Teach Soap

Hi, all,

Congrats, asliceofdelight, on your successful craft fair, too! I'm like you -- I've got tons of soap leftover from the first craft fair. I hope I sell more at my next fair this weekend, as I don't quite know how long an M&P bar should hang out in inventory before you get rid of it and start fresh.

I learned from my first fair, too. I tried to create some heighth by stacking my bars on and around some overturned vinyl baskets that I picked up at the dollar store. Also, I covered some baskets/boxes and a cake plate with black cloth napkins and stacked soap there, too. I need a sign of some sort, too, because people sometimes thought at first that I had candles or something else. One lady seemed very disappointed to find out that my Gingersnap soap was not fudge! She was really nice, though.

For my next fair, I bought some notecards that I'm going to print up and fold over with the name of the fragrance and a brief description of the soap. I was having to explain what things were a lot, and signs would be a big help.

And business cards, even if you don't have a "business." Some of the folks at the craft fair collected my info so they could let me know about a craft fair they were organizing in the future. It was nice they wanted me to participate!

Here's a couple of pictures of my table:




I'm a M&P-er, and my best-seller ended up being a goat's milk soap that I added a bit of honey and ground oats to. I fragranced it with (what else?) Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey. I even had people coming up to my table asking if I was "the lady with the honey soap"! That was a nice feeling ...

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- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
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You may be only one person to the world, but you may also be the world to one person

Jrose-
I *love* your display. The issue I have with mine if you saw my photos is that my soap right now is in the cello (biodegradable) bags. My 'added' touch is my tags because I punch them out and use some kind of stamp on it, but I think wrapping the soap the way you have it gives you more flexibility in the display. I'm still struggling with what to do there.

I think I may have my husband make a stand that stair steps to let the soaps sit on - maybe like 3 levels or something. Can you post another photo that is a bit larger so I can get a closer look? Or PM me with a larger photo? Also can you post a close up shot of how you package your soap?

Jrose - do you have a website? or an Etsy site? Between the fairs and the Etsy I think you could get some options in decreasing certain inventory to allow you to make more/different loaves/designs. I think I also learned now never to make more than one loave of any paticular kind (i.e. 9-11 slices depending on how thick and the loaf mold I use) - unless I really see that I sold out in one fair. For instance I made 2 loaves of Candy Corn thinking "for sure" this will be a seller. I sold about 5. *Fortunately* I have a friend that has come thrugh and wants to buy the rest (cut them in 1/2 so they are small party like favor soaps) for her sons classroom. Phew!! - I sold one on Etsy as well but let's just stay they were not flying off the shelf

In one case I totally rebatched some soap that never sold like I had hoped in a past fair. It had originally looked like the french flag and I just remelted all the separate sections and made a swilred/layerd soap. Yeah - it's a bummer to have to 'redo' -- but I'd rather do that to keep the inventory moving out. I consider this first year of figuring out the ropes is the year to 'be found' and 'be seen' by people.

How many soap designs did you make available? I might have had too many but I like variety. I thought about the placards as you described but instead most people selected their soaps by sniffing the tiny samples I had in the soap dishes. Yes, there is some waste with that because you can't use the soap again, but it sure helps the decision making. Rather than the placards - I created a 'cheat sheet' of a 4 column table that listed the name of the soap, the base (i.e. vegetable, shea butter, olive oil or a combo), and then the descriptoin of the fragrance. I had two sheets based on my pricing (all $5 on one sheet and $6 on the other). I left it on the table or picked it up and either read it to them or let them have the sheet so they could read it themselves. I'm happy to send you a copy so you can see what I mean. That also helped in engaging with the customers. The first time I put the sheets up in an acrylic 8x10 display but it was to far back on the table to be useful so this time I put them in a clear plastic sleeve right up front and it was so much better. You might want to think about that.

As for the signage (the banner which I think was the small one on Vista no more than $30) - it was evident this time that I had soap (and not candy) - *Except* for the 80 year old man that never read anything as he sauntered by my booth - took his hand to pick up a piece of soap from the soap dish and place it in his mouth. My booth partner and I stood frozen for a second then I ran after him (as I saw his jaw move up/down) and I had to politely put my hand on his sholder and say to him "sir, I'm terribly sorry, but you just took soap from my booth - it is not candy" I think he figured it out at the same moment I was speaking - I offered him some water but he just shook his head/with his hands covering his mouth and continued to walk away. Next fair I'll put on the soap dish "this is soap, eat with caution" or something funny - but given the scenario he would not have read that either.

Thanks all for sharing such great ideas/feedback on how we can all improve/tweek our booths.

Regards
Hilary

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http://www.asliceofdelight.etsy.com

That poor old man! That is such a funny story though!

Asliceofdelight, I have to agree with you in several areas. People don't read -even though I didn't have a booth banner, I had small printed signs for each basket that told how much they were, in addition to a larger one attatched to each table saying the price. I charged $5 for my CP and $3 for my M&P. I had all CP on one table and M&P on another. Even with all of this people constantly asked how much everything was.

