Help request for Aussies

[nadiap]

Thats terrible Nadia I hope they catch the thieves. Thanks for the warning I will keep an eye on account. Time to start using visa prepayed I think

A lot of the ladies are worried as you can imagine so until things are straightened out, they will only be doing bank deposits... they have to anyway - until they get new cards or get reimbursed the money that was taken from them We are all being very wary as only 1/2 hr ago, we heard another lady's card was skimmed - about 5 lots of small transactions, but the bank picked up on it and stopped her card. Seriously worrying for sure!

[jonsie]

Is it 9 or 13? Since I couldn't remember, I used 13.

A quick calculation comparing shipping 13 bottles of Black Cherry FO from CS to my SIL then to a receiver in Aus...

Doh! My calcs are based on 9 bottles, just to be clear, lol. The difference between the bottle price does get better the more bottles shipped.

I mentioned decanting because if I purchased 5lbs of an FO from a supplier I would be expecting the FOs to be in one container not separate?????

There are advantages to buying a larger size of the one FO because the supplier doesn't have to do the decanting.

I ordered 2500 ml of an FO from Bramble Berry and I expected it in separate bottles but it came in a big bag with a spout. Totally surprised me. Two options I'm thinking are: specify to the supplier that each 500 ml be in their own bottle, or, have my SIL ship it in the big jug and someone in Aus handle the decanting?

Hey guys,

sorry to butt in with an off topic to what you are discussing (though I have some comments on those as well) but this is extremely important if you buy goods from either ACS or NCS or NG using either your CC or a debit card.

Thanks for the heads up! I remember threads here at CT about the same problem but I don't know if they determined what was causing it. Please PM me any info you can provide.

Lol Susan I just made some Black Cherry candles...Geez it stinks also mixed it with some very vanilla (gag)cos I cant stand that and have half a bottle to try use up. They both smell slightly better mixed together...who knows how it will smell when I burn it.

How funny! I picked Black Cherry because both suppliers had it in stock and I could run it through their shopping carts.

Hey Tammy, did you need some Pink Sugar from Nature's Garden? I have some I could send you if interested. [edit] I just caught up with your other posts. Sounds like you are well set on NG scents [/edit]

Edited August 20, 2011 by jonsie

[Tribalvixen]

OMG Susan you are legend I would LOVE some pink sugar. Thank you. They wont send it to me I asked about getting it shipped the slow way but never got back to me. Let me know how much you want for it plus shipping etc. I got your melts in the mail this morn hope you like them.

Tammy

[jonsie]

Happy to send it. I can send you the whole pound since I never used it and no plans to in the future. The story behind it is I ordered this back in April 2010 and had it sent to my Mother-in-law. She and I didn't know anything about flashpoints back then, so she repacked it along with other stuff and it passed through with no problems. So, full disclosure... this stuff is over a year old. Still interested?

[Tribalvixen]

yep

[jonsie]

Cool! Send me your details and I'll post it on Monday Yay! I found something I could send to you!

[bart70]

Hey guys,

sorry to butt in with an off topic to what you are discussing (though I have some comments on those as well) but this is extremely important if you buy goods from either ACS or NCS or NG using either your CC or a debit card.

I belong to a chandler group of 37 ladies on Facebook and in the last week 8 of them have had their cards skimmed or compromised - all cards were stopped by their respective banks. So this is more or less a heads up to keep an eye on your cards for any unknown transactions - they start off small $5 and then they move in for amounts in the 100s and one lady had an attempt at $17,000.... if you need any more details just PM me. Don't want to say too much on the board for obvious reasons.

Guys,

Looks like this is good advice. We have checked our records and have had a small transaction yesterday from an overseas vendor that we have had no dealings with. If the skimming is candle supplier related it is pretty easy for us to determine where as we only deal with one company using credit card.

Keep an eye on your accounts.....This is certainly real! Thanks Nadiap for the heads up!!

Bart

[bart70]

If anyone is interested this is the breakdown of what fits into the boxes that NG ship out:

medium $45ish large $58ish

We can fit 8 of our 16 ounce bottles in a medium flat rate box.

We can fit 13 of our 16 ounce bottles in a large flat rate box.

We can fit 30 of our 4 ounce bottles in a medium flat rate box

We can fit 49 of our 4 ounce bottles in a large flat rate box

We can fit 13 of our 8 ounce bottles in a medium flat rate box

We can fit 33 of our 8 ounce bottles in a large flat rate box

We can approximately fit 90 of the 1 ounce bottles in a medium flat rate box

We can approximately fit 150 of the 1 ounce bottles in a large flat rate box

In the group I belong to - we do group orders to NG and it saves us all on postage costs as we split the costs between us. I also do orders on my own and even with freight costs, I'm still saving money. I do also onsell the fragrances on one of my FB pages

.

