How to Find Good EO - And Good Suppliers

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

As usual, when I think a post to another list might help folks on this

list, I post it. Below is a long-winded reply I sent today to an

inquiry on how to find good EOs.

------------------------------

Lemme give you my opinion on the below .. might help to relieve some

frustration and help you find some good oils.

 

> I have a beef about companies who are distributing essential oils

> and what people are saying about these companies. I personally,

> don't know what to trust anymore.

 

On a personal level, we can't know who to trust unless we know a person

well, and even then, there will be dissapointment from time to time

because they might let us down .. they might fail .. even if they have

the best intentions.

 

On a professional basis, it becomes harder to know who to trust due to

lack of personal contact. Some EO companies have dissapointed many

buyers and have gained a reputation of having to be watched closely. I

think they might be more concerned with profits than with their image.

They either buy the cheapest oils available - or what I call Commercial

Grade oils .. and these Commercial Grade oils may even be pure oils ..

pure, mediocre oils, or they " play " with the oils, adulterate them to

give them a better odor .. or stretch them with cheap chemicals in order

to increase profits. Or they give lousy service. Whatever the case is,

they are short-sighted because this is not a get-rich-quick business and

success comes from years of working your butt off to keep your customers

smiling. It's great to get glowing testimonials on our products - does

a lot to increase business through word-of-mouth advertising. But as

is the case with most product/service providers, one AW SHIT can wipe

out at least ten ATTABOYs.

 

Other companies have earned a good reputation for one or more reasons -

they avoid the negative points mentioned above - as best they can. That

is NOT always enough ... you can offer the best oils you can find and

still blow it with unreasonable prices or lousy service .. even small

things like having someone answer the phone who allows their bad days or

personal problems to trickle over into your business can harm you ..

nobody wants to hear a grouch or a curmedgeon on the phone when they are

gonna give that company some of their business. But more importantly,

such and attitude can also effect the quality of oils offered. If we

have such an employee, we might try to put them in a job where they have

no contact with the public (which limits their effectiveness) or try get

them to correct the behavior. If that doesn't work, regardless of how

close they are on a personal basis, we gotta have the backbone to cut

them loose and find someone better suited to deal with the public -

which is probably what we should have done in the first place because

folks with a bad attitude are not careful on the job, rarely do good

work and cannot be depended upon to care! When I first started, I had a

fellow who liked to take shortcuts .. instead of ensuring his hands were

cleaned well between jobs he took a shortcut. The result was that he

filled a bottle of Rose Otto after filling a bottle of Oregano .. and

the odor of the Oregano was on the cap of the Rose Otto. No matter how

you cut it, that was a bad oil but I was just lucky that the buyer was a

long-time customer who had a forgiving attitude. Mistakes in this

business are rarely forgiven.

 

There are also some pitfalls to doing business well. Sometimes success

can bring about failure. You gotta begin a business with enough capital

to allow you to stay in business. If one has cash flow problems and

depends on the profits from a company to live, they might find that the

increase in sales is such that their staff can't keep up with orders and

they gotta hire more folks. If they think they can't afford to lose the

income required to hire additional people or rent a larger facility,

they are getting ready for a downhill slide. If they try to swing the

cost of expansion by purchasing cheaper oils and selling them for the

same prices they sold the better oils, we're gonna see deterioration in

the quality of oils from a company that previously supplied fine EO.

This is NOT a business that can be run on a shoe string - if one can not

afford the investment needed to keep up with the present level of sales,

and grow .. and still offer quality, they're gonna fail!!

 

But still, the best company is not going to have the best of EVERY type

oil all the time. If a company claims to have the best oils in the

world they are going to fail in time. Despite their best efforts and

intent, and willingness to invest the cash needed to increase their

product line and ensure the level of service and quality does not

deteriorate, they're gonna fail in one important area - credibility!!

To make such a claim, they would need access to all the EO in the world,

and then compare them. Can we be credible in some areas and not in other

areas and succeed in business? NO WAY! That's my opinion.

