Complaint Review: International Candle Corporation

Dean, I'm interested in seeing the display racks you manufacture. The ones from ICC are disgraceful, ugly plastic things that have gotten me evicted from more than a couple locations because they 'cheapen' the store. I've tried to dress them up, but as a good friend used to say, you can't polish a turd. They will most likely be relegated to holding car parts in my garage.

To all, I do have a good candle contact, and I suggest you expand into oils, candle holders, anything aromatic, etc.. A massage parlor, tanning salon or day spa will move oils and aromatherapy products. There is nothing that says a candle display has to hold candles. Find an importer or manufacturer and sell what sells per location. For these locations, you've got to grab your customers by the nose.

I'm not going to post anything like websites and phone numbers here. I really don't need 400 spam mails a day and I'd hate to have my good contacts overwhelmed by crud. I'm setting up a free yahoo email account, I'll check it every once in a while, and if you'd like to have some of the contacts I've found, I'm happy to share them. As long as you're not competing in my market....:
Dean, I'm very interested in better displays, especially now that I've got access to better product and a few decent locations. Email me and we'll talk.

-R

I have done some fixture manufacturing for a couple of candle companies. Getting paid was an issue and I now will only manufacture display racks for them when paid in advance. Many of these companies sell candles for fund raisers and have very bad cash flow most of the year as well. And then they expect others/suppliers, to finance them.

What had me search this subject is that 5 minutes ago one of these guys called and wanted more racks. Seems they now have a new name but I am guessing playing the old game. They do not come up on this site but I don't think they offer to sell distribution rights or territories.

Anyways, I make good quality racks. If I can help let me know.

Good luck.

Don't use the same trash displays the frauds sent you. Buy new ones. Search for point of sale displays. I'd get clear plastic racks. Or, maybe mirrored. I'd have to see the candles first, to see what works.

And, get the candles that have a strong scent. I've read others reports where the people described them. They said that they smell up the whole room. That will attract buyers, even the ones who have already seen the trash you had before.

Once you have nice products, people will instantly see that they are different from the last stuff.

I'm telling you, these faux food pie candles will make money. I never even knew something like that existed until I saw a report here months ago.

I went to some sites and looked at the products offered. They are a novelty. Even though the price is a little high, I can certainly see people buying them. The room deodorizer/air freshener market is big. These candles fill a niche part of that market.

Find your own locations. You saw how the other locators worked. Simply do what they did. All you need is a simple contract between you and the location's owner. Don't pay others for something you can do for yourself. Besides, those d**n locators lie to people. You want the store owners to meet and like you. They will be responsible for your success. So, pick them carefully.

Get 2 or 3 locations that work. Then, use them as references when you go out to solicit new places. You want locations where the candles compliment the products that are already being sold there. Figure out the buyer's demographics. Chances are, it's probably women. Middle class to affluent. Get books on marketing to explain it all to you.

And, don't be sending any more checks. At least, not on your first purchase. Go there. See the product for yourself. Don't get taken twice.

You have the right attitude. You wanted a candle business. So, make a candle business. Don't sit around like the idiots and complain. That won't make a dime.

Right now, you're behind. Work smart, and change that.

Good luck!

Paul may be right. A bit condescending, but correct.

The best way out is to liquidate the garbage to buy something of quality. If you have to sell it for a buck, do so, move the product, take your lumps and move to what works. There are wholesalers and importers who are legitimate and deliver. You, as I, have to accept that we take a loss.

The backside of this, which I'm dealing with now, is that a store's customer base has already decided to not even look at my display since I had ICC's lowball stuff out there. You'll need to grab them.

We all got sucker punched by these guys. There are people out there who are legitimate business people, but I've learned to use caution. Order low volumes and check them out thoroughly. Then talk with them and make sure they are on board before sending a check.

Norwood is another story... I've had 4 stores placed in 5 months. 2 kicked me out because of no sales and ugly racks. However, I've had great success dealing with an independent locator in finding spots.