Ok,...I am going to plead ignorant here as I was bought up in a metric world and pounds/ounces scare the dickens out of me!

Has anybody done the costing on freight for the US equivalent of our 2500ml bottles? (I think this is 5 pounds?) In most cases this is my minimum buy quantity so would be interested to know how many of these will fit in the standard shipping boxes?

Bart

[curlycoat2]

Bart Hi,

16oz = 1lb

2500ml = 5.5lbs

On the above scenario for the large flat rate box ($54.95USD) you would be able to get 2 x 2500ml bottles with some room left over for a tester or two. However, in my experience it will depend on the shape of the 2500ml bottle as to how it actually fits into the box. I purchased a jug (7lbs) and discovered that the jug was the only thing that fit into the box! LOL

I could in theory get another 6lbs in but not in practise.

NG however, are very good at packing these boxes as was Bert from Bert's Heaven Scent and Aroma Haven also is good. SGS now have two new retailers and they are both going to use Flat Rate Boxes and ship internationally, so I am hoping they will pack well too.

jo

[nadiap]

Guys,

Looks like this is good advice. We have checked our records and have had a small transaction yesterday from an overseas vendor that we have had no dealings with. If the skimming is candle supplier related it is pretty easy for us to determine where as we only deal with one company using credit card.

Keep an eye on your accounts.....This is certainly real! Thanks Nadiap for the heads up!!

Bart

Thanks Bart, PM'd you a few mins ago with more info. An update for the others - Looks like nearly $100k has been skimmed from candlemakers alone - we found more people who had been skimmed after putting up Beware notices on all our Facebook pages. And it hasn't stopped, so be very aware of your accounts - even if you haven't purchased in a little while - particularly from a company who prefers offline mode for transactions (won't name names for obvious reasons). One poor lady hadn't used her CC for 2 years - but the number must have been stored on the system that was hacked, and she lost a heap of money before the bank cottoned on and stopped the card. Some very scary stories out there !

[nadiap]

NG however, are very good at packing these boxes as was Bert from Bert's Heaven Scent and Aroma Haven also is good. SGS now have two new retailers and they are both going to use Flat Rate Boxes and ship internationally, so I am hoping they will pack well too.

jo

I have to agree totally - NG are terrific at packing their boxes - will get the most items into the box as they can. I order a variety of items besides the FOs and it's all packed up to utilise every bit of space in the box. I end up have to use a much larger box in some instances due to bulk of what I buy, but again, more bang for my buck in the way they pack it up for me - can't fault them at all !

May I ask who SGS is? I"m a FO fanatic and always on the look out for new ones lol

[Tribalvixen]

SGS is southern garden scents :smiley2:

[nadiap]

Didn't know about this company, so many thanks

[bart70]

Has anybody done any testing between NCS & ACS container crystal palms?

ACS are OOS of 25kg container palm and we have just got an order that will leave us short - Was wondering how different the NCS Crystal Container is to the ACS. Naturally I would test for certainty but am interested to know if they wick similar or if a particular trend has been noted between them?

Cheers,

Bart

[RichardLOZ]

Hey Bart

I have used both, and have not found any significant difference in regards to wicking. There is some difference in the look of the crystals. Of course do your testing, but if you find as I did that there is not too much difference, then save your shipping $ and get it from Sydney.

[RichardLOZ]

Thanks Bart, PM'd you a few mins ago with more info. An update for the others - Looks like nearly $100k has been skimmed from candlemakers alone - we found more people who had been skimmed after putting up Beware notices on all our Facebook pages. And it hasn't stopped, so be very aware of your accounts - even if you haven't purchased in a little while - particularly from a company who prefers offline mode for transactions (won't name names for obvious reasons). One poor lady hadn't used her CC for 2 years - but the number must have been stored on the system that was hacked, and she lost a heap of money before the bank cottoned on and stopped the card. Some very scary stories out there !

Well looks as though we got done also. I did check accounts as soon as I saw this and all looked ok, until I received a call from the bank today. On calling them back there were 4 transactions that were put through the account, 1 of which declined but the others went through, so now card is frozen. Have to call the back again tomorrow to try to get it sorted out. What a bloody PITA............

[bart70]

Well looks as though we got done also. I did check accounts as soon as I saw this and all looked ok, until I received a call from the bank today. On calling them back there were 4 transactions that were put through the account, 1 of which declined but the others went through, so now card is frozen. Have to call the back again tomorrow to try to get it sorted out. What a bloody PITA............

Sorry to hear Richard, but glad you found it early. By the sounds of things some people have gone on to lose large amounts when the initial transactions wen unnoticed.

On the Crystal Container Palm subject, I take it you were referring NCS's Lava Crystal Palm and not their new Crystal Frost Palm (which is OOS).

