sockmonkey

Yes, there is definitely a way to steal them. But, I think that little message will scare most away from trying it. I think this might work...

Why not just state what you are willing to pay and see what kind of offers you get?

What do you normally charge for them? Did the office ask for a discount? My sister works for a dentist, and I know they, like everyone else can be tightwads, or extremely generous. If they didn't ask for a discount, give them your normal price. Then ask the person if that fits within their budget. If they say no, ask what they had in mind and see if you can afford to to it for that. Like someone else suggested, perhaps you can get some free dental treatments--teeth whitening sound good? My gut instinct tells me $1 ea should be a reasonable price but for freebies, you never know what they expect.

What are your plans for the future? Do you intend to always be an internet only business? Do you plan to sell wholesale to other stores; do you want to do craft shows or home parties? You need to consider what your market base will be for the products you are dreaming up in your head. If you just want to be an internet business, I see no benefit in having her join you, unless she will be supplying you with cash to buy inventory. There are many, many b&b websites already, so I would think (based on may stories here) if you are serious about making money at b&b, you might need an alternate source to sell your products beside the website--unless you have created an absolutely fantastic website and have killer products, PLUS you know how to market them on the internet so you get noticed. Speaking of products, couldn't your friend join you in your home to manufacture products, if for some reason she can't make them in her own home? That way, she will be sharing some of the labor burden. There is more than just physical labor involved in running a manufacturing business. Some people are more geared toward the physical aspect (actually making the product), or the creative aspect (dreaming up concoctions, creating artwork), and others are better suited toward the "yucky" tasks--financial, research, and selling/PR. Perhaps the "yucky" tasks are what your friend might be good at. Just because she might not be handmaking b&b products does not mean she cannot make a valuable contribution to the company. Good research for information on ingredients, supplies, recipes, vendors, trade and/or craft show locations, pricing, laws, etc., can take up a very substantial amount of time. Shipping and packaging can also be very time consuming. I guess you need ask yourself what you hope to gain by having her join you.

I'm working on a website too, and using their (1&1) templates and I HATE IT! Sounds like I need to look into Dreamweaver.

What are you doing for your machine? Are they making you buy the machine from them? In a lot of cases, that's where they make huge amounts of money. I was very stupid when I opened my store. I was anxious to be open, and rushed right into a contract with the first company who could get me hooked up as quickly as I wanted. I checked out a few banks, visited one of them, and the man who was giving me the info was filling in for someone on vacation and totally didn't know anything about credit card processing--neither did I; but I was impatient, and it is costing me dearly! I was a sucker and signed a 4-year deal. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. I'm almost out of it now, but it was a lesson learned the hard way. Take your time, look at plenty of options. If someone is selling you a machine, check out what they're going for on the internet and ebay. Ask your rep about purchasing a machine from someone else and see what kind of deal they give you.

I found it at my Lowe's hardware store for $3.89.

Nope, I haven't done anything with it yet. I planned on using it in m&p and lotion. I know it gets lots of raves, that's one of the reasons I bought it; plus, I had a Zum Bar from Indigo Wild that was F&M, and it had a pleasant smell. This might be too, when I actually use it, but just smelling it in the bottle, it mostly smelled like pine to me.

If anything, I think it fades away.

If you are buying a rubber stamp off of a website and they state their policy, by purchasing their stamp, then you're bound to follow the implied agreement by your purchase. However, if you purchase a rubber stamp from Hobby Lobby, with no instructions or limitations stated, I would think you should be able to use them as you please, unless you see a copyright mark on it or something.

I don't believe I've tried any of their Shaw Mudge fragrances. Everyone is bound to have a dud or two, I've been lucky so far that I haven't run across them yet. Although I will say, I was let down with their Frankincense & Myrrh (Lebermuth version). I will use it, I just didn't think it was as good as they let on.

I found this place that I thought had a lot of acetate packaging options for the candlemakers out there. I've never used them, so I can't vouch for them, but they have some items I think a lot of you look for now and then. http://www.frontiercandlepackaging.com/Productpage.html For those of you how already use products like these, how do you think the pricing of Frontier compares?

I think her Lemon Meringue is great, and her Pink Sugar is pretty good. I know a lot of people like ICS, but I've found her samples to seem strong enough, but when I order a whole pound of a fragrance, it sometimes seems weak. Then there are some samples I buy that just smell way off. I prefer Scent-Works. I've never received a bottle of anything from them yet that I thought was weak, and they've all smelled like a quality fragrance should smell--no strange funky odor caused by chemicals used to dilute the oils. Their stuff might cost a little more than some places, but in my opinion, it's worth it. I've tried many places, and I still keep coming back to them time after time.

Thanks for those links, Jen. I found a lot of neat ideas.

What if you combined some suspension base m&p to your oatmeal base m&p? I don't know that it would work, but it might be worth a try.

I use the phrase "discontinue use immediately if rash, blistering, lesions, bleeding, bruising, tumors, numbness, or any irritation occurs." Nah. Just kidding. I only said that because mentioning specifics (such as rash) plants the idea in people's heads (whether consciously or subconsciously) that things like that must commonly occur for them to name it specifically. The phrase I really use is: "As with all products, discontinue use immediately if irritation occurs." The other phrase is "For external use only." I don't mention food or consumable, because once again--that plants an idea.

Congratulations on that. Very impressive... You better get ready for the crowds now!

JoAnn's, Old Time Pottery can cost me hundreds when I go in there. All of those little things they have on clearance add up quickly.

What's wrong with making a high profit? Who isn't in business to make money? Don't the crafters at her show make a profit off of their merchandise too? No one rents a space to sell their merchandise at cost. Why would anyone think that a promoter doesn't make money, or isn't entitled to make money? The individual who rents the entire facility is the one who is ultimately on the hook for paying for the facility. If they don't get enough vendors to rent space from them, they still have to pay the building owner, no matter what. Profits can be huge and that's because other people don't have the means, desire, or motiviation to do the same thing themselves. At those shows, there might be 500 vendors, but none of them were willing to take the same chance to put on the show, so they're stuck peddling their wares instead. There's nothing wrong with doing either one in my opinion.

Here's a link I think a lot of us use to cheat: http://thesage.com/calcs/measures.html

That's a good tip. Thanks.

Putting together an event like this does take money. She's not running a charity to benefit crafters. She needs to make a living for herself, and if she can do it by organizing and event where crafters she's giving an opportunity for crafters to make money themselves, then good for her. I totally did not get the impression that she doesn't care about the vendors. If she didn't, why would she ask thoughts about the second level? Yes, there are dangers with having multiple levels for a show, but I've been to trade shows where some of the premium vendors are on top floors. In order to get there, you have to walk through other vendors, so no one gets ignored. I think the secret is to have a mix of old and new vendors. If you've got a regular vendor who always gets a crowd, people will know to look for her. If you make it known that's she's on the second floor, people will go there. It's important to weave in popular vendors among new ones, so that they also get exposure. Signage is also very important when you're doing 2 levels. I was at a show that was poorly marked, and needless to say, the second level sales were dreadful. It was in a building where no elevators were required, but you just walked through a tunnel of sorts, and this particular promoter only had a sign at the entrance of the building, and one at registration telling people there were more vendors in the other section fo the building, but there weren't any signs along the route to get there. Very dumb move. Sales and foot traffic were so bad for the participants that the promoter wound up giving vendors free space at another show to compensate.

You're welcome.

Whoa! I bought a bottle of their sage and citrus without a sample first, and boy, was that a mistake. To me, it reeked of camphor. I'm glad you liked it though.

Scent-works or buywax.com.