Guest guest Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 What does one use catnip for?? - Butch Owen Thursday, October 23, 2008 1:34 PM [sPAM] Catnip Oil Shortage? Howdy Rebecca, I just got an email from one of my suppliers stating that this year's > catnip production was incredibly low due to a hailstorm in Canada. Has > anyone else heard of this? I know I need to order, but was hoping to wait > until January. If there's a pending shortage, I'll make sure I order sooner. > Canadian Catnip (Nepeta cataria) has increased in price by roughly 18% per kilo in the last four months. Whether this is due to a hailstorm or not I can not say but I would doubt it because hailstorms are generally local .. not nationwide. The Dollar to Euro exchange rate has made all EO produced outside the U.S.A. more costly since August .. but that exchange rate decline was not as much as 18%. What has increased by 50% or so is shipping costs and the bureaucratic humma-humma costs to get oils through U.S. Customs and their Freight Forwarder. I ordered 3 x as much Rose Absolute last May than the Rose Otto I just got in yesterday .. but my fixed costs were 50% higher .. I was shocked! Some of the ridiculous and bureaucratic fees are storage .. meaning they had it in their office for 24-48 hours .. and communications costs .. meaning my Freight Forwarder in NYC sent a fax to their agency in Baltimore saying the Rose Otto was on the way. These costs were almost all totally ridiculous but there is nothing we can do about it. There were eleven different fees tacked to that order and that does not include actual shipping cost from Turkey to NYC. Then they wanted over $500 to send the shipment from Baltimore, MD to my company in Friendsville, MD .. a three hour drive via automobile. Margaret's sister drove and picked the order up. For better than 14 years now I have said that if the Feds want to find Anti Trust violations and collusion .. all they gotta do is look at Shipping and Freight Forwarding companies. I would not be surprised to see additional fees tacked to future imports .. like Water Cooler Fees .. meaning the dude that was filling out my overpriced Invoice took a break from his desk to get a drink of water. When the cost of a barrel of oil goes up all other costs go up .. but now the cost is half what it was some months ago but except for gasoline .. those other costs have remained stable. The large clearing houses bargain shop .. quality is not as important to them as price .. and they order in such large volume that they have major shipping discounts when they ship by sea. Then they " batch " their new purchase with the old oils. Those of us who purchase based on Origin and proven quality .. and don't have the luxury of sitting on $500 K in stock .. can not do that .. but we can and do deliver higher quality products. If new buyers knew the hassles and expense small companies like mine go through to get the oils we offer them .. they would appreciate us a heckuva lot more. Our long term buyers do understand all of this and we appreciate them for that. > Rebecca Jones, Practicing Herbalist & Aromatherapist > Sage Living LLC > 30A Warren St > Concord, NH 03301 > www.sagelivingllc.com > (603)415-1070 > Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch ... http://www.AV-AT.com <http://www.av-at.com/> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Lori VanScoter wrote: > What does one use catnip for?? Hi Lori.... Great skeeter repellent....among other things.... I've never used it for scent.... Uhhhhhhh...... Do not use this stuff around a cat, though.... Well maybe some cats..... I had a minor spill once (defective bottle) splitting some up with a friend once....and apparently got some on my pantleg... Got home, and my fuzzy buddy Tiger went crazy nuts..... He kinda even forgot that he had been fixed.....! He had never (and never did afterwards, 'cause I was carefull) tried to do my leg before....<G>..... I dunno....kitty viagra....? -- Gary W. Bourbonais L'Hermite Aromatique A.J.P. (GIA) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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