At the start of the month I took a trip to the NEC in Birmingham to go to the Autumn Fair and explore new products as well as catching up with businesses that I’ve dealt with in the past and seeing what new items they have. Let’s go through what I discovered and could stock in the future. I would also love to hear your feedback on the potential products that I saw.
Starting off with The Tipsy Candle Co. For anyone who’s viewed collectorschamber.co.uk you will have probably seen some of their products in the unique section on my website, well now I’ve seen they have some new candle scents and have also started on doing some reed diffusers as well as always these are all inspired by various drinks and unlike the common scents that you can find at any store these are all handmade and in my opinion worth it.
Next I went to see what DCUK had in stock and honestly after meeting some of their staff at Spring Fair earlier this year and having a positive discussion which I was looking at ordering some of their products, something has changed in the last 6 months as the staff member that I spoke to point blank said that they do not deal with online retailers this has raised questions for myself from going so positive to a case of you don’t have a shop we wont deal with you especially as I had an order ready to go worth almost £400 in stock, should I still look at doing that order or just cancel it and find someone else?
One of the main things I was looking for at the Autumn Fair was wax melts as *spoiler* I was looking at doing some advent calendars for a Christmas bundle that I’m working on and honestly I didn’t find one that I’d like to do business with I found two. Firstly is a company called Freckleface Home Fragrance, yes they have a lot of variety but at the moment I wouldn’t be able to do business with them as they only deal with physical shops, yes it’s disappointing but I have more respect for them telling me from the start so yes it’s a shame for the moment but we can look to the future and potential business could be done they even gave me a free sample which they didn’t have to do but adds to the case of we can’t do business at the moment but once you get a physical shop please get in touch. Another company that I found doing wax melts is one called The Outrageous Peacock, I had a good chat with them and honestly I’m working out which scents I’ll be ordering from them to sell to you, they have a lot of options available and as well as what could be classed as everyday scents they also do seasonal scents. Honestly after speaking to both of these companies I think there’s a high chance of seeing one or both companies wax melts become available from Collector’s Chamber in the future.
I also decided to look at wholesalers now yes I’m lucky to have Baileys near to me and having worked for them in the past I’ve still got a good relationship with the management there and will be doing business with them in the future more so when I’m able to get a physical shop as I know we can work out some great deals on soft/non-alcoholic drinks and potentially other items as well. I also had some items catch my eye from Rysons which I’ll be ordering and making available soon. I know it might seem strange to some people that I could be doing business with two wholesalers but each one offers something different and it could be I might not be able to get something from one but the other might have what I’m after so it’ll work in the long run.
Other businesses I looked at firstly GetRetro seeing what new stock they had and deciding on what mystery boxes to stock in the near future. I also done an order with a company that normally wouldn’t be on my radar (Miss Sparrow) but I will admit I did see a potential opportunity to do something else for charity but currently I’m awaiting to meet up with a close friend and see if the products would be any benefit and which charity would be best so until that happens you’ll just have to keep looking on our socials. And finally I ended up coming across a company that I never expected to but I could see straight away that they would fit into my unique category without any problem, Woven Magic who again do handmade items but these represent various countries and a wise range of items such as waistcoats, cushions, door stoppers and so much more. Personally I think their items will be a lot of interest when I order some in.
Let me know what you’d like to see at Collector’s Chamber and I’ll see what I can do.