Will be a pain to re-test again but looks like we have no option while the supply of product is so unreliable, but now that NCS have their freight prices sorted there are sound economics to changing over.

Thanks for the info.

Bart

[Tribalvixen]

Personally I like the look of NCS Lava much better. I ordered 5kg of ACS crystal and I dont like it. That said I did not find any diff in wicking it.

Richard so sorry that happened. I cancelled my card. Since I am mostly hobby I use my everyday card to buy my candle stuff. Cant take the risk. Cost me $10 but could have cost me alot more. Pay for peace of mind.

Tammy

Edited August 22, 2011 by Tribalvixen

[bart70]

Thanks Tammy,

That info regarding the Lava was what I was hoping to hear! Will get some and start testing.

Cheers,

Bart

[jonsie]

Y'all might be interested to see how this turns out. I almost ordered the UV Inhibitor from BCN last week and I was getting the same quote as Richard... $85 to ship 1 lb to Oz, a total of $125. I hunted around and saw that Cajun Candles was selling 1 lb and 2 lb tubs of UV-I for $15 and $27, but their shipping quotes were vague. I couldn't input my shipping info on their website since it was Australia, so no luck with that. I ended up calling them and working most of it all out using both the phone and email.

The ladies at Cajun Candles were extremely helpful and accomodating, and got my package in the mail that day. I paid $91.45 in USPS postage for Global Express Guaranteed (for the 2 lb tub), with a delivery date of this Friday. So now it is in the hands of the postal carriers to deliver as promised. But at this stage, I am thrilled that Cajun Candles went above and beyond to minimize the box size to minimize the postage, and get it out that same day.

Anyway, this how I can justify paying $91.45 in postage to send $27 in goods to Oz:

[1 lb = 453.6 g, 2 lb = 907.2 g]

Cajun Candles:

Postage: $91.45

UV-I: $27.00 for 907.2 g

Total: $118.45

Cost per gram: $118.45 / 907.2 g = $0.13/g

Ye Local Candle Supplier in Oz

Postage: $0, but I drive to pick it up

UV-I: $12.50 for 100 g

Total: $12.50

Cost per gram: $12.50 / 100 g = $0.125/g

It didn't take me long to decide if I wanted to pay an extra 0.005 cent per gram.

And keep in mind I paid the highest postage to get it here the fastest. Cajun Candles offers other flat rate boxes that generally take 2 - 3 weeks to arrive, but are a lot cheaper.

Now to wait to see how soon it gets here or if Customs seizes it as a suspected controlled substance, etc. And if the other suppliers haven't made their stock available and y'all need some, I'll gladly post it to you. This is enough to make 1600 lbs of candle wax, and that'll take me years to use up. Bart, if you are still interested, you are welcome to the first pound

I am dreading having to pull this back up and report just how wrong all of my calcs were.

The details are here: http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?99677-UV-Inhibitor-Stabilizer

Ugh.

[KoalaGirl]

I had a call from my bank today saying they are going to cancel my cc and send me a new one. She said that a place I had used my cc at has been compromised. She didnt ask me if I had authorized certain payments {nothing out of the ordinary showed up when I checked yesterday}. Im guessing they are contacting every one who has used a cc with the compromised site.

[bart70]

Did they happen to disclose the company that was compromised?

Bart

[KoalaGirl]

I didn't ask but since there's really only one place that I regularly use that cc, Im guessing its in WA. {They dont charge us to pay with cc so thats why I do!} I remember now, that the bank told me my cc had been unlawfully used 3 times but that the 3rd time had been stopped. I'm assuming that the bank will take care of the unlawful transactions and they wont show up on my statement. {how did they know it wasnt me who made those transactions since they never asked me?}

I might ring the bank tomorrow and ask what company is responsible since I dont want to use my new cc at that place until I check with them that its safe to do so! I cant see why they wouldnt tell me.

[jonsie]

I think it is worth mentioning that I have made many, many purchases from the vendor here in WA, and a couple of purchases from the vendor in NSW. I have never entered my CC details via the internet for my WA purchases but instead had my card hand-swiped at their business. And I have not (so far) had any false charges show up on my statements yet.

My theory is that if you call the WA vendor and relay your CC details over the phone for future purchases, you shouldn't be as exposed. Just a theory based on my experience.

[KoalaGirl]

I just rang them and spoke to the same lady that I spoke to this afternoon, She said that Visa and Mastercard dont tell them the name of the company involved since it could jeopodise the investigation. They have to find out who is involved in the fraud and they dont want to ruin reputations needlessly {or tip off the culprit if they are working within that company I suspect} She said that I should use direct deposit with the company that I suspect is the one involved. We had an interesting chat about cc fraud. Its a huge problem costing the bank millions.