Teach Soap

Hi all!

I'm putting together a business plan for what I hope to be my soaping business that gets me out of my job of 15 years . I'm being very careful and very detailed, but I'm having a hard time getting real life details on Etsy selling.

I can figure how to sell things on Etsy, take pictures, etc., and am familiar with craft shows, eBay, website sales, etc. But I can't seem to get any stats on what sells on Etsy, price ranges and things for actual sales data. Ebay makes this easy by letting you search for completed sales, but I can find nothing like seller stats on Etsy. Is that data available somewhere?

Also - Etsy is crazy competitive with soaps, and I'm trying to determine how much I should invest in time and money on Etsy? Does it make sense to spend so much time staging and taking professional level photographs, or should I just stick with good, well-lit photos, and spend the rest of that time invested in honing my soap skills and working other avenues for sales? Should I list on Etsy casually (for lack of a better word) at first, until I get something really amazing that will stand out in such a crowded marketplace? I don't mind putting in the time to market myself on Etsy, I just want to make sure it's a good investment in the beginning.

Thanks for your any insight with this - the crafters at Etsy are a friendly bunch, but it's intimidating, and I cant seem to get the data and insight I need to make a good decision with this part of my plan.

hi eguilinas,

i would suggest you stick on your job till to business bloom.

im a full time working mother of 2 kids under 3 and i make soap whenever i can, sometimes its crazy and maddening but i also pra that my soap dream come true and have my own business to quite my job.

stay focused and make a pre-study to know each step

wish you all the best

_________________
Soap Maker From Dubai
www.facebook.com/savoni.uae

Etsy's soap and B&B market is saturated at this point. I would hold on to your job.

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

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

Thanks guys - that's about what I thought. It could possibly be successful with a lot of work, but if etsy won't reveal any sales data, then it's pretty much impossible to break in at this point.

That's okay - I like craft fairs, and I'm excited about talking to shop owners!

Thanks!

I agree with everything that's been said. My Etsy selling is a hobby. I'm retired after having a fabulously successful career for 40 years. If I relied on my Etsy sales to eat, I'd starve.

You can see Etsy "Best Sellers" (by category, even), here:

[link removed]

Once you look at the best selling soap makers, you'll begin, I think, to get an idea of what soap products sell. And, for the largest sellers, those are not "solo" operations -- many employees, separate people to pack and ship, almost factory-like, even if they don't admit to it.

You'll also be able to see pricing for these sellers. A little analytical work and you'll get a pretty good idea what they gross in a month. You'll never know net income.

Connie

That link has a virus or a trojan horse Connie. Something just tried to download on my PC and my anti-virus stopped it.

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

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

Since there were some concerns that the craftcount site might be infected, I've removed the link.

Here are the top Bath and Beauty sellers from that list - numbers reflect total sales since the seller's launch on Etsy.

1 AndersonSoapCompany 46100 United States
2 MadisonStreetBeauty 34421 United States
3 savor 30307 United States
4 GudonyaToo 28946 United States
5 CozyMoments 24811 United States
6 LongWinterSoapCo 24659 United States
7 DressGreen 22135 United States
8 FirebirdBathBody 19538 United States
9 YouStinkSoap 17226 United States
10 soapwallakitchen 17034 United States
11 theallnaturalface 16350 United States
12 LoveLeeSoaps 16259 United States
13 SunbasilgardenSoap 16027 United States
14 SpaGoddess 15326 United States
15 ForStrangeWomen 15067 United States
16 daisycakessoap 14571 United States
17 TenDigitCreations 14505 United States

Connie

Interesting. Using the stats for the #1 soap shop from that list and the etsy info on when they opened, I did some math. Assuming an average of $5 per product, which seems about right based on what's listed, they average gross profit of $49,275 per year for the five years they've been in business.

That seems low, if you have that as your gross, and have to deduct cost of goods sold, shipping and labeling materials, fees, etc., to say nothing of paying an employee. If you use the standard 1/3 calculation, which I have no idea if they do, then you're left with profit of only $16,000 a year.

Wow. That's good to know though, and exactly the kind of Info i was looking for. Thanks.

Yep. And, he's the best selling soaper on Etsy. He actually has an interesting story. Fell into making soap when he was down to about $300 to his name, was living out of his car. If you do a Google search for Dennis Anderson, you'll find bunches of features and articles about him.

Connie

This one sums up his story

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/2 ... 29290.html

Connie

Oh wow - that's fantastic! What a great story!

It's always good to learn that kind of stuff - it gives me hope!