The 'territory' BS ICC shovels doesn't work if you read the contract, and they knowingly double sold mine, it's saturated with either failures or displays.

I have a friend and his Dad said remarkable things: 'Regret is the most redundant human emotion. What you do now defines you'.

1. We get these guys
2. We make some cash. Why we started up anyways.
3. If you want contacts for suppliers who deliver, I've found some, at the same reorder price, as long as you're not in a competing region...

Contact me. I'll take the point on this. This Hill/Hillman guy will not ride away as long as there is a breath in my body and a dollar in my wallet

Paul, I have yet to see how you help or give any useful suggestions. I am sure all of us have thought of the same things to do with these candles. I am tired of your second guessing and "what I would do" while calling us stupid and idiots.

I have a garage full of candles I WILL NOT sell to anyone else as they are DEFECTIVE. I cannot in good conscious, sell that kind of a product to any other person.

Why would I do that? I would be no better than those who sold them to me. The oil separates from the wax, the edges turn white and spots are showing up on all of them.

Some of the candles have as much as 6 ounces less of wax than the next one, they look very skimpy, cheap and no one in their right mind would buy them.

Get off the site Paul. Your comments are not constructive, they are mean and meant to humiliate. Just be pleased to know you seem to be above the rest of us, so find another place to dump your nonsense.

You need to sell your way back to profitability, Victoria.

I've been reading about this d**n candle fraud for months now. It looks like the same crooked people are changing their company's name as fast as they can find new victims. Before, they were known as Country Kitchen Candles. There's a ton of complaints on this site.

I tried explaining to those people what they did wrong, and how to work their way out of the mess, but most of them are complete idiots. They want to come here and argue back and forth about the names of the people who scammed them. Many of them are actually stupid enough to think they will be getting refunds. Easy to see how they got cheated. I can't understand who handed them money to begin with. They certainly don't have the brains it takes to earn any.

But, there is a way out of this mess. I'm not sure if you have what it takes to do it or not.

Here's what I would do if I was stuck in your situation. First, hustle off those trash candles. Ebay. Yard sales. Swap meets. You get the idea. The frauds sent you trash candles. You won't get much back. Possibly, 10% of your original investment. But, that's OK because it gets rid of the trash. Plus, it puts some money back in your pocket.

Next, I'd find a real source of the candles. Watch out for more fraud. What you want is a wholesale distributor. You're looking for the specialty candles. The faux food ones. Possibly, the frauds sent you one to suck you into the con. Those are the candles you want. And, you want them in wholesale quantities at wholesale pricing.

You need to make about $7 to $10 off each large pie candle. You split that with your outlet store. Fifty-fifty.

Once you find a source of real candles, at a price you can make money on, you get a van and drive on over. Inspect the product. Be sure each candle is good. You especially want the ones that smell up the whole store. That's what is going to convince new locations to accept your product.

You buy as much as you can afford. Haul it home. Place them in the locations you can salvage from your fraud deal. Find new locations as needed. Basically, offer a 50% split on profits. Shouldn't be all that hard to find people.

In short, you do exactly what you set out to do. Only, this time, you do it with real candles that you go out and find yourself. Once you have established a relationship with a reliable distributor, you can arrange for shipping. That way, you're not driving hundreds of miles in a van to buy stock each time. That's the one big mistake you made. If you went over to the frauds in a van, you would never have bought the greasy, nasty trash they sent you.

This is the only thing I can think of. I don't see any way to get a refund. I don't see anyone to sue. I doubt the federal agencies will ride to your rescue. The only way out is to sell your way out.

At $5 profit each, you need to sell 5,000 candles to get your money back. Assuming 40 locations, each selling a candle every other day, you'd need 250 days to be even again. My figure is the minimum. Perhaps you may sell several candles a day in some locations.

Based on my estimate, in a little over 6 months you should make your money back. Once you're able to expand, there is a real possibility you could make the 100K figure that sucked you into this con in the first place.

It's either that, or else sit here and mope about your loss like the rest of these candle fraud victims.

Best of luck to you!