I wanted to share a little bit about myself with you guys. I feel that if you know me a little better, then maybe we can have a better relationship, both in business and as fellow crafters, and with many of you, personal! :)
I started out in the self-employment world in 2006 selling vintage items on eBay with my Dad. I discovered that I had a knack for buying and selling, and that I truly enjoyed it! That first Christmas on eBay, I decided I wanted to make gift baskets for all the women in my family, aunts, nieces, etc. So, I bought little things on eBay to include in the baskets, such as cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, makeup and other little things....and.. homemade soap. And that was all it took. Really it was. I got that soap in the mail and was just truly amazed at how good it smelled and felt and it opened up an entirely new world for me. By February I was crafting melt and pour (MP), and by June, I was in the soap-crafting business. I stuck with MP because I was limited on space, and didn't really want to deal with lye. I have crafted CP and Rebatch, but MP is my game. By the following Christmas I was in full swing and have been a full time soapcrafter ever since. If you want to see my soaps, my site is ThePurpleHippy.com. But, while the soapcrafting fulfills my need to be creative, I knew I had to do something else that allows me to financially support my family better.
At the start of 2015, I left eBay (both my soap store and my vintage store) and decided to go ahead with my own website for supplies, New York Scent. I decided to really put my energy, focus, and money into it and give it a go. Since I had been selling supplies on Facebook for quite some time (since 2012) I thought maybe I could really do well with this. I decided to focus on fragrance oils and mica colorants because as a soapmaker I had accumulated hundreds of scents for my craft and around 40 different mica colors. At one point we counted over 600 scents just for my soaps...it was an obsession! But, we all love fragrance and color, don't we? Since you're here, reading this, I know you understand...;)
I love being able to offer small quantities and keep them affordable for you. I know how it is as a soapmaker who only wants to make a few batches of a scent. There's just no good reason to buy scents by the pound when you only need a few ounces. The extra just sits around and gets old and you feel really guilty looking at it. ;). Now you don't have to buy large quantity to justify the price because I offer 1 oz sizes for $2.59. Really that's a great price and my shipping policy ($5.49 $16 orders and less and max $8.99 for anything higher) is such a good rate that I am comparable to many big suppliers. For those of you who DO like to buy in bigger quantities, I can and will offer larger sizes in addition to the small, and I now have 3 manufacturers I am working with to be able to have the stock on hand for you.
As a small supplier who just loves doing this, I have a great desire to grow and expand. I have been able to grow this business on my own without taking a giant business loan. It has taken a lot longer than many businesses, but growth is growth. It's good. This business is my family's income (My family consists of husband Pat -who is the one who pours almost all of the bottles, my elderly Aunt lives with us -she has dementia, and I also have custody of my teenage niece and nephew - utter craziness, plus assorted pets, houseplants and aquariums.) I put in some really crazy hours and work A LOT, way more than I would at a regular 8-5 job. But, I LOVE doing this. I really really do. And they always say if you can love what you do, you never work a day in your life. Some days really are work, but I'm proud and excited to have my own business just the same.
You guys are the reason I'm able to do this. I appreciate every one of you. I try to add some extra goodies when I can to your packages. I'm not always able to, but when I can, I like for there to be a nice surprise when you open the package. I know I always like getting a free sample of something. Makes me feel special. And you guys ARE special to me. You allow me to run my own business, and I get to help you make your beautiful creations. So, really I want to say Thank You.
I'm almost always available to answer questions if you have them. Comments, suggestions, and feedback of any kind is welcome! :)
~Alissa Barnett
PS: I have a Facebook Group, New York Scent", that you can join to share in the discussion and show off your crafts! https://www.facebook.com/groups/746339935419515/
July 2021 - I wanted to post an update to the story since it has been a while. As you all know, Covid turned everything upside down last year. At the beginning of it, like many of you, we were making plans for our soap markets and events and shows, because we still did those with The Purple Hippy items that I made and the other goodies that I sold along with my handmade products, but Covid sure did a number on that and everything was shut down. We had no idea what we were going to do, but we just hoped that New York Scent could carry us through. WOW! Were we in for a surprise! We were very very blessed in that it just so happened that the craft supply industry exploded and New York Scent did more business last year than in several years combined. What a whirlwind of things we had to learn along the way. How much freight actually costs. Where to store everything. How to make the pouring process go faster. How, along with the growth, how every bill increased and all the new website add-ons we needed. We had to survive the shortages of bottles and caps, but fortunately another supplier was super amazing and really helped me out with that. We also had to survive and got a crash course in what it means to be patient as many of our shipments were taking 2 months or so to come in - if at all. What a crazy time this has been, but it's still amazing all of the things we're learning. And I say "we" a lot because it's now full time + for both myself and my husband Pat. My Dad comes to help when he gets time. And we will have help for busy season.
All of this led me to the decision earlier this year to temporarily close The Purple Hippy shop, in order to better catch up on things. Well, that was months ago and we still have plenty to do and no signs of things slowing down so I decided to try something and just post the inventory I have for my Purple Hippy store on the New York Scent website and just combine them. All I can say is why not, right?? I'll give it a go and we'll just see how it works out. That's why you'll find incense and burners and tapestries and whatnot along with the fragrances and colors. It's a really fun mix of items and boy, does it smell good here!! :)
December 2022 - Update time! Business has slowed for us, and prices have increased everywhere we turn which has made it more difficult to get stock in while keeping prices manageable. So, it has been a struggle, not gonna lie, but we're still here and doing our best. My Dad got sick with diverticulitis and can't work with us anymore. My arms both have tendonitis and pouring/bottling has become an issue for me. My husband Pat has taken over that job completely. It's so nice to have us working together as a team. Between us we get the job done.
I've just recently moved The Purple Hippy stock back into its own store again so that NYS will be just about NYS again.
Here's hoping that 2023 will be great! :)
THANK YOU again for all of your support. You guys mean the world to our family!