goWholesale

If you are looking for wholesale items I have them. I just started my website, before that I worked in person with my customers so I have alot of printed materials. If you would like to check my web site it is http://www.wholesale411.com/hoffmeiercollectible
yes i do carry SMC HOWEVER it is not the only things I carry. If you let me know what you need I will post it on the web for you. Let me know what you are looking for I hope I can help.

Thanks,

Chrissy
christinahoffmeier@yahoo.com

Didn't know you did the oils & incense. $ 1.25 is half again what I pay, so I'll stick with what I've got. I bottle my own and end up with between 57 and 87 cents in a bottle, including bottle, oil, and label.

I have no interest in buying from you, but if you'll share your sources for figurines and sculptures, I'll follow up with them. I only buy from manufacturers or importers, not middlemen in the supply chain.

I've been right open about things with you, I'd appreciate the same in return.

By the way if you are interested in handpainted figures or handmade blankets that is what I do. (I can also get you unpainted figures. A guy around here sells them so I can get you his info if you want it.) If you are interested email me with your return address and I will send you out photos. I usally only sell them for myself but if it is something you are looking for I will work out something with you. I don't know exactly what type of figures you are looking for.

Thanks Again,
Chrissy

now I am new at this maybe you can help. You sound like you have a nice company and that you are largely profiting I am a young girl in her 20's and am just starting out. How can I get my business off the ground? I do not have a ton of money to invest. I keep as much inventory as I can for my gift shop however the website just isn't taking off any suggestions on how to get the extra boost?

Thanks a million,
Chrissy

thanks anyway. I guess it is just trial and error. When I find any good sources I'll let you know if you can do the same too. Maybe with the both of us searching we can come up with something. They say two heads are better than one.

Thanks Alot,
Chrissy

I buy oils from about a half dozen suppliers and find a direct relation between price and strength. With the bottles costing around 30 cents each, that leaves 35 cents for the oil. Plus them doing the filling and labelling. That leaves very little for the oil itself. 60 cents is just too cheap for me. Plus, I've found that they don't all smell the sxame and once you get someone buying one suppliers Lick Me All Over, for example, they won't be happy with anything else.

Frankly, with almost all oils in the $ 1.05 to $ 1.25 range from major suppliers who also sell to candle makers, etc., I'd be leery of anything less than a buck buying it pre-bottled.

I was buying from one supplier at 87 cents, but had to buy 18 of the same fragrance to get that price. They went from doing them here in the US to importing from China. Under 18 per fragrance was about 1.07, I think. And they didn't have Lick Me All Over, Sex on the Beach, Glo, Oxygen and others I sell daily.

I did check their site and find I'm buying the same burners for less from the importer.

Thanks for the reply. I do appreciate your help and concern.

You know no one on this site has to have an additude with anyone else remember this forum is to help each other not bash each other.

First let me make this clear - I am a brick & mortar retailer, first and foremost. What I sell in the shop and what you see on that web site are two entirely different things. Same with my SMC site.

The incense/oil site is me acting as a manufacturer's rep for one of my suppliers. I buy all of my colored 11" sticks and my cones from them, along with maybe 1/3 of my oils. They sell oils two ways, cut and uncut. The uncut is truely that, no DPG or anything else. Certainly no alcohol. In fact, I have seen none anywhere which contains alcohol. Maybe the dollar stores, etc., but certainly no company I deal with.

They are over 2 cents per stick for incense, which is high compared to what some have mentioned. But, they're worth it. Again, I've bought for less, but neither my customers, nor I am as happy with the lower priced stuff. With these, we package ourselves into bags of 5, which I sell for 79 cents. Let's see, I've got maybe 11 cents in the sticks, a penny in the bag and maybe a penny in the label. Let's go first class and say I've got 14 cents in a bag of 5 sticks that I sell for 79 cents. 65 cents profit on a 79 cent sale is about 82%. Wish I could get that on everything!

And, unlike many sticks, when we get done filling bags our hands are whatever color the sticks are. They're so saturated that we can't help bu get messy packaging them. Not a big deal to me, but one of my employees won't even open a bag of 100 without putting on her rubber gloves. She has sensitive skin, and her face will break out from handling the sticks and cones with rubber gloves on. 18" away and the aroma still affects her face.

I keep about 100 oil burners in stock. From the $ 4.99 resin "potpourri pots" to pewter, to soapstone, to brass to resin. I buy them from a number of sources, most of whom do not want their information posted on a forum that includes flea market sellers. They sell to legitimate gift shops and some offer "territory protection" with only one account in a given area. You certainly won't find them in the on-line wholesale directories.

I'm not being snobbish here. I just want to maintain my relationship with them by not being accused of spreading their names in a forum that inclde flea market and "internet only" sellers.

You've simply got to believe me when I tell you I can buy the same for less. I have a 46 page full color catalog by me right now that shows maybe half of the burners I saw at L&V for less money. I order from them almost every week, so I know it's fact.

I don't buy any burners from the company on that incense/oil site. I pay $ 2 for the octagon wood boxes (both plain and inlaid) that I sell for $9.99. I pay 33 cents for wood scoops, both plain and inlaid, that I sell all day long for 1.99. I'm paying 50 cents for the 15 gr Nag Champa that I sell for 1.99. And I pay 63 cents for the 3" brass cond burners that I sell for 2.99.

For oil burners, I keep about every one SMC has, plus I buy from other sources. I sell electric oil burners (tart warmers) in both resin and tin. I also sell about 50 fragrances of wax tarts to go with them. In addition, I sell the newest craze, electric candle warmers, which can be either small hot plates or resin or tin usnits that you set an entire candle on, which then turns completely to liquid and radiates aroma through the house. I even sell "wickless candles" made just for the warmers. 12 oz of candle wax in a jar with no wick. If you include the electric candle warmers and the electric tart / oil burners, I guess I have a selection of maybe 125 different styles on hand at all times.

And I like to think I can ferret out good costs for what I sell. I must be doing something right, because I manage to triple my cost on everything I sell. And people still comment on how reasonable my prices are.

I don't mind sharing my suppliers with you, if you'll contact me directly and if you'll agree not to broadcast them all over the internet. Many don't even have websites, they're happy sending out sales reps and mailing catalogs to prospective accounts.

If you'll email me your full contact information, including a sales tax number, I'll pass it on to them. I can guarantee you better selection and lower costs.