sockmonkey

Of course, you probably didn't put all of your products on display since you were just trying to get an idea for how it will look, but it looks a little bare. I think too much shelving is exposed. I would probably line the shelves with posterboard paper or foamcore board (and maybe even put some rubber lining on top of that) to give a solid surface to put more bottles or other items on display.

People do it on ebay all of the time.

Wax Cake? Wax Tartlett?

Where did you buy yours from? I bought some from WSP, and it was crystal clear when I got it. I had it for probably a year but never used it. When I pulled it out of storage it had green funk growing in the bottom of it. I threw the whole bottle away. I would call the company and ask them about it.

I think it would be funny to call them wax pies as a spin off of "tarts." It doesn't sound as appealing, but you have moon pies, cow pies, pumpkin pies, etc. It doesn't seem like anyone has staked their claim on that yet.

I use it (from WSP & NG) in soap and lotions. People seem to like it.

It sounds like you might be better off doing wholesale shows rather than craft shows. Of course, people expect to take product home with them when they go to a craft show. At a wholesale show you can easily get away with setting up samples and displays and only taking orders. The problem with most wholesale shows is that they will be way more expensive than your typical craft show. But then again, you have a different type of customer. Customers at those shows expect to drop $100 + per order, unlike the craft show where a customer might spend $5 a pop. Another venue that might be worth exploring is getting your products in a bridal shop. Most brides expect to have to order everything for their wedding. Maybe even a floral shop would work with you.

In order to gauge interest you might consider buying the small spray vials and sell them, or give them as samples. You should be able to buy a hundred of those without incurring a lot of shipping. You could advertise them on your site as a trial size, for the regular full size item, which is coming soon.

I wonder if there's anyone who has ever successfully used their templates without having to manipulate them. I ended up creating my own template in Illustrator because the templates were uselss as far as I was concerned. Well, maybe their template would work if the labels were centered properly on their sheet. I discovered the top and bottom margins on the labels weren't even.

My initial thought is uh oh! How did she open a shop with no budget? The other thought is, is the soap you bought something she made? If so, why would you want to have your stuff in direct competition from the owners? You know which one will be promoted.

I guess the organizers were thinking from a consumer's standpoint and not the crafter's. While it would certainly be convenient to have all similar products and booths grouped together, it's really not very fair to all of the crafters competing against each other side by side. I can see where such an arrangement could bring in large groups of shoppers because it's easier to find what you want. Large crowds = more vendors who want to participate, which = more money for the organizer. But, with so much of the same thing, someone is bound to get the short end of the stick, and vendors will slowly but surely drop out, which means a loss of revenue for the organizer in the longrun.

Maybe if you list the INCI name they still wouldn't have a clue what it is, but at least it would probably slip through, since it doesn't sound like margarine.

You are entitled to take a break. I see no reason why you shouldn't shut down for a week or two for "inventory." Also, you could hire additional staff and have them sign a non-compete agreement.

If you could make the joints at the base a "T" I think it would work better.

So you're selling hand sanitizer now. You know that's considered an over the counter drug, right? Have you registered that with the FDA?

They probably put them there for any suppliers who troll here. I'm not talking about any of them who are above board and we know who they are. I'm talking about the ones who have memberships here, seldom if ever post, and use our posts for their marketing research to find suppliers and compare pricing. They know who they are, and they should have no problem making a minimum $1500 or $2500 order for boxes.

Just like with everything else on ebay, you'll probably find good and bad suppliers. I would buy FO's off of ebay. I just sold some fo's on ebay. There wasn't anything wrong with them--they were just extra stuff I had that I knew I wouldn't use, so rather than have them sit in a cabinet and be out the money, I sold them and somebody else got a really good deal. I would probably shy away from somebody who has a million scents listed at $.99 each. Without any evidence whatsoever, it makes me think they dilute their scents.

Maybe you can call the last one "molten lava." It's the first thing I thought of, and people wouldn't expect that to be nice and smooth.

From a supplier perspective, they will tell you it's not cost effective for the labor they have to pay to have a worker pull a full crate (that they would normally re-sell just as it is), open it and then repack some of the units into a smaller box (the box is another cost they wouldn't normally have), then put the partially open crate back on the shelf, then slap a label on your box and ship it. When you buy full containers, they just pull it, slap a label on it, and ship it. Also, once they open the full crate and start handling the glass, breakage can become an issue, which means even less profit.

Before I started all of my ordering I found all of the suppliers and their addresses, and created a spreadsheet that listed each supplier and the cost per lb. for all of the items I wanted, and what in what state they were located. It was very beneficial to see the difference in price for the same thing. Just because someone is close to you does not mean it will be cheaper for you to use them. Some suppliers have low prices on items, but compensate for it by charging outrageous shipping. Some sites will let you estimate shipping, which would be very helpful in making comparisons before you buy. It's worth taking the extra time (if you have it to spare) to save $$$.

I just did light peach.

I used pink sugar in SFIC m&p and what started out as a pretty light pink turned a very ugly, dirty looking brown. I use it in WSP goat's milk & honey lotion and it doesn't affect it. I bought some of the vanilla stabilizer from WSP, but it smelled so terribly awful in the bottle I didn't want to take the chance on pouring it in my soap. A few months after I opened it (but never used it) it had green funk growing in the bottom of the bottle. I tossed it and was glad I never used the stuff. I see that the Chemistry Store has a "vanilla stable" clear m&p they are selling that takes up to 2% FO and isn't supposed to discolor the soap. Anyone tried that yet?

What is required to open the link for wholesale pricing? Does the customer have to fill out information for you to capture, including a tax ID number, or do they just click on it and it opens? I would want to make sure that only businesses with a tax ID could see the wholesale prices if you publish them on the site. Other than stating minimums, you might want to address how returns will be handled--can they return anything at any time, or can only damaged or defective items be returned? Also, if you accept returns, how long do they have to make them? Did you offer any type of volume discounts, and is the breakdown clearly specified? Will you offer private label for wholesale accounts? What about shipping? Do you have a preferred method, or can the customer use their own UPS or FedEx account to save on shipping?

Do you have any links for a Chicago show?

I seriously doubt many people will go. I expect it will get canceled like it did last year. The people running it need to get a clue. Renting out a convention center for an event that doesn't even draw 1,000 people is a really dumb idea. I would love to go, but with what they're charging there is no way. I don't want to attend an 2-day event in Ft. Wayne of all places. Tickets are $150, and from the program on their website I don't see anything that would warrant me forking over my money. It's April already and they hardly have any vendors, and they don't mention what any of the mini-workshops will be. Something is wrong with their logic in my opinion. The first year they had it what was admission $60 or so? I'm sure attendance wasn't stellar with it being their first year. The second year got canceled with little or no explanation. This year they decide to hold a 2-day event and charge $150. What's wrong with them?