Teach Soap

I was wondering if any of you wholesale your soap to shops and if so how do you determine what to charge? I have several farm stores and other shops nearby that I would like to approach about selling my soap, but I don't want to do it on consignment. I would even be willing to do it as a private label, but am not sure how to figure out what to price it at. Most of my soap costs about $1 per bar by the time I figure everything into it. Thanks!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Are you also adding your time into it besides the ingredients? I charge $3.50 per bar wholesale and I also have a minimum.

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

The general wholesale rule of thumb is that you charge 2x's your cost, but that is assuming you charge 4x your cost for you retail price. As you can tell by what SB said, not everyone prices this way. You really need to look at your complete costs (including paying yourself a wage, include overheads and everything else) then figure what will work best for you. Make sure that it is not too low that you are working for nothing. Setting your formula is the best way to keep emotions out of it and keep it logical. Ann Marie has written a tutorial on pricing if I remember correctly, offering two different formulas. Maybe you can search for that on TS.

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Thanks, SB & LL. I've read the pricing info on the Teach Soap site and also have some info in one of my books about costing/selling. I was curious as to how other soapers priced their wholesale orders and your answers helped!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Don't forget to factor in marketing costs (and marketing TIME). If memory serves that wasn't really factored in to AM's tutorial (which was very good by the way!). Of course, I'm biased because I'm a marketing consultant and folks tend to underestimate that part

HTH!
Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

sometimes they do... but of course right now I just give it to them! (friends and family only - of course)

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

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I soap therefore I am.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Oh Linda! You should've said something! LOL. We come from the same worlds!



Karri

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I soap therefore I am.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Hi there all- I'm new here, also, and new to soaping....I started making soaps in March of this year after my sister said that the show the Doctors announced that there is gluten in most of our products- soaps, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, etc. I looked and of course- there it was. I have Celiac disease and that made me start to investigate and start making it myself...now- I've given it to friends, family members and coworkers, and of course, then started selling it....I have found a greenhouse/nursery that wants to put my gardener's soap up for sale as consignment (I'm thrilled!!) and was wondering if the wholesale pricing is similar to consignment- in percentages at least...I also wanted to comment on how much effort goes into selling a single bar of soap at farmer's markets, craft shows, etc. The 'if you build it, they will come' theory definately doesn't work here...the soap doesn't jump up off the table and sell itself- and I have to say how stupid I thought I was when I realized that I hadn't even given teaching myself a sales pitches to sell my soaps a single thought when I was planning out my farmer's markets/craft show display to start actually peddling my wares.....

Karen, First off, let me say welcome to the forum, and to the addiction of soapmaking!
Not to be mean, but if you just began making soap in March and are already selling it, I think you have more to worry about than wholesale pricing and a sales spiel. I hope that you have insurance, know all your labeling and marketing regulations, know if your recipe and/or scent load will hold up for 6 months or a year, know if you are likely to develop dos, and a myriad of other things. I wont even mention that recipes you find in books and on line are not meant for commercial sales, just for individual use. [Even though a lot of people disregard that fact, and some flat out disagree, I feel that you should make your own recipe. Maybe you have, but in such a short time frame I would have to wonder if you understand all that you should before you sell to the public. Of course if the house bill passes you nor anyone else will be able to be in business, so maybe it is all a moot point. Anyway, please find some articles and check lists for doing business, including the standards of practice on the FDA website, and try to cover as many basis as you can, for your own benefit, as well as our industry.

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

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

Dear lavenderlady and soapbuddy-
I could tell you a lot of things about me and my craft, but unfortunately it seems you've already made up your mind about my products....I could tell you that I have been putting in over 60 hours a week into teaching myself about soapmaking, and selling, that I have researched and done more than what you have recommended in your post...that I have been an RN for 20 years, am a member of both the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the American Holistic Nurses Association, am taking classes each semester toward my Nurse Practitioner degree, have a goal of passing my RN Aromatherapy Certification exam by next spring, and if the bill that is up before congress passes, I will still be able to work on soaps through my RN licensure- in the near future I will be a Holistic Nurse Practitioner, which means that I can assess patients, prescribe an essential oil blend for them, and create an essential oil/aromatherapy vehicle to deliver it in to them.... not to be mean, but I would never try to trash or put a bad spin on anyone's industry, which is why I have been pouring all of my blood sweat and tears into learning about it, and why it has taken me so many hours per week of studying and doing to even be able to think about selling them....