Teach Soap

Everyone has been asking when I will be selling and for how much. I have only been soaping for 3 months and have a lot to learn. I haven't even experimented with colors yet (although I may never). I have goals of selling, but it will probably be 6-9 months down the road. I am glad that people are excited about my soaps, but they need to calm down . My first samples went out to my testers about a week ago. They are loving it so far.

With the selling and pricing questions I can't stop researching and thinking about how I am going to sell and for how much. I don't see people in this area paying alot for soap. The local health food sore sells local soap that ranges from $1.30 an ounce to 90c an ounce. I haven't been able to make it to any farmer's markets to check. There is a local soaper who I have bought from at a festival (wish I can remember how much she was selling it for there). On he website she has her 4oz bars listed for $3.19.

I was planning on selling for $3.25 for 4oz. Then I decided to stop using crisco and change to coca/mango/shae butter, castor, and aloe....So, I was thinking $3.50. Then I read somewhere that you should be able to offer whole sale pricing which is about half of your retail....

DH is a computer programer and could make me a website. I could sell on there. I was also looking into etsy. The soaps on etsy don't seem to be priced any lower than a $1 an ounce. I don't think that any of my local friends and family would be willing to pay that. So I got the bright idea of listing on etsy at $4 for a for ounce bar and offer a friends and family discount of 15% bringing the total down to $3.40 for them. I would like to make it 20% ($3.20), but with etsy and paypal fees I don't want to go that low. Maybe I can offer an order direct and pay in cash discount for my local friends/family

Oh, I am in the process of getting RLI insurance. I plan of joining the soapmakers guild once I start selling for real.

That sounds pretty low to me. Have you figured out what it costs you to make on bar of soap including labor?

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

Each bar will cost me $1-$1.50 depending on what is in it. I have a hard time figuring out my wadge. I am also not sure how much of extra I should add to cover things like insurance pricing and web hosting. I have a friend who sells baby wipe solution and a few baby soap bars for a living. She told me to sell cheaper online than I would at a craft show and to add any paypal fees in with the shipping. I looked on her site and she is selling her bar soap for $3.50-$4.25 for 4 oz. I am not sure how quickly they move though.

So, is offering a permanent discount for friends and family a bad idea? I just feel guilty for making a big profit off of them. Plus, I feel like I need to sell slightly lower than other local soapmakers so I can get my foot in the door so to speak. I can't go down to $3.19 though especially with the insurance, website, etsy/paypal fees, and the more expensive oils.

A co-worker told me that he would not feel comfortable paying over $3.99 for a bar of soap. He said that he wouldn't care if the bar was bigger or not, but $3.99 is his threshold. He would rather it be smaller and less expensive. I think that anything under 4oz is to small though.

I was wanting to use all natural colorants too, but now that I am thinking about it ALL of the local soapmakers are doing that, so maybe I should use some colors .

Please forgive my ramblings. I am going crazy thinking about this.

I understand that it is difficult trying to decide "what the market will bear" in terms of price.
But like Irena pointed out - labor is a big component of what we do as soapmakers.

A lot of it also depends on the reason you are selling. Are you wanting to make this a hobby that pays for itself? Then you can sell a little lower - cover your costs, a bit for time, and you'll be happy.

IF, though - you see it becoming a profitable hobby, or perhaps even a small business, then you have to take a closer look at your pricing. It is very easy to lower your prices, but very difficult to raise them once people get used to paying less. If your soap is good, and attractive, well presented , etc.. and you are NOT using bargain basement materials - then you have no reason to feel apologetic for charging $1 per oz. If you are not making anything fancy (no colors, no expensive EOs, no fancy shapes) then you have a bit of leeway on that price to offer "sales" or discounts.

I would rather sell 100 bars of soap for a higher profit margin, than 200 bars for half the profit/lower price. But that is just me... I sell for $6 per bar, or 2 for $10, without any trouble. Yes, things cost more where I am, but even with the tough economy, people like the soap and apparently see value in it.

Remember, if YOU don't value your product, time, ingredients and labor - neither will anyone else.
welcome to soaping!

I recently checked out soap at my local farmers market, Autumns Eve, www.autumnseve.com. At the farmers market she sells soap for 6.50 to 11.00 per bar. She told me she does quite well. I don't know anyone who would pay that.

My soaps are about 4.5 ozs. and they sell retail for $5.75 per bar. I agree with Kat2011. It's harder to raise your prices at a later date. Your retail price is about what I sell wholesale.

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

As a consumer I would by and have bought awesome handmade soaps for 5-7 dollars a bar, now I cannot afford to do it often but do not umdersell yourself or you will not make a bottom line, people will pay for a good quality bar. If you know the competition in your area is set at price that low then maybe you can sell locally at that price which can be justified by no cc fees internet fees and shipping costs for local business. But on etsy and the like I would charge around 5 and if you have speacilty bars maybe a little more for those and like Karri said you can do sales or bundles.

Sorry Kat I accidently wrote Karri but it was your comment and great idea

I have a tendency to think along the lines of, "Well, they're my family and I can't charge them THAT much." However, you still need to make a profit, plus you will deserve what you earn for all of your hard work/creativity. And I'm guessing your family/friends would love to you support you in that. Don't be afraid to charge what your soap is worth and don't sell yourself short

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Soapmaiden (Natalie)