I also package my soaps in clear bags. I print a hang tag, punch a hole in one corner, thread a coordinating ribbon through, and tie it off. I really don't want to keep doing it this way because it is very time consuming, and like you said, limits your table options.

I put all my soaps in nice baskets for display. I didn't have any handles on the baskets so people could see everything easier and really spent more than I should have on the baskets themselves, but I wanted it to look more clean than country. I like country, it just wasn't what I was going for here.

Also, I got alot of what I thought were strange questions: Can I use it down there? If I get this in my eyes what I do? etc.etc.

jrose729 - I love your booth too. It makes you want to reach out and pick one up to smell ( and buy! ).

Lisa--- it is amazing how many people will ask if they can use the soap "everywhere". I always tell people it's the only soap my family has used for years! I do point out, when they ask, that with any mint or cinnamon soaps be aware that it may bother more sensitive areas of the body--- but I also tell them we are able to use them without problems. If buying for children I do mention that it is not tear free.

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You may be only one person to the world, but you may also be the world to one person

Asliceofdelight,

This is the closest close-up I've got:


I cropped and zoomed a section of that picture to hopefully get you a little closer to some of the displays:

See the green vinyl baskets under the soaps on the right and left? I just stacked them on top and around the overturned baskets. The baskets are kinda square- and rectangular-shaped with sloped sides (got them at the Dollar Tree). The blue soaps in the back are actually stacked on a tiered candle display.

I made so much because I had two craft fairs almost back-to-back (two weeks apart). So, I made more than I thought I would need for the first one, thinking I'd have some that I could take to the next fair without having to scramble to create my inventory again. Both fairs are popular and pretty big for around here, so I was expecting to sell maybe half my inventory. Traffic was a lot slower this year, though, I gathered from the other vendors, so I didn't sell nearly as much as I thought I would. I hope things go better at the one this Saturday. I've got another one right before Thanksgiving, and by then the soap I made for the first fair will be about two months old. Don't know if that's okay. Most of what I'd sell would probably be Christmas presents, so it would probably get used pretty quickly after that.

You can probably see the glare of my plastic wrap in the photos above. Honestly, I just use cling wrap, wrap the soap in it, bring the edges around the back, cut off the excess, and hit it oh-so-briefly with a heat gun on the back, the sides, and the top to shrink wrap. The nice thing about the cling wrap is that people can still smell through it. I know that if I can't smell something, I probably won't buy it. I have thicker shrink wrap bags, but found them a bit bulky and tempermental for shrink wrapping. Maybe I just need more practice. Anyway, I wrap my soaps like Anne-Marie does in this Soap Queen episode: http://www.youtube.com/user/soapqueentv ... D4bJgtaHMg. Then I make up a label with ingredients list on a white address label (Avery template 8160) and slap it on the back of the soap (the back of the shrink-wrapped soap is ugly anyway, so it covers that up nicely).

I had about a dozen different soaps.

No Etsy site quite yet, but I'm working on it!

_________________
- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
Follow me on my

Oh, and thanks for the compliments on my table display, y'all!

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- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
Follow me on my

I think the challenge for all of us is that we have a certain 'joie de vivre' with our soaps and that includes packaging. And we are are learning what works, what takes time, and how our soaps represent us and how we represent them. And then the balance of what makes sense. I see aspects of what everyone is doing as very helpful to me in order to perhaps find a way to wrap differently and include the tag somehow, someway because at this point my stamped tags are what adds to the uniqueness.

I really appreciate everyones ideas.

Lisa - can you poste a photo of your booth?

You all might like this flickr group. http://www.flickr.com/groups/soapbooths/

Hilary

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http://www.asliceofdelight.etsy.com

Zen moment-
I had lunch with a contract recruiter in SF the other day. The recruiter was very interested in my tech/business background and hoping I'd consider an upcoming contract. I told him I was flattered but that it was important to me to keep on 'keepin on' with my venture. He was respectful of that and we agreed that we should just stay in touch. Have to still keep the technical network on life supports.

I get home - the phone rings -- and this woman introduces herself - says she bought my soaps at "Spice of Life" fair. I remember her as she was one of the bigger buyers that day (like 8 soaps).

She wanted to buy like 40 more. WHOA!! - I'm building up inventory again for (online) and for a fair I have the first week of December. She's coming on Nov 11th to start picking some or all of what she wants. In a nutshell she is a Pilates instructor who has her own studio a stones throw from my house (and in fact I've walked by it several times). She just wants to 'thank' her clients. I'm so excited that she thought of choosing "my soaps" -- if I can lassoo 100's of her in my little corner of the Berkeley world (and then some) - I'll be so delighted. The fair scene is paying off!!

Hilary

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http://www.asliceofdelight.etsy.com

Congrats on a nice order Hilary!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

AH, WONDERFUL!!! Doesn't experiences like that make your heart sing?!?! It's a great example of the importance of getting your name and product out there. No form of advertising is too small or unimportant. I've had some similar experience with people who have received one of my soaps for gifts, and came to me to become a retailer!

When sales are low, and stock is high, you can't help but wonder what to do next, but it always works out, doesn't it. Congratulations on a very good sale.

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Barbara at Oasis Soap Co.
http://www.oasissoap.com