and prefer to only pay 1 lot of shipping

Thanks

[jonsie]

Thats typical...

Anyone know if sugar cookie from ACS is the same as NCS I need tealight cups and prefer to only pay 1 lot of shipping

Thanks

Personally, I love ACS's Sugar Cookie. I have lots of it so I'd be happy to send you a sample if you like. But I don't know if NCS and ACS have the same scent.

[RichardLOZ]

Ok for all of you Aussies on here.

I have just spoken to both David over at ACS as well as NCS and the Palm wax status is as follows.

NCS do have some feathering palm in stock (they call it feather #1). It is not on their website, however if you call them they will set your account up so that you can order it. They say that it is the same as the normal palm, but that some customers have reported a slightly different feather pattern. They are doing it for $60 / box if you want it, but as I have just done, request a sample first to see if it suits.

David on the other hand, does have quite a bit of palm and has already placed another order due to the smount of business he is getting from us over here on the East Coast because of lack of supply from NCS.

NCS is not expecting their palm order to hit Australia until late December, so for now we will just have to wear the shipping, although Davids shipping is very reasonable, given that I have just ordered over 200kg wax, some oild, wicks and other bits and pieces and the shipping came to about $160.

Anyway, just an update for you all

[bart70]

NCS do have some feathering palm in stock (they call it feather #1). It is not on their website, however if you call them they will set your account up so that you can order it. They say that it is the same as the normal palm, but that some customers have reported a slightly different feather pattern.

I hope it is not the 20 ton of 'bad' feather that he was shipped and was having difficulty getting the supplier to take back.

Sorry to be cynical.....but once bitten....

Agree on the freight from David - I got 200kg on the way as well as several other bits and pieces and the cost is not that much different to getting it from Sydney.

Richard - What are your thoughts on finding a supplier and importing? At the prices indicated allowing for shipping and duties I would be prepared to look at half to a full ton.

Rob.

[Tribalvixen]

Yeah I got 25kg of that for making melts so dont really have to worry about the burn. It is a much smaller feather. Looks pretty. I did make a pillar out of it but to my (only been making candles for a year) eyes I dont think it is burning the same. For some reason the wick doesnt look like its trimming. I dont know if this is what you found Rob so I dont know if its the same wax. I made some melts from the sample and it threw the same so I bought it.

Thanks Jonsie so kind I will let you know if I need it :-)

Edited October 22, 2010 by Tribalvixen

[bart70]

Yeah I got 25kg of that for making melts so dont really have to worry about the burn. It is a much smaller feather. Looks pretty. I did make a pillar out of it but to my (only been making candles for a year) eyes I dont think it is burning the same. For some reason the wick doesnt look like its trimming. I dont know if this is what you found Rob so I dont know if its the same wax. I made some melts from the sample and it threw the same so I bought it.

Thanks Jonsie so kind I will let you know if I need it :-)

Yes...it would be good for melts for sure.

My experiences were candles blowing out out within the first or 2nd burn - very serious blowouts. They were obviously burning a lot hotter than normal. It was the most obvious in my 'hotter' candles (ie - the ones that needed cooler wicks to burn properly) but also evident in others.

I also had a few blow out 2 thirds through the burn. Upon investigation it was a wick trimming issue - This may be the problem that you saw. This is something I rarely saw previously. I have powerburnt large pillers for 40 hrs straight in testing and never saw anything do this.

I looked for variables but there were none - fragrances were from the same bottle, color from the same batch, wicks from the same packet. I got the same results over several candles. I am now getting consistent burns from ACS wax with the same fragrance/wicks/colors.

This is how I came to my conclusion.

Rob