Teach Soap

I bought a box to cut specific sizes but even then they come out inconsistent. How do I price my soaps without having to price them individually because the weights vary? I want to do "this weight to this weight costs this amount" but I don't want to short myself or over charge. I'm trying to figure it out because stores are interested in them. Should I just tell them they buy a whole batch and then price it out as they wish? I'm going to end up wrapping them myself so I'm sure they may want retail suggestions for my slightly varying bar sizes. Pricing my soaps takes me so long that I feel like I miss opportunities too often. I'm horrible at math so that doesn't help. I usually take my cost x 2 for wholesale and x 3 and sometimes x 4 for retail but x 4 usually seems way too over priced compared to others selling similar things. Also I save x 4 for how much effort goes into it, if it's a lot more than regular bars then I do x 4. Thoughts?

Also how to I get a wholesalers license? Do I really need one? I've been trying to figure this all out but I keep going in circles.

You can sell the soap by logs and have the store cut them, but it depends; how hard does your soap get? Will they still be able to cut the log a couple of months down the road? You can give a retail store suggestions on prices, but it's ultimately up to them how much they will sell for retail, not you.
I would charge whatever the market will bear, but don't price yourself out of your market. The larger quantities you buy, the better your pricing.

Go to your local city hall and ask what licensing you need. Some place require a resale license, a tax permit, business license and liability insurance. Some will inspect your home or property. (If you don't pass, you can't sell.) I would get ALL your paperwork done first before you do any more selling.

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

So far I have a "doing business as" license and I've been cleared to do my work out of my home and I am working on liability insurance. I am looking into wholesaling license but keep going in circles. I thought of having the store slice their own but I have a cafe interested in my soaps so I know they'll just want them ready to go and wrapped nicely. Thanks for the feedback

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

SoapMonkey, can you just put a range of weight on your soap label rather than an exact amount? For instance, instead of saying a bar weighs 4.2 oz while another weighs 4.3 oz, put on both labels the approximate weight is 4.0-4.5 oz. You'd have to weigh at least the lightest and heaviest bars you are going to sell but that would be honest.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

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

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Genny

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

I've had this problem with some of the soaps I cut too.

I usually weigh them all...so if the lightest one is 4oz and the heaviest is 4.5 oz...I put "approx wt 4 oz" that way no soap weighs less than stated amount.

And for pricing...I use the median weight... So *price per ounce X 4.25* in this example. Then I'm not losing out on money myself but not severely overcharging either.

Does that make sense? Not sure I explained well.

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-Lauren

Are there books/websites/etc that explain in detail how to properly label soap as well as how to price our goods? That is definitely something I will be interested in learning!!

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

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

Sorry I was not able to get on here for a long time. Thank you for all the responses! I need a little time to catch up one all the questions haha

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Dawn

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