sockmonkey

Sometimes you need to be careful with store owners and their requests and not engage in an agreement you will later regret. There's nothing wrong with a business wanting to obtain unique items for their shop, but be observant about the appearance of her shop. How well stocked does her store appear to be? Do you see very many name brand items? What type of price ranges are there on her inventory? Does the merchandise appear to be new, or does it look like it's been sitting around a while? Those are clues that sales could be less than stellar. Getting rid of name brand items could mean the company has cut her off. Maybe she didn't sell enough to meet their requirements or maybe she didn't pay her bills in a timely manner--either can cause a company to dump you. On the other hand, maybe she is received poor customer service from the company and doesn't want to deal with them anymore, or maybe as she said, she's just wanting to sell truly unique items and get rid of all the typical brands you find in every other gift shop. I knew a lady who owned a gift shop and she demanded a protected territory from the independent people who sold their candles and crafts to her. The funny thing was, I later found out she only insisted upon that because she couldn't afford to buy from her former big name suppliers anymore. Little by little her brand name stuff started disappearing and more locally made crafts started showing up in her store instead; then the next thing you know, she was out of business. So, with that in mind, my advice for selling wholesale is never promote or advertise protected territories in the normal course of doing business unless you have to. If you must offer them, give yourself an escape clause. Always state in the fine print that you reserve the right to terminate the relationship at your discretion. Either that, or spell out exactly what type of sales volume is required on their part to give them a protected territory.

As others have said, you can easily send an invoice to her through Paypal, but if I were you I would make sure that she bought enough to really warrant wholesale pricing. As an example if she buys tarts for $1 each at retail now she will expect to buy them for $.50, so if she bought 20 at a time before she paid you $20. Now she will buy 20 and you will only get $10, so that would be taking a step backwards. So it's important for you to establish minimums whether you do it by quantity or dollar amount. Minimum amounts vary, but $100 is a common low dollar amount that many wholesalers will charge. That amount is good for weeding out people who are just looking to get discounts for themselves. Since she's requesting wholesale did you verify if she has a tax ID? You can give people wholesale pricing, but if they don't have a tax ID they still get charged tax.

Not to be a party pooper here, but how about we stick to how FO's throw, which was the original intent of the thread; rather than post after post of what people are buying.

I read on another supplier's website that they offer different grades of materials, and that in most cases you should let price be your guide to quality. I think that holds true when your comparing similar items from the same source, but it isn't necessarily always true when it comes to comparing supplier against supplier. FNWL has what looks like the same thing for $34 per lb. I've shopped from them enough to know that their prices are just whack. There's no reason for them to be so high except that either they just don't buy enough to get volume discounts, or they think that charging high prices will give customers the impression that their products are premium. Unless someone has something negative to say about Atlantic Spice I would go with them. If you like what you buy you should feel happy knowing you did your research and it paid off.

I didn't see anything other than it will cut cardstock and some chipboard, so I think you would be pretty safe using an 80# stock or any cardstock that craftstores offer in their scrapbook section.

You might be suprised what local restaurant supply houses might have in the way of packaging--cake boxes, candy boxes, etc., in a wide variety of sizes. If you have one nearby it could save a lot on shipping. There's one close to me, but you have to actually visit the shop to see everything they stock because it's just a hole in the wall and they don't have a catalog.

This site? http://ingredientstodiefor.com/ Seems to work fine for me.

I got the Expression and tested it to make a few sample words and I loved the precision cutting. I never used any of the manual die-cut products before, but I used the old fashioned letter templates or else cut letters out that I printed on my computer and I obsessed over getting them cut perfectly with scissors or an exacto knife, which I seldom could. But that's not an issue with the Cricut. It sucks that you can't use coupons on any Cricut products. I read somewhere that it's an individual store's requirement, not the company that makes Cricuts. I guess they know they've got a hot product on their hands and want to make every penny they can off of them. I have a source where I can get most of them for $65 each or maybe less depending on the quantity. Disney is higher. PM me if you're interested.

I wonder why more suppliers don't have pages dedicated testing on their own websites. It's obviously good for sales.

I am not calling her a bad business person. I just pointed out a message that was on her site that said she wasn't taking on new clients. Someone else posted information contrary to what her site said. All I'm saying is, if practice to leave an old message up saying you aren't accepting new clients--and that applies to ANY website.

If that's the case, I guess it's bad business on her part to leave a message up on her site that says she isn't. It's costing her customers.

I inquired about Designer218 services a while back and was quite impressed with the speedy response I received and the helpful customer service. Unfortunately, for anyone who is interested in them, I see that they are not accepting new clients at this time.

I've had to fill a couple of special order requests for a particular scent that wasn't part of my regular line up that I make in bulk, so what I did was pour the lotion in the bottle first then add FO and with the plastic tube from the lotion pump stir it around a bit, shake it and then stir it some more. If you have thick lotion then shaking isn't going to do much good. If you're just making one bottle at a time you can put a zip lock baggie inside a cup for support, fill it with your lotion and FO and stir it, then seal it, cut a small tip off one corner and then fill your container. Trust people when they tell you not to go cheap on the baggies. I tried it once and the zipper stayed closed, but the side of the bag split and lotion was slowly oozing out and I didn't know it until I felt lotion on my arm at one point. Then I noticed it all over my apron (thank goodness I was wearing one), and even on my shoes.

