Teach Soap

While you do not have to label your soap, IF you choose to do so, you must label it correctly, fulfilling all the labeling aspects and rules. One of those is the weight on the front panel, and another is the manufacturing name and physical address. So yes, you can go either way, but whichever way you choose, you need to do it completely, all in.

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

Tammy

Whoops. I misunderstood then and stand corrected.
Jill

No worries, labeling can be quite confusing. Just happy to help!

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

Tammy

Well, my labels do not have weight because I am weighing them as I sell them.

I did that at one time years ago. I solved the issue by simply printing a weight sticker with a line on it, then when I weighed it, I wrote in the weight and slapped that extra sticker on. I gave up doing things that way long ago because most of the shows I attend now are way too busy to take that time, but it worked okay when I did it.

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

Tammy

I expect to be very busy since 60,000-80,000 people are expected. If it is such a big issue, maybe for next show I'll simply put a label with the name on it and that's it I can use a card that states the ingredients for all soaps What does everyone think about that idea?
Jill

In order to be legal you must label the soap with; Wording on the package that identifies the product as "Soap", the
Net weight of the product and the Name and address of your business.

My shows run from 30k up to 90k, so I know you will be busy. I don't know how many helpers you have, but if I were you, I'd try to price my soap at one or two prices so that you don't have to mess with weighing each individual sale. I do take naked soap to a couple of shows. What I do is pre-tag the bags with a sticker that has my business name and "soap" on it, with my address, and a space for me to write in the weight. This bag is then my label. In order to NOT have to weigh each purchase, I use the minimum weight of my bars and multiply that by how many bars they buy. You never get into trouble if you are correct or over weight, only if you are under by an unreasonable amount. The FDA allows for a reasonable amount of weight differential due to water evaporation and say so on the site. They do not say what they consider reasonable, but I am sure a few tenths of an ounce won't matter to them. Toss ingredient cards and business cards in the bags, then everything is a grab and go. I did call and ask about using the bags as the label so to speak, and the man said that this was fine, as long as the bag was only used for the soap. So I ordered a nice, pretty bag for the soap (the are large enough to hold 6 bars stacked on top of each other) that has handles. If they buy other items, I have a slightly larger bag of a different color that I then put their soap bag down inside. It works well for me.

Whatever you decide to do, lots of luck and wishes for a great show season!

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

Tammy

Hearing about your guy's shows is exciting! I hope you both knock one out of the park at them!

Thank you Robert! I never will forget when I switched from the small craft shows to the large festivals. during the show I was busy and very tired, the I counted the money and a big part of me wondered why I had ever messed with those tiny shows at all! Lol

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

Tammy

I bet, LavenderLady. Both the small & large craft shows still intimidate me. You are one of my role models because you sell at the large venues.

I'm reading right now on kindle. It's amazingly insightful - the authors did the large show circuit for 18 years selling baskets. It's an old book - originally published in 2001, new edition updated in 2009. After doing the circuit for so long successfully, his insight is really wise.

Do you use FNO to find the ones you do?

I'm still not sure what venues I'm going to use - farmer's markets, craft shows, big craft shows/festivals, wholesale, private label, online...

I'm an expert in search engine marketing after working at Microsoft Bing for 6 years, so my natural inclination is to build an online sales channel but that takes time (months to years). I don't know that online channels are the biggest bang for the buck/effort but it's a very large channel so it will be needed later if not sooner. That's why I'm learning about other venues like the big shows. I suspect it's one of the most efficient channels.

I think what I'm going to do is prepare myself to do wholesale (line sheets etc), start building the online channel & do some markets to get some retail experience & feedback from customers. Then see where it all goes.

In the meantime, I'm still working on developing consistency in my CP and perfecting a few quality non-soap products. Seems like it's taking forever to get to a comfortable level. I've had more than a few days recently where I've thought I'll never get there. The frustration may kill me first. My plan is to be ready & stocked up for the Fall-Holiday season this year.

Thanks for the well wishes! I ended up getting a pre-inked stamp for Net Wt. and also for my physical address and I'm stamping it on the bags. I will be perfectly proper and legal!

Here's hoping I run out of soap! Talking about stocking up for the Holiday circuit, Robert -- make sure you remember to ZAP test everything. Don't go in too many directions at once (Jack of all trades, master of none theory). And it's okay to have more than one recipe you like to use. If you decide to go the wholesale route, will you be able to produce enough? You can only make just so much ahead of time because of oil shelf life. Sunflower oil can go bad in 6 months . . . etc. Whatever route you decide, keep us posted!

Jill

Jill, if you use oils with longevity in their shelf life your low sunflower oil recipes will not just go bad in 6 months. But the larger issue here is that if you work on preparing yourself to sell by perfecting your craft and learning, then you will know which recipe of yours does what and when.

Robert, I commend you for being patient and preparing, as well as learning, your way toward selling! I am sure you will be ready by the holiday season if that is your goal! I began doing craft shows over 35 years ago. For many years I did one every weekend, then I backed off when my kids were in hs and into weekend sports. I switched to large festivals when they went to college and I had more time to travel, and no longer felt like doing so many shows each year. I have wholesale accounts (some of which I have had for the past 20 years) and I sell on line as well. Thing is, whatever you do, you have to direct the traffic. And, while you are concentrating on one aspect, the others tend to fall off a bit (unless you have others helping). Seems to me, if your expertise lies in IT, you should maximize that aspect. But certainly it takes a while to build a base, no matter what avenue(s) you use. I began with shows cuz that is what I knew already, and I moved onto wholesale because I fell into some accounts from the shows. Then I added the on-line so I could cut back shows and travel, as well as having a place for some of my wholesale and direct customers to view items and more easily order and purchase.

As for finding shows, I have found some because I lived in their area and attended them. Some from being approached by their coordinators while at a different show, and some from other vendor's recommending them. I have often recommended to others that they look through their state's festival book or their city's chamber of commerce booklets, but these days I rarely do a "new" show and I stay within about 6 hours of my home.

The key to being prepared for a show is organization. Make your lists and get as ready as possible before you go, then have fun, smile and talk! I am sure you will do well when you begin booking them. Just remember that deadlines are often months before the show, and that you will need pictures of your product(s). So start taking pictures when you have time so you are ready.

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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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Thanks for the advice, Tammy. I appreciate it!

YW Robert.

"You also have to have you actual address on the label too, not just a website and phone number."

@Lindy- This is true here too, just many people ignore it! The only time you do not have to put your whole physical address is when your company is in the yellow pages, but you still must list your city, state, and zip code, so you just get by with leaving off your street address. There is hope that we will soon be able to list po boxes, but at this time that is not allowed either.

I am glad that we do not have to submit formulas to the government, that would be such a pain!

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

Tammy