The moment people know you make candles, the donation requests start. A school auction, a church raffle, a coworker running a 5K for charity, a influencer asking for free product "for exposure." A question we get a lot is some version of: what do you say when someone asks you to donate candles? The ...

A question we get a lot is some version of this: "The terms of service section on my store looks intimidating. How do I actually create one?" Here is the short answer. Your candle website needs four policy pages to be set up the right way: a refund and return policy, a shipping policy, a privacy pol...

A question we get a lot lately is whether you should add pillar candles to your lineup. Here is my honest answer: for most makers, pillars work best as a small, eye catching add on, not as a core line, because they behave almost nothing like the container candles you already know how to make. If you...

A question we get a lot, especially from makers in Texas, Arizona, Florida, and anywhere summer turns brutal, is some version of this: will my candles melt in the heat, and should I mix beeswax into my coconut or soy wax to stop it? The short answer is that yes, any candle can soften, sweat, or lose...

Short answer: your candle website probably is not legally required to be ADA compliant in the strict sense, but you still want it to be accessible, and here is why. The Americans with Disabilities Act was written for physical places, and courts have gone back and forth on whether a small online shop...

To get into craft fairs and markets, you apply directly through each event's application, usually an online form, and you get accepted by showing clear product photos, a short professional description of your booth, and by applying early. Most good markets are juried, meaning a person or small commi...

A question we get a lot is some version of this: "I set my shipping to a $5 flat rate like the video showed, but when I ran a test label it cost $20. What am I doing wrong, and is $5 even enough anymore?" Short answer: you are not doing anything wrong, your flat rate is just based on an old number a...

If your candle vessel just got discontinued or keeps going out of stock, do not shut your business down. You almost never need a full redesign. You need a close enough replacement vessel, a short re-test to make sure it still burns right, and a smarter sourcing plan so one supplier can never corner ...

A question we get a lot sounds like this: "I already use perfumer's alcohol and fragrance oil for my room sprays. Does that mean I have basically been making perfume this whole time?" The short answer is, almost. A room spray and a perfume start from the exact same two ingredients. The real differen...

If you already run your online store on Shopify and you are wondering whether to use Shopify POS or Square at your next market, here is the short answer: both work, and neither one is going to make or break your booth. Use Shopify POS when you want your market sales and your online inventory living ...

For most makers working a single table, somewhere between 8 and 15 scents is the sweet spot, and we only climb closer to 30 when we have a big booth and a deep catalog to pull from. The real answer is not a magic number though. It is a mix: your proven best sellers up front, a tight seasonal block t...

A question we get a lot is how to set up a QR code and a link page for business cards, and the short answer is this: put one QR code on your card, point it at one simple link page that you control, and let that page send people to the two or three things you actually want them to do. For most candle...