 

How do we find good oils? We can start by asking for samples before we

make a purchase. Or buy in very small amounts the first time. And if

we wanna take it a bit farther, ask for a GC or GC/MS so we can get some

warm fuzzies that the company is doing their best to ensure they offer

quality products - and are willing to show you what they have .. which

still might not be the best oil in the world - just the best they could

find. A successful retailer or wholesaler will turn down a lot of pure

oils because they are mediocre oils .. they try to get something better,

but like marriage, you get the best you can and then tomorrow, you might

see something that you think would have been a better choice .. ;-p

 

I have had batches of oils that were so fine I suspected I would likely

not find a similar batch next time - and I was right. :-( It's gonna

happen unless you are manipulating oils in a lab to ensure consistent

quality .. or a consistent chemical profile. Not a lot different than

gourmet wines .. some years, it just ain't gonna happen. As for EO, this

is more true for wild-grown oils because nobody but the Great Everywhere

Spirit can manipulate the growing conditions of wild-grown plants.

Cultivated plants can be watered when there is no rainfall .. not true

if the plant is growing on a hillside forty-eleven miles away from a

water source. Besides, why water wild-plants when you are not assured

of being the one who will eventually harvest those plants?

 

> I go into local " health stores " and they are all selling junk oils.

 

That's a norm .. health stores aren't specializing in essential oils.

For that matter, I'm not sure what they are specializing in ... most of

the products they offer can be found in grocery stores for a lot less

money. We'd be a lot better off by eating whole foods instead of trying

to keep up with the fad of so-called " health " foods. My opinion.

 

> One person said, " Now " products are low grade, which everyone here

> would agree with.

>

> Another person on the list said " Aura Cacia " is a good product which

> I don't agree with.

>

> I've been ordering from one supplier 2000 miles away from me, for the

> last 4 years and I am now starting to question what he is giving me.

 

If you are asking questions and a supplier is not responding or is

giving you humma-humma answers or the schuffle-schuffle dance, you have

good reasons to question the oils. If the odor of a particular oil

turns you off, could be the oil is low quality ... or could be you just

aren't turned on by that particular oil. Of course, if you've used that

oil before and can compare to the others, the decision might be easier.

 

> A homeopathic doctor gave me his number and assumed that he knew

> that the guy was reputable.

 

Being a homeopathic doctor does not qualify one to be an expert in EO

quality ... and for that matter, the credentials don't necessarily mean

the person practices both homeopathy and ethics. There are many experts

in EO quality .. most of them are chemists but after you sell oils for a

long time, you can gain a pretty high level of expertise.

 

> I've always read threads on Young Living products but always just

> deleted them. Was never interested in hearing about junk oils.

 

Being one of the most vocal critics of Young Living, I do read the

posts. Best I can recall, the criticism is not so much directed to their

oils as to many other aspects of the company. I don't think anyone can

say that all Young Living oils are bad oils or good oils .. except Gary

Young and his followers, who claim they are the ONLY good oils .. ;-p

 

Folks are turned off by their marketing techniques and the false claims

they make - and their prices. Lack of ethics in one area would lead the

average person to believe that there might be a lack of ethics in other

areas ... does the company provide false information on some things but

stick to the truth in others? Not likely. Perhaps you have read the YL

Files. If not, below is the URL. YL likes to claim that those who

criticize their marketing policies are just jealous - but folks in the

know understand that non YL sellers market to a different audience. We

aren't using religion to push our products and we're not trying to set

ourselves up as being another savior to the masses who need to follow a

charismatic guru. Those who fawn over YL rarely leave the flock .. but

the many who are just investigating YL as a possible supply source often

leave the flock .. there are many such folks on this list.

 

I believe that most of the good suppliers on this list have given no

thought to the idea of competing with YL .. we don't see YL as being

able to harm our business because of the different audience mentioned

above. YL continues to do their thing, and I doubled my sales in 2001.

