franu61 Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I looked thru archives but still confused.. I did a fundraiser for a class. When teacher asked me how much they would make I said 50% of profits. When I delivered candles and bill she said she thought she was getting 50% of sales.. She said all other fundraisers she got 50% of sales. Is this true? If so how can you afford to do this...If the candle costs me 3.50 to make and it sells for 10.50 the school would get 5.25 and I would NET 1.75...plus she said the fundraiser person took care of the taxes..so that would be about $1.00 per candle for me and 5.25 for school. I gave her a breakdown of cost to make and profit and then how I split profit fifty-fifty. And, I am still paying taxes out of my half of the profit. If you all do fundraisers (and I've seen some on here where chandler gives 40% of sales) how do you make any money...I am so confused..and feeling like a bad guy because I don't want to give them half of the total collected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redraider Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 90% of my business in fundraisers. We don't do percentages. We have a flat rate wholesale price per candle. The organization decides what profit they want to tack on(usually $5/candle) and that is what they sell them for. They take orders and collect payment up front. Once they have their total they send me a check for my amount. We make the candles, deliver and everyone is happy. Also most fundraisers are not taxable where I live so I don't have to worry about that. No matter how you decide to do it you should probably get a form put together with all the details that each party signs so that there is no confusion on either side. I always get paid before I deliver the candles. If it is a new customer I only require 50% up front and the rest upon delivery but at least they already have an invoice for the total so there are no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaturallyTru Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 It is generally anywhere from 30-50% of the sales. You are counting on high volume of sales to make your money. Taxes it depends upon what state you live in as to what the laws are. Some organizations are tax exempt in certain states. This site might help you. It is listed by state. http://www.fundraisetaxlaw.org/states.html This is MI's law: "When sales are made by schools and other nonprofit organizations, tax must be remitted on taxable sales. To help schools and other nonprofit organizations with their responsibilities when conducting fun-raising sales, the Department gives them the choice of two ways to pay the tax. The organization may register with the Department to collect and remit tax that is due, or it may remit tax directly to the supplier. If the organization chooses to remit tax to the Department, it must become registered with a sales tax license, and present an exemption certificate to the supplier. If the organization chooses instead to pay the tax to the supplier, tax must be paid based on the retail selling price of the items."Sorry this happened to you. On this fundraiser I suggest you will have to take the loss. It is a lesson learned and you don't want a bad reputation. Next fundraiser you can adjust your contract to be clearer and adjust for profits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 That sounds like a much better idea redraider...so I take it you are making more than $1.00 per candle after cost to make? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 It is generally anywhere from 30-50% of the sales. You are counting on high volume of sales to make your money. Sorry this happened to you. On this fundraiser I suggest you will have to take the loss. It is a lesson learned and you don't want a bad reputation. Next fundraiser you can adjust your contract to be clearer and adjust for profits.Naturally; At $1.00 income per candle there is no volume high enough (IMHO) to make it worthwhile... the price I came up with did not even figure in cost of electricity and labor. i guess I am still not understanding how a chandler can do this and give away half of sales price without figuring in the cost to make.. I understand redraiders method and will do it that way in future. I guess this is a lesson learned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 Thank you for the link about tax law Naturally So busy ranting I forgot to say that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnvyCandles Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 IMO, the school has no idea of what your expenses are, so unless you discussed the actual profits per candle, they were not properly informed of what they would be making. Most fundraisers are not 50%, unless they are mass produced items. However, some increase the sale price for additional profits. Most people purchase fundraiser items not for the great deal, but to support the cause... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindy5140 Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 If I was the teacher I would expect the 50% too, you said 50% of profits well in her mind that is the total of what they sold (their profit). Since you didn't clearly state how much, I would suck it up to a lesson learnt and give her the 50%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redraider Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 On our fundraisers our average cost in materials is $4/candle. We sell them for $8 each to the organization so we are getting more than a $1. I am lucky in that I don't have to pay rent or utilities on my building since it is a small room in the "family" barn(huge metal building). However dad has already complained that we are encroaching on his space and that we need to get our own building. Don't want to have to do that since we are so seasonal. 8 months of the year we are able to contain everything in our space. September through December not so much. This year has been a challenge since we usually burn our empty wax boxes etc but since we live in Texas that has not been an option due to no rain. We actually received 1/4 inch yesterday so this reminds me I should go burn tonight when I get home from the day job. Anyhow, I know I am new to posting on the board but hopefully this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamist Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Below is a wonderful link to help explain how fundraisers work and maybe give you some guidance and help with pricing and profit. There are also sheets you may use for your order forms and tally's that you can print out.Fundraisers can be very profitable for you business, you just need to get you prices and profits figured out. Good Luck!!http://www.candlecauldron.com/fundraisers.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franu61 Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 thanks for the link Seamist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechcreekcandles Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 This time of year, we are doing alot of fundraisers too....we always give 50% of sales. Yes, your own overall profit may not be as much, but you also have to consider that you are getting your name out there...and thats great advertising. We've always had "after fundraiser sales" and those are sales we would never have had. :smiley2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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