SW has Fresh Sugar Cane. I don't know if that's the same thing or not, but I had some and thought it was an ok scent, but not something I would rave about.

I'm glad you made your post HeavenScentU. In my previous post I started to say something about having to sign your life away and be willing to use your home as collateral because they don't want to take any chances on having to pay off your loan if you default. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from considering SBA loans, but I think there is a common misconception some people have that all you have to do is sign your name on the dotted line and the SBA will hand out free money. Obviously, it's not impossible to get an SBA loan, but there are conditions that make it very hard, such as not having enough collateral to secure the loan, or having a sketchy credit history. You will probably have an easier time getting a business loan through a credit card company than you will the SBA. They don't require the documentation, and if you're credit is good your signature will do. Of course you will pay higher interest rates, but you won't have to jump through all the hoops. Your best bet will be to attend some of the workshops they have to learn more about the ins and outs before you get started. Also, depending where you are located, there may be special grants and financing available if your business is located in a rural area. Check with your county or city officials about business development in the area to find out what local financing options may be available.

Does one type of candle sell better than the other? If palm out sells paraffin, maybe you should just focus on that and pump what you would have spent on paraffin back into palm. Conversely, if palm isn't a big seller, maybe it's not worth what you're spending on it.

Here's a link to the SBA site that details some of the paperwork that will be required for the SBA to consider funding. If you look through the site you will find links to banks in your area that participate in the SBA program. http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/start/financestartup/serv_basicreq.html

I think #5 is a winner. I actually like the white border because of the contrast it gives against the yellow. The only thing I would try to do is round the corners on the outline to make it fit the edge of the yellow area. If you can't do that, or a mask doesn't work, can you camouflage those yellow corners by putting white blocks over them to hide them? What software are you using to design your label?

Wow. I'm torn. I like #2 (the yellow one) but I'm not crazy about all the text on the label. I like the look of #4, because it's nice and clean, however there's something about using a picture of jagged rocks that doesn't seem appropriate for using with a facial scrub.

Catlin, Most wholesalers will ask for a copy of a buyer's tax ID, or if they order online they have the buyer fill out the standard questions--name, address, shipping address, number of years in business, and their tax ID, and they may or may not request that the tax ID be faxed to them before they share pricing info or allow them to buy off of their site. Typically, an order form will serve as your contract--it is an agreement to buy/pay. Some suppliers choose to have a copy of their policies printed on the back of the order form and use a 2-part form so that the buyer has a copy and you keep the original. It would be pretty unusual to be required to sign a contract that merely explains your policies. I would have serious questions about a supplier that presented me with such a document. A basic wholesale policy may include such information as: Buying wholesale requires a valid copy of your tax ID Minimum opening orders are $$$. Reorders are $. Freight terms Credit terms (if any) Type of payments accepted Return/replacement policy Special order policy Minimum quantities per item Sample policy (if applicable) Pricing discount (if applicable). Some suppliers will offer discounts for the more a customer buys to encourage larger purchases. As an example: Buy $500 in merchandise receive a 5% discount. Spend $1,000 and receive free freight. If you've already made a draft of your policy I would be happy to look it over for you if you like. Just send me a PM.

Go to cricut.com and sign up for their forum. Then get on there and tell about your awful story. You might see some results. They don't want people to spread the word about their product not working. You might also find someone else with a similar problem and find out how to fix it.

I like the floral picture on the full label best. It looks much more feminine than the water scene label. I think on the second version you posted one of the labels had an outline around the artwork, but still had a white border around the edge--I think that one had a more upscale look to it and was my favorite. The way the name is on the label just doesn't sit well with me personally. Could you try slightly arching the words "Natural Beauty" one one line and then directly beneath it have the word "Collection" in a straight line?

Unfortunately Wood Elf, you can't control the way someone's mind works and when you post on any forum you are always subject to opinions that you do not ask for. Perhaps you would have received your much desired responses if you had only said "I am in desperate need of encouragement." People here are ordinarily highly supportive of each other. However, sometimes they can also be brutally frank. Maybe it would be worthwhile for you to examine your own positivity. Truly being positive means making the most of any situation. With that in mind, a positive person should be able to glean useful information out of all the posts that were made here. In looking at them all, I see beneficial information contained in every one of them. Sure they might not have responded accurately to suit your exact needs, but the thoughts that were offered were made with your best interests in mind, and that, in my opinion is a positive thing.

I see your point in not wanting negative commentary, however it is very foolish to only look at things from one perspective. People who have never owned a store or sold candles can really only offer insight into their fears and don't have legitimate business advice to give you. Nobody needs that--everybody has enough of their own. However, when you have people who do own businesses and do sell candles offering insight into the probability of making a living at it, you ought to pay serious attention, whether it be negative or positive. Another thing to consider is what anyone's definition of success is. To one person, earning $20,000 a year might be success, but to anyone else that means poverty. I'm sure plenty of people here earn supplemental income by selling candles, but I imagine those truly earning a genuine living at it are few and far between. I'm not trying to discourage you, but you need to take a look around you and see what is out in the market place. If you want to make a living at it consider what it is about your candles that makes them unique. What kind of gimmick do you have? That is what it takes to truly become a "superstar" in the world of candles or any other craft for that matter.

I get mine from Indiana Candle Supplies. I've used it in lotion and m&p with excellent results. Sometimes I add little bit of bayberry FO for a unique crisp scent that both guys and gals like.