Freshbet.com Home Fragrance Updates

Sadly with today’s high fuel prices UPS is raising our costs by 5% for 2008 for all ground shipments. These new rates will go into effect on December 31, 2007 for calendar year 2008. Below is an excerpt from their notification:
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As 2008 approaches, all of us at UPS would like to express our appreciation for your continued business. To help you plan for the coming year, we want you to know about new UPS rates and services that will take effect December 31, 2007.

UPS published small package Daily Rates will change as follows*: UPS Ground and UPS Standard to Canada services will increase 4.9%. Air and International express services will increase a net 4.9% through a combination of a 6.9% increase in rates and a 2% reduction in the air and international fuel surcharge.

Changes will also be made to accessorial charges. Delivery Area Surcharges and Residential Surcharges will increase by $0.10. The Additional Handling charge will increase by $0.50 and the charge for Address Corrections for UPS Ground packages will increase by $1.00. The charge for Declared Value will increase by $0.05 per $100 of Declared Value, with a minimum charge of $1.80, and you, as the shipper, will have the option to bill Declared Value charges for Freight Collect shipments to your account. To see the complete list of accessorial changes, please visit ups.com/rates.
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Please know that I absolutely HATE having to raise our shipping costs to our customers. But, we are a small business and we try to keep our rates evenly matched to our actual costs. Therefore, we will most like have to increase our shipping costs as well.

Fresh Bet will continue to shop between the US Postal Service, UPS & FedEx to try to find the best shipping rate for our customers. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this area.

We had a Rebate Program in 2006 that was so well received, I thought we should repeat it again for 2008! The basics are the same. The result is essentially a 10% rebate for our loyal customers who choose to make Fresh Bet their home fragrance retailer of choice.

Here’s how it works:

* You will receive a postcard with your next shipment that explains the program on the front of the card.
* On the back of the card you simply record each purchase by Sale # and dollar amount.
* When you reach the desired level, simply mail it to us and we will mail or email you a rebate coupon. Simple enough!
* The program will end in the 4th quarter of 2008, so be sure to mail your postcards back to us by November 2008.

Now you can accumulate your purchases with Fresh Bet Home Fragrances over the next 6-12 months and use your Rebate Coupon towards FREE Stuff!

Here are the rebate levels:

* $200.00 - $249.99 - $20.00 off Coupon
* $250.00 - $349.99 - $25.00 off Coupon
* $350.00 - $449.99 - $35.00 off Coupon
* $450.00 - $549.99 - $45.00 off Coupon
* $550.00 or more - $55.00 off Coupon

So keep an eye out for the lavender Rebate Postcard in your next order! As always, thanks for shopping with Freshbet.com.

Bet

Earlier this summer we decided to offer the Lavender Lil Bunny and your response has been great. While attending the Market this past July, I noticed that Sonoma Lavender had two great new “heated pets” available. They are so cute! So, we are now stocking LuLu the Lavender Poodle and Lou the Lavender Teddy Bear.

All of these heated pets are cuddly and come with a removable lavender insert. They can be warmed briefly in the microwave and are machine-washable. Sonoma Heated Pets are handmade in the Napa Valley or California and utilize organically grown Lavender.

Lavender relaxes and encourages sleep as well as lifts mild depression and elevates your mood. It relieves pain; from headaches to achy muscles. Pamper body and senses with this age old remedy.

Click here to see all of our natural, beautiful products by Sonoma Lavender.

I have just created a new page on the Fresh Bet site that is solely dedicated to all-natural and organic goodies. Our Sonoma Lavender/Eucalyptus/Rose has always been organically grown in the Sonoma Valley of California. These products are beautifully created by hand by local artisans.

Now, I am pleased to introduce one of our newest lines by Natural Spa that is produced in the USA by ECOS who pledges to create healthy indulgences that are entirely botanical to refresh, restore and enhance your personal environment.

Made with simple, uncomplicated ingredients that never contain parabens, dyes or synthetics. Choose from Lavender Glass Cleaner, Parsley All-Purpose Cleaner and Pomegranate Dish Soap. We also offer Hand Lotion and Hand Soap in Black Currant, Grapefruit, Pomegranate and Lemon Grass. YUM!

Click here to visit our new Natural/Organic page.

Summer vacation season will soon be ending as the students prepare to return to school this month. It’s time for an “End of Summer Sale” as we start thinking about moving into Fall. This is a great time to indulge in summer fragrance mark-downs as we make room for lots of great new Fall merchandise. We have several bodycare lines by Enchanted Meadow that are on Clearance. Many of our Claire Burke summer fragrances are on Sale. All of our Summer WoodWick Candles and Old Virginia Wax Tarts summer scents have also been marked down.

Later this month we’ll be receiving the new WoodWick Car Gel Scents. Claire Burke will be shipping The Haunted Home and Pomegranate Plum to us by Labor Day. In September we will have new Eternal Flame Eclipse Lamps from Enchanted Meadow and new Autumn Reed Diffusers and Refills.

* Claire Burke on sale: Citrus Blush, Wisteria, Simply Jasmine
* Summer WoodWick Candles now 10% off
* Summer Old Virginia Wax Tarts now 20% off
* Terra Nova Gardenia, Rain & Water Petals bodycare - 15% off
* Selected Organic Sonoma Lavender Sachets - 30% off
* Selected Greenleaf Aroma Decor Diffusers, Bath & Body - 15% off
* Selected Kama Sutra - 10% off
* Simple Scents Body Butters - selected scents 10% off

Treat summer skin to lots of moisturizing and save money on our great sale pricing! Just Arrived: New Badger Sun Care. Whether you’re starting your holiday shopping early or just stocking up on some end of summer scents at great savings; don’t delay as our clearance prices are limited to stock on hand.

