I Must Speak My Mind

Over on Etsy, I was browsing the forums. During this forum browsing I came across a suggestion that Etsy implement a star-rating system for each item listing. Viewers can rate the designs from 0-5 stars based on how original the items are, materials used, etc.

The problem is, the 1 Star rating that was proposed makes anyone who must use materials that come already made - such as jewelry artists who use ready-made beads - be worthy of a 1 Star Rating. Of course, if items are rated 1 Star, you know that no one will ever buy them.

Now I don't know about you, but I can't make Sea Salt. I can't make Dead Sea Salt. I can't make Dendritic Salt. I can't make bath colorants and I sure as heck can't make fragrance oils. So every one of our bath salts, if Etsy were to take this suggestion and make it a reality, would be subject to a 1 Star rating because we use ready-made components and, well, bath salts aren't very original now are they?

I really hope that this is a suggestion that Etsy ignores. This could mean the death of sales for some shops if a rating system like this were to be implemented. Besides, 1 Star ratings could very well discourage people from trying to better themselves at their craft as opposed to encouraging them to improve themselves when it comes to their craft.

Just my two cents.

4 oz Bath Salt Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to:

Mara S.

She won a 4 oz jar of Candlelight Boutique bath salts in her scent of choice! :) 

Check back in June for another giveaway!

Giveaway: 4 oz Jar of Bath Salts

To generate some interest in Candlelight Boutique, we are going to be giving away a 4 oz jar of bath salts! The scent will be of the winner's choosing - you can choose any of the scents available in our Etsy shop or from the list on this page.

You may even mix scents or customize the colors if you prefer - or you can have no color in your salts at all - your choice. :) Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter! :)

Giveaway will run from Midnight EST 5/15/12 to 11:59PM EST 5/21/12 and is open to US residents only!

Good luck! :)


  a Rafflecopter giveaway

More eBay Items

We have quite a few items for sale on eBay - please be advised that if you order the individual Bright Lime, Bright Blue, Sunshine Yellow, or Tropical Sea wash cloths there may be a small delay while they are made if the entire set was also ordered.

White Sakura 8 oz Bath Salts
Cotton Candy 8 oz Bath Salts
Yuletide Vanilla Cookie 8 oz Bath Salts
Grasshopper 8 oz Bath Salts
Lavender 8 oz Bath Salts
Set of 4 Washcloths - Beachy Keen
Bright Blue Washcloth
Bright Lime Washcloth
Sunshine Yellow Washcloth
Tropical Sea Washcloth
Daisy Washcloth
Westport Washcloth

The Mother's Day sale has ended. We got a couple of orders during the Mother's Day sale yet no one used the coupon code even though it was right there in the shop announcement. We're wondering now if we should list the coupon codes in the item descriptions because the individual items do not show the shop announcement and most of our business has come because of search results on Etsy.

Of course, this does entail actually editing over 40 items, so we are also thinking about getting an Etsy On Sale account to use for sales like this which will automatically discount the items so the customers get the sale price.

Do you have any preference? Would you prefer to use a coupon code or have the prices automatically be lowered for sales?

New Items in the Etsy Shop

We have some new items in the Etsy shop - three new washcloths and a washcloth set.

Beachy Keen Set of 4 Crocheted Cotton Washcloths

Bright Blue Crocheted Cotton Washcloth

Bright Lime Crocheted Cotton Washcloth

Sunshine Crocheted Cotton Washcloth

These washcloths are super soft, 100% cotton, and measure a generous 9.5" square. They sell for $3/1 washcloth (the bright blue, bright lime, or sunshine) and $12/set of 4.

The Beachy Keen set includes Tropical Sea (ombre), Bright Blue, Bright Lime, and Sunshine. We hope to have more washcloth sets available shortly. We have a few combination ideas, we just need to get the yarn and put them into action.

There are more individual washcloths that have not yet been photographed or posted to the shop, we hope to have those photographed, edited and posted to the shop by the end of the weekend.

Don't forget you can get 15% off your order if you order by Sunday using coupon code: MOTHERSDAY12

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

More eBay Listings

I'm trying to establish our brand and business on eBay, so I'm listing items on eBay! These items have starting bids that are 1/4 of what the products are priced at, so hurry up and snag these deals while they last! :D

White Sakura 8 oz Bath Salts
Cotton Candy 8 oz Bath Salts
Grasshopper 8 oz Bath Salts
Yuletide Vanilla Cookie 8 oz Bath Salts
Lavender 8 oz Bath Salts

We sold the Strawberry Daiquiri 8 oz Bath Salts from our last batch of eBay deals, so make sure you get in on this set!

New Items Posted to eBay & News

If you're looking for a few deals on our bath salts, check out our eBay auctions! You can snag some of our 8 oz bath salts for as little as $2 plus shipping & handling if you're lucky enough to win the bid! :)

8 oz Cotton Candy Bath Salts
8 oz Strawberry Daiquiri Bath Salts
8 oz White Sakura Bath Salts

Those are our current auctions on eBay.

Also, due to the rising costs of materials, shipping of materials to us, and shipping of products to our customers, we are being forced to raise our prices as of June 1st. We really didn't want to do this, because we believe in providing our products to you for the best possible price, but it has unfortunately come to the point where we either raise our prices or we close our doors. We don't want to close our doors, so a price hike is inevitable.

Our bath salt prices will be as follows - maybe you'll see a pattern here:

4 oz - $4
8 oz - $8
16 oz - $16
32 oz - $32

We will also soon be offering a "bulk" option where you can pick three 2 lb bags of bath salts for a discounted price. These salts will not come in the glass jars but will be shipped in quart Ziploc bags with labels affixed. If you've already purchased salts from us, these can be used as refill bags for your current jars, or if you have jars you'd like to use, you can use this option to get 6 lbs of salt for less than you would if they were in the jar!

Our shower gels (although we only have one right now LOL):

8 oz bottles for $8

Our  liquid body lotions:

8 oz bottles for $8

Our body butters and sugar scrubs will remain the same. So just a heads up - if you want to grab some before the prices go up, do it in May!

Don't forget through May 13 you can get 15% off your order using coupon code MOTHERSDAY12