 

If the info in this URL is malicious propaganda, a company as large as

YL would bring suit http://www.fragrant.demon.co.uk/ylfiles.html -

methinks! Decide for yourself ... but keep in mind that the major

objections to YL do not concern the quality of their products.

 

One thing is for sure, use of a stubby pencil and paper will alert us to

the fact that any Multi-Level Marketing Company (MLM) is gonna have to

make a heckuva lotta profit in order to doal out those commissions up

and down the line .. and one of the best ways to increase profits is to

sell something that costs little ... for a lot of money. Maybe YL has

found a way to get around this basic fact of commerce .. maybe Mr. Gary

Young has found a way to feed the multitudes with but one fish .. ;-p

 

> Maybe, I should have read these. Books say your sense of smell will

> eventually tell you that you are getting the right oils for what you

> are paying. This is not true.

 

Damn betcha it is not true .. it is PURE BOVINE EXCREMENT. One of the

main reasons oils are manipulated is to improve the odor of a bad oil so

it can be marketed at a high price. Another reason is to turn one kilo

of oil into two kilos of oil by using VERY CHEAP synthetic chemicals.

In other words, feed more folks with the same fish.

 

> How can I be sure I have a reputable supplier?

 

I discussed that above .. ;-p You can do a lot to get closer to being

able to be sure by putting out the effort to shop around. And you may

find that Joe has the best V and W oil while Mary sells the best X and Y

oil .. at least the best according to your own sniffer.

 

> My $89.00 for 3mls of Melissa, am I going to have spend more money

> on labs to make sure I am getting what I am paying for?

 

Hope they threw in change or great gifts when you paid $89 for 3 ml of

Melissa. First time I've EVER heard of such a high price for Melissa

officinalis! It wouldn't matter how great the oil tested .. the fact

remains that they charged WAY TOO MUCH !!!!

 

> I don't sell eos or make products to sell. I use these eos for my

> family, responsibly, and want to get what distributors say I am getting.

 

That's pretty much what everyone is looking for .. the best product they

can find for the most reasonable price. And if they can get proof of

quality from the seller, in the form of an analysis, that's a bonus.

Still, there is no assurance that your olfactory perception of that EO

will a good one. Some folks have become accustomed to the odors of EO

that have been manipulated to make them more pleasing to the nose. ALL

quality EO do not smell nice .. keep that in mind ... you gotta compare

like oils against like oils.

 

> Any advice would be very much appreciated.

 

Hope this helped. I recommend you ask for samples .. any reputable EO

seller will provide them free ... you might have to pay for the postage

but its my opinion that you should not have to pay for the samples - and

don't be surprised if the samples are no more than a few drops in a

small glass tube .. they're not providing samples for you to mix up 5 ml

of your favorite blend .. they're sending them so you can do a personal

test of the odor to see if it is pleasing to your olfactory senses.

 

One last thing .. price is rarely an important indicater of quality. A

very low price .. or a price list where all the oils are the same price

might tell you to be careful, but a high price does not signify high

quality. Compare prices! Few sellers can buy quality EO for a lot less

than other sellers .. the market is just not set up like that. Take the

time to do price comparisions on those oils you routinely purchase ..

check MANY sites and make a list of high, low, medium prices. Then a

good rule of thumb is to cast out the extremely high and extremely low

prices and concentrate on those that in the middle range because they're

likely to be the most credible dealers.

 

All of the above are my opinons and are based on having been in this

business since 1996 .. many have been in the business longer, but I

have been successful at making a profit while sticking to my code of

ethics so I reckon that qualifies me to have opinions worthy of being

passed along.

 

There are others who have made it and also have valid opinions .. I hope

we will hear from them because this subject that pops up on the list 2-3

times a year - and I think the maybe a good part of the membership of

the list renews itself about that many times each year. I say this

because I often see threads on subjects we have discussed in depth and

either resolved or gotten tired off in years past. ;-p

 

> Thanks,

> XXXXXXXX

 

Welcome you are ... :-)

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com