Click here to shop our Clearance Sale!

Imagine my delight when I was given 2 of the new Claire Burke I.Decor diffusers while attending the July gift show in Atlanta. I was so excited, I filled it up as soon we got home. Later that evening, I didn’t notice the scent. So, I moved it to the powder room. The next morning I didn’t notice any scent either.

A few days later, I took the 2nd diffuser to the store and asked Leia to check it out. She filled hers and it doesn’t seem to be working any better.

Thus, sadly, I have decided not to offer these to our customers. I am incredibly disappointed with the diffuser, because the oil scents are lovely. I had thought these would be burning diffusers like our Aroma Decor by Greenleaf. However, these are extremely passive with a large wick.

Our testing showed there was no scent throw at all. These are beautiful colored glass bottles with intricate metal slotted tops. At a retail of $48., and $18. for the oils, I was flabbergasted that they seem to not be working well.

I’ve always said that I will not sell what I would not buy. Consequently, we will not be offering the new Claire Burke I.Decor line of fragrance diffusers.

Regards,

Bet

Sadly our old blog site got sort of hacked by a pervert last month. We ended up moving to a new blog program. This has taken a bit of getting used to on my part and I already have so many new posts to be written.

It has thrown me a bit out of whack not having the old layout and I seriously miss referring to older blogs. We seem to have lost most of the pictures of our new retail store and some great articles about the products. Personally it makes me angry that so many people have nothing better to do than to attack my website. But..what can you do? Oh well..

So, if you thought you remembered an article and can no longer find it on our site; this is the reason. We have lost the past 3 years worth of blogs with memorials to my Mom, my Kelly dog and so many of the Fresh Bet girls. There was so much product information that has also been lost. Anyway, it’s not your memory going bad…the articles are now gone forever.

Best,
Bet

Diffusing oil burners are incredibly popular because they have three distinct benefits: (1) they neutralize odors, (2) add wonderful fragrance to your room and (3) they are pretty chic looking additions to your decor and style. Several years ago, Claire Burke released their Lampourri Oil Fragrancer as an alternative to the well-known Lampeberger that has been in use since the late 1800’s.

The Lampourri is a pretty little white frosted glass bottle and we have sold quite a few. However, the Claire Burke Factory has decided to retire this version and release a whole new line called I.Decor later this year. There will be 6 new glass bottle styles that are quite pretty in various color combinations.

Claire Burke has also developed 4 new Aromatherapy scent blends of oil refills: Green Tea Ginger & Pear, Lily Jasmine & Musk, Lime Verbena & Bay, Lavender Vanilla & Wood. These will retail for $18.00 and are presented as complex and unique fragrances developed with the sophistication that has become the hallmark of Claire Burke.

Our existing Lampourri is now on 10% off Clearance Sale. Apparently the Factory will continue to offer the current Lampourri Oils; so no worries there. The new version is expected to be available in late 2007 before Christmas.

Father’s Day is June 17th and this is the perfect time to place your order for Dad. We have lots of great goodies that any gent would enjoy:

• Zen For Men in Chai, Figleaf & Lime or Cypress Yuzu.
• Vitabath Original Green Gelee, Travel Set.
• WoodWick candles and Reed Diffuser Sets.
• Kama Sutra Massage Oils, Love Oil.
• Hillhouse Room Sprays: Log Cabin, The Lodge & The Woods.
• Enchanted Meadow Apres Jardin for the Gardener.
• Archipelago Botanicals Milk footcare set and Milk Shave.
• Beautiful custom-made Gift Baskets !
• Pre de Provence Soaps in great masculine scents: Pecan, Sage, Brazilnut, Patchouli & Sandalwood.

Click here to visit our Father’s Day Gift Suggestion page. Simply call us toll-free or order on-line and let us do the rest! We will be delighted to gift wrap his order and ship it directly to Dad’s house.

Let us save you time and energy (not to mention those high gas prices) by shipping your order direct to Dad’s house.

My Dad passed away in 1997; so don’t miss out on these precious times to show Dad how much you love him!

This is a quick update to let our customers know of some new changes to our shipping carriers:

1. The US Postal Service will no longer allow us to ship sprays or perfumes to Canada. They have discontinued the ground service; and these items are prohibited for air shipment. This means we must ship by UPS Ground which is more expensive and may require Canadian customers to pay incoming duties.
2. FedEx Ground shipments will all be sent with a required signature due to unpaid claims for non-received shipments. This means you must be home to sign for your package or they will not leave it on the porch or doorstep. We have experienced losses when we do not require a signature and sadly this is increasing your delivery time as FedEx must now obtain your signature.
3. The result is that we will start using UPS more because of these new ‘issues’ with USPS and FEDEX. In certain rural areas, UPS is quite costly. We will do our best not to increase your shipping fees, but UPS levies more fuel surcharges, etc. so we will watch these charges carefully before determining if our shipping charges to our customers must be raised.

I understand this is a very sensitive area; especially with so many websites offering free and discounted shipping rates. Please know that we utilize as many recycled packing materials as possible and DO NOT charge Handling Fees at Freshbet in an attempt to keep our costs as reasonable as possible. We appreciate your patience as we strive to maintain shipping costs which are continually being increased by the carriers. As always, email Bet if you have comments or suggestions.