One Order, Four Times a Year
Four times a year I place one order for shellac flake. It is the largest thing I buy, and it arrives fresh, in sacks, a few weeks after I send the order in. It gets bagged here in Virginia and goes out the door. That rhythm is the whole business, and a few weeks ago I decided to let anyone who wants to join it.
That's the bulk program. Here is how it works, and then a word about why.
What you can order
Six grades. Five of them dewaxed: Platina, Super Blonde, Blonde, Amber and Garnet, from the palest to the deepest. And Lemon #1, the classic flake with its natural wax kept in. Each comes in ¼, ½ and 1 lb bags, bagged fresh the week the flake lands, with a weight sticker and a label that tells you the grade and how to keep it.
What it costs
One rule: your price is set by the total weight of the order. Not per grade, not per bag size. Put whatever you like in the order, in any mix, and the heavier it gets, the better the price on every bag in it. There are three steps, at 5 pounds and at 10 pounds, and the whole order moves to the better price when it crosses the line. There are no minimums. A quarter pound is a fine order; it just doesn't get the 10-pound price.
The order form on the bulk page does the arithmetic as you go, so you can see what adding a bag does before you commit to it.
Who it's for
Shops stocking a shelf. Clubs, guilds and schools pooling their members' orders into one box to one address, which is the easiest way I know to reach the 10-pound price. And individual finishers who go through enough shellac in a season to want a few pounds of it fresh. I don't ask what you are. The weight decides.
How it's paid and when it ships
Orders under 10 pounds are paid in full when I send the invoice. Orders of 10 pounds and up reserve their quantity with a 50% deposit and pay the balance when they ship. Everything from one window ships together, a few weeks after the window closes, and freight is at cost. The current window closes Thursday, October 22, and ships in November.
Why I run it this way
Here in the Hollow we don't run sales and we don't do hype. We tell you what a thing costs; we don't say $19.99 when it's $20. Our prices are the cost of the shellac plus enough to keep the lights on and the shelf fresh. That's the whole formula, and it means our prices ride the market, because shellac is an agricultural product from India and the market is what it is. Lately that ride has been bumpy for everyone, and as I write this in October 2026 an energy shock in South Asia is pushing on everything it costs to make and move shellac.
So here is what I can do about it. I can buy well, one lot, on a calendar, with confidence, and I can let you buy alongside me. Everyone in a window gets the same price, set when the order is confirmed, and the heavier the combined order, the better that price is for every bag in it. Fresh flake dissolves faster, dries harder and lays down clearer than old flake, and buying it this way is the only way I know to sell it fresh at a fair number. You get the best price I can offer on pure shellac; I get to order with confidence. It's an honest deal, and it gets better the more of us are in it.
Build your order on the bulk page, or write to orders@shellac.net with any questions. If you run a club, forward this to whoever buys for the group.
— Gregg