Fresh Bet Bits, Claire Burke Original Memories, Home Fragrance Product Updates and Commentary

WOW, Wade & I had a hectic trip to Atlanta for 2 days to attend the huge January Gift Show to order new merchandise for Spring. Needless to say we were exhausted by the time we left. Here is a brief recap of what we have planned for Spring/Summer 2008:

* New WoodWick candles and Reed Diffusers.
* New Old Virginia Tarts.
* More new WoodWick car scents and Home Fragrance Oil scent choices.
* New WoodWick Fusion art-glass Candles & Reed Diffuser - simply stunning!
* New WoodWick Reed Diffuser oil refills w/new Reeds.
* NEW Olive Oil Organics in travel tin candles and large 22 oz clear glass. AWESOME scent!
* More new Hillhouse Farm Naturals tin candles and new Pomegranate Reed Diffuser.
* Hillhouse Good Dog Linen Spray and tin candle.
* NEW Greenleaf Reed Diffusers and refills. These are ceramic and so charming.
* Greenleaf has introduced a new scent called Evening Twilight which is a powdery soft scent that will be available in Aroma Decor Diffuser Oil.
* 2 New Greenleaf Aroma Decor Diffusers: Yellow Vase, Shanghai
* Greenleaf has also reformulated their lotions to include Jojoba making them even better!
* Greenleaf has a new Spa line which we will be adding soon: Bath Salts, Scrub, etc.

We are optimistically guarded that we will soon be selected to become an Aromatique retailer. They gave me their new Peach Pizazz candle to burn and it is phenomenal! We are excited to report we have ordered:

* The Smell of Spring
* Summer Sorbet
* Fresh Fig
* Citrus Plum Berry
* Peach Pizazz

Thanks to the feedback from Sandy Wood who was kind enough to share her thoughts with me regarding Aromatique!

We have also ordered several other new lines which will be arriving over the next few months:
* Baekgaard leather purse accessories in bright colors.
* Scentier Parfum Fragrance Lampes and Oils
* Lastly, we are expanding our Caswell-Massey lines due to your comments and strong interest to include: Men’s Verbena & Tricorn, Ladies: Almond & Aloe, English Lavender.

I also visited the Enchanted Meadow showroom and will be ordering a few of their new lines as well. So, it was a busy market and we expect Spring to be very busy at Freshbet. As always, if you have comments or suggestions, please email Bet.

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

Today I called WoodWicks to find out when our fabulous new car scents will be arriving. Previously they had promised them to us in late August. This is why we put them on the site and started taking orders. Then something fell through and they told us they had been delayed. Now they assure me these will be shipping to us in mid-October.

Here’s the thing about these car gels. I don’t sell Yankee Candles because I don’t think they make a great candle. I do buy their car gels because they last a long time in our car and frankly these are the best car gels I have found. When I attended the July Show in Atlanta, I was privileged to meet the Marketing Manager of Old Virginia Candles. I had seen the new gels at Market in Minneapolis in June. When Jamey showed them to me, I told him about the Yankee car gels that I personally use. He proved to me right then how much better theirs are over the Yankee.

I suggested to him that they add a pretty label to their car gel as it looks a bit plain to me. He had a wooden box enclosure with both a Yankee car gel and a WoodWick car gel. I was invited to sniff them both and determine which was stronger. You guessed it! The WoodWick was quite superior and we get to enjoy most of our favorite WoodWick scents now in the car.

At any rate…I digress, the new WoodWick Car Gel Scents will be available in our stock by mid to late October. Please know we will ship your backorders just as soon as these arrive. Thanks to everyone for their patience!

Click here for WoodWick Car Scents.

Fall is right around the corner!

It’s always exciting looking forward to new scents when the seasons change. This Fall is no exception as WoodWicks has created some great new fragrances. We are pleased to offer you new Woodwick Reed Diffusers, WoodWick Candles and Old Virginia Wax Tarts.

New WoodWick candle scents now available:

* Noel * Snowflake * Vanilla Latte * Honey Butter * Spiced Eggnog. YUM! These scents are available in the big 22 oz glass candle at $23.00/each.

New WoodWick Reed Diffuser scents now available:
* Gingerbread * Pumpkin Butter * Biscotti * Spiced Plum * Evergreen * Noel * simply gorgeous!

New Old Virginia Wax Tarts now available:

* Hollyberry * Hot Apple Pie * Orange Spice * Evergreen & Apple * Banana Muffin * Cranberry Apple * Frosted Berries * Sugared Gum Drops * Creamy Caramel * Almond Macaroons * Still only $1.00/each!

Anyday now we are expecting to receive the new WoodWick Car Gel Scents. These little guys are awesome! They are comparable in price to the Yankee car gel scents, but much stronger and guaranteed to last way longer.

We will be offering: * Applewood * Caramel * Cinnamon Chai * Cotton Flower * Currant * Evergreen * Linen * Vanilla Bean. These will sell for $5.00 each.

Click here to see all our great new home fragrance products by WoodWick.

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!

Below is an email I received from Kathy, our WoodWick and Old Virginia Sales Rep. Please note that Fresh Bet has already ordered most of these items. I have arranged various delivery dates as coordinated with the release of these great new items by the Factory.

Stay tuned for more info!
Bet
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• NEW: Home Fragrance Oils – introducing the FASTEST way to fragrance! These 24 highly concentrated fragrance oils fill any room with the inviting scents of WoodWick™ Candle in just minutes. Each one comes in an adorable bottle with a handcrafted wood lid and gift box.

• NEW: Oil Warmers – the electric and tealight oil warmers are specially designed to warm our oils to the ideal temperature for fast fragrance “throw”. The electric warmer takes advantage of the “flameless fragrance” trend and is crafted in real wood with a shape designed to complement the line. The tea light version is a great value and features a clean, contemporary style.

• NEW: Car Scents™ - 12 authentic WoodWick™ fragrances… to go! Made with essential oils, this new gel technology offers the strongest, most true-to-life scents available to refresh any space & eliminate odors. It’s the perfect addition for those who love WoodWick™ fragrance and want to take it on the road!

• NEW Holiday Glow™ Collection – Featuring stunning new colored glass with a silver lining and our exclusive Holiday Glow™ fragrance, this festive collection creates the perfect mood for the season! Available in our large & medium jars as well as the baby jar gift set. Limited Availability.

• NEW: Frasier Fir Candle – this limited-time luxury offering features an amazing Frasier Fir fragrance in thick, luxurious silver glass with a beautiful silver metallic gift box.

• 6 New Jar Candles – We’ve added 6 brand new fragrances in our top-selling 22 oz WoodWick jar candles.

• More New Reed Diffusers – Now you can easily “fragrance without the flame”! Our reed diffusers feature highly concentrated WoodWick™ fragrances infused with essential oils in unique, eye-catching packaging.

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I have also ordered a mess of new tarts. All of these great new fall and holiday items will start trickling into the Fresh Bet warehouse in late August. There will be more shipments in September and October as well. Whew….